The Queen of Procrastination

I am the Queen of Procrastination. Why? This picture of two WIP's or UFO's, however you prefer to word it, are prime examples. The Market Squares Bag to the left was started a year ago this month. I put it down when I moved the end of September. Well, I put it down before then as packing became the number one priority but I didn't pick it back up until December or so. I knitted on it until I reached the point I only have 2 or 3 tiers to finish. Now these are small tiers. It's the bottom of the bag. They do not have all the stitches the regular sized tiers have. But I lost interest. I started something else, although at the moment I can't recall what. Fast foward to this summer and here is the Nina Shawl. I only have one more striped section, the fair isle section and then the ruffles on each end to complete it. I am dreading doing the fair isle and it was not that difficult! So I procrastinate. And instead of using the knitting time I had this weekend to finish one of these items, I started another project.





This is it. Not a major project. Another one that will bring some gratifcation pretty quickly. It's a washcloth. One that I plan to use!! I am one of those who prefer a thin washcloth. So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some Sinfonia yarn for $3.99. It's not actually yarn. It is really several strands of thread twisted together but it would make a thinner washcloth. So I started this one Friday and it's the Baby Fern stitch. It has a hint of lace and this is a learning project. So far, so good. Size 4 needles so it may take awhile longer than the last one.


This is Number Twelve. Yes, I have a new knitting bag. Lantern Moon with lime green silk lining. It's made from a sturdier substance than the origami bag. So it should hold up better. It flares at the top and when I transferred everything I had in the origami bag to this one, it only filled it up 3/4 of the way full. And it isn't bulging on the sides.










And to add that girly-girl feature, it too has a sash to tie at the top. No pockets in this one but I found I really didn't use those I had in origami bag.










And Lexi says the bag matches her eyes perfectly. In addition to that, she's a pretty contented kitty.

Finished Object!

This is Swish with a Twist from Creative Knitting Magazine. Karen, thank you for bringing this pattern to my attention. I was in dire need for a quick and easy gratification item. This was it. It's too pretty to use. I'll just tuck it away probably. I have a few I knitted a year ago out of cheap cotton Hobby Lobby yarn and I don't use those either. lol It seems like such a waste of precious knitting stitches. I guess I'm more of a process knitter.





Now I never noticed how much the camera could mess up a color. But this is the same washcloth as in the above picture. It looks blue not aqua! How strange! Anyway, the color in the picture above is true this picture is not.












And Lexi says: do you see what I have to go thru? Sigh!

Hot August Night

I grew up hearing how hot the month of August was the year I was born. My mother told me they were so poor that she couldn't afford to buy but one or two maternity outfits. Because of this when she'd stay home and not venture outside, she'd put on a skirt she wore previous to pregnancy but the skirt had the stomach cut out. She wore a maternity top that covered her swollen belly but she'd never go anywhere in this. She also told about putting a wet towel over the fan so the fan would blow a cooler stream of air. One evening while she was trying to find some relief from the heat, someone knocked on the door. She was so embarrassed as it was the local preacher and his wife coming to call. You can't exactly turn them away at the door!! So she sat there trying to keep the top over her bare pregnant belly. Oh wait....I went waaaaaaaay off my point here. lol Like that is a surprise to any of you who know me?? lol The point was that the summer of 1954 was one of the hottest on record. I do remember a summer a few years back that broke that record. But I think THIS summer is breaking all records. So with that in mind it would stand to reason that my air conditioner pooped out a month ago with a freon leak. Two weeks later my whole block lost electricity for 6 hours. A week after that my car battery dies with the strain of this wicked heat. Then last night my whole block loses electricity AGAIN for 6 hours. And as I woke up this morning I realized my air conditioner is once again not working correctly!! I was very fortunate that the heat and air company came out and got me cool again but it's not over. They will come back tomorrow to see if there is a leak in my unit out in the garage. And if they find no leak, they know someone is tampering with my AC unit. It seems when they came today and looked at the unit outside some cover on the box was put on upside down. They didn't cover it like that last month. I haven't touched it, shoot! I haven't even looked at it. I asked if this was possibly how a thief would turn off the unit in order to steal the copper from it and they said absolutely. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! I can't believe people could stoop so low period but especially so when it's so miserably hot!

Ok, I'll step off the soap box now.

Today was August Guild meeting. I think we had the largest group so far!! I counted 34 heads. I took a few pictures and if Blogger cooperates I'll have those posted with this blog. We had a program on socks. Ginny had many nice pairs of socks she's knitted over the years for the group to see. She had plenty of reference material she has obtained. She will post those links to the Metro OKC Knitter's Guild site so they'll be accessible to guild members. We had show n tell and I have to admit that is my very favorite part. We even have some jr. guild members who knit some mighty fine looking items. Susan wasn't able to make the meeting today because of health issues. I'd like to ask everyone to keep Susan in their prayers.






























After guild I had the best group of friends meet me for dinner tonight. Margaret, Karen, Emily, Shelly, Rosemolly, Terri and Jan met me at Alfredo's in Moore. We had a great time and we didn't get kicked out or told to be quiet a single time! lol (And Margaret calls us troublemakers!!!) I got some great birthday cards and some lovely gifts. I noticed a couple of "themes" to my cards. There were two cat/kitten cards and SEVERAL seemed to have old ladies on the fronts. Hmmmmmmm, do you think they are trying to TELL me something??? Ok, ladies, I may be the oldest of that group but only by five months!!! lol I took my camera into the restaurant to take pictures and then forgot all about it until after Terri left. So I didn't take any pictures at all. Sorry!!
















These are some of the gifts I received. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! And can you imagine this? I got three gift certificates to my favorite yarn shop!!! Yippee!!!!!! Oh? what shop? Gourmet Yarn of course!! And just to step over to the mushy side, all of you really make me feel good that I have all of you as friends.




I started the washcloth from the pattern Karen gave me. After four aborted starts, I think I finally have it now!! lol It sure does help when you read ALL the instructions. This is called Swish with a Twist from Creative Knitting magazine.

My name is Kay and I have an addiction......

Count them, ten knitting bags. Oh, make that eleven, one is in the car trunk.















These are thirteen of the WIP's that I can find.

This is the Market Squares Bag I started last August. I only need a couple of more tiers to finish. I don't care for the colors so I lost interest in it.

Next to it is the Nina Shawl. It could very well become a finished object. In fact, it shows more possibility than any of the others. lol








There are supposed to be 4 WIP's in this picture but I turned the camera angle a bit so Susan would see I too have an inspector. For some reason she was really showing an interest in that green/blue sock yarn. But the coils of the circulars also capture her attention and she likes to try to chew on them.









Here is the unfinished Clapotis. As most of you may know I don't have enough of the Blue Heron Yarn to finish. The shop where I purchased it doesn't have anymore. Margaret has sent a couple of emails plus David called the company trying to arrange to start selling it and they won't answer!! If anyone has an in with Blue Heron please let me know. Otherwise, this clapotis is going to the frog pile. The white/black/green/red is Lexi's Christmas Stocking and the pink on the dpn's is a hat for my niece.




The lavender is an unfinished baby blanket, the fushia/purple is a hat for another niece and the lime green is a second hat for a niece.













This is an unfinished pillow cover. This is Classic Elite Summer Tweed 03. My first purchase at the Woolie Ewe. If you recognize this yarn you are remembering it from the yarn I keep in a decorative basket. Oh, I heard a rumor the Woolie Ewe is up for sale. Please, please, please let it not be true or if it is please let good people buy it.







These are my needles I have collected in the beginning. I found out pretty quickly that long sticks and I do not get along. I was soooo happy to discover bamboo and nice wooden needles and then Addi Turbos!!













Ahhhhh, here are some better needles. Well, except for those horrid plastic telephone poles. Ugh. I had to buy those for the first knitting class I took. I still can't believe they had us use such huge needles.












Notice those adorable pointed ears and the faint stripes on that kitty face. She has to inspect everything I photograph. More wooden and bamboo needles. Yes, I know there are 3 bamboo needles there. I found the fourth later.









Oh boy!!! Circulars!! Lexi's fave! I didn't count the needles but as you can see I have bunches. And Lexi wants to leave teeth marks on every cord.














This is my latest acquisition. Haven't used them yet but I will. They are lightweight, pliable cords, nice pointy tips and smooth joins. I highly recommend them.













I bought this swift last summer. I wasn't too adept at using my feet or the parts of furniture to hold skeins for me while I wound yarn.













And the winder.....two wonderful pieces of knitting equipment.















Notice the expression on her face? See how her eyes are almost glazed over? What on earth is she looking at??















This!!!














And this!!








And oh wait.....






There's more!!




I got up this morning thinking I'll clean and do laundry today. Knit in between chores, relax, fix a very late lunch and relax in my gown. About 30 minutes after I got up I thought I know I have another 40 inch circular size 1 or 2 Addi Turbo. I'm having a devil of a time trying to learn wrap stitches and I wanted to swatch and practice on yarn other than my Regia. I turned and looked around me and realized my "nest" was encroaching on my chair. No way could I find those needles without going thru everything. It was time to organize my yarn stash and knitting bags and needles and oh dear.....books, magazines and patterns too!!!

So I started by pulling all yarn not currently attached to a project and started filling big bags. I found unused needles and projects I knew I'd never finish. I frogged those and put the needles in the needle pile. I pulled loose pages of patterns I've copied and tried to get them all in a single stack. Then I remembered I had a couple of bags in the closet. I go and load my hands and realize I can't get them all so I turn and work on what I have in my hands. Go back to the closet and get the others I see, sort thru all of it. Then I remember...there's more!! In the other bedroom I find several sacks of yarn that I'd just piled up when I brought it home. Grab that and sort thru it, not remembering some of it. I sit down and think....where's that Olive Berroco Suede? The purple Brown Sheep yarn in the zip-lock bag? Oh wait, I have some Kid Silk Haze somewhere and four skeins of Noro Kureyon too!! I start digging and searching and I pull out more. As soon as I get finished with one load I remember some other yarn and start searching. It took me most of the morning. I have an addiction. It's really bad. I've only been knitting for 20 months!!!

So here's the challenge....I dare you, no I double dog dare you to show your stash of yarn, bags and needles. (Lord, help me I didn't even try to show the knitting books I have. lol)

Oh, I do hold the right to update the stash pictures....why you ask? Because I know there's more hiding in the closets somewhere.

Yarn, yarn and yarn!

I was on the road by 8:25 this morning. You know it has to be something really good to get me up, dressed and driving by that time on a Saturday!! I drove over to Karen's and we jumped in the car and headed north. Why? Today was the big anniversary sale at GOURMET YARN!! I missed the first anniversary sale last year as I was out of town so I was ready for the second sale. You can never tell how long it will take to get from Norman/Moore to Gourmet Yarn because of the traffic. Today we made great time and pulled into the parking lot at 9:30. The lights were out, was Margaret there? I called and she wasn't answering. I know she comes in early and always gets a bunch of work done before the doors open. I understand the calm and peace of no interruptions or phones ringing etc. But Karen and I wanted in!!! So we drove around back to see if Margaret's car was there, yep!! So I pull up to the back door and Karen hops out to knock. She turns to come back to the car when Margaret opens the door a little surprised at who she finds. She thought it was Sandy but nope only two of her problem children. She kindly lets us in but we have to behave. So we chat a bit and then people are starting to gather at the front door. Margaret says we're gonna get her in trouble and kicks us out with everyone else until the store opens. lol Okkkkk, we'll be good. Karen and I had pretty much planned on what we were going to get anyway. So once the store opened we immediately gathered the definites we knew we wanted.



We started a pile on the table. After all, I'm really into "bonding" with my yarn before I make my final purchase. Sometimes I need the yarn to talk to me for awhile before I pay for it. This is my pile and you can catch a glimpse of Karen's stack in the background.












This is Terri's modest pile. Emily shared the loveseat with Karen and knitted on her aran afghan. She was very good as she'd hit some yarn shops while on vacation.












It's kinda funny Terri, Karen and I all sat down to knit with our potential purchases in front of us. Here is Terri working on her toe up sock she started last week.













Here is Karen checking out a new book and Emily browsing thru some vacation pictures on her camera.


These pictures were taken before lunch. It's probably a good thing. lol We piled into Margaret's van and ran to Bahama Breeze. We decide we need a nice drink with our lunch. While we are pouring over the drink menu it occurs to me that we are laughing and carrying on so that they might just refuse to serve us as one MIGHT think we've had a few before we walked in the doors. lol I ordered my first mojito. I have a friend from Cuba who has always told me how good those are but I've never had one. It was decent. lol You have to remember I'm not much of a drinker and when I do a nice margarita on the rocks is good for me. By the time I ate my lunch and finished the tumbler sized mojito, I was very glad I wasn't driving. We make it back to the shop safe and sound but I know I'm not getting behind the wheel any time soon. I'm such a cheap drunk!! lol And just for the record, I did not get behind the wheel for at least two more hours. So OKC was safe!


And here it is!!! This is the pile of my purchases. Can you see the theme? Blues and greens....I'm so predictable!! lol














This is Cascade Quatro and I plan to make a felted bag out of this yarn.















This is an ambitious purchase. Regia Silk Sock Yarn!! I'm gambling on the fact that I WILL learn how to knit socks. lol I can do a toe up and I can start a cuff. It's the heel and wraps that is the challenge. Rosemary tried to show me Thursday. I was getting the wrap down ok, it's the one single stitch that I kept pulling up that was wrong. lol








This picture is a little dark. The outer two skeins are a heathered olive. One of these days....lol....I plan to knit a child's sweater for two reasons. It will be a learning lesson for me and as long as it's wearable it will go to some child who needs a warm winter sweater.









And this is the Angora Karen and I spotted last week while at the Knit-In. I love how soft this yarn is and the color just looks so elegant. I think I'll knit a scarf out of this but for the meantime it's fondling yarn.

And that is it. We arrived before the doors opened and left at 3. I love spending time with my friends who share a common passion. I think we'd have a great time together even if we were not knitting but that just puts icing on the cake. Mmmmmm, angora cake? fluffy fuzzy icing......the colors and skeins are floating thru my head.

Socks, fairies, feet and crayons

Did I get your attention with that subject line? lol It means this is a hodgepodge of subjects in my post tonight. Saturday Terri was talking about Stephanie aka The Yarn Harlot and her recent post on the fairy doors in Ann Arbor. I had to admit it caught my attention and I went to read her post that night to see exactly what she was talking about. They are very whimsical and I can imagine how excited children get when they find one. Then it occurred to me, I keep fairy food in a bowl just in case a fairy comes to visit me. I've had this for over five years now and thought I would post a picture. For some reason

I find it very soothing to pick it up and let it run thru my fingers.

A few weeks ago I was talking to some people about old dishes. I read a book a few years ago and one of the characters had an eggcup collection. It was called Carlton Walkingware. It piqued my curiosity so I looked it up on eBay and sure enough it really exits! I ran across my salt and pepper pots, as they are called in England, a few weeks ago when I was unpacking some boxes. I still haven't located the tea pot. It's hiding in some box somewhere but here is a picture of the salt and pepper pots. And below is


a close up of the feet. I understand these are no longer made and so are collectables. Some have striped socks, some have dots. They come with different colored shoes and socks.












This is the toe up sock I started Saturday in sock class. I love this yarn. It reminds me of a box of crayons. Which brings me to another topic I was discussing with Shelly awhile back. I have a friend who seems to disapprove of my yarn purchases. Her comments are: have you finished with what you were working on the other day? what did you do with the blue you bought when we were there last time? or everytime I come over I find another bag full of yarn. It doesn't sound very supportive huh? lol I've even heard other knitters make similar comments. I have decided this might be the best way to "explain" the need to buy new, more or different yarn when we may have a room full untouched. Do you remember when you were grade school age and you were into coloring? Remember how you'd grow tired of using the sky blue, or the orange-yellow or the salmon crayon? Remember how you'd grab a different crayon say maybe the burnt sienna or the periwinkle or midnight blue and you'd feel invigorated again? Well, that's how I feel about yarn and projects. I get tired of the melon colored yarn with the stockinette stitches and feel the need to work on Bathing Beauty in lace with the sage green yarn. It's a different crayon and it invigorates me. When I grow tired of that one I can always go back to the melon crayon and work towards the end. So if you have someone in your life who makes those disapproving comments to you about your stash, remember you have the right to color with a different crayon color.

The Problem Children Sock Class and Knit-In

Well, as you can tell by the first picture, we found some humor in our toe-up socks. I don't know exactly how this came about. I mentioned it looked like a duckbill and then someone else said a nose cover and before you know it Karen and Anita were modeling for us! Aren't they adorable?










Here is a different view. Anita was disappointed yesterday when I didn't label her a problem child, well Anita, I don't think you have to worry anymore. You fell right in step with the rest of us!! lol See what Margaret had to deal with??










See?? lol

We came to the conclusion that Margaret may have a note at the counter that reads something like this: Karen, Terri, Anita, Jan, Kay, if any of these people call to schedule for a class DO NOT under any circumstances let them be in the same class together. Terri or Karen one hinted that it was by 2 that Margaret started her first drink. lol If only she had!! Maybe she would have felt a bit more relaxed. lol (I promise she didn't drink anything harder than pop.)




This is Cathy. Do you notice her sock and how it compares to the rest? One MIGHT think she was the good student who knitted right along while the rest of us played. Well, there could be some truth to that but she was actually on her second class while the rest of us were just starting the first. Whew!!










Fast forward about an hour and here are some shots of the Knit-In. It's getting very crowded on Knit-In nights. Margaret, David, it's time to elbow the people out of the office next door. Can you imagine how many people would come to knit-in if everyone had a chair?? lol I've also noticed there are many new faces at the knit-ins. And as always, plenty of good food. I'll name a few of the faces at this table (or the backs of heads as the case may be lol) Jen if in the red with her back to us, Susan to her right, Nina, Judy. Across the table, the lady with the long hair is Carolyn's daughter I'm guessing. I didn't meet her but she looked like her mother so I feel my guess is a good one. lol And Carolyn is sitting next to her. Sorry I can't see the other faces at the table.


At the table behind ours is Beverly, Susan, Jennifer, Sherry and Margaret. Karen is knitting at our table on a bag for the Pursenalities contest. I think it will be gorgeous. I don't know how Jan and Terri slipped out of the picture taking but they did. There were a couple of faces missing, Emily and Christy. I don't know Christy was but Emily made a call to us from Beaver, Utah. Emily, if you only knew what kind of conversations started after your call. You would blush, I know I did. lol There were three immediate beaver stories. Jen told one about her using that topic (bald) in class and how in her innocence she didn't realize what it's "other" meaning was. Jan told a story about one that was shaved. And Terri told one about a beaver sighting that became "hers". lol It was so funny. The room was rolling. Margaret did give us some assurance that when we feel guilty or sheepish that we are the ONLY ones who talk about such "blue" subjects in her shop, that we were not the only ones. lol WHEW!!! And now I'm wondering how many hits I'll have on tracksy from some young boy looking up naughty things! If you are one of those who hoped to find the naughty stuff, all three of our stories were innocent!! lol


And here is Rosemolly knitting away with her Harry Potter scarf wrapped around her. Sometimes I wonder if she ever thinks...what is with these older women??? lol

If you missed knit-in you missed out on some good fun. Anyway, that is how I spent my Saturday. I'm sure Margaret and Terri will have their own posts about this. So be sure to check their blogs in the next few days.