In Hoc Signo Vinces

Susie's Brilliant Sunset

A visit to a good yarn store is like salve for a knitter's tender soul.

Babetta's Yarn in Fair Oaks (near Sacramento) was exactly what I needed. It was a warm, friendly shop where a bunch of ladies were gathered in the back knitting and chattering and admiring each other's work and, the first thing I saw after I came in the door was a hedgehog. I knew I'd found the right spot. Hurray to Caitlyn for the recommendation!

It was so wonderful to see and feel and admire so many yarns that I have only seen before online. Lori was a very good sport, looking around with me and pointing out yarns that sounded familiar to her - and some scary novelty yarns. Luckily, she came to her sense before we left the store and decided she didn't want a scarf from some scary ladder yarn.

What she did want (and how can you deny a women who only rarely mocks your knitting and supports your habits so enthusiastically) was a knitted bookmark. So I got some Misti Alpaca laceweight.

In my enthusiasm, I took off the labels and started knitting in the car. Then when I got home, I wound the skeins into center pull balls and and now have no idea what the names of these colors are so I am calling them (amazingly) dark purple and light blue

Babetta's had a great selection of Cascade 220 and I picked out these two darlings for a little project that has been milling around in my head. I like the brown and red (garnet) together.I picked up a little something for my Secret Pal.

I don't think she knows who I am but just in case...

Last but most certainly not least, I brought home this fabulous, beautiful skein of Trekking XXL.Trekking is another one of those yarns that I have heard knitters talking about (well, blog about) but never met in person. I am eager to knit with it. I'm sorry, I am a lazy blogger...I can't remember the name of the colorway and I am not getting up to look. It is very pretty. Feeding my weird green cravings that seem to continue unabated.

That was all from Babetta's but today (oh, hurray for today!) I got a package in the mail from the always super duper uber fabulous Susie. It was some handpainted merino and a book she was destashing.Susie's beautiful handpainted yarn in the Pastel Rainbow Black.

And the book is The Knitter's Template. Kim recommended this book a while back and I've heard several other's say it is very useful in learning about garment construction. There is some very enthusiastic and (in my opinion) misguided use of novelty yarns in this book but after just a casual first flip through, I can see why so many tout the virtues of it.

So I am feeling all yarned up and happy. I was reading the Yarn Harlot's posts from the last several days about the big get together in New York and all the nice knitters and the hats and the socks and the gathering togehter...that combined with my latest yarn acquisitions... it all just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy and proud about being a knitter. (ahhhh....)

Today's Quote:

“In hoc signo vinces. (Under this standard shalt thou conquer.)” - Emperor Constantine, motto assumed by him, AD 312

Spring has Sprung

I apologize in advance to anyone whose internet connection objects to this many pictures in one post. It was hard to decide which ones to include so I included a bunch.

It's no secret: I am not a fan of Spring. March and April generally leave me feeling bitter and resentful, mourning the passing of winter, poor excuse for winter though it may be.

Blatantly disregarding my own feelings about Spring, I ventured out this weekend with Lori and my camera with the purpose of documenting the sunshine and green grass and blue skies.

This post is dedicated to Dorothy, who has so unselfishly shared her Canadian winter with me - well, with all of us but that includes me. Also, this is for Kim, who is quite tired of her Michigan winter and in need of a dash of sunshine and flowers.

Here's to all of you who are longing for a little dose of Springtime.

Springtime in California's Capitol City

The view from our hotel window. I think this is an Episcopal Church (the domed building). There were so many crosses on the rooftops. It is a beautiful church.

Except as noted, these pictures were taken in Capitol Park, at the corner of 15th & L Streets in Sacramento, California this past Saturday. Both the California Firefighter's Memorial

and the California Veterans Memorial

are located in Capitol Park. The Capitol Park website has better pictures of the memorials. (I was focusing on "Spring" pictures not "memorial" pictures.)

For the macabre among you - and I know there are those among you - this is not very far from the house at 1426 F Street where, in the 1980's, Dorothea Puente murdered several of her boarding house residents and buried them in her yard. Though she was only convicted of three murders, 7 bodies were found in the yard. We didn't go looking for the house on this visit. Which is a good thing, I guess, because I had it in my head that it was on 17th Street instead of F Street. Actually, I'm not really even sure if the house is still there. I will have to find out one of these days.

It was mostly clear on Saturday, a few wispy clouds, as you can see and and the temperature was in the upper 60s or maybe 70 degrees. All in all, just a perfectly pleasant day. These pictures are a mere fraction of the bazillion pictures I took. I was going for artsy in some of them but mostly, I was just taking pictures of whatever caught my eye.

Before our visit to Capitol Park, we went yarn shopping in Fair Oaks (more on that tomorrow or the next day) and then to Old Town Sacramento. It has been a long time since I had visit Old Sac and it has become much more touristy since my last visit. We had a decent lunch but aside from that, it was by far the least interesting/entertaining part of our day. I took a few pictures there including this one of

the Gold Rush History Center building. (I mostly took it because of the flag - you can see how windy it was.)

These are the old buildings next to the Gold Rush center.

Then we went to the park....

We parked across the street from our hotel and entered the park from the L Street side, where we were greeted by these camellias.

From a distance, I saw this craggity looking treeJust begging to have its picture taken.

On the way to craggity tree, we came across the bamboo.

I stood very close to the bamboo.

Then I looked up toward the sky through the bamboo. Once I got close enough to the craggity tree, I discovered that you could see our hotel just across the street.

Walking a little further, there was this very tall tree.

Here is the first purple tree we came across in the park.

The flowers were beautiful up close.

Have you ever seen a black and white St. Bernard? I hadn't before Saturday.

There was a great deal of squirrel frolicking going on in the park.

Walking along this path,

and off to the right, we saw this

one of the bell towers of this mission.

(If I were to do a little searching, I'm sure I could find out which mission this is but for now, I don't know. It might be just a plain old church but California has lots and lots of missions and this is consistent with the style.)

This is the second purple tree of the day. This tree was swarming with bees. Bees be damned, I took my life into my own hands and stood under this tree to take a shot from underneath the tree.

This park is just covered with great big trees.

A view from the park bench where I sat a did a little knitting.

This is probably my favorite picture of the day, sitting on the ground looking up at the sky from underneath the cool tree shown at the top of this post.

The last picture I took as we left the park was of this tree, all full of white flowers.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY

I took these while out at my parents' house Sunday afternoon. The sky was crystal clear and the flowers were all showing off.

This tree is just starting to bloom.

See?

My blossom pictures are a little fuzzy; even the camera was more interested in the blue sky above.

The pansies are particularly vibrant this yearMama and Daddy have lots of varieties, including these that make me think of those close up pictures you sometimes see of the sun.

These two colors grow from the same plant. I thought there were two separate pansies planted close together but I got down and inspected and, indeed, it was two different colored flowers coming out of the same plant.

My sister Carrie referred to this as the fluffy pink bush. I don't know what sort of plant it is but fluffy pink bush will suffice.
Here's its neighbor, the not so fluffy purple ground cover.

I leave you with this cheery little lot. This is the parade of pansies that leads up to my parents front door.
Dorothy and Kim, I hope these will tide you over until Spring makes it's way to Sioux Lookout and Flushing.

Today's Quote:

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!" - Sitting Bull

Like a Big, Deep Breath

This weekend (in a few hours, actually) I am going with Katy and Lori to Sacramento for a little adventuring. Katy has a conference to go to for work tomorrow all day so it seemed like the perfect excuse for a little outing. Dinner tonight, some shopping and wandering around tomorrow and then Chik-fil-a before we come home. Lucky for me, I had time earlier in the week to find a knitblogger in that area and she, Caitlyn, was oh so very helpful in recommended a couple of good yarn shops. Thanks, Caitlyn!!

It is nice to get away - even if it isn't far away and isn't for long.

I think we have decided on a name for the baby dog:

I wanted to name her an old lady name (Sally was nearly Ethel except for the fact that my mama refused to call her that....) I considered Mae (for Mae West) and Fanny (for Fanny Crosby) and Tallulah (as in Tallulah Bankhead) and Edna and Ethel and Myra and Flossy and a variety of other names that I am certain are very popular in Miami Beach. Then we were taking her over to my parents' to meet the family Wednesday evening and I was holding her in my lap in the car and it just came to me:

Trixie.

That sweet, mischievous face. Somehow the name just seems to fit her.

This week, there has been no real knitting accomplished. I've worked on one of the tiny sweaters that I will be using for Christmas ornaments so, truly, nothing monumental but it is good to keep my hands busy.

Mostly this week has been work and craziness. Busy-ness. Hectic hither and thither. The kind I am glad to have reached the end of.

This is a picture I took on one of our trips to Oregon this winter. I have nothing of consequence to say about it and I don't remember exactly where it was taken - somewhere between her and my mother-in-law's.
Dorothy, I have fresh batteries in the camera and have vowed to take some nice warm sunny pictures just for you!

Today's Quote:

"That ain't the half of it, honey, but that's all I'm telling." -Alice Coachman

Puppy Love

I apologize for the screwy spacing issues in this post. I don't know what the problem is but I got tired of fussing with it.

Update on the Co-Worker: He had a 5 vessel bypass Friday night and is doing as well as can be expected. Thanks to all of you who sent well wishes. I haven't asked his girlfriend if she gave up on the knitting but in the end, I think it is the sentiment that matters.

In Knitting News: There is no knitting news.

In Baby Blanket News: Palette #2 is the clear winner. (A lucky thing, since it is my favorite, too.) I will be ordering the yarn from Web's on Friday. (I love that Web's offers a 20% discount on yarn purchases over $60.)

In Other News: Ya'll remember my little dog Sally, right?Sally who is usually a sucker for the camera and loves to have her picture taken? Last night I tried to take a cute picture of here but she would not cooperate. This is the best picture I got.

She was very distracted. She wanted to be in my face but she also wanted to make sure that she kept her eyes on the interloper in her house.

This is the interloper.

(One dog, three pictures.) This is the newest resident at our little house. She is a less than four month old short-legged Jack Russell terrier. The people who owned her before were not good dog parents. She has been living outside in a cage since they got her in January and they never even gave her a name. It made me so sad when I heard about that and my husband loves short-legged Jack Russells...which all adds up to: we have a new puppy. Such a sweet little face.

Considering the circumstances she has been living in, it should come us no surprise that I couldn't get her to chill out long enough to take a cute picture. She is very happy to be in the house and very excited to be around people. That first one she is about to dash under the bed, in the second I had to strong arm her to sit still (you can't see her tail wagging 90 miles a minute) and lastly, she is trying to get up on the bed to Sally.

Sally and Xena both apparently think she is crazed but other than that, they seem ok with her. Maybe when she calms down a bit, I can get a picture of all three of them.

Today's Quote:

“Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” - Emily Dickinson

Swatch You Talkin' About Willis?

It is a universal knitting truth: Swatches lie.

Sometimes, though, swatches tell the cold, hard, inconvenient truth. Swatches say things like

"700 miles of stockinette in this color will make you look like a blotapatomus."

or

"This is not an appropriate yarn for a man's sweater."

or

"All the hard work of your beautiful cables will mean nothing after one wash."

or

"Surely you are not contemplating a knitted skirt for your rather amble hind end."

All sad, painful truths, none of which (thankfully) were uttered at my house this weekend.

In the case of this hemp swatch
the truth telling went something like this: "Dude, we are talking yarn investment here. Are you really prepared to make a $135 baby blanket?"

The hemp yarn is very nice. All the things I said about it before are true. When it comes right down to it, though, I am not prepared at the moment to make such a significant commitment of the yarn budget.

So I turned to the stash.

Cascade 220? Right out. (A [non-knitting] mother operating under "new baby" conditions cannot be trusted to insure the baby blanket doesn't felt.)

Dishcloth cotton? Nope, not this time. (Though there are baby bibs to make....)

Brown and black eyelash? Nope. Destined to be a hedgehog.

In the end, I knit several swatches and returned to a yarn that I have loved from the very first moment I held it in my hands. Yarn that, indeed, I knew I would love even before we met.Misti Alpaca's Pima Cotton Silk. So soft. So cushy. So full of good mojo from Kim and the International Scarf Exchange 3. So doesn't require a $135 investment. My only concern (and it is a minor concern) is that it wants to shed a little when I am knitting with it. I noticed that before, too, when I was making Kim's scarf but one good trip through the wash seemed to remedy that so I'm not going to worry about it.

I have decided to stick with the plan to do the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting. Of course, this yarn knits to a very different gauge and on larger needles than the pattern calls for and will thus be a version of the Moderne Baby Blanket, but the adjustments should be pretty straight forward. I am very happy with this plan.

All that remains is making a decision on the palette. They are having a baby girl but I have decided against the pales and the pinks. I've decided springy and warm and still feminine. (I've borrowed these color pictures from the Misti Alpaca site.)

Option 1: Black, Lavender, Eggplant, Buttercream

Option 2: Black, Kiwi, Buttercream, EggplantWhat do you think?

Before anyone asks, yes, I have already made up my mind about the black. I know conventional wisdom and tradition dictate that a baby blanket should be black-free but I am throwing caution to the wind here. (And, yes, I realize how that statement reflects the absence of much excitement in my life.)

Today's Quote:

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” Edgar Allan Poe

The Missionary Position

A man we work with had a heart attack on Wednesday and has been in the hospital ever since. Heaven only knows how long he will be in the hospital. His girlfriend, who also works with us, came to work this morning to stay busy for a little while and to "avoid sitting at home crying". (Ya'll know: I sympathize with the tears.) She told me this morning that she has been trying to read a book while sitting with him at the hospital but realized she was reading the same paragraph over and over and not comprehending any of it.

I'm sure ya'll know where this is going.

I told her I had just the thing for her. I explained to her the peaceful repetition of bedside knitting. I told her that knitting is a happy medium on the how-focused-you-have-to-be scale. I explained about the comfort of keeping your hands busy and your mind occupied enough that you don't sit there dwelling on the endless "oh no, what if?" possibilities. I told her that watching someone sleep is a whole lot less gut-wrenching when your hands are being not just busy but productive. (In retrospect, she is probably thinking that I am may not well in the head....)

Luckily, I had some Lion Cotton in my car and some needles. I did the cast on for her and knit the first few rows. (I don't want to hear about it if you think this is cheating. I didn't want to scare her off.) Since the cotton was handy, I set her up to make a dishcloth. Of course, everyone I have ever taught to knit, I've started them on a dishcloth. Probably because that is what I was started on. I told her, if the hospital stay is longer than a dishcloth, it can be a dish towel.

Q&A: I'll Bring the Q's, You Bring the A's

All of which leads me to my questions, dear knitters. I want to know: How do you do it?

Do you have a preferred "first project" that you use when sharing the good news with the masses?

A go-to yarn/needle combo for the knitting converts?

And (now this is the closest we get to "controversial topics" here at Ok! What Next??) have you ever "helped" someone learn to knit who had not expressed a desire to learn? Is it morally reprehensible to force our craft on the unsuspecting?


Today's Quote:

"If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it." ~Edgar Watson Howe

&@#$*%^#

Is there anything quite so frustrating to an evening - or even a stolen hour - of knitting time than a tangled pile of yarn? I've only done it a couple of times - mangled a perfectly good skein of yarn.

Let me back up. A couple of weeks back, I wound up the white hemp and knitted a swatch. I wanted to see how the yarn would feel all knit up and washed. After a good fondling, a trip through the wash, then another good fondling, I ripped out the swatch and tidily (is that even a word? spell check says yes) wound the yarn back into a ball. Only then did it occur to me that I hadn't measured the freakin' stinkin' stupid swatch. Damn. So, tonight I was t-h-i-s c-l-o-s-e to winding the blue Hemp into a ball when it slipped off the swift. (Stupid swift. I hate that thing.) So while there was no swatching or knitting of any kind accomplished at my house today, there was lots of cursing and grouching and heavy sighing. And I still haven't finished untangling the mess I made. Stupid yarn. I hate yarn.

A Stroke of Inspiration

On a lighter note, I think I've made a decision on the baby blanket. It occurred to me while I was playing nurse maid to the Mr. and his migraine tonight. Since I like the hemp and I've pretty much made up my mind to use this for the baby blanket and the decision to go with the baby blanket over the baby sweater was solidified by Mason-Dixon Ann's story about her son David's baby blanket, why not make this baby blanket from a Mason-Dixon Knitting pattern? So that's that: Melanie and Bryan's baby is getting a Moderne (Log Cabin) Baby Blanket it the hippest hemp.

That is, if I ever manage to unmake this mess...Is it unreasonable to just toss the whole ridiculous, stupid, horrible business into the garbage can? I mean really, it is only $10 worth of yarn. I don't even like blue. Stupid, bitchy yarn.


Today's Quote:
(As a reminder to me)

"All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right about face which turns us from failure to success." - Dorthea Brande

Please Deposit Your Two Cents Here

As you may or may not recall, I recently purchased these two skeins of Hemp for Knitting. If you've never held this yarn in your hands, let me humbly suggest that you really must. It is not like any other yarn I've ever known. I don't know exactly how to describe it. It is very soft, but not squishy or springy. It has a structure and coolness similar to linen but it is soft and airy, like a really lovely cashmere. It has great stitch definition and washes well, not just maintaining its softness but actually getting softer after washing.

My friend Melanie is pregnant with baby number two. When baby number one was born in October of 2005, I made this blanket.Now that baby number two is on the way, I have been contemplating a sweaterbut I am a sucker for sentimentality. Babies outgrow sweaters. Blankets seem to last so much longer. I think I have put aside the sweater plan (for now...maybe when the baby is a little older, because this sweater really is completely precious) and have decided on a blanket. I am fairly certain that Ann over at Mason-Dixon Knitting tipped the scales with this post about her son David and his handknit blanket.

Melanie and her husband Bryan are very cool. (Melanie and I went to high school together and though I've never met Bryan, from what I know of him, he is cool. He has to be, to be married to her.) I want to make something special for them and their baby. Something they won't get from anyone else and something they aren't likely to find in a store.

I have been contemplating the Pinwheel Blanket for quite some time. (In fact, I considered it for baby number one but shied away.) Melanie and Bryan live in southern Arkansas. The baby is due in May. There will be little, if any, call for a warm woolen blanket during the first several months of this baby's life. That's why I think maybe the Hemp Yarn and the Pinwheel Blanket will be an excellent marriage. The shape is of course unique and the blanket would be a nice weight for a crib or stroller blanket. (This is my line of thinking...)

So! Now for your two cents: What do ya'll think? Would the Hemp for Knitting make a nice baby blanket? And if I do decide to go this route, how many skeins of the All Hemp 6 do you think I would need? These are the specs, per the info provided on Yarn Market.

Weight: 90g
Yardage: 150 yds.
Texture: Plied Yarn
Weight: DK
Gauge: 22(Stitches per 4.0 inches/10cm.)
Needle Sizes: 5 U.S. (3.75mm)
Care: Machine or Hand Wash & Dry Flat

The Pinwheel pattern doesn't give even an estimate on yarn yardage. And yes, I suppose I could do a swatch - and I probably will - but I have never had much luck with swatching to determine yarn requirements.

Today's Quote:

"It is the nature of babies to be in bliss." - Deepak Chopra

Secret Pal 10

or: The Novelization of the Questionnaire

I got the sweetest e-card from my Secret Pal 10 hostess. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about this exchange and it hasn't even really started. (As a side note, it hasn't really started yet and somehow I am already behind...)

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Likes: I like lots of yarns. (Don't we all?) My very favorite yarn of all time is wool blend sock yarns. The Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton Silk, too, ranks high on my list of yarns that are pure joy to knit. Oh and speaking of Alpaca…I have been looking longingly at the Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk ever since Ann over at Mason-Dixon Knitting pointed out there enchanting line of colors.
Dislikes: I don't like itchy. I've met a few "high end" acrylics and acrylic blends that I like but as a general rule, I am not a fan of acrylic.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? The majority of them are in two large glasses vases with decorative rocks on top of the entertainment center. Lots of them, though, are scattered about the house in various places. This stems from both my inability to keep things like that organized and from the idea that, if I actually put all of the needles all together in one visible location, someone (Mr.) might realize just exactly how many needles I have. Oh and the KnitPicks Options are all neat and tidy in their little case.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Three years? Five years? I can’t remember exactly. I learned on a rain day either on or near my birthday (it is a vague memory) and it was just sort of on a whim. A friend of mine taught me the basics and since then I have been learning mostly from books and from a great deal of trial and error and from help from strangers on the internet (i.e. how I learned to knit socks).
Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I guess I would consider myself an advanced intermediate. I feel pretty confident doing most techniques and I have developed my “reading my knitting” skills but I also know enough to know that there is still SO MUCH I don’t know about knitting.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No, but I really should, huh?

5. What's your favorite scent? I like lots of scents…vanilla, baking cookies, coconut, berry smells, lime, pineapple…I must be hungry. I really really don’t like the incense and musky smells.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I don’t particularly have a sweet tooth. I prefer salt snacks usually but my favorite candies are Snickers bars, Smarties, apple Sour Straws white chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I do origami and I like other paper crafts – like making cards, etc. – but I do very little of those things since I learned to knit. I’ve recently fallen into the black pit of despair otherwise known as beading. I have not yet admitted that I may actually love the beads but I have recently come to terms with the fact that I am going to need to come up with a better storage system for the beads than the system I am currently using.
Do you spin? No, but I dream of learning some day.

8. What kind of music do you like? Mostly I listen to country music. My favorite songs are mostly 80’s country and some 70’s. I also like 60s/70s/80s pop. I do not listen to current pop or rock really at all. I have an inexplicable fondness for Anne Murray and Marty Robbins.
Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?Yes

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? My favorite colors are autumn colors: deep red, terra cotta, browns, dark greens, lavender and plums...I like rich, saturated color. I also like creams and white and dark blues and some very dark pinks. I don't like mousy colors. I like mustardy yellow but I can't wear yellows or oranges so I largely stay away from them.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married, no kids. We have two pets, both dogs – a boxer/rottweiler mix named Zena and a miniature dachshund named Sally.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves: Yes, occasionally.
Hats: Not where anyone can see me.
Mittens: Theoretically, yes, but my life doesn’t include much call for mittens. Maybe once in a while if we go to someplace cold or snowy.
Ponchos: No. Perhaps I might one day if someone holds a gun to my head and threatens severe bodily injury to me or mine. But really, it would have to be a big gun and some serious threatening.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? They aren’t really my favorite but I have knitted a lot of felted creatures. I don’t particular want any animals for myself but there are people in my life who like felted animals and they are interesting to knit so that is good. I love knitting cables but I am not overly fond of the way cables look. I love to knit little, precious baby things but I don’t have a baby – nor any plans to have one – so I make do with making stuff for other people’s babies. I have recently fallen in love with knitting socks and this is something I might actually knit for myself so maybe socks are my favorite.

13. What are you knitting right now? Socks, actively, and a herd of hedgehogs for my mother, neglectfully. I also have a baby sweater I need to get started and, um, finished...

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes!!!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? As a general rule, I prefer circular needles but for socks, nothing beats the dpns.
Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Metal needles. I occasionally use bamboo but my heart really belongs to the metal needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes! I got a swift for Christmas. I heart my swift! (and the ball winder, too, but there is something kind of magical about the swift.)

17. How old is your oldest UFO? A sweater I have been working on for my mother for well on two years now. I really really must finish this but since she requested her hedgehog herd after Christmas.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving.

19. Is there anything that you collect? Does yarn count? Or dust bunnies? I guess the only thing I really collect is books (quote books and old books) and I like old/antique teacups but I am not a very motivated collector. The books are a hit or miss proposition and I only have like 6 or 8 teacups… If I am out and about and find one of these that I like, I will get it, if it doesn’t damage the yarn budget too much. I guess this isn’t a very good answer to this question.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? This is an exceptionally open ended question!

Books:

Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac

Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks

Melissa Leapman’s Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting

Yarns:

The Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk I mentioned above

Rowan Kid Silk Haze

Or the Kid Silk Spray

And of course, one of these days I vow I will splurge and gets some qiviut and make something all musk ox fabulous.

Patterns:
The only one that particularly comes to mind. . . I have been contemplating the Safari Friends from Knitting at Knoon

What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I don't have any knitting magazine subscriptions

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I-Cord bind off. I’ve seen it used on several patterns and I tried once but couldn’t figure it out and I’ve never gone back and tried again.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes. I wear a size 8 or 8.5 women’s shoe. I don’t know what my “foot measurements” are. Heck, I don’t even know how I would determine my foot measurements. (If someone wants to tell me, I will measure them!)

23. When is your birthday? February 1

Today's Quote: "It is still not enough for language to have clarity and content... it must also have a goal and an imperative. Otherwise from language we descend to chatter, from chatter to babble and from babble to confusion." Rene Daumal

Where Do the Days Go?

I mean really. Time flies. Sometimes I am a bad friend to my blog. I get so busy working and sewing up and having the stupid flu and working (this week I'm starting a shorthand course) and oh yeah - and walking in my boot without crutches! Yes, the days have been wild and crazy here since my last post. So wild and crazy is in the eye of the beholder but in the eye of this beholder, it has been hectic.

I haven't been knitting much. Sadly. I miss my knitting when I don't knit for several days. I have turned the heel on the first of the Black Cherry Kool-Aid socks. I'm happy with the looks of it so far. Just wish it was, you know, more done! Ahh well.

As for my crutchless state...I know it sounds sort of ungrateful but the walking is really not as much fun as I remembered it being. I'm glad to be rid of the crutches - I've been carrying all sorts of stuff around, which is super-duper fabulous. It is just kind of tender. I am not rushing it. I am not overexerting. I am being careful and walking only in the boot. I am not risking it. I see the doc later this week so hopefully it will be a stunning example of ankle health.

Other than that, nothing much going on here. I've joined the Secret Pal 10. I've never done the Secret Pal gig and I'm really looking forward to it. I need to get the questionarre posted in the next couple of days. Yippee...we have that exciting post to look forward to. :)

Today's Quote:

"Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise." - H.G. Wells