Stymied

A couple of firsts to start the new year! I made my first ever Ebay purchase.
(Yes, that's right...I'm way behind the power curve on that one!)

For $20 plus S&H I received 11 pairs of knitting needles and two balls of cashmere blend yarn.

Which leads to the second first: my first package to ever arrive from China!
(Gotta love those cool customs stickers all over the outside!)

The needles I purchased came with an unexpected bonus:



Each package contained a yarn needle and needle sizer in addition to the 16" circulars!

I decided I needed some 16" needles in a variety of sizes for all the hats I've become interested in doing. Since there is not a 16" size option for my KnitPicks Options set, this seemed a reasonable thing to try. (After all, just the needles were only $12 for 11 sets! Hard to beat!)

The good news is that the needles are light weight, the joins are very smooth and the cord does not twist. I really like them!! They are sized according to the British method so that the package marked Size 16 is really a U.S. 000. That would be great for working colorwork hats in fine yarn!

I also purchased this yarn, (which lead to the title of this post)



The color of the photo is a tad deceiving. It's a very lovely, and vibrant cherry red.

The problem is that it turns out to be more like a fingering weight than a DK or sport weight. I have started no less than four seperate projects with this yarn (it feels wonderful!) and have frogged them all.

I'm afraid I'm at a loss as to what to use this yarn for.

Any suggestions?

Happy Knitting!

ps...I added a button on the side so you can keep track of our progress in geocaching. It should update each time we find another cache.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Christmas was extremely kind to me considering I wasn't really in the spirit this year. (I still can't believe we didn't put up a tree.......) Look at these wonderful gifts I received!

How many women are lucky enough to have their husband go into a yarn shop while on summer vacation in hopes of purchasing a memory to give at Christmas and unwrap this:



It's a gorgeous suri alpaca/merino blend, specially dyed there in Colorado. I wish you could feel it. It's to die for. Really. Good job hon!

My kids got me two things I LOVE: Starbucks and Crayola Crayons. (Everyone needs a new box of colors every now and then. I ended up with 120 different colors! Yeah!!)





My SIL in Ohio has ventured into making jewelry and she designed this gorgeous necklace just for me! It's made up of my favorite colors and will go with half my wardrobe! I love it!




Thanks T!!!! I got the chance to sit and visit with her for over an hour and it was so nice to reconnect again. That was one of my best parts of Christmas...and when I think about it may have been a turning point in the whole holiday for me as I felt so much lighter and happier after seeing her. I think she was my Christmas angel.

Other items that make the highlight list of gifts received: Delicious homebaked goodies from my sister, my other SIL in WI, and my friend from college; a fun Wii game of Mini-golf that we have all been enjoying immensely; a new pair of Crocs I can wear in the snow; several hugs from my niece; time spent with nephews; yummy chili my step-dad made; lots of letters from family and friends.

In the end it is the relationships I am most thankful for. While some of them remain a bit tenuous for now, others saw some progress toward healing, for which I am most grateful.

May 2009 be full of favorite things: friends, family, knitting and photos!

No More Yarn!

Some people have little or no appreciation (and even less of a sense of humor) for yarn collections (a.k.a. "stash"). Some of these people may even live with me. Unfortunately they are also the ones who tend to pay the bills and balance the checkbook. Thus, this person may have some small sense of the "problem" (his word, not mine!) incubating (he may have said "overtaking") in the guestroom. (I may definitely have to go Yarn Harlot on him and start hiding it in the piano!)

I'm trying to be good about the "request" that a moratorium on yarn purchases be put in place in our household. Instead, I've recently managed to acquire some books *about* yarn. Surely that doesn't count, does it?

Of course I bought The Harlot's new book:



It's a delight, as are all Stephanie's books! (And, when reading at night after a long day at the computer, I get the chance to wear my new reading glasses! For a 42 year old who's always wanted glasses, this is actually fun, not a drag!)

I was also enticed by these:



AND



I've read my way through *Knitalong* and it is a lovely book. The paper, the photography, the writing, the patterns....love, Love, LOVE it! I can tell I'm going to feel the same way about *Knitting For Peace.*

Do I dare tell you there are two more on their way from KnitPicks? An Elizabeth Zimmerman book along with a spinning/knitting handspun book.

Oh yeah, and one of their "sampler" kits of the new, summer yarns. (Hey, it came with five free patterns....how could I NOT order it??!!!)

A Little "Pick Me Up"

Today was a crazy day with a few stress-filled moments of sheer frenzy.
It follows a few too many days of grey, foggy, overcast, cold, icy, slushiness.

So I got out some of my stash to fondle and photograph for illustrations for one of the magazine articles I've been working on: Knitting 101. Yes, I needed a little pick me up. Maybe you do too.

Enjoy!