Yarn Diet

I spent most of this week working on my yarn stash. Photographing and logging yardage for Raverly. I have 44,880 yards of yarn and I have given myself the goal of not buying any more yarn until I am under 40,000 yards. This should be easy because as I was logging the yarn I got a little side tracked and started planning projects for the yarn. I now have the following projects in line:

LadyBug Baby Blanket

Mock Cable Socks

Aran Afghan

Top Down Easy Sweater

Halloween Shawl

Zoey’s Winter Vest

Caleb’s Hunting Neck Warmer

Socks for Soldiers

Mesh Bag

Slouched Hat

After I make all of these I will be under the 40,000 yards goal. I hope I can stick with it, wish me luck!

Lots of Knitting

I finished the baby blanket that I was working on for a family member. However, I didn't feel it fit the Mom to be and I came up with another idea so I've decided to give that blanket to a lady at work who is expecting and make a new one in different (more appropriate colors) for the family member. Knowing that the blanket only took me 10 days and I have a few months until the little ones arrive I feel that I can make the new blanket in plenty of time.
My Shawl has got a work out. With this funky weather we have been having, I find it to be the perfect carry along incase I get cold. However, with the color of my shawl, and my inability to understand how to coordinate colors, I find that a black shirt and jeans have been my only option.
I went to a Murder Mystery Dinner, I played the part of Babe Ruth's Widow in 1948. I wore a gray dress with black shoes, I found the wool half cable hat I knit at the last part of last year that almost matched my shawl. I paired it all together and I think it worked out good enough.

Speaking of Lots of Knitting. The Murder Mystery Dinner was a group work activity planned to unite employees and promote a happier environment in the office. I gotta give it to the Doctors they really don't have to do these kinds of things but they do. I feel that it is very sweet and kind of them.
As I was getting ready for the dinner I continued to watch the constant predictions of inches and inches of snow (and even blizzard conditions) heading our way. My friend who was suppose to come do my hair was sick so I was stuck with trying to fix my mop by myself. As you can see from the picture I just tucked in under and plopped on my hat. I was split between calling in and refusing to go or continue with make-up and costume. I decided to give it my all. Before I left I grabbed a pair of socks I've been knitting on and threw them in my bag (along with a pair of emergency clothes in case something bad happened). Then I headed up to the office to meet the rest of the group. They were great! I loved everyone’s costume. They really did a good job and put a lot of effort into what they were doing. I was very proud of the group. We did have a few that "Called in Sick" and they probably were sick, because a bug has been going around.
The drive to the Bed and Breakfast was a little far but not to bad. It was just the next town up on I-35. The drive was nice and we had nice little small talk on the way.
When we pulled up to the Stone Lion Inn it didn't look much like the picture on the website. It seemed the picture took place about 20 years ago. But keep in mind it was sleeting and gray outside. (Can houses be airbrushed?)
When we first stat down I didn't bring my knitting in, I felt like it may segregate me from my group a little. Then a few people came up and asked me why I wasn't knitting that it fit my part. THAT WAS ALL I NEEDED.... YEAH!!! I went out and got my knitting, plopped down in a semi comfortable chair and begun knitting. I didn't stop until dinner time. After dinner I decided to put my knitting aside again because it was time for the action. The boss lady tugged on my shoulder and said "you should be knitting, it looks great and fits your part really well" BINGO that again was all the reassurance I needed to continue my socks. Thank goodness too, because the murder mystery was a mess. There were a couple of other groups besides ours that attended the party and let me just say... IF you are going to drag your spouse unwilling to a Murder Mystery please inform the host of this lack of wanting to participate so she can give them a different assignment other than a main part. Come on people. It sort of ruined the experience when the main charter can't be found because he got drunk and passed out! Oh and let’s not forget the girl who laid down and feel a sleep in the middle of the living room floor, or the girl in the bathroom praying to the porcelain gods, or the husbands of such ladies huddle in the back drinking and talking, or another group of ladies who got the giggles anytime one of their group had to read a clue. I kind of felt sorry for the host, by the end of the night I bet she yelled CUT about a hundred times and had to switch from "please be quite" to SHUT UP! to even get a response from the giggle girls, that felt the need to whisper loudly to one another.
So my word of advice if you want to do a murder mystery dinner is take enough friends that you know will participate, and fill the character list, or go with the idea in mind that the other guests are NOT professionals and that if drinking is allowed be prepared for a long night.

On the plus side, I knit and knit and knit, if I hadn't been able to there might have been a real murder....

Oh and it didn't start snowing until after I was home safe and ready to go to bed. When I got up this morning we maybe got a half inch of sweet wet snow.

Week 1 working on the Baby Blanket

This picture doesn't give the blanket its justice. It is really turning out wonderful. It's cotton and soft and I only have three more rows of squares then the border and it will be finished in plenty of time for the baby's arrival. The Mother to be has no idea this blanket is for her baby. So I hope she likes it. I didn't even ask if she would like these colors.

I have a lady at work who is having a baby in a couple of months. I'm thinking of doing this pattern with different shades of pink, white and red. If I can find the colors in the same weight of yarn, I think she would really like it. Maybe I could do a gingham pattern. I would have to look and see how many colors would make that kind of pattern. (If I only knew how to die yarn I could just make my own colors, maybe that should be something to put on my "want to learn how to do" list.)

I love the fact that each block takes less than 25 minutes if I'm not interrupted. The blanket has 100 blocks so that means it only takes 2500 minutes for the blanket. That would be 41 1/2 hours. That is awesome for this size of blanket. But that isn't counting the border. I have no idea how long that will take! I'm going to do an i-cord bind off using three stitches at a time. It may take me 3 or 4 hours to do the border.

I've decided to make a list of different knitting patterns, projects and techniques I want to learn how to do. With this blanket I learned how to knit backwards so I didn't have to purl except on the last row of each square. I was amazed at how easy it was to knit back. I wish I would have taken the time to learn this little technique a long time ago. After this project I want to work more on color work projects. Changing colors without messing up my gauge would be a good thing. Then I can take a try at Fair Isle!

I had a plan for the aran afghan that I was working on and basically I got side tracked with the shawl, socks and baby blanked and I have neglected the afghan so long that I'm going to have to give myself another due date. I think I will change it from 3 years to 4. I've already been working on it for over a year and a half. But the afghan is for me and no one is waiting on it. I guess I can take as long as I want to finish it.

I started the knitting group at work and the ladies learn to cast on and they learned the knit stitch all in the first lesson. I'm so proud of them! They are excited and already talking about next weeks class.

I finished the Lace Shawl I was working on and it is beautiful. I’m very proud of myself. I wore it yesterday and got several wonderful comments. I felt like a knitting Master!

I started on a baby blanket for a family member. It’s a mitered square pattern with five different colors. I’m knitting it with I Love this Cotton from Hobby Lobby. This is my first time using this yarn and so far so good. I love the way it feels, it’s soft and the colors are sweet and pretty, making it prefect for a baby blanket.

I’m starting a knitting group at work. I’ve placed the order for needles and yarn from Knit Picks and as soon as they arrive we will begin the lessons. So far I have 5 women ready to start knitting. I believe they are very excited, especially after they viewed some of my creations.
I’ve found some new applications for my iPhone. iKnit Ndlszr is a wonderful program that makes it easy to size your needles. Having it on my phone has come in handy. It has saved time from having to look for my sizer hidden someplace in my knitting closet. YarnPirateer is also a new program I found. I’m still playing around with it. I haven’t found the time to enter all my yarn in the program yet. But once that gets going I think it will be a cool tool to have.

Mostly One Project Week

I’m determined to finish this beautiful lace shawl. I’ve worked on it now for a couple of weeks. I struggled through learning ssk, psso and not letting my stitch marker go through a YO. I got into a groove and I’m doing really well. However, I’m afraid to could the number of stitches on my needles. I must have a hundred stitch markers. I’m at the point that it takes me 45 minutes to an hour per row. I’m one of those knitters that hates to stop in the middle of a row. Because I always confuse myself when I go back to it, no matter how carefully I log my last stitch I still screw up! Knitting this shawl I really feel like a beginner knitter, even though I have been knitting for 2 years. This lace pattern is really kicking my butt. It’s a simple pattern repeat but for some reason I get the vision in my mind like I do when I’m knitting cables. When I’m knitting cables I understand the stitches and how they make the pattern. Lace is just messy. It looks like a tangled mess. I can’t wait to block it. I’ve heard that is when the magic happens. When you get the full effect of the pattern, and everything makes since. I sure hope I haven’t waited all this time to find out I have a huge gap someplace.

Knitting Pretty

I figured out the Lace Pattern of the shawl and I’ve been knitting pretty all week. I’m past the first repeat of the 42 row pattern and feel very confident that I have the process under control. Yeah Me!
I started another pair of socks that I took to girl’s night out this month. The ladies at the office are very interested in my knitting and have asked me to have a knitting class at work. I put up a sign up sheet in the break room and I have to say I was very surprised with the response. Now I just have to figure out a date and time and get permission from the Boss lady to see if we can use the waiting room of the office to have the class. I don’t think it will be a problem.

I got the new Knit Picks Catalog this week so I figured I would have them all order needles and yarn through me from the catalog and make one big order. Once the shipment arrives we will have our first class. I’m excited to bring more people into the knitting world.
I’m down to three things on my needles, Socks, Shawl and Afghan. I’m very proud of myself.

Finishing Up UFO’s

Last time I Blogged about my UFO’s. This week I sat down and worked and worked till finished most, tossed some and frogged others. After all that I took a deep breath and casted on a few new projects. LOL the classic signs of an ADD knitter. I finished the baby hat (it turned out to fit an adult) Leaf Shawl (after blocking I still didn't like it) The Heart and Sole socks

I tossed the blue socks, and frogged Becca’s sweater. (She tried it on and the size and style didn’t fit.) I bought the needed yarn to finish the scarf for Thom’s co-worker, now I just have to sit down and finish the last few inches. I knitted a few more repeats on the afghan, but I have given myself three years to finish that enormous project.

I cast on a new scarf. I don’t know what makes me think I can knit lace. I keep trying and trying and end up frogging and tinking after a few rows. I just don’t get how I can count and be right then be off again. I know it has something to do with the yarn overs and ssk’s but for the life of me I can’t figure out where or how I’m going wrong. But I’m not giving up!!

I want to make Thom a cabled vest. I found a cut little pattern for a 2 year old and made it. It turned out okay. I don’t like the neck area, but that can change. Now that I’ve made a vest I think I can try and make a grown up size.

I’ve got the supplies ready to cast on another pair of socks, but I haven’t been able to put down the very frustrating scarf.

Growing my Stash

I thought by organizing my yarn closet I would be able to find stash busting projects to use up my yarn. Well... I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and found sock yarn, I Love This Wool and I Love This Cotton. OMG!!

Also, after listening to the Pod cast from Knit Picks I decided to order socks for soldier’s sock yarn needles and books. Needless to say I purchased more yarn and stuff then I use.

I did have a funny sock yarn story... I was knitting toe up two at a time with Heart and Sole yarn. This is my first time using this yarn actually my first time using self patterning yarn. I was about 2 inches in when I noticed the patterns weren’t the same for both socks. I wonder about my gauge... nope can’t be that... then I convinced myself that it was the manufacture... they messed up on the pattern in one of the balls. After 4 inches I noticed that if I flipped one of the socks upside down the patterns matched... Duh!!! Then I remembered reading in one of the Yarn Harlot books that one time she wound a ball backwards and it messed up the pattern. So I frogged and wound one ball the other way and now I’m on my way...

Another fine mess... Last year I made a few scarves for the men at Thom’s office. I was amazed that they loved them let alone wore them. This winter they all broke out there scarves and wore them proudly. One of the new guys made a comment about the scarves that resulted in a request. So I made up another scarf over the weekend. It was also pointed out that the one guy in the office that loves to bake, (and makes the best brownies, he also makes sure Thom gets an extra for me) didn’t get a scarf last year. I had Thom find out what color and I started making the scarf. The man is a bigger guy and so his scarf needs to be a lot longer. I was almost finished when I ran out of yarn. It is still on the needles until I can make it to the store to get more yarn.

Right now I have the following UFOs:
1. Scarf for Matt – need to get more yarn

2. Socks for Me – by the way my very first pair of socks got a hole I darned them in the Yarn Harlot way

3. Leaf Shawl – I’m thinking I may frog it and use the yarn for something else

4. Becca’s Sweater – This Sweater is all done, it just doesn't work. I was sewing up the seams when I noticed that the sleeves don't fit into the body of the sweater. UGH

5. Baby Hat – The baby is now 3 – that should be all I need to say about that.
6. Baby Blue socks – started them a over a year ago when I used DPNs. Enough said
7. Burridge Lake Aran Afghan – I actually worked on this for about a week and I’m now just past the 10th repeat of the center cable in the second panel. I have given myself 3 years to finish this afghan. I’m at about a year and half now. I need to work a little harder.

Wow I didn’t realize I had so many... Guess I got to get knitting....

Sorry for the bad pic’s – I used my iphone because I computer doesn’t like reading the chip from the good camera.

Snow Day

Can you say SNOW DAY!! Well it was actually an Ice Day. But all the same, Thom and I both were sent home at lunch time. K1’s teacher called and said he was sick so I picked him up as well. When I got home I lit a fire in the fireplace, brewed a pot of coffee and sat down with my knitting. Ahh let it rain ice...

This last weekend was a very good knitting weekend. I woke up at 3:00am Friday morning and knew I wasn’t going back to sleep so I cleaned the house. Yup – I cleaned the bathroom at 3am. But by the time the boys woke up to get ready for school and work the house was clean and I could sit back and knit. Knit I did.

I finished the scarf for my friend at work. Then I knitted a doggie sweater for Zoey. My friends Becca and Linda came over to visit. I showed Becca the magic loop method and because I love her I let her take my only size 2 Addi Turbos home. (I did make her promise to get her own and give them back to me.) Thank goodness I have a pair of Knit Picks needles on the way.

Then after I finished the sweater for Zoey I made an Iphone pouch and started on a hounds tooth black and white scarf.

TodayI went straight back to the scarf. Wow I’m having a good knitting week and it’s only Monday. The news shows the school is closed tomorrow. But K1 may still be sick. I don’t know if I’m going to go to work or not. We will see. Thom is already planning on staying home tomorrow because of the predicted freezing rain all night.

Magic Loop – Toe Up – Two at a Time

After listening to Knit Pick’s Podcasts I was talked into trying Magic Loop for the first time this week. I learned how to make socks from the Internet using DPNs. So why not try and learn Magic Loop the same way... Thank goodness for the website http://www.cometosilver.com/socks this website walks you through the steps with wonderful picks and gentle reminds to help you along the way.
Monday night I cast on and played around with this method. I was feeling pretty good about my progress until I went to try them on and realized I had got a little carried away with the increases. I ended up added a few row of K2 P2 ribbing and making them into baby hats. But my second attempt turned out wonderfully.
I was almost done on Thursday when I was invited to a girls night out with the ladies from the office. I threw my needles and yarn into my purse and off I went. While we talked and ate dinner I knitted way. By the time the night was over I was almost out of yarn. When I got home I finished off the ribbing and cast off. I’ve never knitted a pair of socks so fast in my life. It was awesome and I am sold. I went online and order more needles, sock yarn and books from Knit Picks’ and I am anxiously waiting for more order to arrive.

Here is my dream

Today is Martin Luther King Day. The ring of I Have A Dream in my ears all day has got me thinking. What kind of dream do I have...

Well personally I have a dream. But first let me give you a little back ground. My husband Thom is a Network Engineer for a large craft store. He loves his job and he loves the fact that his hobby is computers and his job is basically his hobby. My hobby is knitting and my current job is Pr/Marketing Coordinator for an Orthodontic office. My mom lives with my Grandma in Oregon on a farm just south west of Portland. She has a farm and has goats and sheep. Hummm

Here is my dream. A craft/yarn store in Oregon discovers that they need another Network Engineer and Marketing person. They call and request our help and ask us to move, we move to the farm with the family until we can find a place. Oh now that would be a wonderful dream...

The downside is Thom will never leave his job here in Oklahoma. Bummer. It just seems that the knitters in the Pacific NorthWest seem a lot more friendlier than what I have discovered locally. That is not to say that I haven’t met knitters here that I liked. It’s just that several of the local knitters make me feel unwelcome, out of place or make me wonder why I walked into the store in the first place when I can just order stuff online. I’m not mean or ugly or rude. I have several friends and a couple that I have turned into knitters. But I just know that if I lived around Oregon I could have lots more knitter friends. I’m really getting tired of trying to learn new stuff from books and the internet. I want the human interaction, and friendly banter. I want to see others work in progress and hold and touch the yarn and fabric.

Learning from Podcasts

In my past blog I spoke a little about my new discovery of Podcasts. I found the Knit Pick’s Podcast with Kelley Petkun. I was first drawn to her because A – she is a knitter and B – she has a pom. I just recently had to let go of my 15 year old pom, and my heart is still breaking, but I love hearing the snipits of stories about Zena. I started at the beginning of the Podcasts and I’m not up to date yet. I just finished listening to Episode 44 where Kelley interviews Jillian Moreno from Big Girl Knits. OMG – if only I had known about the book or listened to the Podcast before I knitted my first sweater. Here is what happed...

Quoted from my notes on Raverly.

This was my first sweater. The pattern came from Big Needle Knits. I didn’t like the way it fit and for some reason the garbage man took it! (I was so upset I didn’t even get to salvage the yarn). The sweater was warm (to say the least) I don’t remember the brand of yarn I used, but it was itchy and I promptly took off the sweater ten seconds after the photo and never put it on again. I did try the same pattern with a different yarn and had the same problem…. Was it me or the design? I will never know. However, I did manage to salvage the yarn from the second sweater and I made a wonderful baby blanket.

After listening to the Podcast I have now realized that it was because the design didn’t work with my body type. Thank you Kelley and Jillian for clearing this up and giving me the motivation to try and knit another sweater for myself. I will be getting the book Big Girl Knits: 25 Big, Bold Projects Shaped for Real Women with Real Curves by Jillian Moreno and Amy Singer.

Will he ever wear them again?

Will he ever wear them again?
I had just started the toe decrease on the huge black socks I was making for my husband when he decided to inform me that they are too thick and he doesn’t think he will wear them very often. He stated that if I had made them in Navy instead of black he might be able to wear them more.
OMG- The one thing I forgot to ask him – What color... Why I didn’t ask him.. Well- Because the man has 15 thousand pairs of black (commercial made) socks in his freaking sock draw. This is a man that has so many pairs of socks that he actually has two sock draws, one for white/cream and one for black/navy. I had black yarn so I made him black socks. All the other design aspects I went over with him at every point. Let me tell you that this man is a very very picky man when it comes to clothing. I know that it may sound funny. But when we where first married my husband sold very expensive suits for a living. He went to suit classes and learned everything from fiber content to tailoring. He knows more about clothing construction then I could/would ever want to know. So it is a standing rule in our house that I never, ever buy my husband clothes. Because every time I try.... Let me just say tears were shed until I learned it wasn’t me, it’s him... So why would I want to knit this very picky man a pair of socks... Because I felt that socks are barely seen, because everyone loves socks, because surly I can’t go wrong with socks. OH SO WRONG. I did finish the socks and like a very good husband he wore them for the rest of the day. He said he liked the fit, but again they are very thick. Personally, I tried them on and loved them – but they are too big for me. I figure I will give him until Christmas to wear them again. If he doesn’t I will rip them back and make them shorter and give them to my Dad for Christmas. I know Daddy will love them... And I now I have to add to my list... Never buy (or make) clothing for my very picky husband. I will just use that time to make things for myself and flaunt them in front of him.
On a side note.. I was trying out a new pattern and technique a few months ago. My husband absolutely loved the design and colors of my swatch. He asked me to continue and make it into a scarf for him. I did (thinking all the time that it was the ugliest thing I had ever made). He has worn it to work almost everyday since it was finished... Go figure!!!

What's On My Needles and other UFO's

What’s On My Needles-
I’m finishing the second sock for Thom. I’m using a pattern I found on the internet titled Men’s English-Ribbed Socks. I had to modify the pattern a little because it was wrote to be knitted flat. I prefer to knit in the round. Rewriting the pattern inspired me to go through all the links I had saved in my favorite places in Internet Explorer. To my horror I noticed that a few of the pattern where no longer available. Oh No!! So I came up with a solution. Using Microsoft Office 2007 Word I selected the template for a brochure and stared copying and pasting the patterns I don’t want to lose, and saving them in a new file I created titled Knitting Patterns. I saved the file on my computer and on the server so it will be backed up every night with our normal backup. That project took the entire weekend and I didn’t get much knitting done. But I do have the peace of mind that those patterns will always be safe.

After cleaning out my Knitting Closet, updating my iPhone app with all my needle information I found some UFO’s (UnFinished Objects).

Leaf Shawl – over half way done but the pattern has been misplaced.

Bag O’ Bag – I decided to knit a bag out of colored trash bags – tiring working with sticky plastic

Fuzzy Scarf – I’m making a scarf for a lady at work

Burridge Lake Aran Afghan – This is a project that I pick and put down throughout the years. I have one full panel done and about 25% of the second panel. 5 panels total are required to finish.

Baby Hat – Simple knit in the round. Got bored

Sweater for Becca – this project really needs to go to the frog pond. Because I started it before I really knew how to knit a sweater and I didn’t check gauge. So the arm holes are big enough for my waist.

iphone and Knitting Apps

Happy New Year!
Finally the holiday season has died down and I have a few minutes to update my blog. First let me start with stating that I don’t make New Years resolutions. I do this because I always let myself down. I however make plans and little goals. Some may ask “What’s the difference?” Well let me tell you... In my mind New Years resolutions give you an entire year to accomplish. Plans and little goals don’t have a due date. But I make them small enough that I can usually accomplish them rather fast giving myself the added bonus of the feeling of a job well done.

After I got over the embarrassment of not knowing what an iphone was and giving my husband a not so pretty look when I opened the package and saw the Mac apple, and saying “you got me something Macintosh! I don’t use Mac!” My husband gleefully responded “it’s a phone Jenny”. Duh! When it sunk in I was very excited to sit down and program all my contacts download apps and then I found PodCasts. Wow baby- that opened up a whole new world for me.

The first search feature I did in the apps store was Knitting. I found two apps that I installed right away. StitchMinder – it’s an electronic stitch counter, and KnittyBag- it keeps track of your needles.

Let me tell you a little more about these applications.
StitchMinder- this app gives you 4 rows to use to track where you are in a pattern. Inside of these 4 rows you can select from the following features- Rows Completed, Pattern Row, Pattern Repeats, Increase Row, Increase Repeat, Decrease Row, Decrease Repeat. These are great for keeping you on track in a pattern. My only disappointment is that you can’t go backwards. If you tap the screen by accident, you have to clear it back to 0 then count back up.

I did find another app that works a little better for me. It is called Tally Counter. This app looks like the roller stitch counters that you put on the end of your needle and it goes up or down. Very easy to use with two big buttons, on with a minus sign and one with a plus sign. I love it.

The other knitting app called KnittyBag allows you to choose between Straight, Double, Circular and Hooks. Plus it has stitch abbreviation glossary. When you add your needles you select what kind of needle, then you enter the information and choose between metal, plastic or wood. Love it! The glossary idea is kewl but I wish it was expanded a little more. The only information that is provide is the abbreviation and what the abbreviation spells out. It doesn’t actually tell you how to do the stitch. An example of this is m1: make one, but it doesn’t tell you how to make one. (I guess that is what patterns are for, I just would like a little more detail in the glossary).

So I rambled about the apps that you can download on the iphone, now let me tell you about my latest addiction. PodCasts, now I consider myself pretty computer savvy, how this electronic phenomenon skipped my knowledge I have not a clue. But I am so glad I found it. In the knitty world of podcast I found two different kinds. Video and Audio. In the Video area I came across letsknit2gether.com. Cat I love you! Oh my goodness, this podcast provided me with hours of entertainment and I learned some very good things. I found out that I want to knit with beads, enter a sock war and most of all I want an electric spinning wheel. The last one might be a little out of my price range at the time, but I now how my first goal for the year. Save up for an electric spinning wheel. On a side note to this, my Mom called me to say that she has added a flock of sheep to her farm. She plans on sending me the fleece this spring! I’ll tell you more about Mom in the coming blogs- but let me tell you she is a riot!
Audio Podcast! So far I have listened to Knitting Science and Knit Picks’. Knitting Science was hard for me to follow. Although you can tell that a lot of research and time went into making these Podcasts, I found myself wondering off on other topics in my head and loosing track of the lady talking. But Kelley on the Knit Pick’s Podcasts is entertaining, educating and she expresses love and joy over the air that I am absolutely enthralled and hanging on to her every last word. She interviews interesting people, she reviews books in a way that make me want to buy every book she talks about. I feel we are kindred spirits, I wish I could visit with her the next time I’m in Portland/Seattle area. It also helps that she has a Pom and talks about her adventures with Zena and her husband Bob. But what I love absolutely most about Kelley’s Podcast is the educational value. I know that every time I listen to her I learn something new. Granted in the world of knitting I’m still a rookie. But she gives me lots of food for thought. From patterns to try to yarns to check out, she makes my fingers twitch to start a new project after every podcast. This podcast alone is worth getting an ipod or iphone or any other kind of podcast listening device.

After getting my iphone set up, downloading apps and finding podcasts I have been energized and I want to get a few things done. 1. Cleaning out the yarn closet, and 2. Organizing my knitting projects.

Knitting Closet

The Knitting Closet-
Let me describe this large closet. I have yarn, books, notions, and a sewing machine crammed into a hall closet the size of a medium bathroom. The yarn is divided by color and placed inside clear plastic hanging sweater holders. You know the kind designed to hang on a clothing rod. Well I bought these thinking I had a clothing rod in my closet only to get home and realize at sometime the previous owner had removed the bar.

So I packed them tight and turned them on the side and stacked three on top of each other. My bright idea was that the pockets would be so full of yarn that the structure would be just fine. Not really a good idea. After a few months, of picking and pulling yarn balls out of and replacing them in the structure, it collapsed and caved in and was a really big mess!While at the dollar store I found the perfect solution. These little mini bins that can snap together side by side and bottom to top. I bought every last one they had in the store. 13 altogether, surely that would be enough to reorganize.

Um-not even close. So I was off to the other store on the other side of town. I bought that store out of mini bins. Only to get home and set them up and find out that 60 bins still won’t hold all my yarn. (Even when I tucked and stuffed enough to make the sides of this think plastic bin bulge). I had to sit down and admit to myself that I have a yarn addiction. I am now at a cross road. Do I buy more boxes – which would mean driving to another town to buy out that stores supply of mini bins, or do I thin out the yarn – which would make me feel like I am having to choose between family members, or do I knit with double strands on really big needles to use up as much as I can in the quickest time possible? I’m leaning to the knitting solution, but I know that there has got to be a better solution. Eurika- I went back to the dollar store and got under the bed storage boxes – heh heh heh – I’m hiding the yarn I know I won’t use. The memory yarn – the yarn that has a story, but not a plan.

My only concern is my husband discovering I have hidden stashed yarn under the bed. I can see it now. Cat gone missing – treats not working – finally looking under the bed to discover the cat has figured out how to open the box and curl up in the yarn. Maybe I should tape the box shut. Yep – I will tape the box shut! Then I will have to stash enough yarn to fill up the entire under bed surface so the cats can no longer go under the bed. Then Thom will never have to look under the bed. I guess that means I need to go shopping for more yarn not more mini bins. Humm that sounds like a plan to me...