Hemp Tangles

#1

Hi, does anybody have any tips on winding Hempforknitting? I’ve made three center-pull cakes with my swift and ball winder and I’ve had them all tangle up pretty badly. The texture of the yarn makes it kind of separate, fall apart. I’ve got this one in a little baggie, hoping to hold it together, but it’s going to heck in a handbasket (or in a Ziploc, more accurately) and I can see I’m going to have another knotted mess to undo before it’s all over.

I thought of winding it into a plain old ball, but something tells me that might go the same way as a cake. Any advice?

Thanks so much
Maryann
Narberth, PA

#2

I’ve been thinking of using hemp for a project and doing some reading up on in. I’ve got these 2 books from the library - Amy Singer’s “No Sheep for You” and Clara Parkes “The Knitter’s book of Yarn.”

They both have info about hemp, and one of them said not to wind it in a center pull ball. The reason a center pull ball works so well with wool is that it wants to stick to itself so it keeps it from falling apart. With non-wool yarns, it will just fall apart and tangle. She said to just wind a ball and knit from the outside.

#3

Thanks so much, Marilyn! It’s good to know I’m not the only one with this problem.