Bobbin winder

[PaperRockScisorz]

Has anyone used the bobbin winder that they sell at Michael's (and I assume other craft stores as well).
I tried to look for a picture of it, but it's basically the thing you put the bobbin on and it's a little hand crank that I guess spools it for you?

I want to get everything organized, but I hate spooling those stupid bobbins! It takes me forever, and I'm wondering if that is worth it to save some time? Any thoughts?

[StitchPlease]

I love it. When I used to wind by hand the floss would get so tangled and knotted it was an over involved process every time. It would take me 15 minutes to wind one bobbin! Now all I do is put the it on the edge of my art bin and wind away! The only issue I found is that if you use off brand bobbin (i.e. any that aren't DMC) the holes don't quite match up, but I don't hang my thread by the holes so it's not an issue. It's really something that depends on how easy it is for you to wind floss and how often you use bobbins.

[DMLC]

I have never had problems hand winding bobbins. I just take the papers off and find the loop (put it on my one wrist and find an end.
I don't do it all at once. I keep the colours that need a new bobbin in a box. i do it when I need a small break from stitching.(It loosens up my wrist)
Only problem is if the cats are around.....they try to get involved in the process!!

[riotpatch]

I use the DMC winder and it works perfectly. =]

[PaperRockScisorz]

Thanks for the responses!

I think I'll definitely have to invest in one. I really want to use a bobbin box, but I absolutely can not if I have to wind each one by hand. I just can't stand it. It takes forever. If I hate the winder, at least it's not that expensive.

[Riibear]

I have to say I really did not like the winder. It kept getting snagged on stuff and you have to hold it to keep tension. I prefer to use stitchbows. They are these little stick looking things that you slide onto the loops of the skein before you take the little round plastic pieces off of it. Then you just slide the plastic piece with the corresponding number tag onto the side of it. Its much much easier than having a huge bobbin box in my opinion and you wont get those little divots in your thread after its been on the bobbin for to long. You can find them at really any big crafting store ( I know Michaels has them)

[PaperRockScisorz]

So I got a bobbin winder, and it definitely helps me gets things done faster, but I also experienced massive amounts of tangling... words of wisdom?

[YeahYeahYouWere]

I don't have a bobbin winder, I just do it by hand, but I have found a method that works pretty well for me. When I go to wind a skein, I slide off the sleeves, and then I 'split' the skein down the middle so that it's a round bundle. It can sometimes help to use a pen (capped of course!) or something to help 'split' the skein and make sure you don't wind up with an unbalanced bundle. From there I slide it on my wrist like a bracelet, and grab the end of the floss that looks to be more on the outside of the bundle. I start winding the floss and I use the same hand with the floss bracelet as a guide while I make the winding motion with my other hand. Usually the floss unwinds pretty smoothly, though from time to time I have to pull out a little bit of slack and wind it before pulling out more slack. I haven't spun that many skeins this way, but in 25 or so I have never had any real problem with tangling.

I am sure you could do it the same way, using one hand to spin the winder while the 'braceleted' hand acts as the guide.

I hope that makes sense and helps a bit!