Monday, December 24, 2007

Ho Ho HO, I say!

The slippers are done and under the tree with care... my mom loved her hat and scarf... my granny is getting forgetful and asked if I was a clerk where I work... my dad looks happy... my brother is looking forward to the future instead of wallowing in the past... and now I'm off to enjoy the Eve and Day with my beloved family-in-law. Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

I...Couldn't...Wait...

Ohhh dear. I've written/deleted/rewritten this post about three times now, but THIS time I'm sticking to it. I've gone and Etsied myself again. I weakened and bought two skeins of sock yarn this week. One from MJstitch and one from Twisted. MJ is cleaning out her stash and there was such a lovely bit that I just couldn't stop myself, and then there's the one from Twisted that I've been drooling over for just ages now.

I think I know where things went sideways. At night, when I should be schnuffling through my stash to get my hit of yarn fumes, I am too busy knitting the Christmas oil. So then I get to work, and have no choice but to go to www.etsy.com and just ... browse. Innocent, electronic sauntering through the virtual aisles. Popping into a new shop here, browsing a beloved bin there. After weeks of virtue and abstinence, I weakened, I admit it. I didn't perform the necessary preventative measures and now I and my poor, bewildered husband must pay the price.

1 skein de-stashed sock yarn: $23
1 skein Twisted lovely sock yarn: $30
Opening the mailbox to discover a soft squishy package of wonderful: Priceless

Monday, December 17, 2007

Super Secret Projects & Santa Goes Shopping

The Super Secret Projects are coming along better than expected. I will post pics tonight. I got one SSP done last night and am halfway through another one.
Saturday, my dear husband donned his Santa hat and went a-shopping for yours truly. He hit all my fave yarn shops and was truly shocked to find that they knew who I was. Well of course they do! I always chat with the owners and talk about recent projects, and oooh and ahhh over new yarn. I spend quality time knitting with them and even helping other customers occasionally. He's so cute. He must have thought that you go into a shop, grab some yarn, plunk down your credit card, and head out the door. They all thought he was absolutely adorable for both his Santa hat and enabling his wife's obsession. I couldn't love him more if he was a skein of self-striping pink and orange sock yarn. Hint, hint.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Total Yarn Abstinence

It has officially been TWO weeks since any yarn has lured me onto the rocks. We are on a tighter budget these days because we want to get our debt paid down, so I have been a very, very good little knitter. When I feel the need to engage in stash enhancement, I go play in my actual stash, where I fondle yarn until the urge goes away. On Monday, as sick as I was, I could have driven the 10 minutes to my LYS and snuffled through the sock yarn there. Instead, I hand-wound the Whoville's Grinch and green coordinating skein. By the time I was done I was faint from swaying back and forth behind the chair so I took a nap. It's all in the timing.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Not tonight, honey, I have a headache.

Oh, I've been a sick puppy the last few days. This last weekend, and the weekend before, we've been providing respite care for two different sets of foster children. They've been so fun! I think it took it out of me though. On Sunday I woke up with a migraine, which descended into a full-on headcold that's still with me. I finally shook the migraine on Monday night with a large Coke from McDonalds and a whole handful of drugs. 2 acetominophen, 3 ibuprofen, and 2 aspirin.
The worst part about a migraine is that I can't even knit when I have one. Watching the needles makes me want to yak up my shoes, and not watching gives me a weird kind of motion sickness. I did get the frogged socks done, and I'm working on one of the felted slippers on my Christmas list. It's going really well and more importantly, fast. It's pretty fun and mostly mindless. It's been awhile since I've worked on just plain knitting needles instead of circulars or dpns. I will post pics when I'm not at work. :)

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Our Lady of Perpetual Frogging

Grr. I had to frog a fat inch of my sock last night. I had mysteriously lost two stitches off N1 and tried to M2 and it left a big fat hole. Duh. So I wondered for about an inch if I could live with it and finally decided I couldn't, so I frogged the sucker. My husband, horrified, asked What are you doing?! That must mean that A) I am just. that. good. that I never have to frog, or B) my husband has never really watched me knit, at all. I'm going with A because right now I need that.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

No New Yarn!

I have almost reached ONE WHOLE WEEK of not buying yarn! Ha! Not online yarn, not favorite lunchtime hangout yarn, not second-favorite lunchtime hangout yarn, not Saturday-hubby's-at-work yarn, nada. N-A-D-A. Plus, I'm almost done with the pair of socks I'm making for somebody for Christmas, and ready to start on other secret projects. Ma-ha-ha-ha...

I got my Whoville's Grinch in the mail yesterday. Once again, I'm in loooove.. swoon! It's from GypsyKnits on Etsy. She included the cutest little handmade stitch marker too. I think I'll resist getting into handmade stitch markers though. It would be like falling into a hole with no bottom, and I've already done that with yarn. Tightly focus your obsession, people, and you'll have a much happier marriage.