O Canada! I Love to Shop In Thee!

While we were in Victoria, I forced my ever patient family to walk a good distance to a yarn shop I found in the yellow pages. (It was weird having to resort to analog research techniques...seeing as how I didn't want to pay the international rates to use my cell phone.)

We easily found the Beehive Wool Shop on Douglas Street...I loved that it was a wool shop, instead of a yarn shop. (Does that mean it is an LWS instead of an LYS?) It had a lot of space, great light, and loads of charm. The staff was delightfully helpful as well. AND it has been in business for over a century. AMAZING. Loved it. Highly recommend it. Go to Canada. Go to Victoria. Go to this shop.

I, of course, purchased some yarn. I wanted it to be Canadian yarn, er...wool, so I selected a skein of Tough Love sock yarn from Sweet Georgia Yarns. This yarn company is located in Vancouver, Canada...and the yarn is hand dyed. I dithered back and forth on the colorway before settling on "Violet Hill".

The fun thing was that when we got back to the ferry's customs to cross back into the US, the customs official asked if I had anything to declare. He sure gave me a funny look when I said yarn!

Clementine Cardigan: The Continuing Saga

Previously in posts about the Clementine Cardigan: I found a typo in the pattern, after reknitting the collar SEVERAL times. Then, I discovered that the pattern didn't call for enough yarn, and had a mini panic attack before ordering 450 more yards from KnitPicks...

And now, the rest of the story...thus far...

After ordering the supplemental yarn, I set the offending cardigan aside, and worked on something far less frustrating. A week or so later the yarn arrived, but I was still mad at the sweater, so I put the yarn on the shelf and ignored it for a while. (Which was actually kind of sad. It wasn't the sweater's fault, after all. It was the pattern designer's.)

Eventually I did pick it back up. I joined my new yarn on, and finished the body and the button bands. I picked up the stitches for the right sleeve. I knit down the sleeve. I completed the sleeve and looked at the amount of yarn I had left.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH YARN TO FINISH THE SECOND SLEEVE!!!! WHAT IS THIS THING? THE BLACK HOLE OF YARN??!!!???

At this point the entire sweater and needles and pattern went flying across the living room, and I burst into tears. I would have cursed at the sweater designer had I not been a good Christian girl. (As it is, I may have wished some horrible yarn tangles on her...)

Once again I called KnitPicks. Once again they shipped me more yarn. (Bless you KnitPicks telephone operators. You are little rays of light in a dark hole of knitting despair!)

I ordered 3 more skeins, since that is how many it would take to finish the second sleeve.

The new yarn came, and the second sleeve was finished. (By the way, please note that the pattern called for 950 yards of yarn. By the time I was finished with it I had ordered a total of 1650 yards of the Shine Worsted...and I have, exactly, 23 yards left over.)

And yet, that is not the last frustration with the sweater from...ahem...well, you know where...

I live in such a podunk little town in West Texas now, that I cannot find a single store that has 12 matching buttons to sew to this stupid thing!

Seriously?

I guess I will go button shopping when I am in WA at Christmas. Until then, I see no earthly reason why I should weave in my ends. The sweater doesn't deserve to have its ends woven in. It can just wear the tails in shame. The stinking ends can stinking wait till I'm stinking home.

I'm not even going to dignify it with a photo at this point.

Just Keep Winding

just keep winding...just keep winding, winding, winding!

1000 yards of lace weight takes FOREVER to wind on a nostepinde. (Although, I am betting it would still take a long time even if I had a mechanical ball winder.)

Total Time Elapsed, Measured in Things Viewed While Winding:

2 hours - graduate school lectures
1 hour - Castle Episode
2 hours - Biggest Loser Episode
1 hour - House Episode
1 hour - Lie to Me Episode
1 hour - NCIS Episode
1 hour - NCIS: Los Angeles Episode
___________________________________________

9 hours total

Open message to all spinners/dyers/yarn manufacturers: If you are going to sell yarn in quantities that exceed a half mile in length, the polite thing to do is pre-ball them. Thank you.

By The Way: The yarn was some of Blue Heron Yarns' Egyptian mercerized cotton in "Deep Blue Sea" that I bought on sale when my favorite LYS in WA was going out of business.

Honk Honk Rattle Rattle Rattle Crash Beep Beep

I was in a car accident this morning while on my way back home from Brother's house.

(Disclaimer: I am fine. My car is surprisingly fine.)

I rear ended a pick up truck on the freeway. He stopped suddenly, presumably because he saw the cop on the side of the road. I hit my brakes, and would have stopped in time if it had not been raining. My tires stopped moving, but my car kept going and slid right into the truck's bumper.

It shook me up quite a bit.

I got to work, but they sent me home to de-stress.

I de-stressed by STARTING to wind a skein of lace weight. It is calming, but taking longer than anticipated.

I think I will take a break and go knit something brain-free.

Living on the Edge

I am living on the edge! I am not going to buy another skein of the yarn for Les Tuileries.

I would like to say that this is because I am a risk taker.

Or that I am frugal.

Or that I am a math whiz who figured out that 2 skeins was indeed sufficient.

I'm not.

The truth is I am a weenie little spendthrift blonde.

However, I am an uptight weenie little spendthrift blonde.

I actually went to Knit This, Purl That yesterday to buy another skein.

Unfortunately, none of their stock of this "dye lot" was even remotely close to what I purchased last time. (Funny...I thought the point of having a dye lot was that the yarn WOULD match...call me crazy...)

Anyway, the perfectionist in me refuses to buy another skein that is so completely off color.

I will make do.

It will be ok.

I hope.

Now...Or Later

I am getting a lot of work done on Les Tuileries...

It is turning out beautifully.

Although, it is a wee bit of a pain having to alternate skeins every 2 rows. (Honestly, they had the same exact dye lot on the label, and looked the same when still skeined...once they were balls though...WOW...huge difference...I'm talking a difference you could drive a Mack truck through...)

The problem is, that I am not sure that the two skeins I have are going to be sufficient for the wrap I have envisioned. If they are not, I will need to introduce a third skein into the mix, alternating it every two rows with the remainder of original skein A, and then every 2 rows with the remainder of original skein B. Which means, I will need to get it now so that I can start the intermingling as soon as possible.

But I am on a budget.

And there is always the chance that the two original skeins WILL be sufficient, in which case I will have spent 20 odd dollars for nothing. AND I will be left with little bits of left over yarn in odd dye lots...

I'll probably just cave and buy another skein...Ugh.

A Great Day!

Yesterday was a great knitting day...thanks to The Client.

The Client commissioned a scarf. As a result of that commission, yesterday I:

-Got to go to my LYS and buy yarn with SOMEONE ELSE'S money!

-Was able to fill my stash card at the LYS, which means I have a nice gift certificate to use the next time I go in!

-Had the perfect amount of yarn to wind on my nostepinde while I finished listening to my audio book, "Silverfin" by Charles Higson. (When the last CD ended, the last skein was wound.)

-Got to cast on a new original design...which is always exciting! I love trying out my own stuff!

All in all...a great day!

Three Little Acorns

I have doing my best to only knit from my stash because...let's face it...it would be a whole lot easier to justify buying new yarn with my minimal amount of spare cash if I didn't have bin upon bin of yarn in my craft closet.

I had, in stash, three 98-yard skeins of Classic Elite Imagine yarn, a cotton/rayon blend that has been discontinued. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I had originally purchased it because it was pretty and I liked to look at it. Unfortunately, I had not purchased enough to do anything with. I had two different colors and three different dye lots.

I wound it with my nostepinde. (Have I mentioned how much I love that? I love it a lot!) This was not easy since the yarn was a slippery little devil. But I still had noting to do with it.

Enter a book that I have owned for a really long time:
I was flipping through it and came to hat #6, the beach beanie...which called for "less than 150 yards of yarn." One of the versions shown said it was made out of Imagine. Lucky me!

I cast on. I knit. I was done. It was insanely fast.

I knit another, slightly smaller beanie, out of the other color. A child sized version. (Or what I hoped would be a child sized version since the pattern didn't give any other sizes and I had no child handy on which to test it.)

Then I made a third beanie, in the same size as the original, in the same color as the original.

I took the beanies to WA with me for the holiday weekend. I had two spare beanies, and handily also had two girl cousins. And we were all getting together for a family potluck on Monday.

The aunts said we looked like three little acorns.


I thought we looked splendid!

Spur Of The Moment

When I moved down here from WA, as previously mentioned, the church I attended gave me lovely parting gifts. In that basket, there were 2 skeins of orange Cascade Sierra Quatro [191 yds; 80% Cotton, 20% Merino].

These were causing me a bit of a dilemma because:
1. They were skeins and my swift was packed in storage.
2. There were two of them...which is too much for a scarf, and not enough for a sweater.
3. They were cotton, and the only things I ever make out of cotton are dishcloths and burp rags.

Last weekend, my nostepinde, swift, and I were able to take care of dilemma #1...leaving #2 and #3.

Fine, I thought. I will knit a set of dishcloths for myself. I should be able to get 5 or 6, and can try out some new patterns. (I also figured I would make new samples of Movie Theater Dishcloths I, II, and III that matched the blog colors better.)

I cast on Movie Theater Dishcloth I.

I started knitting.

I got to the point where I was supposed to start decreasing, and looked at what I had. It was a miniature kerchief. I had a spur of the moment thought:

What if I just kept increasing until I ran out of yarn...

...well, it turns out you get a pretty nifty shawl!

(When I decided to switch over to a shawl, I ripped it out and recast on with some changes to the cast on, needle size, etc. I will write it up with adjustments and post it next time!)

Winding Whiz!

I admit it. I was a little worried about how the nostepinde was going to work out...what if I crashed and burned as a yarn winder? A lot of the instructional websites warned that many people end up with oblong yarn balls, and that the stackable upright kind I prefer are hard to make.

It was with great trepidation that I embarked on my first winding attempt. I decided to use the Classic Elite Alpaca Sox yarn in "rose" that Mom and Dad got me for my birthday, since the nostepinde itself was a birthday present. (Come to think of it, the swift was a Christmas present from them as well...aren't they just a lovely pair of fiber-fanatic enablers!?!)

I followed the instructions I had found...and...Voila! A beautiful, upright, center-pull, stackable ball of sock yarn just waiting to be used!

I am hooked.

Not only does the nostepinde look like a magic wand, it makes me feel like a wizard!

So, last night I went ahead and wound another skein of yarn...this time Malabrigo sock yarn. I love having yet another "productive" activity to justify all the time I waste watching DVDs!

And, as long as the novelty hasn't worn off...I have scads left in the stash to wind: Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, 1000 yards of lace-weight Egyptian cotton, 4 skeins of mercerized cotton, Cascade 220, 2 different colors of chunky llama...I could go on...

Who knows, I might just unwind the balls I have done in the past, and rewind them as center-pulls...although, I should probably knit again at some point...

Celebrating 26

I spent my birthday with Brother and Sis-In-Law yesterday. It was grand.

I extended the celebration by one day when I went to the store to take advantage of the 20% birthday discount.

I had to go on my lunch break, since they are only open 10-6 on Mondays, and I work 9-6.

I went in with a plan...a great plan...a plan that I had every intention of sticking to:

1. I was only going to spend babysitting money, all other funds have to go toward living expenses. (check)

2. I would only buy yarn for specific projects, none of this buy-now-figure-out-what-to-do-with-it-later business. (check)

3. I would be very selfish and only buy yarn for projects for me. After all, it was my birthday!(check)

4. I would NOT buy sock yarn since I have scads of it. And had received a lovely skein of Alpaca Sox as part of my birthday present from the parents.(ummmm....)

5. I would NOT buy anything Noro. I don't need Noro. I need to branch out. (double ummmm....)

Well...3 out of 5 isn't bad!

Here's the swag:


The noro will go toward a coffee cup cozy for me...since I currently use one that I just never got around to gifting.
The sock yarn will be used in a sock pattern from Knitty.

No Dye Lot Yarn

JoNo requested that I make him a beanie as his graduation present. Since he has been so sweet lately, I went so far as to agree to make ear flaps.

He wanted it to be dark blue...which was perfect since I had a goodly amount of dark blue acrylic left over from an earlier project (I believe it was a scarf I made as an undergrad for one of the Oblivious Twins...the one who still actually keeps in contact, not the other one).

I merrily began knitting.
First one ear flap.
Then the other.
Then connected them and knit the 1x1 ribbed band.
Then knit the main body of the hat in a 3x1 rib.
Simple mostly brainless knitting that allowed me to enjoy both Funny Girl and Funny Lady.

But then when it came time to start the decreases, I looked down and realized that I did not have enough yarn left to finish the beanie.

No sweat! It was, according to the ball band that had miraculously survived sitting in the stash for at least 5 years: Caron Simply Soft NO DYE LOT YARN.

What a bogus bunch of hogwash. I had Blondie drive me to the store to get some more.
Under the craft store's cheap fluorescent lights, the yarns appeared to match.
Under my less than ideal lighting at home, while I knit it, it appeared to match.
But, now that the beanie is completed and I have examined it in the lovely natural sunlight streaming in through the living room window, it clearly DOES NOT MATCH!!!!

I have two options:

1. Give it to JoNo and hope he doesn't care, since it really is only a wee bit on the crown and not MILES off in color.

2. Knit a whole new beanie with the new yarn, and unwind the old beanie and reknit it as a child's size or without earflaps.

ARGH!

Ribbit Ribbit

I was working on Les Tuileries Monday night, when I noticed that I had messed the stitch pattern up in the second or third row...which was 8 inches or so ago.

It would have bugged me forever.

So, I frogged. All night. And then rewound the yarn on the skeins.

The biggest headache came from the fact that since I am using a hand dyed cotton, I had been alternating skeins every few rows. Talk about existential yarn boogers as I unraveled it. NIGHTMARE.

At least I got several movies finished while I worked. (I seem to be on a literary/BBC/Jane Austen kick.) And since Tuesday was my late day at work, I was able to sleep in.

So, here I go. Starting fresh.

Getting Reacquainted.

I missed many of my belongings this past year as they sat in storage.
I missed my books.
I missed my photo albums.
I missed my sewing machine.
I missed my purses.

However, I think almost more than anything else, I missed my swift.

I had quite the night last night winding skeins that have languished in the stash awaiting the unpacking of the swift.



Bliss.

Techno Knitting

I have an iPhone.

I love my iPhone for many reasons: the built in iPod, the built in GPS, constant email access, remote facebook access, internet at my fingertips, high quality camera, etc.

But now I have a NEW reason to love my iPhone: the "EweStash" app.

This app allows me to not only catalog and keep track of all the yarn in my stash by color, fiber, gauge, and yardage...it is also fully searchable, AND lets me take a picture of the skein with my phone to save with the record. It also has a section to catalog knitting needles and crochet hooks.

Needless to say, this is a library knitter's dream come true.

Now when I am out at the store, if I come across a pattern I can make sure I don't already have the yarn at home. And, once I use a skein, I just delete it from the stash!

I am in love.

Second Sock

The second sock in the pair I was making from DC's Christmas gift skein is done!

They took longer than normal, even though they are the easiest/most brainless/boringest pattern I have, because of the flood of baby gifts I have been making.

I think they are very cute, but am glad to be done with them so that I can finally get going on my Rivendell pair from Eclectic Sole. (I have changed my mind about which yarn to use for these at least 3 times...but I think I have finally come to a decision...we'll see when I actually cast on.)

However, before I cast on I need to cross at least 2 other things off of my queue.

I am going to be responsible...if it kills me...and it might!

If Only I Had Some Cotton...

I was sorting my stash during a school lecture today, so that I could take a chunk of it back to the storage unit.

While sorting I came across enough cotton to make dishcloths for an entire subdivision and burp rags for an entire maternity ward:



I think I can put the kibosh on cotton purchases for a good long while.

On the other hand, I am teaching another knitting class at the library in June. This time it is for adults, and this time we are making dishcloths. So, see? These aren't impulse buys, these are work related purchases! (Isn't justification a wonderful thing!?!)

I Need To Go On A Diet...

...a yarn diet, that is!

Am I that obvious?

I received some lovely Christmas gifts from a friend.

They included sock yarn. Orange sock yarn. Self striping orange sock yarn.

Said friend and I had met via email through a mutual friend.

Apparently I talk about knitting often enough, and my love of all things orange, that he knew just what to get me. (Not just everyone would appreciate a gift that requires effort on their part. No-siree-bob!)

Here is the first finished sock:

Just my regular old plain jane sock pattern. 2x2 rib with a flap heel. Nothing super exciting since I didn't want to detract at all from the yarn's coloration.

I already cast on the second in an effort to stave off Second Sock Syndrome, and will take it on my trip this weekend...it will make a good purse project.

Another One Bites The Dust

Well...I am able to cross another request off the list of requests I made in January. Friday was BigOne's birthday, and while I was unable to attend his sixteenth birthday bash that night, I was able to complete his birthday beanie. (Yes, I know, I should have probably finished B1's beret first, but her beret takes concentration...his beanie did not.)

I used lion brand wool worsted weight yarn in black from the stash, and a plain old vanilla 2x2 rib knit on size 8 circulars. I decreased as I deemed fit while trying it on repeatedly during construction. (He seemed to have an average head size, so I figured mine would work pretty well for a dummy model.) The things with hats for guys is that you can't make them too long because they don't want to flip the end up and make a brim. At the same time, you can't make them too short or they look like overgrown yarmulkes! I think I managed to make his the perfect length. It hit right above his eyebrows and covered his ears.

I gave it to him at services this morning, along with a card that was HILARIOUS. It was all about how being raised by wolves wouldn't be so bad if they could make you sandwiches. The hat was a hit, as evidenced by the fact that he wore it all day. (No small gesture considering it was around 70 here today.)

I am not sure who the next person on the list is. I should probably double check that. I know the next THING on the list is to finish the beret for B1. Off to knit!