Finished the Whidby socks this weekend. Also, finished the first of the swap-socks, which is good, because the ball-winder arrived on Saturday and I don't want to be too long with the socks-in-return for it.

it's just a simple hand-cranked ball-winder, but wow, does it rock! I wound off a skein of Cherry Tree Hill sockyarn (color: Fall Foliage) I had on hand and I was amazed at the nice neat little "cake" that resulted - so much nicer than the big, messy "softballs" I made, which probably also held the yarn under tension.

As a result of now having a ballwinder, I think my next "big" project is going to be the Naturewool cardigan...I bought enough of this in a wine color to make the "Grandpa's Cardigan" (a Woolgathering Designs pattern; it's a nice, simple, casual raglan cardigan). The Naturewool comes in hanks, but now I can make it into balls fast and easy....and I have Koigu in-stash for a shawl. And for socks. And Lorna's Laces yarn I've not wound up yet.

I'll have to be careful not to slip into the "when a person has a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail" syndrome with this and start trying to ball up wildly inappropriate things...but it's such a delightful tool - simple to use, does what it's supposed to, makes elegant little center-pull "cakes";doesn't take up a lot of room...