Time Flies When You're Working Like a Madwoman

Madwoman? I've been called much worse in my day. I don't think I've worked this hard in over a decade. But as usual, we'll get to that. Would you like to see some pretties? Of course you would.





These are all by Miss Babs; the first two are her Yummy Superwash Sock & Baby Yarn in "Cool Triad" and "Hot Mamma"; the third is her Cashmere Moon in "Bronze Plum" (100% cashmere - better than sex).





These are by a new dyer (a husband and wife team - Chris and Kellie Fulton), and are their first efforts! I was extremely impressed. These colors are "Pumpkin Spice" and "Turkish Paprika".





This gorgeous monster (860 yards and 1/2 pound of fun!) is by See Jayne Knit in "Embers".





These are by Rockandstring in "Turquoise Pink Black", and FatCatKnits in "Bermuda Sand".





These beauties are by Woolly Boully in "Brooklyn Candy" and "Fields of Texas Sunflowers". I'm on a mission to acquire all of Jenny's yarns.





This gorgeous creature had to have a picture all to itself. It's by Hand Maiden and is from their Camel Spin line. This colorway is called "Dragonfly". It's made of... ready?... silk and camel. It makes cashmere feel like sandpaper. I couldn't put this skein down. In fact, I didn't even realize it was in my lap being petted for about an hour. I think I need to build a shrine to it.





Last but certainly not least, this is by Spindle Cat Studio in ""Dark Fire". Wow.

I've got more skeins to show you, but I didn't want you all to have heart failure from palpitations due to looking at too much yarny goodness.

Speaking of Yarny Goodness, the shop is coming right along. I'm reading some books I bought about setting up an online store so I make sure everything is legal and in place. I'm currently writing a business plan and then will be going to get my license and resale number (Stitches West, here I come!). My vendors are all in place and just waiting for me to place my orders. Hubster is also waiting to put together my website. I found a place on Ravelry where a group of people (graphic design students for the most part) will design a logo for you free of charge. I guess they do it for the experience. Then I'll have my business cards printed up, design a banner, get Moo cards made up to give out and also to stick in my packages, get my vendor binder put together, blah blah blah. And you wonder why I haven't posted since Sunday? But I love doing this; it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I've had a lot of letters from people saying that they're just waiting for the store to open so they can shop. Yay! I've also decided (you'd all better sit down) that I'll have a section in the store where... where... (I can barely say it)... I'll be selling about half of my stash.

You heard it right. I'm destashing. And they're all indie yarns, top quality, never been used, have only been handled when I took them out of their tissue.

Why am I doing this? Well, for a variety of reasons. I have a serious case of SABLE; when I saw on my last Loopy Ewe order that it was my 50th order with them, I almost fell off my chair. Then I did some math. It made me sick. It's a wonder that Hubster hasn't left me. So I need to sell it in order to recoup some of the money I've spent. I really don't want to live here any longer than necessary, so any money I make (after I've plowed a lot of it back into the shop) will go into the new house fund. It makes me feel good to think that I could possibly contribute to our finances for a change instead of spending them. And here's something else.

You'd really better be sitting down for this one.

I've asked Hubster to change the password on my PayPal account so I can't use it.

It makes me cringe to even see those words, but there it is. My dark secret is out in the open. "Hi! I'm Pam, and I'm a spendaholic!. I've never been clean!" Egads.

When depressed, some people eat. Some curl up in bed and refuse to get up. Some cry. I've done all those and more, but the thing I do most is spend. It's not even so much the thing I've bought that makes me happy; it's the searching, the buying, the opening of the package when I get it. That's what gives me the rush, the thing that makes me happy - the acquisition. I realized that I was out of control when I bought a skein of yarn that I just had to have, put it in the bin when it got here, took the bin into my studio, and saw another skein just like it in another bin. I've got so much yarn that I truly don't know what I have anymore. It's going to be difficult to choose which ones to keep and which ones need to go, but I'll do it. I'll still buy an occasional skein or notion, but this rampant spending has to stop. There are tens of thousands of dollars in yarn in my studio. Just with the Loopy Ewe, I averaged it out to be around $5K. I think I need a ciggie.

(click) (inhale) (exhale) (ahhhhhhh)

I was asked by a vendor if my yarn was near my smoking. To allay your fears, the answer is an emphatic NO. I don't smoke around my yarn (I do smoke when I knit, but I make sure that all traces of it are removed from the FO). When I get yarn in, I unwrap it, photograph it, write about it, put it in a bin with lavender and/or cedar sachets, seal the bin with a locking lid, and immediately put the bin in my studio, which is in the back of the house far away from where I knit. I've had non-smokers smell my yarn to make sure that no smoke has leaked in, and they all tell me there's no smoke smell at all. So don't worry, dear friends. Should I be fortunate enough to have you buy yarn from me, you'll get a pristine skein smelling sweetly of wool and lavender. It will be beautifully wrapped in pretty tissue and carefully packed with some sort of swag, and then it will be taken to the post office and jetted off to you. And to my friends who live in other countries, fear not - I will be shipping internationally.

It just occurred to me that I've never shown you a WIP. Here's a sock I'm making for a swap pal.





It's not the best picture in the world and the openwork is hard to see, but these are from a Wildhorse Farms Design pattern and are a sort of Tumbling Blocks design. I have another Tumbling Blocks pattern, but I decided to use this one because the other one is really written for self-striping or Fair Isle (fake) yarns. This is the fourth time I've started these, so I've taken to calling them the Fuck You Socks. However, I think we've settled our differences and are getting along now. It goes very quickly, and the pattern is easy to memorize (even for me). It's also a fun knit. The yarn is numma numma in "Grape Jam" and is a joy to knit with. And the needles? They're by Golding - the people who make those gorgeous spinning wheels and looms. They're made of black walnut and come in a sharp or blunt tip and a slick or sticky finish. I got the sharp/slick combination. They don't cost much more than Addis, and for DPN's, I like them a lot better. I love the sharp tips - you can puncture your finger on them, but they're great for doing a K2tog or working on tiny stitches or lace. I highly recommend them. Just Google "Golding Fiber" and it'll give you the website.

I think I've babbled enough for one night. Hubster just got home from the grocery store, so I'm off to make hamburgers for dinner and then work on the Yarn Review page for a while. I've got so much yarn to put on there that I think I'll try to add a few every couple of days. I can't do it every night - I just have too much to do. Even when I promise to update it, I can't seem to keep that promise (hanging head in shame). So please just keep checking it; you'll be seeing new yarns pop up. After that, it's time to work on the store. If I'm lucky, I won't drop a full cup of coffee on the table right in front of the computer like I did this morning, getting the lion's share of it on my clean jammies. And if I'm really lucky, I'll get to work on the Fuck You Socks before 3 a.m.

If I don't fall asleep in the Monster and drool all over my next set of clean jammies first.