Wrestling a skein

[Offe]

I started Mabel's hardanger SAL yesterday. Lesson 1: Get #5 pearl yarn onto bobbins. It was a mess, a bird's nest with knots.

How are you supposed to do it? Don't say "start with the thread to the left" or some such. I have tried all possible threads (two).

My excuse is that I didn't start using bobbins until last year. With floss baggies it is not important to have the whole thing untangled all at once. Plus I can handle regular floss skeins, they are smaller.

[Squirrel]

Offe what I do is take both paper tags off but keep them handy, open it where it is bent in half then untwist it carefully and spread it in a circle.

Mabel's advice is to undo the knot at the top and cut it there which gives you a long length to stitch with. When you are finished using that colour fold it in 4's and thread through the paper tags and then I just tie it loosely in a knot around the tags and put it in a floss bag - or you could wind it onto bobbins.

If you don't like working with long threads then when it is in a circle, untie the knot at the top lay/spread it out into a circle and just cut off what you need.

Hope this helps.

[Oriettait]

Offe... I have been using bobbins for longer than a year but when I wound my perle 5 I had the same bird nest problem happening...
I guess it depend on how the thread is twisted around.. not all my skeins developed the bird nest but quiete a few
the only solution i found was to wind slowly than 6strand and stop right away as soon as I saw something getting tangled.. still took awhile...

[MaggieM1750]

I do it the same way as Sally. Precut the whole skein of #5, cut at the knot.

Then I slip the color number tag back on the skein and loop tie it together and throw it back into my stitch bag.
I use the full length when doing klosters, or edging. I cut that length in half when doing something like January's tulip and star


DMC says to keep the skein together twisted in its paper, cut the end that has the two loops- cut each of those loops. Then pull a thread from the other end- the side that has just the one loop. That works too.. but you get short lengths.. so when doing edging or something, you have to do a lot of starts and stops.

[Oriettait]

mmmhh... i guess bobbins for perle is not supposed to be an option..

[MaggieM1750]

No reason it can't be an option to bobbin.. but I don't bobbin regular floss so I wouldn't do that for pearls. And my hardanger instructor told us to cut a skein right away.. so thats the way I learned. Monkey see- monkey do.

People on another board I am on, don't pre-cut skeins. They think its wasteful. So they just cut as needed. They probably bobbin.

But.. the problem I am now facing is what to do with leftover skeins, now cut into lengths. What I do now is just throw the leftovers, loop tied together, into a floss bag and into plastic box along with the balls of #8 or 12's. Which is OK for now.. being that most of my pearls are still in their project bags. I think it should be a better system once I have more than a handful of colors in that box. Mabel loops them onto a ring, then threads the little rings onto a big jump ring by color family. Which is an option, but I would still need to throw them into the box. As with floss storage.. this is a fluid system/ works in progress.

[Oriettait]

Thank you Maggie for the clarifying explanation! actually my grandmother used to keep perle exactly as you said, cut and wrapped around.. i still have some of hers.
I like bobbin because in their boxes they looks neat and organized even if it is a pain to wind them. I like that for 6 strand.
I just started to build some perle stash thanks to a lucky ebay auction in UK and I have to figure out how I want to keep the 5. the 8 of course stay on their balls
the two skein I got earlier to start Mabel SAL (ahhhhh i have to get back to it!!) i put them on bobbin because this is how I am used to do with the other floss, I will see how to continue.

[geekishly]

I bobbin my perle 5s. It takes awhile because they tangle, but it keeps them neat.

[KarinvdB]

I have bobbin'd perle 5 as well, what I do when I bobbin (using a bobbin winder) and is open up the loop and put one hand through it and hold the end with that same hand, and turn the winder with the other. Perle does tangle but this way it is kept under control to some degree.