How (and WHY) to Make Your Own Yarn Cakes

In love with Yarn Cakes? I love the colors, the textures, the way they sit there all pretty like just waiting to be crocheted.  Do you love them too? You can save a TON of money when you learn how to Make Your Own Yarn Cakes.

Make Your Own Yarn Cakes 

Sometimes I find myself standing in the yarn aisle at Michaels, JoAnn’s or Hobby Lobby staring at the solid colored skeins thinking how beautiful they would be all rolled together into one yarn cake. Sometimes the Caron Cakes or Sweet Rolls don’t have the exact colors I’m looking for and I’ve only found the Bernat Pops! twice in my Walmart and the Mandala just once.

Why make your own yarn cakes?

Well, I can think of a few reasons…

When the colors in the ready-made yarn cakes aren’t exactly what you’re looking for. Say you’re going to a baby shower and you find the perfect shades of blue, yellow and cream that the parents are using to decorate the nursery… or if you’re making a wedding present and you know the bride’s colors… or if you have a favorite football team and you’re making a Corner to Corner afghan for the couch… or… the scenarios are countless and the end result is the same: awesome colors that you choose.

You control how often the colors change by counting how many cranks of the winder for each before joining.

And let’s not forget that when you make your own yarn cakes it is much more cost effective than spending $5 – $7 on pre-made cakes.  Wanna break that down with me? Mmmkay!

Cost of making Your Own Yarn Cakes

Let’s say you were to find four different solid skeins of yarn (I’m using Big Twist Value from Jo-Ann) that you think would look lovely together at $3-ish per skein.  For the sake of mathing (because: math 😐 ) let’s compare enough yarn to make a good sized afghan using either Caron Cakes – which sell for $7.99 regular price at Michaels – or the same amount of yardage when you make your own yarn cakes using Big Twist Value (or ILTY or Red Heart etc)…

Isn’t this insane?!  Even if the brands/methods we are comparing were on sale (the cheapest I have ever gotten Caron Cakes was $5 each), the cost effective option would always be to make your own.  If that doesn’t justify the investing in a yarn winder I don’t know what will.

Which Yarn Winder?

The general consensus is that this yarn winder is the best (and I’ve reviewed and researched a lot of winders). It will nearly pay for itself after making just one large blanket’s worth of yarn cakes! SOLD!

How to Make Yarn Cakes

All you need is some yarn, a yarn needle and a yarn winder. Making your own yarn cakes is not as hard as you’d think! My 8 year old helped me out with this tutorial. In truth all I did for him was to complete the Russian Joins.

1. Select which colors you’d like to use in your yarn cake.

2. Decide the order in which you’d like the colors.

3. Start winding the first with your yarn ball winder. (here’s a great article if you’re unsure which one you need!)

4. When you get to the end (or whenever you want to change colors) make a Russian Join.

5. Continue winding with the new color until you’re ready to change again.

6. When you get to the end (or where you want to change colors) make a Russian Join.

7. Continue winding the yarn with the new color until you’re ready to change again.

Rinse and repeat until desired cake size is reached!  My 8 year old is a yarn winding professional, and my 10 year old told him that his yarn cake looks like sushi! Hey, I’d eat it. 😛

And then there’s the look of pure joy on little man’s face! ♥ I’m fairly certain that’s the look on MY face when I reorganize my stash. 😉 Bahaha!!

When you make your own yarn cakes, be sure to share a photo with me on our Facebook page, or tag me @HeartHookHome on Twitter or Instagram!

More crochet tips and tutorials:

Russian Join Tutorial for Crochet and Knitting
How to Keep Straight Edges in Crochet
Choosing the Best Yarn Ball Winder for Your Needs
5 Reasons You Should Time Yourself While Crocheting
How to Add a Border in Crochet