I haven't knitted anything all summer (yeah, I know that's like blasphemy here), but suddenly it started getting cold and I went to look in my stash box and there was yarn and it was pretty and soft and warm...

But anyway, I have a question. I have a huge skein of Knitpicks Bare sockweight yarn. It's something like 440 yards per skein, and I want to make a pair of socks from it. I've dyed it and made a centre pull ball and I intend to start one sock from the inside and one from the outside so I can do them at more or less the same time (I'm paranoid about running out of yarn and not being able get more that's dyed the same colour). However, I would be much happier with two balls of yarn. Is there any easy way to split one skein of yarn into two skeins/balls that are of equal length without having to string the yarn through my (tiny) apartment and measure it? Or having to deal with masses and masses of tangled yarn vomit?

Thanks!

- Tam

You could weigh it and divide by weight, but you might not get exactly the same yardage in both. I think it would turn out if you just leave it as one ball. That way you know both socks will be the same.

Well, one way that I know quite a few people use, involves a ballwinder and a scale. I think how you do it, is to wind the yarn with the winder, weigh it, and then wind yarn off it, until the weight of either is half the original.

If you don't have a scale, I'm pretty sure you could just eye-ball it... If you don't have a ballwinder, it might be more difficult to be really, really accurate.


The way I've split much smaller skeins, is to just wrap the yarn around something, from both ends, at the same time. I have this guitar stand, with four little arms on it, so I can wrap both ends at the same time. But I can't imagine doing that with such a big skeins, unless you've got a lot of time to kill, hahah

I ball the whole thing into a ball, then sit the ball on the scale. I'll wind off of that ball onto the winder until I have about half the weight and cut. Simple. :)

You could always get two ball winders (invite a friend over and get a bottle of wine) start winding both (one from the center one from the outer) and wind consistantly. YOu may need a third friend (and a bigger bottle of wine) to keep the yarns from catching each other. when you have two equal balls and no more yarn quit winding. Then you could do two toe up socks on 2 circs so that you make them the same length. Although I have known people who have done the same thing with one ball, pulling one strand from the center and one from the outside, but if me, I'd prefer having two balls (and the bottle of wine.)

I ball the whole thing into a ball, then sit the ball on the scale. I'll wind off of that ball onto the winder until I have about half the weight and cut. Simple. :)

Yup, that's what I do too. I have a little kitchen scale I use.