The Hank from Hell

There are times when I have to accept that my ability to work with yarn is limited. As much as I would like to dream that I can do anything I want with it, I most certainly cannot. In fact, sometimes I shouldn't even be allowed to touch it. A while back I had to put up a skein of yarn because I lacked the skill to make it look like, well, anything that anyone would want. It saddened me, but I was also relieved because the whole process had gotten so frustrating that I somewhat considered setting the yarn on fire.

So earlier this week, I decided I would make a gift for a friend. I got out a twisted bunch of yarn and began to undo it. I think I touched it all of maybe three times before it was the biggest, most chaotic hellmess of yarn I had ever seen. It was horrible and overwhelming. I'd seen boxes full of 30 discarded ends of yarn less matted together than this was. For a few minutes, I honestly considered just stuffing it back in its box and forgetting it existed. However, I wanted to use it so, instead, I resolved to organize it.

I found an hour long mix of the Mortal Kombat theme and promised myself I would only tackle it an hour at a time. It was so horrible. I've never faced a yarn mess like that. Sometimes I would unwind and pull things through loops for like 15 minutes, only to get the most minor of progress. I kept at it, but it was seriously on my nerves. I was thinking some seriously evil thoughts by the time I was into my second hour.

Later my roommate came out and asked me how the unraveling was going. "I do not want to talk about it" was all I could say. I have no idea if my voice sounded as broken and soul-destroyed to him as it did to me.

Two days later, when I finally made it through the whole insanity, I watched a video about the proper way to deal with a hank of yarn. I realized my mistakes . . . some of them . . . and tried again. I still ended up having to unravel some of it, but it was nowhere near as bad.

I'm very glad this yarn is crocheting up pretty because otherwise I might set things on fire.