Update: 1

    Just in case anyone was swithering over the Snowdrop yarn and wondering how it looks when knitted, here's the start of a Wood Nymph sock.

    (Update: 2 is over on the bookish side.)

Comments

[Toffeeapple]

Very good looking.

[Cornflower]

Thank you, Toffeeapple - I have just spotted a mistake!

[Anne B-A]

Morning Karen - you have transformed your skien of yarn into a very ordered ball. May I ask how? Do you have a gadget?

[Cornflower]

Not one, but two gadgets, Anne!
Having wound by hand for years I now have a swift (see this post: http://cornflower.typepad.com/domestic_arts_blog/2015/09/wool-winding.html ) and a ball-winder: http://amzn.to/2DMYwlj

[Anne B-A]

Interesting! May I ask which one is the easiest to use? Do you have a preference?

[Cornflower]

I got the swift first and found it much easier for skein-holding purposes than relying on the back of a chair, or a willing family member's hands! Then a few months later I got the winder, so I can now wind a 100g skein in roughly 10% of the time it took to do it entirely by hand, and both are very easy to use.
I don't think you could have a ball-winder without a swift, unless you had some other rotating gadget (or person!) to hold the skein as it's being wound off.
I occasionally hear people complaining that their ball-winder isn't working properly, and instead of producing a nice neat, even cake of yarn they are getting a sloppy one, but I've had no trouble with mine.

[Anne B-A]

thats really useful Karen - thanks very much. The real blockage is my productivity rate! But I do like the look of these aids as willing family members are becoming somewhat thin on the ground here!

[Swissrose]

Heart eyes...!