A Little Yarn On The Side

Those with good memories will remember that on January 1 I allowed myself to order yarn for one project for myself--along with a couple gifts, one of which the yarn is still out of stock so it might be ordered on January 1 of 2010--to make the Kauni cardigan (free pattern PDF here ). The rainbow colorway has been on backorder, but I placed the order anyway. I just received an email from WEBS today--the yarn is in and on it's way to me!!!! New yarn is coming!!!! New yarn is coming and it isn't for gift knitting!! In a few days there will be a box on our doorstep containing yarn and it will all be mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obviously, knitting only from stash doesn't always bring out the best sharing tendencies in a knitter.........

I don't have a picture yet, but the pink blanket is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can now work on SOMETHING ELSE!!!! I spent yesterday in bed with a cold which gave me plenty of knitting time. You know you might be an obsessed knitter when you get sick and your first thought it, "Yippee!!! A day of rest and knitting!"

This followed me home from the yarn store...... But in my defense, I didn't buy yarn, and I bought the magazine for this pattern which will use yarn I already have. And I learned one very important lesson yesterday: Yarn diets are all fine and dandy, but it's easier to behave oneself in a yarn store if one only has $10.37 in one's pocket.

A friend is helping her stepdaughter with the "Warm Up America" project as part of a girl scout project, so my friend has asked me to go along with her to pick out yarn. I get to go somewhere where they sell yarn!!!! I get to go pick up and fondle yarn that is for sale!!!! I get to help pick out yarn colors for a project!!!! I get to go to the checkout counter carrying yarn!!!! I get to walk out of the store with yarn!!!!! AND THIS IS ALL ALLOWED!!!!!!!!! (And I think I'll be turning over my credit card to Andy before I leave, just in case........)

I don't think Theo actually enjoys therapy days, but Calisto and I really enjoy them. While she's more of a gardening girl, she joined me in the sewing room today (I think the raspberry is from when I told her that I hadn't actually given Theo away and that he would be back tonight) and this morning we did the satin stitching and this afternoon we finished the pillows. I am actually not a big fan of Valentine's Day in general as it's sort of pointless if you are in a relationship and miserable if you're not, but we're going through yet another round of the nasties from the bitter ex wife, and there's something about dealing with her that makes us feel like celebrating our relationship. Andy refers to these moments as the "Thank God I'm Not Married To A Psycho" Episodes. So this year we have Valentine's Day decorations. Sadly, this only used up 2 1/2 yards from the fabric stash, but I have promised Andy some pajamas for Valentine'...

You can blame today's complete lack of knitting on some spring weather (OK,with a high of 46 degrees, it wasn't really "spring" weather, but we did have sunshine, which is close enough in February). Theo and I spent several hours outside enjoying the sun. This time I was prepared and had a book in my pocket, gloves, and a travel mug full of coffee. If I could just knit with gloves on, Theo and I would both be happy with these outings. The private lives of cats is an interesting thing to observe. Their days seem to involve a lot of sniffing and rubbing, often over & over in the same spot. Some smells warrant growling, a few some hissing and tail bushing, but all must be explored daily. Then there's a little grass chewing, lots of licking, and lots of short naps. I realize he probably thinks my playing with sticks and strings gets a bit monotonous--especially since I won't let him chew on the yarn--but we'll both be relieved when he gets a bit mor...

So I'm still slogging my way through the pink blanket and while I'm going to finish it in plenty of time for the early March birthday, I've started dreaming in pink. That wouldn't be so bad, except that they tend to be Pepto-Bismal in nature...Oh well, it will be finished soon, and in the meantime, my subconscious has a coated, soothed, and relieved stomach. And the big news of the day.... I found another copy of this pattern! I have instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It turns out that I was getting things figured out fairly well, but I hadn't yet reached the whole front-gathering thing, or the strap thing, or anything that was actually complicated. What I had managed to do was to figure out the combination of pieces called "front," "side front," "back," and "side back." So, I might get to finish this up tomorrow while Theo naps. Whew! Good thing to--it's supposed to be a whopping 48 degrees tomorrow. Heat Wave!!!!!!!!