Too Much Yarn

Sock Club shipments and such...

First of all... I was joking that only 5 people read this blog.  I know it's more than 5 - maybe more than 10, maybe more than 15.. but I'm glad only 5 people commented or else I don't think I would be sending out 15 skeins of yarn out even though I want to destash!  So, thank you to EVERYONE who reads by blog.  I encourage you to comment more or just to say hi.

Today, I came home to find 2 packages from Sock Clubs.  The first is from Woolgirl.  I'm so glad it contains a skein of yarn from Sweet Georgia. My first skein!  Pinky has been trying to enable me to buy from Felicia Lo (my maiden lastname) from Vancouver, but I found her at the time I was getting saturated with yarn and didn't really have the umph to order from across the border.  The yarn base is Tough Love Sock.

Goodies include 2 patterns, a wooden box, a stitchmarker, and a needle vial - here's a close up (stitchmarker is very small!)

The needle vial is for replacing your chibi case!  But this is glass.  While the top is very pretty, I don't think I will travel with this container!

The next package is from Three Irish Girls.  I think I have one more package and my subscription is up!  Should I renew?  I have yet to knit a skein of 3IG yarn!

Goody was a needle end thingy...  I just love to look at the colors:

I also have a box I haven't opened!  It's a Bugga swap. The day I received it is the day I received the package I sent out to Tan!  I told her I won't open mine until she opens hers on Monday.  Apparently, when I used the Automatic machine at the post office, I selected Large Envelope instead of package!  So, I owed 34 cents in postage!  Anyway, I resent it today and my package should be there on Monday.

Also, the lucky Susan who received my Fiberphile Tranquil send me a wedding photo:

Awww... how cute.  I want to cry (for letting go of such a beautiful skein!).  But I'm glad to hear that they are moving to the Caribbeans.  Ya think Susan needs to wear anything made of wool in the Caribbeans?  I told her if they are getting a divorce, let me know!

I finished my Artemis and Apollo socks last Friday on the car ride to North Dakota.  MINUS 1, for a total of 18 at the moment!  I know it doesn't sound so good, but it sounds better when I tell myself that I can buy up to 12 skeins for the rest of the year if I don't finish any projects.  But if I do, I can buy more!

Coming up next - hopefully, I would have finished my Through The Loops Mystery Socks by then, and wound the yarn for next month, and show you the 5 skeins of yarn I'm sending out. Woohoo! 

And the winner is...

NO ONE!!  (well, Pinky changed her count, but for the wrong reason).

On Oct 17, my count was + 21.  Then, I added 3 for the 2 skeins of Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer and 1 skein of Milkweed Beetle. = +24.  Then, I  sent 2 off to Netherlands (4 skeins, but count as 2 as you need 2 skeins to knit a complete pair!) + 22.  Then, I sent 1 skein off to Susan for the swap package = +21 and here's the tricky one.. I finished the shawl to be sent to Susan, but I never counted it yet!!  HAHA!  So, the answer is 20.  Since only 5 people read my blog, can each one of you pm me your address (well, I know Christy's and Pinky's) so I can send you each skein of sock yarn?  I need to reduce my count!!

OK - since last Wednesday,  I've actually  made quite a bit of progress on knitting, but not having the sun (we've had gusty, windy storms the past 2 days and we may see snow soon!), I haven't taken many photos.  So, for the record, the Meliae shawl has been blocked and sent to Susan.  The designer, Melissa Goodale even asked to use this pic on the pattern page!

I love this pattern and plan to knit another one.  I've also made progress on my Multnomah shawl:

I hope to have enough yarn for 10 repeats of the feather and fan lace repeats.  The pattern was written for Bugga, but I'm using a size 5 needle instead of 3 because well, my size 5 is a Signature Needle Arts circular!  I love knitting with those needles!  So, in case I ran out of yarn, I was thinking of doing a few rows or 1 repeat as the border with Ruby Tailed Wasp (original yarn is Four-legged Leaf Beetle):

I don't want something very contrasty, but still, you can tell it's a different color.  So I think I will knit until I run out of yarn and then put a lifeline and then use Ruby-tailed Wasp and see if I like it.  As of now, I'm pissed at the thing.  I apparently had an accidental YarnOver and then, I proceeded to knit 6 rows on this YO.  By the time I realize it, it was a "hole" where the YO was.  So, I decided to drop that stitch.  Well, then, it began to look like Clapotis with the drop stitch!  So, I've decided to tink back.  I thought about putting a lifeline about 5 rows back, but I think it's faster tinking back 2000 stitches.

Next, I finished my Artemis and Apollo socks for the September Sockdown.  However, I haven't woven in the ends nor taken a photo, so I will not count a minus one for this yet.  I'm also working on the Through The Loops Mystery Sock.  I'm working on the leg (clue #4) for sock 1, and the heel flap (clue #3) for sock 2.  I want to finish these by the end of the month because I have lots of patterns to choose from!  I'm definitely working Lisa Stichweh's Mystery Sock.  I haven't decided on the yarn color yet.  Then, I want to knit this pattern by Linda Welch - South Forks Sock.  Click here to learn more about the pattern and 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

 

Next, I also want to knit Jeannie Cartmel's Everything's Connected Socks:

And I have some yarn set aside for some beaded socks!

I'm nuts!  Stay tune next week to see what I decided on!

My only acquisition the last few days was my Swap package (which I'll talk about later) and this skein of Emerald City from The Tinsmith's Wife yarn shop in Texas:

It's tealish with more green - vs. Surf, which was tealish with more blue.  Here's a photo comparing Deep Peacock (the first shipment of Hazel Knits Sock Club in Feb 2009), Emerald City, and Surf (knitting the TTL Mystery Sock):

So, PLUS 1 = 21.

And I'm sure you're dying to know - did I give up the Tranquil.... YES, I DID!  Susan who received it said in her note after reading my blog, "I love your friends!" - for encouraging me to give the skein up.  So, MINUS 1.  Then, I sent off a skein of Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer because Debi wants Yellow Lobster for a trade and the seller only wants a trade for WGS.  So, I gave it up for Debi.  I kept looking at it as I packed it up.  Luckily, I have another skein!  MINUS 2.  So for today, the total is 19! 

I was thinking... how about I don't get anymore yarn  -- how about I have to stay under 30 for the rest of the year?  I know that's a lot, but I can place an order of 10 skeins in one shot.  So limiting myself to 10 for the next 10 weeks could be a challenge.  Well, when I send your skeins off (the people who read my post last week), I can buy 5 more! Hehe..

OK - Susan's swap package.  She was so thoughtful to pick up all these beautiful postcards from the places she stopped at.  She went on a Mediterranean Cruise.  She wrote a long blog post - her second post since she created her blog in 2008 >> On a boat to somewhere.  There is a scrapboook. I want to put the postcards into the book so I'll remind myself that I want to visit these places one day.  There is a compartmentized box (in blue!) which I've already filled with beads.  A set of Hiya-Hiya stitch markers (would you believe it?  I don't have these!) and some thingys to prevent your stitches from falling off your needles, and a shawl stick...  OK - those are the not-travel-related items - she thought I would like them and I do!

Then, there's a bar of soap from St. Tropez, France (already in my bathroom!), stitch-markers made by her son, Jeremy, using Murano beads from Italy:

and the shawl - it turned out smaller than she expected, so she calls it a scarf!  It's knitted with Sanguine Gryphon's Little Traveler in Venezia, in Marina, a pattern by Kate Blackburn.

I just love the color!!!!!!!!!!

OK - I think I've bored you to death with this long post.  I must now go figure out a way to organize Pinky's and my patterns!  And knit some while watching the movie, The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Help me decide...

Someone PM'ed me over at Ravelry.  She had ordered the last skein of Tranquil (from Fiberphile) from The Loopy Ewe and noticed that I had a skein the same time she bought hers and wondered if I'm willing to let go of mine.  Well, to tell you the truth, I have 2 other skeins that are quite similar.  I have no plans for Tranquil.  So, should I give it up?  Here's Tranquil...

Here's Bugga in Blue Stink Bug and Familiar Bluet...

And here's Squoosh Fiberarts in Sargasso...

What do you think?  (Christy - you don't have to respond - I know you would give it up for nothing!)  Should I give it up?

=================================================================

Time for arithmetic lessons...  First, the zero points.  Dianne (woohoogirl) - zero points for sock club yarn (like water, diet soda), zero points for other-than-sock-yarn like worsted (like veggies), and zero points for gifted or replacement (as in trade) yarn (like spices - salt, pepper).  2 skeins of sock yarn that are needed to make a pair  = 1 point.

Here are a couple skeins of sock club yarn from Hazel Knits.  I was so thrilled I haven't looked up their names!

Close up:

Then, these Bugga in Milkweed Beetle and Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer arrived:

Then, I sent my Travel Swap package off to Susan in Buffalo. 

 

Each item has a special meaning, e.g. the Money notecards reminded me of my trip to Paris at the Musee de l'Orangerie:

where the Monet waterlilies were displayed so beautifully and it was a truly amazing experience to look at these paintings in those rooms.  The shawl pin is also a kilt pin I picked up in London.  The project bag was from a fabric I picked out and had Michele from Three Bags Full make.  Susan is a ziploc gal and let's see if she'll use it! The Meliae Shawl that I knitted, the puppy snips that look like the Eiffel Tower! And the yarn and needle that had nothing to do with the trip. I felt she needed another Work in Progress and well, I don't care for Bamboo in my yarn and she does, so there, she can have it...

Then, Marianne from Netherlands would like these from my destash page... 

and

And so, I ask you, my friends... what is my yarnwatchers points at?  The person with the correct number will receive a skein of yarn from me (so I MINUS one!).  In case of a tie, we will have to ask the random number generator... I will check answers on Wed. Oct 27.  Any new yarns would not be counted between now and Wed, Oct 27.  Get counting!

Purplelicious... but zero points!

I have today and tomorrow off from work.  We are taking the boy to Fargo in North Dakota to visit North Dakota State University.  It's one of the 5 colleges around with a Pharmarcy School - which the boy has decided to pursue after high school.  Earlier this month, he visited Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa with his buddy and family.  Today, we're taking him and his buddy.  Both are looking into Pharmacy.  Drake is a private school, tuition costs more, but offers more academic scholarships so in the end, it's going to cost about the same as the local University of Minnesota or University of Madison.

I received my backordered Malibrigo Rios from Webs.  Someone asked me to give Webs another chance.  I was going to, and then, when I received my invoice for this order, they did not give me my 25% off discount.  I was not happy!  I had to call them to make the adjustment!  I was still not convinced they are that great... Then, the yarn came and I've forgiven them.  I saw the original color I picked at the local yarn store.  I'm glad I changed it to this color - Zarzamora.  No pattern picked yet...  So, worsted yarn has zero points.  Here's the pile of 7 skeins...

and a closeup.

I traded Skinny Bugga in The Herald,

for this: Earth Boring Dung Beetle:

It looks awfully similar to the Pink-Toed Tarantula I received last week - except it's more solid.  Pink-toed is in front:

I shipped out my travel swap package to Susan in Buffalo.  Expecting her package to arrive today, but I'll be leaving for North Dakota, so I'll have that to look forward to when I return tomorrow.  Then, Hazel Knits' October shipment should be here today, and the order I placed from Sanguine Gryphon (just a very small order) is also expected today, so I figured I'd better show you my zero points before those packages arrive.  Well, really, they would all be zero points as Hazel Knits is Sock Club, Swap package is a finished object, and Sanguine's package is just 1  2  3 points.

Bad Influence...

HAHA.. I got Christy and Pinky on the sweater!

Now, how about I try to enable them to this Orange Skein (they both like orange) ?  Skinny Bugga in WRM Melon - 3 skeins left HERE!!  There's also a darker version WRM Orange, but I resisted...

Its travel companion was Pink-Toed Tarrantula, in Bugga:

Say goodbye to Oak Timberworm in Bugga - it has been sold:

YARNWATCHERS: Previous = +20, PLUS = +2, MINUS = 1, NET = +21

A New Sweater

 
 
 
Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Oatmeal Bug

 
Needles:  Size 6 SNA 32" Circulars.

 

Pattern:  Rib Shawl Collar Cardigan

 
Available at Coldwater Creek.  Originally $104.95, now on clearance for $58.99 (price of 2.11 skeins of Bugga).

Plus 3

There are 12 skeins here, but really, they're only 100 yards each so technically, you need all 4 to complete a pair of socks.  These are the Unique Sheep Gradience I ordered in Verve. I think these may before shawls vs socks.

Japonica:

Coffee House Riff:

Midnight Delight:

I'm so saturated with yarn that I am showing no interest in getting more.  Pinky has sent me some links to some great deals on Sock Clubs but I'm just not biting.  I'm sticking with Rockin' Sock Club for $235 a year.  I  may drop Woolgirl (which was over $360) . I've decided not to renew 3IG... Loopy Ewe is by lottery.  I'm already in Knit Purl ($195?), and I'll probably stay with Hazel Knits.  But really, I need to make my own sock club!

Oh, I destashed my Lucy Kit!!!

YARNWATCHERS: Previous = +18, PLUS = +3, MINUS = 1, NET = +20

Next up - an FO to show you!

They're here...

No!! Not the ghosts from Poltergeist, the movie!  The yarn packages are here! But before I tell you about them, I should warn you this is going to be a looooong post!  So much to tell you.  There are some little things I don't want to forget to bring them up so I'm going to start with that.

First of all, I received a Lovely Blog Award from Jolene (Revelry ID, jobodesigns).  Jolene, thank you so much!  I have to tell you that I don't forward jokes or chain letters (even the ones that said  bad luck will come to me if I don't forward the email on!).  With that said, I feel this award is a way to get other readers to read other blogs.  This was very nice of you to get others to read my blog... I actually have done something similar to this before but was turned down by many others whose blogs I read.  Therefore, I will not continue to award anyone with the Lovely Blog Award, but I do want anyone reading my blog to check out Jolene's blog at  Jobo Designs. Jolene's a sock knitter and a shawl knitter, and likes sock yarn!  Just like me!  In her personal message to me, she said, "You inspire me with your sense of humor and your great taste in footwear!"

Speaking of footwear... now, there's no question of yarn enabling at Ravelry, or project bags enabling, or pattern enabling, but shoes?  Is that not ridiculous?  So Dorie posted a pair of finished socks with these shoes (Capers from Spring Forward).  Remember?  I need blue shoes.  Excuse the brightness of my Roger socks in Casbah (Berry) - I wanted a color that is very contrasting so you can see the shoes:

       

Another personal message received on Ravelry this week from Allison: 

"I love reading your blog! It’s so entertaining! Whenever I get bored, I’m like hmmm, I wonder if Mapleweave got any more yarn to add to her GINORMOUS stash? Then I check it out :)

Thanks for keeping me entertained haha!"

Well, Allison, you're in for a treat today!  I received 4 packages this week:  sock club package from Rockin' Sock Club, The Loopy Ewe, Sanguine Gryphon, and Blue Moon Fiber Arts. (oops 5!  also received a skein from the 3IG Yarnista Club)

The September Rockin' Sock Club consists of a manly color - Pinning 4 Ewe.  It's of a lovely pine color.  I think this yarn will be made into socks for the Sock Thief.  The 2 patterns that came with the package are EZ's Moccasin Socks and Buggin' Out.  EZ as in Elizabeth Zimmerman (Meg Swansen, EZ's daughter designed this pattern)  has an interesting pattern.  The idea is that the sole is knitted separately or maybe there's some sort of stitch pick-up.  When the sole is worn out, you can simply replace the sole.  Cool idea, but it seems a bit out of the ordinary and I'm not sure if I'm ready to test this pattern out.  One skein of STR Lightweight is not going to be enough yarn!  Buggin' Out is desiged by Stephen Hougton.  It's a man sized sock with some bug motifs.  I think Sock Thief would like this, but maybe it will wait until February Sockdown (man's socks challenge!).

A better color of the yarn:

The big kahuna order from Sanguine Gryphon arrived with the new Fall colors in Bugga.  I won't bore you with every single skein.  You can check out my stash page for individual skein colors.  Here is the group photo:

and my favorite: Frog legged leaf beetle  (note that it is not BLUE!)

PLUS 9

From Blue Moon Fiber Arts... the green one (The New Color of Love) is pretty neon green.   Emily is going to get that, I'm sure.  I like the second skein - the orange one - love the name:  Cozy Fierce and Dirty Orange.  It's the perfect orange for the kids' school colors.

PLUS 3 (the heavyweights in My Blue Heaven are for a sweater.  Yarn for sweaters don't count in Yarnwatchers, says Brain).

From The Loopy Ewe, 2 Fiberphiles MCN and 1 DIC Smooshy with Cashmere in Rock the Olive.

I had ordered Bronzed Lake the week before and Rock the Olive is pretty similar with exception of some greens in Rock the Olive.  If I have a project that requires 2 skeins, I could alternate between these 2 skeins.

PLUS 3.

Are you exhausted yet?  One last one... this is the September shipment from Three Irish Girls.  It's called Sleight of Hand. It's in a base that I really like. I think it's Springvale.

Zero points (sock club)

YARNWATCHERS: Previous = +3, PLUS = 15, MINUS = 0, NET = +18

OK - knitting news.. Yes, I've been knitting up the storm! I finished the Artemis sock, leaving the foot left for Apollo:

I cast on Tuileries in Hazel Knits (Shady Verdant)

I finished clue 2 of the Through The Loops Mystery Sock by Kirsten Kapur... I didn't read the instructions properly, costing me 2 hours of wasted knitting time.  What is Garter Stitch when knitting in the round?  I figured Stockinette is knit all rows, why not Garter is purl all rows?  Well, Garter when knitting in the round is knit 1 row, purl 1 row.  I frogged back 28 rows and am now caught up.  This is the end of clue 2 (leg of the sock).  Knitting this in Hazel Knits in Surf:

And finally, I am so close to casting on a shawl or sweater, but I must resist!  I want to finish this sweater.  This is Mr. Greenjeans, which I started in 2008!  I have about another 2 inches to knit (about 8 rows) and I can cast off.  Next, I  have to pick up stitches along the edge of the sweater (inside and neck) to knit the band for the buttonhole.  This is where I'm at:

You may not be able to see my lifeline about 4 inches below the sleeve.  Here's  a better photo:

So, I'm supposed to start the cable rib about 5 inches below the sleeve.  When I put in the lifeline, I was at 4 inches.  I told myself, "one more inch".  Well, that "one more inch" became "5 more inches" because I forgot. I just figured I need 5 inches from the lifeline! And so, I started the rib after 9 inches of stockinette, instead of 5!    I ganked this photo from Ravelry ID "winterdandylion" for illustration purposes.  See how much longer the cable rib is?

Anyway, my sweater will be a bit longer.  It seems a little small (when I was taking the photo, Sock Thief asked if it was for Caitlyn, who will turn 6 tomorrow!).  I explained there will be 2 more inches in the middle (band) plus blocking.  I'm going to block the heck out of this sweater so it will FIT!  Anyway, the final length from the sleeves is 12.5 inches.  I'm now at 13.  I will knit 8 more rows, which should be more around 14 inches.  Don't you agree?  I'm so close.  I should finish this project!  I have a few more sweaters queued up. Even Susan from Michigan wants to do a KAL with me on the Tea Leaves Cardigan.  I told her I HAVE to finish this!  So wish me luck! 

Now, I will leave you with something funny.  If you read Jennifer's blog at AmphibiaKnits, you would have read about Magda.  If not, this is what Jennfer wrote:

"... Magda pranced over to the car and was wearing a beautiful knit cardigan in a lovely purple yarn.  In her purse she was carrying a pair of black socks very similar to the Knitspot Tesserae pattern, and she also had a purple fingering weight cardigan on size 5 Addi Turbo Lace.  They are all lovely.

But the funny part is that she said to me, “That woman Christine is bad for you.  She’s a bad influence.”

Being positive and Brainy

Let's talk about being positive!  In this blog, that means, I received new yarn!  So let's just dig in!  From Loopy Ewe this week, I received 3 skeins of MCNs.  This is String Theory Caper in Isis:

These are Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Crystal Storm

and Bronzed Lake:

When I purchased the DIC Smooshy with Cashmere, it was advertised for $28 each with 450 yards on the label.  Sheri, the owner of The Loopy Ewe emailed us who bought this yarn to let us know that there really is only 400 yards per skein.  We have an option of returning the yarn at her expense, or keep the yarn with a $5 credit for each skein.  I thought that was REALLY nice of her.  Points for her!  (not my YW points, of course!)

Next, these are 2 skeins of Madelinetosh. This is Tosh Sock in Logwood:

and Pashmina in Forestry (MCN):

Would you believe me if I tell you I LUV Pashmina?  It's my type of yarn... so if I have to support Madelinetosh, that's what I'll be getting going forward.  Let me give you a history of this purchase.  I was browsing through Twist Collective (from reading someone's blog) and then, I clicked on the WEBs ad.  I've never shopped from them and I know they run some discount.  I noticed they have the new Malabrigo Rios yarn for $13.60 each and yes, I need more yarn for a sweater I'll never make.  A lot of the colors I really like are out of stock, but I found this color (Candombe), which had 8 skeins left and I really only wanted 7.

Then, I added 2 skeins of the Madelinetosh, which makes me qualify to get 25% off my yarn purchase!  Good deal (but I have to pay shipping!)  That afternoon, I received an email from them that Candombe is on back order and it will be 3-4 weeks before they arrive!  What?!?!  If I was going to wait, I would have picked a different color!  I called them up and gave them an earful.  They explained that they share the online inventory with their store.  So, when I placed the order, someone in the store could have these in their basket and so they went home with the yarn I placed online!  I asked if I could change the color.  I decided to go with this instead - Zarzamora.  I may end up liking Cadombe more, but it's my pride, I gave them an earful, so I want to prove that I really wanted another color!  Malabrigo always have nice colors so I'm sure I won't be disappointed!  Final message:  don't shop at Web unless the deal is too good to pass up!

So, that's PLUS 5.  Now, for some negativity...  I finished a pair of socks (#18 this year!) - this is the Melissa Goodale Hazel Knits Mystery Sock:

MINUS 1.

Previous = -1, PLUS = 5, MINUS = 1, NET = +3  (how the hell did AJ get +46 since we started this?  She's so naughty!)

Speaking of AJ (Auntie Jennifer), here's the second part of my blog post.  I should bring in another cohort, ChristyH (Ravelry ID)..  Christy is a real person whom I've met and shared the same bathroom with when we stayed at her Mom's last Fall (sorry, is that TMI for you?)  AJ, I haven't met so I can't tell you much about her bathroom habits...  Christy sent me this PM after reading about what I was saying about Jennifer and what Jennifer was saying about me.  She said something about we are like Pinky and the Brain.  I have no clue what she's talking about. I googled who these people are... well, if you know what Pinky and the Brain is, I don't have to explain... But for those who don't, you can learn about them here at Wikipedia.  So, quoting Wikipedia:

Brain is self-centered and scheming; Pinky is good-natured but feebleminded. In each episode, Brain devises a new plan to take over the world use up yarn, which ultimately ends in failure, usually due to Pinky's idiocy or the impossibility of Brain's plan.

and ...

The bulk of every episode involves one of Brain's plans for world domination to use up yarn with Pinky's assistance and the ultimate failure of that plan.

Wow! ChistyH sure got it right!  Perhaps we shouldn't share so much about our "plans" - but too late!  Have you read Jennifer's latest post: Pinky and the Brain goes knitting?  Ugh!  She cut and pasted every word I said!  I have to find a way to use invisible text or something that self destructs 5 seconds after reading.  But seriously, that post was so hilarious - I was laughing at what I was saying!  We have a serious problem and the yarn has not stopped arriving.  Our bins are busting and we are still buying.  But we are not in debt and we are enjoying the adventure.  We figured worse comes to worst, we can send each other our stash so we have the minuses in Yarnwatchers and still have new yarn!

Oh, I so enjoy knitting and everything relating to it - yarn, patterns, Ravelry, friends, and you!

Yesterday, I cast on 2 new pairs of socks.  So look for details on that on the next post!  Also, expecting the Rocking Sock Club Sept shipment, Woolgirl Sept shipment, and my order of Gradience colorway yarns from The Unique Sheep.  And another piece of good news - my Cupcake kit is sold!  YAY!