IN A TWIST
Q I couldn’t resist buying some gorgeous artisan hand-dyed yarn, which came in twisted hanks. I start to knit with it and got into a dreadful tangle. The ladies at my knitting group say you need to wind the skeins of yarn into balls before you start – can you recommend a good winder and how do they work? Louise Davison, Stirling
Hanks and skeins certainly do show o the aesthetic qualities of all those lust-worthy, hand-dyed yarns very well, but you need to do a bit of preparation before you start knitting with them. What you need is a yarn swift (they are widely available) and the way they work is to hold your skein in place keeping a su cient tension. They can then spin freely, so you can wind the end of the skein o into a ball ready for knitting. You can also invest in a ball winder to help speed up that part of the process, which will wind the yarn into a ‘cake’ without tangles or knots. Sophie