Winding a Small Ball of Yarn

Sometimes you need just a small amount of yarn for your project; you might be making a toy and you need a little accent color for a small detail, or maybe you need just enough yarn for one stripe, or a few small balls for colorwork. In this video, Jen Lucas demonstrates how to wind a small center-pull ball of yarn by hand in two different sizes.

First, Jen extends two fingers on her non-dominant hand. Next, she shows how to begin by placing the yarn between her two fingers. She wraps the yarn around one finger, back between fingers, then around the other finger in a figure-eight pattern.

Jen continues wrapping the yarn around her fingers in this figure-eight pattern until she has the amount she needs. Pinching the loops at the center so that it does not come apart, Jen carefully removes the yarn loops from her fingers. Next, Jen shows how to wrap the yarn vertically around the center of the loops a few times to secure the finger loops. She cuts the yarn and tucks the end of the yarn into the center loops to keep everything in place.

Jen talks about how you might want a slightly larger ball of yarn to make a swatch or for another slightly larger project. She explains that although the process is still the same, you can use four fingers instead of two to create a larger center-pull ball. To begin, place the yarn in the center of two fingers, then wrap around two fingers at a time (in the same figure-eight pattern) to make longer loops.

Winding your own small balls of yarn is fun and easy to do—try this method on your next project!