Best Yarn Winder

A lot of the best yarn comes in hanks, and a hank has to be wound into a ball before you can knit or crochet from it. You can do that by hand over the back of a chair, but it's slow, and one wrong move leaves you with a tangle. A yarn winder, usually paired with a swift that holds the hank open, turns it into a few minutes of cranking.

Below is why a winder is worth having, the main kinds, the four we'd pick, and what to check before you buy.

What this article covers:

• Why Get a Yarn Winder?
• Types of Yarn Winders
• Best Yarn Winders
• How to Choose the Best Yarn Winder for You

Why Get a Yarn Winder?

A ball winder makes a center-pull cake, a flat-bottomed cylinder you knit from the middle. It sits still in your project bag instead of rolling under the couch, cakes stack neatly on a shelf, and you can see at a glance how much yarn is left.

Winding by hand also makes it hard to keep the tension even. Wind too tight and you stretch the yarn, which relaxes later and can throw off your gauge. A winder and swift keep the tension light and steady. They earn their keep fastest on hand-dyed hanks, laceweight and sweater quantities, where a tangle costs you the most.

Types of Yarn Winders

Winders differ in what turns them and how much yarn they hold:

• Manual ball winders: a hand crank turns the spindle while a guide moves the yarn up and down. Most hold about 4 oz, which covers a typical hank. The most common kind and the least expensive.
• Electric yarn winders: a motor does the cranking, often with a foot switch. Faster, and much easier on sore wrists, but they cost a good deal more.
• Jumbo ball winders: a bigger spindle that holds anywhere from 10 to 17.5 oz, for big hanks, handspun and yarn off cones.
• Nostepinnes: a shaped wooden stick you wind around by hand. No moving parts, it fits in any bag, and it makes a center-pull ball once you get the hang of it.
• Wooden ball winders: the same mechanism as a plastic manual winder, built in hardwood. People buy them because they last and look good left out on a shelf.

Best Yarn Winders

These are the yarn winders we point most people to. They cover hand crank, electric and no crank at all, at a range of prices.

1. Ashford Electric Ball Winder

The Ashford e-Ball Winder is the one to get if you wind a lot, dye yarn to sell, or have wrists that complain. A quiet 12 volt motor runs it, with adjustable speed, a soft start and a foot switch so both hands are free to guide the yarn. It holds up to 500 g (17.5 oz), enough for a big sweater hank or most handspun, and it winds in either direction. The body is lacquered New Zealand silver beech, about 12 x 8 x 11 inches, so it doesn't take over the table, and there's an optional car cord if you want to take it on the road.

If you like the 500 g capacity but don't need the motor, Ashford also makes a hand-cranked Ashford Ball Winder.

2. Kromski Nostepinne Yarn Ball Winder

The Kromski Nostepinne is a turned wooden stick. You wind the yarn around it at an angle, turning the stick as you go, then slide the ball off and pull from the center. It's slower than a crank winder and takes a few tries before your balls come out even. In return there's nothing to clamp and nothing to break, and it fits in any project bag. Kromski makes it unfinished, clear, walnut or mahogany.

3. Lykke Wooden Ball Winders

The Lykke Wooden Ball Winders are handmade in India in your choice of acacia, mango, burnt mango, beech or shisham. Each one comes with the spindle, a metal clamp that fits tabletops up to 1 3/8 inches thick, and a cotton bag to store it in. Lykke recommends it for hanks up to 4 oz (113 g). The yarn runs through a tension spring on its way to the spindle, which helps keep the cake firm and even. Mostly, people buy these because they're nice to use and nicer to look at than plastic.

4. Louet Ball Winders

The Louet Ball Winder arrives assembled, so you clamp it on and start winding. The clamp is built into the base and adjusts for tables from about 0.8 to 2 inches (2 to 5 cm) thick, which covers most kitchen tables and desks, and rubber feet on the clamp and base keep it from sliding or scratching the wood. It comes in beech, walnut or bamboo, and it's a sturdy, no-fuss pick for a small craft space.

How to Choose the Best Yarn Winder for You

A few questions narrow it down quickly.

1. Budget

Hand-crank winders and nostepinnes cost a fraction of what an electric winder does, so weigh the price against how often you'll use it. If you wind a hank a month, a basic manual winder is plenty. If you wind every week, or for a dye business, the electric is worth the money.

2. Yarn Quantity

Check the capacity against your hanks. A standard winder holds about 4 oz, which covers most single hanks of commercial yarn. Bigger hanks, handspun and yarn from cones need a jumbo winder (the Lacis Jumbo holds 10 oz) or one of the Ashfords at 17.5 oz. If you only have a small winder, split a big hank into two cakes. And if you mostly make small things, like the toys in our amigurumi best yarn guide, a standard winder is all you need.

3. Portability

If you knit in more than one place, a nostepinne or a compact manual winder goes along easily. Clamp-on winders need a table edge, so check the clamp range against the tables you'll actually use. The Ashford electric is compact enough to travel, but most people leave it set up in one spot.

4. Hand and Wrist Comfort

Cranking is repetitive, and on a big hank it adds up. If you have arthritis, carpal tunnel or just tired wrists, an electric winder with a foot switch takes most of the strain away.

5. Build Quality

Cheap winders tend to fail in the same places. The clamp slips, the gears strip, or the spindle wobbles and winds a lopsided cake. Look for a solid clamp that fits your table, smooth gearing and a spindle that runs true. Hardwood winders like the Lykke, Louet and Ashford hold up for years.