Off with the Merino, on with the Alpaca!

     Merino-Silk done, and suitable sunny-day picture accomplished. I love orange marigolds as much as I love purple clematis.


     If I'd had a ripe cantaloupe, I would have taken a picture of the yarn with that.









     Isn't it gorgeous? I think I'm going to knit it into a cowl for a co-worker who has the perfect skin tone for this bright yarn. It will probably only use about half of it.

Now, on to the alpaca!



    
     This is Plum Perfect Suri Alpaca Wonder Roving, and Suri Alpaca Sugar Breeze Brown blended with Merino Mojave, from Wonder Why Alpaca Farm. And if you're wondering why it's called that, don't ask me -- I don't know! This is the roving that made me break my lengthy no-new-fiber moratorium.

     This is how the chocolatey-raspberry one looks on the spindle (er, Sam Adams bottle shown for scale). I'm trying to spin it with a lot of air, and thicker than I normally spin, to keep the colors from blending too tightly. I really want the yarn to show both the chocolate and raspberry colors. Gosh, I sure am hungry all the sudden.

     And THIS is the cat that discovered if he lays right against the foot pedal while I'm spinning, he gets his back scratched.

    Oh, and Andrea at Wonder Why tells me that unfortunately, her alpaca are not naturally plum colored. I wonder how long it takes to dye a full-grown alpaca?

"I Believe It's Time for Me to PLY....."

     My apologies to REO Speedwagon.

     I finished plying the last of the merino-silk. It was a punishment; I was a bad girl, and the punishment I chose was to sit at my wheel and spin 230 yards of this gorgeousness and then ply it as soon as I got home the next day. No excuses, no stopping for anything except bathroom breaks and coffee.

     See, I promised myself I wouldn't purchase any more yarn or roving until I used up some of what I have in my stash. The promise lasted three days ... I fell off the wagon while browsing Ravelry, found myself on Etsy, purchasing 4 oz of brown Suri alpaca and 4 oz of plum Suri alpaca (imagining a plum-colored alpaca makes me happy enough to giggle). I was so irritated with myself for giving in so quickly -- not even a week! -- especially since I was halfway through the merino-silk I swore I was going to finish before doing anything else. So, as penalty for promise-breaking, I told myself sternly I was going to sit down and finish that darned merino-silk before I did another thing. Harsh punishment, I know. Brutal. I learned it from a friend of mine, an Air Force Master Sergeant, a master disciplinarian. For privacy's sake, we'll call him "Jeff."

     "Jeff" and his wife have three sons and a daughter. The daughter is currently the baby (I say currently because I'm betting there'll be a fifth baby in the making before the year is out). "Jeff" easily keeps his sons in line, but when it comes to his daughter ... well, let me post a picture of her, and you'll see the difficulty:

     What kind of heartless monster would speak harshly to that adorable child?!

     Jeff -- er, I mean, "Jeff" doesn't speak harshly to her. When she misbehaves, he says "no-no!" in a very tender tone of voice. It actually does make her scrunch her face up and fling her arms over her head in a most dramatic fashion, as if he had really hollered at her. So, in punishing myself for breaking my no-new-purchases rule, I chose a tough-but-tender approach. Spin the merino-silk before so much as thinking about spinning the new Suri. Free up them bobbins!

     Oh, and I stopped on the way home from work and bought a bottle of Chambord. I love Chambord, but I hate to spend $30 on a bottle of liquor ... so it was truly a terrible punishment. That'll learn me!

How Many WIPs are Too Many?

     These are my WIPs (this is why I have so many needles, SLC!). Two pairs of socks, a scarf, a lace-weight wrap, and (in the back) the non-traditional baby blanket. I love to have several projects going at once. I've been working on the lace weight wrap for a long time now, but it's fussy, and I don't always like to bother with it. The reddish scarf is from the pattern on the most recent issue of Spin-Off magazine. I spun the yarn from some Polworth I purchased from Misty Mountain Farm, controller of my crack--er, wool habit (it's all I can do to get out of their tent with any dignity at MS&W). The lovely white doily underneath is something my mother crocheted a long time ago. 

     Here is a better view of the scarf, and my spinning WIP:

     The gorgeous Merino-Silk blend is from these  lovely people. It's called Golden Hibiscus. I am going to take a better picture of it outside, in the sunlight, but this will do for now. It makes me think of cantaloupes. My late mother loved cantaloupes. For some reason, my thoughts keep circling around to her this summer, and just about everything reminds me of her.



      Am I happy with five WIPs? Sure -- the top-down socks are ready to go into the heel flap, I might finish the lace weight wrap this year, and the baby blanket has a definite time limit (I have 7 months to go). The scarf won't be needed for a few months yet, and the purpley toe-up socks are for me, so no rush. I have lots to work on, already on the needles, in progress. 

     So WHY is this all I can think of? 

    
    And this, one of my top-three favorite pattern books: 

    
     I believe they are meant for each other. When no one is around, the yarn tells me that it wants to be fingerless gloves, or perhaps a cowl. That's normal, right? Everyone's yarn talks to them ... right? 

Looking Forward to Autumn

     I am not fond of hot weather. I don't like using my air conditioner -- I don't like the way it isolates me from what is happening outside, and I don't like how it keeps me from hearing the crickets and cicadas at night. I also don't like sweating miserably when the humidity is more than sixty percent, so I use the A/C when it's really humid, and forgo it when I can. I love open windows. Today, there was a nice breeze and the temperature dropped to below 90, so I took the essentials out to my front porch and spent a pleasant hour doing homework (the book), then listening to an audiobook (American women authors short stories -- Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, Edith Wharton). I knitted a bit on the baby blanket and some socks, then took some pictures of my WIPs.

     My mindless socks, that I take to work to knit on while in mindless meetings (I hope I didn't give my boss this blog address). I think I should have gotten a closer close-up. The flower is a clematis, which does very well in this area, so long as you cut it back in the Autumn. They come in light purple, pink, and white, also. I might plant a few more next year, and just completely bury the ugly metal fences under them. They don't seem to attract bees, and they're just gorgeous. They drop their petals one at a time, and it makes a lovely scattering on the ground.

     The non-traditional baby blanket. The colors make me dream of Autumn, which I look forward to more than just about anything. I can't wait for that first night when I go outside to walk to dog, and feel that first little nip in the air. As much as I love my flowers and my tomato plants and lavender, I love that nip in the air more. Oh -- these are elephant ears. They get REALLY big. My Louisiana grandmother planted them around the ditch culvert to hide it from view. They grow from giant corms that winter over in the south, but don't come back if it freezes.

Gratuitous cat shot! Petunia attacking Edgar Allen Poe Cat. She's such a pesky little twerp. Sometimes Edgar looks at her as if to say get in my belleh! Other times he runs off and tries to hide, but Petunia is the perpetual pesky little sister. She finds him no matter where he hides.






     Lastly, my friend Melissa has been bitten by the blog bug. You will find her here. To my great sorrow, she is not a knitter. But I think that's only because she's so busy raising four kids and homeschooling three of them and baking and keeping house and doing laundry for six people and cooking for six people and following her own interests, which are photography, serving in her church, and various military spouse duties (I need to go rest just thinking about it all). Perhaps one day when she's old and gray, she and I can sit down and I will teach her to knit with real wool, not acrylic. Perhaps we should start with alpaca ... that's pretty addictive.

What Do YOU Hoard?

    By fanatical-knitter standards, I do not have a large stash. I do not have a S.A.B.L.E. (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy) although I do buy yarn more frequently than I buy clothing or shoes or purses, or food. Heh. Just kidding on that last one.

     I have a friend who loves shoes and purses like I love alpaca and wool and camel. In the interest of privacy, we'll call this friend "Imelda." Imelda is a stylish woman who owns dozens of purses and has enough clothing to go three months without re-wearing anything. She has more earrings than most jewelry stores. I've never seen the same shoes on her feet twice. By contrast, my shoe collection is pictured above.

Excuse the dark photo. I cannot figure out how to make my fancy new camera go flashy.

     A few weeks ago, Imelda told me she was not going to go shopping any more until October (Why October? I don't know -- must be a crazy shoe fetish thing). I scoffed and doubted this. She had gone on a 40-day dry spell over Lent, and I didn't think she was capable of going another round on the Abstinence Train. Today, Imelda found a great sale on some kitchenware that would be perfect for her Auntie B., so she asked if I thought it would be breaking her vow of celibacy if she went and purchased these items for a Christmas present. I said I figured it'd be okay, and teased her a bit about how many shoes and purses she must own by now, and how she might one day be one of those crazy hoarders on TV with sixteen blenders and eighty-five empty toilet paper rolls and thirty bags of dog food (but no dog).

     Then ... I got to thinking. I may only own 10 pairs of shoes and 2 purses that I didn't knit myself, but I certainly do hoard other things. Shot glasses, for one. I must have fifty, and always ask travelers to bring me one back. Knitting needles -- there's no such thing as too much when you habitually have five WIPS laying around (by the way, I'm STILL looking for 2.25mm 16" circs, metal or bamboo, if anyone has a source). In the last week I've bought FIVE pairs of knitting needles, four straights and two circs.

     So upon careful consideration, I think that teasing Imelda about all her shoes is sort of like the coffee calling the Guiness black -- just a little hypocritical! So in the interest of full confession, so that Imelda can poke fun at me, I present my yarn stash:

   The Ikea Bureau stash ...The bottom drawer and the basket on top, as well as the lamp-shelf to the left, are all unspun fibers. The rest is various store-bought yarns.
     Edgar Allen Poe Cat has a deep love for unspun fiber, and he knows it's in that drawer right in front of his nose. He lusts after corriedale, and he isn't ashamed to show it.



This shelf is mostly FOs, and the basket next to it is full of Knit Picks Peruvian wool. My spindles are in the little basket in front. Not too much, just a couple few dozen danish-sized skeins.

  This is the last of it ... the basket in the back is full to the top of my own handspun, which I really need to start knitting into something. It's so pretty, I hate to use it.

     The little three-tiered thingamajig in the front is a miscellaneous collection of wool, fun yarn, and acrylic.


     Here is what happens when you spend an hour sorting your yarn in the presence of a kitten. You can just see her behind the recycle bin.

     So, Imelda, next time I tease you about shoes or purses or seventy pairs of earrings, just make a sheep noise, or ask me how many knitting needles I own. That will shut me right up.

     And if someone will come over and show me how to make my camera go flashy, I'd really appreciate it. WHY is technology so hard for me?!

Any Excuse to Visit the Yarn Store

These are ceramic eggs my mother made years ago. Aside from knitting, my mother was an expert ceramist (I don't know if I made that word up or not, the spellchecker didn't underline it). If I remember correctly, these eggs were painted over with a glaze that had chunks of semi-solid paint in it. The chunks melted in the kiln; neat! Mom taught my brother and I how to pour, clean, and paint ceramics. We didn't touch the kiln, though. That was all mom's territory. I just remember dozens of little cones that propped up the greenware while it turned to bisque. I sure do miss doing all that!

Today, I had a dental appointment, so I left work early, and decided to reward myself for another cavity-free visit by visiting my local yarn store. Purple sock yarn for me, brown hat wool for the guy who helped me pick out what camera I needed. It wasn't easy for him, because the only technical term I know for a camera is "lens." And I usually confuse that with the viewfinder. The sock yarn is Berroco, the brown wool is Cascade 220, my favorite ready-made wool, the needles are Addi Turbos ... and the tail belongs to a cat that saw no reason to move out of my picture.

Speaking of cat: I may regret buying this cat tree. I looked all over the house for little Miss Molly #($&% today, to clip her nails ... it didn't even occur to me to check the top of the cat tree, which is where she spends 80 percent of her day. Do you think she answered when I called her? No! Why do we even bother naming cats? They only respond to the sound of the can opener or the treat bag, or a human trying to walk down a dark staircase ... then they're Johnny-on-the-spot.

Current project, socks 2 at a time ... not looking a bit like the pattern, but I might just stick with it anyway. I think I don't have the correct definition for RT and LT, and besides, who can purl through the back loop?! That is nearly impossible!

And my fascination with the macro lens continues. I just love the little increases ... really, it takes so little to make a sock aesthetically pleasing. The increases for this are kf&bl, which makes that horizontal line. YO leaves a hole, I find, and so does picking up the horizontal stitch in between. I think I'm just using this whole paragraph as an excuse to document yet another close up of knitting. Oh, well, it's what makes me happy! Too bad I don't have any purple flowers to take a picture with--oh, wait, the clematis is blooming...


     A co-worker was absolutely baffled that this was a sock. I tried to helpfully explain that it was a toe-up sock, thinking that was what was confusing her. Nope -- she thought the toe of the sock was just one toe. I was knitting in the dentist's chair today, waiting for the doctor, and the tech came in and said, "Oh, you're knitting a sock!"

    Whew. Someone understands me.

Should I Read ... or Knit ...

If I needed sleep less, I could knit more!

Since 2007, I have been pursuing a B.A. in Literature at the American Military University. It's officially an English Lit course, but we study works from all over. Aside from American and English fiction and poetry, I've studied Russian Lit, Middle Eastern Lit, Latin American Lit, and various other topics. Currently I am enrolled in African Literature. I love to spend my time with books as much as I love knitting, but I can't always figure out how to combine the two and not cheat one of them.

You'd think that a student of literature could just happily download her assignments on audio books, and then knit while listening ... but the books I'm assigned are rarely available as downloads, and besides that, I have to be able to concentrate and take notes. When I wrote a paper on "Wuthering Heights," I not only read the book in print, I downloaded the audio book AND a free copy to my Sony e-reader. I also purchased Kate Bush's song "Wuthering Heights" from i-tunes, but I can't say I'm particularly proud of that. The song is maddeningly catchy, and people look at you oddly if you walk around singing about Heathcliff and being at his window.

The current book for my African Lit class is "Devil on the Cross" by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o. The blurb under the title helpfully adds "Translated from the Gikuyu by the author." I see that I will be spending a lot of time with my old friend, the search engine, and Wiki. According to Wiki:

Gikuyu or Kikuyu (Gikuyu: Gĩkũyũ, pronounced [ɣēkōjó]) is a language in the Central Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family spoken primarily by the Kikuyu people of Kenya.

Whew! I'm so glad he translated it for me!


The infatuation with my macro-lens continues ....

The goldfish plant on my front porch. I've had it for years.

A new Work In Progress, because I didn't have anything "mindless."

  Toe-up socks, in Paton's Kroy Sock yarn. Something to knit on while at meetings at work. 

Something finished, but now I can take close-ups of the cable ...

The Suzy Hoody, from "More Big Girl Knits." (Not "Morbid Girl Knits," which is what my boss heard when I mentioned it to her)

So now I must go and start reading my new book ... or perhaps I'll knit. We'll see.