I'm taking a well-deserved break from the Ariann cardigan this weekend. For those unfamiliar with my trials and tribulations associated with certain portions of this pattern, my angst is partially documented here.

Well, after about a month of never-ending frustration, Sleeve #1 is finally done and ready to be attached to the body. The piece that is now being considered Sleeve #2 was actually worked before Sleeve #1. In other words, it was done before I fully understood the pattern and now a prime candidate for frogging. Of course, given that the wool had already been worked and reworked a couple of times (thanks to the initial issue with the provisional cast-on) it was in serious need of some TLC. Surprisingly, Debbie Stoller's Stitch n' Bitch was very informative on the subject of unkinking yarn. I followed these steps:

1) Take the unraveled yarn and wind it into a hank. Use scrap yarn to secure the hank in at least three places
2) Fill the sink with warm water and a little bit of soap (I used Woolite). Immerse the hank(s) and swish them them around a little (I also let mine sit in the water for about five minutes)
3) Rinse the hank(s) and hang to dry (Debbie recommends attaching some kind of weight to the bottom the the hank to stretch out any additional kinks -- I used a Rubix cube)
4) Wind the hank into a ball when dry

Done. The entire process took about 24 hours and couldn't have been easier. I now have a usable ball of wool for Sleeve #2, which will be picked up again once the swatch for the Pea Pod Baby Set is finished.

Today's lesson in a nutshell: Yarn is like a computer -- sometimes the memory needs to be purged to ensure optimal performance.