342/365
Winding all the yarn tonight! For those who aren't into knitting, sometimes yarn comes in "hank" form, which means it's basically a big loop of yarn. What this also means is that you can't start knitting it until it has been wound into a ball. Otherwise, you end up with a big tangled mess. I learned this the hard way when I first started getting into fancy yarn (the kind that comes in hanks) - I think William is still scarred from the experience of having to help me untangle yard upon yard of alpaca yarn. *shudder* Anyway, the yarn gets wound into these little "cake" looking things pictured here by using a ball winder and swift. A swift looks like the insides of an umbrella and holds the big loop of yarn open and spins while it's being wound into a ball. A ball winder basically works the same way a fishing reel does, and it's what makes the "cakes" to keep the yarn tidy. By the way, you don't have to have a ball winder and swift to wind yarn - you just need someone willing to hold the yarn in a big loop over their arms while you wind it by hand....but that takes much longer, and the person holding the yarn usually gets cranky because their arms get tired ;)
For those wondering, the yarns from left to right are as follows:
-Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in a special one-of-a-kind colorway for Simply Socks Yarn sitting on top of my handspun Hello Yarn Turkey Attack
-Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in gray sitting on top of my handspun Hello Yarn Night Gathers
-2 skeins of Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in another special one-of-a-kind colorway for Simply Socks Yarn
Most of this will be used to make gifts :) Off to knit!!
342/365
Winding all the yarn tonight! For those who aren't into knitting, sometimes yarn comes in "hank" form, which means it's basically a big loop of yarn. What this also means is that you can't start knitting it until it has been wound into a ball. Otherwise, you end up with a big tangled mess. I learned this the hard way when I first started getting into fancy yarn (the kind that comes in hanks) - I think William is still scarred from the experience of having to help me untangle yard upon yard of alpaca yarn. *shudder* Anyway, the yarn gets wound into these little "cake" looking things pictured here by using a ball winder and swift. A swift looks like the insides of an umbrella and holds the big loop of yarn open and spins while it's being wound into a ball. A ball winder basically works the same way a fishing reel does, and it's what makes the "cakes" to keep the yarn tidy. By the way, you don't have to have a ball winder and swift to wind yarn - you just need someone willing to hold the yarn in a big loop over their arms while you wind it by hand....but that takes much longer, and the person holding the yarn usually gets cranky because their arms get tired ;)
For those wondering, the yarns from left to right are as follows:
-Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in a special one-of-a-kind colorway for Simply Socks Yarn sitting on top of my handspun Hello Yarn Turkey Attack
-Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in gray sitting on top of my handspun Hello Yarn Night Gathers
-2 skeins of Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in another special one-of-a-kind colorway for Simply Socks Yarn
Most of this will be used to make gifts :) Off to knit!!