Extreme Knitting 101

You are looking at an hour's worth of work....yes, I, Angela, spent one hour winding this lovely, hand-dyed, baby alpaca and silk hank into a ball...and this is as far as I got. With any luck, I will have all of this wound by sometime next week. Why don't I have a ball winder??!!
Of course, when I ordered this yarn from KnitPicks, it never occurred to me to ask them to wind it for me. As a matter of fact, I assumed I would be starting the Rectangle Square Shawl last night. I worked yesterday putting-up magazines at a local Harris Teeter.(Yes, the new Vanity Fair is out, complete with picture's of baby Suri...very cute, she is, too.)
I worked very hard that day, thinking how nice it would be to get home, get chores and homework out of the way, and start on that shawl. 32 totes of magazines later, on my way home, I was imagineing how much fun it would be to start this pattern with this yarn. I assumed the cast-on would be trying, (lots of stitches) but just knew I would be able to finish at least one pattern block before the night was over. And, I thought this, up until I actually pulled the yarn from my stash. Then it hit me. Oh. It's still in hank form. I need it to be in a ball to knit with it. (dummy) Then I unwound the hank and looked for the end. Forty minutes later, I realized that I would be lucky to start a ball, much less cast-on one stitch this evening. So, needless to say, I am still winding, and winding....

In other news, check-out the new Knitty. A new sock tutorial is here, and Ann, this one may get you onto something better than magic loop...that's right, I said better! I know Melissa and Sgeddes knit socks, as well, so check it out ladies! Master this technique and you'll be deemed 'knitting guru' for sure! Can't wait to see what you all think. Back at you later.

Ang