That's a lot of yarn

The sales have started.  She has a table that rotates on a weekly basis that is 40% off, and the rest of the store is 20% off.  The sweet part about losing my local yarn store.  So, of course, I did some shopping, with an unexpected guest.

The first day of the sales was on my anniversary, and my sweetie and I were running errands, so he was with me.  I assumed that he would just find a chair somewhere, and play on his phone while I drooled over yarn.  Nope.  He browsed right next to me.  He pointed out things I might be interested in.  Or he might be interested in.  When I found one skein of something nice, he even located the second skein for me.

Who knew?  His transformation as a knitter husband is complete.  And now I have a lot more yarn in the stash.

Today, it is all about the growth.    

A few finishes or nearly finishes

I may not have been blogging much the past few months, but I have been knitting, and I have a few pretties to show for it.

The first is my Wirbel.  The pattern was easy to reduce to the size of a postie note.  And I still love the colors.  All in all, I am pretty pleased with the overall effect.  Another shawl for my collection at the office.  

 Second was another matching set of mitts and ear warmer.  The ear warmer turned out to be more narrow that I intended, so I have actually started another, much wider one.  After it is done, I will decide which one I like better.  Another colorful accessory, one that will go nicely with my gray winter coat.

And, last, but not least, my pink charity blanket.  I am down to the third and last ball of yarn.  I received the yarn (and a lot more) free, so I felt like I should use at least some of it for charity.  I am liking the pattern, but I think it is too much of one color.  I could see having the squares alternate with a solid contrasting color.  Next time.

Today, it is all about the showing off.  

The Evolution of a Local Yarn Store

There once was a knitting group.  It started with a couple friends who met at the local Barnes and Noble once in a while to knit.  They decided to make a regular schedule, so others could join.  I was one of those others.  As the group grew, we moved to a small ice cream store on Main Street.  Inside that shop, they had shelves. Shelves that artisans would lease to sell their wares.  An idea was born.

A few knitters combined their resources to buy some wholesale sock yarn, to put on one of those shelves.  At first, I think they just wanted to ensure a supply of quality sock yarns for themselves, and sell the rest to cover their expenses.

The sock yarn sold.  More yarn was purchased wholesale, and more yarn sold quickly.  And a yarn store was born.

Sixteen years later, that yarn store is closing.  Beth's children are grown, and she probably wishes to enjoy her retirement.  It is the end of the era.

At first, I was sad.  Then I realized that there would be sales.  Many, many yarn sales.  A few weeks ago, I told my kids that I could not buy yarn for ten years, and still be able to knit the whole time.  But how can I resist deep discounts on yarn?

The discounts on everything start Saturday.  20% off nearly the entire store.  Plus weekly pop up sales.  40% off a type of yarn, all grouped onto a table.  This week is mohair, all weights.  And I love me some mohair.  Lofty, whispy mohair.

By the time this store closes its doors for the last time, I may have twenty years of yarn.

Today it is all about the beginning of the end.

Hiatus

I can't believe that I haven't blogged about my knitting in several months.  I mean, I can believe it, because the dates don't lie, but still.  The same with my Ravelry page.  Not updated at all lately, not with past projects or new ones.  So today I was determined to remedy.  I plugged my phone into my computer, so I could download all of the pictures I had taken, to start updating.  Except there weren't any photos,  not for months.  Seriously?  I have been knitting, but haven't updated a single photo, yarn, pattern.  Nothing?

Ok, so I have to do better.  Even if the three people that actually read the blog weren't depending on me, this is how I keep track of my knitting.  When I start things.  When I finish.  What issues I had.  How I solved those issues.

I really have to do better.  I took some pictures tonight, and I will take some more tomorrow.  I will start blogging, and logging the progress on Ravelry.  Stay tuned!

Today, it is all about the resurgence.  

Blame it on the Brain

Last week, I was ice skating with the Cub Scouts.  This was the second time that I have gone ice skating in the past 25 years.  Apparently, that is not enough, because I slipped on the ice, and smacked the back of my head on the ice.  Twice.  The second time left me rather dazed.  As I was at work the next morning, it became apparent that I was not well.  Mid-morning, I was able to get out to a doctor, who confirmed that I had a mild concussion.

She gave me a long list of things to avoid:  texting and otherwise looking at a smart phone, emailing and otherwise looking at a computer screen, reading, writing, and anything that requires concentration.  Specific to me, no knitting.  That is . . . . pretty much everything I do in a day.  A forced day or two off from work wouldn't be a bad thing, but less fun if I couldn't read or knit.  I literally had to be a couch potato.

After a day or two, I risked some easy knitting: a placemat.  Garter stitch, in the round, hardly any pattern type of knitting.   I thought I would be safe.  I. Was. Wrong.  Apparently, I had misplaced one of my stitch markers.  There are four stitch markers, forming the four corners of the placemat, and I increase a stitch every knit row on either side of the marker on every knit row.  Easy  peasy, unless you lose a marker.  Ten rows later, I noticed my mistake.  Now I am tinking every row that I have knit the past week.  How discouraging.

Today, it is all about following doctor's orders.

And then there were extra

I knit my traditional Teacher Mitts again this year.  Except, my oldest has two teachers: one for STEM and one for Humanities , so there was an extra set of mitts.  I started early this year, in September, so that I wouldn't be frantically knitting the night before.  I even let the boys pick out the yarn, so they would feel more connected with their gift.

However, my slightly OCD child did not like the way the longer color progression appeared in the mitts.  Basically, the long repeat made for fraternal mitts, not identical.  The first started with light blue, progressed to mostly dark blue, then ended with medium blue.  And the second started with medium blue, and progressed to mostly light blue.  And my child hated it.  He didn't say so, but I could tell.  So I finished all three sets of mitts in record time, not long after of Thanksgiving.

So I made two more mitts, one of each set to match one of the existing mitts.  He only wanted me to make the extras if I could make BOTH of them.  The first didn't take too long, but the second was harder.  The yarn was single ply and loosely spun.  It was a bitch to work with, but was a pretty finished product.

So for all of my advance planning, there I was, the night before the last day of school before Christmas break, knitting away on the last couple years.

Today, it is all about the repetition of years past.

Knit Me a Rainbow

I have been hard at work knitting three sets of Teacher Mitts for my annual teacher Christmas present.  (Possible more than six mitts, update on that another day.)  Since I have completed 4 1/2 mitts by the beginning of November, I have felt secure enough to work on Prism.  (I know, famous last words that I will regret when I am binding off at 10pm the night before the last day of school for the year.)

I can't help myself.  I am enchanted.  And now that I am on the final decrease rows, I am anxious to finish.

The colors.  The colors!  Lion Brand really hit it out of the park on this line.  I have one finished and two projects in progress with the same yarn in different colorsways.  I made the mistake of passing through the yarn aisle at Walmart (of all places!) and saw some new colorways, and I had to run to the hunting department to resist temptation.  (There is nothing tempting in the hunting department, but that is where my favorite three men were to be found.)

I can't wait to sport my newest shawl creation.   Yesterday, it was so cold, I nearly threw it around my shoulders, needles and all.  Prism deserves a proper debut, so I put on my scarf and fingerless mitts instead.

Today, it is all about the anticipation.