Winding Your Yarn Into a Ball The Old Fashioned Way

Yesterday the alpaca yarn  arrived. How exciting! I'm using it to knit a  throw for an Etsy customer. The first thing I do when starting a knitting project is to ball the yarn. I learned this technique from my neighbor, Mrs. Hutchinson.  I was nine years old at the time, and. she lived up the street from us, on Barneson Avenue. Mrs. H.  was a wonderful  homemaker. I went over to her house every afternoon for a visit. She taught me how to knit, do crewel work, sew on a button, and to weave. She was always busy in her home: baking, harvesting fresh raspberries or home grown chard, cooking delicious smelling meals, and cleaning her house. She was an avid weaver, and had a huge loom that she used daily in her family room. I loved her company. She called me her adopted grandaughter. This is us, in the photo below.

In the olden days, one person would hold a skein of yarn between their hands, while the other person would wrap it into a ball. Since I live on my own, I utilize  a vintage chair that I bought at the Salvation Army. It works very well. First I cut the pieces of yarn that hold the skein together. It always makes me nervous that I'm going to cut the wrong section, but I just study the yarn carefully. I find the segments that  have knots in them. I carefully clip those, and then start to make the ball.

Once I have completed the ball of yarn, I start knitting. I like this ritual. You can make sure there aren't any knots of problems before  starting your new project. It feels like an ancient practice to me. This is the way people used to prepare to knit. Nowadays, many knitters have their yarn wound for them into beautiful cakes at the yarn shops. Some crafters even have their own swifters at home. Maybe someday I will buy one, but for now I like doing it Mrs. Hutchinson's way. I think she would be pleased that I am still knitting.