Need more yarn!

It's been hell the past couple of weeks at work. Knitting has saved many lives this week. It really did keep me from killing stupid people.

How can I possibly want more yarn when I have more than any sane person should have? I admit to having a fibre stash, yarn stash, fabric stash, button stash, paper stash. Basically, it's a you-name-it-I-probably-have-it stash.

We have a friend who visits regularly. He flies in from Toronto on business about 4 or 5 times a year and usually spends a night or two at our house. We usually get advance warning and I clear out the room just enough for an inflatable mattress plus a bit of wiggle room. This week, he came unannounced (2 days warning) and I had no time to clear out the room. He was stunned at how much stuff was in the room. He had no idea how much fibre & crap I keep in that room!

The Silky Wool was going to be a scarf but my heart was not in it. I started the scarf several times but finally decided on a hat. But I kept thinking of Kelly's idea of making socks with this yarn. I can see it would make wonderful socks. I have yarn left over from the hat. In order to use up this leftover yarn, I need to buy more yarn to make socks. That makes sense...buy more yarn just to use up the remainder.

Tammy, you don't want to hear about how wonderful this stuff is! :D

I stopped by a LYS to pick up the Paton's Street Smart pattern booklet. I love the Urban Aran sweater and seen that a few people have made it into a cardigan. The pattern looks like it should be easily converted to a zippered cardigan.

Good thing I wasn't on any kind of yarn diet. A couple balls of sock yarns and two skeins of Elizabeth Lavold's silky wool came home with me. The idea was to make myself a hat with silky wool. I don't know why becuase I don't wear hats. I think they must put something in the air at the store because, for the life of me, I really don't know why that idea came to mind. Anyhow, there's enough to do a scarf. Most likely, it will just go into the stash for a few years.

Another reply to Gillian

Yeah, that's the one thing I don't like about Blogger is that they don't let me reply to comments diretly. You can always email me at thymeformomAThotmailDOTcom.

I was at the local garden centre (Art Knapps) today and asked about the paperwhites. Apparently, there are different types. Some are more fragrant than others. She showed me one that had bigger flowers but really didn't smell all that pleasant. Unfortunately, I don't know which variety I had.

Raised binding

There's not a lot of knitting happening in my life at the moment.

That's not quite true...it's more like re-knitting or un-knitting. The Mucking-Out-The-Barn sweater is now going to be a cowl. After finishing the back, I finally admitted to myself that it would be a waste to make this yarn into a sweater. The yarn is very soft with bits of silk waste blended in and loosely spun. It was pilling even as I knit. By finish, it would be one giant ball of pill. I un-knitted it and thought it would be much better off as a cowl. As for the BPT hoodie, it's a bit harder. I have two options - re-knit in a larger size or lose 25 pounds. Knowing myself, it would be faster and easier to re-knit but I can't bring myself to pull it apart. That project will sit a while longer.

The sewing frame worked really well but it will take a bit of practice to use it. I kept banging into the top bar as I sewed. It took a bit to get used to not being able to constantly turn the book while sewing. The first attempt came out ok - the tension was a bit uneven but I'm hoping that will improve with practice.

The holes in the covers were punched out with a die cutter and the threads were looped through and tied off. The knots were dabbed with glue to keep them from unraveling.

Book Specs:
24 lb bond acid free sheets - 25% cotton, watermarked
Cotton yarn ties
Green waxed linen thread

In reply to Gillian re: Paperwhites

I'm not sure about why your paperwhites "stunk". I hope I'm not insulting you by asking if you've checked to make sure the bulbs are really paperwhite bulbs. It's possible that you may just not like the scent of them. Kinda like not everyone appreciates the smell of coffee. Me, that's one of the best smell in the world but I know people who gag if they catch a whiff of brewing coffee. The bulbs for this year were planted in dirt but I've forced them in just water before and have not noticed any difference in the scent.

This is Vancouver, for Pete's Sakes!

Trying hard to remember when was the last time we had 3 major snowfalls in one winter! This is the view from the driveway, down the street this morning. I love snow but then, I wasn't one of the ones skidding on the icy roads yesterday.

Paperwhites are the most amazing flowers ever! The bulbs were started indoors back in October. The flowers bloomed just in time for Christmas and have been going strong since. The fragrance is wonderful! A cross between jasmine & orange, I think.

There's a million things you can use 30 foam brushes for. The local Michael's was having a Dollar Day sale and the brushes were only 10 for $1.00. I use them mostly for gluing. At this price, I'm not going to sweat it if I forget once in a while to wash them before the glue dries. The poor cashier had to ring them in one at a time.

Life is Bizarre

For those of you who know where I work and what's been happening, I'm ok. I was still on holidays. No one was hurt, thank God!!

Sometimes I'm such an idiot!!

I knew today is Wednesday yesterday. But for some reason, I kept thinking it's only Tuesday today. I blame the garbage men. They usually pick up on Tuesday but because of New Year's Day, they picked up today...Wednesday. So all day long, I thought it was Tuesday. And being that I'm still on vacation, I'm all turned around.

I had a nice quiet day puttering around, working on my sewing frame. My wood working skills really does leave a lot to be desired but this will do until I make a better one. Better than paying $109 US plus shipping. I won't show the close up pics of the toothpicks jammed in with the posts to keep them straight. Total cost: $10.00 for the hardware. The wood was odds & ends from the garage...and that was free stuff I got from work. Not fancy but it'll do the job. The plans are in the Keith Smith books but I didn't follow the exact measurements. I just used whatever wood bits found in the garage. I only had to make one cut. The less cuts made, the less chances of me cutting my fingers off.

We drove out to North Vancouver & stopped off at Centennial Bookbinding for a few things. I picked up some watered silk end papers. Really nice. Also made a quick stop at Capilano Rock & Gem and picked up more amber chips for incense. We decided to stay out there and have dinner before heading home. And now I remembered it's not Tuesday and I missed my Wednesday night spinning group. Darn!

This is my new friend - a mix of silk waste & shetland. Ever since I saw Susan Forsythe's "garbage batt" sweater, I've been saving my fibre odds & ends. Most of the silk was supplemented by the silk waste from Treenway Silks. This is batt #3, fresh off the drum carder. I have a total of 18 to blend.

Meet batts #1 & 2 - destined to become a cardigan of some type. Nothing special - cast on a whole bunch of stitches, knit to where the armhole should go, cast off a couple of stitches for armhole shaping, knit to shoulders & shape neck. For the front, cast on half the back stitches for each of the front, knit to where the armholes should go, etc.

I'll write it all down later but just wanted to knit this yarn NOW! I didn't set the twist on this yarn so I'm hoping that I won't be surprised later. It seems pretty nicely balance right now. Anyhow, it's going to be another barn sweater...the kind I would wear to muck out the barn if I had one.

Fish Book

I really liked the fish print cotton. I had originally used this print in another hardbound book but thought it should be used for something with a more natural look to it. The exposed spine gives the book a more organic feel and the fish print seems to suit it well. The signatures inside are covered with the kozo/banana paper. The end papers are made with a different colour kozo/banana paper and the deckled edges extend to attach to the first chapter. This seems to work well because it gives the book more stabilty like a hardbound book but still will open flat.

Specs:
140 pages
7 signatures
4 1/2" x 5 3/4"
Cover - cotton print fabric and black bookbinding cloth
Paper - unbleached 30% recycled paper, Thai Kozo w/banana fibre inclusions
Bindings - black waxed linen thread, linen tape