Lacis in-Line Yarn Ball Winder

I have a classic ball winder, the kind that wobbles, and I have nothing but trouble with it. So I bought this "pencil sharpener" kind years ago from Lacis. LOVED IT. Nothing but success with that winder. Somehow it got lost, misplaced, or buried in my house. So I dug out the traditional wobbly one. Still nothing but trouble. Finally I splurged and bought myself a new in-line (looks like a pencil shapener) kind. Ah bliss! It's a happy day to wind center-pull yarn cakes on my new beloved Lacis in-line winder! No problems at all. No knotting if you lose rhythm. No yarn caught in the gears. No issues whatsoever. Yay!

I like the way it winds the yarn. It is hard to keep secure to the table because it tends to loosen up as you wind the yarn.

It technically works ok for the most part but the nature of the side winding makes it more susceptible to knotting inside. There's a reason more of them aren't oriented that way. I'm also not a fan of the clamp not actually being attached to the winder, easy to get lost and not particularly stable. If you can afford to get something better, do it. I ended up giving this to a friend and buying the Stanwood Jumbo which is more expensive but much higher quality and capacity. I'd recommend the Royal ball winder over this one as well.

This winder has an interesting mechanism of winding; the feed coil moves back and forth to wind the yarn onto the spindle as a ball. The gears inside are connected to the spindle only by pressure, and the spindle is attached to the base only by pressure. Unfortunatly, the spindle DOES NOT LOCK INTO PLACE! Therefore, when winding, the spindle works it's way off the base, and the gear loosens from between the spindle and base and the whole thing does not wind at all. The only way around this is to continually hold the spinning spindle onto the base as you wind. However, if you are trying to use your free hand to feed the yarn as you wind, this does not work either. Additionally, it does not hold a full 4 ounce skein as it says. The ball may take a 100 gram shein, but not a 4 ounce skein. It also gets stuck around the base of the spindle sometimes above the base and bellow the ball, and sometimes below the base of the spinle, just as other angled winders do.

My mom was looking for one of these. Although I thought it was a little bit expensive, it is well worth it. It's very sturdy and well-made. She loves how it rolls up her yarn neatly. It was an excellent value for the price!

Because it is in line and not at an angle the yarn often skips. This creates an untidy ball and the center doesn't always pull smoothly. I have since replaced with another model.

this little winder is awesome. I thought it was going to be more like a toy. Not so. It's a smooth winding machine. Does exactly what it's intended to. I would recomend this winder to anyone. works as well as any exspensive electric. Wish I had purchased years ago. Smooth machine. portable. nice.

I was a little worried when I ordered this item, since I couldn't find a personal review only store descriptions that echoed "Smooth winding action" and I own another plastic winder from Lacis that is really sub-par--> Yarn Ball Winder The in-line winder is a charm. Much heavier plastic construction, when clamped to a table actually stays on the table (the other winder does not), and (best of all) there is no possible way for the yarn to jump into the gears. In case you're wondering, it *does* have very smooth winding action when winding from a yarn swift. Swift Yarn Windr-Med If this winder ended up lost or stolen-- I would buy it again in a heartbeat.