[Lila]

Of course, I'd love to be able to afford Nancy's knit knacks, I can't. The two sold on JoAnn.com have some bad reviews that frighten me. I don't know much about the Royal brand one- does anyone have this one? Any suggestions?

 

[CelticFish]

I got the cheaper of the two on Joann.com, on the recommendation of several knitting friends who have the same one, and it's fine. My LYS actually also has that same red and cream ball winder, too. My one complaint about it is that the clamp tends to wiggle loose if you're winding ball after ball in a row, and needs to be tightened up a smidge every now and again. However, I did wind 1500 yards of laceweight on it this weekend without issue, so I think at least part of the problem was me learning just how tight to make the clamp on my table.

 

[Millie Ivy]

That's good to know. Joann's reviews always scare the crap out of me, esp since some reaalllllly chintzy stuff gets rave reviews....

:

I basically put a ball winder out of my mind for now since I can't afford any but those right now. I figured hand winding would be better than wasting money.

 

[LLobsterTV]

i have a royal ball winder and i like it. it is plastic so i wonder about the durability. i've only had it for a few weeks. i have pics of it on my blog if you'd like to see it action. http://knittymcknitterson.blogspot.com

 

[Meiri]

I use a stick called a Nostepinne to wind my yarn into balls. Made my own, though there are fancy pretty ones out there to buy.

All you need is a 1" dowel, a way to carve a bit of a notch for tying the end and to give it a slight taper, and sandpaper of varying grits to make it nice and smooth. I oil mine with my coconut and cocao butter oil too.

Dry it well though.

I've even used a knitting needle as a nostepinne, when consolidating a ball into a smaller ball and the 1" center would just be too much.

 

[Lila]

Thanks for the suggestions. I settled on a Royal. I need more than a dowel, as I spin my own yarn and I am aiming at opening a yarn shop in about 3 years. It sounds really cool, though! I wish I'd known to do that a long time ago!

 

[TigerTail]

thank you for the nostepinne info, meir!

http://www.mts.net/~tabachek/nn-np.htm

 

[Millie Ivy]

Oh, yeah! I forget to mention a nostepinne. Maybe bc I knew Lila *needs* a ball winder. But I want to get or make a nostepinne. I don't really want to carve anything so I am on the lookout for a nice, um, lathed table leg or something. DH keeps looking at Home Depot for me...lol

 

[Meiri]

I hope that works out well for you Lila! More ambitious than I am!

I'm thinking a table leg might be a bit too thick. I think 1" is a bit on the thick side sometimes.

All I did when I made the ones I've made was to whittle the working end just enough to be able to slide the ball off and cut a groove between the handle area and the working area. Then it was all sanding work to smooth it. My personal nostepinne actually came out with an oval cross section. Doesn't matter as long as there's just enough friction for the yarn to not just slide off and just enough smoothness for it to slide off when you want it to.

Like I said, I've used a knitting needle as a nostepinne too, though for a large skein of Lion Homespun, that would be truly obnoxious.

I've even heard of people using empty TP rolls for winding yarn onto. I think the roll is left in?

 

[Millie Ivy]

Yeah, I have never tried the tp roll yet. I always end up using my hands!