Hooray Yarn!

My Precious

2007-02-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

So sock yarn is "calorie free" huh? Considering that there is at the very least %10 of my paycheck right there, I guess I'm just not buying it anymore. Well I can't say that I'm not buying it, since it is quite obvious that I am! I love my sock yarn collection. Yes, collection. I don't look at my yarn as a "stash" anymore. If people are able to collect rocks, stamps, coins and things of that nature, why can one not collect yarn?

Two posts in two days. That is some sort of record for me. Remember the baby? There he is above, standing!! This was taken last week when it was frickin cold and our heater of all things decided that it would be a good idea to crap out. So Finn had to wear the bear suit. We are lucky he is cute because the man who fixed our heater gave us a deal because he didn't want the poor baby to be cold. Hooray for cute babies!

Overdue Wierd Meme

2007-02-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Back in December, Amy tagged me with her weird meme and it has been hanging over my head ever since. My problem was coming up with only six weird things. Here goes:

1. Every single book I own is labled with a "home library" kit that I bought. I have a problem with loaning books out and not getting them back because I forget about them. This way I can track them. I think the thing my friends found most weird about this was the zeal with which I pulled every book I owned off my shelves to stamp/ bookplate them.

2. I do things in order. For example, in the shower, I have a set order in which I do the different things. When I eat, I eat things in an order that makes sense to me. I've been told I might have mild OCD.

3. I have shaved my head. Twice. On purpose. And no, I won't post a picture!

4. I have more Halloween decorations than I do Christmas. It makes sense to me though since Halloween is my favorite!

5. I read, write and speak fluent Serbian-Croatian.

6. I have a problem with authority and yet I joined the armed forces-- go figure!

Okay, that is it for now. I'm not promising that I'm going to post more often, but I might try to do so at least once a month. Stay tuned for a special early "flash your stash" of my supposed "calorie free" sock yarn collection. I collect sock yarn like some people collect beanie babies or Elvis memorabilia!

While I've Been Gone

2006-10-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hey there, remember me? Well, while I've been gone, I've been doing the following; finishing Grams' Christmas shawl:

Knitting a pink baby dress for a friend of mine whose baby is due in November. I tried it on Mr. Finn to see how it looks on a baby, my hubby looks less happy than Finn does:
Here is the entire finished shawl. I have to keep telling myself that it is not good to keep things that you have knit for other people:
My own fun stripey socks. These are the first socks I have made for myself that actually fit, thank goodness.
Here is Mr. Finn in the dress. Such an obliging model. Once I add straps and a sash, it will be finished.
I also finished the soul sucking, ahem, lovely garter stitch baby blanket for my friend who happened to have her baby two days ago! So yeah, a lot of knitting is getting finished around this joint. Right now, I am working on my Aunt's Christmas socks and a hat for my cousin for Christmas. I have to start making some cabled footies for another cousin and her soon-to-be hubby's wedding in the beginning of December, and then I have to buy the yarn for my MIL's Christmas shirt. Since none of my substitute yarns worked out for it, I'm going to stop being cheap and buckle down and buy the yarn the pattern calls for (Rowan Holiday). At $8 for a ball with not even a hundred yards, I need something like 10 of them to make this shirt . . . oh well.
I tell you, I can't wait until Christmas is over so I can knit things for myself!! I have the yarn waiting for countless pairs of socks, my Icarus shawl and a beautiful Art Fibers yarn for a corset top by Annie Modesitt. Yay!
Okay, and over at Michelle's blog I saw her list of songs to knit to, so here is mine:

Deathcab for Cutie- "Soul Meets Body"
The Decemberists- "We Both Go Down Together"
The Shins- "Kissing the Lipless"
Modest Mouse- "Float On"
The Futureheads- "Hounds of Love"
The Postal Service- "Nothing Better"
Angels and Airwaves- "The Adventure"
The Killers- "When You Were Young"
Blue October- "Into the Ocean"
Bright Eyes- "The First Day of my Life"
Sublime- "Scarlett Begonias"
Tori Amos- "Northern Lad" for a mellower knit :)

It's Been Way Too Long

2006-09-13T02:50:00.000-07:00

I just realized that it has been a month and a half since I last posted. I have a lot going on right now; I say that I have three full-time jobs. For one, I work full-time for the USAF, I am a Mom, and I'm going to school! So you can see that with what little free time I do have, I knit. When it comes to a choice between knitting and the blog, I will choose knitting every time. Speaking of knitting, Amy had a meme on her blog that she tagged me with (though she doesn't know it) so here goes:

FO: (I'm just doing this past months) These:

Socks for the DH! Doesn't he look like a happy customer? I have also finished my first Clapotis or "Crapotis" to quote Susan. I also made some little baby hats and socks for a friend of mine that is having twins.

AFO: The most boring baby blanket in the universe. K2, YO, K to end. Yeah, that is it. Yawn!

WIP: Super self striping socks for myself, and a little fair isle bag for my daughter .

UFO: Big Sack Sweater. I finished the front and the back, and threw it in a ziploc for a chilly day. Luckily, it is knit on size 15 needles, so it should be a quick knit when I decide to finish it.

In the Queue: Socks, socks and more socks. All my Xmas knitting to include booties, two hats, one shirt for the MIL and a lace shawl for my GMIL. Ambitious, no?

HALFPINTS: The Icarus Shawl. This is like the knitting holy grail for me. Also a super-complex Aran sweater and in the same vein, a super-complex Norwegian sweater (Telemark? Love it!!)

TOADS: Half-finished pink fuzzy scarf, lovely to work with, but somehow unsatisfying. Diaper bag from the book Knitting for Baby. Loved it, was going to use it as a knitting bag, bought a knitting bag, abandoned project. It will be frogged later to make a felted cloche for my daughter.

And I'm Back!!

2006-07-31T18:40:00.000-07:00

Well I have returned from my trip to California. The image at right is the new additions to my stash. I got them all in San Francisco. The three in the front are from the Knitting Atelier and the um . . .17 in the back are all from Artfibers Gallery. And now fellow knitters take note of the following statement :

Artfibers Gallery is the absolute best yarn shop in the universe. The shop was located on the second floor of a little building in one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to:

Obligatory "Golden Gate Bridge" photo

Here are just a few reasons why you must go to Artfibers if you love yarn.
They create their own yarns . . . Direct from the mill.
Their yarns come in the most beautiful colors you have ever seen (fellow SnB-ers, you will see this Sunday!)
Their yarns are cheap, rarely is anything more than $10-$15 not bad for silk/ merino wool blends.
They have a special "yarn tasting" area where you can play with all the yarn on the shelves.
If you decide you want to make something from one of their yarns they will let you swatch it (needles are provided!).
After you swatch, they will measure the gauge and measure you and, based on your specifications (say you want a boatneck with 3/4 length sleeves) will make a custom pattern for you!! For free!!
The more you buy, the bigger the discount. I got 25% off my purchase, and saved $75 (figure out the math to see how much I spent!)
They are the nicest people you could hope to meet.
They will give you the pattern for any of the amazing knitted things in the store.
If I had not been with a non-knitter, I would have happily settled in and knit there all day. As it is, I got three patterns, and tons of yarn. I bought so much yarn that I am officially going on a yarn diet. That is right. I'm not buying any more yarn until the yarn that I have will all fit in one plastic box. That is a lot since my closet is overflowing.
All in all, it was a great trip. Everyone's feet were measured for their Christmas socks, my children were extremely well behaved, and it was better than I thought it would be. Oh, and my Dad paid for my ticket so it was a free trip, which was good considering the amount of money spent on much needed ;) yarn. I can't wait for the SnB this Sunday so that I can show off some choice examples of the new additions to the stash. The only downer to the whole thing was that I missed the Yarn Harlot.
I finished two Noro Kureyon one-skein hats while I was there. I also finished my first sock and am almost finished with the second. My poor sweater's front has been finished and the front and back have been stuffed into a plastic bag in the back of my closet, it is way too hot ot knit it right now. I'm going to cast on a one-skein scarf from Artfibers as soon as I finish my socks. As you can imagine, I have been knitting on my socks every chance I get!

Who Says You Can't Buy Happiness?

2006-07-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

Finally my lovely lovely sock yarn from the UK has arrived! This picture does not do this yarn (Sunbeam St. Ives) any justice. They all have subtle undertones of other colors . . . I am now convinced that the English make some of the best yarn available. My hubby has chosen the gorgeous, ahem, very MANLY green on the inside right for his socks. However, they will have to wait . . . I still have a pair in progress. I finally figured out the heel part (see previous post). I just decided to "wing it" and miraculously it worked! I turned the heel and am now working on the foot part. Yay! Once I got going, I really started to appreciate working in the round.

Unfortunately though, the socks (and my sweater, don't look at me like that!) have been abandoned for the most humble of knitterly projects . . . the washrag. A recent conversation with my Aunt revealed that she has fond memories of washrags that her Mom had knitted. So on a trip to Wal-mart I "accidentally" bought about a dozen balls of Peaches n' Cream to knit some up for her. I have about three finished. I'm going to try to make about seven for her (one for each day of the week) by this Sunday (the 23rd) because I will be home and visiting with her on the 25th. I must say, they are fun! They go quickly and they give you a chance to mess around with different stitch patterns. I'm even going to "design" some of my own, I picked up Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns to aid in this endeavor. Good times. For those of you who have not been fortunate enough to thumb through these books, I highly recommend them.

Going to California With an Extra Suitcase and a Credit Card

2006-07-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

There is no cure for me now. My Dad scored some super cheap tickets to fly me home (California is home) and what is one of the first things that I thought of (nevermind that I haven't been home in two years) . . . you guessed it . . . "I bet they have some cool yarn stores out there." A quick google search proved me right. There is a veritable schload of yarn stores in California! Why, San Francisco alone has five, yes FIVE! My head is swimming with the possibilities! One that sounds particularly promising is Artfibers Gallery which is "a discount importer of fashion, exotic and luxury yarns." They "buy direct from mills that produce for top fashion designers and sell direct to you at significant savings." I sure like the sound of that!

Also, while home I plan on indoctrinating three victims, er, people into the ways of the wool. My cousin, my Aunt and my brother's girlfriend are all going to get (whether they want it or not) a knitting lesson. Hopefully, it will stick with at least one of them!

On a completely opposite track, yesterday I attended my local SnB where my friend Kim introduced me to the most fantastic idea yet. See, Kim has seven projects on the needles right now. What she does is this; She has designated a day of the week for each project and on that day will only knit the designated project. What a cool idea. I only have about four projects going on right now, so this gives me an excuse to cast on another three ;)

Speaking of which, this is my first sock. I'm having trouble with the instructions in the book for the heel flap, so it is going to have to wait until Tuesday when I can ask someone at my SnB how to do it.
This is a gratuitous adorable children shot. Colleen is pleased as punch that I let her hold her little brother Finn (short for Finnian, can you tell my hubby and I like Irish names?) The baby on the other hand does not look as pleased as she. Notice the crocheted afghan that they are using. See, not all crochet is gaudy and awful!

And here is the WIP, my Big Sack Sweater from the first SnB. Sorry that the picture came out all wonky, can you see the cable? I swear there is a cable there. This is knit in a chunky wool on size 11 needles, and if I were a little more faithful to it, it might be finished, but as it is, I have the back and most of the front accomplished. Hey, I don't need it until the winter, so it can wait!

Barely Awake but Still Able to Knit

2006-07-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the cutie that is keeping me up at night. I've figured out that he is definately anti-yarn and knitting in general. He makes up for it in cuteness though :) Last night he had me up until two in the morning. If he keeps this up, I am going to be a zombie by the time I have to go back to work which will be the end of this month :( It has gotten to the point that when he is finally sleeping I have to choose between eating, sleeping, washing and knitting. It is a tough choice which has led to me being tired, hungry and smelly, but hey, I've finished three projects since having him a month ago. Obsessed whose obsessed?

I can't imagine why he is so sad when I make him sweaters like this, maybe he is just upset that it is not cold enough to wear them yet?
This was a Sirdar pattern that I made with the exact yarn that the pattern called for which was . . . Sirdar Snuggly 4-ply. I know that it is not a fine wool but it sure does deserve the name. It is a very soft yarn and most importantly for an item such as this, it is washable! I'm pretty proud of this sweater as it is my second for him.

Spoiled Rotten!

2006-07-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

So I am completely spoiled rotten when it comes to my knitting addiction. I purchased the fantastic book Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush yesterday and after seeing all the beautiful sock yarns they used, I had to get them! I went online and searched out Sunbeam St. Ives which has the MOST beautiful colors you have ever seen (and once I figure out how to link, I will do so). My DH let me purchase not one, not two, but 12 balls of it straight from the UK. Let me tell you, I am excited! Now, I just have to knit a sock . . . .

I didn't say anything about myself in my first post so I thought that I would do so now. My name is Eileen and I am a yarnaholic. I don't think I will ever recover. How did I start down this slippery slope? Well it all started when I was seven. I had a baby brother and I wanted to knit him some baby booties. My Great-Grandmother showed me the basic stitch but that was where it ended. After knitting row upon row with no bootie in sight, I gave it up. 13 years later and I was about to have my first baby. I purchased Knitting for Baby in the hopes that I would make things for my firstborn. I got as far as casting on and for some reason, completely abandoned it. Then, last December my husband's Grandmother taught me to crochet (I can hear the knitters collective horrific gasp) After making the requisite granny square afghans and hats and things, I started to notice something; Knitting is a LOT prettier than crocheting.

By this time I was pregnant with my second child, and infinitely more patient (thanks no doubt to my three year old) and I dusted off Knitting for Baby once again. This time, knitting came easily. I breezed through a hat, a scarf, and soon made my unborn son three sweaters, two of which I am proud of ;) And that is the story. I have, in two months time, acquired an unusually large amount of yarn, most of which has a purpose . . .

What I am working on now is the Big Sack Sweater from the first Stitch and Bitch book in a gorgeous (discontinued) Rowanspun Chunky in Sage green. Also on the needles is a felted diaper bag that I am going to use as my knitting bag that I am making with Brown Sheeps Chunky in Black and Dark Grey. I also have one mindless project on the needles which is a fuzzy pink scarf for my cousin that I am making to use up some leftover yarn from some pink bunny slippers I made. I try, rather unsuccessfully, to knit one thing at a time and not to cast on anything new until the first thing is finished, but it is hard not to get excited when there are so many beautiful things you can make!!

I think I'm going to go cast on some socks . . . .

Finally Started This!

2006-07-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while. I sit up with my one month old, reading everyone's blogs on knitting and life and whatnot and I think "Hey, I should do this too!" I know of only a few people who would read this, but I suppose that doesn't matter. I plan on writing about mostly just my adventures in knitting although I may add other things as well. It is funny because now that I am typing, my son has decided that it is time for him to wake up and be held, thus ending my typing. I will write more later, if he gives me the chance.