A Little Yarn On The Side

Just as I was starting to enjoy NOT being flooded with election emails, the Black Friday ones begin.  Why yes, after the one day a year truly dedicated to stopping and appreciating everything in our lives, getting up at 4:00 AM to trample others to buy myself cheap electronics made by people in foreign countries who cannot possibly be earning a liveable wage and which I don't need REALLY is how I would like to kick-off the season of giving and good will toward all.  On what other day of the year can we completely trash the meaning of TWO holidays simultaneously?

*  When a knitter believes knitting is the best craft EVER, he or she doesn't then hate all other crafters for their personal preferences.  He or she might even ask the other crafter for a few lessons. *  Selfishness is not a virtue.  There are very few crafters (if any) who haven't made something for someone else as a gift, or answer questions from other crafters. *  "Compassion is not weakness and kindness is not socialism."  Making items for charity is highly popular in the crafting world and is seen for EXACTLY what it is:  kindness *  Most things can be fixed, but only through effort--not yelling. *  If something isn't working, try a different approach--don't just blame other crafters *  A bumper sticker or Tweet is not sufficient length to convey even the simplest crafting solution or idea *  Hanging onto anger won't fix anything, and can really mess up your gauge. *  Just because someone doesn't like the sa...

Remember when I could just pump out embroidered towels like they were nothing?  Well, today was not one of those days.  Needing four more towels and enjoying a day that didn't involve the heating pad, I dug out several towels from my stash, and almost thought my spending ban was in trouble.  The "reader" that copies designs onto cards that can then be inserted into my embroidery machine wasn't reading the card.  As everything else I have from Husqvarna has had issues, I was worried that the reader had now reached the end of it's life cycle (because while accessories are wildly expensive, Husqvarna generally carries pathetic 90-day warranties on them).  Again and again I tried, rebooting my computer twice.  I finally pulled the card out, carefully wiped it off, blew gently into the reader, and turned it upside down in case I missed any lint, and that finally got it to work.  Notice that at no time did it occur to me to contact Husqvarna to ask for ...

I'm not sure if it's a good or bad sign, but I woke up this morning seriously confused as I had dreamed that I had placed a MASSIVE yarn order, and I was worried about where to put it all.  As much as I love yarn, it was a relief to wake up and realize I wasn't about to be bombarded by yarn.  (I know--I can't believe I'm saying that either)  Obviously, the spending ban has permeated my subconscious, though I'm hoping the nightmares end soon.  Being attacked by large amounts of fabric would just seem too realistic given some of the issues in the sewing room......... I fell a bit short of the 4,000 yards needed for the Mad Halloween Dash , but I suppose 3,599 yards is a decent showing.  I think I might have made it if it hadn't been for the problems with the pain medications this week, no use crying over spilt wool.  I still ended October with: Skeins of yarn used:  11 Yards of yarn used:  1805 Yards of fabric used: 0 The Holiday Music Bask...

One thing I've learned about myself:  I could be VERY dangerous given enough time to get ready for a "ban" on anything.  Before starting my very first year of Cold Sheeping, I had a last minute order "in case" I ran out of yarn: There was a pink yarn in there as well, so my "getting ready" involved yarn for FOUR sweaters.  (Though in all fairness, the pink sweater is now my ratty wear-around-the-house sweater, the cream yarn is my favorite wool cardi, and the turquoise is my favorite spring sweater, so at least I shop well under duress). I was thinking of starting my ban on December 1, but that would give me an entire month to get myself into trouble with "preparation," so November 1 it is! I just placed the Knitpicks order after removing more yarn from it.  I feel pretty good about it--I removed some colors that I thought could be nice and just went with what I am likely to do next year .  No lace weight, no sock yarn--just the orname...

Wednesday's physical therapy appointment was a bit too much for my back, and then we tried a different sort of end treatment rather than the usual e-stim massage that I can NOW say really helps after treatment.  By Thursday, my back muscles had started spasming, which put me back on full-strength pain medication, round-the-clock doses of valium, which basically knocked me flat for most of the weekend.  Because valium is addictive, Sunday I decided to give the other muscle-relaxer they gave me a shot.  I'd stopped using it because it made me nauseous, but that was after a few days, so I thought one day wouldn't hurt. Some days I amaze myself with how very wrong I can be.  Did you know that a drug can leave you nauseous for 24 hours after the dose supposedly runs out?  Yesterday I spent most of the day laying perfectly flat because any movement at all made everything worse.  After a while, I didn't even have the will to knit.  Yes, you read that cor...

Last week, I had run to the fabric store to get a few items that I did actually need, and got sidelined by Christmas fabric being 50-60% off.  Needless to say, some followed me home: I hesitate to say I need anything in the crafting world, but when I started on Christmas quilts a couple years ago, I did notice that my Christmas fabric stash was composed mostly of a large amount of small amounts.  So, I decided that it might be time to switch my approach and buy bigger amounts of one or two Christmas fabrics a year so I have better options.  This--plus a little extra--is done, and I will be diligently avoiding ANY crafting stores for the rest of the year.  Which brings me to my next idea:  a year without spending any of my personal allowance on THINGS.  As we all know--I have a HUGE stash of both yarn and fabric, and sometimes I think my cold-sheeping of yarn has driven me to buy non-yarn things I don't need.  Extra buttons, extra stabilizer (thou...