# Yarn twister v Yarn winder



## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

Hi all,
I am thinking of buying a Daruma yarn twister but I am reluctant to spend the money if the result isn't much different to winding the yarns together with a yarn winder. I have a 'twisting yarn stack' but I don't think that is very good - the yarn doesn't seem to feed very well i.e. the lower cone's yarn through the one above, the yarns seem to catch on the inside of the top cone. Can anyone tell me if the Daruma is much better than the stack or ordinary winder?


----------



## Azzara (Jan 23, 2014)

GrandmaLiz said:


> Hi all,
> I am thinking of buying a Daruma yarn twister .... Can anyone tell me if the Daruma is much better than the stack or ordinary winder?


I find it much better.


----------



## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

I like my Daruma. don't see how stacking the yarns would really work as well.


----------



## llamagenny (Feb 26, 2013)

I definitely use my daruma to make up yarns of different textures and gauge.


----------



## IreneWoods (Sep 19, 2012)

I'm on my second Daruma yarn twister, having worn out the first one. It blends the yarn much better than working from a yarn stack. The yarn stack system, for me at least, sometimes produces "splotchy" coloration, similar to how old variegated yarns sometimes knitted up. 

The benefit of a stack system....you can make one very inexpensively, even using cardboard boxes, if that's all you have on hand. And the yarn blends better if you wind it several times. Always pull from the center of the ball or cake when rewinding; this introduces more twist, and that's what you want in this case


----------



## knittingmaza (Oct 19, 2012)

What is a Daruma? Marion


----------



## MKEtc.com (Aug 14, 2013)

knittingmaza said:


> What is a Daruma? Marion


Manual

http://machineknittingetc.com/daruma-hometwisterr-user-manual.html


----------



## roseknit (Apr 2, 2011)

Looks just like the wool winder I have


----------



## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

It is different. The gears are different as are the wires that hold the yarn. I was thinking of getting the Hague electric twister, and then looked in my stash of toys and found I had bought the Dahrma on eBay a while back. If you want to do a lot of twisting then the electric one is nice. You can also use a spinning wheel which is nice as you you use your feet to do the work and don't tire you hands and wrist.


roseknit said:


> Looks just like the wool winder I have


----------



## macde (Aug 26, 2011)

My Daruma home twister twists the yarn & can change to wind the yarn. Love this gadget. And as said before, the mixed yarn doesn't pool & do funky patterns all by itself.


----------



## randiejg (Oct 29, 2011)

Stacking the cones works okay, but if you're doing a big project, you'll find the amount of twist, thus the coloration, changes as you use the yarns up, because as the cones get smaller, the yarn twists off the cones faster and you get more color mixing than when the cones have a larger circumference and the yarn twists off more slowly.

I do recommend the Daruma. It does a really good job of twisting the yarns in a consistent manner, especially if you take care to monitor the yarns and guide them with your hand as they twist, to make sure they are always feeding freely.


----------



## Phyllis Wright (Jun 4, 2012)

llamagenny said:


> I definitely use my daruma to make up yarns of different textures and gauge.


I have a Daruma twister and can't make it twist the yarn. Do the cogs all have to go around at different speeds? It looks as though the teeth connect and should move around each other, but mine all stays connected in the same one all the time. There doesn't seem any reason for the teeth to be there if they don't connect and move. What am I doing wrong? I've looked and looked at the instructions but just can't get anything to move.


----------



## quill-ws (Jul 30, 2014)

Have you oiled your Daruma, and made sure there is no fluff blocking the cogs? From, Susan, U.K.


----------



## Phyllis Wright (Jun 4, 2012)

quill-ws said:


> Have you oiled your Daruma, and made sure there is no fluff blocking the cogs? From, Susan, U.K.


 It's never moved since I had it from new. I e-mailed the company so maybe they will answer me with a suggestion.


----------



## janta (Sep 30, 2011)

I have a yarn twister, but it is very slow


----------



## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

Hi all
Thanks to everyone who posted a reply. It seems that the concensus is the Daruma yarn twister performs much better than simply winding several yarns using an ordinary yarn winder. I have now bought one (via eBay) so I will let you know what I think when I try it out. Thanks once again :thumbup:


----------



## The Knitmaster (May 28, 2014)

Daruma every time for twisting yarn, can also be used as a wool winder. Are you threading it properly Do you mean the disk with the teeth and yarn guide don't move or are you expecting just the teeth to move independently, they won't as they are fixed and one unit.


----------



## MarieDe (Mar 27, 2011)

I am on my 3rd Daruma Yarn Twister and do not know what I would have done without them all. Actually, 2 are currently in use. One I hand crank and and one my husband was brilliant enough to retro-fit an adjustable speed drill into it (he cut off the winder knob and somehow plugged in a drill bit) and now I have an "automatic" one I LOVE IT *my first one was used so so much that it eventually wore out after about 10 years.


----------



## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

MarieDe said:


> I am on my 3rd Daruma Yarn Twister and do not know what I would have done without them all. Actually, 2 are currently in use. One I hand crank and and one my husband was brilliant enough to retro-fit an adjustable speed drill into it (he cut off the winder knob and somehow plugged in a drill bit) and now I have an "automatic" one I LOVE IT *my first one was used so so much that it eventually wore out after about 10 years.


Hi
Interesting that you say about motorisong ne of your yarn twisters - I was wondering about doing something similar when I recieve the one I've just bought. Any hints/tips greatfully received.


----------



## The Knitmaster (May 28, 2014)

GrandmaLiz Hope you didn't pay any more than £25 for Daruma on Ebay as that is all I paid from Woking Sewing and Knitting a few months ago.


----------



## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

:-( you probably saw the ad on eBay - I paid £45. Ah, well too late now - I never thought to try somewhere else.


----------



## MarieDe (Mar 27, 2011)

sadly, my husband passed away so his secret contraption set-up is gone with him :-( I always told him that he could have had a pretty good side job retrofitting all my knitting friends' yarn winders. 

I will tell you that where the winder crank is, he removed that and attached the drill bit to the inside mechanism of the winder. He also retro=fitted a dimmer light on/off switch to the drill so I can vary the speed of the winder. It works REALLY well and I hope that someone you know can help you out after I send the picture...which I will TRY and do over the weekend.


----------



## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

MarieDe said:


> sadly, my husband passed away so his secret contraption set-up is gone with him :-( I always told him that he could have had a pretty good side job retrofitting all my knitting friends' yarn winders.
> 
> I will tell you that where the winder crank is, he removed that and attached the drill bit to the inside mechanism of the winder. He also retro=fitted a dimmer light on/off switch to the drill so I can vary the speed of the winder. It works REALLY well and I hope that someone you know can help you out after I send the picture...which I will TRY and do over the weekend.


Sorry to hesr your husband is no longer with you - you must remember him with great affection when you use his ingenuity. Thanks for the info - I'll have a close look at it when it arrives to see what I can come up with. :thumbup:


----------

