How to ... Untangle Yarn and keep it untangled

So the prompt for today was to write a tutorial on something it could be something proper or something tongue in cheek. I decided to mix it up.

I opened up my bag to do some crochet last night. and I had an absolute MESS. If you follow my instagram or facebook you would have seen the image last night of the mess of purple and pink yarns that greeted me. Below is the pink that was still tangled when I woke up this morning.

Now this is a little bit tongue in cheek but how do you untangle all this mess of yarn. I hope most people can work this out for yourself but maybe you may learn a trick you don't currently use that will be quicker for you.

1. DON'T tighten the yarn. The worst thing you can do is start pulling and yanking it tight.
To start you loosen the yarn and pull it apart so that you can start to untangle it.

2. Find an end and start working it back through the pile.

Winding the end up as you go so it's not a large tail. If the ball of wool starts to get tight make sure you loosen it up again before you start pulling. You can't unwind it if you can't get your little ball through the gaps.

 3. When you're finished wind it all around one ball of wool and you have one untangled ball of yarn.

4. Put the balls somewhere where they can't get tangled again. I've put all my yarn balls into plastic bags so they can't roll around. Hopefully this is the last time I have to deal with this tangle.

I hope this keeps my yarn sorted.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin