In many ways the past weekend was a bitter disappointment. Not that anything bad happened, just that what was hoped for also did not occur, and exhaustion and frustration truly ruled the roost.
To begin with, I had sincerely looked forward to going to Rhinebeck. The NYS Sheep and Wool festival was going to be my escape from the hubbub that has surrounded me the past few weeks, not that the fair grounds would be quiet, but that it would be a different kind of activity, one in which I could either partake or just sit and watch as the mood struck.
It didn't happen quite that way.
The woodpeckers were back and I have gaping holes on one side of the house. I don't know what prompted this. We have lived in this wood sided house for 24 years and never had woodpecker problems until last year. I thought they were gone. They're back. The WPP (Wood Pecker People) could only come on Saturday and I knew where my priorities had to be. Then someone else, another contractor, needed to come on Sunday to finish up a job that had been rained out earlier in the week. There were too many people around, schedules were being changed constantly, nerves were frayed.
Saturday morning we got a call that the crew would not be out until after 2 so I thought it would be a good chance to run up to Rhinebeck for a few hours. DH wanted to go too, but we were both tired and short on sleep, and none to focused. It was probably a mistake. We looked at the animal barns and I thought I took pictures, but obviously there was an operator malfunction and only one picture, of llamas, actually was retained on my camera:
I also saw a few favorite bloggers, talked to a few people, looked around, and even bought some yarn (more about that in another post).
One thing we were looking for was a nice wool that I could felt to make a nice thick, soft on the feet, bathmat for outside our shower door. I can't find one that is just the right shade and size, and since, for various reasons, we decided to replace the wool carpeting in our bedroom with an actual floor, I thought a soft wool mat would be a nice compromise.
I knew that I did not want superwash wool. We found two vendors that had something in the color we wanted, but one was superwash and therefore not right. But we were running around, and we were tired. In the end, I was getting overwhelmed from the choices and DH was getting grumpy and we had to go and I just bought the yarn....
AND GUESS WHAT?
I bought the wrong one.
DUH.
Beautiful yarn from Brooks Farm. The lovely colors are just perfect for my master bedroom and bath. But it doesn't felt. You can beat it up in the wash, run it through the dryer all you want, and it just becomes softer and softer, but it does not felt.
Only afterwards did I look at the label and say "Oh". I got confused. And that wasn't the least of it. I wound one skein of yarn while I was so exhausted that I just wanted nothing more than for the two workmen to go home so I could sleep. I was interrupted in the middle and I apparently let the yarn wind back on itself inadvertently, and I may have wound it too tightly as well, because when I pulled the center yarn from the ball to start knitting a huge tangled mass leapt off my lap and spun itself around the room in a tangled mass of fibers which will take me hours, if not days, to unravel.
And you know, in the end it is all kind of hilarious. And I have a 10 x 11 inch doll blanket, or cat blanket, or something. I'll just buy Cascade for the bathmat. And I am not going to save this yarn, not because I don't love it, but just because sometimes it is better to just cut one's losses and move on.
There are two skeins remaining (see above photo, lower left for a picture of the yarn).
Brooks Farm Yarn
Solana Superwash merino wool
5.8 ounces 320 yards each (640 yards total)
Color ES18
beige/natural/blue
MSRP $24.00 per skein.
$30.00 will buy both skeins plus a partial wound skein (I will not subject the tangled mess on anyone) including shipping. If you are interested email me at:
mardelATsewdistractedDOTcom
with a subject of YARN and I will get back to you with PayPal information.
Oh my -- this is a very sad tale of woe. I'm sorry that the respite was just another layer of stress. Thursday's coming!
Posted by: Gina | Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 04:01 PM