Procrastination

Interesting word for not doing what you're supposed to be doing! Avoiding work! I have several days of data entry sitting in boxes, piled on my desk & leaning against the wall in my home office. I'm sick to death of it all. But, I have to pay the rent. And eat. etc. And walk my buddy's pooch. And I don't want to anything except curl up with a book & a bag of fruit. Time for a holiday. It's time for a Fibery Retreat!! How come there isn't one in the Lower Mainland???


In the meantime, I spent the day spinning with my Gal-Pal Gail on Saturday when the weather couldn't make up its mind. I managed to wind off a big, fat, fluffy skein of Arvik that was already spun AND spin up another big, fat one to go with it! I took this picture in bright light to show the contrast, the yarn is actually quite a bit darker in real life!!! The lateset fleece from my favorite sheep is delicious - so far it has less color change across th fleece - I may have to go back to last year's fleece to get the variation I want for my sweater. But, I couldn't resist starting on the NEW one. The skein on the right is last year's fleece - I'm hoping that this color is just because I started on one end! I think this year's fleece is actually softer too - but that may just be my imagination.


Kathy finished her socks!!!! She knits with teeny, tiny, absolutely perfect stitches that make these look like they came off a sock machine!! Whew . . . . I'm not sure who these ones are for but they're wonderful!! Now I know Kathy has several more balls of sock yarn tucked away in her basket, hopefully, she'll knit up the Opal yarn next!



Speaking of socks - I finished the Father's Day socks but didn't post a picture. Here they are on the left in all their "Manly" glory!! I even found a nice dark blue for the toes!!
And then I thought I'd knit up the remains of the yellow OPAL that I bought for the Mother's Day socks as short sport socks for the Sock Basket.



The Sock Basket is Gail's idea. She knits up a whole pile of socks & they go into The Basket. When an event comes up, like birthdays or Christmas, out comes the basket & the recipient gets to chose a pair or two. I liked the idea so much I decided to create one of my own. These are a few of the socks in my Sock Basket at the moment!!




This Opal intrigued me in the ball. I can't remember if I bought it or if I got it as a gift but, it kept calling to me so I had to knit it up just to see what the heck I'd get. I haven't decided yet just how I feel about it. I think I expected something different from the ball. Stripes just seem so ordinary somehow.

An Odor Problem

I was given a garbage bag of Acrylic yarn. The bag was stored in a garage after the yarn was stored in a box that got wet. I should've known better & put it out for the garbage men the day after I got it, but I'm the stubborn sort & I'm cheap. So, I tried to salvage it for our stash of "squares" fodder. I left some of it out in the weather in an onion bag, to blow in the wind. I left some of it in a lawn chair to soak up the rain & dry in the sun. And I left a big pile of it in an old laundry bag - made of netting - on the corner of my patio in the wind AND rain. I soaked a few skeins in vinegar & water & hung it to dry. So far, nothing has entirely removed the smell. I think I'm beat. Too bad, a whole garbage bag of yarn would've been a real bonus for the ever-growing collection of SQUARES!! My Wednesday Nite Nitting gang decided we need 48, 8" squares to make a child's afghan for a single bed. These will be donated to a local Transition House as they're completed.

While waiting for my recycled Rayon & Silk to arrive, I've been eye-balling Arvik again. I just received the 2007 clip & once again, it's gorgeous. It's clean, free of vm & smells good! And I just want to get spinning on it - maybe Saturday. I wish I were a shawl person, it would be soooooo easy to just give in & knit up a lacy shawl but, I'm not. Mind you, I did like the Goddess Eye shawl in one of the recent "INKnitters" magazines. It's knit from Equalateral Triangles - all sides are the same! I like the way it drapes over the shoulders without falling off & it fastens in the front with a button. The only problem is that I've spun Arvik up quite finely & knitting with too many strands would eliminate the color changes which make Arvik so special. Damn. I may just end up knitting a simple cardigan from the neck down with raglan sleeves!!! Hmmmm. Just got an idea . . . . . .

A Fool & her Money!


Well . . . one of my clients paid me with PayPal again this year!! I do love having PayPal money. It's kind of like having secret money all to yourself that no one else knows about. And it's been burning a hole in my pocket. I did want some books but I went to eBay instead. Big Mistake. Maybe. I accidentally bid on a skein of recycled Rayon instead of the Recycled Silk below it. I only bid a penny - I know, I'm sooooo cheap - didn't think I'd ever get it but BONG! It was mine. I ended up with 5 skeins of recycled, overspun Rayon. Oh well, I have to admit, the colors are gorgeous & I'm hoping it will all turn out to be okay. This stuff is apparently spun the same way as recycled Sari Silk so, I'm planning to release some of the twist, redraft it & re-spin it. I'm looking forward to getting this even if it did start out as a mistake!

And then I bid on the recycled Sari Silk - & ended up with 10 skeins or 2.2 lbs of it. Apparently, its coming all the way from the factory in Bangaledesh. I have plans for the silk. Remember that little sweater that was knit in rainbow colors ?? It's actually designed for recycled Sari Silk! One side is knit from the hem up to the shoulder & the other side is knit from the centre body out to the cuff of the sleeve.

I swatched & swatched, hemmed & hawwed & just couldn't get my head around using my Arvik for this sweater even though Arvik deserves a truly wonderful sweater pattern to show off her lovely colors. And I want a simple pattern too. I just haven't found the right one yet. Maybe Arvik will just become an ordinary, basic cardigan in a simple lace pattern or something light & airy in a Farose style shawl instead. But, in the meantime, I thought I'd try re-spinning some sari silk. I think I can afford to do a little experimenting. And, if it all goes to hell - well, I can always knit a wild sock-knitting bag!!

I rushed out this morning to do some paid work & noticed a whole pile of buds ready to pop on my second clematis. When I got home two hours later - this is what I found!!! The whole right hand trellis is full of big, fat, furry buds in this pink color. Last year, they were a very light purple but this year, they've become much pinker. I'm beginning to wonder what the third clematis will look like. It had tiny white flowers with a green stripe down the petals last year - rather pale & insipid to tell the truth but this one with the hot pink flowers was pale & inspid too. Mmmmmmmmm . . . . can't wait.

Another Wet Saturday


I haven't had a shower in three long days! On my way in the other day after work, I heard the sound of running water. My first thought was the toilet flapper'd got stuck open again but no, it was the hot water tank. Had to shut the water off. And I hadn't had time that morning for a full shampoo, just did the face, teeth & hands & ran out the door. CRAP. Now it's Saturday afternoon & they're finally disconnecting the rusted out hulk & replacing it. I suppose it was a mixed blessing. The nice man offered a $50 service job on the furnace while he was here & found the innerds needed adjusting & the thermocouple was almost toast! And you know when THAT baby would go - in the middle of the night in a raging snow storm on a long weekend . . . . . . !The cat has the right idea! Curl up in a blanket & sleep!!! I knit this Log Cabin style blanket out of all the odds & ends I had laying about including a few leftovers from Value Village & it's ilk. The cat spends more time curled up in it than I do. Sometimes I come home to find the back end of the cat sticking out of a great ball with the front end inside. And other times I just find a tail. This is a pic of her being cute & cuddly - it doesn't happen often.

Not much knitting going on around here although the Father's Day socks have one heel turned & the other in progress. I'm using the 'Sock it to Me' yarn from Elann for these which is much thinner than Regia or Opal but a lot nicer for summer socks. It does full a little when washed the first time but not to the extent that most yarns do. The pattern is similar to all of the Elann yarns I bought but is in brown/blue/black & white this time. I'm thinking about a dark blue or black toe since the pattern is so busy. Lucky for me, the BT's dad will wear any sock I knit - no matter what the color!! Now, there's a man who knows what side his socks are buttered . . . .


I fell in love with Sisu Fantasy after knitting up that Fantasy that Laura found for 99 cents in the thrift store. I went out looking for it & found this delicious combo at KNITOPIA, in White Rock. The colorway that Laura found is now discontinued - sob - but this one caught my fancy so I bought enough for a pair of socks for ME. This will be my next pair.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . . . so many socks & so little time!