Do YOU need an ELECTRIC Yarn Winder? Let's find out!

[@NerdyKnitting]

❤ Thank you to Caydo for sending the yarn winder! Use code Nerdy to save 20% www.caydo.com/?ref=NERDYKNITTING ← that's an affiliate link (if you click and make a purchase I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you)

[@AngelaColeman-b6i]

I always rewind my yarn, regardless of whether it is from a skein, a cake or a ball. Over the years I have found so many yarns have flaws, knots and, in one interesting case, a totally different colour of the yarn had been attached to the one I had expected. And, to be honest, it doesn’t matter if it is “high end” or “bargain” yarn (and everything in between) - there will be flaws now and again! But, having spent quite a lot of time unpicking, (and usually at the most difficult part of the pattern) I decided that spending a little time re-winding was going to help reduce the appalling language and raised blood pressure I had previously experienced. And, actually, I find hand winding yarn is quite therapeutic.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I always wind a second time to loosen the ball, and then push the inside tail through to the other side, to negate the extra twist you'd get in the yarn by knitting from the center.

[@christenaeriksen]

Good tip! Thanks Roxanne!

[@NYKnitter]

I have adopted this method, since your video on yarns that coil up on themselves .

[@aprilcoursey4533]

I just learned to knit during the pandemic, and am just now considering myself leaning into being an intermediate knitter. I haven't invested in a swift or a winder yet. For sure I'm going to get this electric winder because knitting a project is already a time consuming hobby. Saving some time in the portions of the hobby that aren't actual knitting can just allow me more of the precious time to do the parts I love. Thank you

[@Jenn-98]

I have an inexpensive swift and the knit picks manual winder. I love winding my yarns manually as I find it strangely relaxing and satisfying. Nothing better than a big project with lots of skeins be wound! I also quite enjoy untangling yarn which is probably weird but whatever.

[@maryannbergeron9531]

I love your videos. Thank you for a great demonstration and discount on the electric ball winder. I placed my order today. ❤

[@NerdyKnitting]

I'm so glad you liked the video and found it helpful!

[@jennileggate4334]

This looks great! As a spinner I often have lots to wind into cakes. I’ve just bought one using the code as an early birthday present. 🎉

[@valeriehowden471]

I have a table top swift plus a yarn winder. The swift is beautiful and doesn't give me any struggles. The yarn winder can be a bit temperamental so i would always be nervous about leaving an electric winder unattended. A tip was to wind up one cake from the skein, then rewind it again to get the correct tension. I do this for socks ... making 2 cakes. There is a noticeable difference if you only rewind half the first big cake.

[@scrapperchris6461]

I purchased this yarn winder back in November. I have found that fingering yarn is most difficult to get an even cake. I have it set up next to my hand crank but dont tend to use it. I do need to practice more with it but dont really agree that it saves time. It’s a big investment to use only occasionally. I did get it at a 40% off sale so that makes me feel a little less guilty.

[@Raineyluwho]

Thanks for the informative video and the discount code. I've been thinking about getting an electric winder. This just made up my mind. 💜

[@dorym8045]

Good thorough review.

[@joanmachado9063]

Great review thank you 😊

[@deedeewalker1564]

I’m wondering what swift they would recommend if not a wooden one. When I look for a swift, most seem to be wooden. I have long thought it would be great if my wooden swift had ball bearings or some such to make it turn more easily. I think the issue with the tight cakes lies not with the winder but with the swift. Like you, I don’t like my skeins too tight so quite a long time ago I developed my own winding rhythm. I alternate pulling off an arm’s length of yarn with my left hand/arm then wind that up using my right hand on the ball winder, letting the yarn glide loosely through the fingers on my right hand. It obviously takes longer than winding the usual way but it produces a nice neat but relaxed cake that I can easily pull from the center. I wonder if you could find a rhythm the same way with the electric winder? It wouldn’t be unattended but would save that yarn tiring cranking action. What we need is an electric swift to go with the winder!

[@NerdyKnitting]

That makes sense and I actually ended up doing that with one of the skeins later on - standing between the two and pulling off a length from the swift while the electric winder wound it up. It worked really well!

[@patbellamy8940]

I may be wrong, but it appeared you had fed the yarn through yarn guide from the bottom. The guide book (page 9) shows if yarn is coming from an umbrella swift, to start feeding from the top - don’t know if that will make a difference to how tight the cake is or not. Thanks for a very informative video.

[@NerdyKnitting]

I think I missed that - thanks for the tip!

[@angelinacrafts5385]

I have seen two reviews of this winder. I clicked on yours because I knew you would actually give an opinion on how tight the balls are. So speed comes with higher tension, hmm. So the time to wind a looser skein is longer than hand winding. So the savings is mostly being able to not put the continuous motion on yourself. Thanks.

[@patriciaharris1146]

What is the most yardage the winder will wind? Thanks

[@NerdyKnitting]

I'm not sure - you might find that information on their website.

[@Knitterly]

The background jazzy music sounds familiar to me. Do you know the name?

[@NerdyKnitting]

No - it's free music in the iMovie software program.

[@LadyGecko]

Part of the problem could be that you are using a wooden swift. Didn't the directions say NOT to use a wooden swift? And that would be because of the drag of wood against wood as a lot of wooden swifts are not fully 'finished'. I have two swifts...a floor swift my husband made and he took the center out from an old cassette tape to put in between the arms and the ring and I have zero drag. The other swift is an table-top umbrella and I use candle-wax to keep the drag down. I have two manual winders...one is the ubiquitous red/white plastic model and the other is a larger table-top. I also have an electric winder, but haven't used it yet since I am currently working on a shawl. From all the videos I have watched, it works best with DK or lighter weight yarns and you want to make sure that the swift is free spinning and the yarn flows freely. Elsewise you end up with the same problem you do when you're hand winding. I got the electric winder because I like to do shawls and you're looking at four to six skeins/hanks and that's a lot of hand winding at one time. When I first started knitting, I used to wind all my yarn into cakes when I purchased it/brought it home, then quit when I found it was better...storage wise...to just wait. And it was better for the yarn.

[@NerdyKnitting]

I noticed a different with the two swifts. The yarn wound much more easily off the amish tabletop swift than the umbrella swift.

[@jilliankonig2759]

I wouldn't think the average knitter needs to cake massive quantities of yarn. Unless they have a physical disability that limits their ability to winder a handle, I can't see that an electric winder is necessary. Maybe a yarn shop would have the kind of volume to justify owning one.