What!?!

Okay, bet you can't guess what this is a picture of:

Yeah, yeah, 11 little butterflies of brightly colored yarn, but that's not really the important answer in this case. What you are looking at is 11 pieces of Opal self-patterning sock yarn, ranging in length from 2 to 7.5 yards, that came out of the middle of my center-pull ball as I was re-winding it into 2 equal balls for 2 socks for Adam. I wound off the first 50 grams (using my pretty-accurate old WW scale), and as I was doing the last 10 yards or so, a 6-yard piece pulled out. Separate and distinct - attached to nothing. No chewed ends, not tell-tale holes on the outside of the ball, just an end that looks cut. I wondered, then wound it on the outside of the new ball (because officially it was part of the 50 grams, am I a little structured in my thinking, or what?) and prepared to wind Sock Ball #2.

Started winding - and these 11 butterflies are what came out. Well, not as butterflies, but as lengths of yarn. Then, wound fine after that, with one knot in the rest of the second 50 grams.

I decided to laugh while this was all going on - rather than scream. This was a ball from a swap table, so it's not as if it was a carefully selected, treasured ball of socks-to-be. I truly don't think it was insect-damaged, otherwise why only the middle 35-45 yards of the entire yardage of the ball? Just really weird, and now Adam gets socks that will be a little shorter than maximum length. Good thing he doesn't have size 13 feet.

Here's the beginning of the actual socks, toe-up on DPNs, done during Dancing With The Stars last night (I'm a dance junkie) to become commuting knitting during the next week or so.

And last but certainly not least, I'm thinking of and sending good energy to my wonderful friend Marfa today - she is one of the sweetest and most caring women I know, and she will be benefiting from a lot of healing thoughts today, I think.