Patriot Goose

Mike and I have simple tastes to begin with, but we’ve been making a conscious effort this past year to live even further below our means. Right now, our big focus is reigning in wasteful spending. As nerds, we were already mostly immune to the whole phenomenon of “keeping up with the Jonses”. Mike has always been frugal. As for me, combine a hatred of crowds and my general agoraphobia, and I don’t have much problem staying out of stores and in the confines of our budget.

Except when it comes to yarn. I knew I had a small problem — we like to joke that I will work for yarn*, or that I’ve programmed the coordinates for all the yarn stores in the state into Mike’s GPSr — but it was really just a joke, right? That delusion died on the day we started tracking our expenses: that little column in the spreadsheet labeled yarn had a big number at the bottom of it. Just to be sure, I went into my Ravelry stash, and totaled up all of my yarn. Just how much did I really have?

Eleven miles of yarn. Eleven miles. And that’s just what I’ve cataloged; there are still a few additional shameful purchases lurking the corners of my craft room that aren’t in that total. Why did I have so many balls of sock yarn when I’d only knitted three whole socks? Generally, I’m a fan of moderation, but serious problems call for serious measures: that was the day I put myself on a yarn diet for the rest of the year

I’m proud to report that I lasted a whole six weeks; I knew I was tempting fate by hanging out at the yarn store all day. Oh well. A journey of a thousand steps and all that. Now if the rest of you knitters would just stop tempting me with all of your gorgeous projects…

*but, really, I will work for yarn

Forgive me knitters, for I have sinned: I cast on for another project. My FLS is right in that horrid, slogging middle stage. My hands were cold, and I couldn’t find my fingerless gloves, so once I started looking at patterns on Ravelry, I was a goner. Frankly, I’m surprised I lasted this long; the lure of the new project, with all of its shiny promise, is usually too much for me to resist. I’ll try really hard not to let the sweater languish longer then it takes me to finish the handwarmers.

On the other hand, I went to a new yarn store today, and managed to get out with only two balls of frugally-priced sock yarn. Despite the fact that they had that delicious Misti Alpaca that is so buttery it makes me want to roll around in a big pile of it. *ahem* So that’s got to balance out my yarn-karma a little bit.

Part of our pastoral dream for the future includes a spinner’s flock peacefully grazing in our green meadow. Which is all well and good until you consider that I don’t actually know how to spin.

Today I took the first baby steps to correct that, however, by taking a drop spindle class at my favourite yarn store. I’m going to consider the endevour a great success; I broke the yarn and dropped the spindle a few times, and I didn’t quite master the coordinated motions, but neither did I injure myself or others (always cause for celebration), and I even made a tiny bit of yarn in the process. It’s somehow both overspun and underspun and the same time, but I made it. (That’s actually a picture of my second attempt, since I lost the first between here and the store. Not a great loss to the world of yarn, believe me.)

It’s day eight of NaKniSweMo and I have so far resisted the temptation to work on other projects, which must be some sort of personal best for knitting fidelity. The yoke is measuring in at 4.5″, with two thirds of the increase rounds complete, by my reckoning.

I’ve done two button holes, using the method recommended in the pattern. they look okay, but I’m getting a tiny little hole right by where the last stitch is recast on. I had been contemplating going back to fix it, but I know if I do any major kind of frogging, I’ll never get this thing finished. The buttons will cover it anyway, right? (Denial is just another tool in my knitting bag…)

Why yes, my swift is made out of Tinker Toys and duct tape. Please, don’t be jealous.

For NaKniSweMo, I’ve chosen the wildly popular February Lady Sweater. 2600+ Ravelers can’t be wrong, eh? I’m wild about the way this sweater looks in handpainted and semi-solid yarns, so I chose to knit it in Cascade 220 Paints.

I woke up bright and early on November 1st, with high hopes of powering through most of the yoke and getting a big head start. (Remember: the theme for the month is delusion.) Then I swatched. And swatched again. I accidentally swatched twice with the same needles and got two different gauges. I tried to come up with some sort of mathematical formula to determine the right size needles required. I suffered through swatch Purgatory all of Saturday. This morning, when I got to 19 stitches over 4″ (instead of the required 18 stitches), I declared “screw it” “close enough”, promised myself that garter stitch will stretch, and cast on.

So far, I’ve managed to knit two inches, including one of the three buttonholes. The colours in the yarn, contrary to my fears, aren’t pooling or flashing, but are working up quite nicely. Both of my knitting groups meet this week, so hopefully I can take that time to make some greater progress.

There have been indications that I may have a slight problem. An addiction, if you will.

The little bits of yarn, nestled into various nooks in my house was the first clue. The amount of time I spend on Ravelry was another. I made my husband go to five yarn stores on our anniversary vacation last month. My contribution to the pile of reading material in the bathroom consists entirely of knitting magazines and pattern books. I broke my resolve to hide in the house for the next month after only one day, to go my local yarn store. You know it must be something I’m mad about if I’m willing to leave the house.

However, now I have finite, mathematical proof: I have 17.5 miles of yarn. And that’s only the stuff I consider “nice” enough to document. I think I may have lost any footing I may have had in my “you have too many tomato plants!” argument against my husband…

This is one-half of Fetching, in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Even though I got gauge, they are a bit too short, mostly on account of my freakishly long hands. I’ll wait and see how much yarn I have left over after I finish the second one, but I hope I can lengthen them a bit.

The kind with yarn. Not the other kind. It’s too cold for that sort of thing right now.

I don’t know if you know this, but it gets cold in Wisconsin in January. Really! I heard on the television. And sometimes white stuff falls from the sky. It’s a good thing the local news told me about this whole “COLD and SNOW” development, or I might’ve done something stupid, like try to leave my house and then freeze to death. As it was, I decided to stay inside and crochet instead.

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