the quacking fiber addict

Is it Sunday evening already? Wow, that was... fractured. I had a couple of really low days there, so not much was done. Other than lying in bed, wondering what I had done to piss off Hashem so badly.

But I'm better now, and have finally admitted to myself that it's time to buck up and go to a psychologist. The antidepressants are clearly not working. I hate having to try new drugs (friends and family can tell about the horror of me on Welbutrin), but I hate the lows even more.

Anyway. Enough drama. Somehow, I managed to knit a bit. The heels of the Baudelaires took longer than any other heels I've knit. This might be due to my own problems at the time, or it might just be due to the fact that the heels are f*cking insane.


Genius. I'm not denying the genius of toe-up heel gussets/ flaps. But insane. Clearly insane. Cookie A. must have some interesting thoughts.

Tonight was supposed to be a Knitting Southies meet-up (ravelry), but I ended up being the only one to turn out. Nice, I know. I forgive Aimee, as she has a young daughter. To make myself feel better, I indulged in yarn therapy. Looking around Mabel's, I sought the perfect yarn for Mona's Embossed Leaves socks.

Finally, I spied the Green Mountain Spinnery cubbies. Ah, c'est magnifique. The colourway "Yarrow" immediately made me think of Birch leaves in autumn, so I snatched up two skeins of Cotton Comfort (20% organic cotton/ 80% wool - and machine washable!), to be used as soon as I get some needles free:


Did I mention that I took out Favourite Socks and Knitting On The Road from the local library? No? Hehehe.

Aaand look, more knitting news!, I'm nearly done with the left sleeve of the SBT, now affectionately known as Miss Lizzy's Spencer:


I've always been fond of the character Elizabeth Bennett, from Pride & Prejudice. Designing something with her in mind has been of interest ever since I read the "Jane Austen knitting" thread on Craftster.

In non-knitting news, I applied for 10 different jobs on Friday. I have absolutely no doubt that I will not be hired for any of them. Which is fine, I have tons of yarn to keep me company.

Oh, and finally, ravelry is going to steal my soul. Sockdown: Ravelry is a success. The SKA hyas 740+ members, and I'm losing track of all the forums I'm on. It's worse crack than Craftster. Someone saaave me. (well, not really, I'm having too much fun)

Labels: baudelaire, depression, ravelry, socks, yarn p0rn

What I was planning to blog about. Bugrit. Instead, I offer the distraction of handspun yarn p0rn:


I love my new wheel. It has beautifully smooth action, and it spins laceweight easily. What more could I want, eh?

Oh, now I remember what I was planning on mentioning. I'm not quite in shock (okay, maybe a little) over the fact that Sock Knitters Anonymous now has 589 members on ravelry. I'm also not quite in shock over the fact that people actually want to take part of the year-long knitting challenge I suggested. It is a bit surprising how many knitters are interested.

But, I must admit, I am a bit shocked by how many indie yarn dyers and Etsy sellers have agreed to donate yarn and knitting goodies for monthly prizes and for our Mystery Sock designers to use with their patterns. Seriously, last I heard from our great and wise Sockdown prize mod (Maia) we had 15 skeins of yarn donated and assorted sundry other goodies.

The challenge doesn't start until August.

Someone pinch me.

Labels: le Tour de Fleece 2007, ravelry, SKA

I don't know what's in the water or subliminal messages right now, but everyone in the family is so snippy. A person can't say the sky is blue without someone taking offense, "Did I say it wasn't?"

Oy. I ran away to the PDX Knit-Bloggers meet-up at Knit/ Purl today, just to escape the egg-shell covered floor. The ladies were very nice, very cheerful, and quite rowdy - I could hear them in the basement when I walked into the store.

Which reminds me. I found their group on ravelry, which I finally got invited onto last night! I'm so addicted. I've been searching patterns, adding pictures, and puttering about every spare moment I can. There are tons of lace knitters on already, so it's nice to see what they're working on and what they've got queued as well.

And, because they've started a new 'groups' section (and have asked for people to start groups of their own), I made up one: Sock Knitters Anonymous. Like any other group, we've got our 12 steps:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our desire to hand-knit socks and stash sock yarn.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our LYSes as we understood Them.
4. Made a searching and fearless accurate inventory of Stashes.
5. Admitted to ravelry, to ourselves, and to other human beings the exact nature of our sock addiction.
6. Were entirely ready to frog any defects of knitting.
7. Humbly asked for knots to be removed from our skeins, hanks, and balls of yarn.
8. Made a list of all patterns we had started, stashed for, or designed on cocktail napkins, and became willing to start/ finish them all.
9. Finish sock WIPs wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them, the yarn, needles, ourselves, or others.
10. Continued to keep a stash inventory and when we buy more sock yarn, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through trial and error to improve our conscious contact with sock knitting we understood It, praying only for knowledge of Turning Heels and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other sock knitters, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

C'mon and join if you're on ravelry. Also, friend me if you're on, please! I've lost track of all the members I know online and my puter is soooo slow that searching is nigh impossible :(

Labels: family, ravelry, SKA