Yarn Ball Winder

I'm a casual crocheter and keep my yarn stash relatively small, but I wanted a way to keep partial skeins more organized. I read a blog post about yarn ball winders and based on that I was going to purchase one that cost around $75 and was rather large. After meeting with my local knit/crochet group, this one was recommended by more than one person so I purchased it instead. I'm so glad I saved myself about $50 because this winder works perfectly! It was easy to put together and use with the instructions on the side of the box. It feels very solid in parts and while using it. I have a small kitchen table and I attached it to that with ease. In fact, I haven't moved it from the table even though we use the table a lot because it's a small item and doesn't get in the way. The only negative, if you can call it that, is that more slippery yarns, like Caron Simply Soft, don't hold together in a ball as well as, say, Red Heart Super Saver. I actually made a partial ball of CSS fly off the winder because I was cranking too fast. I use CSS a lot, so if you're like me, just know you should crank a little slower and the balls will be a little looser. They still do hold together okay and are easy to craft from once wound. Even with that, I'm still very happy with this purchase and am so glad my knit/crochet club recommended it. It does exactly what I need it to do, nothing I don't, and is a small and compact item. I'd recommend it to any casual crafter.

If you've been working straight from skeins or spending time hand-winding, I highly recommend this winder! It works really well and makes really neat, cute cakes of yarn. Assembly: To make the package smaller, it does come with some assembly required. The directions are a little lacking, but it wasn't hard to figure out. Setup: The style of clamp is a little bit annoying to tighten, but it results in a really solid hold. The clamp itself is VERY adjustable to table thickness, which is another bonus to the style used. Use: You'll have to figure out the ideal speed, but it goes pretty quickly. I found it helpful NOT to have the skein too close to the winder, because it gives me more opportunity to stop winding if there's a tangle. It winds rather loosely on its own, but you can add more tension (and therefore tightness) to the yarn by letting it run through your fingers. Results: Once you figure out a good speed and tension, the cakes are really neat and tidy! It almost makes me wish I stored my yarn on shelves, because I would enjoy stacking up a bunch of these cute little cakes for display. But the most important part for me: the center-pull yarn comes RIGHT out as I crochet, which does NOT happen when I crochet straight from a skein!!! Size: I wish it were bigger, so I could easily wind larger skeins. It's perfect for the smaller "normal" sized skeins; the last one I wound was 4.5 ounces (specifically 277 yards of worsted weight) and it started to bump the yarn-guiding arm at the end. I plan to experiment with a double-ball winding solution I found on the internet, though. Google "THE SIMPLE HACK TO DOUBLE YOUR YARN WINDER CAPACITY" to see the trick. Apparent quality: So far, so good! The build seems solid, it survived my 7-year-old grinding the gears a bit when he didn't stop for a tangle, and it's not squeaky (yet).

So I bought this particular one because the price was not unreasonable and the color more subdued than some others for sale--I dislike garishly colored tools, just my preference. I've now used it for several balls and it seems to wind evenly enough and produced some very nice tidy cakes, although this IS a small winder and so only relatively small skeins can be accommodated. Assembly was not too difficult. Using it was easy. However...go ahead and toss the box it comes in, you'll never be able to use it for storage. Once you click the thread guide wire into place? You will literally break the winder before getting it to swing back to the side (the position it arrives in). During assembly it snaps into a groove with side "bumps" keeping it in place and it seems there is NO getting it back out of those, however hard you wrench at it (and I don't advise that--mine looks slightly bent now and is still stuck in that groove). Not spring-loaded, no release latch, no play in it, no way out. So the guide wire remains permanently sticking out the one side, and the winder no longer fits into the box. Gonna be awkward to figure out how to store this thing, since I don't plan to leave it on my table when not in use and even with the cylinder and clamp arm removed it is still a very odd shape. So knock off a star for that, because I don't appreciate that unexpected annoyance.

Love it! I have a crafts business and use a lot of yarn. Yarn storage has always been a challenge, as skein sizes vary so much between weights. This handy-dandy ball winder provides uniform yarn "cakes" regardless of yarn weight, making it much easier to organize and store. I easily use this without a yarn swift, holding the yarn in my fingers to keep the tension. I place the skein in a plastic bin set on the floor before starting. The bin keeps the yarn from bouncing all over the floor. It took me a few different bin sizes before finding one that worked well. The winner was the "Essentials Round Plastic Storage Buckets with Handles, 9.375x12.375 in," from Dollar Tree. Highly recommend picking up this item (for only $1!), or something similar in size. HUGE help! As others have mentioned, it does squeak. I'm sure a drop of WD-40 or whatever you have on hand in the kitchen could fix it. It hasn't annoyed me enough yet to try. To keep the finished cake from unraveling, I use a plastic alligator clip (search Amazon using "B078PQ96CP" to find). The clips work really well and allow me to tag each cake with its brand, color, and weight. Highly recommend this easy to assemble, easy to use tool. Particularly if, like me, you have a lot of yarn!

This yarn ball winder is a life saver. I no longer have to wind my yarns by hand and it saves. Lot of time. The action is smooth and yarn doesn't get caught below. Definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to tidy up their messy clump of yarn.

Súper fácil de usar, no se atasca al girar y deja unos ovillos preciosos.

This is a great Yarn ball winder. It's sturdier than others on the market and the price point is great. Well worth the investment. I'm really happy with mine. I have been using mine regularly for a couple of months now and no issues as yet to report.

I watched a few reviews on YouTube and decided to go with this winder to make me some yarn cakes and very happy with the purchase.

Das Wolle wickeln macht mit dem Gerät Spaß, geht schnell, und die Knäul sehen super aus und lassen sich schön abstricken. Bedienung ist kinderleicht und ohne Anleitung gut zu verstehen. Leider hielt dieser Spaß nicht lange an, nach etwa 9 bis 10 Knäul machte es leise "Knack", und die Kurbel drehte ins Leere, die Wickelvorrichtung dreht sich nicht mehr mit. Damit geht das Gerät dann Montag zurück. Nachtrag: nach reiflicher Überlegung hab ich mir das Gerät nach der ( völlig problemlosen) Rücksendung nochmal geholt. Und Mittlerweile hab ich den Wollwickler seid rund 8 Monaten, und bisher tut er weiter gut seine Dienste. Es ist übrigens hilfreich, den Faden beim Wickeln noch über einen Finger laufen zu lassen und so etwas zu spannen, dann werden die Knäul besser. Jedenfalls bin ich jetzt zufrieden, also erhöhe ich meine Sternenzahl von 1 auf 5).