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 Loves Being Retired!

But only for the next week or so. It's really tough to take time off when you work out of your house. But I'm a smart cookie occasionally, so I put Etsy into vacation mode, and now can relax.

So what does a retired from retirement person do all day long? I knit, went to the dentist, bank, knit lots more. Trumpets here: I actually made a good supper. From scratch. On time. Even early. and, Enjoyed it! And I knit some more, watched House, knit, computed but only a little bit, and guess what, I knit some more. Finished a book. And, you got it, KNIT!

I even contemplated dyeing up some yarn to take with me, but nah, I have tons of yarn from my pre-dyeing days, and there's a skein of Schaefer Anne in reds that's calling me. It wants to be a lacy scarf. Told me so. And for reasons that I don't understand, there are 2 skeins of Tofutsies that somehow crept into the stash bin, and they are calling me too.

And by the time I get back to reality, I'll be really ready to come back to my little business. Time off is good for the soul, and for the knitting, too.

Warning: Rant ahead. Read at your own risk.

Soapbox Rant: A couple of months ago I ran into a crank on Ravelry. We are talking an opinionated, cranky, pain in the butt. OK, that describes me, but no, this isn't me. This is a real grouch. Bad Hubbo, if you're reading this, it's not me. NO, no no!

This is one of those people who always contradicts you no matter what you say. You say red; she says blue. And she's vocal about it. Very intelligent, but so are all Rav people. Knitters are smart people. And she voices her opinion from on high. If she says it, it is the truth. Because she Knows. Those of us who do not agree with her are mere plebeians (sp? I think it should be spelled Plebians, but spell check doesn't agree).

So what am I ranting about? I was thinking the other day that people like her, with negative opinions about Everything, must be unhappy people. When all you can find in this glorious world is stuff to complain about; when you are high and mighty and know it all and the rest of us are stupid, well, I just don't think that you can be happy within yourself.

Don't get me wrong; healthy dissent is obligatory to a democracy, good for the soul, challenging, but do you have to make it your total persona? Is there nothing that pleases you? Are you so well-educated that the rest of us are below your feet? Hey, we have Ph.D's, M.D.'s, all sorts of Big Brains in the family. They are up there on the intelligence scale, but they don't set themselves up as being the experts on everything.

End of rant. That was good. I haven't had a good rant in a long time.

That brings me to the topic of happiness. I'll spare you that lecture today, 'cause I'm going to the gym and I'm, ahem, knitting. I am on vacation, you know!

Knitting news: My little scarf that I started the other day is motoring along. It's so easy peasy once you get the count established. And me, being me, already knows what's next on the needles.

Here it is, over 22" long and growing. Click on it to get the full picture.



Here are my yarns to maybe take with me. The skeined one is from Fleece Artist. It's been gently aging for about 3 years. The Anne is the balled up one, and the one on the far left is some cotton/wool thingie that I like.



Skeppie - Nope you don't know the object of my rant. I don't want to know her either. Hah! Aren't these quizzes the goofiest things going?

Henya - Ain't it the truth? I think there are professional grouches out there; they live to complain loudly and often. Feh on them.

The Yarnarian and Vacations.

I'm been quite remiss in my blog posting. I've been so busy what with dyeing and shipping for the sock club, and dyeing for the Etsy shop, etc, that I don't know which end is up. It's time for a vacation, that's for sure.

So here's the deal with vacation time. When you have a "regular" job, you get vacation time and if you have any brains at all, you take it. Yeah, there are those fools out there who think they're going to heaven if they don't take vacation; we're not talking about them.

I'm a great believer in time off. It clears your head, gives you a well-needed break, relaxes you, and is just plain healthy.

OK, but now I'm self-employed at in in-house career. Sure I go on vacation to visit Miss P and family, and to venture forth with the Hubbo. No, I'm talking about taking time just for me. How do I do it? I have this little voice at the back of my head that says: thou shalt dye and thou shalt advertise and thou shalt ship, yada, yada, yada. But I'm tired and really need a break. So, I have to figure out how to do this.

Here's my solution: Sometime in the next 4-5 weeks, I'm going to take a week off. No dyeing, unless it's for me (and that's another topic), yup, I'll check on Etsy, of course, but I need to play. I need to wander through the Short Hills Mall all by myself and look at all the stuff I don't need and won't buy. Maybe I'll treat myself to some makeup. I need to sit down and read in the afternoon and not fall asleep over my book at bedtime. I need to knit for fun.

What do you think? Can I really pull this off?

Knitting News: I have a new obsession: modular knitting, or domino knitting or whatever you want to call it. Here's my silly scarf that I've been working on every second of free time I have (which is not much).




This is a case where the whole is so much better than the parts. I'm using Alexa yarn with a size 6 needle, and the scarf is so cuddly and has so much drape. I'm busy thinking of all the possibilities that I can do just using this simple module. How about mostly solid, with the point in a variegated yarn, or the opposite? How about doing it in solid yarns in different colors? Or doing it with some stockinette rows? Or in stripes? And easy knitting doesn't get any better than this. Talk about autopilot. I just love doing it. Hey, when I take my vacation (yes!), I could start another scarf.

We finally saw Sweeney Todd last night. I saw it on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou and it was one of the best shows I've seen. He was so malevolent, and she played Mrs. Lovett as a really crazy, dotty character. The movie seems a pale imitation of the play. For one thing, where was the song "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"; they left it out. I liked the movie well enough, but the play was 100 times better.

I've also been watching reruns of Boston Legal. Somehow we missed the entire series. So now it's in reruns, and I'm just loving it. I walk around saying "Denny Crane".

Yarns and Odds: This week I'm presenting Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and maybe also Little Red Riding Hood, if I have time to dye her up. And that will probably be it for The Fairy Tale Collection. You know what comes next! Romance and love, at least for the first couple of weeks of February (and maybe the last week of Jan also). What to dye for the last 2 weeks? Maybe a fairy tale or two that I didn't do in Jan, or maybe something else. See what I mean about taking vacation when you're self-employed and love dyeing? It ain't easy, boys and girls.

Skepweaver - I put the Cariou/Lansbury production in my queue. This is the one that I want the Hubbo to see! Denny Crane.

KV - You've figured it out! I'm impressed, but then you've been doing this for a long time and I'm a newbie. The trouble is that I have all these ideas in my head for dyeing and for projects. I can't keep up with it all. Tomorrow I'm taking off to go to the gym and watch the inaugural proceedings. But that doesn't count as a vacation day. The scarf looks so much better in real life.

Sonia - I thought I'd take today off to watch the inauguration festivities, but I have to prep yarn and list it, etc, etc. I figure that by the time I get this vacation thing, I'll be retired from retirement!

The Yarnarian Sighs Again and Again.

Did you have a nice Mother's Day? I had a splendid one! DD#1 spent Saturday night with us, and as usual, we stayed up until 1:30 AM to chat. Sunday morning we went to Whole Foods to buy some tasty little cakes to bring to the Mommie's.

The Mommie was quite pleased to see us, and when she saw 3 darling little cakes, she was even more pleased. She has quite a sweet tooth.

We brought paper plates, napkins, forks. So we shared everything, and the Mommie declared that she would hardly eat any supper.

Hubbo went off for a stroll, and the 3 ladies sat around and talked about arranged marriages and polygamy and such. The Mommie, who never remembers what she eats, participated fully in our discussion. Her brain was at full power. Just an amazing woman!

Business News: I'm taking this week and next week as some time off. I really need it; it seems that I've become a workaholic with the dyeing and designing stuff. A couple of weeks to recharge is just the ticket. So, other than dyeing a couple of lace skeins for Best Friend, the only dyeing I'm doing is for me, me, me!!!

I need (?) some sock yarn to take on vacation, so here's what I'm dyeing: 1 skein each of my Penny yarn and Rose yarn, and 1 skein each of 2 brand new sock yarns - 80% merino/20% nylon, and 70% merino/30% bamboo/10% nylon. I need to test out these yarns. Uh huh, right, good excuse. Well somebody has to test dye these guys; it might as well be me, no? I'm so virtuous sometimes that I scare even me. And modest, too.

The other thing I'm doing this week is laundry. Tons of it. I swear it multiplies while we're sleeping. How 2 people can produce that much dirty clothing is beyond me.

I have to decide what books to take with me. This is the only time of the year that I read trashy romances, but on vacation I love them.

CAPE COD, I'm coming, sweetheart, Hang in there.

Erin - We could leave instantly. We are so excited. And you know that we do the exact same things every single year. Almost in order, too. Sighing yet again!

Carolyn - I don't' do tender on vacation; I do fantasy, and those awful bodice-rippers with the purple prose. I have so many things lined up to do that it will take me a month of vacation to get it all done. Sigh.