6-strand yarn cake: Who has experience with multi-strand yarn cakes?

Hi everyone,
I’m in the middle of knitting a shawl using a gradient yarn cake from my Advent calendar (Picture 1). So far, so good.
Unfortunately, with this 6-strand yarn—which isn’t twisted—there are always 1…2…3 strands that are longer, so I always have to “smooth out” a section of yarn before I can knit it. And I feel like I’m constantly pushing bigger and bigger loops back, so to speak (Picture 2). What can I do about this, or am I doing something wrong while knitting? I’m sure you can help me.
Many thanks and warm regards from Dresden, Carola

I’m bumping this up again. Maybe someone would like to comment on this?

Dear moderator,
thank you very much for that. Surely someone must have experience with it. Maybe the title should be changed to “Who has experience with multi-strand Bobbel yarn?”.
Thank you very much and best regards, Carola

You can call me Josefa.
I’ve updated the subject line. Good luck.

Hi Josefa,
thank you so much—maybe we’ll have some success :-).
Best regards, Carola

Hopefully, yes. 

Hi Carola, do you know what material the yarn is made of? Is that specified anywhere?
When different materials are wound together, these individual loops can form because the fibers have different levels of elasticity. When wound, the elastic fibers stretch a bit because of the tension. In the ball, they then contract slightly again. The non-stretchy ones, like plain cotton, end up with a little “excess length,” and that’s what causes the loops.
It’s also a problem when the yarns aren’t wound just once, but multiple times—for example, if you only have one cone in a certain color and have to wind it up to six times to get the six strands together. Then, for example, one strand is stretched six times and the last one only once.
Or it wasn’t wound evenly—sometimes faster, sometimes slower—and suddenly a few extra millimeters have crept into the ball, which then add up.
Plus, you have to be incredibly careful to catch every single strand while knitting. If you accidentally skip one and still pull the yarn tight, that naturally results in different lengths.

If a single strand has gotten so much longer that it’s annoying (between 50 and 100 cm, depending on your patience), cut off the excess length and tie it in a knot so that the length is even again. The multi-strand gradient yarns always have little knots where the color changes anyway. One more or less doesn’t make a difference.
And if it’s totally annoying and you feel ripped off: Never buy anything like that again. 

Hi Carola,
I had this happen once with a bobble yarn, too. Someone had made it, and it didn’t come with a label. Never again… It was all cotton threads, so there weren’t any different materials. Still, I had loops. Since I was crocheting a shawl, I could work each little loop into the piece right away—you couldn’t see or notice it. When knitting, of course, it’s harder to hide them. I’d adjust it from time to time if the thread is long enough to weave in the ends. Or you could tie it off with a secure knot. Personally, I prefer to sew the ends in—it feels safer to me. And it’s easy to do along the edge of the shawl.
This shouldn’t happen with brand-name yarns, but even those aren’t always perfect.
Best regards, Uta

Hi “Krümel-Monster”,
thank you so much for your detailed advice. Well, I know that the yarn is 99% cotton and polyester (50/50). I’m not exactly sure how it was made, but in any case, the color changes in the individual strands are visible as little knots. I’ll see how long my patience lasts before I grab the scissors, cut out the excess lengths, and re-tie the knots. I also asked the company for advice but didn’t get a response; I don’t want to name them here since I don’t know if that’s allowed. I definitely won’t be buying from them again, and I just want to finish knitting the shawl because my husband gave me the Advent calendar as a gift, and I’m sure the result will be quite pretty.
Best regards, Carola

Hi Uta, as I already wrote to “Krümel-Monster,” I’ll power through this, but otherwise—never again :-((.
Best regards from Carola

Hi Brigitte, I can’t imagine that your tip would work.
When you pull yarns like that through a small opening, with unevenly wound skeins you’ll end up with a loop in front of the opening at best, or a jam at some point at worst. Or is there a little man sitting in front of your bead, making sure all the thin individual strands are the same length before they’re allowed through the “tunnel”?

Best regards
Kerstin

 

Hi there,
I can only agree with Brigitte’s suggestion—the paper rolls and the bead work well.
Of course, the bead needs to have a large hole.

Unfortunately, there are also defective yarn cakes now and then with a lot of loop formation.
Depending on the type of yarn, this can happen sometimes. 
Carola, you should also complain to the Bobbel seller if there are too many loops.
Sunny regards
Birgit 

Hi Carola,

Romy Fischer has posted a video on YouTube about this problem. The video is called “Loops in the Bobbel – Help with Bobbel Drama”. Maybe that will help you.

Best wishes

Mod. edit:
Please don’t include external links in posts.

Hi Lela58,
welcome to the forum. It’s great that you’re participating and sharing tips.
Unfortunately, I had to remove the link because external links aren’t allowed here. But you can easily find the video on YouTube using the title—no link needed.
Have fun here with us! 

Hi everyone,
thank you so much for all your suggestions and tips. Regarding beads and paper rolls, I tend to agree with Kerstin that everything gets tangled up behind the narrow part.
I’ll take a look at the YouTube video.

Have a wonderful Sunday, and warm regards from
Carola

Hi Carola,
I enjoy crocheting and knitting with Bobbel yarn and do it often, and I’ve had this problem with one supplier before. The quality of that Bobbel yarn left a lot to be desired in other ways, too. I persevered, pushed the loops along, and then tried several different suppliers and found that everyone produces them a little differently. I’ve now found my go-to supplier—no noticeable knots, no loops or other annoying issues, and custom winding is even possible. Plus, they’re local. You just have to kiss a few frogs. 😉
Warm regards from Dresden too 
Ellen