Best ball winder?

#1

Is there a particular one to stay away from? What would be considered the best bang for your buck? What about swifts? All they all pretty good, or are there some to run from?

Thanks!

#2

Thanks for asking these questions, I need to know too. I am tired of winding by hand. My arms are so tired! :slight_smile:

#3

The most common ball winder around is the blue and white one made by Royal. I love mine. There is another one that costs less–I’m not sure of the make–and I know some people have it but I haven’t heard any complaints there, either.

I have the wooden clamp-on-the-table swift. It’s Swedish. It was one of the more expensive ones out there, but I’m impressed at it’s craftsmanship and I know it will last a lifetime. It collapses for easy storage. Others like the stand-on-the-table swift and have had not problems, either.

I think that if you used them everyday, you’d want the best quality ones. Since ball winding is a sporatic thing for most of us, any of them will really do.

#4

i went to Joann.com and typed in Swift and that’s where i got my swift. Used a 50% coupon (which can be found at www.currentcodes.com ) and got it for a good price. love it.

also got the same ball winder as they have on there but i got it at my LYS because i would get it faster and it was only like $2 more. (i have no patience for waiting!)

if you are going to use coupons with them you have to do them as two separate orders and can’t use the same coupon twice but if you are patient you can get them both fairly cheap and they are good!

#5

Okay, so do I invest in a swift or a winder? Which is more important to have?

#6

Winder by far, in my opinion. Everyone’s got something they can put a hank over. Or if you have two people, one can hold the hank while the other winds. Or you could even hold it and wind with your foot. The balls come off the winder not too tightly wound, in a nice flat-sided center pull ball.

#7

I am buying one tonight. I need to organize my yarn and I think if I had nice even same balls of everything I could organize and store it better.

#8

Tours of Ingrid’s house when she is holding the yarn and winding with her foot will begin at 5:30pm.

Tours of the yarn stash and refreshments will follow.

#9

:roflhard:

#10

:roflhard: :roflhard: Great for the calf muscles, though!

#11

As the pp said, Royal is by far the most common brand. One thing to note, however. If you do a lot of winding, you will want a metal swift and not a wooden one. While wooden ones are prettier to look at, the Royal winders are not made to work in conjunction with them – the wooden swifts are too heavy and strip the gears of the Royal winder more quickly.

#12

Hmm, I think a swift is more essential than a winder. I can never find anything in my house that’s the same width as a hank of yarn. There isn’t usually another pair of hand available (for me) and the yarn-around-the-feet method only led to disasters for me :rollseyes: I like to wind balls by hand, though, so maybe that maked the difference.

#13

Thanks for the recommendations everyone! And thanks especially brendajos for the coupon code! :happydance:

What is it about swifts that make them look so peaceful and neat? Ah. I must be sick with my knitting obsession virus again.

#14

And don’t forget Julie’s brilliant made from Goodwill finds swift

#15

Thanks for the coupon link, Brendajos! :thumbsup:

Finally ordered my swift from Joann’s tonight. After winding two skeins with the ball winder only, I’m thinking I definitely need the swift, too, since I have 2 hanks of 800+ yards of lace to wind. The chair option just didn’t work very well for me, and those hanks were only 200+ yards.

#16

Go for the swift. You’ll never regret it.