Turning my skein of wool into a ball or two??

[sjl]

OK, so very newbie question...
I have my lovely 100purewool in a skein. After trying to start chaining with it and getting it all tangled I realised that it needs to be turned into a ball of wool before I should work with it.
I have found a box that the skein fits around and with the box on the floor and sitting on one of our tall stools I have started winding a ball of wool. It's actually kind of fun in a mindless kind of way.
Now to the actual question - my ball of wool is getting kind of big and I've actually dropped it a couple of times but I think I've still got over half of the skein to go. Am I supposed to just wind one giant ball of wool or am I supposed to cut it and then start winding another ball? It seems a shame to cut it for some reason...

Any other tips for winding wool that I've missed?

Thanks

[Khai]

If you're hand winding, you can make the ball as big as you want. I have done 200g ones before. You can buy yarn swifts (which hold the yarn and turn as you pull it off) and wool winders for winding it into a ball. They're worth getting if you're intending on buying yarn in hanks in the future. The swift helps a lot, the ball winder is faster than hand winding, but you can easily do without it.

[Foxtrot]

It's up to you, but I would just make it one big ball, and then you will have one less join in your work. I've wound all my purewool skeins into one ball each and they end up about the size of a grapefruit.

[Petals]

A skein of Purewool is only 100g so shouldn't be too big a ball to hand wind, so long as you don't get it tangled. Once you're done, you can always re do it if you're not happy with the ball you've made - it's easier to wind once it's already in a ball, than from the skein. Pop it in a bucket or laundry basket or dry bathtub to stop the ball racing around the room while you wind it.

[Petals]

Also I never want to cut it, because I know I'll pick the wrong spot and have to make a join halfway through the cast off, or in a lace panel or something

[mamacas]

bring it round, will take me 2 mins with my swift & winder

[sjl]

Ta all, nice to know my "it just feels wrong to cut it" wasn't off the mark.
I think I wish now that I'd started off winding one of the worsted skeins rather than fingering though...but my ball of yarn looks lovely and it feels so squishy. I'm so proud.

Thanks Casey - I'll bear that in mind for next time.

[Nutbar]

bring it round, will take me 2 mins with my swift & winder

And this is why I want to build a swift! with my winder and the wool being attached to three chair legs, it takes over half an hour and gives me sore arms, lol

[Claude30]

bring it round, will take me 2 mins with my swift & winder

And this is why I want to build a swift! with my winder and the wool being attached to three chair legs, it takes over half an hour and gives me sore arms, lol

Swifts are easy to make
http://www.craftydiversions.com/patterns/homemade_yarn_swift.htm
not that I have done it yet as I steal Grizles one that she made and it is awesome.

[littlejo]

bring it round, will take me 2 mins with my swift & winder

That's what I was going to say - welcome to bring it here too.