A Little Yarn On The Side

But it was a close thing--believe me.  As I'm taking a break from Cold Sheeping, there really isn't a reason for me NOT to buy yarn.......well, except for the really, really, REALLY massive yarn stash that is why I started Cold Sheeping in the first place.  And the fact that I literally have no more room in the craft room.  Two tubs are outside the door right now so I can get at some of my other stuff, and using up 52 balls of yarn and 46 yards of fabric just hasn't freed up as much space as I had hoped.  (To be fair, the 22 yards for pajamas was fabric I purchased at the end of last year's spending ban and making 4 sets of pajamas meant I didn't ever have to find a place FOR that 22 yards of fabric, and 11 of the balls of yarn have been bought and used since I stepped off my sheep in September, but that's another story......) Yesterday I received an email about discounted sock yarn.  Discounted. Sock. Yarn.  And I'm off the sheep........But I resisted...

So, one of the reasons I have been working on gifts is obviously that Christmas is coming, and in the past one of my favorite parts of the holidays is a girl's Secret Santa exchange.  We get assigned names, have two get-togethers where we bring gifts for our person, and then on the second night, the person tries to guess.  Many of these ladies are good friends, and I love either making things I think they will like or finding little things to buy them.  All fun, right? Think again. A few years ago, one of the ladies had suggested that we try exchanging things we already had.  I thought this sounded fine in theory, but when it came down to it, I didn't think it actually worked, and rather than giving someone something that I didn't want, I made gifts for my person because it was someone I really wanted to do something special for.  I think most of us shared my view, and we went back to just using the $15 spending limit last year. The email went out last we...

 Having reached 99 projects with just under 2 months to go, last night seemed like the perfect time to start a really time-consuming project, so I have started a new set of Christmas pillowcases--for next year, obviously.  I'm stupidly optimistic, but not completely insane.  There is still this  which is progressing, but since most of it is outlining, it gets a bit boring.  Today I got to the sewing room early, but not as early as some, and for a while, we were doing fine.  When I cut out the fabric for the two ribbon bags, I actually cut enough fabric for FOUR, but thought the other two pieces could become table runners.  Starting with the green organza, I got quite a bit done and stopped to decide if maybe I should just leave it as it is.  Theo votes yes, though his taste is often as questionable as his views on "helping:" So I think the white ribbon is out.  And someone is sulking now that what's left of the...

Meet finished project number 99: which is my new favorite project.  THIS time I used organza ribbon for the first stripes, then it made sense to tie it in on the handles as well. I promise this one really is going into the gift bin, honest.  Even if it WOULD make a wonderful project bag for knitting...........

.....but self-patterning sock yarn could be the candy sprinkles on top. So, as soon as the second pair of socks was finished,  there I was, casting on for the final pair. Apparently I've missed self-patterning yarn in stockinette more than I thought I had.  And this has certainly solved my guilt problems over the new sock yarn, as this will be the end of the impulse yarn I grabbed at Joanns.  Or, at least, for now.....

Has anyone else noticed a disturbing scramble-to-make-a-gift-at-the-last-minute trend on this blog this year?  Or, probably more likely, every single year?  I swear that I DO make things ahead of time, but it seems like they're never quite right for the person or the occasion or whatever.  So, the other day I got an idea for a bag that would still be cute without having to be personalized at the last minute.  After making the fall ribbon table runner, I wanted to play around with ribbons more and luckily--prepare yourselves for a shock--already have a decent stash of ribbon.  Astounding, I know.  I struggled a bit with the table runner because I was trying to attach ribbon to a cotton fabric with batting and backing, and it was a challenge to keep it straight.  So I decided to try a heavier fabric, so in my trip to the Ontario Joann fabrics I picked up some bottom-weight fabric. Color selection in the nonstretch ones was rather limited, so white wo...

Wow.  It's Monday again.  I swear that was not a full week.  Or maybe it was a bit too full--depending on how one wants to look at it. A few weeks ago I had twisted wrong and popped my hip out of place.  The probable good news is that because I work the muscles quite a bit, it took a fair bit to get my hip out of place this time.  The definite bad news is that I still managed it AND it hurt like crazy.  I was able to get it back in, but that hurt as well, and in spite of getting back on the medications for inflammation and pain, I still managed to wind up some of the problem muscle spots again.  I had several really bad days, started to get better, and then had physical therapy on Thursday.  The good news is that while the bad spots had gotten tight, they hadn't truly knotted again, which is terrific progress.  The bad news is that it still really hurts whether the muscles are "just tight" or "knotted,"  and physical therapy left me fl...