A Little Yarn On The Side

Today is the last day of the month, and yesterday I finished the second skein of yarn for the pink blanket, so I've now knit 1645 yards of yarn for the month. Not on target, but not as far behind. Now I only have 23,355 yards to go.....

Ok, as anyone who is remotely good with numbers can tell you: 1. In order to reach my goals for the year, I need to knit 2,083 yards of yarn and sew 12.5 yards of fabric each month 2. I am not even CLOSE to that right now. So....did I work on the quilt today? Nope. Not one stitch. Instead, anyone remember this: In July of 2008 I cut out a dress and a skirt from this wonderful cotton fabric. I finished the skirt sometime after the weather made it totally impractical (I'm thinking November, but that's just a guess). Today I decided to finish the dress. It's from McCalls 4444: and I'm making the green option. Now the problem with setting aside a sewing project is that one doesn't really "set it aside." One just doesn't get back to it. If one did "set it aside," one might be able to find the dang second page of instructions.... Out of sheer frustration, I did get much of it figured out--and was quite pleased with myself to figure out th...

OK, so there hasn't been blogging in a couple days, but there has been knitting, sewing, and quilting. I know--how shocking is that? I haven't been that productive in quite some time, but if you look at the side tab you might notice that the goals are pretty high but the actual accomplishment is fairly low, so I thought I needed to pick up the pace a little. So, I finished the edging on another fleece blanket, assembled the Christmas quilt top which is actually pretty small--30 by 36 inches. I do have strips cut out that could make the quilt larger, but if I use this size I can actually make two quilts instead of one, which would give me two gifts for Christmas instead of one. So, I'm thinking of doing a larger border, maybe a narrow strip of green which I can do some sort of decorative stitching in gold on, then a wider red stripe What do you think? If I did about 5 inches on each side, the quilt would be 40 by 46 inches, which is still a small lap quilt, but not AS ...

OK, I came really, really, REALLY close to falling off the yarn wagon this week, thanks to this . The picture on the left shows the marvelous brown colorway that almost did it...BUT, luckily other knitters snapped it all up, leaving none to tempt me. I am trying to be a big person who is happy for those knitters who are possibly even now casting on....... Remember step 12 .........remember step 12............remember step 12...............remember step 12...

This morning while Theo took one of his naps, I finished Ice Queen . It's the first of the Project of the Month bags, and even though it's actually a fairly small project, I was afraid I'd be rushing to finish it on the last day of the month. Not that I don't like the pattern, but beading is a bit fussy, and the edging was very fussy, so it got a little tedious at times. I'd make it again--and in fact, I think there's another one in one of the remaining project bags--but it won't ever be a true favorite pattern. I have enough quilt blocks done to see how the pattern is going to look and I'd say it's okay. Not my favorite, but I wanted something fast that I could finish early in the year. Originally I was going to use a white solid along with the red and green solids, but once I had all the strips cut and laid out I thought the solid white made it look a little too much like an Italian restaurant. Not that that's a bad look or anything, but I...

Thanks to Herrschners, I'm back to work on the blanket for my niece, and I think it will be done in time to send off for her birthday in the first week of March. (And STILL no box from Joanns.com, by the way) My little sidekick is getting very bored with the indoor life, so we worked on a Christmas gift quilt which seemed to please him immensely I'm not doing the best job on this quilt, and some of the blocks aren't even lining up, and yet it's really not bothering me much--which is surprising to say the least. Usually I'd have to redo it--especially since it's a gift--but I guess 8 weeks of kitty sitting has taken its toll on me as well. Theo is back to kitty therapy tomorrow--and they have PROMISED to get pictures this time. He's walking on the leg almost without a limp, and it looks a little less chickeny every day! And the moss scarf has gotten more attention than it should have, because I'm enjoying how this stitch variation is looking. And of c...

Step 1. Admit that you have more yarn than you can knit within the next 6 months, unless you can learn to knit in your sleep. Step 2. Admit that sheep, llamas, and alpacas have produced fleece for hundreds of years, and they will probably continue to do so Step 3. Admit that some yarn in your stash you have never truly intended to knit–you just wanted to own it. Step 4. Admit that just because it’s 50% off, bad yarn is still bad yarn Step 5. Admit that, try as you might, there will always be a limit to how fast you can knit Step 6. Admit that other family members have rights to closet space, too. Step 7. Admit that visiting a LYS daily is probably not a good idea Step 8. Admit...

Remember this which has been languishing since December because I needed 2 more skeins of this in order to finish it? Do you also remember that 10 DAYS after placing the order with Joanns.com, they finally shipped my order (after three separate attempts to contact them on my part), but without the yarn or the fusible thread because it was now out of stock? On the same day--after driving to several different stores looking for the darn stuff--I placed an order with Herrschners . On the following Monday, the 12th, I received an email from Herrschners informing me my order had been shipped, and giving me a tracking number that actually worked. Today, it arrived!!!! And the order from Joanns.com that I placed on January 1 and was supposedly shipped before I even placed the Herrschners order???? No flipping idea--the tracking information hasn't been updated since it was shipped. A big kudos to Herrschners, who were quite quick to answer questions and take care of an address i...

I love Ravelry --adore it--spend WAY too much time on it. But, is it just me, or has it made knitting "hard?" Knitting has been going on for a very, VERY long time, quite often by people who could neither read nor write. All the techniques we have--lace patterns, turning heels, steeks, buttonholes, spit joins, casting off--all of these were thought out by someone. Probably many someones as communications were rather limited at that time and it's highly doubtful than conches or tribal drums lent themselves to podcasts. I learned to knit as a young enough child that my Barbie and her friends were the recipients of my earliest knitting endeavors and those "blankets" (term applied loosely as there wasn't a straight side in the lot) had all sorts of funny spots where I tried out different things JUST TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. What does happen when you purl instead of knit? When you mix them up? Knit from the back loop instead of the front? They are supreme...

1. You are less likely to become known to the moth community as THE place to be. 2. All those rubber tubs and boxes could be used for something else. 3. It's like living in your own private yarn store where shoplifting is allowed 4. Other knitters will admire and fear you 5. It will shock your spouse 6. You can use all that shopping time as extra knitting time 7. We are no longer artificially inflating the demand in the yarn market. Look what happened to real estate, after all. 8. Think of the liability if your stash fell on someone and smothered her. 9. The longer you put off facing those 80s fluorescent acrylic yarns the worse it will get 10. It's too hard to catalog it all for homeowner's insurance 11. Some people have closets that hold things BESIDES yarn. (I know! Go figure...)

The first yarn to arrive from my one-day yarn-buying windows was the Knitpicks order. For her retirement gift, my mother picked a shawl in white/cream/natural, and wouldn't you believe it--in that big pile of lace yarn, I didn't have any appropriate yarn. So..... I ordered 3 hanks of Bare laceweight, which is probably about an entire hank more than I need, but I'm so frustrated over running out of yarn and/or fabric that I was being cautious. Then, before I could make it safely off their website, I was blindsided by This is my favorite colorway, and it's being discontinued. Count 'em. 10 skeins--4,400 yards added to the stash. Oops. Thank heavens it wasn't a two-day window--I'd have been in serious trouble. A friend is giving us her condo in McCall for a week, and she won't let us pay her anything for it, so I thought a scarf would be nice. I dug through my laceweight--which is really fun to do if you want to know the truth, and came up with Elan...

YARN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!! YARN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!!! After one YEAR of not buying new yarn and 16 days of waiting on shipping issues, I HAVE NEW YARN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a HUGE fan of New Year's Resolutions. Not the sort most people make--lose weight, eat healthy, quit smoking--but of realistic ones (trying a new recipe every week, a year without processed foods, making 6 new desserts, etc.). I'm running a bit late this year, but I finally have mine: 1. Read or listen to 100 books (tally on the main blog) 2. Use up 150 skeins of yarn 3. Use up 150 yards of fabric 4. Complete the 12 "Project of the Month" projects 5. The Year of No Processed Foods (see the main blog for that one) 6. Finish the bridesmaid's quilts (there's a long story) 7. Buy no new yarn or fabric 8. Have Christmas gifts completed by the end of October. (OK, only sort of realistic) The yarn and fabric goals are significantly higher than I accomplished last year, but since I'm taking some time off, I should be able to do more sewing & knitting--right? Provided full time kitty-tending comes to a stop in the near future. (Incidentally--Th...

So, I was pretty much trying to ignore the whole Pajama Incident (first having been 1/2 a yard short of material to finish the top of Andy's 2007 Christmas pajamas, then losing the in-progress pajama top because I "hid" it somewhere), but since you asked...... I still can't find that darn pajama top!!!!!!! Oh, and it gets better. I recently bought some brown flannel to make him a coordinating shirt to go with the pants. I've been "cleaning" the sewing room and, you guessed it......I CAN'T FIND THE BROWN FLANNEL NOW, EITHER!!!! I don't have a sewing room. I have a sewing black hole......

Even though Theo is feeling better and the therapy (they have promised to take pictures for me this week) is working, he's not supposed to be running, jumping, pouncing or twisting his leg. What Theo wants to be doing is running, jumping, pouncing, and twisting his leg as much as possible. I am really looking forward to him going to therapy on Thursday. The additional kitty watching has given me a chance to get a few more rows in on EZ's January aran: and on Ice Queen : and while Theo took a nap today, I finished the edging on two more blankets for Christmas 09 . I would tell you that I'm astounding myself, but that would be tempting the gods and my sewing machine would probably blow up. Theo didn't really help much, but...... he's putting weight on the leg, he can bend it, and he has finally been able to scratch his ear! We have small victories around here lately.....

The vet seemed to think that getting Theo to use his leg was going to be the problem. 5 days after the cast was removed, I can assure you that this is not the problem. Trying to get him to proceed gently--that is the problem. We haven't been doing the kitty therapy exercises we were assigned--he's way past the "try to get him to put weight on the leg." We're into the Toni-needs-the-therapy-phase of "trying to keep him from running, pouncing, and jumping using his leg. Overachiever pets are frightening. I really, REALLY am glad Theo is doing so well, and the vet was worried that the staph infection would come back and said to keep a close watch on Theo in case he was listless and ill. What to do if he was hyper, feeling great, and ready to jump on everything they forgot to cover. Not only is he trying to walk on the leg, he is going to shock them tomorrow with his ability to bend his ankle. Of course, to Theo the big excitement is he can finally lick hi...

After all the hassles of Joann.com and the extra yarn for this I decided to run to Michaels yesterday afternoon to pick up the 2 skeins I need to finish the blanket. I'm using Bernat Baby Coordinates, which is the sort of widely-available acrylic yarn one finds almost everywhere. Except at Michaels. I don't know if Boise has recently experienced a knitting stampede or if Michael's is discontinuing yarn, but they had very little yarn and certainly not the one I was looking for. No problem, I thought, I'll check at Hancock Fabrics just a mile or two away. Nothing--I don't think they even carry Bernat. Not that I think they deserve my business, but there is a Joann Fabrics next to the Hancock Fabrics store and frustration often overrides peevishness, so I did stop in, but they didn't have any yarn of any sort. All my peevishness was restored and then some. The point of true desperation had arrived: I went to Walmart. I loathe everything about Walmart. Trade...

After a year of not buying any yarn, I allowed myself certain purchases on January 1: 1. A reward sweater from me for the whole cat ordeal 2. A birthday sweater for Andy 3. a shawl for my mother as her retirement present 4. yarn to finish a pink blanket for one of my nieces. That was the plan. To achieve this was going to take 4 different online orders. 1. WEBS . The yarn I wanted was on back order, but I placed the order anyway. I also ordered a #9 circular needle because I really dislike the one I have. The same day, I received a confirmation from them, then the following day I received a personal email from them telling me the yarn was on back order, but they would process the rest of my order ASAP, then I received another email shortly after saying it had shipped, and I am currently in possession of my new circular needle, and looking forward to the yarn whenever it arrives. Great service as usual, but no yarn yet. 2. Elann.com . The yarn I wanted for Andy's sweater is...