# Why Does Yarn Come in Skeins and Not Balls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775 "2005-07-29T17:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/21 "2005-07-31T18:20:47Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Mrs Blather owns a yarn store Did I ever tell you you’re my favorite poster? No, really. I’m serious. C’mon, would I kid you? No, no…really, it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re married to my equivalent of a crack supplier. Nothing at all. Nope… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/22 "2005-07-31T20:31:04Z")
And in Portland, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/23 "2005-07-31T20:50:09Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > First, don’t remove the labels–they hold the floss in place. Take the loose end of the floss (which should be sticking out one end of the skein, rather than from in between the labels) in one hand, and hold the skein loosely by the label closest to the end you are holding. Pull the floss slowly, with resistance against the label, not the skein of floss itself. It’s okay if the opposite end of the skein (and the second label) move up to the label you are holding. The floss itself should pull straight through the label and out of the skein. It also doesn’t matter which end of the floss you pull, unlike yarn. > > These instructions may not make sense, I’ll admit. I’ve been doing it for almost 35 years now, so it’s second nature. I tried to teach my daughter how to do it in person, and she never did really get it–but she can’t figure out how to thread the needle, either. If you go to a needlework shop that sells floss though, anyone there can probably show you. Neat, I tried that, and it worked! (Seems my grandma didn’t know what she was doing.) No more tangly floss, here. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/24 "2005-07-31T21:58:37Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > That didn’t answer the question at all, though I appreciate your input. Many, many people rewind the skein (the majority of poeple that I know at least) because it gets tangled coming off. > > Why doesn’t it come in balls? Your answer, so far as I can see is, “skeins are good enough” – but they aren’t to many people. It boils down to the fact that skeins are easier to package, ship, and shelve than balls are. Skeins are tube-shaped, making it easy to add a product label (or two, as in the case of embroidery floss) to identify the manufacturer, the product, the color, and the lot number, without needing a lot of sticky stuff that could potentially damage the merchandise. You can’t put that kind of information on a ball nearly as easily. You can fit skeins easily into rectangular boxes, without wasting space, mainly because they are squishy. (Sorry for the technical terms here.) Balls are generally not very squishy, and tend to leave a lot of excess space around them when they are packed in boxes. Therefore, you can fit more skeins than balls in any box of a given size. Once in the store, the skeins can be easily stacked on shelves in plain view of the customer. While they are often put into rack-type shelves, they do not need to be. Balls, on the other hand, tend to roll off of shelves very easily, which creates clutter in the store, and has a higher risk of damaging the merchandise if the yarn should come loose of the ball as it is rolling. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/25 "2005-07-31T22:05:46Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > I’ve used your method for pulling embroidery floss, and it always always always tangles. > > So far as I know, it is the rule rather than exception for embroiderers to wind their floss onto bobbins. It’s much easier to get at and organize that way (in those boxes) aside from the tangling thing. Plus the bobbin holds a half thread (I’m not sure if that’s the right term – the leftover 2, 3, or 4 threads when you work on 2 or 3 threads) much better than wrapping it around the label of a skein I did try putting floss on bobbins at one point, but it seemed like it used up a lot of the time that could be better spent actually stitching. I also couldn’t see how bobbins were any good at storing cut lengths, and I have no problems simply pulling what I need off the skein when I need it. I use small craft zipper plastic bags to store floss, with one color per bag. Cut lengths go in the bag with the skein, so they don’t get separated, and I know what color is what. I put holes in the corners of the bags, and put all the bags for a given project on a loose leaf ring, with the colors in numerical order. I take the color I am currently using off the ring, so that if I have to stop, I know exactly what I was doing the next time I pick it up. It keeps the floss neat and clean, and makes it very easy for me to find a particular color. I also do some very complicated designs, sometimes with dozens of colors, and this is the only system I’ve found to keep myself organized without wasting time just being organized. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/26 "2005-07-31T22:10:43Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > Most knitters and crocheters that I am aware of take a skein of yarn and wind it into a ball so that the yard will roll off as they work. > > Why doesn’t yarn come in a ball to begin with? > > Having just wound the World’s Largest Skein (780 meters!) into the the World’s Largest Yarn Ball this question is fresh in my mind. If it were in balls, it’d be a pain to weave with. Besides, don’t we want the yarn to be as fluffy as possible. Wound in balls might make it thread like. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/27 "2005-07-31T22:44:42Z")
I think it would be because if you stack balls on a display stand they would be more liable to get knocked over by customers. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/28 "2005-07-31T22:59:19Z")
then why not put the ball of yarn in a nifty wee box with the labels on the box and a wee hole on the top for the yarn to feed through? the boxes would pack well and you would have all the label room you need and it wouldn’t get the yarn tangled and dusty on the shelf. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/29 "2005-07-31T23:06:42Z")
> [@rocking chair](#): > > then why not put the ball of yarn in a nifty wee box with the labels on the box and a wee hole on the top for the yarn to feed through? > > the boxes would pack well and you would have all the label room you need and it wouldn’t get the yarn tangled and dusty on the shelf. Because boxage is an additional expense that the spinner doesn’t HAVE to go through, and there’s no major outcry for pre-balled yarn that would justify going to that expense. You also have to remember that except for the major manufacturers (Caron, Lion Brand, etc) an awful lot of yarn suppliers are small family enterprises that raise their own sheep (alpacas, goats, etc) and spin the yarn on a small scale. There isn’t near enough profit margin as it is let alone introducing a major retool in production. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/30 "2005-08-01T00:02:35Z")
> [@rocking chair](#): > > then why not put the ball of yarn in a nifty wee box with the labels on the box and a wee hole on the top for the yarn to feed through? > > the boxes would pack well and you would have all the label room you need and it wouldn’t get the yarn tangled and dusty on the shelf. The square box would still take up more room than a skein of the same amount of yarn, not to mention the additional packaging costs that jayjay mentions. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/31 "2005-08-01T00:11:18Z")
I use **Kiminy** ’s floss-pulling technique and rarely have problems. I don’t like bobbins either, for the same reason. One thing I pay some attention to is the way the thread is going–I always thread it going the same direction off the skein and store it so that I know which end is which. That way, you can stitch in the direction the floss was orignally spun in, and the floss doesn’t get so fuzzy. It stays fairly smooth. I know it sounds boring and obsessive, but I don’t have to think about it, I just do everything the same way all the time. ---
**Author:** ![rmilo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@rmilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmilo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/32 "2011-09-02T19:25:04Z")
Unfortunately, but proudly, the worlds largest skein is a bit larger than 780 meters. Last year i was happy to help Pluckyfluff make the worlds largest hand-spun skein of yarn totaling a whopping 10.5 miles. She just started the process of getting it in the guiness book. You can see it in the process on you tube, or at the Pluckyfluff website. It is also being shown this weekend and next week at the 1st annual Yarnival!! at Boeger winery in california. If you watch the video, this is the guy in the green over-alls. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/33 "2011-09-02T20:34:33Z")
So would a ‘skein of yarns’ be another way of saying a pack of lies? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/34 "2011-09-02T20:47:41Z")
This is a really funny old thread for me. I’ve learned a lot about yarn since then! ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/35 "2011-09-02T22:01:11Z")
FWIW, everyday yarn here (Norway + Scandinavia in general) comes in loosely wound ball, while skeins is usually reserved for fancy stuff. Don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/36 "2011-09-02T22:30:01Z")
In my experience, sometimes embroidery floss skeins cooperate, and sometimes they don’t. I do like the floss bobbins, and they don’t take very long to wind. I haven’t embroidered in a while, and I need to get back to it. In a perfect world, there would be a floor lamp using a natural sunlight bulb, that would also contain an arm with a magnifying lens on it for embroidery fans with aging eyeballs. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/37 "2011-09-02T22:40:23Z")
Firstly, if they were sold by the balls, when we would ever get to use the word skein? Second, why the paucity of balls jokes? Third, we resurrected this thread on thread to talk about the world’s largest skein, but I see no mention of the world’s largest balls. eta: also something about zombie balls ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/38 "2011-09-03T02:00:39Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Third, we resurrected this thread on thread to talk about the world’s largest skein, but I see no mention of the world’s largest balls. Well, **rmilo** has pretty big balls to resurrect this thread just to promote his video. ---
**Author:** ![rumbera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/50afbb/32.png) [@rumbera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rumbera)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/39 "2011-10-18T02:20:21Z")
When you buy yarn you want to see the colors, the repeat if it is patterned, feel the texture etc. If the yarn is in a ball it is harder to feel because it is tight and to gauge the squooshiness or softness you’d have to unwind it. With a skein or hank you can just grab and squeeze-like charmin. The larger surface area of a skein also shows the colors better especially if there is a pattern. If there is a long repeat or the color is slowly graduated it is possible for the outer layer of yarn to look nothng like what is inside.A long skein is more representative of how the yarn will work up when knit or crocheted. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775/40 "2011-10-18T06:34:21Z")
I would go to a Yarnival based on the name alone. It sounds like pun! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-yarn-come-in-skeins-and-not-balls/314775.md?page=3)