Almost done

Just one last end to weave in, and then a good block and a zipper, and Eris will be done! I went looking for a zipper today. I found one that would match well and almost bought it. Luckily I realized before I plunked down money that a dress zipper will not work for a cardigan--I need something that will open all the way up. It's slightly easier that way.

I may have to try to find one online. None of the stores here have a zipper in the right size and the right color for this project. So it will probably be a while before I can put this in the FO category. But that's not going to stop me from wearing it!

SP10 Questionnaire

My answers to the SP10 Questionnaire are up and over at my "100 Things about me" page!

All gone!

My money, that is!

There was indeed a lady in the knitting and spinning guild who had a wheel she didn't need anymore. I picked it up on Wednesday at one of our LYS's here in town (she's one of the owners). It's an Ashford Traditional double drive. It came with extra bobbins, a lazy kate, and an high-speed flyer kit, for $250.


Now I need to buy some more roving (I've spun up just about all that she gave me) and a niddy noddy.

In other news, I've also found some living room furniture (the red sofa and loveseat). The futon and coffee and end tables will be moving out in May. Until then I'm really pleased with how my living room looks! It's starting to look like a real home, instead of a student apartment. Now all I need are people to come over and visit and sit on the couches and just talk!

Merci beaucoup

I was so excited about my spinning last night that I forgot to say THANK YOU to my fabulousa Secret Pal, Viv. Thank YOU! I've had a lot of fun this go-round and I'm already signed up for SP10.

Here's a recap:

By the way, do you see that soap up in the first picture? It's gardenia soap and smells wonderful. I thought you might like to know that I gave in, despite my misgivings, and bought a gardenia plant.

I'd been looking for something green to put on my end table, and it was very pretty. It has lots of buds on it, hopefully it will bloom!

Thanks again, Viv. You've been a wonderful secret pal!

I've slipped!!

I went to the Knitting & Spinning guild meeting tonight, and had a great time! I worked on Eris and finished attaching the hem to the front. All I have left of the hem is the back.

Then the lady who hosts the meetings brought out an Ashford Traditional wheel and I started down the slippery slope. I spun nearly a whole bobbin and really enjoyed it. I want a wheel! But I have a lot of other things that I probably ought to buy first. My roommate is getting married in May, and the livingroom furniture will be moving out when she does. So I'm saving up for a couch and a coffee table and probably a loveseat. I told that to the ladies at the Guild tonight, and they laughingly said, "Why save up for all that furniture? All you need for a wheel is a chair!"

I'm tempted. Very tempted. But a wheel costs so much money! I might ask if anyone at the guild has a used one they want to sell. In the meantime, I would like to make sure that this isn't just a whim.

Here's the fruits of my first foray into wheel spinning. Sorry about the shoddy photos...all I had with me was the camera phone.

I'm pretty proud of myself. Spinning just clicked with me. I very quickly figured out how to put the movement of my foot pretty much on autopilot, and was able to focus on drafting. Of course, I still have thick and thin spots, but that's normal. Linda, the hostess, told me that it was not regular "beginner yarn".

Next month I'll go back and see if I can learn about plying and see if I can make a little skein of yarn to keep. I wonder how much I'll have to spin in order to make a hat...

Long and ramble-y. You've been warned.

Look what I received in the mail on Saturday! Thank you Secret Pal! I'm looking forward to finding out who's been spoiling me so well these past few months!
There's a skein of Alpaca fingering weight yarn and the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits, which included an insert on scarves. I've never really looked at a knitting magazine before. I might have to look in to buying one or two more. The patterns in this particular edition are pretty nice. I really like that sweater on the front. I wonder what other colors would look like...

wait...I'm not allowed to start new projects until I finish the ones I'm working on!

Speaking of WIP: Here's a shot of Eris, from the last time that I worked on it, on Saturday.

I've finished the edging on the front left side, and am working on the front right side. It's actually a very clever construction: every other row (and occasionally more often) a stitch is picked up from the body and knit together with a stitch from the border. Not only does it look really nice, it also means that I don't have to bind off stitches at the bottom! Yay!

I did make a boo-boo, though. I can't remember (I need to learn to write things down as I work) whether I used US 4's or 3's to make the cardigan's collar. I'm using 3's for the hem, but the cables look smaller then the ones on the collar. This is how it's supposed to look. I hope that it doesn't matter too much. And I ought to have done the cabled raglan increases so that the cabled waist shaping would match. But I didn't notice that option until I was getting ready to start the waist shaping. Oh well.

I've been rather social the past few weeks, as far as fiber hobbies are concerned. One of the LYS's here in town has just started having an open knit night on Wednesdays. I went the first night, and there were three of us there: one of the owners, and another girl and I. It was fun. I do knit in public sometimes, but I'm always the only one. It was nice to have other people to talk to about what they're doing. I also went last week, and there were seven or eight people there. It was fabulous! People talked about going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and about yarn habits and projects they want to do and things they're learning.

This coming Friday, I think I'm going to go learn how to spin. I tried a drop spindle once, and it was kind of fun, but I think I'd like to try a wheel, too. I always thought it would be so cool to have an antique-looking spinning wheel sitting in my living room, pretending to be a decorative item, but actually knowing how to use it!

Ooohhh, it smells GOOD in here!

I bought a tree today. It's an Orange tree. It's in blossom right now, so hopefully in a few months I'll have oranges!

(Please look only at the tree, and not the mess in the background)

These are what the blossoms look like. They smell SOOOO GOOD! It's a very strong fragrance, really sweet with a hint of citrus in it. It's perfuming my living room as we speak.

Oh, I've been knitting, too. Mostly on Eris, because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I want to get it done. I've got less than five inches to go on the body, and then I only have the sleeves and a zipper left. I'm hoping that sleeve island won't be too awful because this is a top-down raglan. I just have to knit until they're long enough (doesn't everyone?) but the rows get shorter as I move down toward the wrist.

Here's a shot of the waist shaping. It looks kind of scary, actually, like a spider or some other beastie. Hopefully it will look better when I block it and wear it.

Lots of New Things

New thing #1: I received a package in the mail today from my Secret Pal: Two skeins of sock yarn and Sensational Knitted Socks! THANK YOU!!! I'm intrigued by a couple of the mosaic patterns, I might try one, as soon as I clear out my WIP basket and can buy some sock yarn. I want something like Koigu, or maybe I'll buy something I've never tried before, like Socks that Rock or something. The purple sock yarn that my SP sent is definitely earmarked for something for me. It's so soft! And I'm glad that I received the book today. I'm working on my mom's socks, and I did one toe-up with a short-row heel. I was kind of getting bored with it by the end, so I decided to do the other top-down, and was wondering if it were possible to do short row heels on top-down socks. And the book happens to have instructions on how to do it. Perfect timing, SP! Thanks again!

As I said, I'm working on my mom's socks. Nothing fancy at all, just a K2P2 rib on the leg. I started them on Tuesday, and finished one this evening. Not bad, if I say so myself.

It looks fine when you put it on, but socks that have ribbed legs just look really weird when they're not being worn. The feet look out of proportion to the leg portion.

And here's the second sock, started top-down as I mentioned earlier. I wonder if I'll do this one as quickly as the first. It would be really nice--I told my mom I'd knit her socks six months ago!

And last but not least, look what I bought myself for my own (late) Christmas Present: It's a Canon PowerShot A540. It's not top of the line--I don't need anything that fancy at present. But it's much nicer than my old 2.0MP camera I've been using for the past few years (which, by the way, would probably only go for about 5 bucks on eBay--that's how behind-hand it is). This camera has also has the advantage of a lot of manual settings that I can grow into as I learn more about how to take pictures.

Mardi Gras (in other words: splurge before you diet)

I've decided to go on a yarn diet, kind of based on Wendy's Knit from Your Stash 2007. My stash really isn't that big (I don't think--but I could just be in denial) so it's going to be a modified one. Basically, the rule is: I am not allowed to buy more yarn until I've finished the projects that I already have.

Tonight, I went through my stash and sorted it into three groups: WIP's, "nice yarn" and "bleah yarn". The "bleah yarn" group consists mostly of old acrylic yarns that I purchased or received before I knew there was nicer stuff out there. It's nice to keep around when I need scrap yarn for temporary stitches or for holding live stitches to try on a garment, or to wrap around when I'm winding yarn into hanks. I may or may not see if Goodwill will take most of it. The "nice yarn" group is just that: nicer yarns, like silky wool, or 100% wool, things I've bought but don't have a specific project in mind for yet. They're just "marinating" right now. WIP's are just that: Things like Bristow, Eris, and Scheherezade, along with some yarn that has a specific project attatched to it that I haven't started, or started and frogged, like my Mom's socks.

The plan is to finish everything in my WIP basket before I can buy new yarn. Originally, my plan was to clean out the "nice yarns" group, too, but after looking at it tonight, and the more I think about it, the less likely it is to happen. Let's be realistic: I've got to have SOME stash, don't I? :)

That said, I went to my LYS today and snooped around to see what I could find before I'm banned. Here's what I found:

3 Skeins of Noro Silk Garden Color #221, and 2 of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool Color #18. I'm not sure what I want to make with them. Maybe a hat and scarf and mittens. The Noro is worsted weight and the Silky Wool is DK, so I'm going to have to do some swatching and see what comes out. If I knit with 2 strands of DK weight together, does that come out the same as worsted weight? I guess we'll have to see. They've gone into the "nice yarns" box for now.

In a finishing mood...

I've been in a finishing mood lately. I think with these two things I've only got three things on the needles right now: Bristow, Eris, and Scheherezade.

J's Hat, finished December 19, 2006, unknown wool I bought from one of our two LYS's here in town.

When I finished my brother's Christmas scarf, I wasn't really interested in working on any of the projects I had going, so I decided to make another Christmas gift, a scarf for my sister K. C's scarf went pretty fast, and I had ten days, so I decided to give it a go. The pattern is Clapotis, modified to be not so wide. It's kind of a fun pattern, but I'm not ga-ga over it, like everyone else seemed to be. Maybe it's because the yarn isn't the best, a cotton/nylon blend. The pattern stands out, but it rolls in on itself worse than stockinette would. I steam blocked it, and hopefully it will hold its shape. Maybe I'd have fallen in love if I had some wool/silk to knit it up in...guess I'll have to try it someday.

The scarf was NOT finished by Christmas, but I decided not to stress about it. In fact, since my sister did not know that it was for her, I actually didn't even wrap it up, but continued to work on it while I was at my parents' house this weekend. On Christmas morning, when she opened her box, there was a small game and a ball of this yarn, and I explained that the scarf I'd been working on was for her and I'd mail it up when I finished it.

Speaking of Christmas, it was really good, but much too fast. I drove up to Indiana where my parents live after I got off work on Saturday. Normally the trip takes about four and a half to five hours, but I left at 3:30 and didn't arrive until 9:30 because there was a big accident on the highway. I got stuck in the traffic right after I passed an exit and TWO HOURS LATER, I reached the next exit, five miles down the road. TWO. HOURS. UGH! I think what was most exasperating was not knowing what was going on and why we were all parked on the highway. But since this is the middle of nowhere, Indiana, there's not exactly a need for local radio stations to have traffic reports every ten minutes. It was frustrating not being able to find one. I guess I'm turning into a big-city girl. Needless to say, I had a new "first" this weekend--knitting while sitting behind the wheel--on the interstate...(shh, don't tell the cops!)

My parents gave me a book called "Knit 2 Together" but that was the only knitting-related gift I received. My brother and my sister gave me some DVD's, and that was about it. I'm not usually a big movie watcher, but I didn't ask for anything or drop any hints, and they didn't know what else to get for me.

Done!

I finished my brother's Christmas present on Friday night. It's pretty and feels soft to my fingers, but it's kind of itchy when I try it on my neck, so I'm not sure how he'll like it. It softened up some when I washed it, so hopefully it will contintue to soften the more it's washed and worn.

Down a dark path...

Sorry that I've been absent. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. My birthday was yesterday. I didn't really do much at all for it, but I did go out to dinner with a whole bunch of friends on Saturday, and my family sent me a package. My way cool secret pal has left me tantalizing hints about a package that should be here any day...how exciting!

So, It's begun--I think I've past the point of no return. I'm talking about knitting Christmas presents. I've never done it before, but I can just sense that this is going to get me in trouble in future. I know there's going to be stress and pressure, because I've never had to knit on a deadline before. Does anyone else hear the theme from Jaws, or is it just me?

My brother C asked if he were to send me money for yarn, would I knit a scarf for him? Without really thinking I told him that he didn't have to send me money, I'd make him one for Christmas.

I was going to use some stash yarn, but I didn't really have anything in the color he wanted. So I had to go to the yarn store and find some. Bummer. I just loathe browsing around the yarn store. (Watch out--there's lightning flying around here!) So I found some navy blue merino/mohair/cashmere blend that I thought was nice. I've experimented with a couple of stitch patterns, but in the end, I think it's going to just end up being a simple k2p2 rib, because I can do that mindlessly and fast. I don't want my knitting to be the source of stress in my life--it's supposed to be a stress reliever.

I figured out how to adjust my camera to capture more of a true color when I take a picture in natural light. C's scarf is in the photo above, as of this weekend. I've added a couple of inches to it since then.

Somewhat Productive

Today was my half-day off. When I work on Saturdays (which is most weeks) I get off work around one o'clock on Tuesdays. I had all these big plans to be really productive this afternoon. But I woke up this morning congested and cold and feeling pretty blah in general, so when I came home, I crawled into bed and slept for three hours! It felt really good. I must have really needed it, and I feel much better now.

I did get some things done today. I made some goodies to take into work tomorrow for a birthday potluck. Chicken salad in little pie shells with a half a grape on top. They almost look good enough to eat, huh?

I also did laundry and worked on Eris. My camera batteries are charging right now, so no more pictures today. It doesn't look much different than the last time I showed it, just a few rows longer.

Scheherazade is moving right along. I've got about six more rows of the first chart done. I'm trying to decide whether I should unzip the provisional cast on and work on the second half at the same time (you make it from the center out, with the two sides mirroring each other). Knowing me, I'd probably get confused as to which side was which, so I'd probably better not.

Just in time for cold weather

What's with the crazy weather around here? Yesterday, it was sunny and nearly 80 degrees outside. Today it was rainy and never got above 45, and they're predicting snow flurries for tonight! YUK!!! Luckily, I have something new to wear against the cold...This was such a quick knit! I did make some modifications to the pattern. I decided not to do the picot edging at the knuckles because I didn't want them to flare out. I made a few mistakes, too. I was so afraid that I'd run out of yarn before I finished the second one that I knit it much tighter than the first. I think I also messed up one of the cables at the wrist and knit one row too few between cable rows. As a result, it was shorter than the other, and I had six grams of yarn left!

I went back in and added two or three extra rows between where I divided for the thumb and the cables at the knuckles. I actually like it better, because it's tighter and covers a bit more of my fingers. I still have some yarn left and I may go back in and redo the bind-off on the first.

I think I'm going to have to go online and see if I can find some more of this yarn and make a hat and scarf to match, and maybe figure some way to make mitten flaps. I'm not sure how often I'll actually wear them if my fingers are always out in the cold.

Oh, no, just what I DIDN'T need!

Okay, I really don't mean that. I got a LOVELY package from my Secret Pal today. Thank you, Secret Pal!!! But it's going to get me in trouble. Get a load of these goodies:

There are notecards (I love stationary and paper products!) and some Gardenia soap that smells HEAVENLY, and some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a great pink color.

So now I'm in trouble. First, I told myself this afternoon on my drive home from work (before I knew that there was a package waiting in my mailbox) that I really should stop casting on for new projects before I finish ones I've already started. Case in point: I'm not done with the Bristow cardigan I started this summer, I really ought to redo my roommate's cousin's hat before cold weather sets in, I just started Eris a few weeks ago, and I've yet to cast on for the second Chocolate Raspberry sock. But I'm dying to try Melanie's Scheherazade shawl.

So guess what I did tonight. Yup.

Lest you think "Oh, that's not so bad," let me tell you what I did while standing in line waiting to vote yesterday morning. Yup.

(No, I didn't do all that while standing in line. I'm not that good. I just cast my red yarn onto the provisional crochet chain.) I'm using some laceweight 100% wool I bought on eBay that had been recycled from a commercial-made sweater. I really like how this is turning out so far. The yarnover eyelets really show well, but the solid portions of the shawl are still relatively opaque. I'm using Susan Bates 2.75mm (US#2) This is one of my first forays into lace knitting, and my first stole.

And then there's this Gardenia soap. Do real Gardenias actually smell like this soap? Dear secret pal, do you realize that my thumbs are itching to be green and I'm trying to hold them back? I don't really need a new hobby. And my cats eat plants. I just potted some spring bulbs in a planter on my back porch the other day and told myself that was it. But man, oh man, if Gardenias really smell like that soap, I might have to buy a plant. And from what I hear, they're VERY VERY finicky!

Call me a rebel

I certainly am talkative this week--three posts already!I bought some really cute boots tonight for work. I have to wear a uniform where I work, black pants or skirts, black shoes, and blue shirts with the company logo. It's nice to not have to decide what to wear in the morning, but it does get old after a while. We're also supposed to wear hose or black socks. That was fine until last November, when I learned how to knit socks. Who wants to wear store-bought socks when handknit socks are so nice? And who wants to knit black socks when there are so many beautiful sock yarns out there? And knitting with black is hard on the eyes anyway.

So I bought some boots that are a little higher than my ankles. Now, when I wear pants (which I do 95% of the time) I can wear socks of whatever color I choose. Take that, you boring old dress code!

It's starting to look like a sweater!

I worked on Eris yesterday and today. Getting close to benchmark points usually motivates me to knit like mad until I get to that point. Especially when that point is one (like being able to put the sleeve stitches on a holder) where it means that the number of stitches on a row is significantly smaller because it means that the knitting will grow that much faster!

The more that I look at it, the less I am satisfied with my cables on the collar. I see lots of mistakes and they don't look as pretty as the pictures in the pattern. But that's to be expected--this is practially my first experiment with cables. But what I didn't expect was that they're not as pretty as I thought they were a few days ago!

I've been told that blocking helps even out stitches in stockinette. I hope that it will also make my cables look nicer.

Update

I've finished one Chocolate Raspberry sock. I need to start the second one before I get second sock syndrome...
Here's the latest on my Eris cardigan. I worked on it for a couple of hours this past Tuesday when I was over at the Laundromat. That's really my best knitting time. No one is ever there, so I just sit around with my headphones on and knit. Best of all, I don't feel like I'm wasting time, because I can't really do much else during that time anyway! The color's acutally not too bad in this photo, except that it's a little darker in person.

A first time for everything

I've never done a meme before.

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Melissa

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of. My parents just liked the name. Along with lots of other parents that year--Melissa was the most popular girl's name the year I was born.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I'm not really sure. It's been a couple of months, I think.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I actually really like my handwriting. I've always loved pens and paper and school supplies and I'm a big fan of handwritten letters. Lately I've gotten into fountain pens and dip pens and researching old styles of handwriting. I think that Spencerian script is pretty, and I'd like to learn it, but it's not practical for most things nowadays--it's kind of hard to read!

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? I like chicken or turkey or salami.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Of course! Who wouldn't? ;)

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I do. I've been keeping a journal pretty steadily (meaning I'd write several times a week for months at a time, then drop back to once in a few months) for the past ten years or so. I've been much more regular about it for the last five years or so.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Definitely not.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I like Life cereal or Frosted Mini-Wheats. I'm not a big fan of fruity or chocolatey cereals or any kind of cheerio's.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Not usually. Come to think of it, I think I only own one pair of shoes that ties, and I hardly ever wear them.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? What kind of an ambiguious question is that? I'm not really very strong physically, but there are definitely issues that I don't bend on.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Mint chocolate has always been a favorite, but I really like Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake (or anyone's Strawberry Cheesecake for that matter).

14. SHOE SIZE? 7.

5. RED OR PINK? Right now it's pink. But I really like red, too. I just don't have much of it.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I need to work on being less lazy.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? No one in particular, but I miss having a crowd of friends around that would just come over and talk about everything and nothing for a very long time.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Sure. Why not? It would be fun to see if anyone actually READS my blog aside from my secret pal! (Hi, Secret Pal!) :)

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Bluejeans, white tank top, pink cotton cardigan. No shoes.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? A chicken sandwich on my way out the door for Institute class tonight.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My two cats chasing each other around the living room and some piano music.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purple

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Clean smells--like rain or citrus or clean laundry.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My friend Christina, who called to ask if I could give her a ride to class tonight.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes, I think.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I've actually never met her, but I like reading her blog.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Pink Lemonade, hands down.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Volleyball.

29. EYE COLOR? Hazel.

30. HAT SIZE? You know? I don't really know! Something medium, probably.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Sometimes. I hate the hassle of fighting with them in the morning to get them in, and taking them out every night when really I'd rather just got to sleep. But I think I look better in them than I do in glasses. ;)

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Pasta. No low-carb diets for me!

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings. Definitely happy endings.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? I like winter--I love scarves and mittens and hats and sweaters!

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs, I guess. I haven't tried any kisses!

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Ice Cream.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I have no idea.

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Ditto.

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Emma by Jane Austen. Who am I kidding--I have "The Complete Novels" in one volume and I just skip around and read my favorite parts in all the stories!

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? I don't have a mouse pad.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I don't own a TV but I watched a miniseries called "Wives and Daughters" on DVD on my computer the other day.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Rain and thunder.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Not really a big fan of either. I've heard more Beatles songs, though.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Russia. Twelve time zones away from my family--can't get much farther than that! (Well, not unless you drive a rocket).

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Thinking outside the box. For example, not long ago, I played a game called Scattergories and at one point we had to come up with a four-letter word that starts with "P" that no one else would think of. I wrote down "Profanity". It works, in an offbeat kind of way. :)

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Illinois.

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I shamelessly stole it from Cara.

A Brilliant Idea

Sorry about the bad pun, but I'm excited about this idea I just had. I have a ball winder, but no swift, so winding balls has been a long, slow process with hanks carefully draped around the back of my chair. I've thought about buying a swift, but they're expensive and I don't know where I'd keep it.

But tonight, I realized that the shade on the lamp on my desk is REALLY big--big enough to hold a hank of Cascade 220! So I loosened the top screw, placed my hank on the shade, and voila! A ball of wool wound within a matter of one or two minutes, rather than forty-five!