The Most Comfortable Seat in the House

Unbweavable, but twue.

Who knew that threading the heddles would be so comfortable for a big ol' belly? I've had a grand time threading.

All this cleaning, reorganizing, waddling and complaining deserves an online shopping spree, yes? I knew you'd agree. I am short a few heddles for my project, so off to Webs online store I go. Heddles in my cart... and heck, while there, why not get a poppana shuttle? (I do need one.)

The package arrived yesterday. Turns out the heddles are backordered! Ah well, I know a trick to make heddles out of string.

The yarn?

HEY! How did that get in there???

OK, FINE. But to quote Tina: I think buying yarn has become my bag of candy or my swift pint of beer. It's a little pick me up for whenever I'm feeling grumpy or sad. Does that make it as unhealthy an addiction as the other options? Maybe, but a) it doesn't make me fat, b) it doesn't pickle my liver, and c) it makes me happy to have so many creative options at my finger tips.

I *heart* Yarn

Section 8 of Curlicue. Slow going.

I have been thinking a lot about stash. There is this knitter in my knitting group named Penelope. Sadly, blogless. *cough* More shocking, stashless. *HACK* Fantastic knitter. How could she possibly be without a stash? And then I realized that every time I see her, she has on a handknit sweater. Handknit socks. Handknit mittens. And then it occurred to me - SHE KNITS! I mean, really. She actually knits. How many sweaters do I have? Uh, one. How much yarn do I have for sweaters? A lot.

Falling Leaves. Love. Slow going.

So every time I see her, I pester her. I have discovered that she likes to shop for yarn online. She has her credit card number memorized. Yet she possesses this ability to say (and obey) "Walk away from the yarn and no one gets hurt". So there's this other knitter in my group - Hila. If I spend an afternoon knitting with her, I find myself buying yarn. (It's not really her fault. It doesn't take much to be an enabler.) This past weekend, I was knitting with Hila. I got home, went to my computer to look up Trekking Natura and bam, there I was with 4 skeins in my shopping cart. "Walk away from the yarn and no one gets hurt." Why did I need four skeins? Well, I want to make socks for hotty hubby. I'm not sure what colors he might like. They all look nice. Can't hurt to have extra skeins. Can't hurt? That phrase is the means to a stash explosion. I quickly closed out the screen.

Threading the heddles. Doesn't hurt my hands. Slow going anyway.

When shopping for clothes, one holds them up in front of the mirror and says "I think I will wear this here and for this occasion and I will feel great and this will make me happy." We try on a life we hope to have. My stash is about knitting I hope to do. So my little hobby of poking yarn with sticks has become an example of how one can forget to live in the moment. (Are you following me?) I am not making any plans to stop buying yarn. (Hello, 12 steps, not one giant leap.) But I am thinking about being happy with what I am working on now and feeling the satisfaction of completion, instead of jumping ahead to that next, someday soon, project. Of course my hands are so DAMN SWOLLEN that the idea of completing a couple rows makes me giggle like a little girl. I have no choice but to stare at my current projects and face the reality of buying more yarn. I simply can't try to knit any faster!

Warped

My puffy fingers need a break from knitting, but my yarn obsession can not stop. Above is the beginning of a warp for some cotton dishtowels. My warp will stay cream and with each towel I will play with different stripes of green. Fairly simple, yet interesting enough to delight me with each pick.

Not much progress has been made on Curlicue this week. Still on section 8, but hope that my rested fingers will be able to get it together and knock out another section or two this weekend. No progress shot so I'll leave you with this comment from my last post...

Allena writes: I get the yarn under your pillow, but why is the roving in the freezer?

Good question. I'll get back to you when I think of an answer.

Perfectly Normal

Many of you commented that I was giving a lot of yarn away, so I must have a huge stash. I don't think I have a HUGE stash. (I mean, c'mon, Mary has a Yarn Cave!). I think I have a stash appropriate for an NYC apartment. It's kind of spread through my home, very organized. Above is my yarn for upcoming projects. It's in a glass cupboard because it's pretty and inviting. "Knit me!"


Extra yarn for gifts, one skein thingy-ma-bobby's, or for "someday" is vacuumed into space bags and hung in the coat closet.


This is the black hole in the living room. It's my project bag that swallows random yarn. It usually spills out on to the floor, but recent destashing has tamed it down a bit.


This is my Finnish yarn that is kept in a closet in the Loom Room. It's just for looking.

Weaving yarns kept in the same closet.

Roving in the freezer.

Schaefer Anne under my pillow.

A Productive Weekend Needs a Reward

I actually didn't think I would do it, but I got darn close. I finished section 7 and am halfway through section 8, which means I am halfway done with the Curlicue! You can't see me right now (which is probably a good thing) but I am doing this dance around my apartment in celebration of kicking some pregger arse on this blanket.


I also managed to package up a portion of my stash to send off to to my fellow knitters. I got so many requests I am actually digging through my stash to make sure there isn't more that I can let go of. So if you haven't heard from me yet, it doesn't mean I don't have yarn for you. I might! So give me another day, there is yarn all over our apartment right now. (Space bags. Seems like such a good idea, 'til you have to open them up and vacumm them again...and again...)


All this "work" and no vodka tonic to celebrate. So I pulled out some sacred and oh-so-special Schaefer Anne (I usually only pet it and put it back in the stash) and cast on Falling Leaves. For ME.

Destashing Closed

Thank you to all who left a comment and are willing to help me destash! I believe I have enough people to unload yarn on! In fact, I am going to take another sort through my saved stash to see if there is anything else that can go. I will email you for your address over the weekend as I sort this out. My plan is to have the yarn in the mail by Monday/Tuesday. Hooray!


I caught up on a little knitting last night. Section 6 is officially done. If I can get through sections 7 and 8 over the weekend, I am half way done! I did read Grumperina's issues with Curlicue, and I will admit, I didn't check my gauge as accurately as I should have. I'll blame that on Placenta Brain, because I do know better. I have used this yarn so many times, I just went with it, not really putting it together that my row gauge may have an affect on the overall outcome. Even if it does pucker a little bit, I'm not sure I care.

Hey Sit n' Knit peeps, did you see this?

Desperate to Destash

Crazy, but true. I had grand ideas of sifting my excess stash through ebay and meetups with Sit n' Knit. But I am feeling the crunch of time. MUST MAKE ROOM FOR BABY. At this point, I'm only willing to haul this yarn to the post office! So borrowing from Mary's brilliant destashing plan, I am willing to send YOU some yarn FOR FREE.

What's above is a glimpse of what I have. There is a whole throw kit (in the plastic bag thingy), a couple skeins of this, a couple skeins of that. I have bright colors, muted colors. I also have a bunch of straight needles, the old metal kind. Perhaps you are a beginner looking for more needles, or volunteer to teach knitting and need supplies. Let me know if you are game for a little surprise box of yarn. I don't have tons of any one thing, but I've got stuff! I believe knitters are good people (it's been proven time and time again) so I'm hoping this spreads a little of the karma.

Leave me a message in the comments section and an email address. Let me know your favorite color(s), and/or what you need yarn/needles for and if I have something that I think will work well for you, I will email you! My goal is to have this done through the weekend and off to the post office on Monday.


Yep, on to section 6 on the Curlicue. I missed a day of knitting yesterday, but hope to catch up tonight.


I'm hoping that puckering will work itself out with some blocking. (Gauge? Say what?)

Swollen Fingers = Swollen Credit Card

I may not be able to knit as much, but gosh darn it, I have enough mobility to pull out my credit card! This weekend we did our baby shopping. Stroller, car seat, changing table, night light, rocker and YARN. Purl was right nearby...and I knew exactly what I wanted... So here is Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria in color 213 (seafoam green) which I intend for this baby shrug from Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss.


I also picked up some Rowan Cashsoft 4ply in this absolutely yummy dirty, dusty, lavendar grey (sh423) for the Cable Blanket. My mom bought some very cool baby clothes recently, so cool that they deserve their own blanket. The pattern actually calls for dk but this color is so perfect that I was willing to buy more yarn and double up. I can't wait to start knitting this.


Neither can Lucy. This is "my" cat. She didn't realize she was a cat until she met my hotty hubby's cat. She is very skitterish and acts very differently from the other 2 furballs that we have. (His, Hers and Ours.) But in these last couple of weeks, she has been a bit like her old self, and I wonder if it has to do with my pregnancy. She follows me most of the day when I am home, and lays next to me, even now as I type, she is right behind me taking a snooze.


And here is a progress shot on the Coverlet. Section 5 is taking much longer than the other sections. The shaping has short rows, but instead of the stitches going down in number row by row, the shaping simply shifts to the left. Neat to watch it progress, but obviously takes a little longer. Regardless, it's coming along! 10 more sections to go and no, I have not cast on anything else. Yet.

Edema

Progress shot on the Curlicue Coverlet. The sections actually go by quite fast thanks to short rows. I think I can do 2 sections a week. I *think*, my swollen fingers are giving me knitting issues. If I accomplish 2 sections a week, this blanket could very well be done by the time the baby arrives! If she arrives on her due date. Ha.

Right now this is the only thing I am working on. As it gets bigger, it is hard to carry around. So, I will probably cast on some socks, though again, not sure how my fingers will hold up with the small needles. There is another blanket I want to make as well, and that baby sweater... I should have started all this baby knitting so long ago. I should have just put the other projects on hold. Hindsight is 20/20. Puffy fingers are...gross.