Flame on!

Flames seemed to be the theme of the day on Sunday. This is Stinkerbelle in her new hat. No, I didn't make it. We bought it at the stupidmarket. It was on a display near the registers and she put it on her head and started mugging for her public. I can't describe it except to say that she pronounced the hat "gangster" and did her rapper thing with it pulled down over her eyes. When she told the cashier "word to your mother" I though that ALL the cashier's were going to bust a gut laughing. A few of them needed prompting by the customers to please go back to ringing the orders. Do you understand why I had to buy it?

Anyway, It was great inspiration for our Kool Aid dyeing experiment. You can see it here before we put it in the microwave. What you can't see is that the pan didn't fit in the microwave so I had to transfer it to another one. Duh!
Here is the finished product. I took this one this morning before I left for work. As I said before I'm terribly impatient. It's nearly dry and ought to be bone dry by the time I get home tonight. I think that the colors came out well. If they stay like this it'll be grand. Yesterday I saw a few other posts about Kool Aid dyeing and now I think that I ought to have used more. This is the result of 1 Orange, 2 Tropical Punch and 1 Black Cherry.
I think it looks Sizzling indeed!

Foolproof

I put off posting until now (when I really ought to be in bed) because I was hoping to have something really exciting to report - I don't. I got quite a bit done on my second sock today and it is gorgeous and red and I can't wait until it's finished but that's not earth shaking. I was also hoping that the yarn that Daria and I dyed with Kool Aid yesterday would be dry but it's not. It is worth noting that the yarn smells unmistakably like .... Kool Aid. I thought that without all of the sugar it might not smell so sweet but I was waaaay mistaken. You can smell the yarn from a mile away. It does look super cool though. It's red with a touch of bright orange. It's kind of flame-like and definitely sizzling!

The most notable thing about tonight is the swatch that I made. Not that the swatch is exciting but I actually made it. I'm gonna felt it as a test before I work on my next bag. I have in mind to use hardware from Home Depot on it and embellish it a bit with a contrasting color in a raised pattern. We'll see how that goes.

I'm not usually big on patience or following instructions. Case in point - dinner Sunday night. I was making a chicken dish that I found on the internet but as I went on I realized that I was missing ingredients and made creative substitutions. Then I realized that I was supposed to rub the chicken with spices (which I didn't have anyway) and let it stand for an hour before cooking - ooops! I also elected to cook it totally on the stove top instead of putting it in the oven to finish. Guess what! It was the most yummy thing EVER. Of course Lindsey still doused it thoroughly in ketchup and Daria refused to eat at all. They'll never have to try it again though because I have no freakin' clue how I made it.

I mention my adventure in cooking only so you understand how difficult I find planning my creative endeavours ahead. My instinct is to dive in. I am trying so hard to do this right. I am hoping that the bag I'm thinking of comes out well AND that I can do it again. Is that so much to ask?

Lot's and lots of sock yarn

I went to the craft show yesterday and managed to stick to my plan. There was some reall cool stuff there including some gorgeous mosaics and I managed to resist it all. The most exciting things I bought were cool glass bead earrings from Jasmine Keane and another basket to try to control my collection of yarn. I stopped at 2 stores on the way to the craft show to look for the right yarn for my Red Hot Sizzling Socks and came up empty. Nothing soft and wonderful, nothing red, nothing that screamed "take me home". It's all good though because I came home to a package from Knitpicks. As you can see, I got Palette in red. Sock Garden in Geranium and some Color Your Own Merino Wool. I expect that all of these will become socks at some point. I ordered them on Wednesday and my yarn search yesterday was the result of impatience. I just can't wait to start my Red Hot's.

The Turquoise yarn in the picture is Shine and I bought it to play with. I've been knitting for a little over 3 years and I've never designed my own but my kids are at weird ages from the standpoint of patterns. I have a whole bunch of the Katia books and I really enjoy them. I've done a lot of patterns from them for my girls and my niece with great success. They're age appropriate but not too cutesy. You know what I mean? They're just not always what I'm looking for. I want to make sweaters that are cool and hip and fun to knit too. I mostly gravitate towards cables and texture. I'm not really big on Fair Isle and other colorwork. I just get tired of carrying yarn in back.

Anyway, I'm gonna start designing for the smallest person in the house for obvious reasons. If I screw up on a smaller project then there's less to rip. I would love to work some of Brenda's beads into it.

Good news on the Jaywalker front too. I started the second sock and it's coming along really well. I think that if I do Jaywalkers again I'll do them shorter. I really don't love socks that come up so high on my calf and ... no surprise, I'm freaking out a little over whether or not I have enough yarn to finish the second sock. I guess that if I run out then I can rip out the top of sock one and shorten it. Yuck!

Can you hop on one foot?

I can but it's not pretty. Oh well, guess I'll have to start on the second sock tomorrow. Right now I'm too tired to think. But the sock... just look at the sock. It's gorgeous and incredibly soft and warm. Ooooo... I'm in love!

A little less anonymous

This week Norma and Cara left comments for me and it made my day. I really enjoy reading their blogs ( and others as well) and it's nice to have a little feedback every now and again. My dad says that the stuff on these knitting blogs is foreign to him - like another languge. Maybe it is but I speak it and not too many of my friends do. Actually they mostly think I'm a little obsessed and they don't get it but YOU DO! It's a knitty thing and it's sooooo great to find folks who share it with me.

I feel like I may be losing momentum on my Jaywalkers. I was in the kitchen at work today eating my lunch while I knit and someone asked me if I was still working on the same sock. Well, ummm... yes. I felt like such a slug! Maybe I need to play with something else a little bit. I have a few felt bag ideas kicking around in my head. As I've said before, I loved the i-cord cast on and cast off from the scarf and I'd love to see how it would work in a felted bag. I've done quite a few bags in the past. Here is my first on before felting...
After felting...

That one came out well and it was a gift for my friend Felicia about a year ago. She recently used it during our trip to New York and said it was the perfect size. I was really happy with it and went on a felting kick. I made a whole bunch and gave them all away. The joy is in the creation. Then I made this one...
We call it the Raspberry because of the bumpy bottom seen here...
... and because of the overall lack of success that it represents. I've kept it around though. Mostly because I just don't know what to do with it. Maybe if I play around with it then I can make it work. Maybe I'll just keep it around for an occasional giggle.

Jaywalker roadblock

Last night was rather foul. I was happily knitting away when I realized that the stitches that would've been on needle 3 if I was doing the double-point thing were missing a few. I was doing the wrong decrease - duh! I felt so dumb. Anyway, it took me a really long time to fix it 'cuz I suck at repairs. Never-the-less I'm back on track and it's all good. I did a few rows at lunch and I can't wait to settle in for more tonight. I think that I'm getting to the point where I'll become fixated and unable to put it down. You know - when the end is in sight and you just-can't-put-it-down-until-you-finish.

I've been looking at some of Sock Bug's patterns and I'm trying to decide which one will become my Red Hot Sizzling Sock Project. I'm still looking for yarn too. Koigu? more Socks that Rock? Lorna's Lace? I need to find somthing really cool. A really deep red or variegated. Of course my Jaywalkers are red but is that cheating since I started them before I saw the KAL? I don't think so but I want to do more socks anyway. Besides I think that a some of these patterns will look super-cool with my Clarks if I can find the right yarn.

The other thing that made me crazy last night was that Lindsey finally found her order form. it was two days late! She handed it to Bruce and said that she was happy that she could go on the ski trip after all. Whoa! Not so fast. Do you know who will be cleaning her room on Sunday? I do. We need to have a long lesson in organization. I'm pretty sure that I can supervise this exercise while knitting. If not it will be one very long day.

Turning the heel

This is definitely starting to look more sock-like now and I'm psyched. I've noticed something interesting as I work on this. My DH is much more interested in this project than in the countless sweaters that I've made. Who would've though that a sock would be so fascinating. He was watching intently on Sunday night as I did the heel flap. He kept asking questions about how it all works. "Will it have individual toes?" "How do you make the heel?" "Will you have enough yarn?" That last one was actually a really good question. It always is. As I told him over and over - just watch. I have no idea how it will work out except that it will NOT have individual toes.

I was actually really happy to have a totally absorbing project to work on last night because there was total crap on TV and I was in a foul mood. I wish I was the type of person who believed in beating my children because last night I was beyond words. My girls are both Girl Scouts and it's cookie time again. Ugh! My Big Kid has managed to lose TWO cookie order forms this year. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS SHIT! After she lost the first one I raved and ranted at her and thought I made my point. Apparently not! To make it all worse - I'm the cookie mom for Stinkerbelle's troop this year and I was the cookie mom for Big Stuff's troop for the past 3 years ( I know, I'm just a glutton for punishment). Anyway, I cancelled her weekend ski trip with the Girl Scouts because you can't do the fun stuff if you can't handle the responsible stuff.

I have to admit that cancelling the ski trip really works much better for me anyway. I was not looking forward to driving her to the mountain on Sunday morning and... now there's more time for me to go to Sugarloaf which is here in NOVA this weekend! Hooray for me! And, conveniently, there is a yarn store right frigging next door to the expo! I haven't been to that one in a while and now I have all that money that I didn't pay for Big Stuff's ski trip. Yarn, yarn, yarn!

Speaking of yarn and yarn stores - I signed up for another KAL. I'm enjoying these socks so much that I'm going to try the Red Hot Sizzling Socks KAL. I guess I'll do anything for an excuse to buy more yarn. Speaking of which, I've started ebaying again. There a certain beautiful logic to it all. If I clean out my closets then I'll have more room for yarn AND more money to buy it. It's a win-win situation. I love that!

If at first you don't succeed...

I came home Friday night and went to work on my socks angain only to discover that I still hate double-pointed needles. I really, really HATE them. It's bad enough when you have to use them to finish the decreases on a hat. I can tolerate that - kind of. Doing a whole project with them is more than I can handle.

I was not ready to give up my dreams of Jaywalking though, so I tried the 2 circular thing again and guess what - it worked! Look at the progress that I'm making. I may finish these in time to be a real participant in Cara's knit-along after all. Go me!
Anyway, It was a good weekend over all. I delivered my Red Scarf to Einstein Bagels today (and enjoyed a cranberry bagel while I was there - yum!). I also double-checked my materials and I have the needles, yarn, etc that I'll need for my Olympic project.

In non-knitting news, I tried Korean food on Saturday night. It was seriously spicy and there was a whole lot of pork involved (I don't do pork at all) but it was actually pretty good. Maybe my impression was influenced a little bit by the Margarita I consumed before dinner. Maybe anything tastes good with the right company. Maybe a flaming pit in the middle of the table is enough to make you forget the low points. I even tried sushi for the first time. I suppose I was just in an uncharacteristicly adventurous mood. Stranger things have happened.

Red Scarf

Last night at about 11pm, when I should've been heading to bed I became consumed with finishing my Red Scarf. I was really tired and I wanted to go to bed but how do you stop when there are only 4 rows left? Then I realized that It was exactly a week since I started the scarf and I knew that I had to finish it before I got off the couch.

As I said before, I take shitty pictures, but you can still see the color (which I really like) and the little ball of leftover yarn. Damn! I'm sure that I could've gotten another inch or so out of that. If only I could do math. Ah well, I tried the scarf on and so did DH and it covers the neck with style. That's the point - right? It would've been nice if it was a foot longer but I must say that I really like the pattern. I also really love the i-cord edge. It was super-easy to do but it makes the scarf look so nice and finished. i would love to try to incorporate it into a felted bag or a sweater. I'll have to ponder that for a while and maybe even do some drawings.

An now for the big news....drum roll please... I started a sock last night! I actually started it Wednesday night on 2 circular Addis but it was a horrible experience. As I mentioned before, I hate DPNs but this was far worse. Maybe I was doing it wrong. I found a little write-up (I think it was on Interweave) on how to knit socks on 2 circular needles instead of DPNs. I tried to follow it - really I did. Last night I admitted defeat and bought a "sock set" of DPNs. I ripped out the 2 pathetic rows that I had done and started over again. I still hate the DPNs but it's going much better now. I could've gone on and on with them all night but I just had to finish that scarf. You can see the beginning of my very first sock ever below. A truly crappy picture but you get the idea.

Oh, and if you can explain how to knit socks on 2 circular needles - I'm all ears!

A Library Emergency?

My obsession is knitting but I have no real talent so I manage a group of law libraries to finance my habit (and feed my family). I actually love being a law librarian and feel lucky to have found a profession that I enjoy that actually pays well. Go me! It's kind of funny since all of my undergrad education was in fine art. That relates to law librarianship how? Exactly!

Anyway, I just returned from a day in beautiful New Jersey. I say that with a touch of sarcasm because, owing to my Long Island upbringing, a poor view of the garden state is more-or-less a given. Aside from Six Flags, what does it really have to offer? Many people have tried to enlighten me but I'm rather stubborn on this. At least I admit it. I will say that the part of NJ that I visited today was rather pastoral and kind of charming and didn't have any discernable odor.

But I digress... I was I New Jersey to see the condition of a collection that we moved from New York City. I got Starbucks spilled in my lap on the plane ride up by someone who elected to recline her seat into my lap. (How rude! I couldn't even hold a book in front of me.) Then I got to the office and found that they ignored the carefully laid out shelving plan in it's entirety which will necessitate a total revision of the plan and another trip up to supervise the installation according to the new plan. Argh!!!

Well, I'm gonna go crash now. I need a little knit therapy. Perhaps a member of my household will be kind enough to massage my aching feet. (hint, hint) Ruby Slippers, part of my new stash of Socks That Rock, was calling my name so I rolled it into a ball last night. Maybe tonight I can start my first Jaywalker. That would certainly make me feel a lot better - especially if someone rubbed my feet while I did it. Hmmmm.....

Hoping for a miracle.

I'm progressing nicely with my contribution to the Red Scarf Project and now I'm in a full-on panic. I've completed 35 inches of scarf and I'm seriously running out of yarn. Better, more mathematically inclined, knitters than myself would probably do some fancy calculation and knw exactly how much yarn they need to finish but I just panic. I checked the Bernat website yesterday and I didn't see the yarn I'm using listed on it anywhere. Tonight, on my way home from work, I stopped at Michaels and AC Moore and not only did they not have the same yarn - there was nothing quite the right color. I could get some other color and do a stripe or something as if I meant for it to be this way but I just can't. I need it to be perfect! I'll just keep going tonight and hope that it all works out. I know they say that the scarves should be 60 inches but what are they going to do... send it back? It still looks really nice. The stitches are nice and tight and the pattern and the yarn are working well together - I just don't have enough of it. I think I need a miracle like the oil in the Channukah menorah that lasted for 8 days.

The real bummer of it is that my Socks That Rock arrived today and they are gorgeous. The yarn is so nice and soft - it's calling me relentlessly. I just want to sit down and dive in. It would do wonders to relieve my red scarf panic. Must be disciplined, must behave. I have no hope of finishing a pair of socks by 2/13 no matter what I do. Maybe I'll just start the socks a little tonight. Just a little taste - that's all.

From generation to generation

My dad was over yesterday and we were discussing my blog. It was interesting to get his take on it, partly because Shirley (as in Knitting4Shirley) was his mother. I started knitting a few tears ago to remember her. Don't worry, I'm not gonna turn this into some sappy post - it's just a fact. Actually, the truth is that I inherited all of her knitting stuff and after a few years I finally picked the needles up and the obsession was born.

Going through all of my grandmother's stuff was cool because she had a bunch of old pamphlets and clippings from the 1950's and 1960's. It's mostly baby stuff but wow, what a window on the past! She had also saved all of her notes through the years on the measurements of myself, my siblings and other family members. There were notes about corrections and adjustments to projects that she was working on and samples of yarn.

My Dad was commenting on the scarf I'm working on for the Red Scarf Project and how it reminded him of all the stuff my great-grandmother used to knit for "the children in Israel." She lived until 106 and was knitting until then end. I'm not sure how much of it was wearable because her sight wasn't so good but she knit those sweaters anyway. It's nice to feel connected to the past in some way.

But, here's the thing. My grandmother and great-grandmother knit in cheapo yarns that just haven't held up. Don't get me wrong, I treasure the stuff that they made for me and my family but it's mostly acrylic and not so pleasing from a tactile point of view. And the pilling... ugh! As we were discussing this the scary side of me came out and I suddenly felt the need to show my dad what good yarn is. I demonstrated this by tossing yarn at him for a while so that he could properly appreciate it.

"See dad, this is Manos del Uruguay - feel how soft it is."

"Dad, I know you're colorblind, but can't you see how deep and saturated the colors in this Noro is?"

"How about this Soy Silk? I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it but just feel it."

I think he truly appreciates the depth of the obsession now.

Howling winds and driving rain

I planned to write yesterday but I procrastinated and then the weather took over. During the day I usually have a ton of stuff to do and it's generally even worse on the weekends. That's when I get to do all the household stuff. So yesterday I took Stinkerbelle to swimming lessons and then forced her to come with me to my favorite LYS to get help fixing the hot pink ruin that was Simply Marilyn. I tried to do it on my own but, truthfully, I was overwhelmed by annoyance and totally lost. Anyway, cooler heads prevailed and the hole is fixed. It's not beautiful (not even remotely attractive) but it's wearable.

When I got home from the LYS my DH congratulated me on not buying any new yarn. Not so fast big guy! HELLO! Of course I got more yarn. I got 2 more balls of Noro Kureyon so that I can make myself a bag out of it. I think that I'll make a Sophie bag but I'll need to come up with a creative handle solution. I'm not 100% crazy about any of the handles I've done so far.

I also bought some Addi Turbo's so that I can knit my Jaywalkers without using DPN's. I got an e-mail on Friday telling me that my Socks That Rock are on their way. Woo hoo! I can't wait.

Anyway, back to the weather. It was awful here in Northern Virginia last night. I could hear the rain pounding on my house all night and there were tree branches (but no trees thankfully) slamming into the house at random intervals. The lights flickered a bunch of times too so we shut down the computer. No blogging for me. What to do, what to do.... hmmmm... I know, sit in front of the TV and knit. The scarf that I'm making for the Red Scarf Project is now 17 inches long which means that I have about 43 inches to go. Will I have enough yarn? I'm really not so sure but I'll keep knitting until I run out.

I should also mention the lovely thimble-sized slie of cake I ate for dessert. Stinkerbelle made it for us in her new Easy Bake Real Meal oven. What's so "real" about a cake the size of a quarter? On the other hand, a slice of cake that small can't possibly have any calories - could it?

Sorry Micah

Well, on Wednesday night I finally went back to working on the scarf I'm making for my brother, Micah. It's the secret project that I referred to here. the project isn't really a secret, it's a scarf that I'm making in Uros from Elann.com in a color called Arizona Clay. The secret is the pattern that I'm using so I can't show you pictures until he gets it.

I was using a new technique that I read aboud somewhere to cable without a cable needle and I was really making progress (from 12 to 21 inches) until I read this post yesterday. Norma was talking about a really cool project from the Orphan Foundation of America called the Red Scarf Project. They're trying to collect 2,500 handmade scarves to distribute to former foster kids who are in college. It sounds like such a great idea. What a challenge though! The scarves are due at Einstein Bagels by January 31 - ACK! I'd better work fast.

I went home and found a ball of wine colored Bernat acrylic yarn from the days before I became a yarn snob. It's actually very soft and the color is nice. I chose to knit Alison's Scarf by Annie Modesitt and I have to say that it's starting off very well. I had never done a I-cord cast on before but I love the way it looks and feels. I must do it again on something else soon. The pattern is showing up well and looks really fancy which belies how freakin' easy it is. Of course, that said, I should admit that as soon as I put the pattern down and tried to wing it I screwed up a bunch of rows that had to be ripped and re-done. Thankfully it was only 4 rows and I'm doing much better now. If I could only find my other size 8 needle....

Mommy - master manipulator

L,D & D at the time Warner Center

It worked! See that monster on the right wearing that gorgeous sweater? I left her other shirt (the one we packed "just in case") in the suitcase so, with no other options, she chose the lovely beaded sweater. She wore it all day and didn't rip it, stain it, or crack any beads. More importantly - she was happy in it. Go me!
The other two girls are, from the left, my daughter Lindsey and my niece Daisy. I am writing this as if there is actually someone out there reading it. I'm pretty sure that my entry into the world of bloggers has been completely unnoticed.
Anyway, I'm keeping this short because I feel like crap tonight. I'll just go curl up on the couch and watch a few crime dramas. I've already taken Advil, Imitrex is up next. I'll wash it down with enough tea to float away and hope that when I wake up in the morning I'm all better - yeah right! And to complete this scenario I'll see if I can add a few inches to my secret project. (that doesn't sound right, hmmm...)

Celebration deferred

I had planned a celebratory post tonight about Lindsey's new fuscia sweater. I even managed to do (most of) the seaming before she put it on her body today. She was already wearing a t-shirt but she couldn't wait to show it off. (this is after DH made comments last night about my enjoyment of the knitting being proportionately greater than my daughter's pleasure in wearing my creations. Clearly he was WRONG!!!) Unfortunately the sweater went to school looking great and came home damaged. I am totally ticked off. I have no idea how it got torn and no idea how to fix it.
I was planning on working on my brother's scarf tonight. I can't say any more about that because it's a secret. Another secret is the yarn that I ordered yesterday. I have been reading many blogs recently and was inspired by Cara at january one. I've never knit socks before - mostly because I despise DPN's but the Jaywalker socks look sooooooo tempting. (maybe I'll join the KAL too - another first) I made the mistake of looking at the Blue Moon site and I had to have some Socks That Rock. You understand - no?
Well, my Socks That Rock hasn't arrived yet so I have plenty of time to repair the damage done to Simply Marilyn. Thankfully I have plenty of yarn left to do the mending.

Hairspray

Here we are on Saturday night with John Pinette ("Edna" in Hairspray). Girls weekend in NYC was a blast. It was that rare occasion when the traffic is nonexistent, the weather is clear, and all the stuff you want to do just works out perfectly.
We ate our way through the village and managed to locate and sample the wares of Milk & Cookies, Peanut Butter & Co. and Pommes Frites. They were all places that I'd heard about through the years on various foodie shows. Of course we walked through the village from one to the next so it was like a diet - no? Then we got to TKTS and manged to get 5 seats for Hairspray - all together. Go us! From there it was on to dinner at American Girl Place (very Eloise at the Plaza) before going to see Harspray and meeting the cast at the stage door afterward.

WHERE'S THE KNITTING? I know you're wondering. Well... after all that we got back to the hotel and I just didn't feel quite tired enough yet so I pulled out Simply Marilyn by Debbie Bliss. I managed to finish the last few rows on the collar so tonight I can finish sewing up the seams - yuck! Tomorrow I hope to be able to post the pictures of the completed sweater.  

Duh!

I looked at last night's post when I got to work today and realized that I left out the picture of the beaded edge on Daria's sweater. I'm pretty sure that this isn't the last time that I'll have reason to call a post "Duh".

I totally admit that I suck at taking pictures. I don't think that it has anything to do with the camera although it would be great if I had someone or something else to blame. Basically I just suck at photography. I am so jealous of people who can take a picture that actually captures their vision.

On to the point of this post - the beads are cute! you can't really tell from the picture because, as I said earlier, I take shitty pictures, but trust me - the beads are cute. I was so proud of myself for getting them on there and correctly spaced too. I really want her to wear it!

Well, I'm off to NYC for Girls Weekend. I think that the plan is to eat and shop our way through the city. Not a bad plan. Sadly I don't see any yarn stores in the cards for this weekend but you never know - better take my handy guide from Knitters. It always comes with me when I travel. I whipped it out at Dulles Airport last year while I was waiting for a plane. There was a woman there who was knitting so, 'natch, we had to compare notes. She was saying that she had no idea if there were any yarn stores where she was going so what was I to do? I whipped out the guide and checked it out for her.

Like a plastic covered sofa.

If you're from Long Island then you'll know what I mean. Everyone on "the Island" (is there really more than one) knows someone with a livingroom that is roped off with perfect vacuum marks in the carpet. It's perfectly furnished even if the rest of the house is full of old, mismatched furniture and the couch is, you guessed it, slipcovered in plastic so that it should never be contaminated by a human touch.

I love to knit for my girls (I have 2). They're much smaller than I am so I can finish stuff for them much quicker than I can for me. That doesn't mean that it always goes the way that I plan.

Don't you love the sweater. It's perfect for a 6 year old girl. Right? Well, as it turns out, not so much. My daughter is afraid to wear it. I kid you not. She wore it once, just off the needles and got chocolate on it immediately. I washed it and it came out just fine but now she's afraid to wear it. She told hubby that the beads might break. So it sits on a shelf in her closet. It looks great, feels nice and soft, and fits well but still it sits.

Wait 'till we go on our next overnight trip and it's the only top in her suitcase.

New Year - new yarn

I know, I know - it's terribly corny isn't it. It is accurate though. I went to the LYS for their annual birthday sale and as expected, I bought more than I ought to. The colors and the textures were just irresistable. Here's what I got:

I got some Manos wool in a variegated and a solid plum, Noro Kureyon in a very warm mix, Noro Silk Garden in variegated blues and purples, one skein of soy silk to play with and Manos Cotton Stria in aqua and purple. I guess I was just drawn to the cool colors today. I have no definite ideas about what to do with any of it but it was all too wonderful not to buy and it was on sale. Who can resist yarn on sale? Not me.

I'm nearly finished with the sweater that I'm making for my daughter. More about that tomorrow.

Just do it!

Here I am just under the line. It's 11:48 which means that I have fulfilled a New Year's resolution on the very first day. Wow! It's way past my bedtime but I'll sleep better knowing that I've gotten this off the ground. How sad is that?

Seriously though, I could easily see myself pondering what to call thos blog for weeks. Add to that the time that it could take to agonize over the really important stuff like what my color scheme should be and how to host it and I could have taken months to actually make some decisions and start posting. Considering that I was only inspired to start this blog last weekI am moving at an awesome pace. Go me!

Now I really am tired so I'll leave this until tomorrow.