Today I have a couple of photos to contribute to Helena's weekly Pairs series. This pair is called "I Made, She Made" and it compares two very different tangled threads.
I had already been tying myself in knots, yesterday, over a promised parcel which didn't arrive, and some tedious form filling, and a dozen other annoyances you don't need to hear about, when I sat down to find this:
What? What? Alright, so I knew I had been living dangerously, but this was too much. I had knitted one sock of a man sized pair and, when I went to start the second, I realised that the ball of wool had been factory wound the other way round. If I knitted it the way it was, my stripes would be coming out in the wrong order. The answer is to unwind the entire ball and wind it back up again from the opposite direction. So that's what I did. But not properly, only on my hand, because I don't have a yarn winder. False economy. It was really quite tangled.
So I made a start, untangling, and the sock wearer himself arrived home from work. "Never mind," he said. "That's exactly the sort of job I need for this evening. And while we're at it, would you like me to go and get fish and chips for tea?"
Which made everything a lot better. Just as he left, I turned to look out of the window. And this is what I saw:
Somebody else had been doing a bit of weaving; but with much better results. And then I had to laugh, and fetch a camera. I had to take the picture through the window. I hope she didn't mind my intrusion...because she has my admiration. These things can get away from a girl very easily.
28 comments:
fabulously creative pair - how annoying that one ball was wound the other way
Oops. I'm useless at this sort of thing. End up with knots and then the scissors cut it & then it's an even worse mess.....hence, I don't knit!!! ANyways.....alls well....& fish an chips is a NICE bonus:):)
Lovely combination!
And I know what he means about welcoming a task like that - some days that's just what you need isn't it?
Amazing Pairs, wonderfully tied together (& suddenly my mind flicks to your tale about a bow & a worm). That is one BIG spider! (thinking about Ron now). I did not know that balls of wool would have a right & wrong pattern. Fish & Chips with the untangling - oh he's a keeper (col).
I have untangled more yarn than I want to admit. Some yarns don't have an obvious way to tell how it should be drawn. I'm usually too far in to it to be able to turn back. The spider is just about perfect for this time of year!
That's a gorgeous web, but one ugly spider! And you've just confirmed why I don't knit - I had no idea that yarns had to be drawn a specific way for the pattern to create correctly. Guess I'll stick to solid colors and crochet for now!
Wool can be wound back to front?! Who knew? Well obviously you did, thank goodness but what a job. How lucky you have a trusty assistant.
What a fabulous, unexpected pair! And how sweet that he needed just such a job for the evening!
Yes an unexpected, creative pair! Lovely! I don't mind sitting of an evening untangling and rewinding. Good that OH wanted to do it for you though!
I don't think I would have even realised the pattern would come out back to front (or spotted it until near the end). Mind I have zero spatial awareness, a fact which still at times amazes and puzzles my husband of 20 years. Why he still asks 'which way now?' at the last minute and EXPECTS me to know which way is left and which right, especially under pressure, is beyond me. I need time to make an L with both hands, see which faces the correct way and then realise that is my left.
However irritating your tangled ball of wool was it did help to make one of a fantastic pair of photos x
That's a terrific pairing and I'm another who wouldn't have noticed that the stripe was coming out the "wrong" way!
Very good pairing, how annoying about the yarn, I would find that sort of thing difficult to work out, something to do with not being left or right handed I think!
What a fabulous pair Sian, nature can often make me smile and lighten my mood. And what a thoughtful husband. He seems to know what is needed right on cue.
I have never thought about wool being wound the wrong way... don't the machines do it the same way every time? Or do you have to rewind the ball when knitting socks say, so that you have symmetry? It's clearly something I have never thought about before so I'm struggling to get my head round it! lol
A brilliant pair. Spiders are amazing. What a good hubby too.
brilliant pairs.....it sounds like you had a yucky day...hope tomorrow is better! What a lovely husband you have!!!
It's a marvelous pair, and you have a marvelous helper as well! It's amazing how a bit of help can turn the day around.
Great pairing Sian...who knew wool could be wound wrongly?!xx
Re the wool being wound the wrong way. It matters when you are knitting self striping socks. If the yarn is coloured so you have a red stripe, followed by a white stripe, followed by a blue stripe and you start at the beginning of the ball, to knit the top of the sock, you'll obviously get the stripes in that order. If the next ball is wound in the other direction, so the beginning of the ball gives you blue first the stripes from the top will go blue, white, red. If you want your socks to match, you have to start each one at the same place in your self patterning wool.
Oh Sian, you've cheered my morning with this brilliantly written and fabulously creative post! Thank you! (We can't have him walking around with oddly striped socks can we?!)
As always a wonderfully creative post Sian. Its good to be back visiting you again. x
A warm and happy story for this cold autumn night up here :). A super hubby indeed.
I loved your post, very droll :-D
Has your husband though about cloning himself for sale? I don't want to freak you out by wanting him for myself, but a facsimile would be very welcome!
Do you know? I have a spider and web just like yours hanging outside my kitchen window at the moment. The offer of fish and chips would have been most welcome here on Wednesday. I think he's a keeper.
Love this post! Some tangles are just better than others. I get very impatient with tangled yarn and Rob often comes to my rescue. Truth be told, I give up very quickly trying to solve the problem for myself. ;)
I know the pain of a tangled ball of wool and I know the joy of having a partner who says "hey, let me sort that out for you" :)
What a great pair - so different yet alike. Oh I hate when the yarn gets all jumbled and knotted like that. So nice that he offered to help out and go get dinner too. I've never thought of using my winder in a case like that - I basically just use it and my swift to make balls out of skeins.
That man of yours is definitely a keeper!
And I had to laugh when I saw where this was going - I assumed it was going to be a mother-daughter make!
Rinda
What a wonderful understanding man your man is. Glad that he understood the problem and was willing to help out.
Do love watching spiders weave at this time of year.
Your post made me think of this cartoon strip from earlier this week:
http://onthefastrack.com/comics/october-24-2015/
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