Knot the night I intended

Last night after little league and dinner, I decided to take my dyed yarn and wind it into a smaller skein while watching American Idol. Note 2 things: it was after 9PM and I had some alcohol in my system. My 2 red flags for the start of any knitting related project but I looked right past those and moved ahead. I got the yarn onto my swift but then it started to slide towards the bottom and fall off. It just did look good so I hooked it up to the ball winder and started winding it. What a mess!!! Loose strands everywhere. Trying as much as I could to get it to stay, I finaly moved it off the swift. Big Mistake! The mess got even worse and turned into a GIANT knot. By this time it was 10:30 and hubby was off to bed. I told him I would be there shortly. 4 hours, 2 movies(A Walk on the Moon and Mean Girls) and an infinite number of "oh Shit!"s later, I finally went to bed at 1AM and had not made much of a dent. I got up this morning at 6 worked on it for another hour and 45 minutes. I can see an end in sight but the knots just keep on coming. My goal is to have it done before the inlaws come over tonight for dinner. Nothing says welcome to our house like 400 yds of tangled yarn on the floor, coffee table and couch.