Monday, May 01, 2006

Jazz in a Minor Key

oh my god...what a major catastrophe this pretty yarn is turning out to be. It's not all the fault of the yarn...well probably none of it is. I think I've learned some lessons..I just don't quite know what happened.

First of all, in my naivety (sp?), I thought if I turned the skein of undyed yarn into a realllly long skinny skein I would have better luck at getting good coverage with the dye. If the whole surface is only about the size of a hot link there's not going to be any place for white spots to hide. I'm not sure how long it was but in it's loop it was still way taller than me and I'm 5'7". So I dye, and this morning I thought I would wind it up before work. So, over go the tv trays and I loop the skein around their legs. I had tied it approximately every 12" so that it wouldn't get tangled. So I clip the ties and start winding. I was transfixed watching the yarn make it's pretty crosses on the ball winder and kinda listening to the news and then I looked down at the yarn still to be wound. OMG it was all coming off the legs. It was as if the yarn was sorta sticking to itself, and when a strand would rise, another couple of strands would go with it and tumble onto the floor. I worked with it as long as I could but unfortunately I had to go to work so I scooped it up and stuffed it into the closet.

Tonight I get home; feed the babies and eat an English muffin and start in. There was no way I was going to be able to use the ball winder so I just wound it by hand; over, under, around, through and didn't once throw it across the room although I surely felt like it. And then, once I got that done, I rewound it on the ball winder so it would look all pretty. And it does.
I think it's destined to be encased in glass because there's another problem... I don't normally have bright pink hands! It's a puzzle to me as I used vinegar and hell, after I steamed it, I rinsed it and the water ran clear.

I'm just glad I have awhile before I have to really come up with something for my "pal"!! And, if they knew it was me they'd be hoping too!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Susan, sounds like you had a royal yarn battle! There is nothing worse than having a hank of yarn misbehave like that. Oh the knots, oh the agony!

As far as the color coming off, I've seen that happen before. The best suggestion I can offer is to re-wind your yarn into a hank. Soak it it some water with vinegar and microwave it to set the dye again. I usually do three 2 minute sessions on high. I hope that helps. Otherwise, put that beautiful yarn in a glass box and admire it.

~France said...

O Mercy!! I hope you get that all str8n'd out before long! MyOmyOmy!

Susan said...

Oh thanks Kirsten! I really want it to have a chance to live LOL. Ohhh and I'll get to use my new homemade niddy noddy!

Susan said...

Yeah I can get into some real messes, Paris! :-)