Anatomy Of A Yarn Ball
If you know me at all you probably have heard me mention the words, "Magic yarn ball exchange." I had never heard of it but it is really fun (if you know what you are doing - um... turns out I don't.)
What you do is draw a name of a fellow knitter. She/he (yes, I will be gender neutral because men do knit, God bless em'!) You fill out a paper with things like favorite colors, things you would love to have knitting wise, likes/dislikes, etc. Cost is limited to 20.00. Once the name exchange is made it is up to your own creativity to create the magic yarn ball of your recipient's dreams. Below you can see my assortment of gadgets. For example, Karen (whom I chose) loves birds, chocolate, warm colors, lip balms, soaps and small knitting tools. I had been working on my items for a couple of weeks, trying to get the perfect things that would warm Karen's holidays. I went to a knitting shop in hopes of finding the perfect yarn. I definitely found it. A beautiful Malabrigio yarn from Uruguay. I purchased it and mosied on my way, excited to put the creation all together. One word of caution. Never leave such a project for the last day, trust me on this. In an effort to unwind the yarn from the "hank" it was currently in, I grew impatient so just dug in and started. I quickly discovered I had created a huge mess of tangled yarn, like 220 yards worth. It seriously resembled spaghetti noodles that had been left out and turned cold. See for yourself.
After 2 hours of trying to unravel it, I finally gave up and was ready to trash it. Unbeknownst to me, the cashier at the yarn shop should have offered to wind it for me on one of their nifty machines. It definitely wasn't a project for a new knitter. It reminds me though of the time I had knotted up a yarn project prior to flying to Calif. It took the entire flight for my cousin to fix it.
Enter my 2 fabulous knitter friends who saved my bacon and patiently spent an additional 2 hours to fix it.
What you do is draw a name of a fellow knitter. She/he (yes, I will be gender neutral because men do knit, God bless em'!) You fill out a paper with things like favorite colors, things you would love to have knitting wise, likes/dislikes, etc. Cost is limited to 20.00. Once the name exchange is made it is up to your own creativity to create the magic yarn ball of your recipient's dreams. Below you can see my assortment of gadgets. For example, Karen (whom I chose) loves birds, chocolate, warm colors, lip balms, soaps and small knitting tools. I had been working on my items for a couple of weeks, trying to get the perfect things that would warm Karen's holidays. I went to a knitting shop in hopes of finding the perfect yarn. I definitely found it. A beautiful Malabrigio yarn from Uruguay. I purchased it and mosied on my way, excited to put the creation all together. One word of caution. Never leave such a project for the last day, trust me on this. In an effort to unwind the yarn from the "hank" it was currently in, I grew impatient so just dug in and started. I quickly discovered I had created a huge mess of tangled yarn, like 220 yards worth. It seriously resembled spaghetti noodles that had been left out and turned cold. See for yourself.
After 2 hours of trying to unravel it, I finally gave up and was ready to trash it. Unbeknownst to me, the cashier at the yarn shop should have offered to wind it for me on one of their nifty machines. It definitely wasn't a project for a new knitter. It reminds me though of the time I had knotted up a yarn project prior to flying to Calif. It took the entire flight for my cousin to fix it.
Enter my 2 fabulous knitter friends who saved my bacon and patiently spent an additional 2 hours to fix it.
The photo is a little blurry but this is me opening my yarn ball given to me by the lovely Carmela, crafty goodness extraordinaire! It was so beautiful and she had tucked in all sorts of treasures, including chocolate (wrapped, of course :)
When you choose your little items you would like tucked in your yarn you start wrapping your treasures one by one in the yarn until you finish the entire ball. As the person unwinds the ball, little trinkets will fall out. Lots of fun.
Here I am beginning to unwrap - it is better than a stocking! Carmela gave me stitch markers she had made herself, organic bee lip balm, all crafted by her as well, Lindt chocolate, coffee card, hand dyed yarn, peppermint bath salts, needle holders, knitter's balm (again, made by Carmela) and etc..!
Carmela is helping me wind my yarn as I UNWIND it. Confused?? Join the club!
This is the previously tangled yarn, now beautifully restored in all it's beauty.
Whew, what a project! Awesome experience though and I learned a lot too. I discovered something about myself. Apparently I have been knitting BACKWARDS for the past 4 years. Seriously?
Whew, what a project! Awesome experience though and I learned a lot too. I discovered something about myself. Apparently I have been knitting BACKWARDS for the past 4 years. Seriously?
Oh, I'm going to take Jaimey to see the new Disney movie, Tangled! Certainly seems timely.
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