I’m not up on all the correct terminology so please forgive me…lol But I have noticed that usually the yarn I get is sometimes knotted up inside. I’ve been working straight from the yarn as is but do you roll it into a ball before you use it to get rid of any tangles or to make it easier to work with? If so, how do you keep it together or from unravelling? Just curious 
~Simone
If I buy hanks I wind the yarn in balls. If I buy skeins I do not.
And if there are some knots inside I loose the tangles when they appear.
I do not have a ball winder so I use this nostepinde-technique:
Well I’m using Baby Clouds yarn and it comes in skeins and although it is very soft, it is also very fuzzy. It seems that the two places where you see ends (in the middle and on the outside) weren’t there. I found them both on the inside so I keep finding tangles…I’m wondering if I should re-roll it just to be safe…
I’ve found that if I have yarn like that, I do “re-ball” it. I use the technique in this forum by using my thumb, or a nostepinne. I find that if I deal with the knots before I knit the project it goes much easier!
Good Luck!
Theresa:thumbsup:
There are certian yarns that have “yarn vomit” that come out of the middle and I usually do rewind those into center pull balls to prevent future headaches!
If the yarn’s in a skein I don’t bother rewinding it. Yeah sometimes the center comes out a little too much and maybe tangled, but I just pull out the tangles as I go along. If too much comes out to stuff back in, I’ll make a butterfly with the extra yardage.
sue
For cones, skeins, and hanks I wind balls. Especially if it’s a large amount of yarn. Ball rolled yarn, from my experience, won’t risk tangling until the last foot or so, and by then I either need to join a new ball anyway, or bind off, so it’s never been a headache.
I mostly use the ‘cheapo’ stuff fronm Joanns, that come in the big skeins, which drive me insane because they are so floppy, so I [I]always[/I] roll them into balls. Never had a problem with knots, thankfully.
I just tried the trick of using a paper towel tube to roll a centre-pull ball, which is really cool, but the ball gets really huge with WW yarn, huger than I prefer.
If the skein is driving you crazy, then it can’t get any worse by rolling it into a ball. And while it’s a bit fiddly at first, once you get some girth on the ball, it becomes really easy. And if still isn’t ‘staying together’, why not wrap it around something? Like a little toy ball, or cardboard tube. That way it has a sturdy ‘base’ so to speak.
:shock: A what? I could’ve used one of those last weekend. How do you make it go? Is it magic? 
I’m serious. I really want to know.
@zip
:lol: Yes, it’s called nostepinde or nostepinne - it’s a scandinavian word and please do not ask me how to pronounce it :??
I can’t explain how to work with this thing. But I’ve learned it with the link I’ve posted and if I managed this you will too! I have no original nostepinde, I use a cheap paper towel tube 
And it’s not magic :lol:
If I use a paper towel tube, my dog will think it’s a toy for him to grab and tug away from me. After work, I’ll search youtube and Google videos to seek one in action. I need visual guidance for new things. Thanks for the link!
That nostepinde thing looks like a fancy version of what I did! I had no idea, and just wrapped the yarn in the same direction, turning the paper towel tube a bit each wrap. I think it’s nearly impossible to do wrong (unless you want something that looks exactly like what you’d get off a ballwinder)
zip, you must have two paper towel tubes: one for you and one for your dog :lol:
Look what I’ve found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPMmopJHzq4
Orangeus, when done in the right way the nostepinde-made “cakes” are looking exactly like the ones made with a ballwinder 
I thought it would spin. :lol: Didn’t know that I’d still have to wind the yarn by hand. I wonder if I could use my marble rolling pin…