A Little Yarn On The Side

Nothing says "I don't believe the world is ending" like lace knitting: and nothing says "I almost wish it HAD" than working with mohair, but it makes such lovely things, and what better time to work with mohair than when one has Valium?  I mean, really.... I am having a little knitter ADD (if that isn't a redundancy) now that I've reached the 20,000 mark, and can't figure out what to do next--which is how the mohair shawl came out of the WIP basket.  It's going to be WELL into next year before I even use up the first ball of yarn on it, but it actually felt good to work on a WIP and not care about yardage.  Then, of course, I came back to myself, so: I made a little bell ornament for the Holiday Music stash-dash, which I think took about 20 yards of Red Heart acrylic.  It turns out that it's more difficult to get out of "high maniac" phase than I thought, so there may be another ornament or two or even a hat before the end ...

Did anyone actually know people who believed the world would end today? And w hy is it that I strongly suspect that the only people who honestly believed the Mayans correctly predicted the end of the world for today were the people least likely to know who the Mayans actually were?

11 days left in the year, and here's where I'm at on the Holiday Music Stash-dash.  I'm thinking 6,000 yards in 2 months was completely insane, don't you?: **A. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - knit something small (less than 6 inches or thereabout) - mitten ornaments** **B. Frosty the Snowman - knit a snowman of some sort or something with a snowman on it - Mr. Flurry** C. Toyland - make the toy of your choice **D. My Favorite Things - make “warm woolen mittens” in your choice of yarn and size. Mini mittens do count - mitten ornaments** E. Here Comes Santa Claus - knit a Santa or something with Santa on it F. A Marshmallow World - spin the fiber of your choice G. Silver Bells - make a bell or something with a bell motif H. Jingle Bells - make something (such as an ornament or stocking or whatever) that can have jingle bells attached to it **I. Blue Christmas - make something blue - blue cable sweater** **J. White Christmas - make something white - M...

Finished socks: for 330 yards, and finished but unstuffed Mr. Flurry: who will get his eyes when he gets his stuffing, and maybe some scarf fringe--haven't decided on that part--for another 393 yards according to someone else's yardage estimates, but which seems about right, so......... I have just crossed the 20,000 yard mark for the year!!!!!!!!!! If only that were a sizable dent in my stash.............

As I prepare for my sixth year of Cold Sheeping, I am just tickled to death at how widespread the term "cold sheeping" is in the knitting world now.  I didn't start the Cold Sheeping thread in the Ravelry Stashdown group until I was starting my second year of cold sheeping, so the thread will be in it's 5th year, and the Stashdown group is one of the 10 most active threads on Ravelry with more than 4300 members, and the Cold Sheeping thread is always either THE most active or second most active thread each year.  It's become so popular, in fact, that one of our members spun off and started a Cold Sheeping group on Ravelry and now it's made it to Facebook.  I love the online knitting community, and to have contributed anything, even something so simple as a term, is just thrilling.  It's like I've been able to give something back to a world that has been so welcoming and menat so much to me.  I've made so many friends through knitting blogs and Ra...

Have you ever had to explain to anyone--perhaps the person you live with--that the really loud "YES!!!!!" resounding through the house was because you proved you are not a robot on the very first try?

We have a finished scarf!!!!!!!!!!! It's not blocked, but it's done and I now need only 640 yards in the next 15 days!  Thank heavens for this: The second Magic Stripe sock is past the heel and I'm working the gusset.  I'll still need another 300 yards when I finish the socks, but I'll be closer!!!!  And then when THOSE 300 yards are done......... I can obsess about something else! Like maybe...... I have NO idea what the ornaments are going to look like, but I had so much fun with the thread/stippling adventure that I had to try it again today.  This time I used more blue hues: which I thought turned out well--or was at least fun.  So much fun, in fact, that: I had to do another.  This is my favorite version so far.  I can't wait until I'm totally off the pain pills so I can clarify whether or not this really looks good or if there are more side effects than I thought.  Maybe it's just distracting right now because I'm really cl...