How to split a skein of yarn

In this article, I would like to show you how to split a skein of worsted-weight yarn into two halves. I will now explain to you how I do it. If someone has already come up with this idea before me, then under no circumstances am I to claim ownership of the above method nevertheless, this is my genuine idea as follows:

However handy an assistant is to help you split the yarn and wind it up to make a second ball while you're making the first one, they are not always there when we need them. Imagine you've got a thick skein of yarn of a necessary color to split into 2-3 plies. Please ensure you do not use fluffy or mohair-like yarn, as this method may not work there.

In my case, I required beige yarn that would suit my 1mm crocheting hook. All I had at hand was a ball of YarnArt Jeans (55% cotton, 45% acrylic; 50g/160m) twice as thick as the required parameters for my 081 Charming Wirch project.

Thus, to split our yarn, we need:

1. One skein of worsted weight yarn (4-ply YarnArt Jeans in my case)

2. One bare cling film or foil tube

3. One elastic rubber band

4. One plastic bag

Do the following:

1. Place your skein of yarn into the plastic bag

2. Make sure the plies are sticking out of the bag

3. Tie the top of the bag with an elastic rubber band tight enough so that you make a bit of effort to pull the yarn out of the bag, i.e., when you take the yarn by its tip, it will not pull out at the slightest touch.

4. Untwist and split the free ends of the yarn into the desired number of plies (two in my case). Wind them up onto the tube, leaving sufficient space between them.

5. Stand up and let the bag hang freely down from the tube. Commence splitting the yarn. As the plies in the bag are twisted into one, the bag will rotate independently. Hold the pliers with your thumbs at the inner side of the tube and wind them up onto each end.

The yarn in the bag may get messy but don't worry. Just make a sufficient hole in the upper part of the bag, take the skein of yarn out, untwist the yarn, and put the skein back into the bag. The hole will not hinder your task.

The process of splitting the yarn is never quick, but the aforesaid method is ideal for implementation by one person alone. You no longer need a safety pin, which is used widely to split the yarn. Once you've completed splitting the yarn onto the tube, all you've left to do is wind the plies from the tube and end up into two balls one by one. Thus, you will get two finer balls instead of a single thick skein.

I hope my experience will prove useful.

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