Yarn typically arrives in a ball or a hank/skein. Either way, I like to have them prepared into a center pull ball for easier knitting. The center pull ball doesn’t roll around everywhere. And, there is more even tension on the yarn when it comes out of the center. There are several ways to get a hank of yarn into a ball: using a ball winder and swift, using a ball winder and the back of the chair, or using the entirely manual method employed in the video by my husband when we were on vacation. The key is to not tangling the yarn is to make sure you are unwrapping it and not pulling on it.
The hand wound center pull ball:
I needed to use this yarn double-stranded, so he started the ball with a butterfly. Hold the strand between 2 fingers and then the yarn is wrapped in a figure eight fashion around your fingers and then pulled off and wound into the ball shape (keeping the center strand free so you can pull it out later).
Of course, balls don’t need to be wound by hand at all, a ball winder and swift make quick work of it too. Here’s my affiliate link if you need these tools in your toolbox. Thanks!!