Knitamazoo(tm)

So I went into one of my 3 LYS’s (Local Yarn Shops) on my lunch hour yesterday. Mostly just to browse (pet the yarn) and pick up some woolwash. I find that petting the pretty yarns melts my stress away (and my job can be very stressful at times but that’s another story). Anyway, one of the clerks walks up to me and asks if I was looking for anything in particular. I tell her I mainly came in to browse but was wondering if they had any Kidsilk Haze (I have a scarf pattern that calls for this and I wanted to know the price per skein). She just stands there . . . staring at me . . . like I have a shrub growing out of my head or knitting needles sticking out of my ears and nose. She tells me that it doesn’t sound familiar. I then tell her it’s by Rowan. “Oh,” she says. I see a little lightbulb go on and I have a glimmer of hope that now she knows what I am talking about. “All of our Rowan yarn is over here,” and she proceeds to walk me over to the wool section of the store. My bubble of hope has been popped. I tell her that Kidsilk Haze is a mohair/silk blend not wool. She turns around and heads back over to where we started, “Well, our mohair is over here but I never heard of that stuff.” Since I had already looked through the mohair section on a previous trip, I thanked her and continued browsing. I don’t know if she is fairly new or not. I have seen her in there on the numerous occasions I’ve stopped in over the last few months. I guess I could have asked another clerk if they carry it or if they would order it, but you would think that since she was so unsure about it herself she would done that. Maybe my reasoning is off here but if I don’t know something about my job I darn well ask someone. But then again I could just be weird.

On to knitting news. I’m still plugging away on my Clapotis. I’ve done 4 drop stitches now. I still get excited every time I get to that point. It’s fun to watch it unravel on purpose. Again, I’m easily entertained. Really. Just ask my cats. Here is a progress picture.

And a closeup of the dropped stitches.

I’m still taking my antibiotics like a good patient. They are still making me really tired but the headaches and dizziness have stopped. The ailment for which I am taking these evil drugs has cleared up but I have to finish all of the pills so it doesn’t return. This coming Tuesday at 2:30 pm EDT will be my last dose and then I’m having a party (if I’m not too tired). Knit on!

Well I managed to stay awake for work yesterday and I was pretty tired when I got home. But I had a most awesome parcel waiting for me. It was the swift that I had ordered last week! I carefully opened the box (ie. ripped it open like a lion tearing open its prey) and held it up in all its glory. Ahhhhh . . . it was beautiful . . . smooth, shiny wood just begging to hold a hank of yarn. I showed it to my fat kitty Roscoe because I was sure that he would appreciate this marvelous example of mechanical genius, but he kept running away. Do you think it may have had something to do with me opening and closing it as I came towards him? Nah . . . he was probably so awed by this spectacular contraption that he couldn’t bear the sight of it. My DH was equally impressed. “That’s nice dear,” he said. Humph!

Here it is, the best invention known to knitters next to the ball winder. (Kind of looks like an ancient torture device, doesn’t it?)

And here it is in action! Gracefully assisting in the making of a center pull ball of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn. I just get all choked up when I see it. Please enjoy the picture while I pull myself together.

OK, I think I’ve got myself together now. I did a few rows on my Clapotis last night and dropped the next stitch. There really isn’t enough progress to warrant a picture so here is a gratuitous cat picture instead. My other kitty, Cosmo, was a little put out by the amount of appearances Roscoe has had on my blog. So I decided that I should at least post another picture of Cosmo. Here he is under our dining table in our sunroom, one of his favorite spots to sleep. Kind of looks miffed doesn’t he?

Well that’s it for today campers. Keep those needles clicking!

What a weekend! It all started out innocently enough. I spent Friday evening working on the overall look of my blog. (BTW, how does it look?) Slept in on Saturday and was just putzing around the house. I was chatting with my DH and folded my arms across my chest and . . . . OW . . . OW . . . OW . . . OWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Hmmmm, left boob is tender. Check the calendar . . . my monthly joy is still 2 weeks away. Weird . . . so I head for the shower. I’m shaving my legs and as I’m looking down I notice this reddish area on my left boob. What’s going on? I finish my shower and dry off and show reddish area to my DH who promptly tells me it’s a hive. Now there is some logic behind his proclamation, as I do have allergies and I am prone to getting hives from time to time. But this did not itch and it was definitely not a hive. So I get dressed and putz around some more. Then I notice that this reddish area is emitting heat. That’s it . . . no more messing around . . . I called the doctor. It’s now 11:10 am. The receptionist asks me how far away I live and I tell her I can be there in 15 minutes. So she says she can get me in at 11:30. So I grab my purse and am heading out the door when DH decides he’s coming along. We speed all the way to the doctor’s office and they call me in 3 minutes after I’ve checked in. (Note to self: always make last minute doctor appointments on Saturday mornings.) The nurse makes me get on the dreaded scale and then takes my BP which was 140/80. A little high on the top number she tells me. No duh . . . the health and well-being of my left boob is in jeopardy and you expect me to be calm and relaxed? So she gives me a gown to put on backward and leaves. About 5 minutes later she comes back with the doctor. He looks at my chart, turns around and the first question out of his mouth is if I’m breast feeding. Huh? Now if he had actually read my chart he would have seen that I’ve never been pregnant in my life but I have to tell him this little fact. So now he wants to see the affected area. I flash him my boob and he looks. Hmmmmm . . . ah . . . and he takes an even closer look. Then he asks me to show him where this redness is. WHAT? Is he blind? So I point it out and he isn’t impressed. The whole time I see the nurse smirking behind him. I then suggest that he compare it to my other breast to really see the difference. Flash him the right boob . . . ah now he sees what I’m talking about. So he says I have a breast infection and writes me a script for a broad spectrum antibiotic. Take this 3 times a day for 10 days he says and flys out the door. Get dressed, grab DH and go to the pharmacy. Get the big old horse pills and go home. I take the first dose and start reading the pamphlet that comes with the pills. Side effects include: headaches (great), fatigue (wonderful), dizziness (fantastic) and diarrhea (spectacular). So far I’ve been battling the first three and I’m just waiting for that last one to rear it’s ugly head. I can’t believe that I have 8 more days of feeling so tired that I can hardly sit up. All my plans of cleaning my house went out the window and now it looks like it won’t get done until I’m done with these meds. If I could only train my cats how to clean the house while I’m at work . . . hmmmmmmmmmmm . . .

In knitting news, my clapotis is no longer a thong and is now officially a clapotis in progress. It’s safe to come out now Monkee, the Kong Thong is gone!

I know it still has a bit of a triangular shape but I have done my first dropped stitch so it’s officially a clapotis now.

And just because I can, here’s a pic of my fat cat all smooshed in his kitty bed. I couldn’t resist his cuteness!

As I try to stay awake to take my next dose of evil antibiotics, I wish you all a happy Monday! Sorry if this post contained a little TMI, but I figured if I had to suffer than you all should too! Buhuwahahahahahahahahahaha . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

Happy, happy Friday! The weekend is almost here and I can’t wait. Though it is supposed to be extremely hot and sticky this weekend. And it’s starting already. Our high today is to be 96 F and at 1:15 it was already 87 F. The air is so thick you can’t breathe. So my big weekend plans are to sit in the house with the new central air knitting to my heart’s content. The perfect weekend!

In knitting news I did 24 more rows on my Clapotis last night. The rows are getting longer so it’s not going quite so fast. But that’s ok. When I was finished knitting last night I held it up for my hubby to admire and said, “Doesn’t it look like a G-string for a gorilla?” He laughed and told me that when he saw the previous photos on my blog he thought that I was actually knitting a G-string. Ha! Well, now it’s big enough for a gorilla and I’m calling it The Thong for Kong. Here it is (though it doesn’t look any bigger than it did in the pic from yesterday).

Have a wonderful knitty weekend and I’ll be back next week if I don’t melt!

And like all good sheep I’m making my very own Clapotis. I didn’t want to concentrate too hard on my knitting last night and I’m still contemplating what to do with the Booga Bag, so I decided that I needed to cast on for my Clapotis. I really like how the subtle colors in the yarn come out as you knit. Here is my progress so far.

And a closeup.

It’s a great pattern to knit (who wouldn’t love a pattern that begins “CO 2 stitches”) and I can’t wait till I get to the part where you drop stitches. Wheeeeee! Dropping stitches on purpose! How fun is that going to be? It’s not a mistake, it’s a design feature. (Really . . . it is!)

I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I have finally broken down and ordered a swift. I’ve had a ball winder for a few months now but was just using a lampshade for a swift. Well the new hanks of yarn I purchased during my SEXcapade are too large for my lampshade. You should have seen the acrobatics I had to do to get one skein wound for my Clapotis. I could have called DH to help me but the last time he tried to be a swift I about wound him up. Now I love my hubby very much but he has little or no concept of yarn and how to wind it. So to save our marriage I wound it by myself sans swift. I think I can be a contortionist now. So the swift is on its way and soon I’ll be happily winding my hanks into center pull balls and my marriage will be safe.

I haven’t been knitting much the last few days. I can’t explain this sudden wave of apathy that has come over me in regards to my knitting. Well I suppose I could if I really wanted to. It probably has something to do with not feeling like picking up stitches for the sock gusset on my Burgundy Beauty #1. Here is a picture of my progress so far.

You would think that I could muster the drive to pick up a few lousy stitches and finish it. I decided to start a Booga Bag last night. I finished the base and got 4 rows of the sides complete but it is much smaller than I was expecting. The picture with the pattern makes it look so much larger. So now I’m entertaining thoughts of frogging it and making it bigger. I’m using the Plymouth Outback Wool that I purchased this weekend. The colors are yummy and I really like how this yarn knits up. I just really think it’s too small. Opinions?

I’ve also been comtemplating Soleil. I think it has been ostracized and chastised long enough. So maybe I’ll cast on tonight for the third time and give it another whirl. Third times a charm right? I can only hope!

What is this? Another gratuitous cat picture? I couldn’t help it. He demanded that I take his picture for my blog. He threatened to bite me and leave little “gifts” around the house if I didn’t. What was I supposed to do? And he even posed . . .

Isn’t he adorable? In other news, our new furnace and air conditioner was installed last week. After a rocky start (the furnace wasn’t delivered to the local store so someone had to go pick it up and bring it to our house) everything is finally installed and working perfectly. Our poor kitties had to be locked in the sunroom for two days while the guys installed the furnace. They were a little traumatized but it was worth it in the end. Ahhhhh . . . lovely cool air!

Yarn diets can be dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Yarn diets are like chocolate . . . (stay with me here, I promise there is a point to this analogy) . . . if you are deprived of chocolate for a long period of time you are more likely to eat way too much when you finally get to eat it again. The same is true with yarn diets. My DH lifted the diet this weekend and I went gonzo! And it’s really not my fault . . . I can’t help it some of this yarn was on extreme super sale and I just had to buy it. What knitter can pass up a great yarn sale?

So without any further adieu (cue the sexy music) . . . for your viewing pleasure . . . a little yarn porn!

First stop, Rapunzel’s in Frankenmuth, Michigan. They don’t only have knitting supplies and yarn, but they sell home decor items as well. They have a pretty nice selection of yarn (quite a few novelty yarns along with lots of Noro and Berroco, some that I’ve never seen before but no Kureyon . . . weird) and their prices are about average for what I’ve seen in Michigan. Here I purchased some Sockotta in denim, Brittany 10 1/2 dpn’s and a huge hank (374 yds.) of Plymouth Yarn Outback Wool which is a 100% virgin wool. I think this will become a Booga Bag.

The piece de resistance came when we stopped into Zeilinger’s Wool Company. They process wool, make comforters and other bedding, as well as produce rovings and some yarns. They don’t have a lot of color selection but I did find some really nice yarn at an insane price. They are celebrating their 95th anniversary this year and for a limited time all of their yarn is on sale at 95 cents per ounce!!!!! Yes, I said 95 cents (less than $1) per each scrumptious ounce. I went nuts! My first choice was a wool/mohair/angora blend in the shrimp colorway. This lovely yarn is destined to become Clapotis (yes, I’m jumping on the bandwagon). So here it is in all its glory . . .

So after figuring out that I could purchase 3 hanks of this gorgeous yarn for the regular price of 1 hank, I just had to purchase enough yarn to make a sweater. I chose a delicious wool yarn in the blue magic colorway and grabbed enough to hopefully make a sweater.

And get this . . . I spent under $50 on all of the yarn I bought at Zeilinger’s! I’ll wait until you are able to breathe again. In . . . out . . . in . . . out . . . there . . . are you breathing normal again?

I am so happy and content now. I have lots of gorgeous yarn and I really want to just roll around in it. I keep petting it and admiring the lovely colors. Do you think my DH will mind if I slept with it?

This weekend I’m having S E X! Yessiree bob, I said S E X! Gobs and gobs of it! I am going on a Stash Enhancment eXibition (S E X). What did you think I meant? I am so ashamed of you all . . . get your minds out of the gutter. Sheesh!

My wonderful DH (yes he still reads my blog) is taking me to Frankenmuth, Michigan this weekend. His plan is to go to Birch Run Outlets. My plan is to go to Rapunzel’s (the LYS) and to Zeilinger’s Wool Company. I’m hoping that on Monday I’ll have some yarn pron to post for your enjoyment.

In other knitting news, I have turned the heel on Burgandy Beauty #1. I didn’t work on it last night as I was just too tired and I was afraid of making a horrid mistake that would send me into fits of hysterical sobbing. So I took a night off from knitting. I’ll probably work on it for awhile tonight and maybe on Monday I’ll have a sock picture to go along with the yarn porn.

That’s all for now my knitty friends. Have a fantabulous weekend and happy knitting!

Socks, socks and more socks! Have I mentioned how much I like making socks? Oh I have . . . sorry . . . I’ll try not to mention it again. Last night I sat down, turned on the tv and managed to finish sock #2 of the second pair. I got the ends woven in and tried it on. It was absolutely perfect . . . well not quite. I had dropped a stitch on the gusset and hadn’t noticed it until I tried them on. So I gently removed the sock and since it was late decided to deal with it later. This morning I fixed the dropped stitch and sewed it in place and now noone will ever know except me. Buwahahaha! Oh, I just told all of you didn’t I? (sigh) Anyhoo, here is a pic of the finished sock pair. The color pooled on the second sock but I don’t care. They are for me and I love them! Too bad they are too warm to wear in the summer.

After fixing the dropped stitch I cast on for yet another pair of socks. And no it’s not my Liberty socks. I need to figure out my guage with the Lorna’s Shepherd Sock yarn first. So I had some lovely Elsebeth Lavold angora/wool that I had bought to make socks like the first pair I had done. The color is called auberg which is a rich, deep burgandy wine color. Here are the beginnings of the Burgandy Beauties as I’m calling them right now. That could change based on their behavior. The color in the picture doesn’t come close to the lovely color they are. Kind of makes them look black. Ugh!

That’s all the news on the knitting front. We have cooled down considerably though and thankfully the humidity has broken too. Our high today is only supposed to be in the mid-60’s when we’ve been in the 90’s for the past week. Maybe I’ll get to wear those new socks after all!

I finally sat down this weekend and scanned the pictures of the spinning wheel my parents are giving to me. My mom got this spinning wheel because her grandmother had one in her house when my mom was growing up. This wheel has never been used by anyone in our family and I’m not even sure what kind of wheel it is or if all the parts are accounted for. If anyone has any clues or ideas please leave a comment. (Click on pictures for a closer/larger view.)

Here is a general overall picture of the wheel.

A closeup.

And a comb and bobbin.

I am hoping that I will be able to get this wheel around Christmas. So I have lots of time to read up on spinning and look into classes and such. I’m so excited!

In other knitting news I made quite a bit of progress on sock #2 of the second pair. Finished the gusset decreases and it’s on down the foot. The toes are in sight and maybe . . . just maybe . . . I’ll be able to finish it up tonight. Then I can cast on for my Liberty socks! I just love socks! (I’m a little loony I know.)