coils of worsted yarn
A quantity of yarn, thread, etc. put up together, after it is taken from the reel. A skein of cotton yarn is formed by eighty turns of the thread around a fifty-four inch reel.
To wind or weave into a skein.
The word skein comes from Middle English and originally meant a quantity of string or thread wound on a reel. Its ultimate origin is likely Proto-Celtic, tracing back to a root meaning "to split off."