A Little Yarn On The Side

* the cat ate it * non-fiber-addicted aliens abducted me * it turns out that there really are yarn fumes and they can cause black outs * Michelle Obama called with some gardening questions and you know, I just had to drop everything * I was just riveted to the TV watching whatever was going on regarding Michael Jackson today * I thought I should slow the knitting down a bit just in case I ran out of yarn before the end of the year * the stash finally tipped over on me and I was pinned for hours until Theo relented and went for help * I was knitting too fast with my metal needles and the resulting heat flash caused temporary blindness * it was rumored that there was an Idaho politician that didn't belong to the NRA and I had to go see for myself * I was attacked by acrylic-only activists and held at needlepoint until I relented and said there was a place in the knitting world for Red Heart ----OR---- * making pineapple jelly, cleaning up the resulting mess in the kitchen,...

Today we interrupt our regularly scheduled knitting to play outside in the lovely 75-degree weather. The garden is looking great--the knitting, not so much...

Glory be and hallelujah!!! The camera survived the swim! There's a little smudge now on the screen I look through, but it doesn't show up on pictures, so that is perfectly acceptable. So, with no further ado, the FINISHED Luna Moth: It's a small shawl--I was 2 rows short of using just one ball of Elann's Super Kydd , but I was knitting pretty loosely. Looks like most people made it with just one. A close-up of the pattern which makes sense now, but I just couldn't picture how this was working while knitting. I'm cutting out Andy's birthday clothes tonight, but Theo resented my remarks about him yesterday, so he has not been lured by the promise of sewing, so tonight's cute kitty picture has been provided by Callisto who never ever used to show anyone her tummy until she saw how much attention it got Theo. If they acted any more like children we'd have to put them through college.

The good news is, the Luna Moth shawl is finished and blocking... The bad news is, my camera had a little incident with the kitty water bowl this morning, so there are no pictures. The good news is, Andy thinks that the camera will recover--I removed the battery & memory card immediately and the whole thing is drying on my desk. The bad news is, I will fret & stew about my camera the rest of the day. The good news is, the yarn diet has saved me so much money that I can easily afford a new camera if it doesn't recover. The bad news is, just because I'm not currently spending my money on yarn doesn't mean I don't wat to EVENTUALLY spend my money on yarn, and I'm saving up for some really terrific stuff--like cashmere, which is way more fun than a camera any old day. The good news is, it's the first of the week, our food "cheats" have been reset, and I can have a white chocolate martini tonight to calm myself down and stop worrying about the camer...

The July Project of the Month is FINISHED. I know--quite a record for myself and probably never one to be repeated. I ended up not doing half with navy thread, because for some inexplicable reason, there are seven napkins--not eight. Having bought these quite some time ago, it's impossible to know what happened--were there eight and one got lost in the laundering process (which would have been more than a year ago anyway)? Were they on clearance and I could only find seven? Did the eighth one get sucked into the sewing room black hole that now contains--among other things--2 pattern instruction sheets and a half-finished pajama top? Did I only buy seven because there are only six placemats and I was just looking to have a spare? This is a great mystery, but I embroidered the seven I had, wrote down the thread color I used in the off-chance I find the eighth napkin (I know--planning ahead! So unlike me!), and called it good. Another project down!!!! (And yes, groping around...

* When one starts getting a bit too confident about one's knitting, one's probably about to get one's arse kicked by mohair. * Even when one hasn't liked any of the patterns in the last year and a half, it's still really hard to cancel a subscription to a knitting magazine. * The difference between "collecting" yarn and "hoarding" yarn is about 3 skeins. * Attention Deficit Disorder is in the eye of the beholder. I like the term "diversified knitter with options" better. * Checking gauge is a lot like flossing one's teeth. Even though I know it's a really, really, REALLY good idea, I don't always do it. * No matter what your hobby is, at some point during your lifetime it will probably be considered "cool." * Even if one hardly ever wears them, one can't have too many lace shawls. * The fastest way to end up with a sweater one doesn't really like is to get caught up in the pattern buzz on Ravelry. * My c...

I HELD STRONG!!! I did not break down at 11:59 last night and fling myself into the laceweight, but it was a close thing. The yearning for a lace scarf was very tough to resist, but already having 4 lace projects on the needles made it a bit easier. This morning bright & early I closed my eyes and reached into the Project of the Month bin and groped around until I had a bag that didn't contain yarn--no sense blowing my WIP marathon on the first day--and I pulled out this: Eight white napkins that I bought quite some time ago, intending to embroider roses on them to match our dishes--which of course hadn't happened. Since I have to change the sewing machine to embroidery, and I was pathetically close to finishing my last sewing project, I buckled down and finished a cotton pique jumpsuit for wearing around the yard. The pique is a bit heavier than I would have hoped, but it is nice & loose for hot summer days and.....IT HAS POCKETS!!! I love pockets--probably because...