Abstract: A box fitted with a hinged cover for winding a skein of yarn about a rod rotatably mounted in the box, with a handle externally fixed to the rod. A pair of spaced through slots are formed in the cover located parallel to each other and the rod, with a guide unit slidably mounted to a first slot and located to extend under the second slot inside the cover. The guide unit is formed of a loop of wire fixed to a knob that extends through the first slot so that a length of yarn can be fastened at one end to the rod through the second slot and the loop of the guide, with said thread being windable upon the rod when the handle is manually rotated and with the guide manually operated to guide the thread onto the rod along the length of the rod.