My Sockaholism Problem

Yep. I belong to five Sock KALs. Three have a strict schedule; the other two are looser. I belong to:

• Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous (SKA)
• Yahoo! Group Six Sox KAL (maybe it's Six Socks)
• Sockamania! (regular KAL)
• Yahoo! Group Socken Kreative Liste (SKL, the German sock group)
• Favorite Socks KAL (Interweave Knits)

SKA (visit ravelry.com) has a tight schedule. Every month, we CO a new sock. We choose our pattern from one of two categories for the month: Designer or Technique. We have two months to complete the pair. Two photos must be posted to the KAL: one WIP and one FO. That means at the end of every month, I need a finished pair starting in September (For the Aug/Sep pair). They overlap.

Six Sox provides the pattern every two months with two months to finish. Not as strict about photo posting, though.

Sockamania provides the pattern every month with one month to finish.

SKL provides the pattern, very loose about finishing.

Favorite Socks is ongoing so take all the time you need.

In addition, there are a few patterns I want to knit all on my own.

I realized I had to get organized to keep up with the Sockaholism.

Excel to the rescue. (Output before discovering the 5th KAL)

**Edited to replace with revised Five-KAL Schedule**

Sockaholism Schedule Revised
Originally uploaded by jrberry63

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Labels: KFYSS 2008, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 8:59 PM 2 comments

Sock Stash Knitting

It's live.

KFYSS 2008 (Knit From Your SOCK Stash) is live and bloggable. The template needs tweaking (danged free blogskins, the Blogger bar is missing from the top) but otherwise, we're launched.

The Rules are up. To summarize, once you've committed to KFYSS2008, you must use stashed sock yarn for all socks knitted during the year (until September 30th). There are a few exceptions—if you're in sock KALs like I am, you can buy KAL-specific yarn. But the rules are, I hope, structured in a way to prevent the workarounds used to justify sneak purchases.

If you buy it, you must use it immediately. That's the gist of it.

Please note: let's avoid the whole "trying to kill the LYS" nonsense that went around last year after the rise of the original Knit From Your Stash. I'm not suggesting we buy no yarn; merely that we examine our sockaholism and try to get it to a manageable level by curtailing the "buy now knit later" mentality that is so easy to get into when dealing with socks.

Socks are small, quick, and require one or two skeins of yarn. The very beauty of the sock is also its danger. It is so easy to lull oneself into thinking, "it's only ONE skein". But one skein leads to five which leads to a stash closet larger than one's wardrobe (including the "I'll fit into these someday" clothes) and pretty soon, well... it isn't pretty to watch.

Think about it. One skein of handpainted such as my fave, Mountain Colors or Lorna's can go for anywhere from $10-20 per skein. Let's use $15 as an average. Say that every weekend, you get your paycheck and go to the yarn store. You pick up one or two skeins of sock yarn. It's only $30, right?

Multiply that by 52 weeks in the year and you have spent $1,560 dollars (one thousand five hundred and sixty dollars) on SOCK YARN and you have 104 skeins of sock yarn in your stash.

If it takes you 20 hours to knit a sock, you'll need 2,080 hours to eat up that stash or 86 days—that's 24 hours straight—to finish them. If you can knit four hours per night per week (after work, not counting weekends), it'll take 104 weeks to knit through the stash. (Also note I'm not a math whiz—if you see an error, please correct it.)

So at that rate, a person can knit about one skein's worth per week (one pair). If you knit faster, I commend you. But I can't. So I see the danger. I probably have about 25 skeins or sock projects on the dockets (pre-Ravelry organization, it may be worse).

Something's gotta give. Besides my closet doors.

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Labels: KFYSS 2008, musings, ravelry, stash enhancement, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 6:46 PM 1 comments

Knit From My WHAT? (A Novel)

My stash?

Um...

That Knit From Your Stash 2007 thingie?

Not working for me.

I set up my rules. I thought I'd be safe. I didn't count on a little thing called Sockaholism. Apparently, I need more than just a 12-step program and regular meetings. I need a goldurned Intervention.

My rules:

• sock yarn is exempt
• gift yarn is exempt if there's nothing in my stash already that'll work
• one Get Out Of Jail Free card
• yarn for dyeing experiments is exempt
• all UFOs must become FOs before COing a NUFO of a similar nature

My problem:

• I'm only knitting SOCKS. Sock after sock after sock after sock after sock.
• OK there are TWO hats (TKGA L1 project and a chemo cap for Yarn Haven).
  
• My stash = wool, alpaca, mohair, silk, acrylic and blends of all; my color range = purple, red, emerald, teal blue, black, hot pink. My gift recipients = allergic, itchy, cotton-and-acrylic-lovin' freaks who like yellow, orange, peach, acid green and other colors that on my body cause perfect strangers to hand me a bucket and run.
• I used my GOOJF Card in March, then I gone and dun it again two weeks later. True, the second slip up was mostly books and spinning fiber, but it was a hefty load of cabbage.
• Only six skeins (so far) for dyeing: two for the workshop, three cheapo Patons Classic Merino Wool and today, one skein that literally had my name on it:
  
  
• There are so many UFOs floating around here it looks like Roswell in 1947. Does that stop me from casting on again? Uh, no. No, it doesn't.
  

Then I went to Threadbear today.

Regrettably the purpose of my mission was NOT to attend Annie Modesitt's workshop though I would have liked to have participated. It was a bizarre coincidence that we were at the same place at the same time. I saw Annie, we made eye contact, but didn't officially meet as she was in the middle of her class and I was shopping. But I was surprised that she was much taller than I am (I'm 5' 8"). Yes, I should have thought to snap her photo with my cell phone, but I'm so new to this Knitting Celebrity Thing that I'm not yet in the cellpix mindset.

No, my mission was more mundane. My dear friend B's birthday is tomorrow. She's very much into stained glass, and Lansing hosts a rather large stained glass outlet. When I heard she was planning to trek up there, I mentioned the yarn store. ROAD TRIP!

I arose at 6:30 AM. Yes. The exact time I arrived home two weeks ago from the band meeting. B and I hit the road by 7:30. Had breakfast at a sit-down restaurant along the way. Did the grand tour of Michigan's rest areas (due to the coffee consumption). Visited the glass shop. She strangled her credit card and bought some glass and a kit. I was unaware of just how beautiful sheets of colored glass can be (almost as luscious as yarn). I planned out the cabinet inserts for my future dream kitchen, my bathroom, my foyer... uh... right.

Reality. Sorry. I'm back now.

On to Threadbear. Thank you, Sarah, for that tip about the Quilt Shop. Without it, we'd have passed Threadbear for sure. First impressions: It's huge. It's bright. It's stuffed with yarn. I grabbed a basket and started with the dyeables. Then I inquired as to the location of the sock yarn. When the saleslady (whose name I've misplaced) directed me to aisle after aisle of sock... *sigh* yarn.... I actually felt woozy.

Guess what came home with me?

SOCK YARN. That's it. Juuuuuuust sock yarn.

Well, OK, mostly sock yarn. There were a couple of skeins for non-sock gifts as well.

Here's the scary part. I didn't just go grab random skeins from the shelves in wild abandon. No. I went with a VERY. SPECIFIC. LIST. The night before, I sat up late into the night and worked up a Sock Notes spreadsheet in Excel—after first working up a spreadsheet for my Ravelry Sock Knitter's Anonymous Group KAL (SKA) projects for the year:






I intended to stick to said list. I wanted:

• 2 skeins dark and 1 skein light of Lorna's Shepherd Sock for Scala
• the 5 skeins of Dale of Norway TIUR required for the Caspian Sea Socks (free download when you joing Knitting Daily) planned for SKA Project #2 (Toe-Ups)
• the 4 skeins of TIUR necessary for the Winter Garden Socks from Betsy McCarthy's book Knit Socks!) planned for SKA Project #3 (Nancy Bush pattern)
• some sock yarn to dye
• Lanaset Dyes (if available)
• size 0, 1.5, and 2.5 circulars (16"-24" for socks, natch)
• (OPTIONAL) one skein each of the required yarn for Cookie A.'s Pomatomus and Red Herring, Sockbug's Crooked Cable, and Domesticat's Zephyr (all socks)
• to look at the swatches for Kauni that had just come in (not doing the Rainbow colorway that everybody and their sister is doing—yes, the one upon which the Harlot has been slaving away)

What I acquired (in less than an hour):

• Yarn for Scala except there wasn't any solid Lorna's—I'm substituting either Drop's Alpaca or Lanett (six skeins total, two different color combos)
  
• the FOUR skeins of Dale of Norway Daletta* (four because I'm an idiot and just realized I forgot to get the second skein of Rose—gaaahhhh! and because Tiur is being discontinued and the colors I wanted weren't available in Tiur) for the Caspian Sea Socks
  
• the THREE skeins of Dale of Norway Tiur with an optional contrast color (because I couldn't decide between natural/rose/green or natural/rose/grey so I got green AND grey AND because I'm an idiot and again failed to realize I needed TWO skeins of green, not one) for the Winter Garden Socks
• some sock yarn to dye (Kraemer "Jeannie", with my name on it)
  
• no dyes (no dice!)
  
• no needles because I still can't justify Addi's
  
• (OPTIONAL) one skein each of Twisted "Arial" in Regiment and Sleeping Dragon Handpainted Sock Yarn in Roses & Chocolate intended for two of the four extra socks
• 2 skeins of mohair for a neckwarmer for B (she picked it out)
• one skein of Schaefer "Lola" for B—OMG! The Barry Manilow reference just hit me which is so ironic because B is the BIGGEST Manilow fan in the world ("her name was Lola, she was a showgirl...")—for a pair of toe-ups because she picked up a skein featuring a colorway that perfectly coordinated with the shirt she was wearing and I had to go and say "Oh, you need a pair of matching SOCKS, don't you?"
• the Summer Spin-Off (for the article "Dye your own self-striping yarn!") which for some reason I'm beginning to think I might have already purchased (for the very same article)
• a good idea about the Kauni swatches. For a more subdued but equally-effective Kauni, I'm planning to get the two colorways in the brown/gold/wheat tones—one is light, the other dark. It's special order so I can sit on that for awhile
  

*Actually that's 3 skeins Daletta and one skein Heilos that I'm trading in for the same color in Daletta because Heilos is scratchy compared to Daletta

Did I mention that I actually PUT BACK one skein each of Cherry Tree Hill, Colinette Jitterbug, Trekking XXL, another color of Tiur, and something else I've now forgotten?

Did I mention that I somehow I forgot to grab the second skeins of two colors I need for two of the patterns?

Did I mention the shop is two and a half hours away?

Did I mention that occasionally I have a synapse misfire that causes me to forget little details like second skeins of discontinued yarn that may never mate with their own dye lot again?

Following the yarnage, we scavenged for food but we nearly didn't get any. The Middle Eastern place we'd mapquested isn't open on weekends. We chose to drive down big roads that logically should have provided all manner of sustenance, but were riddled with questionable housing and a QD convenience store (Hot Coffee! Fresh Donuts!) on every corner. We were nearly to the highway entrance when we spotted a sign for Sahara's (no webpage). We were in the mood for Indian, but in a pinch, Lebanese will do. After hummus, pita, mango smoothies, samosas, chicken soup for B and green bean stew on rice for me, we hit the road again.

Since then, I've been battling with Flickr to acknowledge my coughing up the dough for a Pro account so I can have more than three measly sets because Flickr is the preferred photo host of Ravelrers everywhere (so I can move all my photos from PhotoBucket and cancel that account? Oy, the blog nightmare that will be). Flickr gladly took my money but has yet to change over my account. When it does, I'll be able to post the photos of yarn that I actually took this time! (Because I only want to upload them to ONE photo host because of the Ravelry thing.)

Oh.

You wanted a total?

Gee. I thought I could squeak by without divulging.

I paid cash. I "found" the emergency cash stash I'd forgotten I'd stashed away. Don't worry, I saved some of it. I only spent $192 dollars.

This is my official resignation from KFYS 2007. I give up. I tried all summer but that "sock yarn doesn't count" clause did me in.

Next year, I'm hosting Knit From Your SOCK Stash 2008.

Any takers?

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Labels: dyeing, knit from your stash 2007, ravelry, stash enhancement, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 9:49 PM 5 comments

Ravelutionary

Yes, by God, Ravelry is the most amazing invention this year. I call it "Ravelutionary". (Maybe they'll use that on a t-shirt.) I'm looking forward to watching it grow and develop. To those of you still awaiting your invite, and especially to those who are poo-pooing it for whatever reason ("only for the elite few/exclusive club" is one comment I've heard), I can only say, it is TOTALLY WORTH the wait, it is beyond amazing when you get there, and everyone who wants to get in will get in.

Ravelry is a fantastic organizational tool, networking spot, and it's fun. It links everything! Your blog, your projects, your stash, your needles & hooks, your friends.... it's like one big knitstravaganza! Dare I say that I nearly had a knitgasm over it?

I realize I've been lack at posting photos. That will change as I begin to flash the stash and UFOs for Ravelry uploading. Right now, I almost have an FO. Yes! Me! An actual Finished Object! Almost. Michael's had some Caron Simply Soft Shadow—yes, I know, sue me it's Ack-crylic—on clearance (now you see why?) for $2.00 per skein (could I pass that up?) and I bought several since Sister would like a pair of WARM socks for Christmas and they can't be wool (she's allergic) and it can't be cotton (I hate knitting it) and they need to be able to survive the Maytag (handwash? dry clean only? what?). Therefore:

{[(Warm - wool ≠ cotton = acrylic) + xmas] + (affordable + washable)} = worsted weight acrylic on clearance

Since I've conquered the two circs method and the DPN cuff-down method (3, 4, and 5 needle variants) and am comfortable with the standard gusset heel, it was time to try Toe-up. Interweave Knits Summer 2007 has a great article on how to do Toe-ups using a short-row heel (two birds dead there), so I did a quick swatch to confirm my suspicion that I used #4s with the Code 4 Medium (aka worsted weight yarn) last time, then I began.

DANG these are knitting up fast! I "got" the Eastern Cast On right away and the short row heel wasn't any big deal at all (and I don't know why so many have issues with it, to be honest). It's great to try it on along the way, and the Tables for every junction along the way enabled me to make adjustments for a perfect fit. I'm almost finished with the cuff on Sock #1. I only cast on two days ago. That's fast for me (with all the other stuff going on).

I think I'm heading to Michael's to stock up. For this pair, I went with the Caron's Simply Soft Shadows 0006 Dark Moss, but the color on the website is way off. It's a gorgeous emerald green that has been plied intermittently with a teal blue, a buttercup yellow, and a hot pink. It's really nice Ack. The other two colors I picked up were the 0007 Mardi Grey (pretty close on the website) and the Opal Twist (it's black, not brown). I'd have to see them IRL, but I think I like the 0004 Autumn and the 0002 Plum Mist if they're close to the photos.

Yarn diet? What diet? Oh wait. That's right. Sock yarn doesn't count. No wonder I've been knitting Nothing But Socks this year—to justify buying more yarn while on a yarn diet! I am truly evil, being able to pull that over myself.

OK, back to the knitting...

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Labels: FOs, ravelry, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 6:37 PM 4 comments

A Near Miss

Today I went to Michael's to pick up some floss for my surface design project. Guess I'd better explain that: we have been dyeing and stamping fat quarters, using a piece of fruit as our inspiration (I chose a pineapple). We had to research the fruit to find out some history and lore.

Did you know that the "eyes" spiraling around the Pineapple's exterior do so in a Fibonacci sequence? TRUE! Starting at the top by the leaves, if you count clockwise and down (which would technically be spiraling to the left), there are 8 eyes; if you count counterclockwise and down (technically spiraling to the right), there are 13. Young pineapples have 5s and 8s. Since I seem to be fascinated with Fibonacci sequencing with regard to color, this was an exciting discovery for me.

Back to the floss. So we dyed/stamped our fat quarters and now we are to embellish them. The finished piece will be a sort of quilt. It will have the artwork layer, then batting, then a backing piece, and the stitching embellishment will go through all three layers. We can use beads, make them 3D, whatever we want. Mine will have all of that. So I went to Mike's because last time I was in there buying regular floss for my latest cross-stitch extravaganza, my eye happened upon some amazing new floss: DMC Color Variations. Basically, it's subtly variegated floss. After I got home that day (of course), it occurred to me that it would work perfectly for the project.

I grabbed about a dozen different colors in the Color Variations. Then I grabbed just as many of the new DMC Light Effects floss—it's reflective! They come in iridescent pearl tones, jewel tones, antiques, metallics, fluorescent, and even—get this—one glow-in-the-dark! What a trip.

Then I got a package of cardboard floss bobbins (I prefer cardboard because I can write on them with pen).

Here's the "near miss" part. Those sneaky rascals at Mike's positioned the clearance Fun Fur bin right next to the entrance door. On my way in, four skeins of atrociously-colored but marked-down-to-two-bucks Fun Fur dove into my basket. They even convinced me to make sure they matched up with the Microspun I have at home. (They are for chemo hats. I have the patterns but can't off top of my head remember whose blog is running the hat party.)

But I already have a stashload of Fun Fur type yarn at home that I'm going to make into chemo hats. I didn't even like the colors they had left! But those four skeins got what they thought was their farewell-tour of the store. Until I arrived at the register and really noticed them for the first time. I held them back while the floss was rung up. The floss itself, well, it's specialty floss therefore not a quarter a hank—it would have been cheaper to buy yarn! That decided it for me. I shoved the Fun Furs aside and said "I've changed my mind about the yarn". The skeins squawked indignantly. But I turned a deaf ear to them. They would be spending yet another night with their littermates in the clearance bins.

It was a near miss, but I managed to escape with only $50 worth of fancy floss. Whew!

I also went to Target and finally found a decent slouchy messenger bag in army green canvas, and to Books-A-Million where I picked up Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" (so I can return my well-overdue copy to the library and pay my fines) and David Allen's "Getting Things Done" (same). And I'm proud to say that I haven't done a lick of anything remotely homework related all day. I knit, I organized my latest cross-stitch project, and now... I'm off to watch the L-Word!

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Labels: knit from your stash 2007, stash enhancement, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 9:34 PM 2 comments

Today I Lost $70,000 and Anna Nicole Smith Died

Another busy week is coming to a close. I'd love to be able to say it was a good one, but then I'd be lying. I don't know what happened this week. As usual, I started out with a long-winded detailed rundown of my week, then decided it would be too boring and edited it down to the *ahem* highlights. Then I re-edited to the really important parts.

• made emergency run between classes to former home to make sure pipes/heat were ok
• shoveled driveway there so it looks lived in
• missed a couple classes because I hurt my back shoveling in a hurry
• found out my new team for E-ship class may be worse than the first one (lack of communication, no dedication to the class or assignments)
• shivered all week
• stayed up too late working on assignments that didn't need to be turned in
• survived the team presentation we whipped together on the spot
• managed to be behind the eight-ball all week in every class
• picked up a new Teresa Wentzler cross-stitch design and organized my floss stash
• discovered floss is much, much cheaper than yarn
• discovered an inexpensive way to fulfill my S.E.X. needs through "flossing"
• survived another inhumane pop quiz in Econ—inhumane because he likes to follow this bass-ackwards procedure: 1) lecture one day; 2) give quiz on lecture material that is embryonic in our minds at best; 3) give homework on stuff that was on the quiz so we actually learn it. I struggle with the quiz, ace the homework. The quizzes are worth more points than the homework. Not fair. AGGGGHH!
  

And then we get to Thursday.

Which...

Sucked.

After class, I ran some estate-related errands. Went past tax accountant's office. After being greeted, I was handed a bag of M&Ms and given a sympathetic look. Then I was handed the tax packet (2005 taxes, because Dad didn't get to it, he was a little too busy dying).

Then the accountant told me that they owed the IRS $9,750.00 dollars.

Because Dad had sold all the stock he'd inherited decades ago from his parents, and there's some silly IRS rule that I was too shocked to pay attention to that said taxes have to be paid on it because (I think) it wound up going into an estate or something. I can't remember. All I heard was "around ten thousand dollars" and that it had something to do with the stock sale.

Then she told me that had Dad held onto the stock and just let us inherit it, we would not have had to pay the tax, AND we could have sold it for double what he got for it.

Basically, we didn't lose ten grand (to the IRS). We lost more like $140,000. Meaning I could have been 70K richer but now I (and my sister) owe the IRS $5,000 (each) of my (our) half(s) of the estate.

I went home and had a meltdown. I spent the day on the couch sobbing, hysterical, dry heaving, and ever so slightly suicidal*.

First I was pissed at Dad for selling early, then at Mom because I remember her telling me she'd told Dad to cash in the stock so they'd "have enough money to live on". But that was silly because not only was Dad financially astute, but he had such a good retirement plan, great insurance AND he was brilliant at budgeting and actually adhering to it. Dad would get worried about going bankrupt if, God forbid, it looked like we might go over the carefully planned budget by a small amount (say $50) one month. He believed in paying cash and if you didn't have the cash you didn't buy it, despite his very good salary. They actually saved money and had no debt. Ever. On one salary. With two cars and a mortgage-free house. And we weren't denied much.

Mother didn't involve herself in the finances. She had no idea how much they had. She panicked. Because they were helping me survive in the wake of my job loss, she started panicking that they would "run out of money" and convinced Dad to sell.

So, it's my fault. That's what I've deduced. No reason to be mad at my parents—if I'm going to be mad at someone, it should be me, because if I'd been able to hold onto my prepress job in the wake of 9/11 layoffs in the ad industry, or had been able to get A Job Of Some Sort in a blue-collar economically depressed town (as a white-collar college grad who is overqualified for the available jobs), my parents would not have had to assist me and Mother would not have panicked and harangued Dad to sell the stock. Hence, I am the one at fault. Hence the slightly suicidal* part.

Then I opened the gas bill. I need to call my bank. I have duplicate checks. I wrote the check to my lawn mower guy and mailed it with a bunch of other bills, but he still hasn't gotten it. The gas company swares I didn't pay two bills (I know I am late with one because it got misplaced in the chaos until last weekend but I know I paid the January bill, but it's not showing up paid in my accounts) and is threatening to cut off my heat in this balmy weather. So despite the fact that I mailed a check for $260 earlier in the week (last month's), I got online and made the full payment (double that) to make sure they let me stay warm. Sobbing. The entire time. With visions of them finding us in the spring thaw because of the smell—one frozen dead side of human and five poor little catsicles.

I mean, come on. I know I set myself up for serious stress by taking on five classes—that was within my control and I admit it, maybe not such a wise idea given what I've gone through in the past year. But dealing with my grief, the estate bullshit, trying to manage three houses at once—two of which are empty, need to be fixed up and sold—this is stuff I can't control for the most part and then to have the IRS shit AND the gas company bleeding us dry? Bleeding ME dry, I should say—it's too much. It's too hard to do all alone. I didn't ask for this. Yet, here I am. In the middle of it.

Then I learn that Anna Nicole Smith died.

Bum. Mer.

OK. Could be worse. I could be 39 years old, just off the Trim Spa diet and dead. Did she ever get her hands on the old man's money? It's moot now. OK actually the Anna Nicole Smith part is a lousy attempt to inject the humor I'm so not feeling right now.

Somewhere along the way, I guess I regained my resolve, or at least part of it, and spent the remainder of the evening taking solace in warm cat bodies and Grey's Anatomy.

It HAS to get better, it HAS to get better, it HAS to get better, it HAS to get better...

*Please note: when I was in therapy a while back, my therapist said I'm not clinically depressed, rather, I suffer from situational depression. In stressful situations, where one person might get drunk, abuse drugs, eat, or spend money, I get the serious blues—it's my response to stress. So when I get the blues, I momentarily feel something I can only describe as suicidal, but it's NOT suicidal because I have no intention of leaving this planet. I've often put it like this: I don't want to die, I just don't want to live like this anymore. So please don't take this the wrong way and worry. It's my terminology for wanting to end the way of life I'm currently leading and trade it in for a new one while still being alive and breathing. If that makes sense. This will pass. It always does, given a day or so.

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Labels: college life, musings, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 1:10 AM 3 comments

If Blondie™ Went on a Yarn Diet

Saw this in today's newspaper... it made me laugh and think of the Knit From Your Stash challenge. With apologies to the strip's creators, I took a minor liberty... click to view it bigger (it doesn't fit in the alloted space):

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Labels: knit from your stash 2007, nothing important, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 9:23 PM 1 comments

Victory is MINE

The Plan:
Go to the LYS. Grab two balls of RYC Silk Wool DK for the Fetchings, #6 DPNs if the order was in, and find out how to fold my loom. If that one hank of Anne that I lusted after is still there, I can get it only because Anne is one-of-a-kind dye baths and it's sock yarn. Avoid direct eye contact with any other tempting yarns. Hold breath. Leave quickly. Get into car, drive away fast.

The Reality:
There was a hitch in the plan—a potential pitfall of grand proportions.

The Pitfall:
I arrived at 4:45 PM; the person who knew how to fold the loom was not due in until 5:45 PM—meaning, I had an entire hour to kill, or... a return trip at a later date (and exposure to temptation yet again). I almost panicked.

Then I remembered, hey, I have an entire readership of blogfans out there (all not-sure-how-many-of-you) lending me psychic moral support. "I can do this," I thought. "I can resist the Enemy."

How It Went Down:
First, I ambled slowly back to the sock yarn department. Mountain Colors called out to me by name. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Opal beckoning me provocatively. Rowan winked at me and reminded me of the 30% off sale. The entire Classic Elite Choir sang sweetly as I passed. I tucked my chin into my chest and pretended I didn't notice. Their cries of dismay and rejection haunt me still.

I caressed each skein of Anne as I searched for the coveted dark violet blend. Two errant hanks jumped into my hands, begging me to take them home (danged pound puppies)—one was an enticing blend of eggplant, wine and chocolate; the other was an earthy composite of brown, rust, and brick red. They were clingy little suckers in desperate need of attention; I humored them and let them sit in my hands as I continued my quest for the subtle dark violet blend.

At last, I found it, still on the bottom of the heap where I'd last left it—waiting... patiently waiting... just for me. Our reunion was interrupted by a saleslady. "Have you seen a pair of black reading glasses? Someone came in, and who knows where they could be..." I held tight to my Violet Anne and her two itinerant friends while I helped the saleslady hunt down the glasses, silently breathing a thank you for the moments of distraction from yarn that the pursuit of spectacles provided. (They were nowhere to be seen. No pun intended.)

The search abandoned, I turned my attention to placating the stray sock yarns and telling them why they couldn't come home with me this time. I assured them that certainly someone will come along and give them a good home—just be patient, and sit up nice and tall when a potential victim new Mommy walks by. As I was explaining this to them, my name was called out from the front room. The skeins and I walked quickly to the front of the shop. A saleslady had called the loom folding expert while I was petting the sock yarn and she was on the phone. My spirits lifted—was I saved? Would one phone call solve my problem and allow me to escape the LYS unscathed?

Several minutes were swallowed up by the conversation, which ended with the determination that the only way to illustrate the folding process was by demonstrating it in person. Therefore, I would have to wait for her arrival. Alas, not saved.

I returned the poor, neglected stray sock yarns to their homes. I gave them time to say goodbye to their Violet friend. We moved into the next room. I headed straight for the RYC bin and quickly located two balls of my project yarn.

I almost made it past the notions display, but the sock blockers, uh, blocked my path. Size small? Don't need. The others are probably medium like I have, right? Good. So anyw—oh, crap. They're large. Exactly what I need for the socks for She of the Enormous Feet. I sighed heavily in defeet defeat. They joined our merry little band, as did a package of jumbo stitch holders (the ones shaped like padlocks that I adore and had never seen that big before). On to the register, quickly now!

$81.18, in cash. Exact change.

And it was only 5:05 PM.

The store was empty save for me and two salesladies, who retreated to the classroom/knitting area after ringing up my sale. They invited me to sit with them while I waited for the loom folder. Whew! It was like a Safe House. No yarn to be found, except for the projects they were working on. I folded my arms securely (to prevent creeping yarn fondling) and focused intently on the conversation, which was largely about recent New Year's activities. Time flew. Suddenly, my saviour arrived. We went to the back room and I got a lesson in loom folding. (It's easy, but they really do need to provide an ILLUSTRATION or photograph because the process does not easily translate into words.)

Soon, my purchases and I were safely out the door and in the car. I managed to escape without further additions. I got out of there with:

• two balls of RYC Silk Wool DK for project completion (belated Xmas gift)
• one skein of coveted Violet Anne sock yarn
  
• one pair of size large sock blockers
• one tiny package of stitch holders
• info on the upcoming Weaver's Guild meeting next week (free)
• the #6 DPNs are still MIA so I couldn't buy them
  

Sock yarn doesn't count; tools are exempt. I pretty much stuck to my resolution, I think. Agreed?

---

Labels: Christmas knitting, knit from your stash 2007, stash enhancement, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 12:04 AM 4 comments

Merry Knitmas!

It was a rather uneventful and brief trip to visit the PA relatives. I met my other Great Niece for the first time. My niece (Allergic One) and her DH had tried fertility treatments for years to unsuccessfully conceive, then opted to adopt a girl from China. LL came home in October 2005. Two weeks later, my niece discovered she was five weeks pregnant. KU appeared in July 2006. So my niece and her DH have two children under the age of two. I feel for them. ;-) KU accompanied niece to Mother's funeral because she was still on the nipple. LL stayed home with Daddy because she was "a handful". So this was my first occasion to meet LL. Quite a precocious, smart, engaging child. Still not enough to put the long-dead batteries back into my biological clock, though, LOL.

I'm taking a much-deserved and much-needed break from knitting after the Hellidaze/Knitmare Before Christmas I experienced. On top of knitting abuse, I managed to whangle my other hand yesterday. Don't ask me how this happened. All I know is, as I was exiting the car at yet another rest area, my arm spazzed and threw my left hand into the latch part on the car—the thingie the door hooks into. I'm now sportin' yet another bruise and a big bump and pain. *SIGH* The things I do to myself. Are they sure about my birthdate? I mean, I've had enough mishaps to qualify to be a Saggitarius rather than the Cancerian homebody that they tell me I am. Anyway, I expect to resume knitting in a day or so, because of the two remaining gifts I need to get ready for friends.

In gifting news:
Two of the five knit recipients were absent. The other three gifts were well-received. Allergic One didn't seem to notice the presence of 25% wool in her scarf and was quite taken with the design and the fact that it doesn't need to be tied (since it's made that way). Her DH appreciated the half-scarf he got, and Sister's sock fit perfectly. Hopefully I can make another one just like it. She said she hadn't been expecting one with such an intricate design ("Monkey"). I guess she would have been thrilled with a one-day stockinette jobbie. Oh, well. Live and learn!

And last but not least, what I got:
BOOK STASH ENHANCEMENT!!!

Sister is a former knitter. Apparently she understands my needs. In lieu of clothes, I requested that everyone "please visit my Amazon WishList". My library now includes:

• Vogue Stitchionary Volume 1: Knit & Purl
• Vogue Stitchionary Volume 2: Cables
• EZ's Knitter's Almanac
• Designing Knitwear (Deborah Newton)
• Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified (Ann & Eugene Bourgeios of Philosopher's Wool)
• Color in Spinning (Deb Menz)

The kitties got a tub of the Nip. Now that's what I call the highest form of enabling (on all fronts)!

Self-gifting:
Of course, I gifted myself a bit more, since I'll be on the Yarn Diet and all in four days. I've decided I need to go on a Book Diet too, because I am weak when I enter a bookstore. Leaving without at least a magazine is nearly impossible for me. I keep Amazon.com in business. Therefore, I declare an addition to my rules:

1. I can buy a subscription to a magazine I read regularly IF I have read two of the issues of said magazine cover to cover in the past two months.
2. If it's a pattern-oriented magazine, and I can't find it in the library, I can only buy it if three patterns are REAL possibilities (not "yeah, I could knit that one day" fantasies) such as for a gift or upcoming event. If it's just another cabled sweater, I have to weigh how vital it is that I have THAT sweater, or if it's just me succumbing to the appeal of the layout, color, fuzziness of the yarn, how cute the model looks in the photo (wearing the sweater meaning I will look the same meaning I will magically drop 75 pounds, grow two inches taller, and reverse-age 20 years the moment I bind off)
3. I can buy a book only if it:

• can't be found through my local library
• can be found there, but I'm fourth in the queue for the hold
• contains a technique not available online for free that I need right now for a project I'm currently working on (from my stash, of course)
• isn't similar to something I already have on hand (technique, stitch dictionary)

God, I hope that covers it. Because today I ordered:

• Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar
• Yarns to Dye For: Creating Self-Patterning Yarns for Knitting
• The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook

and while at Books A Million after lunching with an old friend, I picked up:

• KnitLit the Third: We Spin More Yarns
• the latest issues of Spin-Off and Handwoven
• Believe: A Horseman's Journey (Buck Brannaman)

No, I haven't bought any more yarn.

Yet.

Labels: Christmas knitting, family time, stash enhancement, Xmas, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 7:53 PM 2 comments

The Doctor Has Ordered Less Fiber in My Diet

This evening, I finally got around to opening up the mail that has accumulated this month (read: bills I was trying to avoid) and found out
(1 loom + 3 trips to the LYS later) that I *oops* went a little crazy with the check-writing this month. After transferring some dough and praying that there are no other "yarn crazies" I've forgotten to log in my check register
(I swear, it's like I turn into some sort of psychotic KnitMonster at the scent of yarn and suffer yarnmnesia), I decided I must commit.

Knit From Your Stash 2007: Guidelines for Jeanne B. (edited from Wendy's Rules)

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 -- a period of nine months.
   
   
2. I will refrain from buying yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:

• Sock yarn does not count.
  
  
• Yarn designated for a gift can be bought only after a thorough search of my stash turns up nothing in the right color, fiber content, or amount. Intent is important, though. I cannot intend to knit socks, then change my mind midstream and buy 20 balls of Rowan for a sweater even though I know I won't finish it in time and will wind up having to make socks anyway.
  
  
• If I am knitting something and run out of yarn, I may purchase enough to complete the project.
  
  
• I get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card—I am allowed to fall off the wagon one time.

3. I am allowed to receive gifts of yarn. (In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you send yarn.)
   
   
4. Spinning fiber of any sort is exempt. This is my year to blow the dust off the wheel.
   
   
5. Yarn for weaving is exempt. Hey, I just bought a loom, and I'm registered for a weaving course at my local college which I'm sure will have yarn requirements for projects. Though I do have a small (read: one enormous overflowing box full) stash of cones I could peruse...
   
   
6. Yarn of a neutral color purchased solely for Kool-Aid Dyeing experiments is exempt.
   
   
7. All UFOs must become FOs before beginning a similar project. Example: finish the Central Park Hoodie before beginning Trendsetter's Waterlily Cabled Sweater. Finish the Mountain Colors Double Eyelet Socks before beginning the Traveller's Socks. This includes projects more than 10 years old, even if it means frogging and reclaiming in order to declare it finished.
   
   
8. Non-yarn items are exempt.
   
   
9. All knitting must be done while wearing pants. ;-)

OK. Maybe I need to just say:

I will make a concerted effort to plumb the depths of my stash this year BEFORE automatically pulling out the plastic. Cuz there's no way I'm going to make it with all these exemptions. After all,

1. I love to knit socks.
   
   
2. My stash grew exponentially in the last month because of gift knitting. I started with my existing stash. But the colors were wrong for the recipients. So I went to my LYS and bought a selection of nice sock wools. Then I found out half the recipients don't like/can't wear/are allergic to wool. Back to the LYS to buy cotton/non-wool yarn. Did I return the wool? HELL no! I kept them for myself. *ahem*
   
   
3. Oft times I begin a project, but put it away for awhile. Say, 12 years or so. Like the green sweater I started when I first learned to knit. Gorgeous Brown Sheep wool. Got about 8 inches of the back done before I got bored with K a whole bunch, P a few, K a whole bunch more, repeat... Of course, the dye lot for that is long gone as is the smaller waist I had back then. Undoubtedly, I'll need more yarn to make a current sweater. This is a Caution: yarn will be discontinued by the time I get A Round Tuit. Go ahead and splurge on the extra few balls to ensure I'll have enough of it.
   
   
4. What constitutes "falling off the wagon"? Is it when you have so much yarn in the car that when you open the door you are pushed onto the roadway by the sheer force of yarn expansion?
   
   
5. Ah, yes. The Gift of Yarn. Always the right size (until swatched, washed and blocked)... not always the right color (or fiber content). But those who might actually give the gift of fresh skeins are the ones who go to Your Local Craft Store and blanch at the thought of paying *gasp* *shock* $5.99 for a ball of wool!!! What will they do when they take my Wish List to my LYS and discover the true price of Mountain Colors Bearfoot? "What?!? For a pair of socks?" followed by admonitions about starving babies in Uganda and heating bills etc (with a nod to the Harlot, unfortunately my friends and family do not subscribe to the "yarn as home insulation" argument).
   
   
6. Spinning takes too long. I want to knit THIS year, not wait until 2010 (which is how long it may take me to learn to spin a proper yarn).
   
   
7. Weaving is wonderful but it isn't knitting. I've yet to discover how to weave a sock. Hmm. Perhaps that is my calling. Sockweaving.
   
   
8. The Kool-Aid can take the blame for a LOT of stash enhancement if I play my cards right.
   
   
9. (Do the pants really need an explanation?)
   

It looks like I'll be buying yarn in 2007 anyway, despite the complaints coming from my debit card.

In the spirit of creativity, I whipped up a few of my own KFYS2007 buttons. Feel free to borrow them for your blog; but do me a favor and store it on your own server.

Labels: knit from your stash 2007, WIP, yarn diet

posted by Jeanne @ 4:02 AM 0 comments