Category: Goofy Stuff

Coming Up For Air

The 16-day work slog is finally over. Due to some trades at work, I did 16 days in a row, with 2 days off about a third the way through so I could catch up on sleep. My “short” days at work are 11 hours, assuming I get the work done on time. The “long” days are 15 hours. I love my job, I love my job, I love my job. Remind me not to agree to trades again. The flip side of all the trading is that I now have 12 days off in a row. Well, 11, I was in a coma yesterday and missed most of it. My plans for today involve not getting dressed for several more hours. At least my husband, a dedicated morning person, has finally learned not to shake me at 7 AM with a “honey, honey, it’s a beautiful day, want to get up and go do something?” Honey, honey, I’m already doing something, shake me one more time, and you’ll lose a hand.

I have done a bit of knitting, but it’s all been on a grey stockinette Peace Fleece sweater with no shaping. Back and forth, back and forth. It’s boring as hell, but also very, very satisfying in a grey stockinette tweedy wool sort of way. OK, OK, here’s a photo.

Really, it is pretty exciting. You should smell this stuff. It has that wonderful sheepy smell that I just love. I’m almost to the underarm shaping on the first piece. And that’s about all the knitting news around here.

Oh, not quite, I forgot about my knitting excitement yesterday. The one thing that I did get done was my annual girlie physical, something really to look forward to when you’d much rather spend the entire day with a blanket over your head. I have a new gynecologist, and yesterday was my first visit. I was knitting away on a sock* when she came into the room, and it turns out that she’s a knitter, is relatively new in town, and wants to come to our weekly knitting fiesta at the local coffee shop. Sweet.

And the most exciting non-knitting news? November 1st is only 12 days away. Who cares, you ask? It’s NaNoWriMo time again! The crazy month where thousands of insane wanna-be writers decide to pick up a pencil on November 1st, and not put it down again until they have a 50,000 word novel done by the stroke of midnight on the last day of the month. I participated in this nutball event in 2004 and 2005, finishing in the first year, fizzling in the second. Last year I decided to sit it out, but this year I’m going for it again. Finishing the novel is of course the main point, but it’s a hoot even if you don’t. The next 12 days will be spent on nailing down some characters and a rudimentary outline of a plot (plot? you mean I have to have a plot?), then rushing headlong into the writing on the 1st. If you’re equally insane, go on over and sign up. And I don’t want to hear any sniveling  that you don’t know how to write a novel. Neither do I. It doesn’t need to be good, nobody but you will read it, it’s all about getting 50,000 words down on paper in 30 days.

Go on over and sign up. If you do, let me know. Here’s my Nano profile page.

*What, you don’t knit with your feet up in stirrups??

Idaho! FO!

I’m back from Idaho, and have a new FO to report!

First, though, I omitted something from my post about the goodie/prize bag I received from Kim. She included a little “L” shaped notepad, and I discovered yesterday that there were also little “L” stitch markers in the bag. Here they are:

Very cute, eh? I love them and just want to cast on something that needs little stitch markers.

Next, I got a couple of requests about one of the yarns I scored in Boston. It’s the Claudia Handpainted Silk Lace, and it is divine. The color is “Chocolate Cherry”.

Click on that to make it bigger, and start drooling. I have no idea whatever to do with this, but it will be lovely to knit with. It will be a shawl or stole someday once I find the perfect pattern.

Now, the trip. I have never taken a knitting class, and was a little nervous about doing so with someone as famous as Beth Brown-Reinsel. Not to worry. She was fabulous. The class was on “knitting ganseys”, and I learned more in 2 days of classes than I have in months on my own. Beth is a very patient instructor, and managed to get a bunch of women of varied skill levels absolutely enthusiastic about traditional gansey construction. In the process, we finished (or mostly finished) a tiny sample gansey. If you have her book, it’s in there, though I’ll warn you, it’s a lot more fun knitting it with Beth alongside coaching.

Here’s my finished gansey, after a bit of steaming with my trusty Rowenta to block the edge into submission:

And a closeup:

I learned tons of cool stuff by doing this sweater. I had never done an underarm gusset, and was very surprised at how easy and intuitive it is. It’s a little like turning a heel on a sock; once you do it, you wonder why you never thought of it before. I also learned how to do a channel island cast on, which is truly cool.

Probably the best thing, though, was being at an isolated resort for three whole days with a master knitter. Beth spent a couple of hours on the second day talking us through the design process, and showed us how to come up with a gansey sweater pattern of our very own. I intend to knit a full-size gansey some day, but even if I never do, the stuff she taught me will make my knitting much better. And being around a bunch of other great knitters was wonderful. We laughed, shared, and just in general had a blast.

Here are some more photos:

That’s Beth in the middle, with her giant teaching swatch.

That’s Jennifer, who owns Isabel’s Yarn & Needlepoint shop in Ketchum.

Here’s where the retreat is:

Our cabin:

This answers the question of what kind of wine goes with Cheetos:

And the sock enjoying the scenery:

Here’s the details if you are interested in next year’s retreat. Jennifer has done this retreat for several years, and it’s at Redfish Lake Lodge, Idaho. It’s very remote, though they do now have wireless access in the main lodge, if you can’t live without internet access. The cabins range from rustic to more rustic, though we found it very comfortable and absolutely the perfect setting for a retreat. There are no phones in the cabins, and no television, which is perfect. The food was lovely, and the scenery can’t be beat. Ketchum (Sun Valley) is a little over an hour’s drive away, so this really is out in the middle of nowhere. Email Jennifer at her website if you’re interested in next year’s retreat. I certainly plan on going if at all possible.

Next time, another FO!

Project Roundup

I figured it was time for a Project Roundup, and a few other things. First, the few other things. You all might remember the Knitter’s Hunk contest that Kim had a couple weeks ago. I took second place for nominating the winner, Alan Rickman (but only because Emily evoked visions of a naked Alan in her tie-breaking entry–I should have thought of that). As a prize, I got a very cool package full of stuff from Kim.  Here are the highlights:

Note the lovely mitts, the knitting journal, and the spectacular Lavold Silky Tweed!  Oh, and the photo, in case you hadn’t noticed that. She included that as well. Thanks, Kim! Great contest!

Now the PR. I’ve still been working on that bamboo top, but am bored with it. It’s not summer anymore, it’s just miles of stockinette, and it’s going into time-out as of today. Here it is, all bagged up for now. It’s my blog, and I’ll knit what I want to.

I’ll get back to that eventually, but not now. So what’s taking it’s place in the queue?

This:

Miles and miles of grey Peace Fleece, in all its glorious sheepiness. The color is Negotiation Grey, and it will be a sweater for John. I had ordered the pattern with it, which is the Father/Son Pullover from this page, and then tried to convince him that the Cobblestone pullover from the latest Interweave would be better. He firmly likes this one though, so plain plain plain it will be. It’s a good thing I’m happy to knit plain plain plain.

Here’s where I am with Langsjal Jóhönnu. I’m about halfway done with this, and pretty much have the lace pattern stitch memorized. I have 2 more balls of the yarn left, and I have the opposite border done already, so I “just” need to knit till I only have enough yarn to do the grafting, and that’s it.

Here’s the new sock yarn, some very orangey goodness. This is Sock Hop, in the color Spirit In The Sky, one of my very favorite oldies songs.

And the sock it’s making:

You might be wondering what that big ball of yellow yarn up there is. It’s Briggs & Little Regal, another bunch of sheepy-smelling stuff. I get to use that this week. A few months ago my boss showed me a brochure from a yarn shop in Idaho. It was for a knitters’ retreat this coming week. (Click “current events” at the bottom of their home page.) Despite the fact that she didn’t know how to knit at the time, she said “Wanna go??” A short time later we were booked and ready. I’m taking this yarn, and this book with me:

Beth Brown-Reinsel is teaching a two-day class on knitting ganseys, and I am so signed up. And yes, I know I just got back from vacation. What can I say, my boss made me do this. What was I supposed to do, say I’d rather work? There is no internet access (or cellular!) where we’re going, so I’ll check back in when we get home!

Last but not least, before I forget, one of my favorite blogs is back after a summer break. Go check out the latest info on the best way to do decreases!

The Knitter’s Hunk

In case some of you aren’t paying attention to the closest elections anywhere, get over to Hand Eye Crafts and check out the voting on the most delicious hunk around. And vote for Alan Rickman while you’re over there.

I’m off on vacation, as soon as I get the bags packed. As usual, the hardest part is picking out the knitting projects. We’re off to Boston for a week. There’s not much progress on any of my projects, so check the photos from prior posts. The camera’s already in the bag, so I’m not taking any more this morning. Laurie has graciously arranged for a whole day of playing and yarn shopping with the Boston contingency of the knitbloggers, so I’ll post photos if I have internet access. Otherwise, see you in a week!

And go vote for Alan, did I mention that?

How Big Is Tacoma?

I found this video on You Tube while trying to answer that very question. While we don’t actually live in Tacoma, but the next community south, I work and play there, and it just sort of runs together. This is a hoot, though not much of an enticement to move here.

How Big…

And the answer, per the 2000 census data, is 193,556. Lakewood, my home town, is only 58,211. Seattle’s the big city at 582,454. Now you know.

I’m Not Average

Just a quick post to show you an article in our morning paper, the Tacoma News Tribune. It’s a short biographical piece about a 91-year old woman who sounds like a real hoot. The first paragraph, however, refers to her by saying “Hull, a lively and sometimes mischievous woman, isn’t your average knitting grandma“.

Hmmph. I’m neither average nor a grandma, and neither are many of you. I’m in the process of drafting an email to the reporter to let her know that there are many of us who don’t fit her stereotype. I suppose I shouldn’t get worked up about these things, it’s probably a sign that I’m avoiding dredging out my office before all the visiting relatives get here tomorrow.

Here’s the link. The woman that she profiles in the article looks like a good role-model for women getting older.

I’m off to clear a path through the maze.

Edited:
I did send an email to the reporter. She promptly replied, with an apology for the stereotyping. It turns out she’s also a knitter, it just never occurred to her that the “knitting grandma” thing might bug some crazy menopausal woman. I invited her to our weekly knitting group, she said she’d come, and there you go. So don’t send her any hate mail!

7 Things

No, this isn’t the “7 Things” meme. It’s just that seven is all the things I could think of at the moment.

1. I’m still knitting the same stuff. No new pictures. It just mostly looks the same. I’m not bored with it, but you might be if I posted photos that looked the same as last time.

2. It’s just still fracking raining here. Rain rain rain rain. It’s all we’ve had all week. I’m starting to get moss on my north side (or is it the south side that it grows on?).

3. I just discovered NetNewsWire. I have used Bloglines as my blog aggregator for a long time, but it’s gotten really twitchy recently. If you have a Mac, try it out. It’s very cool. NNW, you heard it here. I’m probably the last Mac blogger on earth to find this one.

4. Google searches, redux. I just have to laugh that somebody got to my blog this week by typing “Aunti Debi” into Google. Now, really. If you were a person looking for your Aunti Debi, would you type “Aunti Debi” into Google?? Really? Hon, I’m pretty sure she’s not here.

5. Ravelry rocks. It’s a big-ass time-sucker, but it rocks. I’ve found lots more projects that I need to knit than I’ll have time for in any lifespan allotted to me.

6. I finally gave up trying to keep up, and hit “mark all read” in both NNW and Bloglines.

7. We had to have another tree taken out of our yard. This one was a Garry Oak, and it was huge. Unfortunately it had started to split right at the fork between the two main branches. We decided to take it out before it took out part of the rest of the yard.

The problem:

Click on the photo to see.

They had to get a crane in to handle this one.

And now it’s just a bunch of firewood. Very wet firewood.

Excuse me. I’m going to look for the lifejackets.

Project Roundup!

This has been a bit overdue. In looking back in the posts, I keep promising a knitting update, so here it is.

But first, a few photos from the 4th. A bunch of the boat owners on our lake have a boat parade late morning on the holiday, so we turned out to the beach with a few friends and some refreshments to watch.

Here’s John opening the refreshments. There were also Bloody Marys (Maries?) involved.

The parade:

There was knitting going on. My boss is learning how to knit. I gave her the first lesson Wednesday morning. Yes, I know how lucky I am, having a boss that wants me to teach her to knit.

And here is the promised Project Roundup. These are the 3 projects in active rotation. First is the sock.

Yeah, yeah, I know I haven’t made much progress. There have been other things interfering. For those of you not paying attention, this is the German yarn, the Wollmeise Krauterbeet. I just love the color name, Krauterbeet. It’s much more purple and green than in that photo. This is just lovely yarn, which is a good thing. Since I had to order it all the way from Germany, I couldn’t just order one hank of it, now, could I. Some day I’ll show you the rest of it fermenting in the stash.

Next is the Forest Canopy shawl. I really have made progress, it’s just hard to tell, being a lace shawl and all. This is Zephyr wool-silk, in Bottle Green. I thought it was Basil, but I’m pretty sure it’s the former. I love this color enough to buy more of it.

This one’s getting close. A couple more repeats of the main pattern is about all I will be able to stand, then it will be on to the border, then done.

Now, my new project. I am using South West Trading Company’s Bamboo, in a color called Butter. The color is actually more like real bamboo than butter. If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to have the stuff growing in your backyard, you know what it looks like. I can only hope bamboo yarn really takes off. I have a bunch of it growing wild along my side yard fence. It could be an investment.

Here’s the first attempt. I am making a tee-shirt like top, though if I have enough  yarn, I’ll put 3/4 length sleeves on it. I’m doing a picot/cable edging from one of the Nicky Epstein books for the bottom hem. The first version reminded me of chicken satay on skewers.

Then I had a little mishap and it ended up looking more like ramen noodles. The mishap had nothing to do with the pink wine in that photo. Since I’m making this one up as I go along, I didn’t like the first iteration, and decided on a do-over.

And here’s where I am now. The hem is turned up and pinned so you can see it. The edging is done by knitting 5 rows, doing a picot turning row, then knitting more rows, then a simple 4 stitch cable crossing all the way across.

I haven’t quite come to a verdict on this yarn. It is listed on the ball band as a worsted weight, which isn’t even close. I finally ended up with 3.25mm needles, and it measures out to be more like a DK or sport weight. Oh well, I really didn’t want to wear it this summer, anyway.  It’s making a lovely, drapey fabric at that gauge.

Off to bed, another fun-filled work week starts in the morning!

Oh, Shoot!

Free Online Dating

I must need to swear more. Though I got a “G” rating, they flagged me for using the word “shoot”. Dang. In real life, I think I’m more “R” rated, especially when my language is bourbon-fueled, but I guess I’m blander on paper than I thought I was.

Go here if you want to see how your blog rates.

I also got nominated for this by Debi:

I’m pretty excited by this one. The last time I was nominated for anything, it was my senior year of high school. And I won, too, the Betty Crocker Family Leader of Tomorrow. I am so not kidding you. My family still laughs about this one, as I am not known for being the domestic one in the bunch.

Wait, I got a charm bracelet for it. I’m pretty sure I still have it. You don’t throw things like that away. Wait.

<<digging digging digging>>

Here you go. The front:

And the back:

Click on those photos to make them bigger, for the proof.

I’ve seen this Rockin’ Girl thing on just about every blog I’ve visited recently.  Here’s the deal. I hate, absolutely hate, nominating people to do these things. I’m always the last one to get around to posting this stuff, and by the time I finish it, everybody else has done it. So if there are by any chance 5 of you who haven’t been nominated, consider it done and post this on your blog.

Next time, knitting. Really. I’ve started something new. I’ve actually started it twice, and soon will have enough for photos.

Giving You All The Finger

I found this one on Purl This!, and couldn’t resist. Somehow I thought that I would be a different finger.


You Are the Thumb


You’re unique and flexible. And you defy any category.
Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well.
You are a natural leader… but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few.

You get along well with: The Middle Finger

Stay away from: The Pinky

In trolling through Bloglines yesterday, I found this on Fleegle’s blog. She’s compiled a spreadsheet of laceweight yarns, with yarn name, company, fiber content, and yards per pound. Brilliant!

Randomness

Or, How I Survived an Unintended 3-Week Blog Vacation

I was tagged eons ago by three people, Marjorie, Michelle, and Tam for the 7 random things thing. I’m finally getting around to it, and explaining the blog absence and knitting progress in the process. I’m publishing the rules, but I’m just not tagging anybody, because I think this one has probably reached the end of its blog life. If you haven’t done it, and want to, consider yourself tagged.

Rules:

1. Each player starts with 7 random facts about themselves.

2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their 7 random things and post the rules.

3. At the end of your post you need to tag 7 people and post their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Random Fact 1: This has been one hell of a month at work. I signed up for a couple of extra shifts, which is just inexplicable in itself, as I don’t ordinarily sign up to do any more work than what I have to. We also had 3 team members have babies within a week of each other, so we were a bit short on staff and a bit long on patients to see. There used to be a warm-weather slowdown in hospital admissions in the good old days when people got to check in for questionable indications. As a byproduct of much tighter insurance company restrictions on what they will pay for, that doesn’t happen much anymore.

Random Fact 2: I generally work a 7-day on, 7-day off shift schedule. The 7-day off part sounds great, (and it is, really), but the 7-day on is a hell-on-wheels, 90-some hour extravaganza of fun, chaos, and terror. I thrive on fun, chaos, and terror, so it works for me. However, I don’t get much done except work, eat, and sleep, and the latter tends to be limited.

Random Fact 3: I am a total slob at home, and an expert procrastinator. This is in contrast to work, where I am obsessive-compulsive enough that even my coworkers, all obsessive-compulsive internists in their own rights, think it’s amusing. I have an unnatural love for cool and geeky office supplies.

Random Fact 4: They call me the Highlighter Queen at work.

Random Fact 5: My immediate family thinks I’m spoiled rotten and a princess-y prima donna. They are dead wrong. I’m spoiled rotten and a Queenly prima donna. I keep telling them, I’m not a Princess. The Princess has to answer to someone, and that would be the Queen, me. I even have a crown, you’ve all seen it here.

Random Fact 6: I’ve gotten virtually no knitting done this past 3 weeks. If you want to see progress photos on that stupid purple sweater, go back a few posts. I have all the pieces done and am in the process of knitting more stupid seed stitch on the collar, and then have the seams to do.

Random Fact 6 1/2: I love doing mattress-stitch seams.

Random Fact 7: I have actually finished something. The Easter Egg socks are done done done. These are just my favorite socks. Here’s a photo, and Project Specs.

Oh heck, here’s another one, I might get lost and not post again for another month. This is a closeup that shows my perfect little gussets. I loves me a good flap heel and gusset.

Random Project Specs:

Pattern: My own sock pattern. This one is 56 stitches, with a flap heel, gusset, and the toe grafted on 12 stitches.
Yarn: Joslyn’s Fiber Farm Bunny Luxury, in Easter Egg. The yarn is 20% angora, 80% wool, about a sport weight.
For: Me me me (refer back to Random Fact 5)
Started: April 3, this year.
Finished: This morning.
Needles: Lantern Moon ebony, size 2.75.
What I learned: Sport weight socks go fast, provided you actually pick them up and work on them now and then. I also learned to buy yarn when I see it. Joslyn doesn’t sell this particular blend anymore. These will make great Birkenstock socks (yes, I wear socks with my Birkenstocks; this is considered fashionable in the Pacific Northwest).

I’ve already picked out yarn for the next pair, and started them. I’ll post photos next time. Whenever that might be.

Help!

I’ve Fallen Into The Stash, And I Can’t Get Out…

After several recent attempts to find something specific in my yarn stash, I decided that it was time to clean house. I set up a database of all my yarn a long time ago, but it was a Microsoft Access file, and when I switched to Mac last year, I just sort of quit using it. Microsoft doesn’t make Access for Mac (what the hell is up with that anyway?), and the file just didn’t convert nicely to an Excel file. So I had these bags and bags of yarn everywhere, and there have been additions and subtractions all over the place in the stash. It was time to reorganize. It finally dawned on me that I still have my old laptop, as I use it from time to time when we travel, and that I could still use the old file. It just needed some serious updating.

So that’s what I’ve been doing all week. Box by box, I dumped it all out, sorting, counting, tallying, drooling. It was a little like a college reunion, where you meet all your old friends that you haven’t seen in years, and you remember why you loved them. There were a few skeins that made me think “what the frack did I see in them anyway?” (Just like that old college boyfriend, the one that got a pitcher of beer dumped on his head for being a jackass.) I have almost all of it back into boxes, and added all the new yarn purchases over the last 8 or 9 months to the database. No, I have no idea how many yards total I have. I am so not going there. Even if I were to add up those skeins to get that number, I would not under any circumstance publish it to a blog that my husband occasionally reads.

Here’s a little taste. First, a small sampling of the sock stash, out for inspection:

And back in the box:

Just to give you a hint of how much yarn I have, I’ve numbered the boxes.

And don’t ask. Yes, that’s a “9”, implying that there are “8” boxes of yarn before this one. I am just not saying how many there may or may not be after this one.

Ok, Ok, here’s a bit from one of the other boxes. I’m not saying what number this one was. It was the “mostly lace” box.

That’s all. I am not giving out any more information. I’m just thinking that after tallying all this up, I might consider printing out a list, putting a monetary value on all of it, and getting a separate insurance company rider for it. Don’t laugh, it’s actually not such a dumb idea.

Next time: Perhaps a Finished Object. I’m close, so close.

Abby Normal


You Are 40% Abnormal


You are at low risk for being a psychopath. It is unlikely that you have no soul.

You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess.

You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection.

You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom’s basement.

You are at medium risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is somewhat likely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

The hand sanitizer part may be true. As may be the part about my mom’s basement, but only if it’s stocked with yarn.

Uh-Oh, There Goes The Neighborhood

John and I were running errands earlier this week, and on the way home, saw this sight:

A new yarn store! It’s not open yet, and when I peered in the window, it’s still an empty building. So why is this so exciting? It’s less than a quarter of a mile from my house, people. A yarn shop I can walk to from home. I’ll keep you posted.

I obviously didn’t get around to doing the requisite “Happy Easter” post. We had a quiet day at home, with little lamb chops cooked on the grill. We had to grill them in between hail storms, but that’s sort of normal for spring weather around here.

For dessert, I served Peeps and chocolate sauce. Here’s my “recipe”.

Put Peeps on plate.

Nuke them in your microwave for 20-30 seconds. This is the exciting part. It’s hard to get a good photo of the blown up Peeps, as they collapse quickly once you take them out.

Add chocolate sauce, and serve.

Don’t laugh until you’ve tried them.

In knitting news, I’m still working on that Shedir hat. The pattern calls for one skein of Calmer. Here’s how far 1 skein got me.

In case you’re wondering, I’m on row 58 of an 83 row pattern. The rows get shorter pretty quickly from here, but still. This was yarn left over from when I made Audrey, so fortunately I have more:

I wound up that partial ball and weighed it on my handy-dandy drug-dealer’s scale*.

15.6 grams. I’ll weigh what I have left and let y’all know how much more than 1 ball this sucker takes.

*Have I mentioned how much I love my drug-dealer’s scale?

Blogiversary!

Bread!

Baby!

Free Yarn!

OK, if those titles don’t get you to read on, nothing will. First, the bread. I promised in the last post that there would be another Daily Bread installment soon. Here it is.

Getting ready:

And just out of the oven:

The recipe is Rustic Potato Loaves, from Baking With Julia. As the recipe is in a published book, and I pretty much made it as written, I won’t write it out here. A reader (if it was you, let me know, I lost track of who recommended this book) suggested this one, so I got the book out of the library. It’s a great cookbook, and I’ve been drooling over it for the past few weeks. I came home from work one night this past week, and there was a package on the counter. My sweetie had bought me my very own copy!

The recipe uses russet potatoes, flour, water, salt, yeast, and olive oil. The skins are left on the potatoes after you boil them, so add a very nice flavor and texture to the bread. I made this one with my KitchenAid mixer instead of the bread machine, as it’s a very soft dough and I wanted to have a little more control over putting it together. It turned out great. Here’s the meal it went with:

Baked potato, the bread, steamed green beans, and perfect little steaks with a mushroom-red wine sauce. Yum.

Next up, the Baby! Baby Riley (my great-niece!) was born late last week, and is clearly in the running for Cutest Baby Ever Born. She has all the earmarks of a princess-in-training. Here’s a photo:

She looks like she might have red hair, like her grandma, my sister. Her birthday present isn’t quite done yet, but that’s OK. It’s turning out to be a size that she won’t be able to wear for awhile.

Now, the Blogiversary. Three years ago this week, I started my blog. In the words of one of my favorite bluegrass artists*, “what a long, strange trip it’s been”! I’ve learned a ton of new knitting tricks from all of you, been led to a lot of great new yarn-buying shops both online and off, and met lots of new friends through this blog. Though my posting has slowed down lately, I have no intention of giving up the blog. I started this mostly to keep track of my knitting projects, but it’s turned into much more than that. Despite the fact that my husband calls you all my “imaginary friends”, I can’t imagine a week without you all here.

In honor of all my “imaginary friends”, as without you there would be no blog, I’m having a contest. I’m giving away yarn! All you have to do is leave a comment with your favorite knitting trick. It can be a fancy way to do seams, a great gadget that you couldn’t live without, a favorite pattern stitch, or just some wonderful secret trick that’s saved your knitting butt.

I’ll choose my personal favorite for one prize, and draw a random name for the other. The contest will be open for 4 days. The last eligible comment will have to be in by Sunday night at midnight. On Monday, I’ll announce the winners.

Oh, and the prizes? Yarn, of course. Two skeins each, for each lucky winner.

For the knitting trick that is my favorite:

And:

The first skein is Heritage lace yarn, in a heavy laceweight. The color is Blueberry Hill, and it’s a silk-rayon blend, 525 yards. The second skein is Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in Bitterroot Rainbow, enough to make a pair of socks.

For the randomly drawn winner:

And:

The first is of course Opal sock yarn, in Lollipop, from my treasured Opal stash. The second is Cherry Tree Hill  Glitter Alpaca yarn. The color is Northern Lights, and there’s 428 yards of it. I could see this as very luxurious socks, or perhaps a scarf, mittens, or a hat.

So spread the word, leave a comment, win some yarn!

*He is too a bluegrass artist. Check this out if you don’t believe me.