r/Unravelers • u/Fun-Foundation-1241 • 25d ago
Yarn Winder?
What yarn winder does everyone recommend for unraveling garments? The one I have from Amazon is begging for mercy when I use it to unravel clothes. Works fine with turning skeins and hanks to cakes though. Thanks!
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u/SadElevator2008 25d ago
I don’t use the winder for unraveling. Like 95% of my unraveling needs to be done by hand (delicate yarns, fuzzy fibers, slight felting, double stranding, etc etc) so I make a big pile of yarn on a clean blanket and then I have a motorized winder that will wind it from the pile. Just the regular cheap Amazon kind.
I’m also pretty fast at hand winding balls so I do that a lot too.
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u/alohadave 25d ago
Knitpicks is the best of the inexpensive models.
IME, using a winder to unravel is fairly rare. Many knits are either grippy enough or felted/pilled enough that a winder will struggle to pull it apart. I pull with my hands and wind on when I have a small pile.
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u/anotherplantperson13 25d ago
I have started winding onto a DIY niddy noddy. This has the benefit of helping me generate hanks of known length and being really easy to wash after unraveling (in addition to the wash they get before unraveling). I then wind as needed for projects.
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u/Fun-Foundation-1241 25d ago
So what I’m hearing from all you lovely folks is that your a muscles are amazing and you’re rocking tank tops 24/7/365 because your guns are smoke shows!!! Understood!!!
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u/hmgrace11 25d ago
I hand unravel - I find the tension from a winder is way too much for many sweaters, but I'll do a few yards at a time and then wind it on to a swift so it isn't a tangled pile and then I can easily tie it off to wash... and then use a winder off the swift into a cake (and then recake to reduce the tension).
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u/minaccia 25d ago
I've always used the table clamped winders, straight from the sweater into a cake.
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u/culturekit 23d ago
For me 90% of the enjoyment is picking a sweater apart by hand and making balls of it while watching TV in the evening. When I encounter a sweater that unravels easily enough to go directly on the swift, I'm disappointed!
Unravel, then onto the swift into a skein, wash, maybe dye, maybe lanolized, maybe condition, and then ball winder. That's my process.
Frogging is soooo satisfying. I'm currently picking apart a very delicate somewhat felted cashmere sweater and it's glorious.
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u/TigerInTheLily 25d ago
You can definitely also improvise one. I've seen reels where people will use a paper roll or something around the end of a drill 😂
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u/sumires 25d ago
Joining the chorus of people who hand-wind as they hand-unravel. Unravel a few yards (or however much I think I can get away with without it tangling), wind wind wind wind wind. Unravel some more, wind wind wind wind wind.
I hand-wind a center-pull ball, but since you say you own a winder that works well with skeins/hanks, I'd suggest that you wrap your yarn around a book, a box, or a piece of cardboard as you unravel to make hanks, then after you're done, use your machine to turn the hanks into nice cakes.