The Yarnarian is Home and Happy!

Well, I was in Minneapolis and happy, too, but there's nothing like coming home. I'm not much of a traveler; I tend to be the princess and the pea, and the slightest thing will bother me a lot. But, going away is healthy and then coming home is just wonderful.

Of course we had a wonderful time. The family was delightful, and Miss P, being Miss P, was her usual character self. Tons of fun. That child has more energy than the other 4 grands put together. She's taking a mini-soccer course, and you have see her run and attempt to do things with the ball. I finally got to walk down to the 50th and France area. Very nice, indeed. Great food, a consignment shop that was so expensive, even at half-off. Good place to go when you need something posh and you don't want to spend your yearly income.

I did a lot of knitting on my visit. Almost finished one scarf, and made a big headway on the other one. Here's the almost finished one. My Bambi yarn. I loved doing this, but I don't like how I ended it. Who wants to sew a seam when the entire thing is picked up and knit? Not moi. So, I shall cast on in the round, and decrease within it. 2 circs, of course.




The other scarf is being knit in my new fingering yarn, Rachel. Nice tight twist, but not so tight that it wants to torque or get in the way of your knitting. This is taking a long time to knit mostly because I'm using size 4 needles. I think I can easily go up a size and still have good stitch definition. I love the yarn; it flows beautifully and feels nice on my hands. And wow, does it take dye. Yummy stuff. It's a dark colorway, but in order to see the stitches, I lightened it up a bit. Yes, it looks raw, needs a good blocking.




OK, and here's what I knitted on Saturday as I vegged with my usual post-flying clogged ears and vertigo. This is some commercial yarn that I fell in love with. I like the colors so much, but have not found a good pattern for it. So, it's become my fool-around with miters yarn. This is just an idea for a scarf for moi. I know it looks dopey; but I cast on the scarf on Sunday in an old Bambi yarn that I adore and can't figure out what to do with it. Looks soooo much better than this mess. So just take it for a practice piece.



I can't tell you how much trouble I've had figuring out this scarf. Why is it that the simplest stitches or miters or ideas always need multiple frogs? Give me the hard stuff, and I can breeze through it. Give me baby simple, and I go nuts with it. I have to remember Occam's Razor (Occam's Razor says that the simplest answer is often correct). But do I pay attention to this? Nope. I have to make things much harder than they really are. Anyhow, all is well with my plans for the scarf. It needed just a week away for me to see how simple this idea really is. Yay, Occam!

I dyed up a bunch of yarn today and the skeins are happily drying outside. We finally have summer weather in the low 80's. I'm not complaining about our cool summer; I have loved it, but it is nice to feel warm and even a tiny bit hot in the sun.

CathyR - It is good to be back. There are 2 more scarves in progress. I really need more sweaters but can't get off this scarf binge!

The Yarnarian is Back.

I'm back after a wonderful MN vacation. It was a wonderful trip and I had a great time, and now it's good to be back home with the Hubbo.

So here's what I learned on my trip:

1. 6 year olds can out-energize me by 58 years. Miss P is loaded with energy. If we walk, she runs, hops, skips, jumps. If we sit, she squirms and wriggles. The neat thing is that she can sit still and concentrate when she needs to. What a kid!

2. I can survive -degrees in the frozen northland provided I have the right clothing.

3. I really, really like Minneapolis! Well, I have always known that, but since I'm always out in the frigid temps, except for the birthday visit, I still love it even in winter.

4. I like the Mall of America. I know it's non-uppity to admit that, but during the week early in the morning, it's a great mall.

5. I like the 50th and France area a lot. We never had a chance to get to the hotsy totsy consignment shop, but I looked into the window, and I could do some damage there.

6. I miss light rail. Hey you can't have everything.

7. It's good to be home! Yup, New Jersey wins.

No pics because I didn't take my camera with me.

Miss P loves her AG doll. I knitted 2 sweaters while there, but no pics. Sorry about that.

American Girl Doll info: the doll is a tad bigger than my cheapie knockoff that I got from Amazon. I can still use Sweater Wizard for proportions, but I will make future sweaters about 14.5 - 15 inches around instead of 14". Make the sleeves wider also, and decrease less. Someone on Ravelry mentioned that she bought one of the original dolls about 17 years ago, and just got a new one to knit for and the older dolls are definitely smaller than the new ones. Just for your info.

Also, the AG dolls are much better made, and the hair is awesome. You have to get something for that price! If the doll is out of your price range, the knock offs are still pretty darn good. You don't have to impoverish yourself to get a nice doll.

Dyeing News: While I was away with no dyeing to do (and to tell the truth, I didn't miss it at all), I started thinking about 2009, and what I want to accomplish during the year. I like a challenge, so I am going to have a different theme for each month. And I may just dye up 2 skeins simultaneously which is the max I can do, just so that folks who want considerably more yardage can have it.

January's theme is going to be Fairy Tales. I have the year pretty much blocked out, but if you have any neat ideas, let me know. Nothing is written in stone except for Jan and Feb. And I always like your feedback.

I'm still noodling around with the idea of a lace scarf club. It may or may not happen. It's mostly a matter of time; I have 2 of the scarves done, and I have to write them up. And the dyeing is always fun. Just when I start is the issue.

Business news: I'm fighting it tooth and nail, but I may have to go up a tiny bit on my yarn prices. My cost has gone up during the last year, and I've absorbed it, so it all depends on what new yarn purchases cost. Not a great increase; maybe a buck per skein, but don't worry, I'll keep it as reasonable as I can. I know that money is tight, so you know I won't knock my prices way up. And anyhow, I'm cheap which means that I assume you are also cheap, ahem frugal, know good value, whatever. If this happens, it won't come for a while because I have a good stock of yarn on hand. And it may not happen at all. And now I've frightened you for no good reason. Bad Yarnarian!

Also, there is a mail increase coming up (blech); that'll add about 20 cents to the shipping. I personally hate paying shipping charges, but that's the cost of shipping, so what can I do?

Oh, I hate ending a post on such a negative note. So, let me tell you that any wicked witches in fairy tales have their yarn already dyed for them. Before I left for vacation, I went into wicked witch mode, and have some lovely gloomy, witchy colors. Evil laugh here: Mwahahahaha!

KV - And a Happy Hanukkah to you and yours! Eat a lot of latkes and take a lot of Tums.

The Yarnarian is a Popsicle, or a Momsicle.

Just checking in with you all to let you know that this morning in Minneapolis, we had the wonderful temperature of around -9 degrees. You need to know this so that you can feel warm wherever you are.

It's now about 2 hours later and we've moved up to -4.

Makes NJ look like a tropical paradise.

I'm visiting DD, DSIL, and the wondrous, silly, adorable, pesky Miss P! They moved to the 50th and France area, which is tres chic shopping and eating. It's too bad that it's too cold today to walk down to the area and spend my money.

I'm having a wonderful time, but I do miss the Hubbo lots!

The Yarnarian and the Hubbo Wear Out the 6 Year-Old!

Hah! Of course we also wore out ourselves, but hey, we're not 6 anymore. We were also not in Kansas any more. Not that we've ever been to Kansas, but it works better than "we're not in New Jersey any more", if you know what I mean.

We flew out to MN on Fri and came home yesterday. Miss P turned 6 on the 24th, so we were out for her annual family birthday party (Sunday) and our annual Mall of America birthday treat. She picked out some toys (all inexpensive, bless her), had lunch, went on a number of rides all by herself, had cotton candy. Then we went back to our motel, and she got to swim in the indoor pool. And then to IHOP for a pancake supper. By the time we got her home, she had run out of energy. This kid has enough energy to power a city. She hops, skips, jumps, runs, never, ever stops! And giggles and is delicious and a true pain in the butt, which makes her a perfect 6 year old. I miss her like crazy already.

Sunday we gathered at the family home for some serious moving packing and humping. The entire clan of my SIL were there, and we love these folks, so we had a great time working our little tushies off. But we accomplished a ton of moving, so that when they have to be out of their house, it will all be accomplished. Then they have a week in between houses, and then they move to their new one. The new house is in an incredible area, within walking distance to a super duper elegant shopping street replete with post office, drugstore, a Lund's (great supermarket), wonderful restaurants, and stores that reek "posh"! And a movie theater and a wonderful playground and the best high school in the city. The downside? I can no longer take light rail to get to her house. Taxi is the way to go. Hey, you can't have everything!

So we were really exhausted Sunday night. And yesterday we traveled and you know how I hate travel, but this morning, after writing this, I'm going to the gym! Did you read that? GYM! Maybe I can establish the habit again.

Knitting News: Here's all the knitting I did, 99% on the plane. No time or energy to do any more on the sock. The really crummy pic shows the little twist st cable; it looks so much better in real life.




Carolynh - yep, those leafy green socks yet again. The thing is that I didn't realize that these socks were going to look so much like the leafy ones. The little twist stitch cable makes a great difference. I like this little cable so much that you know you're going to see it a lot!