Knitter’s DIY – Turn Twisted Hank to Center-Pull Ball

I’m a knitter now, and thus I declare knitting shall be featured on this blog. No, I am not planning to turn this into a haven of wool and stitch-techniques, you will still see me paint, thrift, photograph and DIY. But as it is a current obsession I do feel the need to share some of this fluffy craft.

Ruth's Tee progress in ombre by fridanoodle

Currently I’ve been working on this ombre jumper (a long-sleeved take on Ruth’s Tee), three pairs of patterned socks, another jumper, a scarf..and a secret project or two. This is knitting. You start something, it takes a while to get going, or something goes a bit wrong, or you spot something even more glorious. “Two projects at once isn’t too bad, you get variety, it’s good practise” you find yourself thinking. But this never ends. There are always more delicious skeins of alpaca, mouth-watering colours and inspiring patterns out there. But to be honest, I’m not complaining. Always having something to choose from is a great way to prevent knitter’s block (if such a thing exists..)

DIY – Twisted Hank to Center-Pull Ball

Ball and Hank Ullcentrum Sky Turkos Ombre yarn

I really fell hard for this ombre wool by Ullcentrum when I visited the Sewing Fair last October. When I ordered it however, I was very confused. It was in what google has informed me is called a hank.

A hank is basically a bunch of big loops of yarn that have been twisted into a coil. To actually knit from this you need to wind it into a ball. Now before I learned the proper way of doing this, I had only ever wound up balls from skeins that keep tangling. The issue with what I was doing was I was simply winding the yarn around into a ball, but would have to knit with the end from the outside. This can be a bit unwieldy as the ball of yarn constantly has to move to unravel. What I will show you now is how to turn a hank into a centre-pulled ball of yarn.

1. Untwist the hank and untie any pieces which hold it together.

2. Take a tube and thread the end through the middle. Toilet paper rolls are perfert but keep in mind some bulkier wool will need a longer tube. For reference this hank was 300 meter and 100 grams of 2ply wool.

3. Start wrapping the yarn around the tube, making sure to keep the end pulled through.

4. Once you have a solid bit of yarn on there you begin to shape the ball by wrapping the yarn across the wrapped bit, forming a cross.

5. Alternate between crossing the / side or the side of the X

6. If the loops are separating and there is risk of tangling you can thread the large loops onto a chair. You continue wrapping opposite sides but try and follow the yarn around the chair as you unravel the hank onto the ball.

7. You can see the ball start taking shape as you near the end of the winding. This does take about 5-10 minutes, but with something good on TV you’ll barely notice the time.

8. Once you have wrapped to the other end, fasten this end under a few of the top layers. This is to prevent it tangling with the other end when you knit.