Change of Plans (The YARN Part 2)

Well, I didn't make it to Jean's today as planned. Maddie woke up and said "I can't go to school today". She has had a cold and has said this every day this week, so of course, Mama wasn't playin' that. Hubby felt her head and thought she was warm... sure enough, she did have a mild fever (damn!). Took her to the doctor and everything is fine, so she WILL go to school tomorrow. I know how I feel after a few days with a cold, so I think being home today will definitely help.

Headed to Jean's tomorrow (provided everyone stays healthy). While I was bummed that I didn't make it there, do not think I was not productive. I started the washing process for the 1 ply I have that was already in skeins. Here are some pics:

These are two separate batches of yarn, one is Red Heather, and one is Burgundy Heather. I washed all of them today. Two runs with Tide, and a final rinse with good ol' Suave.Below is after washing and conditioning, but before the spin only cycle.

Next, is after the spin cycle, kinda cool!Next, on the line to dry, a total of 26 skeins. Not a bad afternoon's work, wouldn't you say?I have much more single ply in skeins waiting in the basement, but figured I should only do so much at a time in case it doesn't completely dry outside (there is only so much room in this little house). Looking forward to tomorrow, though I am sure the process is going to drive my nose crazy from the mildew smell. We are just going to be winding all the cones from my previous pics, so that we can wash it, then ply them together. Already getting ideas of what I want to make with some of this, though there is so much, it is a bit overwhelming.

Jean and Carol (another crack dealer - she has sheep, MANY sheep, need I say more), have plyed the samples I gave her, and in Jean's words, it is "quite lovely". She is from England and I love to listen to her talk. No matter what she could be saying, it all sounds so polite and refined - even the time she told me "Don't be daft!" Love it! I feel very lucky to have had our paths cross.

I will hopefully be posting next with pics from Jean's (fingers crossed), though I am hating my camera more and more each time I post. Now I ask you, who is stupid enough to buy a camera that DOES NOT HAVE A ZOOM??? Me and the hubby, that's who - how dumb can you be? Oh well, at least I have an excuse for my crappy pics - who would I blame if I actually had a decent camera =)

The YARN, Part One

Tomorrow I am off to my wonderful fiber friend Jean's house. I had given her some samples of the YARN I received from my Sis and BIL, and she has proclaimed that it is in fact usable. Of course, there is some work involved, but those of us suffering from this fiber/yarn/knitting addiction do not look at it this way. Observe below -

Here, is some of the yarn, but wait, there's more!

Not so fast, one more!

Okay, the little fur ball to the left is Mikey, not yarn, but you get the idea. After seeing all this, I must confess that this is only maybe 1/2 or less of my entire Virginia haul - yes, that's right, maybe half (probably less). Jean has found a way to get the stink out, and the first step is winding all this stinky stuff into skeins, then a good washing in Tide (two times), with a final conditioner rinse. I am headed to her house to start skein winding tomorrow since she is fully equipped, and I am not. More on my crack dealer, um, I mean Jean, in my next post. I will take some pics of the whole process tomorrow, but since I am not the best, I can't make any promises.

I have just recently found myself unemployed. I won't go into detail regarding the employment situation except to say that you can only allow yourself to be treated unfairly for so long. A part-time job at a yarn store should not be cause for hurt and feelings of being taken advantage of, which was exactly what was happening. I feel I made the best decision for me and my family, and hopefully another door will be opening for me soon. In the meantime, I have plenty to do with this HUGE acquired stash of mine, not to mention the sock stash I've managed to accumulate in a very short amount of time.

I leave you (probably all two of you who read this ;), with a picture of the King - don't ya just wish you were him?

Catching Up!

Okay, I am definitely not good at this, but I am going to try to do a better job in 2008, we'll see. Anyway, Christmas brought some yarny goodness my way, BIG yarny goodness.

What you are looking at is the back of my sister and brother-in-law's Ford F150 pick-up. There are 5 regular Rubbermaid type bins, and 2 super-sized bins towards the back. Any idea what might be in there? YARN!!! In all of them! 100% Wool Yarn from Chester Farms, also known as Cestari. Tons of 1 ply on cones and skeins, and sweaters worth of 2 ply in skeins. Now, you ask, how did I gain all this wonderful wooliness? Well, my sister and BIL bought a building in VA to start their second location for their chiropractor practice. While clearing out the basement of said building, my BIL came across yarn - not just a little as the pics show. Thank God they knew who to call and didn't trash or donate it (not that donating is bad, but, well, you know....). At first I thought BIL was pulling my leg, since he knows all about my yarn addiction, but after betting on cheese steaks, I knew he was serious.

The only problem I'm facing right now, besides what to knit (not really a problem there), is how to get the basement odor out of the yarn. I did handwash about 24 skeins of the 1 ply the night the yarn arrived (oh yes I did - after providing requisite cheesesteaks to sis and her hubby), and they came out okay.

I contacted my guild friend, and of course, she has a skein winder with a yard measure thingie, so I will be going back and forth to her place to skein up all the cones, then handwash everything over time (thinking springtime). At least this won't be quite as stinky as washing all those alpaca fleeces over the summer. Now that was stinky!

Speaking of alpaca fleeces, I will be picking up my processed roving for them on Wednesday and I can hardly wait! I haven't done any spinning since early Fall, mainly due to Christmas knitting and obsessing about socks. Speaking of which......



I finished a pair of socks for Maddie out of Adriafil's KnitCol. After all that Christmas knitting, I needed to make some quick socks, and these were them. I finished these in two evenings and loved every minute of it! Maddie put them on immediately and I think they are her favorite socks. Now I need to start a pair for Courtney, but I have three other wips I need to finish first, and they are:



Basic 2x2 Alpaca Sox rib socks for Becky. Becky is one of my sister's best friends, and she is terrific. My Mom-Mom had to have back surgery early this Fall, and my Aunt who lives with her had just had a stroke this summmer and can't drive anymore. Becky, who is a vice principal in a middle school, took time out of her busy schedule to drive my Aunt to see Mom-Mom in the hospital, as well as run errands. This really meant alot to us, as my sister who lives in AZ had just had her baby, so Mom-Mom and Aunt Marion were kinda hangin in the wind. Becky is the best!


The Seascape Shawl for Mom-Mom. I bought this yarn 2 years ago at the Knit and Crochet show in Valley Forge specifically for her. These are definitely her colors, and living in Sun City, AZ, she doesn't need anything substantial, so this will be perfect for those evening when it's a little chilly (yeah, like maybe twice a year, she lives in HELL for Pete's sake!) Gotta get crankin on this one, only on row 80!

No pic for the last one, it's for my Loopy Swap partner, and since I'm not sure if she figured out who I am, I don't want to spoil anything. I am at the heel flap on both socks (she only requested socks so that doesn't reveal anything), so I figure I'll be done this weekend, then just to buy a few final goodies!

Christmas brought me even more yarn than that truckload above. My husband got me two skeins of YarnLove Elizabeth Bennet in Tapestry, Maddie got me a skein of DIC Smooshy in Some Summer Sky, Courtney made me a pen and ink drawing from her art class (and even framed it!), and Jay (BIL with the truck of yarn) was my Secret Santa and got my two skeins of Opal (Hummel and Der Blaue Mond). My husband also enrolled me for the Hill Country Yarns sock club, my very first one! Just found out yesterday that I didn't get picked for The Loopy Ewe Sock club, so I am consoling myself with the 3 skeins of Wollmeise I scored at the last sneak up - it was amazing I got any!

Hope if anyone is reading this, you had a great Christmas! I will post next week with pics of my alpaca roving (picking it up Wednesday, maybe it will distract me into spinning again and tear me away from my sock obsession a little).