A coil of yarn may be called a hank or a skein. Yarn is typically  sold in a ball or a skein. A hank is different in that it is a big  loop of yarn that is twisted up for ea … sy shipping.+ 6 others found this useful.he lengt … h of yarn in a hank varies with the market and the material; for example, a hank of cotton yarn traditionally included 840 yards (768 meters) of yarn, while a hank of wool yarn was 560 yards (512 meters).