How to Fix a KnitPicks Yarn Winder that has Stopped Making Pretty Cakes (Donuts instead) 

Thank you!!! I was at my breaking point with the yarn doughnuts. May all your yarn be untangled and none of your stitches dropped.

You are a lifesaver. Thank you so much for figuring this out, bravely opening up your winder and fixing it, and especially for sharing with all of us!

Having one of those "thank god for RU-vid" days! Thanks for being a great person and making this video 😆

Omg this worked!! I thought I was doing something wrong! You’re a life saver!

Thank you so much for your video! This saved my day as I did not know what the problem was - it was so frustrating starting several times and always ending up with this „donut“. Now I know how to fix it and the Knitpicks yarnwinder works does its job again.

i’m on a low consumerism journey and i found this and WOW i hope your pillow is always cool and your dreams sweet this was SO HELPFUL. you are a beautiful angel 👼 🎉 so thankful to have saved my ball winder from the land fill

THANK YOU!!! If I could write that a million times, I would. You just saved me $$$ on a new ball winder.

Can't thank you enough for this. My girlfriend was having this problem and I was easily able to fix it thanks to your video. Now she can get back to all her crochet projects!

i have a yarn winder i just recently bought and it's a different brand than the one you took apart but i had the same problem with the tangled yarn donuts until i found this video! i didn't have to take off any screws to access the gears of the yarn winder i have but i had the same issue of the gears not being properly put together 😭 thank you so much for posting this you're a life saver

I am so grateful for your help!! Now I can get back to my project and finish on time. Plus I don’t have to buy a new one.

I don't even have my KnitPicks winder yet (it's on order), but I'm so glad I stumbled on your vid! I'm bookmarking it in case my new winder gives me any troubles; this could save me the hassle of a return/replacement. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hello, I am a first time ball wind user 🎉 My sister gifted me one Sealed! thrilled to receive it Opened it got it all set up excited…..my ball of yarn came out as a donut. 🤔 Receipt was thrown away ☹️ Now I can fix it 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Thank you so much

This video was a LIFESAVER totally recommend

Lifesaver!! Thought I was going crazy or that my new skein of yarn was cursed haha

Thank you so much for this fix it yourself video! I ordered one and it's not an expensive one. Now I'll know what to do if this happens to mine.

This is SO helpful, thank you! I dropped mine on its head and it started making donuts. Back to cakes!♥

Your video was a lifesaver. Now I don't have to buy a new yarn winder machine.

You’re an absolute doll for making this video. I searched for answers not expecting to find anything, but your video has saved my winder! And I had suspected my kiddo was the culprit 😂

Thank you so much for this video, I just got a new winder and it wasnt spinning right and your video was the first one that popped up! Much appreciated! 💚

My hands are sweaty and I can't unscrew the screw 😂 I will try in a bit. So glad I saw this video my child loves spinning mine too ❤

Thank you so much! I had no idea what I was doing wrong. This is such a simple fix that I would have never thought of myself.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I feel like an absolute BEAST for being able to fix my little winder. I also have the Knit Picks one, and this was the EXACT problem I was having. Thank you!!

Great work showing how to fix the winder this happened to me on the weekend

Thank you so much for your video! Repair is so much better than replacing and you helped me continue to use my winder for more years to come!

SO HELPFUL! I was worried I’d have to get a new one, nope! Easy fix! Thank you! 🎉

You are my hero! I've been going crazy trying to figure out why mine stopped working. Thank you so much!

Thanks for the help! I took my Ballwinder apart as shown, the little stationary gear was all gummed up with yarn trimmings and lint. I cleaned it up and it works great now!

That was exactly what was wrong, thanks for the help! 🌟

Great video! Was able to fix it for my wife 🎉 she got it new making donuts so she’s ecstatic about it working now

THANK YOU!! I came from knit pick's product page since someone was kind enough to mention your video in the review!

I recently bought one and my first cake was perfect. Then next ones were doughnutty and thought was doing it something wrong. Thank you so much

Thank you so much for this! It’s the first thing that came up when I googled for help and it was exactly my issue! Thanks again

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was about to throw away my winder out of frustration. You saved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for saving me from buying a new one!! I was so disappointed when I tried to wind all of my new yarn, but it's working again!

For me it isn’t working and I’m so sad. I just got it and it was making “donuts”. I also got one off of Amazon and even that isn’t working

Thank you! Was going to trash it but you gave such easy steps to open and reset the gears! Working great now! Thanks again!

I feel the same, mine had a bunch of the yarn fuzz stuck with the grease. Thank you so much for making this video it was so helpful! I thought I was gonna have to buy a whole new one.

Thank you! This just started happening to me. I’ll fix my winder tomorrow!

Thank you for saving my sanity while I’m winding some very nice yarn I got and was getting soooo frustrated by the donut tangles I was getting

Thank you so much, my son, (not a child) likes to wind it around to annoy me when he's bored. Really appreciate this video

Thank you!! My winder fell a couple days ago and when I used it just now, it was donuting. I know the knitpicks winder isn't expensive, it's still my baby. I would have been sad to replace it. Mine's almost 7 years old.

BRILLIANT!!! thank you so so so so much for this video. :) fixed mine

Greetings from Texas! I thought I had to buy another yarn winder. But thank goodness you posted this video which is now archived in my playlist! I wonder why they don't mention this in the instructions? Hmmm. Lol❤

You saved another life today. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH

You are a life saver. I was already in hot water for breaking my sisters other winder lol.

omg thank you, I dropped it and ever since it was doing the donut like you said. I was so confused

Thanks I needed this video....mine was doing that wonky winding! Your a money saver!!!

OH MY GOSH THANK YOU. I couldn't understand why this happened, but your fix was perfect. So so happy I thought I was going to have to buy a new winder because I kept getting tangled donuts that just made things worse!

Merci, c'était bien mon problème et vos explications étaient parfaites et ainsi je peux poursuivre mon travail grâce à vous. Encore une fois merci.

thank you SO MUCH!!!!! this is amazing!!!! can’t believe I found a video explaining the exact problem I have with the exact same winder!

Thank you!! saved me some dollars!! well I spent too much on a beautiful wood spinner and swift on Etsy... but because e I can't trouble shoot that one I'm back to my KP, thanks again!!

This was so helpful! Thank you!!

Omg thank you so so much you’re the best! 🎉

Thank you so much as soon as you said a problem with the gears I immediately saw it h That you

my gods this helped so much life saver on this one!

Thank you so much! You saved me from buying a new one

thank you so much, this was so helpful❤

Thank you so much for putting this video out 😊💝

Thank you so much! I was so confused why it just wasn’t working anymore 😭😭😭😭

Hello! I was wondering if you ever had a cracking problem? I was winding a big ball of premier puzzle yarn and near the end when it got heavy I heard a Crack sound (which had happened I few time before) but when I took the yarn off everything seemed to be fine and it still makes cakes and seems to work fine so I don't know what happened and it worried me cause I just bought it

THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHH. Mental breakdown no more.

Thank you so much. ❤😊❤😊

WOW! You are the best! You saved me.

Thank you! That worked!!

Oh my god!!! I can't thank you enough!!!!!! ❤

Thank you so much!

you literally saved my life just now you have no idea hahaha

Worked great! Thanks so much!

Thank you thank you thank you!

Thank you!

THANK YOU!

Thank you!!! I thought I was doing something wrong!

Thanks for sharing

How do I attach piece to winder and desk or table?

Thank u so much! Fixed my problem!

ola minha querida, estava aqui quase jogando fora minha maquina de enrolar fios, só conseguia enrolar de um lado, gracas ao seu video conseguir arrumar a minha, esta funcionando perfeitamente, gratidão.

This was great but i can not the the white part off ? What am i doing wong ?

I returned the first one I bought because it was making donuts! The second one is working but every now and then the yarn slips down and starts winding around the bottom of the spool.

Thank you! I thought it was something I did!

I have two of these and both of them are broken and the bottom screw will not budge. I even took a drill to both bottom screws and it will not come out

Idk why but mine still isn’t working after I tried this twice. Do you know if there’s a different fix?

so... im curious on how I go about doing this fix when the company that I got mine from has conveniently covered the screw on the bottom 🙄😭 im so frustrated with this it hasn't worked since day 1

Thank you so much 😭

That is awesome! Thanks!

Woooo hooo! Thank you!

I wish I had watched this before I replaced mine! And, oh, it is a Phillips screwdriver (the little cross one).

That first screw for me just spins when I try to loosen it

I really thought it was broken 😅 i made exactly one cake before my one year old got ahold of it lol

i was about to throw mine at a wall thank u

Shouldn’t have to fix. Poor workmanship! Is there another brand someone can suggest?

It’s called a Phillips screwdriver

OMG! Thank you thank you thank you! I was literally hunting for a replacement online and then it hit me to do a search under yarn winder repair. There you were. I have the same winder and this was the fix! SO VERY GRATEFUL ❤❤❤❤❤

THANK YOU!!!

Oh my god thank you for this I’m a broke high schooler and I loved my yarn winder and I was so sad when it broke but now its all fixed

I know this was posted a year ago, but I am so thankful that you made this video. I was able to fix my yarn winder instead of throwing it away and buying another one thank you thank you thank you.

Thx. Have this winder and love it. Did you know all the screw heads are in your driver, just pop out flat head and put in Philips!

First, thank you for posting this. But I do wonder why the KnitPicks winders have this problem. I had a different winder for many years and never had a single problem with it. I got rid of it before a move because I'd learned how to wind by hand and didn't need it anymore. Now though I am dealing with larger quantities of yarn and it's talking a long time, so I decided it would be good to get another winder. I deliberately went with a KnitPicks because of the brand; there were a lot to choose from but I thought this brand would be good quality. I hadn't even used it that much before it started making "donuts" like the one you have. I thought about taking it apart but couldn't get the bottom screw out; now I see why. (And why did they make the screw backwards? That's just weird.) Then it occurred to me to look for a video and what do I find? More than one video talking about problems with KnitPicks yarn winders and how to fix them. So, this is common enough for people to post videos about it. That does not give me confidence in KnitPicks quality. Your instructions were clear so I'm hoping I can fix my winder but if it starts making donuts again - well, I'll just say I won't keep fixing it. KnitPicks really needs to deal with this.

I came here looking for help for my winder but it is made of wood and has no gears? What can I do it fix it. Please help it is brand new :(

Ah! I am so…confused. My yarn winder is suddenly making my cakes look like that but whrn I opened up the back, the gear is snug in place. Like it looks different than how yours does and i cannot for the life of my fogure out now how to fix this without breaking it, im so upset!

SO helpful this was driving me nuts, thank you!!