Okay, back to the yarn.

My absence from this blog through the holidays is directly related to yarn. All my spare time was used to finish up all the gift knitting and crocheting. No excuses. Just sayin.

Here are a few of the gifted FO's that have been officially declassified:

The I'll Packa Hat for my dad. ( It's made of alpaca) I crack myself up.

For the ribbing, I used a bit of black alpaca (Blue Sky) which was a souvenir skein from a girls' weekend with my spa peeps in DC. The red alpaca (for which I lost the ball band - oops) was a souvenir skein from a trip to Asheville with my sister.

Next up, the Purple People Heater afghan for my mom.

Made of soft Homespun from Lion Brand in colors that just HAD to belong to my mom.

The Easter Parade Chevron Scarf for my sister.

The blocking shot.

It matched her sweater perfectly the day that I gave it to her.

Clearly, the fates approve. Made with Lorna's Laces shepherd sock in Purple Iris and Happy Valley colorways. But, I must say, making long, repetitive things with sock yarn? Not sure I will be doing that again. Dang.

So as not to give you FOverload, we'll wrap up with the Arkansas Lap Blanket I made for my husband's grandfather who was recently confined to a wheelchair.

Made from stash scraps of this and that bulky weight. I was going for something large enough to cover his legs, but small enough not to get caught up in the wheels. There have been no reports of accidents or wheelchair malfunctions to date, so I hope we're good.

Well, I still have lots more to post regarding FOs, WIPs, 2008 yarn resolutions/plots, and yummy additions to stash. Don't touch that dial!

Just to clarify . . .

This is one of my favorite birthday cards ever received from a dear friend last year. It raises an important question not so easily resolved.

However, on the trip back from my parents' house on New Years, I found undeniable proof of the answer:

No one would put this on a sign if it were incorrect. Right? RIGHT?

Discuss.

Deliver me already!

With the exception of a good yarn or fabric crawl, I generally hate to shop. (I know, I'm some kind of mutant.) I buy almost all non-grocery items online. As a not-interested-in-ever-recovering coffee addict, I recently purchased a new coffee maker for my office. I simply cannot take out a second mortgage to support daily lattes at the local coffee shop, even if the adorable barristas do know my name and my "usual".

The new coffee maker? It's this one. It uses the prepackaged coffee "pods" to make individual cups. Now, before anyone blows an environmental gasket, I plan to make my own pods eventually from a reusable pod maker thingy. But I am still reviewing my options in this regard and, until then, I'm gettin some pods.

Aren't they cute?

I ordered some from Amazon. They were supposed to arrive two days ago. They're still not here. This is not typical in my . . . well . . . let's just say "ample" ordering experience with Amazon. So being of a curious nature, I investigated. Now for comparison purposes, my other related orders from Amazon took a short and efficient journey. They were shipped from Louisville, KY to a town in my state and then next landed in my town for delivery. Boom, boom, boom.

But, according to the track and confirm report for this UPS shipment, my AWOL pods have been doing a tour of the eastern seaboard:

December 7, 2007 05:03:01 PM US Carrier notified to pick up package
December 7, 2007 08:05:00 PM LEXINGTON KY US Shipment picked up from seller's facility
December 10, 2007 09:56:00 AM LEXINGTON KY US Departure Scan
December 10, 2007 10:08:00 PM BALTIMORE MD US Arrival Scan
December 11, 2007 05:33:00 AM BALTIMORE MD US Departure Scan
December 11, 2007 10:00:00 AM SECAUCUS NJ US Arrival Scan
December 11, 2007 10:43:00 PM SECAUCUS NJ US Departure Scan
December 12, 2007 03:20:00 AM BALTIMORE MD US Arrival Scan [AGAIN????]
December 12, 2007 04:38:00 AM BALTIMORE MD US Departure Scan
December 12, 2007 10:07:00 AM RICHMOND VA US Arrival Scan
December 12, 2007 11:06:00 AM RICHMOND VA US Departure Scan
December 12, 2007 02:46:00 PM MY TOWN US Arrival Scan
December 12, 2007 04:43:00 PM MY TOWN US Departure Scan
[Why are we now DEPARTING from the CORRECT TOWN?????]
December 13, 2007 07:33:00 AM MY TOWN US Out for delivery
[That’s more like it.]
December 13, 2007 11:51:00 AM MY TOWN NC US Delivered
[WOOOHOOOO!!!!]

As you can see, they have now been delivered - late but well-traveled. I hope this improves the flavor. But if I were my pods, I would get a new travel agent. No need to go to Baltimore twice in two days, especially if you can't stay long enough to get some of those awesome crab cakes.

Well, drafting this blog post is making me want a cup. Ta-ta.

ps. As for the connection of this post to yarn: 1) If I don't drink coffee there is no yarn play or articulable speech for that matter; and 2) My yarn club meets in a coffee shop. Any arguments/ questions/challenges? Good.

Excuses . . . excuses . . .

OK. I will now admit that blogging on a regular basis is difficult. And, at least in my case, it is not due to a lack of substantive blogging material. Chaos is my co-pilot. Just look at my knitting chair (aka "Fiber Arts Studio") :

click to embiggen

No, I have plenty to talk about, and I am getting a lot faster with the camera. The problem is . . . brace yourself for this . . . lack of TIME. I know, I know. Everyone but ME has adequate time in their life to accomplish all necessary and extra-curricular tasks. It's really not fair.

If I were full of character, I would not attempt to offer any excuses for the infrequency of my blogging. But I suffered a significant loss of character during childbirth and I like to make lists. Consequently, here are the top five reasons I have not bombarded you with daily blogging brilliance:

1) I have crabs. When you stop laughing, look at this picture:


Is he not the cutest purple pincher land hermit crab you've ever seen? Apparently, hermit crabs are a little shy of the camera flash, and everytime I snapped a photo he would retract into his shell and fall off his coconut hut. So, to avoid further injury to my crab, you'll just have to trust me that "Lump" is really in there. I've got three more just like him, and they live in this:




Here's "Elton" all snuggled in his moss-lined hammock:


There will be more crab pictures in the future and they will be yarn-related. (I'll let you chew on that one for a while. **wink** )

2) I have three fancy goldfish. Here's Ramone (formerly Mona before I realized she was a he):





And here are Otis and Pearl (black one):





3) I have a dog whom you've seen before, but here is Mr. Snuggle Beagle again making further use of his own crocheted afghan:


4) I have a cat. In lieu of a picture of the actual cat whom you've also seen previously, here is the "slightly used" crocheted cat nip mouse that I made for her:

Note: I highly recommend that you photograph finished objects BEFORE giving them to the cat for testing and assessment.

5) I have a couple of these:




Nuff said.



Each of the items on the above list require routine maintenance and occasional snuggling, except for the crabs. Snuggling freaks them out, but they do like to be misted with a spray bottle.


I think these are pretty darn good (and cute) excuses for lack of yarn blogging. But I will try to reform (or not). I assure you that there has been MUCH yarn play at my house, but the blogging of it must be delayed so as not to spoil holiday gift surprises. Stay tuned.


Perhaps I'll flash my stash at you soon. I've picked up some GORGEOUS yarns lately, and they are ready for their close-up. Here's a sneak peek:



Ta-ta.

Yarn, it’s not just for dinner

True to form, my day started with a little chaos. As I was climbing out of the passenger side of my car in front of my office building, my cell phone launched itself out of my purse and into the gutter.

Crap.

I thought momentarily about leaving it there for the city rats to make prank calls. But, after careful consideration, I decided a rescue attempt was in order for several reasons:

1) I try to be as green as possible and it didn’t strike me as sustainable to purchase my 37^th cell phone (one must upgrade, you know) unless absolutely necessary. If you need further persuasion on this point - check this out.

2) I just moved to a new office this week and I didn’t yet have phone service. Without my cell, I might miss the two calls I get every week.

3) My entire personal phone directory is in that phone because I am too lazy to create a backup directory.

After going up to my office and recruiting my co-workers for advice and assistance, I had a plan AND a back-up plan. And . . wait for it . . . both plans involved YARN. And quite nice yarn. It’s this glowing green Elsebeth Lavold angora yarn that I got as a souvenir in Georgetown at Stitch DC. I’ve been using it to make this:

Crocheted scarf for my sister-in-law made with a simple alternating shell stitch from one of my favorite crochet stitch dictionaries.

So, with plans in hand and a ring tone in my heart, I returned to the street.*

Plan A: Make large sticky ball of packing tape, attach to lovely yarn, lower tape ball into sewer and poke at tape with long stick-like device to cause adherence to phone.

Result: As phone was resting in puddle of shallow sewer water and assorted decomposing things, the tape became immediately wet and useless.

Plan B: Commandeer Co-worker A’s water cup, attach lovely yarn to handle, lower cup into sewer, use Co-worker B’s broom to sweep phone into cup and pull to safety.

Result: Triumph! Phone was retrieved and was only mildly wet on exterior and still working.

Here is my phone expressing thanks to the yarn for its role in the rescue operation.

So, the lesson here is never leave home without yarn. Aside from being able to work on holiday gifts while in line at the ATM behind the guy apparently attempting to APPLY FOR A MORTGAGE, it could save your life or, better yet, your phone directory.

*Safety Note: Obviously, safety is a significant consideration in executing any plan requiring one to be on their knees in a city street during the morning rush hour. For the benefit of OSHA inspectors lurking on my blog (stop laughing - it could happen) and others concerned for my well-being, I must state that two of my co-workers accompanied me to the street and kindly stood guard to make sure I was not squished by a bus during the rescue operation (or maybe they just followed me out there to witness me making a complete arse of myself in the middle of downtown).

The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes

*********************************************************************************



Well, in my case, it’s the knitter’s children that had no mittens. With all the gift knitting and crocheting around my house lately, I had neglected to notice that the weather was FINALLY turning cold enough to warrant the covering of bare patches of skin.

In fact, I’d been so pre-occupied that I had to be notified of this weather development by my oldest son, M. When M tried to use the backyard swing on Saturday, the chains were too cold for his hands. I found him fruitlessly rummaging around in our sweater/hat/scarf bin trying on several pairs of mittens and gloves. Finding them either too small, too big, or not meant to be worn on your hands (e.g., "Honey, that’s a hat."), he asked me if I could make him some. Duh.

After watching my parent-of-the-year nomination burst into flames before my eyes, I immediately drug M upstairs to go stash diving for mitten-worthy yarn. After both he and his brother had selected yarn for their mittens, I set to work. In 24 hours, they were done. Note: Each pair only took about 1 hour to make, but my progress was frequently interrupted by our dirty laundry pile which, having turned into Mount Killamybacka, required some serious attention on my part. But I digress.

Here's the other pair (there was some collusion on the design) :




Nothing fancy, but they are perfectly functional and will likely slip into the sock/mitten black hole within a matter of days requiring replacements. I used a very simple pattern that is available for free on the Lion Brand website here. (Unfortunately, unless you’ve registered at their website, the link might not work for you.)

Well, the laundry awaits.

Someone pass the whipped cream . . .

. . . 'cause I'm about to have myself a big slice of Kitty Pi!!!

I recently completed this very popular cat bed pattern for my sweet Gracie. I was really going for comfort and stash busting with this project, so I used lots of scrap wool left over from a recent frenzy of felted projects. The pattern for this bed is a knitting pattern, but after reviewing pictures of other Kitty Pis on Ravelry, I decided that a crocheted fabric would be less floppy. I'm stoked about how it came out. And Gracie quickly staked it out as hers.

This is how she looked at 3:00 a.m. this morning when I took the first picture. (How do they sleep like that without a chiropractor?)

This is such an easy project. (hint, hint, to all the newbie crocheters in my SnB - time to let go of the dish cloths!) It's basically just single crochet (or knitting) in the round with a standard formula for increases in each round to expand the diameter.

When you're ready to make the sides, you just do one round of single crochet in the back loop only of each stitch. This magically turns the fabric at a right angle. (I still get excited every time this happens.) Then it's just round and round and round in regular single crochet . . . until it's tall enough to suit you or you just can't take the excitement anymore.

How big to make it? Well, you just have to wing it. All wools felt a bit differently, but my rule of thumb is make it about 1/3 bigger than you want the final piece to be. As for the felting process, again, it's part magic and part luck, but here are some good instructions for felting.

So, if you gotta kitty or even a cold-natured, not-so-big doggy, consider giving this pattern a try.