You know, sometimes you just need a little perspective... On the other hand, there are times when I suspect that perspective just won't help. As discussed in the two previous posts, I am spending six weeks in Myrtle Beach for work. The two major drawbacks to this are?? Yep, you guessed it, Baxter (the big red dog) couldn't be granted hotel accomodations and had to stay in Florida and I had to take a hiatus from Knitwitz (my favorite LYS in the world!!). So, what is a resourceful, internet-savvy knitter to do? Find a local yarn shop in the area she is staying of course! Melody warned me that the area I was headed into was a "knitting wasteland", but I persevered in my hunt for a shop. I finally found one online that looked promising. It had a few good reviews from other knitters, etc. So, that was that. I arrived in Myrtle Beach and went hunting for this shop the first full day I was here. Honest to God, I drove for two hours. When I called for directions, they were so convoluted that I flat out gave up and headed back to the hotel. A few days later, I found myself with a few free hours and decided to take another shot at it. So, I mapquested the beach that the shop owner had referenced and off I went. After forty-five minutes of driving, I finally found it. I parked the truck and stared, fearing the yarn shop in front of me might be a mirage. When the yarn shop mirage didn't start shimmering and looking like it might disappear, I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. I mean really... Yarn, in another state???? As soon as I walked in, the shop owner greeted me. Score a point for her for being friendly. Note this, this may be the last point she earned. I stroll the shop and unbelievably enough, don't really find too much. I am however, transfixed by one ball of yarn. I keep walking back to it, touching it, holding it... If you have seen me in a yarn shop before, you know that once I hold the yarn, it usually makes it's way home with me. So, I decide that I will be taking this last lonely skein of MissBabs Superwash Sock Yarn in the Southwest Dusk colorway home with me. As I am busy making friends with that skein, another skein catches my attention. Little did I know that it was going to be the sacrificial lamb of my trip. So, I picked up the Misty Mountain Farm Jubilee in the Berry colorway and decided to take both home with me. Now, here is where the story takes an interesting turn. By the time I have selected my two yarns and two cute notepads, my purchase is going to be over fifty dollars. I can see a ball winder and swift, so.... I very nicely ask the owner if I can pay her for use of her ball winder for a skein I forgot to ball before I left home. She sighed heavily and mumbled that she supposed she could do that. Honest to God, I should have paid and left then. Really, truly, I should have known. If her response wasn't a clue, then the ball winder and swift situation should have been. They were attached to the same stool. Nope, I can't make these stories up. They were actually less than eight inches apart on opposite sides of the same little wooden round stool. I could NOT wait to see how this worked. Again, what the hell was I thinking? I went out to the truck to get the skein of-- hold your breath on this one-- Sea Wool I had with me. When I got back inside, the skein of Misty Mountain, which from here on out shall be known as the sacrificial lamb or S.L. for short, was on the swift. The shop owner attached it to the ball winder and began turning the handle. Let me just say, "Let the games begin!" If you can't imagine how a ball winder and swift work when they are that close together, let me just tell you, they DON'T!! Basically what happens is, you turn the handle of the ball winder and as the swift starts to move, it snags the ball winder. Then the little arm that holds the yarn that is feeding into the ball winder catches some yarn on the swift and pulls it free. At this point, if you are the shop owner in question, you stop turning the handle, begin cursing, untangle the yarn and begin again. Evantually, you get tired of this, so you pull large amounts of the customer's yarn off the swift and toss it on the floor. The better to wind it from the floor, I guess?? Now, if you are faint of heart, you should probably stop here... This is where we learn how the S.L. received it's name. When it became apparent that the ball winding was going to take some time (after fifteen minutes or so on the first ball), I walked out to the truck and retrieved some knitting. I begin knitting and leave the shop owner to her interesting technique of ball winding. Yep, at this point I was still calm-- annoyed, but calm. The winder became unwieldy and she said, "I think the winder is full." I didn't even react. I mean honestly, it was a 400 yard skein of sock/fingering weight yarn. The winder wasn't full, I knew that. I own the SAME DAMN WINDER!!! Right after she said the winder was full, I see a ball of yarn sitting in front of me... Well if there was yarn in front of me, what was she winding?????? That's right, you guessed it!!!! She was winding the remainder of my skein of yarn. Uh huh, she CUT IT!!!! It's freaking sock yarn. She did not cut it in the middle. She cut it three-quarters of the way through. Who in their right mind wants to join yarn in socks? I would feel like the Princess and the Pea. I would ALWAYS feel that join. After assessing myself for symptoms of stroke or heart attack, I very nicely asked if she would like me to ball my other two skeins. Picture the scene had my Fleece Artist sock yarn been cut.... I would probably be composing this from my cell. I asked if it would be alright to move the ball winder. She says, "sure, move it anywhere." I move the winder to a countertop and leave the swift attached to the stool. I start winding the skein of MissBabs. As I am winding, one of the shop's regular customers comes in, looks at me, looks at the shop owner and says (honestly this is a direct quote, again, I can't make these things up) "I thought you didn't believe in balling yarn." I just continued balling as the shop owner says, "oh I don't, but she really wanted it balled." Who knits with unballed skeins? Do these people exist? I just keep balling yarn. Another regular customer walks in, sees me with the ball winder contentedly balling my yarn and says, "why do you have the ball winder attached to something else, it looks like it is giving you trouble." I told her it was easier for me and kept winding. I finally get both skeins wound into balls and ask if I can pay for my purchases. As the shop owner is ringing me up, I go to put the ball winder back on the stool. She tells me not to worry about it. I start to move the stool back to where I found it and she tells me to leave that also. At this point, I decide to cut my losses (no pun intended) and HAUL ASS out of there! I swear to you, I got one foot out the door and that same PITA customer says, "I hope you are going to put that ball winder and swift away for Diane." I turned around and snapped, "I offered and she said no thank you," and literally bolted for the truck. Seriously, I was afraid they might be contagious.
Now, all I want is some perspective.... Is it wrong to cut someone's yarn or am I a total drama queen? Okay, I know I am a total drama queen, but still... Is it wrong to cut my yarn (did I mention this wasn't cheap sock yarn)?
