Knitting with QueerJoe Episode 12 - All About Yarn Ball-Winders 

Hey Joe! I manufacture this winder and we're aware of the issue of yarn slippage. This happens when the yarn ball is started with the yarn guide slid away from the ball. The only time the yarn guide should be slid out is of the cake begins to hit the yarn guide. Happy winding!

I bought the first one for 14€ inc shipping. I love using it. I have to watch some youtube podcast while im winding so the time goes really quickly. It takes only 3-4 minutes each ball. I had to tape the metal guide in place and with some types of yarn it doesnt wind properly , (the yarn winds around the tube instead of going up and down the ball)but I figured how to guide the yarn with my hand when that happens. For the money Im more than happy to put up with such glitches. I have limited space now days with all my yarn and sewing machines so that was a considerations. I also bought a wooden umbrella which functions perfectly for only 20€ inc shipping. Now with those two gadgets, I can dye yarn .

I want a larger ball of wine 😉😋😂 good info!! Thanks Joe

I just found your podcasts, so this is a response to an old episode. Anyway, I currently own the least expensive model and you’re right about all the issues. My husband (the problem solver) was able to fix all the issues so it’s working much better. But, man, it was a headache. The yarn can still get wrapped up underneath so I have to watch it closely. Thanks for the review. I may get the one you recommended so I can have bigger balls of yarn. I’ll be watching all your podcasts. ❤ and stay safe.

I broke the clamp on my Stanwood jumbo ball winder, trying to fasten the clamp around the "lip" on the underside of the edge of a card table. (Stanwood did send a replacement clamp; I just have to install it -- and find a thinner table to clamp the winder to!) Of the cheap plastic winders, I trust the KnitPicks version most, as the build quality seems better. I also just got a wooden ball winder (a different brand, in gently used condition, from Etsy), and am excited to try that out (on the thin-topped desk in my craft room, as I don't wish to break any more clamps!).

Nice! So the metal one you showed… I bought 2 of them many years ago from the man who engineered it and patterned it. They were $35 each and he gratefully shipped them to me for free. The two I bought from him were each different speeds…. One is 13x speed and the other is 4x speed. They are 100% metal except for the handle knob and the yarn spindle. They have worked perfectly for at least 25 years now and never given me any trouble at all. I would point out that the 13x sped one is wicked loud 😂. You wouldn’t believe how fast your swift can spin at that speed. I make my own swifts and use to sell them but too time intensive. I’ve had them spinning so fast that the swift sounds like a fan. 😂 great video and nice illustrating. 😊

I have the first one and I like it well enough! I didn't at first bc I didn't realize how hard I needed to pull the feeder arm to get it to stay out so it would collapse constantly. Finally someone told me to strong arm it and it did the job. It does leave floppy bits at the top and bottom sometimes though... I appreciate your review of other options for the next one 🤗

I just saw one that cost about $550 over on Bag-O-Day Crochet Channel.. it has an electric foot pedal! Idea about the last ball Winder that you actually recommended as a good inexpensive one... I wonder if you could take a paper plate and cut the middle out and then slip that on first and then set up your yarn and get going. You know kind of on the same idea as when you don't want your beaters to splash you when you are whipping cream to make your own set and forget ice cream in the freezer.? If you have or paper plates you can simply poke your beaters through and use it that way you might actually have to expand the holes a little so that you can slip them off of the wide part of your beaters that are supposed to keep goop from getting up where you insert them. Or you can just cut to the middle and then cut out a circle or a rectangular space for them to slip through, and that way it covers your bowl so you and everything else on your counter stays clean.

Thanks for the info! I have started making blankets and got one of the cheap plastic ones, but I get the big balls of blanket yarn, so it wasn't quite big enough, but I didn't want to make the same mistake twice and assume all yarn winders are equal. I am actually just enjoying the process of winding yarn, so this will be on the wishlist for the future when I have more projects going at once. The strange terms on the last one, distal and proximal, are actually used a lot in medical fields (and geology!) when referring to how close something is to the center of the body. Distal (distant) is farther away from the body, and proximal (proximity) is closer to the body, so its referring to how its set up when you're using it. The fancy scientific words for "arm closest to you" and "arm farthest from you".

Thanks QJ!!! Wish I'd seen this before I'd bought my FIRST ball winder. My balls would have been huge (pun intended) had I bought one of these first!!!

I love my Stanwood Jumbo Ball Winder - I do wish the handle had a longer shaft to reduce the number of turns to get a hank wound up. It does a beautiful job of all types of yarn.

Ty I didn't know the differences. I APPRECIATED this .

I chose the Stanwood winder instead of the Fiber Artist winder based on your recommendation. So far, I really like it. It makes me a little upset I wasted money on two of the cheap plastic ones.

Love the 3rd one! Especially with my arthritis.. large orbital turns.. 🎉

My royal plastic winder is sealed underneath from the gears. Perfect every time.

Thank you very much. I agree you from Chile. I prefer the wooden ball winder.

Hey Joe…thanks for the comparison of the different ball winders. I currently use the Starwood one that you feature. I had started off with the cheaper ones like the first one you showed. The wooden one, while very smooth, I felt was just too much money. So in the end I settled with the Starwood winder and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It’s not as quiet as the wood one but that is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. I do quite a bit of crocheting (am on Ravelry too under Hookmanplus) and so process quite a bit of yarn from hanks (of course have a swift that I use as well). Thanks for your wonderful video on comparing the different kinds. Very well done!

Thanks for the video Joe. I have the first plastic one , red and cream, and fix it to my ironing board. Perfect thickness and does not damage the surface.

I am happy to have come across this video. I have searched and researched a large/jumbo ball winder and still was confused. I think I shall go with the Stanwood Needlecraft Jumbo Ball-winder. It is within my budget. Thank you for this video.

Thank you for this Joe.

Thank you for this review it was very very helpful I will go with your recommendation. I really really really appreciate it!

I have the wooden one ,it does work great. The same thing was happening to me , it has to do with how far the yarn is away from the yarn ball your making.

Very helpful! Thank you.

Thanks for making this vid! I have the small plastic ball winder and after more than 10 years it's still working perfectly, and simply winds perfect cakes every time. A couple of years ago I bought the Fibre Artist supply co ball winder, because I tend to spin huge skeins of hand spun, so thought the jumbo would be great. It was quite an expense with the Australian exchange rate. Sadly I've never made a yarn-cake that I'm happy with from it. Routinely need to re-wind the ball and second or third time, until I can work out the sweet-spot of where to put the arm; position of the yarn guide, and angle of yarn feeding into it etc. I do like it's smooth action. I've been eyeing the jumbo plastic ball-winders and seeing on your vid how wonderfully it centres the yarn on the spool - I'm adding one to my toolkit. (sorry for the ramble - just great to see some ball winders in action side-by-side!) cheers!

I have the cheap small one you have and the off brand version of the Stanley needle craft wainder. I love both.

Proximal and distal aren't really that strange. Its just latin for Near and Far.

This was an enjoyable video and very informative. I have the Fiber Artist supply Co. ball winder and swift. What I love about It is how quiet and smooth it is. The swift is fluid with no drag at all. I love to wind my yarn twice and I decided to save wear and tear in my hands and I just converted it to the electric attachment from Fiber Artist. It does wind up looser in the first go around than when I did it manually. The problem of the bottom and sometimes the top having loose strands is still there. When you wind it a second time, yarn barf can occur, which is a major pain on an electric than manually. Second time wind with the electric makes the yarn more loose and floppy. I have decided that with the electric attachment, I’m happy with just how the balls cake up the first time. It is a trial and error to get the right speed, but winding has been more enjoyable for me. Of course, now I’m winding for my very good knitter friends now.🤣🤣 Also Fiber Artist Co. has great customer service.

Hello, I'm looking for a winder that I can use cardboard cons. I'm working with very fine yarn for machine knitting and looking for the best winder for spinning large bobbins to smaller size bobbins. Will the metal winder be good enough to very fine yarn and keep the yarn in the center pull balls and mess with it when knitting? Or would you recommend a different winder for very fine yarn? Thank you for the video!

Thank you for the review. I have a small plastic Royal brand I got at the market place. I love it but they do not make them any longer. I would like to have a backup one and have considered both FA and SW.

Hi Joe, Thank you so much for this video. I've been looking at winders for a while but, I've also been leary about getting one when I'm not familiar with how they compare. You have cleared up some things for me and I really do appreciate your time. I'm feeling a lot less intimidated now. ☺️ 💕☮️🧶

Hi Joe, thanks for the info! I was looking at the Fiber Arts Ball winder, but as I have no children or anyone to will it to(seeing that it’s so expensive) I wiil buy the Stanwood one especially because I don’t want to waste time with untangling yarn as you demonstrated. Plus, I had seen a video a while back and it can cake up a good size ball of yarn!

Hi Joe, Thanks for a great video. I too started with the cheap plastic ones but now have a Fiber Artist one. I am having the same problem you have and find it very annoying. Thanks to your comparison I will get a Stanwood one and donate the Fiber Artist. Mary

I found that the one with the open gears became hard to wind as the gears weren’t very smooth. Also the extension arm kept shaking loose and came off.

I have a Lacis jumbo ball winder and am happy with it. I haven't had any issues with the winding and it is pretty solid. I usually put something paper or cloth under the outer arm because with my setup over the table it can flex down and tap it. But pretty much any metal arm would do that.

I hate my Stanwood. Makes the balls too tight and smaller at the bottom which makes the yatn slide off the smaller end. Tried everything to adjust it and can't. Got new ones and no winder is perfect. Boo

Thanks for the video. I have a cheap plastic one and a metal one like yours. I wanted to learn more about the wooden ones. My metal one ALWAYS winds center pull balls that are SUPER tight. I thought that was no big deal, but if you use natural fibers like wool and you take a while to go through each ball(which I do because I have a toddler), then it can be an issue. It can stretch out the yarn so when you wash the item and it goes back to the original size and produce a finished product that is smaller. So I’m going to try a wooden winder.

I have a plastic jumbo yarn winder that has TWO "proximal arms" it took me years to finally look at the directions enough times too remember you only put the yarn through ONE of them (after putting it through the "distal" arm of course. I thought about getting a wood one because they are prettier but this one keeps on trucking and is much easier to store.

This is great info! I’m attracted to the Fiber Artist Winder, but it looks like the small handle puts the wrist in an uncomfortable position that would cause strain. If the handle was larger so you could grip it, I would definitely consider it. Do you think the Starwood would work with a horizontal swift that is flat on a table?

I bought a knit pro winder 26 months ago and the plastic gears are now slipping and clicking so I need to buy another as it’s not fixable. I’m torn between the Stanford one and the wooden one, I generally only wind a 100g ball of yarn not too big so in truth probably only need the Stanford 4oz plus I don’t have a lot of room so would keep it out unless it’s the wooden one then I wouldn’t mind that out on top of my work desk. See I told you I was torn.

I’ve found that my wooden winder squeaks and the handle comes off. The nut on the bottom comes off. Does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me? And is there anything I can do to prevent it? I love it except for these 2 issues.

I have the Starwood winder, also, and what I don’t like is how jerky it can be with turning the handle. I have the wooden “Amish” swift, and I’ve noticed that my yarn tends to get stretched out a little bit. Am I doing something wrong?

Thank you so much for this posting. I have one of the wooden ball winders and I have been having that exact issue with the yarn dropping below the ball. I went from loving it to dreading winding a ball. It seems to be getting worse no matter how I adjust it and is a huge frustration! I am now looking into the Stanwood based on this video.

Hi- thanks for the video. I enjoyed listening to your reviews. I came upon this video trying to find out how to maintain/repair the ball winder, if necessary. This is the ball winder that I have had for quite a few years, and have been happy with it. The issue I have had with it for quite some time, and it has been so long that I don't recall not having this issue, is that it pulls from my swift with a lot of tension, and the result is a very tightly wound ball of yarn, which I don't like. (I believe that it changes the yarn- that this is not a good thing.) To get around this issue, my husband or I would manually unwind the yarn from the swift in conjunction with winding. The result would be a ball with a more relaxed yarn. A good thing! At first I assumed the issue was with my swift and tried to figure out how to make the swift work better or to replace it entirely. I didn't want the expense of replacing it without being sure that this was the problem. So, I just got used to our new method of winding- nice quality time with my spouse! Now, I am thinking that it is an issue with the winder itself. I am wondering if the crank is supposed to spin very easily, or does it require a but of pressure to get it going? What do you think? Any advice? Thanks.

Hi Joe, Thanks for providing great videos. I bought a wooden ball winder from a ‘Men’s Shed’ and while well made, it wind crooked cakes, ie, it doesn’t cross wind. Do you have any tips? I have played with the tension and feeder, but I’m guessing the issues lie with the central ‘pole’ cone

My apartment is tiny and I don’t have a craft table. Where is a good place to put a yarn winder. Do i need a swift? Thank you!

I just received the ball winder you recommended, my issue is the gears keep locking up and I was wondering if there is a better way to keep the distal arm on, the screw keeps coming loose.

Could you do a video on Swift's? What wood swift was in your video?

I believe in the Union Label as well. Don’t see it much anymore, though. Sad.

I would highly suggest watching Knitty Natty’s RU-vid video turiorial on how to use a ball winder and swift (In-depth Tutorial on Ball Winding..) She uses the exact same wood winder you have, but includes tips to create a perfect cake every time. I learned a lot.