Always the Last to Know

Last night, after completing yet *another* knitting project (That's three in three days, not that you'd know from reading here. . . yet.), I decided to reward myself with the pleasure of winding the yarn for my next new project.  I'm knitting with Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, which I bought a couple of years ago.  It comes in really beautiful, tightly coiled skeins.  In does not wind beautifully, however.  For one thing, this 100% silk yarn is very, very slippery.  I couldn't even get it to stay in the notches on my ball winder for the longest time.  Then I realized something that probably is known by every knitter who owns a ball winder, and perhaps by some who don't.  Can you see what I finally saw?

I've owned this ball winder for probably four years and never, ever noticed this before, even though I have wound many, many skeins of sock yarn on it.  One of the notches at the top is deeper (and gets narrower) than the other.  If you put the tail end of the yarn in the shallower notch, a slippery silk yarn will fly right out as soon as you start cranking the handle of the ball winder.  If you put the tail end of the yarn in the deeper notch, it will hold when you start to wind the yarn.

All this is not to say that having that knowledge made the winding of this yarn any easier.  My skeins have been wound into a lot of small, lavender birds' nests.  I'm really, really hoping that I will be able to knit without them turning into tangled clumps of yarn.  I won't be surprised if that doesn't happen though.  Last night, DH came home from work at 11:30 pm and found me in the kitchen, untangling yarn and muttering, "Knitting is my hobby.  It brings me joy.  Knitting is the new yoga.  I feel relaxed and renewed.  Knitting is my hobby.  I like to knit. .  ."  You get the picture.

And DH must have taken pity on me, because today he offered me the item at the left.  If you think that looks like a chocolate Easter rabbit sans head, you are correct.  My darling spouse gifted me with the rest of his Easter rabbit today because, to quote him, "otherwise, I'm just going to throw it out."  Well, *that* makes a girl feel special.  With Mother's Day only a few days away, I'm on the edge of my seat anticipating what wonders await me from him. . . maybe he will give me candy (or coins) that he finds in the cushions of the seats of his car. 

Mother's Day weekend won't completely suck, even if my spouse fails to deliver.  I am planning on going to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival on Saturday.  Last year, I had my plans all made when I sprained my ankle badly and ended up on crutches.  This year, I'm being a bit more last minute about it, though I'm going to have to bring the kids so I can't be totally spur of the moment.  Is anyone else going on Saturday?  I haven't read anything about it in blogland or on Ravelry, but then again, I'm hopelessly out of the loop on these things.

I leave you all with Loco, enjoying the lovely spring weather on a visit to my outdoor knitting spot.  He can't come to NH S&W, but we've got a very special excursion planned for him for next week.  It's something he will enjoy.  I'm not using some sort of special code for going to the vet's office.  I will bring the camera and take photos for next week's Dogs on Thursday.

Comments

[britt]

I am going! I started going to the java room on wednesdays (like you said i should back in january) and a couple of us are carpooling together. I am not sure which day we are going but probably sunday.

[Karen]

I had no idea about the ball winder thing. I'll have to look at mine and see if it's the same.
I am going on Sunday. It's become a Mother's Day tradition;)

[Nancy]

I have never noticed that about my ball winder. You learn something new every day!

For mother's day I get to clean my house earlier in the week! Yay me . I refuse to clean on Mother's Day but Sunday is cleaning day so I need to get it done earlier since the husband gave up doing that for me the minute we bought a house.

[Cookie]

I tied a tiny knot on the end of really slick yarns before using that groove. Although, with pure silk yarn, I still find myself balling by hand.

Wow... that sounded dirty.

[2paw]

I can see Loco's tail wagging in the picture!! Is he off to Dog's Holiday Camp?? My aunt's dog LOVES going there. He runs in and doesn't even say goodbye!!
What a lucky groovy find on your ball winder. I had a little chuckle!!
Hope you had a good Mothers' Day and that the chocolate helped!!!

[Danielle]

Did you have fun at NHS&W? I went on Sunday...

[maomao]

nice article, I learnt from it a lot!

[Kim]

Hope Loco enjoys his outing.

[Alarming Female]

::snort::

awesome little ball winder you got there, friend.

heh.

[Joan]

LOL! My favorite blog banner yet! ;-}