The Yarnarian knits like a crazy lady!

The new sock from Sock Madness 2 just got posted. You know what that means: I'm likely to be scarce around here. Or maybe I'll need to take a break from all that knitting. This time the first 20 knitters who finish the socks from each division move on. Cheer me on!

Soup is made and now frozen!

Two new patterns posted in 2 locations:





Seaside Socks in etsy, and Falling Rain in Ravelry. Just to confuse the issue. ;-P

That's it, gotta go knit. Knit, woman, knit!

Chicken Soup!

It's here! Chicken Soup Sunday! Get ready, boys (?) and girls, Hubbo and I are embarking on our annual Passover Chicken Soup lunacy!

Chicken is waiting in the refrig, Hubbo is off buying the veggies, I'm about to get the soup vat, and off we go!

Here are 2 pics of the soup: First one shows how large the stock pot is, and the second one is the soup at the very beginning. The chicken is below all those herbs and veggies.




Pattern news: Falling Rain is coming to Ravelry maybe tomorrow. I finished but have to write up the pattern, and then Hubbo has to pdf it for me. Seaside Socks, the first pattern of the sotm club, will be released on Etsy tomorrow. That one is ready, of course. Here's a teaser of Seaside Socks. tee hee.



So now I have nothing that I feel like knitting on the needles! SM2 is releasing the next madness on Tues, I think, but how can I make it to Tues without a project? Not possible. So sometime today, in between the soup and the laundry, I shall start figuring out what sock to do next. Life is tough, there's no doubt about it!

I was going to start a shawl, and actually cast on with some lovely merino from Seacoast, but 1/2 inch into it, I decided that variegated on this kind of lace was ugly! As in U G L Y! So I frogged it, but now have 560 yards of pretty yarn all wound up, maybe for the next madness sock.

I want to do this on sock weight instead of my usual lace weight because I need warmer shawls around here. Much more practical in my doddering old age than Zephyr yarn. Like a lace shawl is practical. Nope, but purdy!

That's it. Off to get dressed.

Knittyvritti - The entire house now smells of chicken soup. Tasty, but in a few hours, it will be overwhelming.

The Yarnarian dyes again!

This is what I did yesterday after I finally got my act together. Boy, do I love to dye! As you can see in the sidebar, these are already listed on Etsy.

Pansy, Sagebrush, Spring Has Sprung!





Yarns not yet on Etsy, and not going to be uploaded there until Sunday or Monday; if you want, email me or Ravel me: Woodland, Mountain Mama, and River View!





One or two more coming depending on whether I keep any of them for moi.

Hubbo and I are off to his Rescue Squad dinner dance tonight. And that's all that's new around here.

Whoops, Sagebrush was just scooped up by a very savvy buyer> Yay, buyers! I really do have the nicest customers, but then knitters and crocheters are good folk. They better be, or else the mean Yarnarian will find them and take away their needles!

The things I put up with!

Comment from Hubbo in answer to my feeling lazy and not going to the gym:

"How are you going to participate in the running of the Lambs in
Rhinebeck if you don't get in shape.

The running of the Lamb in Rhinebeck is a little know festivity, where
dyers (in paper ponchos) with water pistols full of Kool-Aid chase and
squirt lambs and each other in the grand arena at Rhinebeck."

I ask you, do I suffer or what? And I have no snappy comeback. Hubbo is the master of the non sequitur! He whips out these comments instantly and I'm left with my mouth hanging open. The other day, I was mumbling on how something was making me crazy, and he said: "How can I tell?" I don't think that Brooklyn Son has this ability, but I'm willing to bet that the Benster will.

Dyeing yarns today, if I ever get dressed. I got up at 10 this morning! Can you imagine? But wow, do I feel well rested!

Mommie news: I visited the Mommie yesterday and she was in a great mood. Her table mates told me that she waltzed out to dinner the other day and said: "Here I am, Miss America!" She really was her old self. I have to admit that I miss the Mommie in her salad days, but I think she is so much funnier now,and she's happy, and she still shakes her finger at me.

And Deborah, may she be blessed with a long and happy life, makes a huge difference. She's someone my mom can argue with, and they have a very good relationship. I pay her handsomely, but I think that what she's doing for my mom is worth every penny. So often, workers in old folks' residences are paid low wages, and that is a pity. These wonderful women have patience and love, and are professional in every way. My feeling is that if you hire quality people, pay them decently, treat them with respect and intelligence, you will get professionalism. I did this in my library days, and it always paid off.

Off the soapbox. A good rant is great for the soul!

Pattern news: A new one coming up next week! The first one I did for the sotm. Look for it on Ravelry, or etsy. Seaside Socks!!!!

Vocabulary update!

Matzo meal - matzo finely smooshed to make a kind of matzo flour.

Matzo brei - pancake made with eggs, crushed matzos, seasoning, etc. and fried. Sounds weird but is in fact delicious.

Matzo meal pancakes - pancakes made with matzo meal. Not the same at all as brei.

Matzo balls - also known as "knaidlach" (gutteral ch) The source of many, many discussions and kvetching at the seder table. People either want sinkers or floaters. Sinkers are cannonballs, very dense, and when you try to cut them in the chicken soup, they are known to take a flying leap out of the bowl. Floaters are heavenly creations with no al dente to them at all. People are very opinionated about which knaidlach they like. In my family, we've all had the great talent of making both out of the same batter. We don't know why. Maybe because we're Hungarians!

Seder - means "order". The ceremonial meal where you tell the story of the Exodus and what preceded it and what follows. Lots of fun, confusion, and general merriment except for the cook, who spends the bulk of the first part of the seder in the kitchen. And only emerges to imbibe in the 4 glasses of wine. By the end of the wine, she doesn't really care where she is.

Dani and Kay - I don't like Hamantaschen, so no recipe! I make matzo brei as one enormous pancakey mess. It doesn't look so good, but is it ever tasty! If you want to post a recipe here for Hamantaschen or matzo brei, post it, and i'll repost it here.

Emily - We actually bought one box of whole wheat matzo last night also. DDs much prefer whole wheat. Me, I think it tastes like gritty cardboard, but what do I know.

Holly - We used to make really weird food for Passover, like matzo pizza, and other tasty treats like that. The kids and I would just giggle at the awfulness of it. Chocolate covered matzo, Oh I really love that stuff. I get and extra box or 2 for after the holiday. Can you imagine? But regular matzos until next year. 8 days in a row is more than sufficient. "Lo, this is the bread of affliction." They weren't kidding.

Yarns, Glorious Yarns! and Keeping Kosher!

I've got a bunch of new colors, some of which are not yet listed on etsy. Wanna see? (psst: the correct answer is "yes").
Here they are: Tiptoe, Apricotta, and High Wire!





Tonight we are going to buy chicken parts and fixings for Chicken Soup Sunday, our annual chicken soup orgy. This is the day that we haul out the ginormous stock pot, and make a vat of soup. Freeze it and it's already for Passover. You could say: "To Passover and beyond!" It's a pain in the butt to do, and the entire house smells of chicken soup, which is ok, but not for hours. But, then I have soup all ready for matzo balls and for cooking.

Right near the supermarket is a kosher Subway which we are going to try. We are half-kosher Jews: in the home we are mostly kosher, outside the home, we cheat. The "mostly" part is that we will bring in take out from nonkosher places, but we eat it on separate plates and use separate silverwear, aka plasticwear dishes. There are 2 main types of kosher food: milchig (dairy) and fleishig (meat). There is also pareve, which is neither meat nor dairy (like veggies). In the Yarnarian household we add a third party: nichadig. This is our own classification. Non-Jews are now totally confused, and members of the tribe are going "huh?" It's called Creative Cheating.

But on Passover, we behave ourselves and don't cheat at all. That means cooking every bloody meal for 8 days. Gear up, ladies, I'm going to kvetch from now through the end of Passover.

Vocabulary words for the day:

Milchig - dairy
Fleishig - meat
Pareve - neither meat nor dairy
Kvetch - complain and whine
Pesach - Hebrew for Passover. You pronounce that last ch as a gutteral, not as a "ch" sound.
Nichadig - Hubbo's word for cheating on keeping kosher in the home.
Kosher - Jewish dietary practices, as in no piggy stuff, shell fish, and mixing meat
with milk.

There will be a multiple choice test on this post after Pesach (notice that I used the Hebrew here).

Melissa - It's already spoken for.

Knittyvritti - I love matzo meal or brei pancakes! And I make both sinkers and floaters in the same batch. It's magical. Same batter, same water to boil them in, and some come out like cannonballs, while others are ethereal. Go figure. Neither my mother nor I have ever figured it out.

Emily - No! You cannot come for Passover! No, no, no! I have no place to put you. DD, SIL, and Miss P are coming in, and for seder, we have the 3 of them, the 2 of us, BF and Hubby, DD#1 and her guy, and the Brooklyn folks (guy, wife and the Benster.)
Plus I hope, schwester, niece and her guy, and possibly nephew. Where in holy hell am I going to seat them all. Maybe i should leave them all her, and fly out to you!

Holly - I'm not wasting a bit of my precious chicken soup to boil knaidlach in. But I plop them in when heating up the soup so that they do get that chickeny flavor.

The Yarnarian is Zonked!

Not much sleep last night so the Yarnarian is kind of loopy this morning. Hubbo's car is in for inspection, so he has my car. I'm housebound, and I'm just fine with that. Too fuzzy to drive.

What I NEED is a cuppa strong tea. And I have just the answer. A hot shot tea from Tea Noir, my favorite indie tea blender. Boy, does Kate know how to blend the most interesting teas. I'm going to have a cup of a Yerba Mate (pronounced mache) called Let's Split: mate with banana, cherry, and walnut. OK, I know it sounds weird, but it's not. A bit of Splenda or sugar and you have one very tasty brew. And it has a punch to it. And you can brew it a couple of times.

Knitting news: I finished the first Falling Rain sock. Here it is in all it's soggy glory: The leg has the rain blowing here and there, the heel back has a steady downpour, and the instep has gentle raindrops.



Yesterday we, along with DD#1 and her guy, went to BF's for Easter Dinner. As usual it was such a nice treat. We'll reciprocate as usual with Passover and the first seder.

I brought a mocha pudding cake. This is a magical recipe perfect for novice bakers, and kids who are awed by it. Basically you mix up your dry ingredients, add the liquids, plop in a greased baking pan. Then you sprinkle a combo of sugar and cocoa on top, and then pour boiling coffee all over it. Don't mix. Bake immediately. When it bakes, the liquid sinks to the bottom and the batter rises through that same liquid, and it forms a solid cake with pudding through and under it. I got the recipe from one of my favorite cook books: Have your cake and eat it too by Susan Purdy. Great recipes for those of us watching our cholesterol intake. And the recipes don't taste like diet food.

Emily - I think some places, like parochial schools, may have today off, but the majority of business is open. I'm going to knit, do some laundry, make dinner, and nap. Especially nap!

Melissa - I spent most of yesterday moaning how tired I was. And this morning I'm wandering around totally out of it. I'm going to the gym this morning because that will wake me up.

I'm in love!

With a younger man, no less. Totally and completely in love. Here's the story.

Yesterday we went in to Brooklyn for a bit of a family visit. Went for lunch at a nice Italian restaurant, and after a bit, one of us got antsy, and Hubbo and that guy went out for a walk.

So, lunch being over, I exited the restaurant and all of a sudden, a short, pink-cheeked guy came running toward me, arms outstretched, and yelling Gamma! And everybody in the area started to giggle. So now you see why I'm in love. The Benster gets the cute 2 year old award of the year!

And he's ticklish, and likes to crash his cars, and is so delicious to kiss. All four of them are cuddy and delicious to smooch. Not that The Alex likes smoochies these days. Almost 8 year olds are kind of past that; but he does like to cuddle, and he is delicious.

Princessa Rosey story: DD gets her dressed up for dancing school in her fancy schmancy tutu, and the munchkin spends the entire dancing class admiring herself in the mirrors. So the next week, DD put on her normal tutu, and the Princessa still spends the class time admiring herself. She's almost 4. Can't you just eat these kids up?

Knitting news: I'm almost at the toe of my Falling Rain socks, and then I knit the second one. Have to hustle a bit because I think the next edition of SM2 is coming this week. Here's what Falling Rain looked like late yesterday afternoon. now I'm at the toe decreases. Weird picture color is due to the time of day.



Jo, of Celtic Memory, gave my Leafy Green Socks the nicest mention. I love reading her blog and looking at her wonderful pictures. I've never been to Ireland (hell I haven't been most places), but now I want to go. You have to look at her blog and those pics of forests and other stunning places.

Another wonderful blog to read is Creative. Dianne is chronicling her dyeing process. She's an amazing dyer, and writes a charming blog.

So here's a question for you knitters. As you know, I'm in love with sock yarn. It's very easy for my cranky wrists to knit. And I love dyeing it. So what do you think about a lacy scarf pattern made from sock wool rather than lace weight yarn? I adore knitting lace, but shawls at this stage are not where I am. But lace scarves in a slightly heavier weight might must fill my love of both lace and fingering weight yarn. What do you think? Give me a comment or two. Well, you can comment on anything; I love to read them.

For those of you celebrating Easter, Happy Easter. For those of you gearing up for Passover, next Sunday is Chicken Soup Sunday. The day in which Hubbo and I make vats of the stuff.

Erin - I figure that I can get a nice lacy scarf out of a 400 yd skein of sock yarn. I could start from the middle on down, and then pick up sts and go in the other direction. If I have enough leftover, I could do a border. Or maybe do something else entirely.

I'm adjusted! Shrinks take note!

My Leafy Green Socks are a hit! They're loved. People bought the pattern and made lovely comments on Ravelry. My little business sometimes becomes an ego thing; if no one buys, then my stuff is unloved. Would you please tell me why a 64 year old woman in the prime of her life (yup, the 60's are amazing) needs to feel validated? Huh? Why? You know my mantra: Maturity is just a phase, adolescence is forever!

So, did I tell you about my doctor visit? I needed some blood work done for the usual cholesterol, thyroid stuff, plus the blood pressure checked. Haven't heard yet about the first two, but the bp is great! I bow down to the hypertension meds. They work.

Anyhow, they must have had a quiet morning when I got there, because my doctor, who is the nicest, smartest, cutest guy around (as well as being a top notch physician) decides that the podiatrist should look at my feet. Why says I? My feet are perfectly fine. It's the arthritis in the right shoulder that gets me occasionally, as well as the knees and the back. Nope, he says, at least once in your life you need a podiatrist to check out your feet. So the podiatrist checked them out, pronounced them "lovely feet", shaped my nails, got rid of a winter callus or two. It was kind of neat.

Then, the doc says that the chiropractor on staff should look at my back. My back was fine that day. I've never been "adjusted" before, so he went easy on me, and gave me a stim on the arthritic spot. OK, it was interesting.

Are you getting the picture? These guys had a quiet moment and decided that I would be fun to file, clip, stim, and adjust. So I was. Do I feel any different? Nope, but it was fun in a weird sort of way. Given a choice between a massage and an adjustment, I prefer the massage.

The tough part of it all was that I had to go fasting to this orgy of care, and I was pretty hungry. Hey, you have to sacrifice to become adjusted.

Knitting news: I started these yesterday from yarn I had reserved for me in the last dyeing session. I like them. They're different. I got the pattern from a very pricey Japanese pattern book ($60 at Kinokuniya). Adjusted it to make it fit my parameters, and now I'm enjoying it.




By the say, there are no twist stitches or cables in these socks. Decreases and yarn overs only. My kind of socks.

KV - Adjustment and sanity are highly overrated. A bit of lunacy is far more interesting.

Melissa - This is probably the only time in my life that I have not had to wait. I always bring my sock knitting with me, so I really don't mind. But Tues was such a funny visit. I think they were bored, and saw a willing victim in me.

Christine - I told you that I'm an olde broade replete with olde Englishe spellinge. Did you believe me? NOOOOO. The pattern I started yesterday? I'll probably post it to Ravelry first; but I have to finish it. I'm exactly as far as i was yesterday. Dyed 8 skeins today, and two of them have matching mini-skeins for heels and toes. I'm going to try one out to make sure that I have enough for the mini-skein. Any excuse, you know. And any day now, the next SM2 sock will land on us. You want me to dye something for you? There's no obligation on a single skein, because if you don't want it, someone else will. I forgot to mention that I put in an entire career before retiring. My dues have been paid,as they say.

Meg - It was a surrealistic moment at the doctor's office. I giggled about it too all day long.

Jo - The name of the book is 1000 knitting patterns book, and the ISBN is 978-4-529-02142-5. Without tax, it cost $60.50. Pricey, but what a book!

Vicki - I use both Jacquard and Washfast Acid Dyes, and I use Wilton's Food coloring for the yellows. For some reason or other, the Wilton yellows mix well with the dyes, and don't fade out.

Holly - Or Marion Zimmer Bradley. Retirement is a glorious time. If you are willing to take chancea, or fly with a passion of yours, or just do new things, it is a most wonderful time. It's when you vegetate in front of the tv and mope around, that it is a bore. I'm retired now over a year, and I haven't had one single moment of boredom. Not one. Some mightily major stress, which I will not talk about, but right up on the awful list, but even so, it's been the best time of my life.

Yarns, Socks and Odds

I finished the almost solid green socks. They are now known officially as:

Leafy Green Socks.

Pretty easy to knit, and I like the way it works for an almost solid yarn. This one has garter rib that flows into the pattern, lace and more garter stitch. The usual heel pattern and toe shaping. I've got to do other heel patterns just for the fun of it. I really like Eye of Partridge heels, and the linen stitch is neat too. Next pair of socks.





And because I have a gazillion sock ideas in my little head, here's the yarn for the next one. I have no name for the yarn, just kept it because I don't have any yarn like it and I really wanted that colorway for moi. And I'm the dyer, so what I say, goes. So there.



Mommie News: I saw the Mommie yesterday. Her memory is a wondrous thing. You never know which way it will go. For a brief moment she forgot that she has a grandson, but then we had a long conversation about indoor plumbing and outhouses from her youth. She was born in 1914, so that's a long time ago.

You want to hear about plumbing in a little town in Transylvania? Outhouses were the rule. She went to high school in a nearby city, and they were already into flush toilets. I can go into depth if you like, but it's not exactly a lovely topic. But it was fascinating, and opened a new world for me.

Grandma came to this country around 1923-24, and left her 3 kids with relatives. When she became a citizen, she sent for her kids and they traveled alone through Europe and onto a ship to the United States. The kids were about 16, 15, and 13 and spoke not a word of English. Can you see this happening today with our kids?

So the Mommie arrived here when she was 15, couldn't finish high school because her income was needed. Learned perfect English in night school. Whadda woman!

Jen - They are fun to knit. You do have to pay a little attention when you're knitting them. I tried this originally in a multicolored yarn. Blech. You couldn't see the pattern at all.

Emily - Aw shucks!

Erin - We tried this with a tape recorder many years ago, and the Mommie became stilted and not relaxed. So I dredge out these stories from her now. Her long term memory is incredible. Short term - eh. But she's in a safe place, pretty much compos mentis, and happy. Not bad for 93, huh?

Carolyn - Thank you, as usual. Let me know what you think of them.

Melissa - Thanks! I like them too. Egotistical Yarnarian!

The Yarnarian finishes the Zombie socks!

Ta da! I feel like Rocky running up the steps in Philly. Happy, happy dance!

Now I can go back to normal living until the next sock comes up. I hope it takes a while because i have a pretty sock for DD in Minnesota to finish. And I want to write up the pattern for it while I'm still at it. It's the almost solid green lacy one a few posts back.

Here's a pic of the Zombie socks: They are very pretty but way too big on me. You can see how baggy they are on my delicate legs and feet. I'll wear them anyhow and call them slouchy socks. I'm going to buy a couple of #0 needles to have on hand should another largish sock get posted. I hate having to knit tightly; it's not my natural way of knitting. But the zero needles will make it easier. And the next pair that looks big, I'll dye up some Treadsoft, which is thinner than Penny yarn, or I'll use one of my stash of Kona yarn bought at the Loopy Ewe.



Bev - That's because great minds like ours think alike! Mine started out as a really barfy yarn, so I overdyed it. It's amazing what a little dark reddish purple-ish color can do.

Holly - 64 stitches is a lot of stitches in my mind. Granted that I'm a small woman and always make my socks on 56-58 sts, but these are really wide. Hubbo, who is NOT small, tried them on when I had finished the legs, and they fit him. And he's a large guy. Yeah, I dye for sanity, and because I'm color-obsessed!

Are you mostly in England or Germany these days?

Emily - Thank you. I liked knitting them, but if I do them again, it will be a 56 st sock!

Melissa - Nah, I'll keep them. But thanks for your offer. ;-D
I didn't know that I had that number thingie to post here. Oh well.

Cbristine - I have tired hands! Well I did yesterday, but today they seem fine. They call me "wonder knitter". There's a lot of competition in SM2. We're talking people who finished the pair of socks in less than 2 days!

Did I tell you how much I love being retired? Huh? Did I?

What are you knitting? I'm finishing up the pair of socks I started for EM. BTW, I love your entrelac socks!!

MamaMay - You lucky thing; you actually got a treasury. They are so hard to get! Thanks for including moi.

KnittyVritti - Nope, they're all mine.

Gotta knit, gotta knit, gotta knit!

The end of the zombie socks is in sight. Whoo hoo! Gotta knit. Talk to you all later or tomorrow or whenever.

Yarn news: I dyed up 8 skeins today, which for production people is nothing, but for an individual yarn painter is a lot. Almost solids, and a bunch of other ones. I have major spring fever, so my dyeing might just reflect it. Or not.

Sharon is giving me a swelled head! Happiness is having wonderful blog readers. You all are such nice folks, and I'm becoming insufferable with all those lovely comments. You all rock! Gotta knit! Knit, knit, knit.

Gotta knit!!!!!!!

I did it!!!!! The pair of Zombie socks is finished and I posted it to the Sock Madness 2 moderators. Whew!

Bev - We can do a happy dance together. I did get dressed early but in my dyeing clothes. Elegant I'm not. But I finished the socks. Yes!

The Yarnarian knits like a crazy lady!

And she's up and running, I mean knitting. Running, I mean fast walking, comes a bit later at the gym.

I'm knitting the first sock for SM2: Zombie. So called, because you have a scary moment when you drop your stitches. Really not scary at all. This is lots of fun, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Of course this is sock 1, wait until I start kvetching about sock 2.

There are some mighty speedy knitters in this competition. In my salad days (whatever that means) I could knit like a speed demon. Not now with the grumpy wrists. But I'm still making progress pretty quickly, at least for me. I'd like to make it to round 2. There are 57 people in my division, and the first 40 get into round 2. So there is a chance that I might make it. At any rate, I get the patterns no matter how far I get.

Here's a pic of the yarn and the sock so far:




Bev - I'm about an inch or so from beginning the toe shaping on sock 1. I've taken plenty of breaks, and so far, my hands are ok. You do realize that we're nuts to do this. But, as Hubbo says, so? Good luck; we've got to make round 1!

Desiknitter - Thank you. Now that I'm knitting it up, it appears lighter, but still with the subtle color variations. I'm going to dye more of these almost solids; they really show off the pattern.

Holly - Congrats, you speedy knitter, you! I'm just about to start the heel back of the second sock. I'll finish probably tomorrow since I don't want to aggravate those tetchy wrists. It's a fun sock, too big on me. I'd do a 56 st version next time, but these will be fine if a little loose. Do they fit you?

Melissa - Thank you. I like it too. I'm going to head in the almost solid direction for a bit.

Laurie in Maine - I'm impressed - fourth round! I can see why you would get burnt out. I'm not going to knit any faster than I am right now. Before the wrists became crabby, I could knit like a demon. If I did that now, I'd finish the first socks in record time and then wouldn't be able to knit for a couple of months. The urge to get in done is really there, though. And it is a lot of fun!

The Yarnarian is sleepy.

A quickie post because the Yarnarian is beyond tired. She takes 2 meds at supper and both of them make her sleepy. So now it's late, and she's in another zone altogether.

I started the 1st sock for Sock Madness 2 (now known as SM2). Cute, easy pattern with a lot of give to it. Ye olde hands and wrists are tetchy, so I'm not zooming on it, but I think I've come pretty far considering my 5 minute knitting stints. Pics probably tomorrow.

I just wanted to say hi and good night.

So: Good Night!

Grace - I really conked out. Now I'm knitting like wonder woman!

The Yarnarian is ancient,, really old. hah!

Another "Old Gram" story, this one not involving that bad SIL!

I was wearing my down coat in the airport going home, and it is slippery. I always take carry-on bags, and the bloody things kept sliding off my shoulders. The up escalator was not functioning, so dummy here decided to walk up 4 very long flights of stairs. And the bags were slipping. So I had to keep putting them down to rearrange them.

There were 2 teenagers right near me, and one of them said: "ma'am, would you like some help carrying your bags?" It was very sweet of her, but I didn't need help, just less slippery coats. This went back and forth because she decided that I needed help. I finally convinced her, and as she joined her friend, she said: "You have to help these older people out, you know."

Ancient gram rides aagain!

The Yarnarian is home!

And pooped. And hates travel. She likes being there, but doesn't like getting there, as in the plane left 3 hours late. But, she did get a lot of knitting done, being a smart and practical Yarnarian.

I had a lovely time. Yes, it was cold. But I was prepared. I looked like Nanook of the North all bundled up, but bringing Miss P to the bus stop yesterday on a windy 7 degree morning was much better all wrapped up.

I played countless games of pretend. We couldn't find the Count, so we made Clifford, the big red dog, a count-substitute. Von leetle prinzess, ah ha ha ha ha, etc.

DD and SIL were great, and I really enjoyed myself.

I have one teensy, weensy, little complaint. Certain sons-in-law, who shall remain nameless, decided that I was "Old Gram". Whack, that's me swatting the little (6'1") twerp. I threatened to move in with them, after all, I am THE MOTHER-IN-LAW!

Christine and I met and had a great yarn crawl. We went to the Yarnery, and a new one for me, Borealis. I picked up a gorgeous red Anne, and Christine went to town with Koigu and Smooshy. It's a lot of fun meeting a Raveler!

I made DD a pair of socks using my Roundabout pattern. No pics, because someone forgot her camera.

A delightful time was had, and now I'm zonked. It's good to be home.

Any nice person who sent a comment and I didn't respond, please forgive me. When a 5 year old takes over your life, you're lucky you remember to brush your teeth.

PS - Shameless commerce division: I've posted Ripples and Waves on Etsy if you have a burning desire to buy it, but don't belong to Ravelry. And if you don't belong to Ravelry, what are you waiting for. Go. Join. You'll love it. Listen to the Old Gram!

Knittyvritti - I'm so in Gram mode. On the plane there was a little boy ahead of my at the bathroom. He was maybe 7 or 8 and couldn't figure out how to close the door and get the light to come on. So, being a Gram, I showed him how. And I've been talking in bizarre Count accent ever since I came home. I have to admit that I really love being a Gram; it gives me permission to play silly with the little guys. But adult conversation is so good right now!

Melissa - they look great! It's so neat to see my sock pattern made by someone else in an entirely different yarn.

Knitting Chickens!

Look what came in the mail today: My brand new Knitting Chickens sock bag! Is this cute or what? I bought it here. What could be better than a knitting chicken? Nothing!

Grace - You need one of these bags to make you feel better!

Knittyvritti - 2 chickens? I never thought of that. Maybe even 4 chickens! Hubbo and I tell chicken jokes to the grands, who think we're over the edge. Miss P, at 5, finally tells me chicken jokes back. Princessa Rosie at 3 is very literal and tells us that there are no chicken dolls. The Benster at two doesn't have a clue yet, and Alex the Great at 7 gets this bemused expression on his face when we go into chicken mode. Grandkids are soooo much fun to tease!

Melissa - Cluck cluck. I couldn't resist it!

Emily - This is the silliest chicken thingy yet, and I love it.

Jen - You snooze, you lose! Ask her, she might have some fabric left.

Jen - we can cluck together! White Willow, last fall, had a bag with knitting witches. I'm going to have to get that one too. This is sick!

New Sock Pattern

Here it is, Ripples and Waves, for sale on Ravelry! BF convinced me that it would sell, so that's how I'm doing it. I still have a bunch for free, but this has enough complexity in it to sell.

Well, I'm not totally magnanimous!

Patterns news: I've linked a few patterns over on the right, but I'm not sure if the link will work if you are not on Ravelry. So I'd appreciate it if someone would try the links out and see if they work, both Ravelry folk and others.

I'm going to meet Christine, a Ravelry friend and SOTM member, in Minneapolis. Is this neat or what? We're going to do a yarn crawl. Oh, my poor pocketbook.

That's it, the entire pickle. All the news I have to report.

Carolyn - thank you for checking it out.

Holly - I'm using Knit Visualizer. if you want to see it in action, download either the Escalator or the Forward and Back pattern; they're both freebies. I like the program very much.

Emily - Thank you. It was a lot of fun to knit and pretty easy too.

Laurie in Maine - I'm clearing the needles for Sock Madness! I'm about as ready as I can be. I'm really excited about it all. Glad you like the socks.

He made me do it!

Here I was on a Saturday morning, showered, dressed, and fed, when the Hubbo wandered in after his early morning schmutz activity. "Do you want to go to Coldwater Creek?" he asked. And just at the very moment, I found a coupon in the latest Cooking Light for CC. So, kicking and screaming, he dragged innocent me off on a shopping expedition to CC. He kidnapped me. He forced me to go. It was unfair to an innocent and greedy person. And the reason for all this? He had a coupon for Eddie Bauer, which is in the same mall as CC.

So he spent $2.49 on a neat vest seriously marked down, and I bought entirely too much stuff that I don't need. I ask you: Is this fair? Here's what I got, and I'm NOT telling you how much I spent. I did ask for extra hangers and got some nice ones. And a free organizer bag. And my coupon off.



Over to the left is a pair of jeans in kind of a cocoa color. The picture is much too dark there. And some pretty T-shirts, and a couple of blouses. Now I have to figure out when I'm going to wear all of this. Anybody want to go to lunch?

I'm not dyeing anything until I come back. It's sort of a dyeing vacation. Not that I need to be re-energized, (I have a gazillion ideas in my head), but it's nice to step back and just knit.

In the mail yesterday and today: Malabrigo lace from the Loopy Ewe in Stonechat. It's so pretty and soft that I just may admire it! And today, the best tea from Tea Noir: Victoriana, which is Earl Grey mixed with some lavendar and rosemary. Amazingly delicious, and a new rooibos mixed with coconut and anise. I'll try that one later.

And that, girls and boys, is all the news that's fit to print! There is no news at the moment that is not fit to print!

Sunday update: Here's a pic of the green socks in process. The color is not great due to the time of day. But you'll get a good idea of how it's coming along.




Christine - You won't see my new finery until I come out in the summer for Miss P's birthday. And then I expect you to be suitably impressed. Can't wait to meet you, too. Is the world ready for us?

Yarns and Odds

So last night as we were dining on yet another gourmet meal in Whole Foods, Hubbo casually asked me if I were flying out to Minneapolis on Thurs or Wed. "NO", says the Yarnarian, "I'm out on Tues." "Are you sure?" asked the Hubbo. And so it went, through the entire first, middle and last course of the salad bar, the drive home, and in the garage. DUH, I'm flying out on Wed. Good thing we checked.

I did redeem myself by winning a game of Scrabble. We are Scrabble play-for-blood players, but only with each other. We do not give an inch, our boards are so constipated with words upon words, and we do not let the other player get near a triple word score. Baby, this is Scrabble with blood on our minds. And we are so evenly matched that our scores are usually within 20 points or so, unless it's a case of one person getting all the goodies while the other gets all vowels. So this game we each got a 7 letter word, but I won. Happy Dance. (I am a very sore loser!)

The first pattern came through on the Sock Pentathlon. Looks pretty easy, and I think I'll knit it for DD in the frozen northland. I'm not going to be competitive in this one; I'll save that for Sock Madness 2. I just want to do it for the fun of it. It wil be one of my Minneapolis socks.

I also started the cute lace sock last night on my Pistachio yarn. The almost-solid one. Of course the pattern shows up beautifully. I'm going to dye up a bunch of these almost-solid yarns, and see how they sell. I adore all my multi-colors, but I have to admit that they get tetchy in the wrong pattern.

Here's a pic of Pistachio. Me, being me, I dyed up a pastel yarn, but I think I will also play with dark almost-solids, or tones upon tones. In other words, overdyeing.