Winding Skeins

I only recently discovered how to successfully rewind skeins and balls of yarn into the most useful kind of ball. The kind that will unravel from the centre. It's great for crocheting on the move as it can be tucked neatly in a bag and used from there, and it's also great at home - no need for yarn holders or leaping across the room chasing a wayward escapee!

What better way to demonstrate this technique than with my lovely 'poppy' blue sky alpaca yarn, which has arrived in a skein.

First you need to carefully untwist the skein and open it out into a large loop. Then find something to pop this loop over. I tend to use my feet (around the back of a couple of dining chairs works just as well).

Then locate an end, these are often tied to keep them secure, and carefully draw it out and drape it around your thumb with the loose end over the wrist.

Pick up the yarn crossing your palm and begin to wind in a figure of eight around the thumb and first finger, gently freeing more of the skein whenever necessary. Do this about a dozen times.

Now pinch the yarn at the cross in the centre of the 8 and carefully draw it off your hand. Now place the cross onto your fingertip and carefully fold each set of loops around your finger. The loose end should be running down your finger and across your hand. This can be a little fiddly the first couple of times, but you'll soon be a pro.

Now wrap around to secure this. It will need to be 'firm' but not tight. Be sure to keep your loose end free of the newly forming ball at all times.

Once you have a bit more body to work on you can start altering the direction of the winding. Your goal is to create a roughly spherical shape.

At some point you will no longer be able to wind easily with the yarn on your finger. At this point transfer to a large crochet hook, or knitting needle, and carry on! Just be sure to keep your loose end free of the ball.

Eventually you will run out of yarn, tuck the outside end of yarn around some of the later loops to secure it, then remove the ball from the crochet hook and marvel at your creation! Give a tug on the loose end and the yarn will easily unwind from the centre. Enjoy!