crochet newbie...

[deird1]

Yesterday I finished my very first scarf (yay!) and went off to the wool shop to buy more wool for my next project. And the woman selling me wool asked "You know you have to wind it into a ball first, right?"

To which I nodded and smiled, despite having no clue about this whole "wind it into a ball" thing.

So, fellow crocheters: what is the reason behind this mysterious command to wind balls of wool? What is it for?

Comments

[aithine]

It's easier to work once the yarn's been wound into balls than trying to work from a hank where the yarn will just get tangled if you try to use it that way. :) A lot of the man-made fiber yarns you'll find in craft stores are already wound into center pull balls (even if they don't look particularly ball-shaped *g*) so you don't have to rewind them (most of the time, there are some exceptions). Most of the non-acrylic yarns you'll buy at a local yarn shop (LYS) are just hanks: yarn wound loosely in a big circle, then twisted back up on itself. [The first pic here is a good example of a hank. :)]

And congrats on finishing your first scarf! *vbg*

[sorchar]

Ditto to this, and many times your LYS will wind yarn for you. If they don't, there's instructions for how to wind a center-pull ball here: http://birdsnestknits.typepad.com/birds_nest_knits/2006/02/how_to_wind_a_c.html.

[melannen]

It depends on what form it was in when you got it! Basically yarn tends to come in three forms: balls, which are balls, skeins, which are sort of cylindrical; and hanks, which are large loops of yarn loosely twisted together.

With balls and skeins you can use them as-is pretty easily (well, with a center-pull ball or skein I usually rewind it after I'm about 3/4 through the skein anyway, but you don't have to do that if you don't pull from the center.) Hanks, however, will usually collapse into chaos fairly quickly if you try to knit or crochet from them as-is. Hanks are much more convenient during the hand-spinning process, and good for some kinds of weaving, which is why the more expensive/artisanal the yarn, the more likely it is to come in hanks. (Also, I've noticed that lately some of the medium-expensive yarns are coming in things that look like skeins, but are *so* loosely wound that I have to re-wind them before use anyway. It's possible that this is to prevent damage to the yarn from stretching or felting, but I suspect that it's mostly because they can charge more for it that way.)

Anyway, basically, if you look at your yarn and it doesn't look like you can crochet from it as-is without it getting tangled, you should probably re-wind it. Some people like to re-wind everything, because then they can get it exactly the way they want it efore they start the project. And balls are easier to do without special equipment (most skeins are wound with mechanical assistance), thus: winding into balls.

[evilawyer]

Congrats on the scarf!

The winding is taking a hank that isn't a ball and winding it into a ball. It's easier to work with that way. It may also help keep the yarn uniformly taught (or loose) throughout it's length.