A question:

Does anyone know if it's "bad" to wind off yarn from hanks into "cakes" using a ball-winder, months to years before you plan to use it?

I know that if you're doing a hand-wound "softball" shape, it's best to wind right before knitting, and not to wind too tightly at that, because it stretches the yarn.

But my little ball-winder doesn't seem to put tension on the yarn.

And my little ball-winder is lonely. In my urge to finish everything I currently have on the needles before starting a new project, it's been a long time since I had the fun of winding off skeins into balls (and with a swift and ball-winder, it IS fun). While tidying a bit this weekend, I found two skeins of superfine suri alpaca I had bought and put aside for a lace shawl "someday." Well, as my next shawl-project is NOT going to be teeny tiny thread weight (it will either be the Landscape Shawl knit of Koigu, or it will be the Song of Hiawatha shawl kit I received for Christmas), it may be up to a year (or even more) before I get to the suri alpaca. But one of the skeins of it came untwisted, looks untidy, and I fear is in danger of getting tangled. So I'd like to wind it off (along with some other nice yarns that have been sitting untouched for far too long) but not if it's going to stress the fibers.

So, anyone know the answer? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?