Oh, yea!

And not the "oh yea I forgot" type of oh yea. More like the Kool-Aid pitcher guy busting through the wall in the old 80's Kool-Aid commercials "Oh, yea!"

Yesterday I discovered this thing called a skein winder. It's the opposite of a swift; it's designed to wind yarn into skeins (imagine that...) and I NEEDED one. So, I used Google and found one - for $300. The cheapest one I could find online was about $115, and it was made of PVC. Here is how that little scene played out:

[thinking] A hundred and fifteen bucks for PVC? Screw that right in the ear. Home Depot is around the corner from my house!

[gets in the car and drives home, picks up ManCandy and drags him to Home Depot] Me:ManCandy, I need to build this thing like a 3D windmill to wind my yarn onto. ManCandy: Okay... [looks at me like I'm crazy] But, like a good boyfriend, he helped me and carried the heavy stuff. And didn't complain when I hacksawed 30 feet of PVC pipe into a 3D windmill and got plastic shavings all over the carpet. I glued the thing together and traipsed off to bed.

[the next morning]
Me:ManCandy! The plastic glue didn't hold the plastic PVC pipe together! W.T.F.?!? Gah, make me coffee!
[ManCandy hauls out a mysterious box] ManCandy: Baby, we could make you a yarn ball skein swift winder out of... [he opens the box] K'nex!
Me: ... ohhhhh kaaaaay...
[ManCandy proceeds to explain his genius theory] Then, we spent the next 3 hours happily creating a skein winder out of kids toys. And girls, it has an electric motor. So once I get the yardage figured out, it's good-bye hand crank and hello automation. Oh, yea!

So now I have an adjustable skein winder made of K'nex, and once the camera re-charges there will be pictures.

As if that weren't enough, I used the skein winder in conjunction with my swift and re-skeined all the yarn I dyed last weekend into tidy little bundles of colorful love. Tomorrow I'll photograph them, and then - ta DA! - Dye Trying will be officially open! Again, camera + recharged = pictures. Oh, yea!

And lastly, I finished my Sockapalooza socks. They're soaking in lovely Earth-friendly tulip scented soap right now and will be put out on the back porch to dry in the morning. Next up: finish the Test Knitting, then (the rest of) August is Scarf Month! Faina, I've got my eye on you... Oh, Yea!