ah - HA!!!

Ever had one of those "ah-HA!!!" moments? I just did!

This is some of my first handspun yarn from a few years ago. There isn't much, 150 yds, but it is one of the first presentable yarns I ever made. Plus, it is Razorback Red!




I decided to use it on my new rectangle loom (more on that in a minute.) But obviously, this skein of yarn is not going to cooperate in this form - can we say tangled/mangled beyond use? So normally I have one of my rugrats sit and hold the skein on two outstretched hands while I either use the ball winder or wind it into a ball by hand. This usually involves lots of complaining on the part of the forced volunteer, followed by lots of ugly looks from me. But, hey, it gets the job done.

Well, no rugrats today because school started. Hmmm.....I inherited impatience (thanks Dad!), so actually waiting until someone gets home to help - it ain't an option. I have tried the "loop it around a dining room chair" method - never figured that one out. Also tried the ultimate impatience method of laying the loop in my lap and trying to wind from that. Yeah right, remember tangled/mangled? That is when the ah-HA!!! moment struck. If I loop this skein around my neck like a necklace, and let gravity do its job, I should be able to wind this all by myself!

And it worked! No complaining, no new wrinkles from glaring, and no rat's nest of yarn! I did have to un-loop it from around the back of my neck on every round, and I wouldn't want to do 2000 yards this way, but it was sooooo easy! And it only took about 10 minutes!

Now I know I am probably the last person in this century to figure this one out, I can just hear folks reading this post and going "DUH!", but I was rather proud of myself!

And here is the new rectangle loom. This is a Hideaway Homestead brand, and it is lovely! I have already made one scarf on it out of some acrylic, just to get the hang of it. I also have the parts to make it a large tri-loom for shawls.

And a close-up of the pins for weaving:
I will try to remember to post a picture of the finished Razorback scarf when I finish it!