Categories
Knitting and Crochet Shopping

The one where I visit the largest yarn store EVAH

It’s been terribly long since my last post, for which I apologize. I haven’t really been in the mood for posting, I don’t know why. I’m currently sitting in my sister’s living room, playing Scrabulous in my jammies. I should be finishing the hat I’m making for my bil’s Christmas present, or starting the hat or shawl for my sister, but I’m too lazy to get up.

Last Thursday, I and my sister Nancy and friend Jane drove out to the Pioneer Valley, to a) visit my alma mater (UMass Amherst) for the first time in about 15 years, and b) to visit WEBS! It was raining, and then it was snowing, but that didn’t stop us. Webs was even more overwhelming than I’d expected, and I’d expected a lot. We weren’t even halfway through the store proper when a salesperson asked if we needed help. When she learned it was our first time there, she took us to the back room–the clearance room–where I nearly started to hyperventilate. Seriously! I didn’t know where to start!

I was good, though, and managed to stick to the $50 limit set by the two $25 gift cards I had in my pocket (my geekiest purchase was of the Amherst yarn in UMass colors!). And, oddly enough, it was my sister the non-knitter that had to be pulled away from the store, as she checked out fall-colored yarns and every sample garment, looking for just the right item to ask me to make for her.

In purse news, so far I have gifted three of them–the turquoise and purple bag went to my stepfather’s gf; the brown variegated balloon bag to my sister, and the half tan, half red balloon bag to my sister’s sister-in-law. The green/yellow and mustard with beads booga bags still need to have their handles poked through, then they’re done.

Categories
Miscellaneous

The most boring post ever, but! With a recipe!

I got very little needlework done this weekend. In fact, the only thing I did was finish crocheting the alpaca scarf, but I still need to weave the ends. Instead of knitting or crocheting, I spent my weekend baking, dining with my visiting cousin et al., spending too much money at the post office shipping gifts, and chilling out at my friend R’s holiday open house.

The baking involved Ginger Crinkles (from the Land o’Lakes website) and peanut butter brownie bites*. I made two batches of the cookies and one of the brownies, but I have to make more tonight so I’ll have enough to bring to my office, PT and catsitter.

I have to plan what project(s) to take on the plane with me when I go home in a few days, and also what yarn to pack for the two and a half weeks I’ll be away from my stash. Last time I was home, I needed to buy a new suitcase for all the yarn I bought while there, so I’m hoping to avoid doing that again.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Perhaps I’ll come up with something new for later. 🙂

*Peanut butter brownie bites: Using your favorite brownie mix and a mini-muffin pan, fill each mini-muffin cup about a third with brownie mix; add a Reese’s peanut butter cup in the middle, squishing it down so the mix rises up the sides; then top it off with more brownie mix so each cup is about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for approx. 30 minutes (test your oven with a single mini-muffin, it may require less time–my oven bakes it at only 22 minutes).

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

Starting, finishing, and frogging, plus an update on the donated Cookie Monster bag

So obviously, I get a complete FAIL at that whole “trying to post every day after NaBloPoMo” thing. Oops? I blame the holidays, and the accompanying freakout.

I have been knitting and crocheting my way through the stress, although I haven’t finished anymore bags.  Weird, huh? I have a red and white 80/20 booga bag (decreased the stitch count by 20%) that’s been languishing on the needles with only about five rows to go, and the mustard beaded bag is finished except for the icord, which is about a foot too short still.

Paula, Kathie, Steve and BenInstead of finishing those, last weekend I started four–four!–scarves. One is crocheted alpaca (the defunct Lana D’Oro that I’ve been saving for a special occasion for about three years now) and will be a gift for a family friend. One is the much lauded “My So-Called Scarf,” which called to me one night in such a way that I had to start it–it’s currently six inches long, but it’s a beautiful stitch.  The third scarf was intended to accompany my mostly red outfit for my company’s holiday party on Monday, and was made of a very white, very sparkly chunky Wool-Ease.  I used a spiral crochet pattern, and I hated it when it was done–it looked like I was wearing an Elizabethan ruffle, and it was waaaaay too long.  That was Saturday. On Sunday I frogged it and started the fourth scarf of the weekend,  a dc-crocheted scarf of a much more reasonable length. I crocheted up both sides of the starting chain, so it folds a bit; then I sc’d twice in each dc along all four edges in a bright green, which gave it a slight spiral that was much less pronounced than the first one. (That’s me and my scarf in the picture, on the left.) It’s now further adorned with a touch or two of red wine, but it’s barely noticeable.

But! In bag news! Remember the sparkly blue bag that I made for the silent auction at the holiday party? Well, thanks to my boss, and to the other people that got into a bidding war, the bag finally sold for $100! More than any of my other donations have ever made! It went to my boss, who was out of town at the time so I had to bid for him (which was a little weird). He brought it home when he got back to town, walked in his front door with it slung over his shoulder, and his little two year old daughter took one look at it and reached out her hands while declaring, “Mine!” to the shiny bag.  So!cute! I saw her yesterday at the department holiday party, and sure enough, she had it slung over her own shoulder where it was carrying her treasures. Best spent $100 ever, if you ask me. 🙂

Categories
Miscellaneous

Chore day

I’m feeling overwhelmed today–I’ve let the general chores go for so long that it’s reached critical mass, and now it’s omigod so much! I’ve been breaking it down to little pieces, ’cause if I look at the mountain of dishes or the mucho laundry as something to tackle en masse, it’s too much, and I go knit instead. Doing dishes in ten minute spurts works much better (plus it’s better for my achy back), as does prioritizing the laundry (need clean socks before I even consider that slipcover).

In non-housecleaning news, I unravelled a scarf that I made last night, ’cause it just wasn’t going to work as it was, i.e. it annoyed me so much I’d never wear it. This means I’ll probably have to pick one of my existing scarves for tomorrow night’s party, but oh well. At least I have a new sweater and new jacket, so who cares if it’s accessorized with an old scarf?

And now I’m back on my chores, because I keep meaning to make a list, and keep forgetting. More dishes, get rid of all the trash (and don’t forget the bathroom this time), pick up and vacuum. Finish the holiday cards, pack up the stuff to ship home before Xmas, finish all in-progress knitting for the purses, and felt said purses. Finish gift knitting that doesn’t include purses. Visit Gracie. Watch Netflix dvds. Cook pot roast. Make lunch plans for next weekend with PT and his wife. Bake cookies. RSVP to R&J. Find L’s keys. Find gloves. Affix clasps on the finished purses. There’s more, I’m sure, but my head can’t fit anymore. *sigh*

Waste of time

My company’s holiday party is tomorrow night, so last night I made a spiral scarf for the occasion, with chunky wool-ease in sparkly white.  Except, I’m not in love with it.  For one thing, it came out WAY LONGER than I thought it would (which speaks more to the effect of the wine I was drinking when I started it, than to the pattern itself), so I have to wrap it a couple of times, which means I look like I’m wearing an Elizabethan ruffle–not the best effect for a person barely avoiding a double chin as it is. Also, the ruffles aren’t the best for keeping my neck warm, which is an issue since I’ll be wearing a v-neck sweater.

So, I think I’ll be frogging it later today.  Don’t know if I’ll have time to make something else before tomorrow, as I have a full day of chores planned, so I’ll probably end up wearing my chunky green scarf instead.  I like my green scarf, but I think a sparkly white scarf would’ve been more festive. Ah well.