Can anyone help this desperate mama?

[Fyrestorm]

A very kind mama generously donated 3 skeins of peace fleece to me to use for holiday helpers. I am getting ready to make a sweater and was attempting to wind this skein into a ball. It is now almost 2 hours later and I have a tangled mess in my lap.

What did I do wrong? It looked so neat and tidy when I took the label off and untwisted it. Now I have about a dozen pieces in my frankensteinesque ball and the rest looking like a rat's nest in my lap.

I have to do 2 more skeins and am afraid I will pull all of my hair out before I'm done.

Is there a trick to this that I missed?

[Piglet68]

Were the skeins in a twisted oval shape? I have found it can be tricky to unwind these. What I found helped was putting them over two supports after you untwist it...hmm, how to describe... Okay, so you take the label off and it's twisted a bit. If you untwist it, you end up with a long oval shaped circle of yarn. You need to stick it over something that will support it at both ends of the oval, for example you could use your feet (but then you are a bit stuck). You could use anything you can drape it over so that as you unwind the yarn to roll into your ball, the circle shape doesn't tangle up.

wow, it's really hard to describe this in text! hope this makes sense!

\------/ imagine the slashes are your left and right feet, and the dotted line is the yarn held between your feet....does that help? lol

[Fyrestorm]

Yes! That makes sense! I had it laying on the floor and that's when the mess happened. I remember holding yarn when my mother was winding balls, so I get exactly what you mean.

Thank you!

[iowaorganic]

I am somewhat flexible- so this is what I do. I sit back in a chair and put my feet on the arms and drape the circle of yarn around my knees. then I wind as fast as I can before disaster strikes and I have to take off the yarn at which point it becomes an absolute tangled disaster. Then I cry and proceed to spend the next 4 hours trying to get the knots out. In the event that I am not interupted- it works perfectly!

[Think of Winter]

Put aside the tangled mess. Maybe you won't need that one. Start with a fresh skein.

Open it up into a big loop. I've found it really helps to "snap" the skein a few times after you've stretched it out on your hands to align the strands. Expand the loop all the way and quickly jerk your hands away from each other. Before taking the ties out, you need to look for strands that have doubled back at the ties. Look for any loops near the ties, follow the strand, and put it back where it belongs. Except for the ties, there should be no yarn that doesn't travel smoothly around the loop.

Now you can take the ties out. Sit down, put your knees near your butt, and spread your knees out until the loop fits around them. Then start winding. If you get a tangle, don't pull. If it's trapped under other strands, tease it out. If it's trapped in a loop, try to put the loop back where it belongs.

hts!

[meco]

In addition to the great tips. I also use my feet to keep the oval shape, and I wrap it into a ball with a winder. I just go slowly.

You can also make a makeshift swift with tinker toys, and it works great to keep it untangled.

To untangle yarn, I put on some relaxing music and just slowly work it out. If you need to break it occasionally, you can always rejoin it later. You might be able to salvage some of the first skein.

[Peace+Hope]

do you have anyone in your life who always picks lint off others? keeps a perfect linen closet? loves putting lights on a christmas tree?

step 1: invite over for tea and cookies, beer, snacks, etc
step 2: set up comfy room with music and above snacks
step 3: establish yourself comfortably, working on the unsullied yarn and gently bemoan your ruined skein
step 4: enjoy watching your friend/family member meticulously and patiently fix your rat's nest with great relish and concentration!

[DeerMother]

If the rats nest gives you fits (I sweat profusely and curse a lot when I have to untangle yarn ), remember that it isn't gold and you can always cut and spit splice it.