Exciting Yarn Day

So, it was finally DK Frolic here in our city.
My friend Kathleen picked me up in the morning, and
Another friend had picked another of my friends, Sherri up, and we met at the
Japanese Cultural Center.

It was a bit cool in the morning, so cool that I gave up and wore my
knitted jacket.

Once we got in, it was walking and checking the vendors` booths and
all the good stuff they had brought in to sell.

I fell in love this yarn:

It will take some time before I figure out what to use it for.  Probably a shawl, a big one, since

there is quite a bit of yardage in each hank.  

The Yarn is Breathless Lace, from Shalimar Yarns.

75% Merino, 15% Cashmere, 10% Silk

I also bought a fabric bag that has cat designs on it, and a small cat pin for my 

key ring (it`s tiny, though, but I think it will do)

After we had walked around enough, and bought what we had seen and wanted,  we headed 

for Olde Yorke Fish and Chips for

Halibut and French Fries, Cole Slaw and Tartar Sauce.  Oh, my it was yummy.

The coffee was good too, I had two refills and no extra charge.  

Well, then it was time to decide if we would go to another yarn place, this time

to see what is on sale in a yarn store not too, too far away from 

the restaurant.  Off we went to Sew and Knit Store.

I decided to get some sock yarn to make gifts, as I don`t wear hand knitted socks

too often. I do like knitting them though, and I would say that 90% of the socks

I have made, have been given as gifts.  It`s a pleasure for me.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday Morning, Noon and Afternoon  with

good friends.  

It was time to come home, time to take a nap, time to take another nap, and

organize the thoughts of what has to be done next.

Keep going Girl!

First some whining,

back pain for over a week.  Have done too much lifting things, as in bags of yarn, boxes of yarn,
just yarn. Let me explain, I have a stash room (second bedroom) full of stuff, mostly yarn, in boxes, plastic tubs, and bags.  Decided to organize *organize*,  me?  Good grief!
Well, I did some, and now the back is screaming. Tylenol 3 snubbed, Arthritis Tylenol laughed, standing and leaning against the table helped after half an hour.  Sleep is great, no problem.

Should I just sleep?  NO, I must check the e-mail, check the Facebook, oh, and go to work.  Work
might have something to do with some pain to a degree.  Sitting all day, working on a keyboard, trying to get the correct information into the record archives, inside the data files.  That's hard work, and will cause discomfort sometimes.  However, I do love my work, and have always enjoyed going to the office.  Occasional getting up to go and fetch coffee or lunch, or water,
is a good thing.

Oh, I was not going to talk about work.  Back to whining.  No cork needed, since my whining has nothing to do with wine.

This is my solution for the problem, Aleve, which may cause tummy pains, but which is worse?

I realized something this morning, why is my back not in pain when I am in bed?  I have a padding with magnetic buttons inside.  Well, yeaah, sure.  This morning I took one Aleve, found another of those paddings in the linen closet.  Put it on my chair and what, I am practically pain free, unless I get up.  Is it Aleve or the padding with magnets?  Don't know, but I am going sit here all day, even
if I don't have the witch powers to move things around with the wiggle of my nose (I can't do it anyway, even if I was a witch, which I might have been in my previous life, which is another story).

On the reality side (whining isn't my daily topic):

What's up?  The Knitting goddess has been my friend for a good part of my weekly events.
There is a shawl, a scarf, a jacket, a freeform thing, another shawl, something that I don't even
know what, hats, and socks, but I am very organized (another "good grief).  Organizing is not a word I use lightly.

These are Hedwig socks (referring to Hedwig, Harry Potter's owl)  for my step-daughter-in-law.
I was going to add eyes and a nose but decided it was too much work.  :-)

Some baby stuff, little jackets and two blankets

Hat that will go to charity

This hat was meant for a friend, but it came out too small.  The brim is very loose, too. I have fix it, and then this one goes to charity, as well as

the baby hat here:

 I love this shawl, the yarn is size 10 crochet thread, Katie Jaipur, and the colors are amazing.

I have put this shawl aside for a few days, since I was busy with the hats and other things.

A scarf for my niece in Argentina:

The yarn, Patons Grace.

Forgot what this was going to be:

 

 And this is a Seraphina Shawl start, which might never see another stitch done:

 Crocheted this Edelweiss shawl in less than a week.  It will probably end up in charity section.

Guess who this is!  Merlin, of course, isn't he adorable?

Baby surprise Jacket.  Pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman, the knit master.

baby jacket in apple green cotton yarn, somewhere there is a pattern, but where?  Here!

Crochet bolero for my grandaughter in Argentina

a

And finally, some of the plastic tubs that have swallowed some yarn.  These and some others are going in the stash room, if I can find a space for them.  (wiping tears here)

 

There has been some serious cabbage cooking too, in my kitchen.  Cabbage soup, Cabbage rolls, 

Cabbage casserole, and last night a soup with chicken broth, cabbage, ground chicken, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, red onion, and some celery, that was in the back of the fridge, still good, surprise.

I have lunches for two or three weeks now.  Of course it's possible I will have something else, too, since I am already getting somewhat tired with cabbage.   

I don't really have recipes for my cabbage dishes, I've used my imagination, and googled a few tricks and so on.  I am a freestyle cook.

I am also reading a lot these days, Currently P. J. Parrish's Louis Kincaid series.

Of course some others, but these books are my latest fancy.

The first book "Dark of the Moon" came from library as it's not available for Kindle.

Have started it but not even half way thru, yet.

Came across with this post in FaceBook, and thought it was good

http://sinivalakosinsilimin.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/kiiress-duunis-tois-busy-working-work.html

Decided that this was enough for one post.  Have to go and see if my mess will disappear at least a little bit.  

I must be off the wall, seriously

There are three items in my bag, to do today at lunch.
I have a pair of socks, working on the gussett decreases,
a start of a vest, pattern from Knit 'n Style, October magazine,
and an unstarted yarn skein, that is going to be socks from a
British magazine "The Knitter", issue 21.

Do you think I could do all that, while I eat my lunch, chat
with co-workers, and play cards? Not likely. Why do I do this?
I knew that I could not work on everything at the same time, but
yet I took all this, and almost the Ishbel shawl also.
A friend of mine had bought the pattern for me, for my birthday.

I must admit that I feel lost and missing something (other than brains) if I don't
have many projects with me.

Yesterday I went to a nearby yarn store to buy one circular needle,
size 4 mm. I have lots of them, but all are somewhere else, or I don't
like how the cable coils and doesn't stay put as in my older circular
needles. Well, I did not have any projects with me when I went to
that store, and I felt a big anxious. I might have a slight problem
with this "knitting/crocheting carrying with me" business.

I am also waiting for a sock kit to arrive from the States. It's a kit
to make socks and the money, most of it, or some of it, goes for
charity. Ovarian cancer society. The sock yarn color is teal, which is
supposed to be the color for this charity.

I am also waiting for my copy of Knit 'n Style, August magazine,
which I have ordered about two weeks ago, maybe less, but it feels
like hundred years ago. There is a pattern for a cardigan that I want
to make with my Novita Alpaca yarn that my SIL bought for me in Finland.

Oh, yeah, I went to Finland in July and came back in August. That was just about two weeks in there. My trip was a total success. It was relaxing and laid back
trip. I didn't have to go anywhere special, like tourist attractions. I visited the family and that was the main reason for my quick visit.

Continued later:

Would you believe this: The Knit 'n Style magazine arrived today, soon after I posted about it.
Here is the jacket I want to make:

Socks and Yarn

I must admit that I chose wrong yarn for my Fishbone Gansey socks.

My FG socks are in this picture, trust me!

The trick is to use solid color yarn, not a yarn that has tons of different colors, in short sections. (duh)

All the hard work for following the (any) chart, tongue on cheek, with occasional blurry eye syndrome, with some coffee breaks, and skipping a line or two in the chart, would be wasted when using yarn that deliciously hides the incredibly handsome pattern.

The picture how the socks would look with different yarn is here.

My other socks are a different story. The yarn, was probably bought at Purple Purl, but I am not sure, since I have a great talent in losing the yarn labels and bills. Bills I lose easily, because I really don't want to be reminded how much I really spend on yarn. Hmph.

I will say that the yarn is soft wool, since it does not make my skin itch. If you didn't know, I am allergic to wool, when it's that rough kind, with real feeling of prickly thingies.

For these socks I used solid color, and the pattern shows up very clearly. These socks are my

Ravelympic Team Canada, Team WIPs - Dancing challenge. I have to get the finished before

the closing ceremonies in Vancouver. Otherwise I will be disqualified. Oh, I don't want that.

If I want striped socks, I will, from now on, use sock yarn that is meant to create striping pattern. I will not use fancy patterns with striping yarn, I swear.

It's OK to use (mildly) variegated yarns for complicated patterns, but I would suggest strongly to make a swatch first to see if the design shows with your choice of yarn, if it's not the same as recommended. It's not always possible to use designer's selected yarn. It might not be available everywhere in the world, or the price might not meet your budget requirements, or you just like your yarns better. It's up to you, but make that dang swatch first (I speak from experience for NOT making swatches).

I would also, from now on, read the pattern instructions first, before starting to knit. Once you get to the third pattern chart (if there is one), which I didn't notice when started, you better have clever attention span happening, otherwise you, just like me, will have some serious frogging ideas and bad words blurting out. (unless you are somewhat more organized and possess sharp eye sight, and are more keen to details, then this is not an advice for you.)(and experienced sock knitter, oh, almost forgot that one)

I will make sure that the pattern will keep me interested at least until the heel part. You can always omit the pattern for the foot part (yes, you can). I tend to think that the foot part might be hidden in the boot or shoe that is not a sandal type, but is more to the style of a running shoe. Not necessarily any fancy running shoe, but one that keeps your feet comfy. Also, when the sock is plain stockinette stitch it fits better into the shoe, instead of a bulky cable patterned foot part.

Of course all of the above is your own choice, yarns and patterns, striping or not. I am just saying what I have done to make my blood pressure to go up a notch.

Personally I will still do everything that I am not "supposed" to do, but that's just me.

Next socks that I'll make will be plain stockinette stitching throughout, except the ribbing for the opening, and I will use my wildest sock yarn that would not be good for a lace patterned socks.

I swear, I will not obey my own instructions.

I will not make any comments about toe up socks, because I have started two pairs, over a year ago, and stopped just before the gusset and/or heel part. I'm not scared to screw up the process, I just don't want to proceed. I like looking at unfinished objects (UFOs), they remind me of my home.

Yarn for Joyella

I received the yarn from my sister, on Tuesday. I started knitting the next hexagon the same day, but have not gotten any further than half of the first, or the fourth piece, if I count the ones I knitted with the yarn I had.

The color is lighter, than my original, which I knew after checking Novita site for their yarns. However, that is not a problem, my sister sent me enough yarn to fool around with the colors and pieces that I already have. Of course the end result is not going to be the same as in the pattern. My yarn is from olive green to forest green (variegated). I am not using Jasper yarn, which was wayyyy too expensive for me. And also too heavy. The winter seems to be milder each year, so I don't want any heavy sweaters hanging in the closet doing nothing.

Before the yarn came, I decided to finish some of the socks I had started: Campanula, Pink cable socks, Jaywalker with Tofutsie yarn and some others, that I had put in the sock yarn box.

I noticed that there were some big holes in the Jaywalker sock, nothing major, but enough for me to stop and stare and swear. The holes were a result of sloppy M1 increases between two needles. I decided then that I really didn't like the yarn for socks, so I FROGGED the 2 inches I had made. No biggie. I started a new sock with Novita Nalle Colori yarn and love the way the sock is coming out. I have started the foot part already on the first sock. I love the way it looks.
The yarn in the picture is slightly darker than it should be.

However, I want to get Joyella done asap, so that is on the front burner right now.
Sorry socks.

Startitis and Yarn obsession

Still "thinking" of organizing my yarn stash, well, I started, and then stopped because I found some interesting UFOs.

Oh, and started knitting those Baby Surprise Jackets.
The socks are waiting.

Well, would you like to know what in the world I did this morning?

I went to WalMart (opens at 7 a.m.) to get BUTTONS for the two BSJs.

I got the buttons, BUT, about a week ago I had bought some Bernat Wool
Blend in variegated naturals (taupe, cream, light brown, and some other color which I don't remember right now). Therefore,
I just haphazardly looked around if they had more of that variegated yarn.
No, of course not, so I decided that taupe would go with those colors, and creamy white, too. Isn't that obvious?

I have no idea what happened then, in my brain, but I took all the white skeins and decided
to make an Aran sweater with it (of course I need more of that white). I bought
5/100g skeins of Bernat Wool blend (80% acrylic and 20 % wool) in natural white,
and one skein in Taupe.

Then I decided that I needed those 5 mm needles (I might have some at home, like 100 sets) and some
3.5 mm needles (those I might only have 2 or 3 sets)

Anyway, I know that now I need to go to an other Walmart to see if I can get more of
that white yarn, if I decided to make an Aran sweater, with all those cables, and bobbles and seed stitches...
I might not. Cable sweater sounds good enough.

What do I have with me to work on my lunch hour? A start for a baby hat to go with the BSJ I made for my grand son, same yarn. I knitted about 2 inches and need about 7 inches.
I also have a skein of Novita Nalle Colori sock yarn and 5 sock needles. Not started.

I must have a brain cramp some sort, this is not good, not good at all.
Is there a medicine for startitis and obsessive yarn shopping?

Wednesday Shopping

I have had some time off from my Campanula socks, because I have to do the short row heel part, and I have not done it ever before. I'll practice tonight. I finished socks that I had started a long time ago. The yarn is Kroy.

The yarn picture is my shopping that I didn't want to do.

My friend, Carol, came to town today. She lives in Mississippi.
Let me tell how smart my day was.

I took the subway to downtown, near the "hotel where" Carol and her Hubby were staying. I went to the hotel, and since I was early I bought a coffee, sat in the lounge area and started knitting. I always carry something with me. I started getting a little anxious, because I didn't see my friend arriving at the set time.
Well, I waited, and waited, and finally my phone rang. It was Carol: "did you give up on me" she asked. I told her where I was, and finally we realized I was in the wrong hotel. How many Marriott hotels there are here? Well, now I know: two.

Finally, after some walking and phone calls, I saw her walking towards me. It was such a nice feeling to meet a friend whom I have met only once before.

We went to have a coffee and cinnabun (sp?) at the Eaton's Center, and from there we went to get a streetcar (bus - as my friend called it). We arrived at Romni Wools, and spent about 15 minutes at the doorway, just looking at the different knitting needles and things that were in that area. Finally I was able to convince her to go and see the rest of the store. Carol was very impressed and overwhelmed, but was able to buy some nice yarns.

I had decided not to buy anything, since my stash is quite large. I only bought four balls of yarn. Only, haha, the yarn made a big dent in my cash balance.

We went to eat at "I heart" Sushi" restaurant, a few blogs east from Romni. The lunch was excellent. I had chicken stir fry type stuff on rice, Carol had sushi and some rice thingies. Don't ask me, I don't know anything about Sushi foods.

We started back to the hotel, took the "bus" (=streetcar) to as close to the hotel as we could. Yeah, right. We had about 4 blocks to walk. Now that I think about it, we could have taken the subway, but no, we walked, which was better for Carol, she saw more of our city that way. She treated us for Bubble tea, which was the first time for both of us. It was a fun drink, and I am glad I had a taste of it, now I know.

It was a great day

I found it!

First, on Thursday I received two books from Amazon.com. One was Jenny Dowde's Freeformations and the other was ... oops, I forgot, that means I have to go and look, just a sec.

Yes, it was Yarn stash ideas.

On Friday, I received a beautiful ATC from my friend Janet. She is a master making these cards, but she's also a master with her paintings.


Here is the card:


And this morning, regardless of the stupid fact that I slept until 10:30,

I found the box my hubby and I have been looking for two weeks.

In the box I have yarn, bought from WOOLCO, if anyone remembers that store. One skein cost $1.89, which wasn't too expensive even then. This must be over 20 years ago. I know, because I had not met my now-hubby yet. I bought it when my mom visited me before I met him. Yeeeaaa, so the yarn must be 20 years old. Woolco closed its doors, in Canada, in the early 90's.

My mom made about 45 - 4" squares and I had made 5, different ones. I had also started something from a pattern that appeared in Vogue knitting, 1993. I must have thought that the squares didn't make anything nice.

I need to go grocery shopping, but I would like to stay at home and PLAN, I am good at planning, what to do with this treasure.
So, what, if my hand still hurts. I can plan, can I?

I still have to find a ball of size 20 red Opera thread, and the Clones Lace book. I need to look for something else, and those two will show up. I was looking for the book, when I found the yarn.
It works every time.