Skein or ball?

How do you knit with skein yarn? Do you wind it into a ball first, or knit it straight from the skein?

Wind it into a ball—even if it’s a hassle. Otherwise, you’ll end up with “yarn tangles.”

You absolutely have to wind it into a ball. Otherwise, what Ruth already mentioned will happen. :)

For me, only a ball of yarn will do.

A hank—where can you even find those anymore? I haven’t held one in my hands in decades 

Well, then I’ll take a few days to wind it up....
Yes, I received a lot of yarn as a gift—great quality, hand-dyed, and... in skeins.

Oh Veronika, then I can only congratulate you on your gift: hand-dyed yarn is something special.

I once bought a yarn winder on A...zon, the cheapest one they had. And it still gets used every now and then. With it, you can wind your skeins into beautiful balls in no time. My cervical spine did not like winding 800 meters of fine silk. It often slips away from you too and is just annoying. A one-time purchase with great benefits if you buy a skein of yarn now and then. At yarn shops, they now charge quite a bit for winding service.

Take a look, I wrote a post about it here: Winding yarn

Best regards, Ina

Wow, that looks really professional. I’ve already wound up a third of it—it was nice doing that on the balcony in the sun. I can keep going while I watch TV.

I like to buy yarn in hanks, for example from Finkhof. Hand-dyed yarn is especially beautiful, of course. It always gets wound into a ball, even if it’s a hassle.

I love hand-dyed yarn, and yes, I always buy it in skeins because you can see the dyeing better that way. And I love winding it, feeling the quality, and letting the colors speak for themselves. 
Years ago I "acquired" a winder that makes nice, sturdy yarn cakes; they’re great to knit from the center, nothing trails across the floor, and the cat doesn’t feel challenged to catch it. 

Yes, looking back, the winding was only half as bad; I’ve long since started knitting.