Skain

Knouel, der, oder Kna̔uel, a Bottom or Clevv of Thread or of Yarn, a Hank, a Skain of Yarn or Thread.

The aim of the rope-maker is to unite the strings of a great number of fibres. […] This is done by twisting or twining them together, which causes them to compress each other. […] Consequently, if we pull at this twisted skain, we shall not separate it by drawing one parcel out from among the rest, but the whole fibres will break; and if the distribution of the fibres has been very equable, the skain will be nearly of the same strength in every part.