[color=darkblue]I’ve used my ball winder probably five times and every time but one when I pull the yarn from the middle it is all tangled up in there. How do I start the ball? How do you put the starting piece onto the ball winder? I’m betting that is what is causing the problem. Do I hold it above the winder or tucked inside and down? Apparently I can’t see it right in the directions. :o)
Thanks,
Susie[/color]
My ball winder has a notch at the top of the stem to hold the beginning o the yarn. Yours doesn’t have that?
[color=darkblue]Yes, it has a notch and I put the yarn in the notch but I think I may be letting it hang long or something. When I go to use the yarn it is all tangled up in there. Do you grab that little piece that it is the notch BEFORE you take if off the winder? Do you do something special with it while in the notch…I mean in the way you put in on the notch. 
Sounds goofy but I don’t want to wind anymore if it is going to do that.
Thanks for your help,
Susie who didn’t get notified that I had a reply and is suppose to.
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well the only time i do anything special is if the yarn is especially slippery. Then i tie a little knot in the end before notching it so it seems like it will hold better. I do grab the tail before pulling it off or it would get sucked down into the middle and i don’t wanna hafta fish it outta there!
[color=darkblue]Must be I’m NOT grabbing the end before I take it off is what the problem is. Apparently I’m fishing and coming up with a whale instead of a bass. :cheering:
Thanks for your help,
Susie [/color]
Yeah I would think that it would be like pulling the string out of the middle of a skein of Encore or something…noooooooo yarn vomit!!! (I am going to run for office and that is going to be part of my platform!)
You’re too funny. :roflhard:
Thanks for the help.
Have a nice Sunday,
Susie
I’ve found that if I wind the yarn too tightly that it also gets tangled up yarn on yarn on the inside of the ball, even though I have the center end freely available. LOL, that sounds confusing, all that to say, if you wind the yarn too tightly it will tangle as you pull it out from the center.
[color=darkblue]Becka,
How on earth would you wind it any looser than what it winds when you are turning the crank and the yarn is loose???
I knew you’d show up. Thanks,
Susie
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I’ve been wondering if there is a way to wind a looser ball on the ball winder.
it seems when i wind slower it is looser and a lot of times skeins wind looser for me than hanks do (I only wind skeins when the yarn vomit is outta control!)
Sometimes I find I get it tight on the winder, too, when the yarn doesn’t want to spin easily on the swift. It creates too much tension, I guess. When I take the ball off the winder, I usually put my finger under the strand that’s across the top to make sure I don’t lose the end.
[color=darkblue]Ok, I think Ingrid that is my problem is never having grabbed the tail.
Thanks,
Susie[/color]
I am like bren, when I wind too fast then the ball is tight, so I just wind it slower 
Ah! Thanks. I think I’ve been trying to set land speed records when I am winding. I’ll try slowing down (but that does take away from my knitting time )