Have you ever looked at those old-fashioned pictures of one person holding a skein of yarn and another winding a ball of wool and wondered "why?"
Or looked at those strange mechanical wool-winding apparatus for sale on EBay and wondered "who would buy this?"
Well I have now discovered the answers to these questions. I purchased the above skein of yarn, a glorious blend of merino wool and New Zealand possum fur (don't scream; in New Zealand possums are pests destroying the native flora and fauna, and have to be culled, so it is good to know their lovely coats are being put to a positive use rather than just rotting in the ground) off eBay. It came in one very long skein that simply had to be wound into a ball so I could use it.
"Shouldn't be too hard," I thought (first mistake) as I slipped the skein around my neck (second mistake) and began to wind a ball.
At first it was easy. Then the yarn began to tangle. I tugged it (third mistake) and nearly strangled myself.
I could just see the news headlines. "Woman strangled to death by own knitting. Trans-Tasman Trade Dispute. Australia blames New Zealand for exporting dangerous goods. New Zealand claims it cannot be responsible for Australian stupidity."
I took the yarn off my neck and tried to work the tangles free. But it was too late. The damage had been done. And a 15 minute job stretched to 3 hours last night as I painstakingly worked the yarn through every twist and tangle, determined not to cut it.
By 10pm I had a beautiful ball of yarn. And was too tired to start knitting.
But tomorrow is a brand new day. The yarn is destined to be a hat for my husband; a belated birthday present (yes, for the middle of Australia's summer).
It's too late to start knitting tonight. I've spent the whole evening looking at wool winders on EBay.
Update 14/12/05
And as can be seen here, I actually started getting some knitting done today. This photo does not do this yarn justice; it's far less 'yellow' in real life.
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