Using a yarn winder to make a pull skein

As a long time knitter, I have tons of stash. Some is in skeins, some in cones. A long time ago, I snapped up a 2 lb cone of “Yarn country Cashmere, alpaca, wool” for about $20 in a light ivory-cream/ camel sort of color.

Such a bargain! Except. . . I’ve never knit it up. Obviously, it’s only a bargain if I use the yarn.

It occurred to me that I’d love an ivory-cream/camel colored scarf to match my camel colored winter coat. But, this yarn is lace weight, and I would really like the scarf to heavier than that. Also, I don’t want to carry around a 2lb cone of yarn in the car. So, I decided to use this double and make a nice convenient pull skein.

As you can see, I own a yarn winder so I have the equipment to create skeins. I prefer pull skeins. So, I’ll show you how to make a pull-skein. The method involves: A yarn winder, a cone and an empty toilet paper roll.

The first step is to create a few slits in the bottom of the toilet paper roll. This will make it easier to put the roll on the yarn winder, and, more importantly, will anchor the yarn when you wind it.

Next, draw the free yarn end through the toilet paper roll going from the end with the slits to the unslit end. Anchor the yarn in the slits.

Next, push the toilet paper roll on to the yarn winder with the slit end down; the free end of the yarn should be coming out of the top of the toilet paper roll. Push this on firmly so the toilet paper roll touches the base of the yarn winder cone holder. Place the big yarn cone on the floor.

Now just wind off as much yarn as you like (but if you are going to double this yarn, no more than about 2″ in diameter when you look down on the skein because pull skeins really shouldn’t be much larger than that. Trust me, I have experience.

Next lift the toilet paper roll with it’s yarn off the cone holder of your winder. Because we are making a double wound skein, keep everything intact. We are now going to treat this new skein as a “toilet paper cone” of yarn. Even though this could be used as a pull skein, we’ll wind off the outside because I find that easier at this point.

How, place the “toilet paper cone” on the floor, or, if you like, stack it on top of the other cone. Staking will make the two yarns twist around each other very slightly.

I have these nifty cone holders I bought a long time ago, which help prevent the toilet paper cone form “jumping around” when you wind off that light weight cone. I don’t know whether they are still available anywhere. If you can’t find one, I advise placing the small toilet paper cone in a box or small empty trash can. (A plastic tissue box cover might work too. If you have nothing, winding slowly also prevents the cone form “jumping around”.

Repeat the process for winding the first skein, but this time draw a strand from each “cone” through the toilet paper roll.

When winding two strands, I advise letting both strands slide through the thumb and finger of your free hand to create some tension and make sure one strand doesn’t tangle around the other. I keep winding until one of the cones is empty, then I break the yarn and wrap the last bits around the outside of the skein I’ve just made.

Once your skein is wound off, pull it gently off the cone holder of your winder.

So, we now have a skein with a toilet paper roll in the center. Classy, huh?

To turn it into a pull skein, pull gently on the toilet paper roll to draw it out. Voila! You now have a pull skein.

Rampant Commercialism

If you don’t have a yarn winder, you might want to shop for one. Also, if you want to wind from hanks instead of cones, you might want a yarn swift. If you want to measure yardage as you wind your skeins, the yarn counter is great. I’ll dig mine up and show you now it works later on. I’m pretty sure I bought all my items on Ebay (a long time ago), but it’s always wise to check prices at Amazon before bidding at eBay. I found these items through Amazon: