I have heard about yarn winders for years. At first, thought well, I really don't need one. And as most of the skeins I purchase, I can pull out a strand from the middle of the skein. Back years ago, a skein had to be wound into a ball, as it could get easily tangled from the way yarn companies packaged the yard.
The more I thought about it and got to checking, a yarn winder would make perfect sense for that yarn that I did not use on a project and I put into my stash. So I checked to see what kind of winder would be the best. Found that one with metal gears would be best. I then went to Amazon.com. My favorite website and I have some credit there. Was able to find a yarn winder at a good price, so ordered it. I have had it about a month now and love it. The first couple of days I had it, I rewind every ball of yarn I had in my stash. Makes nice balls of yarn and they are easy to stack in a plastic storage crate. I wonder what I did before I had one!!!!