Life lessons I've learned from my KnitPicks Ball Winder

Generally speaking I love Knitpicks. They carry everything, have amazing products and sell yarn for a good price. However, the more I use the ball winder I got last May the more I wish I had spent slightly more to get something that doesn't make me want to rip my of hair out.

So before I search the internet to find a hack to fix my issues I have some knowledge to bequeath.

Lesson 1: You get what you pay for. If you are paying 20.00 for a 40.00 item you might want to investigate more before making a commitment. This lesson also applies to cars and men.

Lesson 2: If you start in the middle you are looking for a disaster. Never mind that this ball winder makes a center pull ball. If you start there, you will have a huge knotty mess. So start from the beginning, there are no short cuts in life.

Lesson 3: Too much tension will cause an emotional break down. Too much tension on the line and you will have yarn wrapped around the winder, the base, the table, and your arm. Too much tension in life same deal, minus the yarn. Could probably apply to cars and men.

Lesson 4: Listen to the advice of others. If the masses didn't like something, don't think oh thats just them. No, chances are you won't like it either. Yes, this definitely applies to both cars and men.

Lesson 5: If you are going to pay good money for something, let them finish their end of the bargain. If you buy yarn at an LYS and they offer to wind it, let them. They bought a really nice winder and swift. I have a chair and this piece of plastic. This also applies to cars and men.

Lesson 6: When you make an investment, make a committment as well. I should have also gotten the swift to take the chair out of the equation. Once again this probably also applies to cars and men.

Amazing how much of knitting applies to cars and men.

Mobius or not to Mobius

I keep having this debate about whether or not I like the whole Mobius scarf thing that's going on right now. I'm pretty certain that if I had one I wouldn't understand how to wear it.

Conceptually is a big piece of material that goes around and around and is attached so it has all this so called versatility.

Wear it as a cowl, wear it as a hat, wear it as a scarf, wear it as a wrap, wear it as a shrug. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot of expectations for a scarf? Plus it sounds like something the late great Bill Mays would sell.

"It keeps you warm, it's fashionable and it slices AND dices. For only 6 easy installments of 29.99 we'll even throw in a matching mitten set. What a DEAL"

The sick thing is even though I don't understand them, and I think they are kinda ugly, I still want to knit one. I blame the advertising.

[Image borrowed from ravelry's denicol, beautiful work!]

Hugs and Kisses - Rav Download Live

After nearly two months of trying to understand how get hooked up as a designer on Ravelry here it is, my debut as a digitally published designer. You can visit Ravelry to download now.

Here is my finished product, with many thanks to patterwhisper for taking the pictures.

It takes about a half a skein of NaturallyCaron.com Spa but as you can see from my pattern testers it is a great project for stash busting.

You need basic crochet skills (single & double).

Please feel free to share your feedback in the comments!

First Crochet Pattern! Hugs & Kisses

I finally finished my first crochet pattern and it is now in testing by some wonderful volunteers on Ravelry.

It is a neck warmer, originally designed as a gift for a my aunt who's birthday was in September. I swear I'm putting it in the mail this week.

The picture at left is courtesy of ddrevia since my camera is on the fritz.

Once I hear back from the last of my testers I will be putting the pattern up for free on Ravelry so stay turned for the completed project.