A Little Yarn On The Side

Last year I landed in the hospita l the Monday before Thanksgiving, which left me sulky, immobile and feeling sorry for myself just in time to get ambushed by Cyber-Monday sales.  No one on drugs of any sort should be confronted with tremendous deals on fabulous yarn in such a weakened state, and the results weren't pretty......though the yarn is.  NOT THIS YEAR!  Ha!  I'm ready!  Cyber-Monday, do your worst!  I am cheerfully deleting every email offering to sell me anything as I will not be spending money until November 1, 2013.   Ha! Of course, that probably means that I should put my credit card in the Witness Protection Program before next year's Cyber-Monday when I will be coming off a year-long personal spending ban and may be in a weakened state, but I will worry about that next year.  Bring it on, baby!

One of the sweaters I have been working on this year is Elizabeth Zimmermann's Epaulet Sweater   because I knew it had some unusual shaping,which intrigued me.  Well, the shaping part was intriguing.    Now it's been derailed because--and it pains me to say this because EZ is my knitting idol-- this is a really boring sweater.  GASP!  I know--I can't believe I have said this, but I am going to frog an Elizabeth Zimmermann project!!!! I thought it best to do it while I still have access to Valium.......I may need it.

There has been knitting!!!!!! The green sweater is progressing, and I have just finished the THIRD ball of fingering-weight yarn for it.   I have not yet looked up how many balls of yarn I'll use (I did when I ordered it--thank heavens), because I think at this stage it would just depress me.  But I love this sweater!  The pattern is interesting but not difficult (yet), and I'm still just immensely proud of myself for finally starting this sweater.  I just hope the feeling lasts for the next year, so I can get it finally finished.  For knitting-while-reading, I have another sock:  the beaded scarf got several more rows:  and the new sweater has a front AND back, and I'm doing the sleeve shaping already.  It's another cowl neck sweater because 1. I love that sweater and wear it a lot, 2. It's fast and I'd like some instant gratification, and 3. the pattern I intended to make with this ribbon stuff was designed for ribbon stu...

I think I speak for most people--  and cats-- when I say THANK HEAVENS THE ELECTION IS OVER!!!!!!  In their election night speeches, both Romney and President Obama called for a joining together and moving forward, but I am not too optimistic, largely because of this: Snopes articles about President Bush Snopes articles about Romney Snopes articles about President Obama Not counting anything listed as "half true" or anything except false, there were 9 untrue rumors circulating about Romney 17 untrue rumors about George W. Bush, even though he spent 8 years in office 85 untrue rumors about President Obama Not to imply that everyone who voted for Romney believed this junk or that everyone has to be a fan of Obama, but this taints us all--whatever we personally believe.  That level of hate that it takes to generate so many false stories and to circulate and believe them is just not going to go away or compromise.  Whether or not one likes a candidate, t...

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 ...