A Little Yarn On The Side

Well, she was.  I'm doing her mitered mitten pattern and you know what that little bit of white is?  It's her "thumb trick."  When you get to where you want the thumb, you take a scrap piece of yarn and knit 1/2 the number of thumb stitches with the scrap yarn, then put those stitches back onto your left needle and knit them with the main color.  When you're ready for the thumb, pull out that scrap yarn & you have the live stitches to pick up for the thumb.  NO CUTTING INVOLVED!  I have survived steeks and will eventually steek again, but it's hard to voluntarily cut one's knitting.  It's just wrong and while I know EZ would never tell me to do something that wouldn't work, let's face it--the woman was tougher than I am.  She seems to have faced steeks undaunted.  I, on the other hand, am completely daunted.  I have spent a large part of my life trying to make sure that my knitting and sharp objects never get a chance to meet, and ...

Tonight while Andy and I were shoveling snow in the relatively balmy 23 degree weather and my fingers were tingling with cold, it occurred to me that as a knitter, I could actually make myself some warm items that might make such activities a little more bearable.   Amazed by my own brilliance--and that it only took me about 30 years for this to occur to me--when we came in I announced to Andy that his sweater was going to be back-burnered for a while because I was going to make myself a baklava.  Andy gave me the sort of quizzical look that one would normally give someone who had just announced that they were going to knit a very rich pastry, and about that time my brain unfroze and I remembered that the word would be balaclava .  Of course, Andy really wants to see me knit pastry, but I haven't yet ventured into the world of knitted food.  Not that there's anything wrong with knitted food--I just don't think it's going to do much to keep me warm.  So,...

Frogged.  Twice. As soon as I posted yesterday, I dug out the yarn for Andy's sweater and cast on.  Knit two rows, checked gauge, WAAAAAAAY off, frogged.  Dug out needles two sizes smaller and cast on.  The gauge is fine but You know how stockinette rolls if it doesn't have ribbing attached?  Well, the designer doesn't.  I was willing to give the designer and Interweave Knits the benefit of the doubt here since there is ribbing on both sides of the stockinette patch, but NO.  Like ALL stockinette, it rolls.  I have frogged it for a second time, and cursing all designers I cast on a lace scarf instead.  NO designer to mess things up or not double check.  Just a stitch pattern I like, a nonrolling edging, and I'm a happy woman. And it's NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So....I didn't have the cast-on frenzy I thought I would, and technically am only at 11 WIPS right now, and I might just finish this scarf before having another go at th...

Two--count 'em, TWO--WIPS done, leaving me with....... ONLY TEN WIPS LEFT!!!!!!! (I realize that for some, having 10 WIPS would be a reason to start a WIP marathon, not the conclusion of one, but I've chosen to be realistic) I have met the Double Dog Dare Challenge!!!!  I'm down to 10!!!!!!  And I'm off to cast on something new........

In the past, I haven't liked mittens because one can't really DO things when wearing mittens, and as a slightly hyperactive child (* cough cough *) the restriction drove me crazy.  However, as we woke up to NEGATIVE 3 degrees this morning, I think I can get over this problem.  The cats won't even go outside this morning.  Now I grew up about 2 hours north of where I'm at now, and we did get lots of snow and subzero temperatures, which has quite a bit to do with why I don't live there now.  Normally we here in Boise get to whine about it being cold when it's in the 30s.  This week our high temperatures won't even REACH the 30s.  What happened?????? The one bright side--Andy and I each have lovely alpaca sweaters that are so dang warm that we rarely wear them in normal circumstances.  Today I would be wearing alpaca underwear if I had it (sorry for that visual).  And I'm feeling better about the 3 or 4 sweaters' worth of alpaca I still have in...

If I were not on a WIP marathon, I would be casting on 387 pairs of mittens right now.  Normally, I hate mittens and have never bothered to knit any, but it's currently 8 degrees (Fahrenheit, or NEGATIVE 13 degrees Celsius) and frankly, it's time to rethink my mitten stance.  Of course, I really shouldn't complain because according to Accuweather, while it is truly 8 degrees, the "real feel" is NINE degrees.  Well, break out the bikini!  Why even bother to say that?  ( Wow, Martha, I wasn't going to go for that walk if it was 8 degrees, but since it really feels like 9, I just can't pass it up!)  How can it really feel one degree warmer?  I just shoveled 3 inches of snow off our driveway & sidewalk, and I'm pretty sure it feels like 8 degrees.  Maybe 5.  When I regain feeling in my cheeks I'll let you know.

I know I have raved about their yarn & customer service before, but yesterday I received an email from Elann.com saying they had credited my account for the skein of yarn--bought TWO years ago--that I just sent back.  In my letter, I had even told them that I could completely understand if it was outside their time limit for returns and that it really was more about letting them know about a problem, but one of the reasons I am a devoted fan & loyal customer is their commitment to customers, and it's nice to see a company that recognizes that little things can go a long way.  In reality, it was only about $5, but they could have stuck to a "policy" and said it was too late.  Instead, they chose to spend $5 to make a loyal customer happy--how many companies do you know that would make that choice? Of course, now I get to go through an entire year of Cold Sheeping knowing that I have a credit at my favorite yarn source........uh oh.......