Hanks to Balls - Hooray!

Normally I have been using yarn for projects that came in skeins that were already center pulls. But listening to alot of of the yarn or knitting podcasts does make you want to try out yarns not as easily found, the kind that comes only in hanks. There is one small local yarn shop that is near my office that would carry these but I decided to check out Ebay for some of the brands mentioned as standards, like Cascade 220 wool yarn.

Well I found a wonderful Ebay vendor who is unfortunately closing shop who was selling their remaining supply of Cascade 220 even cheaper than a sale price I found on a regular internet store. It is always hard to tell colors from pictures even when they are from direct scans of the hank. Some I was sure I would like and got a few more hanks and some I wasn't and only ordered one. In the end I ordered 16 skeins this past Saturday. Paid via PayPal and even got direct email from the vendor over the weekend.

Now I had hanks coming but then was the problem of winding them into balls for actual use. No one I know has a ball winder or swift so I couldn't borrow. I knew I would be dying to try out the yarn so I looked again on Ebay for any cheaper alternatives to the prices I had been finding on internet stores/manufacturers.

I lucked out and found a handmade oak swift that disassembles easily into something that I could find a storage spot for and the price was great. At the price if it didn't work out for me I wouldn't be too upset. The Ebay seller was Cindyswifts.
Their swifts sit on the floor or table which was a better arrangement for me, not enough surfaces to clamp onto.
I also found a ball winder at a slightly cheaper price for a model that looked better made and more likely to last. So I "Bought them Now", paid with PayPal and was set.

That was Saturday and oddly all three packages arrived via USPS on Wednesday morning! When I got home last night I opened everything and had to try out the swift and winder. In the pic below you can see the empty boxes on the top left.

Here is closeup of the winder with the completed ball still on it:


I will have to take a pic of all the hanks and post it later. Right now the question of what project I can start to use some of this is still up in the air!