Skill Guide: Winding and Finishing Your Yarn

You've sampled and carefully spun your yarn, and you're eager to start working with your handspun. But there's more to it than simply casting on right from a freshly plied bobbin! Winding and finishing your yarn are essential steps that will help you get the best results from your handspun.

As we quickly approach our annual Spin-Along, we wanted to share some essential skills for winding and finishing your yarn. This skill guide is dedicated to showing you how to make and finish a beautiful skein with things you might already have on hand, plus a few ideas for making your own.

Let’s dig in!
—Pamela

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Tips for Making a Hank (or Skein)

First, you’ll need to make a hank (also called a skein). This is nothing more than a loop or coil of yarn. While it has potential to be a tangly mess if it’s not handled properly, it’s an ideal setup for washing and dyeing yarn. Water, washing agents, and dyes can all penetrate the yarn more quickly than they can when the yarn is in a ball. More importantly, the yarn will also dry much more quickly, meaning you get to knit with it sooner!

It’s often helpful to transfer your bobbin to a lazy kate, but I’m often too lazy to even do that—instead, I often pop the brake band off my bobbin, and make sure the flyer hooks are out of the way before I begin.

Using Your Body to Make a Skein
There are plenty of ways to make a skein. The lowest-tech way is to use your body, as Linda Ligon explains. Other low-tech solutions include turning a chair or stool upside down, or winding your yarn around a piece of cardboard.

Linda calls this a “body-noddy,” and it really does work. Illustration by Ann Sabin Swanson

Learn to Use a Niddy-Noddy
If you’ve made a few skeins the low-tech way, you know that while they’re quick and good in a pinch, they don’t make the prettiest or most even skeins. This is where a niddy-noddy comes in handy. By carefully wrapping your yarn, you’ll create an even skein that is easy to use.

Maggie Casey explains how to use a niddy-noddy in this clip from her drop spindle course (this video is included for free in All Access subscriptions).

Build Your Own Niddy-Noddy
If you don’t have a niddy-noddy, they’re easy to make. I made my first niddy-noddy with some dowels from the hardware store, a drill, and some wood glue. Later, I was able to purchase a beautiful wooden version, but I still remember my DIY version fondly. You can find plans to make your own PVC niddy-noddy in the Spin Off Library.

Learn how to make your own niddy noddy and more with the free eBook, DIY Spinning Equipment. Illustration by Ann Sabin Swanson

Make it Fun!
If you don’t want to use the body-noddy, and you’re feeling impatient, look no further