Fingering weight Silk-Cashmere yarns from Lotus. These are in 365m/50gram hanks.
It is raining today, and we have been having quite grey skies for several days now. I have started new projects and this time, and this afternoon I thought I’d add winding yarn to my tasks for rainy days.
These are a couple more hanks of silk-cashmere yarn that I got from Lotus in China about a year ago. These are gorgeous yarns, in fingering weight, available in 50-gram hanks of about 365 meters.
Here is how I use a home-made swift to hold a hank of yarn, turn and wind it into a ball. Don’t ever try to crochet directly from a hank of yarn since that is guaranteed to get you into a messy tangle.
The swift I am using is home-made. It was made by the carpenter who built our house. It is very simple, made from scrap wood. But it is good enough. If you don’t have a swift, you can use the back of a chair or two chairs to hold the hank of yarn.
Below are some photos of how I wind a hank of yarn into a ball. It isn’t too difficult. It can be a very relaxing task on rainy days! 
Start by carefully untwisting the hank.
Lay out the hank onto the swift. This is a home-made swift made from scrap wood. The dowels at the end of the arms of the swift can be adjusted inwards to hold shorter hanks.
Find the ends of the yarn, often these are tied together by a string. Cut that loose.
Here are to ends of the yarn – find which one you start with to wind into a ball. The one that comes loose easiest from the hank is the one I choose.
I start winding around my fingers first to get a centre ball started, and from there, keep winding here and there to make into a ball of yarn.
I have a simple swift. I just turn it which gets enough length of yarn loose from the hank, then I wind the yarn into a ball.
Here is a small ball of yarn wound from the hank.
