Friday, June 4, 2010

{Malabrigo Woes}

Last night I started the pre-process of knitting a Christmas gift.  I picked a pattern to which I had an appropriate yarn in my stash.  A couple of skein of Malabrigo in a beautiful brick red colour.


And so begun the process of winding the first skein in to a center pull ball so I could begin.  Three hours later, it looked like this:



Seriously? Is there something I'm doing wrong? This is the THIRD skein of Malabrigo sock yarn that's done this to me. UGH!!! It is trying my patience and I"m not sure I would buy it again just because of this issue.  Is this all sock yarn that does this?  ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

12 comments:

  1. Hm, I'm guessing you don't use a swift and a winder? I don't think I could live without my swift, as I'm winding so much lace!

    I guess the only thing to do is to just keep at it! Maybe ball it a little at a time, with lots of pauses for swearing and complaining :)

    Hugs / Jenny

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  2. Since I don't knit this was all Greek to me...but I love the color of that yarn!

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  3. Get yourself a swift... put the skein around the pegs, then just wind it up.

    I got this one on a recommendation from a Twitter buddy and it's been awesome.

    http://www.etsy.com/listing/46400228/large-oak-yarn-swift-winder-adjustable

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  4. Oh no! I have a couple skeins of Malabrigo sock but I haven't wound them into balls yet. I've had a couple sock yarns that got a little tangled but I was able to wind them eventually.

    If you can't fix it, there's a group on Ravelry (don't remember the name) and they LOVE to untangle yarns. Someone volunteers, you send them the yarn and they return it in a neat ball :)

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  5. I feel for you..
    but hey, Christmas? I'm not even done with my mum's birthday present for next month. Somehow I don't think I'll do Christmas presents this year, but at the same time I have a minimal budget so love, in the form of homemade, would count for a lot.

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  6. Sarah, I put two straight-backed chairs back to back, lay the opened skein over them, and then move the chairs away from each other so that the yarn is a little tight. Then, I take the cardboard roll at the center of a roll of paper toweling, cut a notch in it, and sort of squish the end with the notch. Put the knotted end of the yarn into the notch (so that the knot is inside), then run the cardboard around and around the chairs until the ball is wound. (Okay, I used the cardboard technique until I got a ballwinder from Knitpicks last spring.)

    I did have a ball of Malabrigo sock yarn do exactly what you show about two months ago, and I truly thought I would lose what little is left of my mind. Hang in there.
    Liz

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  7. If you don't have a swift, I've heard you can use the backs of two chairs.

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  8. You have my sympathy! I've had tangles like this!

    I can tell you that even with a swift, I have found that Malabrigo sock yarn tends to be difficult to wind into a ball.

    I don't have any magic tricks to fix it, but it helps to have a swift. I got my Mama Bear from the Oregon Woodwoorker. Totally worth $50!

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  9. Yes, get yourself a swift. I've also heard that Malabrigo tends to tangle.

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  10. I second (third?) the idea of just of buying a swift and ball-winder. I put off buying one for a few years after learning to knit because I wanted to spend any extra cash on yarn instead. But now I couldn't live without it. If you buy a traditional wooden swift, it'a actually an attractive addition to a crafting area. Meanwhile, I hope you don't give up on the Malabrigo, it's such luscious stuff!

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  11. Ouch! I'm late to the party, so I don't have anything new to add. Except the Mmmmmmmmmal will be worth all the grief? (I hope!)

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