So I had just a tiny bit of spare change and bought a small digital kitchen scale to at least try and divvy up balls equally for doing two socks. With tax and free shipping from Amazon, only about $10 and change. Back lit display, can change to whatever weight measure you want, yada yada so handy dandy.
First test was a success with the Tofutsies in the blue/black/turquoise which I am going to name 'Deep Blue Sea'. Had started to roll it on my thumb already about halfway and when the scale got here I weighed both parts on the scale and (much like a 2x4 is no longer that dimension) it was only 96 gr. Ball band of course said 100. I then weighed just the one I had already wound, it was only off by about 4 gr. I then wound a little more, and a little more until it got to the halfway point, cut and then wound the second one since my other toys hadn't arrived yet.
Ball winder and swift again from Amazon not as cheap but on the cheap side and it came with 12 balls of 'wool'(chunky weight). No description, nothing on the tags, it is soft and squishy so therefore will assume it is acrylic or polyester. According to the reviews it was mostly favorable but one person complained that the instructions were not very good. I'm sorry, I had no problems figuring out either of them. If you've put together anything from Ikea, this was a cinch. The real problem is finding sufficient space and surface to attach both of them.
I started with the worst possible yarn, that turquoise slippery yarn I had used on a hat for Katie years ago. It was horrid. As the ball got bigger it would slide off the top or the bottom and not stay on the ball. I had to go really slow and then finally just pulled it off and wound the rest by hand. Bleh. Oh and leaving a tail for a center pull, totally did not work because the yarn kept slipping and obscured the hole and even the tail I had held out. The next test was the blue/gold sock yarn that I had started a sock and decided to not. That was at least in a ball and so I taped the end onto the base of the spool and wound it. Again, the winder is not consistent even with me providing intermediate tension. Finally got to the break on that, tied the ends together and continued but it was a chore that was more difficult than it should have been.
Alrighty, on to the big test, an actual skein of yarn. I chose the red white and blue sparkly that turned out to be another disaster.
The set up I was able to achieve, it will do, there's enough space between the bed and the cubbies to stand and manage the yarn. Just can't leave it up.
Unfortunately, I had messed with the skein previously so it was not a nice neat skein fresh off the shelf. I had already cut some of the strings holding it together (mistake two) and then cut the final one and somehow I ended up with four ends including the one connected to the ball I was winding. I started winding anyway, cautiously and carefully, with one notable problem. There isn't enough friction or drag on the swift so if you start winding fast it runs faster and you end up with slack. I had to use the back of my arm as a clutch of sorts so it didn't go spinning out of control. This causes an issue with the ball on the winder.... and I had to rewind a few passes. I even used the ball band wrapped around the spindle with the end of the yarn taped to it for security.
How it ended. There was a tangle of yarn on the swift with the working yarn I had getting caught on what looked like some runs that were doubled back. No choice but to cut it loose and try to untangle.
There is approximately 70 gr of yarn in the ball. Should be more than enough to do a pair of summer socks at least. I tried and tried to untangle this but gave up when my hands started hurting. Another frustration was my hands were dry and had bits of skin catching on the yarn. The remaining mess is now balled up in one of my boxes of other yarn. Just not in a mood to deal with it tonight.
So that's my excitement for today in Yarn Adventures. And yes, I am starting another pair of socks because....just because it's pretty!
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