DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

Ya'll need to sit down before reading this...

because what follows is proof positive that I don't just add to the stash - I actually use it at times.

Ta-da!



The first scarf is a pattern from The Little Box of Scarves by Melissa Mathay. It's a very easy pattern. It's reversible so it looks nice from both sides (which is something I look for when making scarves for gifts, especially for men). This was a traveling project - perfect for when I took knitting to places where I couldn't concentrate on a knitting pattern. The yarn is Malabrigo yarn - lovely stuff - so soft you just want to wrap up in it and take a nap. The scarf is quite long - I used 2 skeins and cast on only 25 stitches for a rather narrow scarf.

(By the way - have you seen that Malabrigo has a lace weight? Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm, love me that Malabrigo! I'd LOVE to make a sweater, but I've heard that it pills.)

This shows the colors much better - don't mind the unfocused photo.



The second scarf pattern is Wavy from Knitty.



The yarn is Filatura di Crosa 127 Print in Hot Pink. I used either 3 or 4 skeins.



I played hooky for a bit today. I had to travel to the southern part of the state, and as I was only 17 miles away from a fiber fair, well...you know the rest.

I did have to travel into Illinois to get there. (Yikes! get out the rabbit's foot...will angora yarn work? Where are my lucky socks? Did I throw salt over my shoulder? Can I drive with my fingers crossed? ) But the knitting gods were kind - all of my car windows worked and I managed to avoid the frickin' tolls - but only because I traveled on state highways and county roads.





You'll be shocked to know that I came away with NO YARN. Yes, you read that right. No yarn.



OK, I admit, there was not much yarn for sale - a bit of handspun, some sock yarn, but most of the vendors had items for spinning. And no, no, no, no, no, no, no! My wallet and I are not being sucked into that black hole, thank you very much. I know you're all saying "famous last words," but I really do not want to skip down that fiber path. I can't fit anymore fiber into my house. And I don't think DH will want to move solely for the sake of the stash.

I did make a small purchase. C'mon now...did you really think I could come away with nothing? I bought a Fiber Trends lace scarf pattern and 2 Addi Turbos that I needed.

Cedarville is the birthplace of Jane Addams. Click on her name and read about an incredible woman. Think she was a knitter?

Imagine all the people living life in peace...

33 killed in Virginia. 180 killed in Iraq.

So many tragic losses.

So many families and friends affected by violence.

But there is a whole world full of reasons for us to not abandon hope.

The events of this week are a reminder to us all to continue to work for peace...from our neighborhoods and towns to across the globe. So many of us are involved in so many ways - some of us knit for good causes here and abroad, some of us are involved in or support organizations that promote peace.

For those feeling the frustration of helplessness, get involved in something, anything, that promotes peace in any form. There are so many opportunities, so many groups needing help of any kind. Don't thing you can make a difference? Just go to the Yarn Harlot's blog and see what knitters have accomplished for Doctors without Borders. We are a formidable force. Together we can change the world.

So go hug your loved ones and friends, gather comfort from needles and fiber (or fibre, depending on your preference).

And work for peace.

WHAT THE....?

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev’rywhere you go;
There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow.



Remind me never to complain about Mother Nature again. She obviously cannot tolerate criticism. Maybe it was the “fickle wench” comment. (Even though we all know she is one.) But I’m not taking all the blame this time. Oh, yes, I know what you all have been doing. Yes…you! I know you not only stopped wearing your winter gear, but you actually packed it away. And you! I know you had the temerity to take your summer clothes out of storage. Now look what we’ve done.





On a nice day you can see downtown across this lake.

And, of course, this doesn’t happen on a weekend when one can stay at home, in front of a warm TV, and knit. Something in wool. Lots of wool.

The Knitting at Stash Haus has been on the back burner lately. I’m under a deadline to complete a lot of things at work and at home in the next month. I only get about 1/2 hour of knitting done every other evening, usually around midnight. The problem with late night knitting is I then have to fight the irresistible temptation to knit Just One More Row. I'm getting too old for nights of staying up until 2-3 a.m. (even when there's no alcohol involved) and then getting up 4 hours later and expected to be lucid all day. I've not made enough progress on any project yet – at least nothing worth photographing.

So we’ll leave you with my original Barbara Walker.



Please don’t drool on your keyboard.

An Evening with the Harlot

“You drove 6 hours to do what?”

This is what the muggles in my life would have asked - had they known what I was doing on April 3rd. DH, on the other hand, although he is technically a muggle, being married to a knitter he knows better than to question such things, especially The Knitting and Anything Knitting Related.

So, I hit the road – Illinois tollway, I hate you with the heat of a thousand suns – and headed to Oak Brook, IL to see the Yarn Harlot in person.

Of course, my driver’s side window (electric), which had acted up months ago but had been behaving itself since November, decided to not roll back up after a stop at one of the many FRICKIN’ TOLL BOOTHS…and naturally it decided to do this only after it started raining REALLY hard. I tried to make it to Oak Brook before dealing with it but once the wiper blades began to push a wall of water through the open window, I decided the wisest thing to do was pull over under a bridge and wait the rain out. Thank heavens the window started behaving - after I opened the car door, then closed it with some force. Not that I thought this would fix anything - it was just a way to vent my frustration.

This same thing happened to me in November on the way to Franklin’s Dulaan Knit In. (What have the knitting gods got against me going into Illinois?) I took the car to see our favorite mechanic, who informed us that little motor in the door that raises and lowers the window probably needed to be replaced. With an estimate of $400, DH decided that repair was a luxury item that could wait. I decided there was a whole lotta yarn in the cost of that one little motor – and, what the hey – the other 3 windows still work.

Back to the important stuff. A night of Knitting Blog Glitterati.




Franklin was there as part of the Harlot’s entourage. It was great to catch up with him and to meet other bloggers. Franklin will deny it, sweet dear that he is, but he also had many admirers approaching him throughout the evening.

If you have never seen the Harlot in the flesh, so to speak, you will probably think the following is all hyperbole. Those of you who have had the joy of listening to her talk will realize that what follows is complete understatement…because there just are no words to fully describe the experience.



Excuse me while I gush…

I gush because when I hear her speak, my enthusiasm for my knitting is rejuvenated. There are many reasons I knit. I have always been attracted to handcrafts. I use knitting to relax, to meet people, to make things, beautiful things, useful things. If I am in a particularly ambitious mood (infrequently, I admit), I use knitting as an intellectual stimulant, as a learning tool, as my remedial math course.

But after listening to the Harlot, I am filled with a renewed pride for my chosen hobby.

(Or did it choose me?)

I feel a connection to those women and men who, through the centuries, have done wonderful things with two sticks and a string since…the discovery of two sticks and string. And I feel empowered to knit more frequently, to improve my skills, and to connect with other knitters.

After spending an evening worshipping at her feet, I came away feeling that I am included in a very special group of people, a group that is extremely diverse in ethnicity, culture, religion, and politics, but who are, despite all their differences, for the most part, patient, sharing, caring, friendly, honest and trustworthy. Just go to any yarn shop and write out a check for your purchase. (And I don’t mean at a shop where they already know you by name.) I have been to MANY (just ask those who know about the stash) and I have never been asked to present my driver’s license or if all the information is current on my check and could I please write my telephone number on the check.

But the most important reassurance I left with is that my stash is OK. That I don’t need to apologize for it. That the size of my stash is not indicative of mental instability and a need to be on medication or rampant consumerism.

Thank heavens for that – because I just bought more yarn yesterday.

Spring has sprung

How do midwesterners know when spring has arrived?

You can't rely on Mother Nature - fickle wench that she is, she'll send warm, jacket-less days in December and bury you under snow in March. You can't rely on that first smell of damp soil newly exposed by the melting snow or the new buds stretching up to find what little sunshine there is - she'll freeze their little buds off faster than you can say, "Mother, may I."

The one sure sign that spring is here...



Local gossip is that these also glow at night - I'm only sorry I didn't get a shot of that. I wonder if the ones on the roof of the house also light up at night?

Midwesterners - ya gotta love us.

What interests me is the mixture of birthday and Easter. Inflatable Yard Decoration Lover or Over The Top Theological Statement? You decide.



It seems to me that a lot of folks in my part of the country have a fondness for yard decorations. Now such things are not part of my landscaping preference, but I could be tempted if Franklin offered one of Dolores. Although I can't think of any design that would not venture into the raunchy (as visions fill my head of an inflatable yard decoration of Delores riding a knitting needle, like John Travolta on the mechanical bull in Urban Cowboys. Yikes...must...get...images...out...of...head.

I must have had spring on my mind while shopping in the market at the Knit-In. I notice my purchase was heavy in the pastel colors.



The yarn is from Joslyn's Fiber Farm. The single skein is 375 yards of "Twinkle Toes" (60% superwash wool/25% mohair/15% nylon) in Mulberry.

The other two skeins are 400 yards each of "Sheep's Gift" (100% very soft wool) also in Mulberry. Amazing how the different fibers capture the same dyes. The Twinkle Toes is much deeper, richer shades of the same colors.



My other purchase was Lucy Neatby's DVDs. I plan on using these a great deal this summer.



I hope to blog actual knitting content soon. It may not happen as soon as I'd like since I need to do the photographing while DH is not in the haus. (See rule for muggles in prior post).

The more serious reason for lack of knitting content is that my work situation has imploded. I don't want to document too many details here, for obvious reasons, but suffice to say that a force beyond my control (as I am the lowest rung on the ladder of seniority) has decided to shut down the program I work in. My 3 colleagues and I will supposedly be "transferred" to other programs. It was quite a shock that we were not prepared for...and especially because the reason for the discontinuation of my program seems to be political, based on events which happened years before I was ever working there.

Sigh.

So if posting is sporadic between now and the middle of May, you know it's because I'm buried under at the office.

If you don't hear from me by June, send in the St. Bernard rescue dog, kitted out with Diet Coke and yarn.

Annie Modesitt in the Haus

OK, so Annie Modesitt really wasn't IN my house - but close enough! Our local knitters' guild had their yearly Knit-In last weekend.

I really enjoyed her presentation. Her comment about her "safe word" went over the heads of the majority of the audience. Considering the average age in the morning presentation - hey, I'm just saying it skewed a little to the upper end of the age spectrum - I was not surprised. I was one of the few laughing at that one. Hmmm, what does that say about me? (Could this be a future contest on this blog - guess my safe word and win some yarn? We'll have to mull that one over!)

She showed us an incredible way to cable without a needle that involved PULLING THE NEEDLE OUT OF ALL OF THE LIVE CABLE STITCHES! The woman has nerves of steel and balls of brass! There's no way I'd be able to bring myself to pull this maneuver off without practicing it at least bajillion times. She also brought along the dress she knit for the wife of an Emmy winner.



Our guild has so many members that the main speaker gives her/his presentation twice - once in the morning and once in the afternoon. So while half of the attendees are listening to the main speaker, the other half have their choice of 1 of 4 classes. One bonus of living in the midst of a knitter's paradise - with more yarn shops per capita than anywhere in the nation, I believe - is that the guild manages to get some of the knitting community's glitterati here. Last year's Knit-In headliner was Jean Moss and at the monthly guild meetings we've had Meg Swansen reading from EZ's journals (swoon), Nancy Bush, Lucy Neatby, and Sally Melville to name a few.

And for you Schoolhouse Press/ Meg Swansen aficionados out there - Joyce Williams and Amy Detjen were in the Haus also! The last time I saw Joyce was when she and I were in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in order to see the Yarn Harlot in person. (Who? Me? Stalker fan? It's not abnormal behavior to drive 6 hours in one day just to listen to her talk, watch her take pictures of her sock with the audience, and then stand in line for another 2 hours to have her sign your copies of every book she has published to date!) I also had the pleasure of taking Amy's class in the afternoon that focused on different cast-ons and cast-offs.

The Knit-In also included a large market area. Mmmm...yarn.....

I was amazingly self-controlled.

But I did make purchases...HELLO! The yarn was calling to me - it was crying for a good home. It was like those ASPCA commercials...you know the ones - with all the clips of the most sweet, pitiful, formerly-abused-but-now-in-a-shelter-but-need-a-good-home-and-you-are-the-only-person-in-the-entire-universe-who-can-save-them cats and dogs while the Sarah McLachlan song is playing as the soundtrack for the commercial...sniff...get me a tissue, would you, dear? DH hates those commercials because each time they air I inevitably suggest we could adopt a 3rd cat - or even better yet, dog #1. But I digress...

You're waiting to see pictures of the newest acquisitions to the show that is my stash, aren't you?

HA! You'll have to wait til later this week for a couple of reasons: (1) I haven't been getting home from work early enough to take good photos; (2) when I'm home, DH is here - and he still doesn't know about this blog. He might even begin to wonder why I'm suddenly photographing my yarn; (3) Rule #287 when living with a muggle with whom you also have a joint checking account - DON'T BRING UNNECESSARY ATTENTION TO THE STASH; and (4) I need more material for the next post.

So instead of the fine fibers of my stash, I'll leave you with a closing shot of one of my favorite fibers in one of her favorite places.