Mark Me a Happy Soul

I wound a lot of yarn on the weekend.  I wound 2600 metres for the blue sweater and I wound up 4000 metres of lace weight linen for the Shakerag Top from Mason Dixon's Transparency.  I have been gathering yarn for a while now and I have enough to be getting on with.  4000 metres should be enough no matter what I was making.

Only I do not have 4000 metres.

I have this much less than 4000 metres. 

As I opened up the loose hank of yarn to put on my swift, I realized that there was a lump on one of the ties holding the yarn tidily together.  Not just a knot, but a lump.  It looked like a weird knot of ends, as if something went wrong on the machine that cut the short bits of yarn meant to hold the hank strands together.

I carried on and put it on my swift. It became apparent, in seconds that what I had was not a factory error.  It was a human error and I doubt that it happened in a factory.

It is cut through about eight to ten of the long winds of fibre.  This is not a problem of the store.  The store where I purchased these is a lovely store and I make a point to support her as much as I can whenever I am out that way.  She is lovely and would be mortified if she knew.  No way would any owner put this out on their shelf.  They would have returned it to their distributor for credit.  

The only way that this makes it out for sale is some sad excuse for a human being hiding the mess and taking the damaged hank back to the store and swapping it out for an undamaged one without the store owner knowing.  The knot was well camoflauged.  I worked in a yarn store and yes, there are low lifes, even among knitters and other various craft people.  People who would do this are out there, and I am pretty certain they live with themselves pretty comfortably. I loathe it but I have to acknowledge selfishness is one of humanity's least nice traits.

I have lots so I am not too worried about running out for my project but I am keeping the damaged bits in case.  I am not worried but I am also not going to be stupid about it.  There will be a place where these strands of linen will have a purpose. 

I could focus on this little misery, but you know what?  I get to choose what I will focus on and I don't have to let the actions of that miserable soul affect my way of  being in the world.  I can choose to put out ugly in return or I can choose not to.   

I choose not to.

I get to knit with pure linen.  That is a pretty wonderful thing.  Mark me a happy soul.