I have been PINING over one of these super cool wooden ball winders…thought it would be a real tree-t. All puns aside… What would be better, I ash you?
So I ordered one — DETAILS HERE
And honestly, it exceeded my expectations.
I had been using a rather old, rather jerky, and rather squeaky plastic model. the kind with plastic gears that grind off with use. And I can’t tell you how many times my yarn slipped off the guide and got wrapped up on the greasy gears. Oh brother. That was a nightmare!
So made a couple of videos — one showing it in use… and actually I did it on a recent Virtual Knitting Circle.
**NOTE – I actually thought that the video was paused for a bit — didn’t want to have people sit through winding the entire 100gr skein. Sort of like watching paint dry or grass grow.
But, as luck would have it, the video didn’t pause… so you get some very honest commentary on the ball winder — between me and my mom. And by the way — mom DOES knit — but I think she meant that she wasn’t knitting as much as she used to. She has a huge background in fiber arts — knitting, spinning, weaving — not to mention raising prize-winning Romney sheep. And — I made a second video showing how to assemble… which was pretty easy.
Why spend time untangling yarn when you should be spending that time knitting!
The Fabulous Ball Winder
I was super pleased, especially with how quiet it is, and how smooth. I had no problem with the yarn tangling, and my maiden “wind” went very well.
I think if I was going to change anything, it would be to put a larger knob on for turning the handle. It would make it easier to grip when turning and would be a simple modification, involving just one screw. A nice little ceramic knob — like a drawer pull or small doorknob would be great.
Yarn wound is from Barnyardknits.com, fingering yarn in winterberry. (All of their yarn is gorgeous, tell them GypsyRambler1 told you!!)
And the little peanut of a dog that video bombs me is Rainey!
HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE BALL WINDER
Unfortunately, this ball winder did not come with any instructions for use — or DIRECTIONS for assembly. Luckily, there were only 6 parts, and it went together pretty easily. But, I made a video, so you could see how it is done.
HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY BALL WINDER POST!
