More Needlework

Knitting needles that is...

It seems if I don't have a paper craft to do, I pick out another knitting project to keep busy. Recently I've made a couple of pillows for the living room couch. Both are removable covers with button closures.

I LOVE cables!

After completing those in a few days, I decided my next project would be another scarf - one to wear over a shirt once the cooler weather returns. But first I had to figure out a way to wrap the wool I chose into a useable ball. You see, most yarn from a specialty shop comes in neat twisted skeins - they look so pretty on my shelf awaiting a project assignment! But unless you want a twisted mess, you can't knit directly from a skein.

Some people have yarn winders and swifts. I spotted an old wooden swift AND a beautiful spinning wheel at the antique mall - sadly they were too far out of my budget - and where the heck would I PUT a spinning wheel anyway? Nevertheless, they were awesome.

Some knitters use the backs of two chairs to pull their yarn taut. Yet others recruit a family member to hold out two hands whilst they wind...

So what did I do? I used my trusty laptop. I looped the wool around the screen and was able to wind it around a cardboard tube with ease!

I saved the tube from a roll of plastic wrap - it's more sturdy than a paper towel tube. I made sure the start of the wool stuck out so I could grab it once the yarn was wound around it.

Then I slid the wool off the tube, and voila! A center-pull ball that is perfect to knit from, doesn't get tangled or roll away like a regular ball of wool does. And with three cats, the less balls of yarn rolling about the floor, the better.

Here's what I made from two skeins of that Peruvian hand-dyed wool - another kerchief for the Fall. Meggie is kindly modelling for me yet again.

So now that this one is done, off to decide what to tackle next....