Yarny Goodness, Swag, and Something New

Before I get started with the pictures and the funny stories, I want to bring your attention to the new button on the sidebar. It says, "Pay It Forward". What is it? What does it mean?

I got the idea from Anni's blog (Confessions of a Yarn Addict) and thought it was brilliant. So I went to the website where she got it, which is Whimsical Knitting and found not only the button but the description. Giving full credit to Becka, I am copying her text so you can understand exactly what it is I am doing.

"It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based on the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. You all know I’m already a PIF type of person. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?!
Please, be a PIF!"

I signed up on Anni's blog as one of her three people. In return, I have promised to make a gift for the first three people who leave a comment on this blog. Those people, in return, then have to post on their blogs what I have just posted here and make a gift for the first three people who leave a comment on their blogs. It will just keep growing and going around. I thought it sounded terrific, so here it is! Please consider doing this. Your gifts for the people who comment on your blog do not have to be big or elaborate, but they do have to be hand-crafted and made with love. That's it! If you choose to do this, please go over to Whimsical Knitting and take one of the buttons for your blog so people know you're participating. Thank you in advance! Oh... and please be sure to leave your e-mail address (or send it to me), so I have a way of communicating with you.

With that out of the way, it's time for some yarny goodness and also some swag.

This first picture has Spunky Eclectic Tough Sock in "Pumpkin" and "Scarecrow". The large skein is a new indie for me called Lobster Pot Yarns. The skein is called "Whale of a Skein", and the color is "New Seagrass". The yardage on this monster is 740 yds. with a gauge of 5 SPI on size 6 or 7. I have no idea of what to make with it, although when you look at the next picture, you'll see the pattern that came with it. This yarn is intriguing. The tag says, "This yarn was hand-dyed in a lobster pot and hung to dry in the salt air of Cape Cod." The lady's name is Susan. And get a load of what this beast is made of: 80% lambswool, 10% dehaired angora, and 10% cashmere. Heaven. She also has pure cashmere and I think baby camel (if I'm remembering the right person), as well as another blend. This one, though, just grabbed me. I don't usually use yarn this thick (in fact, I don't even think I bothered to look at the gauge), but I had to have it. Hubster gave the okay, and my finger hit the "return" key so fast that I'm surprised the damn thing didn't go flying off the keyboard.

The ball of yarn and needles laying in front is a magnet from Scout's Swag. It's lovely - very heavy and very definitely a strong magnet. It's residing on the fridge door.



This picture has the other magnets I ordered from Scout's Swag, as well as a license plate holder (when I see the word "balls" on something, it triggers something in my brain and I have to have it). Hubster is suitably horrified that I'm defacing the T-Bird with it. The large pattern is the one that came with the Lobster Pot yarn and is for a bolero. The smaller pattern is one I bought and is called, "Eleanora Socks", designed by Miriam L. Felton. Here is what the description says about them:

"These socks are inspired by the socks found in the tomb of Eleanoro de Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de'Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. She was buried in 1562 after dying of the plague and her crimson silk socks are amazingly well preserved.

They were knee-high with turned down cuffs. The lozenge patterned cuffs on this adaptation are NOT turned down and the motifs have been reduced in number of stitches due to gauge differences."

There is more historical information, but I'll leave that for those of you who buy it. I was intrigued by the patterns and thought they would be gorgeous in some special Merino/silk sock yarn I have, although you could use any softly variegated, semi-solid, or solid yarn for it (the knitter who did the socks on the cover used Opal). As for skill level, I would rate it as intermediate, although an advanced beginner with drive could easily do it. It's going to take some concentration and a lot of love, but the results will be spectacular.



I have received some lovely letters from ladies looking for SEX with the Lorna's I'm destashing. I've compiled a list of it and am sending it out to those who are interested. It's on a first-come, first-serve basis. As they are already selling (thank you!) and if you are interested, please contact me so I may send you the list as it becomes available.

So yesterday, I was knitting like crazy on the Monkeys. There were a few things about them that I didn't like, so I changed the pattern to suit my taste. That meant that I had to go a bit slower than normal (that's like saying I went from a snail to a slug), but I got quite a bit done. Then I set it aside, and we got dinner. After dinner, I sat down on the couch to watch TV and promptly fell asleep for three hours. No problem. I still managed to get the heel flap done, and now I'm ready to pick up the stitches for the heel turn.

Then it happened. You would have thought I would have learned my lesson the first time around, but sometimes I'm stubborn or just don't believe that it could happen again. That damn fifth needle fell on the floor, so I leaned forward to retrieve it. I didn't see it, so I leaned forward a little farther. And then the unthinkable occurred. The foot rest collapsed, everything on it fell on the floor (two remote controls, my knitting, the ball of yarn, my ruler), and I did a face dive on the floor. What was worse was that I didn't just hit the floor - I skied across it like a bobsled on the luge. In the process of skidding along helplessly while this whale of a body picked up momentum and pushed me forward faster, the damn fifth needle materialized and got stuck. In the side of my neck.

After picking myself up from the floor (and saying more than my fair share of bad words), I dusted everything off, put it all on the chair, and removed the needle. Back to the scrubbing and waxing. I had a puncture wound on my neck (had there been another one, I would have looked like a vampire bit me). But all is well. The chair didn't get harmed, I have only minor wood floor burns on my cheek (the upper one), and my knitting didn't fall off the needles.

One must always get their priorities straight.