My first hank took six hours to unwind. A friend unwound the second one in 90 minutes. I have four to go. It is Filatura Lanarota yarn. 100% cashmere.
Is there an easier way to do this?
Nancy :wall:
Did you buy it at a yarn store locally or from some place online? If you bought it at a store, if you take it back and explain, they should be able to put it on a swift and use a ball winder for you. I’d probably call first just to be on the safe side.
If you bought it on line and there is no yarn store nearby to wind it for you, a lot of people like to put the hank around their feet or knees, have a willing friend or spouse hold it, put it on the back of a chair, or even a lampshade and use that to hold the yarn. It’s easiest if you figure out which loose end is closest to the outside and start the ball from that one. If you start with the inside end, it will be a lot trickier and tanglier.
I bought it on line. I have had hanks before and they were twisted, this one looks folded and had a separate piece of yarn tied around each end, though not attached to the hank. So I’m :wall: :wall:
Did you perhaps buy this from Smileys yarn internet sale? I bought the same yarn last year and one heck of a time trying to wind it out of the hank. I don’t know if it’s the yarn or what but it made me very leery of shopping at smiley’s again.
Yes I bought it at Smileys. :happydance: I have some mohair from them, I hope it’s easier than the cashmere. Did you ever make anything with it? As soon as my husband gets off his *** I will post some pictures.
Nancy 
Is most of the problem the way the hank is wound, or is part of it the nature of the yarn, like fuzziness?
I’ve heard of some people putting especially fuzzy yarn like mohair in the freezer for a while (not sure how long though) to help calm down the fiber, if that makes any sense. It is a long shot, but maybe chilling it out for a while will help smooth it out and make it easier to wind. I don’t know how it would work on cashmere
Thank you so much for all your help I will use that method on my mohair. I finally got my cashmere into balls. :cheering:
I bought the yarn to make two scarves for Christmas last year and it knitted up well, although I thought it would be softer than it was; more “luxurious.” Frankly, I was disappointed in the texture/feel of the yarn. They turned out well. The yarn was not splitty and there were no knots. It isn’t so fuzzy that it might have caused the difficulty in winding the hank. I think it was just the way it was wound into the hank. I can’t offer any suggestions on winding, other than to carefully lay it out (I did it on a table) and slowly wind it up that way. My subsequent skeins were easier to work with than the first. Probably because I was aware that there would be a problem.
BTW, I used a Russian join to attach the second and third balls to the knitting. When I tried to just knit in the start of the new ball it was way too bulky and sort of stood out in the knitting. Check out the videos in basic techniques to see how this is done. It really is simple and looks seamless.
I think I would only buy from Smileys if I was familiar with the yarn I was purchasing (the Lopi, Lion, etc.). Some of the other stuff is unknown to me and god only knows where it was manufactured and under what conditions. I think that may be why the cashmere was so hard to handle. I’m not adverse to discount yarns, but I think this is a matter of cheap yarn/cheap processing.
Good Luck with the cashmere. You’ll probably be satisfied with the finished item (Maybe not ‘blown away.’). It’s good/OK yarn, but I don’t think I would purchase again.
Gladys in SE Michigan
First let me say that I love Smiley’s.
I am a regular at their annual holiday “hotel sales” (there’s one in Manhatttan from November 28 to Dec. 2 this year) and always leave with a big bag stuffed with Lopi, merino, sock yarn and one or two irresistible novelties.
Not cashmere, though, because there’s cashmere and there’s cashmere. For $15 a ball you’re not going to get premium cashmere. It’s probably genuine, which is to say, from cashmere goats, but it’s likely to be be short, recycled or otherwise second-rate fiber, and it’s not processed with the same care as the $50/ball stuff. As Cheesiesmom says, her bargain cashmere was okay, but not the untimately soft and luxurious yarn she hoped for.
I don’t think Smiley’s was misrepresenting their yarn. It’s just that, as Mama always said, you get what you pay for.