I did it! I solved the case of my wonky yarn cakes! I imagine others may have the same issue with their ball winders, so I thought I would put together a post on how to fix your yarn ball winder. You can see from the before-and-after images below that something was definitely off!
If your yarn winder isn’t winding correctly, keeps slipping, or is making crooked or uneven yarn cakes, the gears inside the winder may have slipped out of alignment. Luckily, this was a quick fix once I figured out what was causing the problem.
The particular brand I purchased is the Knit Picks Yarn Ball Winder, but I imagine many of them are built the same way. This ball winder is a little workhorse for me and, for the most part, does a great job winding yarn into nice little cakes. The first time I noticed the cakes not winding properly, I called Knit Picks, and they were very good about sending me a new ball winder. But then when it started happening again, I figured it must be something in the internal mechanism that needed adjustment, so I took the winder apart to see.
Keep reading to see how to fix your yarn ball winder.
Why Is My Yarn Winder Not Winding Correctly?
In my case, the problem was caused by the larger plastic gear slipping out of position and sitting on top of the smaller gear instead of meshing with it. Once I repositioned the gears so the teeth fit together properly, the winder worked normally again.
How to Fix Your Yarn Ball Winder
To fix your broken ball winder, you will first need to twist off the cone-shaped bobbin from the main base of the winder.
Next, use a Phillips-head tool to remove the screw from the plate beneath where the bobbin was removed, then remove the plate and set it aside.
Ahhh … here was the issue! You see how in the photo below the larger plastic gear is sitting on top of the small gear? This is why the winder wasn’t winding properly. The gears should mesh so that the teeth fit together properly.
To fix this, gently push the larger gear back away from the smaller one and down until the teeth mesh. It should now look like this.
Now screw the top plate back on and replace the bobbin. All that is left is trying it out. Grab a hank or skein of yarn and wind it up. Perfect!
Have you had this problem? I would love to know if this helped fix it. Let me know in the comments below.
Now that you have your yarn cakes made, read my clever yarn hack for keeping them wound neatly and from turning into a tangled mess while in use or in storage!
You may also enjoy:
Thank you so much for this information. I have a Knit Picks winder also and one of the screws came out and when I reassembled it my balls were winding lopsided. Your tips allowed me to reassemble it properly.
I’m so glad you found it helpful!!
thank you! i was about to order a new one!
Yes! My KnitPicks ball winder did the same thing. I have a sneaking suspicion that this has happened to a lot of people. Wasn’t as easy for me to get the gears to mesh but finally got it done. Next time, I get a good winder.
Do you also have a fix for a yarn winder whose handle is turning but not engaging at all with the gear?
Please and thank you.
Thank you, you absolute BLESSING! I couldn’t figure out why my yarn balls were all wonky, but thanks to this, I fixed it and now they’re perfect! Thank you!
Great information! I have a yarn winder, and I’ll know how to fix it when I encounter this problem.
Thanks,
Donna
I don’t have a yarn winder, but if you had to fix a brand new yarn windser, wouldn’t this be a manufacturing defect? I’m glad it’s an easy fix to do at home, though.
Hi Diana 🙂 It could be … but mine were not brand new when this happened. I had each for a time before they started acting up. And mine get A LOT of use.
The reason why I went with their ball winder was because someone in the comments said their ball winder was an entire year old and Knit Picks still replaced it for free because it stopped working. But it’s definitely worth looking inside to see if it’s this easy of a fix first!
Yes, definitely. They took mine back no problem. But now that I see what an easy fix it was I’m glad I didn’t have to do that again.
This morning before I checked my email I got out the yarn winder I got at a yard sale and started organizing my stash. How weird that you would post this today…great minds think alike!
Thank you
Naomi
Such a simple (I love simple, don’t you?), quick fix…..and logical. Saves time & money waiting for a new ball winder to arrive in the mail. And who doesn’t like to save both, especially the money, right?
Thank you for taking the time to solve this problem for me. I appreciate it.
Bright blessings & happy week to you!!
Thank you! My knitpicks winder started dying after winding maybe 5 skeins and I was so mad! This fixed it 😊