One of these socks isn't like the other, somewhat

I really meant to make them a lot different but it didn't work out that way. But they're done and it only took a week for the first time in a long time. I've cast on for another pair but they're much more complicated and have lots of K2tog on size 1US needles so they're not going to moved so quickly.

Yesterday the Hissy Knits shuttle picked me up at around one o'clock so I could go visit them in their new location. L and H came along. The new shop is in a big red barn right in the middle of a residential area. Annie, the shop owner, also runs a day care which is right next to the big red barn. The shop is a lot easier to find than the Google map suggests.

I don't know if the barn ever funtioned as a real barn or if it was just built as a recreation space. The yarn shop is on the second floor and you have to climb some stairs. No wheel chair access that I could see. The shop is full of Noro and most of the other lines that are distributed by Knitting Fever, same as her old space. The lighting leaves a lot to be desired but there are windows if you need to see the colors better.

I helped reduce her inventory to the tune of a couple of bags of Silk Garden. I'm beginning to think I have a genuine addiction problem. The light isn't very good this morning so I'll wait to show you the yarn.

There's a sock yarn event at Unraveled tomorrow. I plan to be there as soon as the doors open. I need some more Jitterbug and a little Koigu would help.

What's new?

Tomorrow is World Wide Knit in Public Day. Who knew? I don't know how I missed hearing about this but there it is. I don't think I'll be joining in as I'm already pretty booked for tomorrow. Cats to brush; floors to clean; naps to take. But I never know for sure. I could be tempted if I knew of a place to join in.

I got my weekly Knit Bits newsletter from Berocco this morning. It's the first one in a while where I found much of interest. Their new falls books are highlighted. Some pretty exciting things including a new book devoted entirely to Norah Gaughan. I've always liked her work. Not that I've ever actually knit one of her designs. Mostly I like them for their interesting construction and stitch patterns. But I'll get that book plus several others from the collection. Just in case I finish all the other things I want to do.

You pick

I finished a sock and what's her name got out of jail early. Which is the bigger surprise?

As you can see I've cast on for the second sock. No bad luck for me. I decided to use a round toe this time. I'll have to wait to see if Lisa likes the fit before I use it on another pair.

Winding down

and winding up. Our Dulaan group only has one more meeting before we get everything sorted and packaged for shipping. We've been pretty good recently about finishing things and Mendy thinks we're a lot closer to our goal than I thought we were. I still have two hats to finish but that shouldn't be a problem.

No photo yet but I have turned the heel and am starting the foot of the sock. I'll be going to meet friends in a little while and will take the sock along.

I stopped by Skein yesterday. Hadn't been there in quite a while. Their instructor was out with allergies so I helped a couple of people while I was there and had lunch. I went back today to pick up the skein of sock yarn I saw yesterday but didn't buy. And a couple of other things.

Some knitting content

Last week one of my friends (you know who you are) got after me because I didn't post every day. Well, we all know that sometimes it's really hard to find anything relevant and sometimes we just resort to talking about the cat or how we had to take lots of naps to get through the day. So I don't always post but I'm trying. Mustn't disappoint the readers who have to be reminded to read once in a while.

I did make some progress on my sock yesterday. It wasn't very busy during the first part of the day but by noon I had too many things going on to knit on my sock. Since I teach on a drop-in basis it's difficult to know how busy I will be at any time. I had three or four people sitting with me for most of the afternoon.

When I got home I worked some more and again this morning. I'm decreasing the gusset now. I have some errands to do and Dulaan knitting tonight so I don't expect to finish this first sock today.

I was helping someone get started on her Clapotis yesterday. I got myself into a real panic when I read that there was supposed to be an increase at the end of every row. I've only been increasing at the end of the knit side. I couldn't figure out why her stitch count was coming out correctly with the increase and mine had been correct without the increase. When I got home I looked at my scarf and discovered I had done the increases as directed. It's just been so long since I started that I had forgotten that I did them. That was both a relief and a caution that I shouldn't put things on hold for such a long time. It's not like I can remember things as well as I used to.

The plan and what happened

The plan was that I would knit a sock yesterday. I had the whole day ahead of me with no obligations. It was going to be so great to just sit and knit with no interruptions. I haven't knit a sock in a long time so I was looking forward to.

My friend L (of L&H fame) gave me the yarn (Opal Magic) on Saturday. I hadn't put it away yet so when my daughter came over on Saturday evening she saw it and said she liked it. So I thought it would be nice to have a little sock diversion. That was before Pat the Cat got involved.

Now he's a really nice cat and isn't a whole lot of trouble but sometimes he's kind of needy. Plus he's pretty determined once he's made up his mind. Yesterday was one of his brush me or else kind of days, plus we have to play. You never play with me. And, because he gets me up really early, I tend to fall asleep about every four rows. So all that took a lot of time.

Then, around ten I thought I'd better go take a walk. Plus it was Swap Meet Sunday. I went to check out the new location and to see if I could find the lady that bought yarn from last month. (I know I said I wasn't buying any more yarn but it doesn't count if it's less than $50.) It was really humid and I thought the enclosed garage was oppressive and the cigarette smoke was pretty noticeable. And I never did find the lady with the yarn.

By now it's time to fix lunch. And then clean up the dishes. And then another nap. So I finished the sixteen rows of ribbing by around three thirty. I made some progress and then it was time for dinner, and cleaning up.

So around seven I was ready to really get a lot done. Half an hour later my older brother called and talked for over an hour and a half. I'm stopped in mid-row. So I'll take this with me today and see if it's any less distracting at work than it is at home.

I'm not buying any more yarn

but that doesn't mean you can't. Today is the big kick-off for A Stitch in Time's mid-year sale. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of my yarn-starved friends at this one. There are a few items that I have my eye on but if you want it just say so. Just remember, 50% off on selected yarns but you have to buy all we have of that color. And all the other yarns are 30% off but you only have to buy the amount you want.

I frittered most of yesterday away. After all, I'm retired. What else have I got to do? Lunch with a friend and a bit of yarn shopping, for her, not me. Then off to pick up my prescription at Kaiser. It wasn't ready. What's up with them? Back to Unraveled for the rest of the afternoon. Made a lot of progress on the Clapotis. Then out to dinner with the ladies. More Mexican and margaritas. All in all a nice fritter.

"I don't know what happened."

That's all the technician could say. Someone was supposed to let me know that my appointment for today had been cancelled. Oh well, I had to get up anyway to feed the cat. It seems that the cardiologist decided that the scan I had on Tuesday was usable. The resident, who looked at it on Tuesday, must have been unsure. Maybe he was the one who was supposed to call. So for now all I have to do is wait for my primary care physician to call me with the evaluation and plan of treatment.

I have finished the Sursa shawl (aka the Anonymous shawl) but I'm thinking it's not really ready for prime time. The ruffle still doesn't look the way I envision it. I need to let it rest for a while and see if I can find a heavier cotton yarn, one that is more like the weight of the yarn I used in the shawl. So that's it on that for a while.

Since I spent most of yesterday knitting and binding off the shawl I don't have anything else to report. Guess I'll spend some time on the Clapotis and the latest zigzag scarf. Or maybe the lace.

You gotta have heart!

It really irritates me when things don't work the way they're supposed to. Perforations that don't; pop tops that don't; ATMs that won't let you make a deposit. All those daily things that just don't perform the way we've been led to believe they will.

Some of you know that I've been having a series of medical exams. Seems my heart doesn't work quite right either. I have to admit that this more than an irritant. In fact it might even be a major concern. But there's some other problems that are causing delays. Seems my innards aren't exactly where they're expected to be. Last week when I had an ultra-sound the technician couldn't find my gall bladder. I had to assure her twice that I hadn't had it removed. Finally, a more experienced person found it. Just not quite where it was expected to be.

I took a treadmill test a few weeks ago and my heart rate escalated much more rapidly than it was expected to. So I was scheduled for a nuclear exam. That's already enough to scare me. But I went and had it done yesterday. But some of my other innards are in the way. Not where there're normally found. So the scans are not usable. I have to go back tomorrow and get a different isotope injected and then have another scan. I'm hoping this one will do it.

So what does all this have to do with the photo at top? I'm making a sample lace scarf using one of the stitch patterns from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Barbara Walker's first book of stitch patterns. Her patterns work. I've used a lot of them and have never found an error. I've never heard of anyone who has.

I'm planning to use a lot of old Rowan Seabreeze, a discontinued cotton yarn, to make lace samples. I like the kind of rustic look the cotton gives the lace. I'm hoping some of my students will see these and be encouraged to try lace. It's really pretty easy when you get right down to it.

Theme and variation

It's been a pretty non-productive week knitting-wise. I've fiddled around with lots of different projects and ideas but I haven't finished anything. Some almosts but nothing totally done.

It interesting to me how certain themes show up on the blogs I read. Sometimes it's that a lot of people are making the same thing. Or a lot of people are getting into spinning. Today I found a lot of knit blogs I read are all about cleaning up UFOs and getting projects finished or ripped. Including me.

I don't have any idea how many projects I have in the works. I know that some of them are years old. My aran sweater, for example. A pair of socks from 2003. Multiple scarves. And yet I start new ones.

So, once in a while I get the urge to finish some stuff. Like the raglan I'm making for the shop. I did get a lot done on it yesterday in between trips to the laundry room and naps with the cat. I won't get much done on it today though since I'm at A Stitch in Time all day and then I'm going out to dinner with Mendy and Judy and then to Friday Night Knitting Fever at Lammia's. The cat will have to nap alone. Anyway, I wonder if I'll be able to stick with this project until it's done. And then should I work on the Clapotis and finish that or maybe those socks.

Last night we went to El Cholo for a thank you dinner. Alison, the shop owner, took all us out to say thank you for keeping the shop running while she was focusing on the marketplace at the Showcase House. That's over now and all the unsold merchandise is back in the store. We're also gearing up for the mid-year sale. That starts next Friday. Anyway, the dinner was nice and it was fun to see everyone together, especially the ladies who have been staffing the booth at Showcase.

Since Monday is a holiday and the shop is closed I'll be having a whole week off. I won't be back there until next Friday. Maybe I'll have time to finish something.

Getting started

This is not the start of the Cotton Fleece top. It's the top down raglan I've been putting off for several weeks. When I was trying to find something in my knitting bag I found the few rows I had done and decided I'd better get back to it.

The color is a bit washed out. I'm using Malabrigo worsted in Lettuce. Have you used this stuff? It's wonderful. Soft. Easy to knit. Not scratchy at all. I was using some Clover bamboo circulars because that was all I had with me when I started. Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike these needles? So I've switched to some very old Boye that have a much better point and they don't have that annoying little bump where the cable joins the needle. The one that makes it really difficult to move the stitches onto the needle. It's going much better.

I have forty rows done and am almost done with the increases. I still have to decide how I'm going to treat the sleeves and the body. I keep thinking a lace pattern but then it's wool so that might be incongruous. I started thinking I'd do a ribbing and finish it off with a small ruffle. I might still do that since ruffles seem to be popular right now. It's a shop sample so I don't have to make it last forever.

Oh man! It's way too early!

Another day of not much knitting to report. Just a little Dulaan last night with a fine bunch of friends. And Mendy made a Hummingbird cake. We don't know why it's called that. It was filled with banana, pineapple, pecans and I don't know what else and had a cream cheese frosting that alone was worth the calories. Anyway, I finished another hat and worked on the 2X2 ribbing hat that is taking way too long.

So I'm up even earlier than usual. I have an ultra-sound to take this morning and I have to go a long way to get to where the test is scheduled. Under normal traffic conditions it should take about twenty minutes to get where I need to be but I'm going during the morning rush traffic so I'm allowing about an hour. Being late for anything is just not an option for me. I'll take a book along just in case.

I was a little concerned that I might over sleep. But Patrick wanted to eat even earlier than usual so I've been up since four. And I can't have any coffee or anything else so I'm feeling weird. I wonder if there are Starbucks in Baldwin Park and if so where are they.

Once I get home I'm so taking a nap and then maybe start actually planning that new Cotton Fleece top I was thinking about yesterday. Or knit some more on the Clapotis.

What to write?

There's just not much new around here. I'm still plodding along on the Clapotis. I thought I was about ready to start the decrease end but I don't think it's long enough yet. I'm using a thinner yarn than the pattern recommends so I'm not surprised. It's just taking a long time.

The Anonymous Shawl is still waiting for it's ruffle. So far I've tried three different colors. None of them really work. Fortunately I have plenty of other colors to try. Next up is a light lavender/blue. Not today though. I need a break.

It's not a good thing when I get stalled like this. That's a sure sign I'm getting ready to start something else. I swatched some Cotton Fleece last night. The dark lime green I got at the swap meet at the beginning of May. I only have seven hanks so my choices are limited. I think Lisa may be getting a new short sleeve top with a lace insert, or something like that.

A Stitch in Time, where I work, is having a sale next month. All knitting yarns and needlepoint canvases are on sale. The yarn is 30% off with selected yarns being 50% off. In order to get the 50% off price you have to buy everything we have in that color. The cards announcing the sale have already been sent out so that means we won't be very busy for the next few days.

Get thee to a knit shop!

If I try real hard I can think of four or five yarn shops around Los Angeles County that I have never been to. That is, of the ones I know about. I wonder how many there are that I don't know about. I went to one on Saturday that I'd never heard of.

The Knitter's Studio in West Los Angeles is a small but well stocked shop. They have a nice selection of mostly upscale yarns like Koigu, Lorna's Laces and Alchemy. (I had to get some souvenir yarn so I got a couple of hanks of LL worsted in the color Mother Lode.)The yarns are arranged by color rather than weight or brand. I know a lot of people don't like that but I find it very pleasing. And you can tell right away if there's enough in the colorway you've selected instead of having to dig through a whole shelf or bin like in some shops that I won't mention.

The biggest problem with going over there is parking. It's practically non-existent or it requires a specific permit. And there are parking meters, even on the residential streets. We were lucky and found a place after only three circuits around the block. There are some jerks over there though.

What else have you got to do?

Before I retired I thought I'd be able to sit at home and knit all day. I wouldn't have to get up early either and I could stay up as late as I wanted. It was going to be so nice to just do whatever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to.

It's not like that. Not complaining, mind you, just talking about how busy I can be. I get up early. That's the cat's fault. I don't stay up much past eleven. I do need at least six hours of sleep if I'm going to function. The first couple of hours of the day I read blogs and write emails, feed and brush the cat, and stuff like that. Then it's out for the morning walk, home for breakfast and brushing the cat some more.

I might have some time to knit for a while or visit my stash for a while. Then it's time to have some lunch and a nap. Maybe some more knitting in the afternoon. Or else I'm off to check out some yarn shops. Or maybe I need to go to Trader Joe's.

Then, depending on what day it is, I'm off to knit with friends at Unraveled and then on to either my Dulaan knitting group or my Thursday night knitting group. And if it's Monday or Friday I'm at A Stitch in Time teaching. If I'm home in the evening I might get some more knitting in, between trips to the kitchen to feed the cat. He won't eat if I don't walk him to his bowl. And then we have to play String for a while.

Anyway, I don't get very much done even though I'm busy all the time. The cat is sleeping right now so I have a few minutes to write this post. And then I have to get ready for work. I'm going out tomorrow during the day and my daughter is coming over in the evening. Sunday looks pretty open right now. Maybe I can re-do the ruffle on the shawl then.

New yarn because you know you want to know

What a way to spend a day! We spent an hour or so at the big close out sale. I was pretty reserved in my purchases. I stumbled on the bag of Classic Elite Lush. A great color and an even greater price. A bag of five for only $12.50 US. That's the usual price for one skein. Probably the best deal of the day.

A bag of ten. Jaeger Matchmaker Merino. This one I picked up after I'd already checked out. But the color and the price made it irresistable. I hope vests are here for a while. There's not enough to do any really fancy stitches but I can manage a bit of texture here and there.

A bag of GGH Bali in assorted colors. I got it mostly for the raspberry color. I think I'm going to use that as the ruffle on the Anonymous Shawl More about that in a minute.

Seven skeins of Lana Grossa Pashmina. More than enough for a shawl for next winter. I got four skeins of this a few weeks ago in an orange color. On sale then but not as much of a sale as now.

A bag of Cascade Luna. I got this one thinking the color would work with the Anonymous shawl. I've already added the ruffle, except for the binding off, but I'm going to take it out. It looked fine in the store with the sample ball I took to check against. Worked up though it's just too intense and leaps out way more than I want. Another six hours of knitting down the drain. But I think the raspberry Bali will be much better.

After we had exhausted the possibilities and our cash we went to Joseph's for lunch. Crazy over the top decor. Tent like swags of cloth draped low over the booths. Gold and crystal chandeliers, heavily textured stucco work that looked like a bad movie set version of stone. Elaborate cornices and columns. And these sad, skimpy tables that might have been cafeteria rejects. The food was good though. I had a gyro pita. I could have eaten another one. I shared H's sampler plate instead.

I don't know how true this is but it was presented as a fact. There are going to be even deeper discounts before the shop goes out of business next month.

First you say you will and then you won't and then you say you do and then you don't

You may recall that I was thinking about going to Black Sheep Knittery today. However. late yesterday I talked it over with my knitting muse and it was decided that we didn't really need to go since we don't either one need any more yarn. Of course, it was easier for her to decide that since she'd already been the day before and culled the cream of the yarn crop. So we weren't going.

I got home from Dulaan knitting about 10:30 and there was a message on my machine to call her. So I did. It appears we're going after all. Not because either one of us needs more yarn. But someone else needs an outing and she wanted to go to BSK. So, for the moment anyway, we're back on. Sometimes you just can't make a sensible decision and have it stick. We're not going until after noon so there's still time for another change.

Not much exciting happening on the knitting scene. I finished a hat and am about half way through another one for the Dulaan project. I worked a few rows on the Clapotis. (I'm more than half way through.) There's still the ruffle to redo on the Anonymous Shawl. I have a hankering to work on some socks, new ones. Not ones I've already started. Maybe I will and maybe I won't.

Who could resist?

Given the high prices for gasoline ($3.559/gal for regular last Saturday) and the rising cost of postage I'm finding it more and more difficult to engage in my yarn shopping hobby. But then along comes this 75% off sale at Black Sheep Knittery. I hear they've put out some more Koigu and Noro and all kinds of other temptations. Must resist. Must resist. Maybe tomorrow I'll just go take a peek.

Speaking of Koigu. Yesterday I overheard one of the ladies I work with talking on the telephone.

"What kind of yarn?"
"Sounds like those new needles we have." (She meant Chai Goo.)
"Could you spell it?"
"No. We don't have that."

I was yelling Koigu across the shop but the customer had already hung up. I can't believe I had to explain Koigu. You call yourself a knitter and you don't know what Koigu is? I did my best to describe it but I guess I'm going to have to take some in to show her. I exaggerate, of course. I have a feeling though that she's not going to get it.

H and her blog

My friend H (of L&H fame) has a blog. I recommend it. At first, like a week ago, when she started to blog it was going to be a secret so I couldn't even mention it in front of anyone. Now she's decided that it would be okay if other people knew about it. Her Mother's Day post is a winner. It's nice to know that H isn't as cynical as she likes to pretend. Please go and say hello.

Added later

I got myself into a panic over the weekend. I was reading blogs as I am wont to do, even on weekends. Suddenly I realized that Ryan was trying to tell me something. Not only is the deadline to ship rapidly approaching but I also haven't done as many adult sized hats as I had intended. I'm not kidding. I really felt panic set in. I dropped every project I had planned to work on and immediately began a hat. So far so good. Now if only I can find the rest of the mohair I'm using as a carry along. (Note to self: do not put things away. You'll never remember where you put them.) So, since I haven't found the rest of the mohair I'm working on a different hat.

I have some Maratona that has been kicking around for several years. Not enough for a garment but plenty for hats. After I got rid of the skeins that the moths had tasted I cast on for a ribbed had. Relatively small needles though. Not sure what I was thinking if I planned on making a bunch of hats in just a few weeks. I'll start something else tonight and use the Maratona for filler when I'm just waiting around for something to happen.

I should have taken it with me last night when I went to dinner at Robert's. But I thought he might think it was rude for me to knit while we visited. Not that it would have mattered. His other guests were much ruder than I would have been. Let me just say, I won't be going back if those same people are also invited. It's a long story.

I'm making progress. Slowly. Someone should have warned me of how monotonous it is to knit the Clapotis. I'm not saying it's a bad pattern. It's actually quite well thought out. It's just than once you hit the middle stretch it gets pretty repetitive. And if you're like me and count stitches every row, pretty soon you've put yourself into a trance. Or more likely you've realized that a nap is the most important thing you want to do right now. But I'm getting there.

Originally I had planned to make this a very long shawl. I have lots of yarn. I don't think I'm going to do that now. It'll be just fine if I make it to the pattern dimensions.

We had the largest turnout for Dulaan knitting that we've had in weeks. I finished this hat earlier in the day but I forgot to take it for show and tell. In fact, I forgot all the hats I've been accumulating. That, in spite of the fact that I had put them right by the front door so I wouldn't forget. All too common anymore.

To the rescue

After much emailing back and forth it was decided that the best thing we could do was to go rescue some of the yarn at Black Sheep Knittery. The fire had been largely controlled and only a couple of routes were still blocked. We couldn't take our usual route over Forest Lawn Drive so we went out to Cahuenga and over to the 101 freeway. Only a slightly longer trip.

I got two hanks of Schaeffer Anne. I already have six or seven hanks of this yarn but have never tried to knit it. But the colors are irresistable. You can still smell the vinegar. For a change, the colors in the photo are pretty close to the actual yarn.

And these three hanks of Koigu we found hovering in a bin that was way below eye level. I don't know that this is one of their most brilliant colorways but Koigu at half price is not to be passed up. Again, the photo is pretty close to the real thing. Maybe a bit brighter than the yarn.

I don't expect that any of the firefighters that were there fighting the huge Griffith Park fire actually read my blog. But if there are any, or if you know any of them, please let them know how much we appreciate their efforts and success in containing that fire in as short a time as they did. And to the guy who may have started the whole thing, why do you think they have all those No Smoking signs?

The long hot summer begins

The heavy smoke that we were getting yesterday afternoon seems to have dissipated. There's still a trace of it in the air. And so far today the winds have died down so that should help with the firefighting effort in Griffith Park. The wind was so strong over the weekend that it blew my pot of amaryllis over. When I went out on the balcony yesterday it was lying top down on the deck. All the stems of flowers were crushed as well as most of the leaves. It was about done with the blooming season so maybe there's no permanent damage. I've uprighted it and given it a good watering and today is a bit cooler. That should help.

We were planning a trip to Black Sheep Knittery today but have decided to postpone until Saturday. Access to that part of Hollywood is very near to the site of the fire and there have been lots of highway and street closures so it makes going somwhat risky. Mostly because we'd probably get caught in some terrific traffic jams.

We wanted to go because the 50% off sale has been extended once again. This time until Memorial Day. The last time I was there a couple of weeks ago there was still plenty of inventory except for Koigu. And the Addi bamboo circulars I wanted. I hear that more stuff has been brought out. Debbie Bliss and GGH. And there was lots of Manos when I was there.

I went over to Monrovia yesterday to get a haircut. (From my regular barber. Not the one who did such a terrible job a few weeks ago.) The shop is just across the street from Unraveled so I went there afterwards a spent a couple of hours knitting with L&H. Spent most of the evening working of the Clapotis and have started doing some of the dropped stitch rows. No photo yet.

What next?

Anyone recognize this? I might be the last knitter in the world to make this. And I'm almost finished with the increases and will soon be letting some stitches run. You guessed it. I'm finally making the Clapotis scarf. I was going to make it as a shawl but I think this yarn will behave better as a scarf, and I won't have to add a whole bunch of more increases.

I'm using some yarn from stash, Lano Grossa Elastico Print, that I got at Unwind shortly after they opened a couple of years ago. It's easy to knit and and there's plenty of yardage, 150m/50g. And I have nine skeins. I wonder why I don't have ten. Must be they didn't have that many.

I rather enjoyed sticking to one project and seeing it through from start to finish. Let's see if I can extend that feeling to another long, repetitive pattern.

No MSWF for me

I have a fantasy that someday I'll be able to go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I'm reading lots of blogs from people who actually went this year. Sounds like it would have been lots of fun.

Since I couldn't go this year I sort of created my own. I already mentioned going to the new yarn shop on Saturday. That was exciting. Lots of new Kureyon waiting to be put away. Yesterday though was completely unexpected.

Lisa came over early so we could go to the swap meet. We haven't been in a couple of years. The day was going to get hot so we went early, just as soon as we'd had our coffee. I almost never find anything there that I would bother to carry home. This time though there was one vendor who had YARN! Not a lot of it but enough to stop me. I got seven skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and two hanks of Manos del Uruguay for a total of $28US. So that was my seredipitous fiber event. There was more but I didn't take my check book with me or enough cash.

After the swap meet we celebrated Cinco de Mayo, a day late, by going to brunch at Acapulco. Obligatory margaritas and champagne.

After considering some of the color options for the ruffle on the Anonymous Shawl, Lisa decided on the bright pink, although she did think it was pretty bright. I did a couple of rows after she left. I think it's too much. Kind of takes over. So I'm taking it out and doing some more research in the stash. There's gotta be something.

New yarn shop

Well it's sorta new. Entirely new to me. Hissy Knits in Glendale. Well, sorta in Glendale. It's on the east side, very close to Eagle Rock.

I think the owner was going for funky. Near miss. So far I think they only have yarns from KFI. But they have that in depth. I've never seen so much Noro in one place. They have less now that they did when I got there. Of course L&H helped a lot too.

They're also having a sale but I think it ends today. On the other hand, they almost always have a sale going on.

And they're moving to a new location at the end of the month.

Choices

Well, H did not approve my original choice for the ruffle on the Anonymous shawl. Thought it was too pink or something. So I'm considering this Tahki Cotton Classic Orange. Seems a little bright to me but I saw a more muted orange when I was at Unraveled yesterday. So I may get that even though I'm trying to work from stash.

Or I might use this more marigold color. That's some Gedifra St. Tropez that I've had for several years. It's actually more orange than it appears in the photo. It's also pretty bright but I like the texture of the yarn more than the Tahki for this shawl. And it's from stash.


Of course I might go in an entirely different direction and try something cooler like the Cascade Sierra in a bluish lavender. I still need to find the perfect color. I'm looking to see if I have any bright purple.

Self-indulgence

Yesterday I ordered one of these. It costs a lot but it's so worth it. We have one at A Stitch in Time and it is such improvement over the old winder that, well, there's just no comparison. I don't know how long it will take to get but I hope it's soon. It looks like, from their web page, that they're managed to improve their turnaround time so maybe sometime this month.

It's not that I need a new ball winder. The one that Lisa gave me maybe twenty years ago still works pretty well. And I don't always have to wind the yarn I buy. But I don't have many interests other than my knitting and this new toy will be a delight to use. Besides, I'll be the envy of my friends. I'm sure they'll all be waiting to see who will inherit this when I'm gone.

When I changed my blog format a few things changed that I haven't taken the time to fix. I used to use YACCS for my comments but now I use the one that Blogger provides. With the old system I almost always got an email address so I could respond to the comment. With Blogger that doesn't happen. Unless the commenter is also a Blogger user. So when I get comments from people that don't use Blogger I can't always reply directly. So I guess I'm going to do what I've seen others do. Reply in my blog.

Beth left a comment yesterday, asking if I had any ideas for a shawl for her daughter's upcoming wedding. Something simple and light weight. There are a number of shawls at knitty that would work. I think the Clapotis would be good if it's not too heavy. I think the bias would help the shawl stay on. If you want something simpler why not use one of the Scribble scarves from the Mason-Dixon book. They're easy to work and to adapt. Some lace mohair and silky ribbon in a color that matches her dress. I think one of the most important things would be to make sure the shawl is easy to wear. Anyway, those are my first thoughts on a wedding shawl.

The Showcase House tour was lovely. We got to spend some time with M who dids a bedroom and bath for the house. He also knit one of the Mason-Dixon log cabin blankets for the bed. It was a little shy of being done but it looked great and no one could tell that it wasn't finished.

Running late

I'm running later than usual today. My cat Patrick slept in this morning so we didn't get up until after 5:30. I really appreciated that extra hour since I was late getting home and even later than usual getting to bed.

Most of the time when I go to one of my knitting nights I'm home by eleven. I was about half an hour later yesterday and still wanted to check my email and messages. Of course, I got side tracked looking around and following links.

And again this morning I dawdled a lot before getting my day started. But I finally got out and did a couple of hours worth of errands. Then home to look for some more shawl patterns. And now it's almost time to leave again to go to the showcase house tour.

That stack of hats is what I currently have ready to take to Mendy's to put in the Dulaan box. Only a few of them are current. Most of them I stumbled upon when I was cleaning my stash room last week. I had to wash them first and they didn't dry sufficiently for me to take them last night. I should have a couple more by this time next week. Unless I start some more shawls.

Anonymous

Some progress on the current shawl. It's loosely based on this shawl from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Noro Collection, Book Number Two, the Sursa Shawl. I say it's loosely based because I only used the pattern to get some idea of how the shaping was done. I'm using a totally different yarn, On Line Linie 95, Summer-Mistral, that I've had in stash for a couple of years. That's the body yarn. The ruffle will be the Cotton Classic which I've also had for several years.

I'm not always one to give my projects a name although I sometimes do. This one I'm calling the Anonymous Shawl. It's a tribute to Anonymous who left a comment on my blog yesterday. Who is Anonymous? I'll pretend I don't know but I'm sure anyone with the right techie skills could trace the comment. In one of those curious twists of fate I had been thinking of writing something about H (of L&H fame) but was waiting to talk to L before I did so. I've contacted L and she said it would be okay so long as I was discreet.

So, who is H?

If you hang out in yarn shops anywhere within a fifty mile radius of the San Gabriel Valley there's a high probability that you will have seen L&H at some point. The mother and daughter team spend hours and hours checking out all the yarn shops and usually beating me to the newest and latest yarns. H is the daughter.

H can knit. She can knit no matter what happens. She's had some really serious health issues since last fall. She's had every kind of medical test that's out there. None of us are satisfied that the source of her ailment has been correctly diagnosed. Most of the medications that have been prescribed have either not helped or have caused other problems, sometimes both. While she's feeling somewhat better she still has unbearable days. Throughout all this H has been knitting. Knitting like Mme Defarge, with a determination and focus. Or perhaps like EZ, with hope and confidence. But knitting. Mostly shawls and scarves of outrageous color combos and fibers. I love her style.

A lot of school has been missed. H is a brilliant student and deserves much better treatment from the self-absorbed school administration than she's getting. Every child deserves special attention, not this do-it-by-the-numbers shirking of responsibility that is being meted out. I have no hair left to pull out but I would if I could. And still she knits.

H just makes me laugh. I enjoy sitting with her and teasing. She's my source for trendy fashion news. I don't know how she does it but she always knows what every celebrity was wearing on any given day, and probably what they were doing. And she's really smart.

As Anonymous said, H is going through some modifications to her dental structure. We're learning lots about the state of dental technology and artistic repositioning. Have you seen those transparent braces? They're new to me. They sure make your teeth look white, eerily white. I think the first day H went through a whole tube of gum-numbing ointment. Did you know that you can get your teeth shaved? I guess that's better than removing teeth to make room. H was really knitting hard and fast!

H is also the chairperson, and so far as I know, the only member of PACINOS*. I have to see if I have some socks to donate. I'll be seeing L&H later today. Before I go to my Dulaan knitting.

Thanks, Anonymous, for the suggestion. Hope you're having a good day. Don't let the tutors make you crazy. How was the geometry exam yesterday?

*Partially African Child in Need of Socks. Sometimes she just slays me.

Another day, another sock yarn

By the time I got to Unwind on Saturday there was only one color of this yarn left. It's not a color that I would normally buy. But I needed to have some of this Rio de la Plata sock yarn. My collection would not be complete otherwise. My friend L (of L&H fame) got some on Thursday in a colorway that I would have much preferred. So I went with what there was. It's a nice enough color, SL00, poinson green, green sheen, dusky green, according to the label. Super-wash merino and 437 yards.

So I brought it home and wound it right away. The color is more accurate in the wound yarn than in the skein. Way more. But even that isn't quite right. You know how hard it is to take pictures of something so blurry in the first place.




I couldn't wait to get some socks started. I'm trying the Feather and Fan socks from Socks, Socks, Socks but not liking it so much. I think I'll start over with something more leaf like. Meanwhile I've been working on yet another shawl. This may be the year of the shawl, or so it seems.





More about that later.

Rough

The past couple of days have been rough, at least on the knitting. Hardly anything I tried seemed to work. I did manage to finish another hat for Dulaan. This one is from one of the Vogue On the Go Books. Book Two of Hats and Caps. The pattern is by Fiona Ellis. I used three colors of Brown Sheep Nature Spun that accidentally were the colors in the pattern. Except mine are darker and not tweed. I still have a few ends to weave in on the inside.

The yarn I was planning to use for the Pacific Waves Shawl turned out to be too busy for the pattern. It's Trendsetter Solaris. I don't think it's available anymore. There's an error in that pattern, by the way. The chart is correct but the written pattern has a purl row where there should be a knit.

Anyway. I decided the yarn would look better in Monika's Sakura-Cherry Blossom Shawl. I'm calling it the Pillar Shawl. It took me a while to get it started but I think I've figured it out and can keep going without referring to the pattern. I'm going to try making it flare more at the top so it has longer wings.

Back to our regularly scheduled program

The shawl is done and suitably admired. Time to move on to something else. I've been using the Dulaan project as sort of a filler for the past week. A couple more hats and some others on the needles. But I really need something bigger. So it looks like I'll be doing this.

I've seen it a couple of times but didn't make up my mind until this morning when I was moving stash around and came across some yarn that I think will be perfect. I have to work up a sample yet, and find the rest of the yarn, but I think it'll be a good use for some yarn I haven't any idea why I bought. Must have been the 50% off price from when Temple City Knits was going out of business the first time.

For those of you who thought that was my yarn stash in yesterday's photos. That's only the part that doesn't fit into the yarn room. The yarn room is undergoing major renovation right now. I'm trying to clear out some old stuff that I don't think I'll ever use. It'll be hard to say goodbye to some of it. I need to go get some more plastic tubs for the stuff I'm keeping. At least they'll stack better than the cardboard boxes.

Spanish Dancer Shawl

The fun is in the details. And seeing it being worn. This is probably the best color capture I've done on this project. I used eight skeins of Koigu and several lengths of US7 needles, 16" to 60". There were a few errors in the pattern but nothing that couldn't be easily deduced. I worked almost exclusively on this shawl for three weeks. I'm pleased.



Miles of ruffles before I sleep. Several days were devoted to doing the ruffle. But it was worth it.



Lisa loved the shawl and all the ruffles. (I guess I should have tidied the background before I took this one. Now all you people who never get to come inside can see why. Like I told you, I'm not a good housekeeper.)

Another day, another hat

A hat a day keeps the doctor away. Or, "all work and no hats makes Jack a dull boy" or whatever. Using up more scrap odds and ends, these yarn are from a very old Rowan kit. Do they even still make kits? The yarns are so stiff and firm that I'm sure they must have been meant for carpet. I'm putting this in to soak for a bit to see if that will help. I think the next hat will be a plain roll brim with something that will not cause the back of my wrists to ache quite so much.

That could be the rain though. Yes! It's raining today. Not a downpour yet but maybe that'll come later. I've already taken three ibuprophen tablets so I can keep knitting without too much pain. Since I'm teaching today I probably won't do much actual knitting anyway until this evening.

Went to Unraveled yesterday. They had apparently had a good first day of the sale. I didn't help though. Came close to getting some more Koigu but put it back. I'll wait until they have some new sock yarn.

Never say never

unless you really mean it. As in "I'm never buying any more yarn."

I ended up at Black Sheep Knittery yesterday after I went to see my dermatologist at Kaiser in Hollywood. I had planned to only buy some of those Addi Bamboo Circulars. I've only recently discovered them and I think I like them way more than any of my other circulars.

There's a 50% off sale going on at Black Sheep for the rest of this month. L (of L&H fame) said she thought they had some of those needles in small to medium sizes so I had better go get some. I only found two that I would use on a fairly regular basis. So, since I couldn't spend as much as I had mentally allocated, I spent some on this wonderfully soft cashmere/extra fine merino blend from Lana Grossa. "Pashmina" is the name. There was more of this orange plus some other colors. I got four skeins, enough for a reasonably sized scarf. Pattern search has begun.

I'm not going back. At least not right away. There's a "Tax Relief Sale" starting at Unraveled today. I have to go over there to meet friends later today, and to see if I can resist a sale this time. Everything is on sale. I think it's 25% off but I could be confused.

Hot and not so

My friend Estelle went to Belize. She had a great time. She brought me four bottles of the very popular Sharp's Habanera Sauce. (I already finished one of them.) I like them a lot. I put some on my oatmeal every morning. Umm! Some people think that sounds weird. Those same people eat raw fish. Ick!

I finally finished this hat that I started a few weeks ago. It's for our Dulaan contribution. Now that I've finished the Spanish Dancer shawl I'll be able to concentrate more on making hats and other stuff. I used a couple of yarns I had left over from hats I made for myself a few years ago. The red is possum and merino. I hope no one is allegic to possum. It's very warm and a lot softer than you might think. I don't remember what the blue yarn is. Some kind of wool blend I think.

I have a couple of sweaters started but I don't think I'm going to be able to finish them in time to ship this year. If there's not a next year then I'll find a home for them somewhere else. Anyway, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, our production this year is not so hot. We're really trying to make up for lost time. I think hats are the way to go. More items for more people. Quantity isn't everything but it counts for a lot.

Gimme another four to six hours

and I'll be done with the bind off of the SD shawl. Conservatively, I spent six hours yesterday just binding off and I'm maybe 400 stitches past the center point. 3596 stitches. My left thumb is really throbbing. And then there are a few ends to be woven in. I know we'll all be happy when it's done.

Weird weather this weekend. Rain! Not like the East coast, of course. But still, rain this time of year is really unusual. And it was loud enough to wake me and the cat up at 4:30AM. And there was some thunder too. It's still gloomy today but no more rain is predicted. But then there wasn't any predicted for yesterday either.

I spent a really pleasant afternoon at Unraveled yesterday. L&H were there as well as a couple of other knitting friends plus the shop owner. There wasn't much traffic in the store so we all sat around and chatted and knit. A really fun time! Then we went to dinner at the Mediterranean Grill. I'd never been there. I liked it and I'll be going back soon.

Now that the Spanish Dancer shawl is almost done I'm beginning to think about my next project. I'm still trying to make some headway on the top down raglan that I'm doing as a shop sample. If you're waiting for the pattern, don't despair. Soon! Then there's still plenty of other things already started that I want to get back to. But I'm being led astray by Monika and her new shawl pattern.

Hot off the needles!

All I have to do now is pick up a couple hundred stitches across the top edge and do an attached I-cord. Then undo the provisional cast of of 441 stitches and make the ruffle. Maybe by next weekend when Lisa comes over I'll be able to show a finished shawl. I had planned to finish this last night but things can get in the way.

My older brother called and that always takes an hour or more. He said my new phone sounded great. And the another friend and I talked for maybe another half an hour. So by that time it was nearly time for bed and I was too tired and a little stressed so decided I would finish it this morning while I'm doing my laundry.

I went for my tread mill test yesterday. I thought I did quite well and I managed to get my heart rate up where I had to in only a couple of minutes. Apparently that's too fast. It should have taken at least five to ten minutes. The nurse said maybe I wasn't used to exercise but I told her about my daily walks plus my blood pressure is really good right now. I didn't have any problem with the tread mill walking, except I was pretty short of breath when I finished. So there's some kind of problem. One that didn't show up in my EKG. I have to wait until next week to hear from my primary physician and then there'll be a decision as to whether I have to wear a "black box" monitor for a day or so. Anyway, I think that's why I was feeling stressed.

So, the long process of knitting the body of the shawl is done. As soon as I finish putting away the laundry, and have some lunch, I'll be starting on that attached I-cord.

Paying attention

See my new phone! Isn't it nice? It only took me two trips to Target to get it right. I should pay more attention. I forgot to check when I got the first one to see if it had an answering machine. That's the only reason I needed to get a new phone. The old answering machine quit working. So a second trip was necessary. It has an answering machine and I managed to program the few features that I will actually use. It was a lot easier than I was prepared for.

Minnie asked me why I wanted a corded phone. It's pretty simple really. I like living in the last century. I hate the look of the new phones. You notice this one is black, the way phones used to be. My last phone was white and I never liked it. The new phones are just too cluttered. Too many things going on. The one I got is bad enough. I used to have a wireless phone and it caused me lots of grief mostly because hackers could use it to call China and Japan. But really I don't need all the stuff the new phones can do. Anyway, if you want to call and leave a message I have an answering machine again.

People who know me well know that I don't like seafood of any kind. I cringe just thinking about it. When I buy my Healthy Choice TV dinners I only buy chicken and turkey. Usually two of each kind. I should have paid more attention when I went to the market last week. Someone had mixed the garlic chicken and the seafood combo and I got one of those shrimp/chicken with rice things. I ate it because there wasn't anything else. I didn't want to get dressed again to go and buy something else. That's the same reason I ate five jalapenos for lunch. I didn't have anything else at home for a salad.

I did manage to KIP on my Spanish Dancer shawl yesterday without forgetting or misplacing any of the decreases. But then I was paying more attention than usual.

Annual Amaryllis

Here it is at last. I know you've been wondering how my amaryllis is doing. Just fine, as you can see. I've lost track but I think this plant is now about seven years old, started from a the three what were in a Christmas basket sent to me by my sister. Doesn't seem to matter how much I neglect it. It just keeps on going.

I just finished the fifth skein of Koigu that I'm using for the Spanish Dancer shawl so that means I'm 62.5% done with the shawl or my supply of yarn at least. I'm beginning to get a little nervous. Fortunately, L (of L&H fame) has a skein of the same dye lot that she's willing to sell me and there's one more at Unraveled. I think I'll go ahead and get them while I can.

I'm off for my morning walk now. I'll stop by Target while I'm out and see what they have in the way of corded phones. I went on Sunday but they, and practically everyone else, were closed for Easter.

Too much weekend

means you don't get much knitting done. I think I worked about three rows on the Spanish Dancer shawl and about the same amount on a new zigzag scarf. The rest of the weekend was given over to wining, dining and otherwise abusing my body. I hope to feel better by noon.

Sic transit omnia

Just in case you're keeping track. I'm over half way done with the Spanish Dancer. Well, I'm more than half way through the yarn. The rows are now less than 200 stitches so that means I only have about 100 more rows to go until I finish the body of the shawl. Then the real fun begins.

Yesterday I learned of the passing of the husband of one of my friends. It wasn't unexpected. I did not know him well but I liked him and respected his abilities. And he was a great husband to my friend. I'll be going to a memorial get together for him in a couple of weeks. I expect I'll be reconnecting with lots of people from an earlier time in my life. I'm really bad about keeping track of people once I don't see them on a frequent basis.

I had my first official knitting consultation yesterday. I've been hired to advise and give my opinion for one of my sometime students who is starting an import business. It's too early in the game to know how it's going to go. She does have some good resources though and is quite enthusiastic about it. Consulting is a lot of fun. You get to tell people what you think needs to be done but you don't have to do any of the work yourself.

And on a final note. My answering machine has quit. I have to get a new phone/answering machine this weekend so I don't miss any of the sales pitches and handout requests. Or the political stuff. So if you're trying to reach me and my machine doesn't answer that means I'm not here. Please call again.

Haircut

There's really not much to report on the knitting front. I worked a bunch of rows on the Spanish Dancer shawl. And worked on the current Dulaan hat last night. I did meet up with some friends at Unraveled for a while yesterday and got to hear about a Valentina Devine workshop that sounded like it was good. So while I'm not in the doldrums I don't have much to report.

Yesterday morning while I was out for my walk I decided to stop for a haircut. There's a plain ol' barber shop near where I live so I thought I'd give it a try. I don't think I've ever had a worse haircut. Considering that I don't have much hair it's hard to imagine how I could get a bad haircut. For which I had to pay $12.00. The guy ahead of me had one of the funniest comb-overs I've seen. Very little on top but he had let the sides grow so that he had a fairly thick fringe that covered his ears. I don't know how the barber kept from laughing, or just cutting it all off. Anyway I don't think I'll be going back there.

Hats, hats and more hats

We're getting closer and closer to the cut off date for shipping our Dulaan hats and sweaters etc. to Flagstaff. This is just a few of the hats I've collected over the past week. I have another one on the needles right now that I hope to finish this evening at our Dulaan knit night.

We were hoping to exceed our last year's total of 350 plus items. I'm beginning to doubt that we'll be able to even match that number. Not to be a pessimist but we just haven't had the enthusiasm that we had last year. That doesn't mean that we haven't had some enthusiastic knitters but we haven't had the number we had last year. And there have been some other factors that have kept folks away or otherwise distracted. We've got about three months to get our numbers up. Of course there's no obligation but I'd sure like to see a lot more items before the deadline.

The top-down raglan pattern is slowly taking shape. I mean really slowly. I didn't have much time to work on the prototype yesterday and today I'm working on the Spanish Dancer shawl. I will be putting together some numbers later this week for various sizes so at least people can get started if they want to. I'm using Sweater Wizard for the basic information like yardage and stitches to be cast on. I haven't quite decided some of the final details but I'm thinking about them.

Someone else's yarn

Well, there won't be any yarn shopping for a while. I decided yesterday that I'd better get my taxes done. Just in case there were any problems with the software. Plus they're about due. I was expecting to have to pay something. And I was right. But it wasn't as bad as I had thought. Still it's enough for a couple of really good yarn shop trips. Good thing I just topped off my stash.

So what do you do when you can't buy any new yarn? Use someone else's. Here's a swatch I did last Friday. I'm going to make a sample for A Stitch in Time using some of the Malabrigo we have in stock.

I'm working out the pattern as I go. I have to recalculate the pattern first since I wrote it without having first made a swatch. It's going to be a top-down raglan. The ubiquitous top-down raglan. I'm thinking I'll document the process and post it here. I'm starting with a size small. That's a 32" body size. What other sizes should I include?

Five

We are five! Tempus fugit and all that. Here's to another five years, if my hands hold out.

I'm making good progress on my Spanish Dancer shawl. Some of it has been negative progress though. I spent most of yesterday's Metroplitan Opera tinking the rows I knit on Friday night, trying to figure out why I had two more stitches on one side than on the other. I thought I'd forgotten to do a couple of decreases or had done a couple that I shouldn't have. Not so. I finally found an SSK that hadn't dropped off the needle properly so I still had the two stitches I had knit together plus the wrap I had made. Only six rows back but still nearly 2000 stitches. I'm back on track and now have less than 300 stitches per row. Yay me!

Shawl update

The Spanish Dancer shawl is about 30% complete. It should start to grow more rapidly now that I've decreased over 100 stitches per row. I'll be able to spend a couple of days on it plus tonight at one of my knitting groups. It's hard to stick to it since there are so many other things tempting me. I just want to see if I can stick to my plan.

I didn't have time to repost my book review from yesterday. A bunch of ladies from Unraveled tied me up and drug me to dinner last night. And they made me drink some margaritas. I have to admit it was lots of fun. And now I'm off to A Stitch in Time where I'll probably have some more fun except it'll be Starbuck's and cookies.

Watch out for Spellcheck

Something wacky happened with my post. So I'm going to try again and see if I can remember what I wrote. Maybe later today.

Kind and generous!

I have some very kind and generous friends. Here's an example of that kindness and generosity. A sheepie bank filled with quarters. (Just in time for today's laundry hassle.) Thanks, Pat. I tried several times to get a decent photo but this is the best. Too much glare from the glaze, even without a flash.

Last night was Dulaan knitting. Th hosted and it was really nice. Wine all around plus cake and coffee. I made a small hat. I wonder if Mongolia babies have really small heads. There were five us, the four guys in the group and Susan. Lots of fun. We're probably going to meet at Th's house again next week. Great for me. It's only about five minutes from my house.

Speaking of Dulaan. Here's a photo that a friend in North Carolina sent. She made all these things from yarn I had sent her and has already shipped them to Flagstaff. Thanks, C! It's a good thing to have kind and generous friends.

Finish what you start!

I'm still working away on the Spanish Dancer shawl. I'm about 20% of the way based on how much yarn I've used. This is not the shawl. It's another zigzag scarf that I finished yesterday. Three skeins of Kureyon and the zigzag pattern from the back of section of Scarf Style.

Generally I don't work on projects at work that use yarn that the shop doesn't carry. A Stitch in Time doesn't carry Koigu but it does have Noro Kureyon, just not this colorway. So I've been using the Zigzag Scarf as my at work project. I'll have to find something else now.

We're having our Dulaan knitting tonight at Th's house. (Mendy has been in Charleston and Savannah for the past week and is returning today. I'm going to LAX in a couple of hours to get her and Robert. We figured she'd been too worn out to host tonight. Robert just called and their flight is on time so I'd better get started getting ready.) Anyway, I need to choose something to work on this evening. Probably another hat.

There was this yarn sale

I have a hard enough time resisting yarn when it's not on sale. But let me hear about a sale and I'm done for. Black Sheep Knittery is having a 50% off sale through the end of March.

The last time I went to Black Sheep Knittery it took an hour and a half to get there. We used rapid transit (an oxymoron if ever there was one). This time we drove. It took twenty three minutes and we didn't have to walk three blocks after we got there. I went with L&H (of L&H fame). L's car knows to the way to every yarn shop in Southern California. She can get there blindfolded. We stayed for maybe an hour and came away with so many treasures. I'd go back except I pretty much emptied the check book. I could really use one more hank of that Alchemy Silken Straw though. Even at half price it's pricey.

There's another yarn sale next month at Unraveled. but I don't think I'll be going to that one. I just managed to get everything put away, after I added some more storage cubes, and now I have the stuff I just bought at Black Sheep. And it's unrealistic to think I could ever knit everything I have in my stash, even if I only use the good stuff. But that's never stopped me.