Well, you learn something new every day.

Like, today I discovered that I can read and count at the same time.

Because, yes, as you can see, my Will Taylor skeiner came today and I think I’m in love. I don’t even care that there was no packing slip of any kind so that I’m not entirely sure what I was actually charged for it, or that I never did hear from the shop, or that I don’t even know if it’s one of the types of wood I requested. Because it works just beautifully.

To recap, my Majacraft wheel skeiner and I have had issues because the pegs refuse to stay straight when there’s any tension on the yarn at all, but I really liked the vertical turning. My Knitting Notions swift and I have had issues solely because I do all my fiber stuff in my bedroom, which means it’s got to sit on the floor. And while that’s fine when you’re winding yarn OFF, the kneeling plus bending over the swift to rotate it to wind yarn ON is fatiguing. If I were only using it as a swift, or if I had a convenient table, we’d get on famously. It rotates nicely, is beautiful, and even stores easily . . . I just wish it were vertical rather than horizontal.

So far, on our brief acquaintance, the Will Taylor skeiner is perfect. Vertical rotation. Silky-smooth, too, once I put a little oil where the bars cross. Nice, sturdy arms to gather the yarn. A nice, chunky, rounded, easy-on-the-hand knob to turn with. Even a nice height for sitting on the floor and winding (although maybe next time I’ll pull over a pillow for a little extra height). Really, I should have just gotten this one in the first place! I think we’re going to be very happy together.

Yes, I know. I said this about the other two when they first arrived also. But that monster bobbin of yarn there took 369 rotations to wind off, and except for my shoulders complaining a bit, it was just as easy to do the last 10 as it was the first 10. That NEVER happened with any of the other skein-winding tools I’ve tried, except maybe the niddy-noddy. If this could get through that huge bobbin of yarn this easily, I feel reasonably confident in saying that we’re going to be good friends.

The only problem … (I hear you shouting, "I knew it!") … was that after the first 20 or so rotations, I was getting bored and needed a distraction from my arms and shoulders, who were complaining about all this work. So, since I only needed one arm at a time, I held a book in my other hand. (Does this surprise anyone at all?) But I did want to count rotations, even though I haven’t even measured them yet to see what the yardage equivalent is. For a moment, there was concern that this wasn’t going to work, but then . . . it did. I can read and count evenly-spaced turns of a wheel at the same time. Oh, and the book? Non-fiction, since I’m still experiencing a find-appealing-fiction drought. Lynne Truss’s Talk to the Hand, which is informative and entertaining.

It’s wonderful to finally see the yarn off its bobbin, too. I think I’m going to be very happy with it, even though it’s possible it’s over-plied. It’s soaking in a hot sink of water at the moment, so I won’t know until after I’ve lovingly abused it a bit how balanced it will be, but right now? Balanced is NOT the word I’d use to describe it.

Curly and bouncy work, though.

I know it will relax after it’s had its hot bath, so we’ll see later on how balanced it is or is not . . . for now, though, I’m admiring the colors and how even the spinning is. At some point I’ll pull out a dime or something so you have a scale comparison, but for three-ply yarn? I’m really very pleased.

And, having curly hair myself, how can I really complain about an exuberance of energy?

Now, regarding my yarn quest of the other day. I decided that it was unlikely that I was going to find the dyelot of that yarn, and also decided that I’d rather have enough yarn here rather than wait until someone may or may not pipe up that they have it and don’t want it any more. So I ordered four skeins from the yarn shop that was most helpful. I sent e-mail pleas to a number of them the other day, and while I heard back from several who were nice enough to check for me, Anne at Infinite Yarns was the only one who went the extra step and offered to let me send her a sample of my yarn so she could check to see how close her dyelot was to mine. I decided that I was going to work on the principle that the dyelots are likely fairly consistent and plan on merging in the new one at strategically-placed locations on the sleeves when I get there, just in case there IS a difference. But in the meantime, I’ll have all the yarn I need HERE where I can lay my hands on it.

And, you know, I DID say that I planned on selling on my Knitting Notions swift if I liked the Will Taylor one. So . . . anyone want it? Blog-readers get first dibs!

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:Something New //