A bad week for wool (and other distractions)...

This last week my progress for the update has been greatly hampered by several things, including two separate (and disappointing) wool experiences as well as two unbelievable books. I'll begin with the wool experiences.



Last week I purchased and received a cone of Henry's Attic Kona Superwash Sock Yarn (I don't have pictures of the dyed skeins yet, but I'll try to remember next time around). As I skeined this yarn off the cone I came across knots. A lot of knots. So many knots that I wasn't able to get even one knot-free skein from the cone. Six skeins. All with knots. This was very dissappointing for me, as I was hoping to add them to the update. Bummer.

Still, I tried to keep my chin up. I had a pound of merino roving on its way. At least I'd be able to dye that up and have it ready for the update.




So, it came and I remember thinking when I started weighing it out that it looked a little bit different than all of the merino I've bought in the past. I started dying it. I spent the whole day dyeing it. All things considered, the dyeing process went really well. But as I gently rinsed the cooled roving, I noticed that it had taken the dye somewhat differently than merino usually takes dye. It reminded me a lot more of BFL than of merino. As the roving dryed it began to take on more of the fuzzy qualities that BFL has. I also noticed that it was much shinier than non-superwash merino generally is.



So, once the first braid was dry, I decided to sacrifice it for a test run on the wheel. It doesn't spin like merino. It spins like BFL (or another fiber similar to BFL). The singles are intensely shiny (even when compared to the bobbin half-filled with superwash merino next to it) and when I let a stretch of single ply back on itself, it has none of the characteristic springiness of merino.

I emailed the place I bought it from and they insisted that it's merino. I disagree. Oh well. At least the wool is nice, soft, and draughts nicely. The other braids from the pound I received dyed up even more beautifully than the one I sacrificed for testing and I will be including them in my February Update. I'm calling them "mystery wool" and leaving it at that.

As for the books, when I went to work on Monday (with no knitting) to work really hard and get lots of special chores done, I arrived to find that my mother-in-law had gone nuts with the cleaning and there was almost nothing to do. It was also Martin Luther King day and it was terribly slow. At the suggestion of my sister-in-law I picked up her copy of Twilight and I started reading. I didn't read much of it, but it was starting to interest me. Tuesday afternoon I picked it up again and it started to get even better - so good that I called my sister-in-law and asked if I could take it home with me to keep reading. Within two days I finished the book and decided at about 8:00 last night that I couldn't wait to start the new one so I went out and bought it. Dudes, I finished reading New Moon in one day. These books are so good, I can hardly stand it. I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law is done with the third, and I fully intend to borrow it from her to start tomorrow. I have to know what happens.

So, more progress with the update will happen...

...Just as soon as I find out what happens to Edward and Bella. =)