Using yarn from the Centre of the Ball – why and how

I often get asked whether it is better to use a ball of yarn from the centre or the outside.

In the overall scheme of things it generally doesn’t matter!   It will however make a difference when you are using variegated yarn, as it can change the colour order. So if you are using more than one ball, be sure to start them consistently.

One of the key reason that centre pulls are favoured is it will stop the balls rolling around all over the floor! (of course you could use some type of bowl or spindle to hold your yarn to achieve the same thing. I have seen some great examples of recycling for this purpose—teapots, cookie containers, Tupperware containers, softdrink bottles….)

However finding the centre can be very difficult and often results in ‘yarn vomit’ or ‘yarn barf’- where most of the centre of the ball comes out.  This puts a lot of people off!  I actually gave up on centre pulls and have been starting my balls from the outside until I started using Whirls  again—these have an easy centre pull as the centre is already out to work from (As do many Scheepjes brands). It reminded me of the benefits of the centre pull.  So I went on the hunt to find out ways to try and find the centre. Here’s are some options to get an effective centre pull:

1. Rewind the ball using a ball winder where you have the centre start easily identifiable and ready to begin. This is okay for small balls, but can be time consuming for large projects and when using large balls.

2. Find the centre of the ball using your fingers. Using the following steps I have about a 70% success rate, and find some brands work more than others.

a) Usually the outside of the yarn is tucked into one end—pull that out and tuck it under the label so it’s out of the way.
b) Insert your index fingers into each end until they are touching in the middle — one end is generally tighter than the other.
c) In the ‘looser’ end, insert your thumb and index finger into the centre and feel around for some ‘looser’ middle strands (the centre)
d) Pull the centre ‘looser’ strands out. You will pull out some extra yarn, but it shouldn’t be half the ball!