I hate it! I started winding some cashmere up a couple of days ago and its in a right tangle! Some are easier than others. Lorna's Laces is always quite quick to do.

So, I've just bought a swift and winder from the Wooly Workshop. Hopefully it'll make life easier, especially as a lot of the yarn i get isn't already wound up.

I once spent about three days winding a skein of Colinette Giotto :( . I sometimes have the tendency to pick up the yarn end and start winding only to find that the tail end has snaked through the strands in the skein and I have to stop every few minutes to unpick it.

I have a home-made swift and a ball winder too. As long as I get the skein on the swift nice and straight, I can wind a ball in a matter of minutes now. They're great time savers (and the resulting balls are nice and neat too :) ).

I hated it - so hubby bought me a swift and winder for Christmas and now its brilliant:D

I hate winding yarn into balls. I once tangled an entire skein of sock yarn and it took me and my bloke 11 hours altogether to un knot and untangle it all. Never again!

So I bought a wool winder which I love but bloke still hates standing there with the skein draped round his arms.

...but bloke still hates standing there with the skein draped round his arms.
Get a swift, or make one (or get the bloke to do it :D). I have a pattern for a wooden one that AmelieB sent me a while back, if you're interested. The only adaptation I'd suggest if you do make it, is to add a clamp to secure it to a desk or table, as it has a tendency to move around a bit.

I hate winding wool because it's dead time. I could be knitting with that instead of winding it up. I once spent hours sorting out some lace which I fooolish started putting into a ball in the library. My niece was choosing books and I simply could not resist the lace in my bag. It was a complete mess and made me convinced I would never by a skein of yarn again. Skeins should be illegal because they seriously affect your mental health.

I always regarded yarn winding as one of the gentle and 'ordering' jobs that goes along with knitting- therapeutic in its own way.

I've had various winding devices over the years, but 2 chair backs always did the job pretty well (assuming that you can get the skein untwisted enough to hang properly).

You do have to understand that I'm the sort of person who makes lace, bastes a duck for 18 hours to make it into a Chinese crispy duck, and makes their own candied peel (much nicer than the stuff you buy in shops, but takes over a week to get there).

I've never had to do it...and wouldn't have a clue what to do!

I only once tried winding yarn without the aid of proper equipment, and I made the foolish mistake of starting at 11pm - by 4am I was sat in a heap of Collinette Silky-Chic gibbering and giggling hysterically.

I then invested in a swift and ball winder, and although it's still not the best way to spend a few hours, it's certainly easier.

I've been thinking about it alot today as I have been hanking up handspun lace-weight yarn all day ready for dyeing, I can't begin to imagine tackling it without the right tools.

This takes me back! I remember visiting my grandmother and having the job of winding all her wool for her - hurt her back, you see... ;) She used to have me hang the skein around my feet and then wind like that!

Well i aint a fan of this wool winding! I'm in the process and its draped over chairs but god its boring! I think i'll be buying a ball winder for next time! Jill i know there isn't much room in your shop but i really think you ought to provide a ball winding service! ;) :P

That's actually a really good idea- a little wool winding area where you can charge 50p a skein or whatever to use the kit. I'm sure that there are lots of people who would use the facility.

I agree, it would save me buying one! :D

Don't suggest more ways of getting my hard earned cash to Jill! She's bad enough already, filling her shop with tempting yarn indeed! :rant:

A ball winding service is a great idea. For the yarn I buy over the net though, it'd mean more trips to the post office collection site, as the little yarn cakes would be more difficult to get through the letterbox than the skeins.

Get a ballwinder from Ebay, Rooty and make a swift. Winding the yarn is really quite therapeutic then. I like to watch the yarn cakes forming (but then again, I'm easily amused :lol:) .