The Detangling of Yarn

I just spent half an hour detangling some seriously knotted yarn.

Yarn detangling isn't boring; it's just tedious. It's interesting to note just how tangled your yarn is, and wonder at how you got it to be so tangled - but that interest wanes quickly, and then you detangle your yarn while thinking I don't know how I got myself into this mess but I promise, I will never ever be so stupid again.

And it must be done. Whether you do it today, put it off for months, or chip away at it a little bit at a time, your yarn has to be detangled and stress-free, or you can't really make good knits. Making good knits is key to a happy life, I find. When my yarn is tangled, I am unhappy.

Why do it now, you ask, checking the timestamp on this post. Why not wait until a reasonable hour to detangle your yarn? 

Because, I reply. I need this yarn for a particular project. Without this yarn, I cannot advance, I cannot make this a good knit, I cannot start on other projects until this one is done, so I cannot form good knits with other yarns. This yarn is my focus right now, and I want to finish this project. So I do it now, and do not let myself procrastinate on such an important issue.

No, I don't want to detangle my yarn. Like I said, it's tedious, and sometimes downright upsetting. But I must, to have a happy life. So -- sometimes by myself, sometimes with a little help from my friends -- I sit down and begin to pluck away at the threads, feeling something inside me loosen with each knot I undo.