Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The tangeled webs...

Today I went through Every. Bit. of Yarn. I own. As per usual this wasn't spontaneous organization (please, I'm not THAT pregnant yet). Rather, I brought out all the bags of yarn that had been orderly stacked in the closet, and turfed them all out onto the bed. I was looking for the knitting elastic. I bought some several months ago because I thought it'd be useful, though I wasn't sure what for at the time. Then today making Rosebud it occurs to me that THAT is exactly what I need. Right. Now.

So, as logic happens, I distinctly remember buying the stuff, but I haven't the foggiest idea where I've put it. And for the record, I still don't. I bought it at a fabric shop right next door to my favorite yarn store, so I checked bags of wool and what little accumulation of fabric that I have. No luck. The wool at one point was somewhat organised (or at least stored neatly in random order together) and the fabric was very neatly tucked away. The elastic, though, no idea. For those who aren't familiar with it, knitting elastic looks very much like a small spool of thread, it's just ever so slightly thicker. So we're not talking about something that's going to jump out and grab me - rather, something that can quite easily sneak into a dark corner and live there for decades.

Which it may well end up doing, because the bloody stuff is still MIA.

In the end, however, I did find this.


Mess
Originally uploaded by KiwiWonder


I claim no responsibility for this. It's at least 6 different ends-of-balls of wool. Most of which may be enough to do 'something' with. Except for the fact that somehow in the process of shifting them (not today, but the last time they were thrown together and moved) they have become one. Hopelessly intertwined. Now, my hubby can verify - I suck at freeing knots / tangles at the best of times, to the point where it's one of hubby's odd knitting related jobs. The idea of freeing this mess.... well, it's not appealing. All of this is complicated by the fact that one of the ball-ends in there is my very favorite rainbow yarn. Which I thought I only had half a ball left of, but now I've found this, I actually have two half-balls left of, which is enough to "do something" with. If I can ever get it free.

1 comment:

Chris H said...

In some warped way, I enjoy untangling yarn. Not enough to seek out other people's snarls, but I can definitely get in a zone and enjoy it.

As I figure it, the task is first to loosen, loosen, loosen. So I find the snarliest tightest bit, and the loops that are part of it that have access to other yarn, and I loosen, loosen loosen. I keep looking for tight, and bring it loose. Gradually, the ways in which it is snarled become apparent, and I can find ways to unsnarl. Sometimes that's very local, moving individual strands. But more often it's identifying large snarled subsets of yarn that can be moved relative to one another and made less tangled as a group. Slowly, slowly, loosening, loosening, standing back, assessing, coming in, shifting, loosening, loosening, drawing out, shifting clear, then winding up separately. Quite lovely, really. Although I must admit that sometimes I walk away in disgust or frustration several times in there ... lovely with thorns, perhaps.