Resolution progress...sort of....

So, I posted last time LATE (like 6 months too late) that I had made a resolution to use up my yarn.  I have, thank goodness, made some progress. So far, I have knitted one women-sized slippers (for a coworker), still working on the dear hubby's scarf, a pair of baby socks, and am beginning work on a child's Minion hat. What? Working on more than project at a time?  Hey, my resolution was to USE UP yarn, not just work on one project at a time. I mean, sheesh, what yarn addict--er, aficionado--doesn't have more than one project going on at the same time?

Yet, looking at all the yarn I still have, it doesn't seem like I made a discernible dent in the stash.

However, I am telling myself that slow and steady wins the race, and nothing says I can't continue having this resolution next year, too.

When I think about it, though, I believe my problem is that I can't SEE what I have at any one time. If I had the yarn displayed on shelves in the way yarn stores do, I could see what colors and type of yarn I have at any one time. Not seeing what I have tends to make me think I don't have "enough" yarn.  Out of sight, out of mind, you see.

So...next project will be to clear out my son's old room now that he has been out of the house for years, and turn it into a combo office/craft/guest bedroom. Now to find the time to do it....  Sigh.

Resolutions

Oh, good heavens. I found out that I didn't publish the post below to this blog, and it's been SEVEN MONTHS since I wrote it.  Sheesh.  Which all goes to show how much I do on this blog. However, I will post it now, because I really have been working on this resolution. More on that later, I promise.

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As usual, I'm late with any kind of Christmasy messages, forget about Christmas letters. I had a letter started and was two-thirds of the way through, and then life intervened. Well, with the Alien Child and his lovely wife (yes, he got married this year!) off to be with her family, my husband and I decided we'd have a quiet holiday just by ourselves and my mom. Surely I'd get through the Christmas letter and send it off.

Well, you know how it is. We found out that some college friends of ours weren't going to go see their family down in California after all, and then of course there's their grown-up son who is friends-like-brothers with the Alien Child, and we thought why not invite them to our quiet evening?  And then we found that my brother-in-law and his wife were going to meet up with those friends, and just to make it all convenient for everyone's schedule, we invited them, too.

So instead of a couple of turkey breast slices, salad, and stollen bread, we ended up with a whole turkey, spiral-sliced ham, pumpkin and pecan pies (good thing I had already made the pie crust and put them in the freezer for future use), the whole works. It was the Christmas that Grew.

And that is a perfectly good and happy thing to happen, but it means the intended Christmas letter (and Christmas cards) did not get done. Clearly, I need to schedule and organize these things better.  In fact, I need to organize more than Christmas better.

I did decide on a New Year's resolution, however: to organize, and then reduce my yarn stash to at least 10 percent of what it is now before I buy more. 

Don't laugh.  This is a serious endeavor.  I knew I had quite a lot of yarn (as well as spinning fiber), but not really how much, as quite a bit of it is stashed here and there in the house, somewhat in the manner of a squirrel stashing nuts in the forest. I also realized a while ago that I tend to buy yarn according to color first for a project, and then by type of fiber.  So, the logical thing to do was to gather all my yarn together and sort them out and store them according to color.

Dear heaven.  I seriously did not realize how much yarn I actually had. I was on the brink of turning into one of those hoarder people on reality TV. In fact, last night while I was in my computer room, I suddenly remembered I had some yarn stashed away in some drawers there, too, which I hadn’t looked at for probably years.  Luckily, I always put bags of lavender throughout a container whenever I have yarn in it, so they’re fine.  But for the first time last night, I had a feeling of...dread, thinking of the fact that there might be even more yarn stashed away elsewhere that I had forgotten about.

I had turned into a Yarn Squirrel. This is not good.

I was not taking out skeins to enjoy the look, feel, and texture.  That would have been a useful thing to do, a way of de-stressing without having to resort to medication. I had put them away, but not to take out and make things for others or even myself, which not only would have been calming, but a happy, bountiful thing to do. No, I had turned into someone who squirrels away yarn for the sake of squirrelling away yarn.

I had a dim realization that I had a very large stash of yarn before Christmas, and needed to do something about it, and to that end I made a resolution to reduce it. To ensure committment to this goal, I knit a bunch of items for my church's Holiday Fair.  I even gave out coupons to some coworkers with a list of small, quick-to-knit items on them (scarves, hats, fingerless gloves, etc.) for Christmas, thinking this would surely reduce my stash to the desired 10 percent. 

After having organized for half a day and two evenings, I found that I had way more than I had thought. Way, way more. Knitting these goodies for friends and coworkers would make only a small dent in the mounds of yarn I have.

I have already given away yarn to (and made hats for) charity and to friends who knit. But I am reluctant to give away the very, very, very nice stuff that I have accumulated over the years. It's stuff that would cost a mint these days, stuff that I bought when the price was a pittance years ago.  There is nothing for it but I must knit them.

Good thing my family now includes a daughter-in-law and her family.  I now have a wider group of people to knit for.

So, first up: a long scarf made of Lang Colori superwash wool yarn, fingering weight, in a gradient dark taupe/beige color for my dear hubby. I bought this yarn while we were living in Germany. The design is very simple: stockinette stitch to show off the gradient color, with garter stitch edging to keep it from curling, and with fringes at each end.

Second in line, a pair of fingerless gloves in a soft merino wool, taupe, DK or worsted weight, for a coworker. This will have a lace design on the back of the hands, possibly with buttons at the wrist. I already have buttons I need to use.

I have a list of knitting projects now.  I guess I'll see how far through this stash I get. Yeow.

Spring Cleaning Part Deux: New Uses for Old Things

I have been steadily cleaning out this disaster-area of an office, and finding things that are...well, fairly useless.  Such as 5-inch and 3.5-inch floppy disks that have information I've already either archived or have on my current computer.  There are books for which I have copies in ebook form (Jane Austen books, many of which you can download free), and paperback books that are falling apart because they are literally over 30 years old and I have read them over and over again (and I hope, hope, hope that I can find them again in print or in ebook form).  Then there are papers that are decades old that surely can be thrown out, and so on and so on.  Or, there are old Windows 95 and other software manuals that are way, way out of date.


However, today I came upon this particular item.  It's made of Gore-Tex-like material, about 9 inches by 5 1/2 inches when folded.  The interior pockets are made of some kind of vinyl and are about 3 1/2 by 4 inches.  I've had it for...probably almost 15 years.

I pulled it out of a pile of stuff that I had put on one of my bookshelves to look at "later," which obviously was about at least 10 years later.  Yes, that's how long it's been sitting around.  I opened it and when John popped his head around the corner of my office to see what I was doing, and I held it up.  "Recognize this?"

He gazed at it for a second or so, puzzled.  I said, "It's a holder for the 3 1/2 floppy disks for the old PC we used to have.  I guess I should have thrown it out by now, right?" I said, laughing a little at how silly I'd been for holding onto it for so long...but stopped laughing as an idea slowly formed in my brain.  "On the other hand...I think I won't because I might be able to use it.  I could use it to--"

"Store knitting needles!" John said.

"Yes!" I said, much pleased at his perspicacity.  "Exactly--circular needles, in fact!"

The top pockets are too shallow to hold the needles without sticking out, but they're just the right size to hold a small pair of scissors, especially if you pass the velcro strap through one of the finger loops.  The clear plastic holder to the left, which normally would hold a business card, is perfect for holding a cable needle without too much worry that it'll fall out, since the opening is up against the fold of the holder.  It would easily slip into any purse or knitting bag without having the cables get tangled up, especially since the velcro strap holds them down.  Here's what it looks like with needles and accessories in it:

Just to test how secure the items were within it, I closed it and shook it (the horizontal velcro pieces on either side are "opposites" so that it stays shut when closed).  Then just to be absolutely sure, I opened it and shook it upside down.

Nothing budged!  How cool is that?

So now I have a handy-dandy circular knitting needle holder for whatever knitting project I might want to take with me when I'm on the go.  Now I'm thinking about looking for more floppy disk holders like this for more of my needles.  Each pocket can be easily labeled as to the size, and and another label on the outside saying what all sizes are within.  The holder is about the height and width of a trade paperback book, so I can put it in my bookshelf if I want to, and the spine--though thin--is wide enough to put yet another label on if I want to see what sizes are within if I do put it in a bookshelf.

Wow.  I absolutely must see if I can find more of these!  If I recall correctly, it wasn't very expensive when I bought it.  However, if I can't find any of these, I bet CD holders would work about as well, and at low cost, too.  I found one here in Amazon.  Less than $10!

However, I like the slim line of the 3.5 floppy disk holder, since it's very easy to tuck in a purse, unlike the bulkier CD holders.

I feel so frugal and resourceful!  :-)

Spring Cleaning--and Creating!

Got busy today!  I decided to clean my office in 1/2 hour spurts, which coincidentally is the amount of time wool roving needs to cook in the crockpot.  So I thought, why not dye some roving and clean at the same time? That way I'd have a few breaks from the tedium of cleaning, yet still dedicate some solid time giving away, throwing away, and putting away stuff.  Yep, spring cleaning is here!

I am glad to say that I was productive in both ways.  No, I will not post pictures of my office/library because it still looks like a tornado went through it.  There is improvement:  now a path from door to computer desk can be seen, plus I cleared off a bookshelf and put my yarn in tubs on it.  A box of books now sits in the living room, ready to be delivered to Goodwill.

However, as you see, I am posting pictures of the roving I dyed, because it is much prettier to look at.  I may end up selling the roving or spinning it...I haven't decided yet.  It's nice, soft wool: I have one set that is purely Merino wool, so very soft; the other one is a touch coarser, but still soft and has a somewhat elastic, bouncy feel. 

The pictures don't quite do justice to the colors of the roving.  Except for the primary colored one (to the left), which is that intense in color, the others are actually a bit lighter and more pastel than they look here--very much spring colors.

It's been very wet and rainy lately--I think we've had a month of rain and clouds with perhaps half a day of real sun--so I was feeling very much as if I wanted to create some spring if I couldn't have it in the weather.  I guess that's why there's a bit of yellow and green in all of the rovings I dyed today!

Since each set of colors took half an hour to cook, I guess because I have four colorways, I actually spent two hours cleaning!

I think this deserves some definitely spinning time.  After that, I'll put up some of this roving on my Etsy site.   I haven't put anything up there right now, but if you go there, you can be notified via e-mail once I do start up my shop again.

Put a little love in your heart

"Think of your fellow man
Lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your heart....

And the world will be a better place..."

Enough of feeling down and despairing! It's time to get down and get to work!

I was reminded of this, when the old hippie flower-child song above (written by Jimmy Holiday, Randy Myers, and Jackie DeShannon) was played in church today, and I remember when I heard this as a kid back in 1969 on the morning radio before I went to school. My mom was a classical music fan, my dad was all jazz and big band sound, and had just a bit of suspicion about that weird hippie stuff, but they could totally get behind this song, because they believed in what it had to say down to their bones. My dad invited, every year, a couple of young sailors who were far away from home to our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, because he thought was terrible that young kids like that would not be with family during the holidays. And my mom--good heavens. I swear I have to make an appointment to see her these days because of her very full volunteer schedule (I will boast: she won Pierce County Volunteer of the Year award for 2000, and this year won the Outstanding Volunteer award).

So, when "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" came on the radio in 1969, my folks said we could listen to that kind of music all we wanted. There is everything right with having love in your heart and helping out people in need, whether here or abroad.

It's September now, and the summer heat is giving way to cold rain here in the Pacific North"wet." I love this time of year, when the leaves turn to red and gold, when fresh ripe apples are crisp and sweet in one's mouth, when curling up underneath a blanket with your loved ones is especially cuddly, and--of course---when the love of yarn turns to an orgy of fiber-addiction.

The great thing about this, however, is that if you have a great deal of yarn, or can't help adding to your stash, you can tell yourself that not only are you going to make your loved ones all warm and loving-cuddly with the products of your knitting (or crocheting) prowess, but you are going to spread that fiber-love to the world.

I once Tweeted that "I firmly believe that if everyone took time to knit, crochet, or do some kind of constructive hand craft, we would have World Peace." It was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I am proud to say that Lion Brand Yarns picked it up and re-tweeted it. :-D Still, tongue in cheek or not, I do think there is something to that idea.

I think of all the charity knitting, crocheting, and sewing that is done--making clothes and blankets for premie babies, hats for the homeless, Afghans for Afghans, for our soldiers, and to raise money for various other causes, both here and abroad--I have to think there is a lot of love going on there for others. What if our world leaders, while in the midst of diplomatic negotiations, decided to sit down and knit or crochet some item for the needy in their opponent's country? They'd have to get the measurement of each person they did the handiwork for, where they lived, what kind of weather they had so that you could make the outfit or blanket or whatever suitable for their climate. And you know, when you do that, when you measure out a piece of fabric, when you tailor what you make for a person, that person is no longer some vague demographic statistic, he or she has shape and form. That person becomes real

And when he or she gets that item of clothing, knowing where that piece of clothing comes from, there is less animosity toward the person or country from whence it came. It was made specially for that person, and in good will.

There is a little love in each person's heart, both from the giving and the receiving.

So, as we enter fall and look toward the winter, I'm gearing up to do a lot of knitting and spinning of yarn. One of the projects I'm thinking of taking up is to restart my Building an Orphanage in the Congo project on my Etsy site.

I am thinking, however, of also trying to find some charity that benefits rural people. I've been reading a lot about rural poverty and the stereotypes people have about it. The stereotype a typical poor rural person is some white guy with a gun and beat-up truck, a "hick." But the truth is, typical rural citizens are African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. The attitude we have about rural people is damaging, to say the least.

I won't go into the statics about that now. I want to do the Pollyanna thing instead, and that is to look around and see where there is need, then do something to help. I'm like a lot of middle class folks--I've got a job, and so does my husband, for now. I've got a mortgage and college loans to pay while sending a kid through college. But compared to a lot of people, that's tremendous abundance. I've got enough to pay for such luxuries as a TV and computer and...a sizable yarn stash.

It wouldn't hurt me at all to do something with that yarn stash to help those in need. And I bet I'll be joining legions of other hand-crafters doing the same thing. I know the folks at CTA (Clothing and Textile Advisors) are doing it. Then there's Afghans for Afghans, and Hats for the Homeless, and so many more. Want to find a local fiber arts charity? Try this link here.

Put a little love in your hearts, folks. Spread the fiber-arts love!

Beginning a new story

All right, I'm starting the new story--the Irish werewolf one--for sure now. I've done some general history research on the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and re-familiarizing myself with Jonathan Swift's satire, "A Modest Proposal." The satire was published in the 1720's, but I plan to have it in a priest's library and in the villain's hands at one point. I'm going to start it just at the death of Wolfe Tone, leader of the United Irish. The fact that there is a prominent "wolf" in the Irish Rebellion is a nice piece of synchronicity; my idea of a werewolf in Ireland came to me years before I had done any kind of research into the Irish Rebellion.

(Sigh) It's a complex, very complex period. The English at the time did a good job of using sectarian animosity between the Irish Catholics and Protestants against the whole country, but it seems to me that underneath it all, they didn't really care what sect the Irish were; they'd do what they could to keep them from having a voice and owning land. Terrible things happened then. Terrible. But, as has been the case from the days when cities were first built to the present, the issues were still the same: absentee urban landlords who have the majority vote (if not the only ones able to vote) squeezing everything they can in the form of taxes and goods from the land and the rural people who live and work on it. And the land and the rural people usually lose. It got so bad that it culminated in the Potato Famine of the 1840s, where the English kept on exporting food cattle from Ireland while the Irish starved to death as the blight hit their potato crops. There was plenty of food in Ireland. Just not for the Irish.

One of the most touching things I read about the Irish Famine of the 1840s was the Choctaw Indian contribution of around $700 to the Irish when they heard of their plight. The Choctaw had suffered the Trail of Tears a good 16 years prior to that, and they knew what suffering and hunger was about at the hands of oppressive government. I understand there are Irish who travel to walk the Trail of Tears to this day in remembrance of that gift.

However, the great Irish famine is a good 40 years or so after my story begins. My heroine's family is going to be relatively poor, but not as poor as the rest of the village. Her family's very old Irish nobility and still holds some land, but barely. The hero is English, and has just inherited the land next to hers, and so he's coming out to inspect it, as he thinks his rent collector is cheating him (the rent collector is cheating both the tenants and the hero). So, there will be a lot of hard feelings and conflict up front that the hero will have to overcome--which will be near impossible without the heroine's help. I think I mentioned already that she's a knitter and spinner, things I have a lot of experience with, so can write with some authority on that. And what I don't know, I can get from friends who are even more expert than I.

I expect I'll shed a few tears as I write this story, but as Robert Frost said, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."

But don't worry--this is a romance novel. There will be a happy ending in the book. :-)

Along the Green River

I decided to drive out into the countryside for a few hours; it was a beautiful day, hardly a cloud in the sky, and temperatures in the upper 70 degrees F. I live just up the hill from the Kent/Auburn valley, through which courses the Green River, made notorious by the Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. In truth, his depredations only touched the river a few times, but he was given the name because of the first few bodies found near the river.

But this 65-mile river has a history much longer and more pleasant than this, and the road that meanders next to that river goes through some lovely pastoral landscapes, dotted with farms and more than a few palatial houses. Near Christmas, my husband and I make our yearly trek along the Green Valley Road to the Christmas tree farm to choose our tree, bundle it onto the truck, and drive triumphantly home with our winter catch. It's a lovely drive during the winter. More than a few times, I've seen signs next to the entrance of one farm or another, and I've wanted to see what they had to offer, but of course few if any vegetables are in season in December, and so we pass them by.

This time, however, the hubby was out motorcycling with his dad, and I decided to skip church and get to know Divine Creation from another perspective. Much inspired to listen to country music because of Kevin Skinner's YouTube audition, I turned the radio to the local country station, and headed out.

I went along the Auburn-Black Diamond road for a bit, until I saw the intersection of Green Valley Road. You can see a map of Green Valley Road here:


View Larger Map

You can see the river just as you turn onto Green Valley Road; today I saw a number of cars and trucks just past the intersection, where I suspect more than a few fishermen and women were casting out lures into the water. I don't know what the fishing is like , but since I see more than a few cars and trucks parked there whenever I've passed by, I suspect it must be at least promising.

I passed by Green Valley Meats, making a mental note that I must stop by there on my way back, because they have some of the best smoked meats around, and other more exotic cuts of meat, such as buffalo and elk, at quite affordable prices. They're a butcher and smoked meat shop, but they are well supplied with any picnic goods you might want if you and your family decide to take a day trip into the country or local national park. I also noticed they have large inner tubes available, no doubt for rent to go inner tubing down the river. They don't have a web site so far as I can tell, but the link above will take you to a site where people's reviews are spot on. I cannot say enough about their cuts of meat, and God only knows how many varieties of jerky and pepperoni they have. They are locally and family owned, and I mention this especially because I like to promote local businesses and farms expecially if they offer superb goods at a decent price. One warning, though! It is totally possible, especially if you're a "foodie" like me and like to cook, to run up a hefty bill in a short time. As I passed by, I made a pledge to myself not to go over $50 when I stop there.

My first stop is a few miles farther on, at Mosby Brothers Farm:

I've been there before, and they have very nice produce in season. They supplement their own produce with item from outside the state, and they also feature some goods from other farms and home-based businesses in the area. I noticed that they had a good set of bottled preserves made from their own produce, but this time I didn't pick up any.

I also noticed that they had some blueberry jam from Canter Berry farms just down the road. I have seen that farm more than a few times on the way to our yearly Christmas tree hunt, and have always wanted to see what it was like and what they had to offer. I bought a lemon (always good to sprinkle on Swiss chard, my new favorite) and some cibatta bread and went on my way.

The speed limit is not that fast--25 to 40 mph, depending on what stretch of road you're on--so I had ample time to flick my gaze to either side of the road, watching for any signs of fresh produce or any other goods that might be available at a farm, as well as signs of any bicyclists who are doing their own private version of the Tour de France, except I suppose it might be the Tour de Auburn. The road is not very wide, so I'm careful to look out for them. Some years ago, a bicycle trail was proposed to go through various farmlands, which was met with much opposition from the farmers there. Since apparently no compensation was going to be given to the farmers for the loss of arable land (some of the most fertile in the world), and they'd still have to pay taxes on land they could no longer use, I can't imagine why King County thought everyone would be hunky dory about it. Hmm, let's see, growing food and trying to make a living wage vs. people biking through your land. Which would you choose?

As a result of my careful driving, some signs caught my eye, and most notably the word "YARN" stood out, as well as "LAVENDER" and "MARIONBERRIES." These appealed to both my foodie senses as well as my fiber art heart, so I eagerly looked for an entrance to what must be a magical place. To my delight, I found the small entrance to Edeldal Farm, which is the home of Little House Rugs. Dolls decorate the area between the marionberry bushes, giving the entrance a sort of fairy-tale feel.

Though Judy Taylor's little Little House Rugs storefront is essentially half of her two-car garage, it is chock full of goodies, such as her lovely rugs (see picture to the right), yarn, fiber dyes, books, and felted items; there is something a little magical about all this colorful fiber-art goodness in a neat, compact space. Though her work focuses on rug hooking, she is also a spinner, and it was so enjoyable to serendipitously find and talk to a fellow fiber artist. She is a young, slight woman with a pretty complexion and smiling eyes (I seem to be noticing complexions lately, I don't know why), and I felt quite welcome to browse her shop at my leisure. I admired her yarn she had for sale, and marveled that it was so soft, as I had always thought Jacob sheep fleece was coarse in texture.

She hand dyed her soft pretty yarn herself, and has three spinning wheels! I have only one--well, two if I count the one I gave to my mother, which she doesn't use. I bought some fiber dye (purple!), and when she brought my attention to the marionberries, I could not resist and bought a pint of those as well. As it was, I was glad to have them, as I had not any lunch yet and had only brought a peach with me to eat (with plenty of napkins--yes, it was one those juicy sweet Washington peaches I bought yesterday). The dye was different from the kind I usually buy (Jacquard Acid Dyes), but they were a very good price for the amount of dye in the bottle.

I could not resist taking pictures of some of the things she has to offer at her shop, and when I went to her website tonight, I saw that she has so much more to offer than what she had in her little store. I don't know if you can click to enlarge the photo on the right, but if you can and do, you will not only be able to see some of her very nice hats and purses, but a reflection of her quilt in the mirror.

I will definitely have to go to Little House Rugs/ Edeldal Farm again. I enjoyed chatting with Judy, and with luck she'll have a blog up soon, as I talked with her about how to set one up at Blogger or Wordpress. Such creativity in her fiber arts as well as her lavender work must overflow in words as well--or at least, I hope it does. I didn't tell her about Ravelry, as I didn't think about that until I left, but I will no doubt e-mail her about it later.

I reluctantly left Judy's place (I'm sure I could have spent at least another half hour there) as I wanted to finish my little trip before 2:30 pm, as I had a Chrysalis closure to go to for a young woman I'd known since she was a child. A few miles down the road is Canter-Berry Farms, the blueberry farm that produces the blueberry jam I wanted. It's a lovely place, dominated by a very old barn, built in 1879. This may not seem very old to those on the East Coast, I'm sure, but it is pretty old out here. Clarissa Metzler Cross, one of the owners, says that when she and her husband decided to use and remodel the barn, they found a post that had the date etched into it. She is a slim, athletic-looking woman, perhaps about my own age, who had just come in from farther out in the farm to get a drink, and found that she had a few people come in to see her blueberry goods. Fortuitous timing!

The reason why her place is called "Canter-Berry" Farm is because they have American Saddlebred horses as well as blueberries there. It's clear Clarissa loves those horses, and it shows in the number of awards they've recieved. She has quite a few pictures of them in her shop--I don't know much about horses (though I'm fascinated by them), but even I can see they truly are beautiful animals. We had an enjoyable chat about the horses and her blueberries, and I complemented her on the lovely grounds around the shop--very pretty!

Being the foodie that I am, my attention soon turned to the blueberry goods. I bought a jar of blueberry jam for my mom (she is to have surgery on Tuesday, and she loves blueberries, so I'm bringing the jam over to her that day so that she won't be so miserable after the procedure), and I was highly tempted to buy some for myself, but did not. I did, however, buy the blueberry vinegar, with the intent of making a salad with spinach, fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta cheese, with the vinegar sprinkled throughout. One sample taste of that vinegar convinced me it would be marvelous in a spinach salad. Or even lettuce salad. It has a smooth fresh taste, not as harsh as regular vinegar, so I expect it'll go well against feta cheese, though not as well against something like gorgonzola. However, you never truly know about tastes until you experiment. Canter-Berry Farms has recipes on their web site, so I will no doubt try those as well.

I drove farther along the Green Valley Road, past our favorite Christmas Tree farm, and decided at the last minute to take a turn around the Flaming Geyser State Park. As I approached the entrance booth, I noticed a pile of beer cans and liquor bottles near the park ranger booth. My suspicions of those worthy gentlemen were dispelled when I saw a sign prohibiting alcohol in the park. Yet, as I passed, I noticed the beer cans were crushed, obviously empty. Why take empty beer cans from park visitors? And if they weren't empty, why were they empty now? Hmmm.... Nevertheless, I informed the comfortingly lucid and cheerful ranger that my purpose in visiting the park was to drive around and take some pictures, and I was waved through. Best, I thought, to avoid asking awkward questions of park rangers when wanting to enjoy a sunny half hour or so in a State park. I wanted badly to take a picture of the pile of beer cans, but there a line of cars sat behind me, waiting to get through.

The park was fairly full, with families and couples out for picnics and general fun in the sun and the river. Even so, there were plenty of shady spots, with picnic benches and little park grills. I cannot imagine a better day than this to be in a park.

I spent perhaps 20 minutes there, as time was growing short, and I did want to visit Green Valley Meats on the way back. I kept going east for a while through unfamiliar territory and a road I have never been on, found myself going through Black Diamond (did not stop at the superb Black Diamond Bakery there, alas), looped around back west on Auburn-Black Diamond road, then decided to take the SE Lake Holm Road, which I knew would take me back to the Auburn-Black Diamond road again, and then into Auburn proper. I seem to have a good sense of direction; even when I'm on an unfamiliar road, if I know the general area, and the sun is not at high noon, I can find my way back somehow. But I easily get lost in a city, go figure. I had plenty of time to shop at Green Valley Meats (I ran up a $40 bill, but hey, it didn't go over $50!), getting a bag of pepperoni, ground buffalo, smoked chicken ($6.87 each!), and smoked pork tenderloin, and get home with plenty of time before I had to go to the Chrysalis closure.

Dinner was a meal of the smoked chicken, with a side of lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salad with non-fat feta cheese, Wheat Thins crackers, and dill dip. I did indeed put the blueberry vinegar on it, and it exceeded my expectations.

Altogether a satisfying day.

Knitted result

Well, this is the knitted result of the yarn I hand-dyed and hand-spun. I'm very pleased with it. The colors blend rather nicely one to another, and are kind of self-striping. That's the result of the Navajo three-ply method of plying I did with it. The swatch was knitted with U.S. size 2 (3 mm) knitting needles, the size you'd use for socks. So, I guess I have indeed created some sock yarn!

I did try to spin it very fine, but I think I need a bit more twist than I had in this yarn. It's still very sturdy, though the ply is loose enough that if you're not careful, it's possible to pick up a strand instead of the whole ply. It worked out to about 6 1/2 stitches to the inch, but I tend to knit loosely rather than tightly.

All this motivates me to dye some more roving, which I've done, and I'm working on spinning up that one now. It's in shades of blue and green, with slight touches of yellow.

Spinning fiber and yarn - clearing out stash

The last day of work for me at the contract job (web editing) was yesterday. I liked working at the place, the people I worked with and for were fun (all younger than I am, I bet!), and the work pretty steady and satisfying. I'd work there in a minute again if I had the chance. However, I do want a permanent job (tech writing and/or editing), and so I'm looking around again.

Meanwhile, I need to clean house, and need to destash my fiber and yarn hoard. I have my handspun yarn at my Etsy shop for sale, but I really do need to get rid of my store-bought yarn, too, not to mention my bags and bags of roving and fleece, both wool and alpaca. Ditto some of my store-bought yarn.

I'm keeping the finest stuff for myself (merino, camel, alpaca, silk), but will let go of even some of that. I was thinking of selling the fleece and roving, but what I'll do is give it away for donations to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), since 100% of donations to this organization goes directly to those in need, as the denomination members pay for administrative costs themselves.

I have a lot of fleece and fiber. I didn't think I did, but when I gathered it together from the various places I had stashed it...well, it's a lot. A whole lot. The floor of the unfinished guest room downstairs is covered in fleece and roving, that's how bad it is. I've begun organizing it into types of fiber (Merino, alpaca, Shetland wool, mixed type, etc.), so that whoever comes over to take some will be able to see what's there.

I also think I'll go to the local Arachne Guild meeting on January 3 from 10 am to 2 pm, in Edgewood, WA. I understand I can possibly unload a lot of fiber there. I hope. If I don't get rid of most of it there, then I'll also go to the MoonSpinner's Guild in Sumner, WA on January 8 at 7 pm.

Truth is, I can't possibly spin all of this stuff, since I now have tennis elbow and some carpal tunnel of my right arm and hand, and tenosynovitis of my left hand (thumb). I got it from--believe it or not--knitting too much and too fast. I had some pneumonia this fall, complicated by asthma, and so had to take some prednisone. I decided to knit an ambitious amount while I recovered, and I can knit at a very fast pace. What I didn't know was that the prednisone I was taking suppressed any symptoms of inflammation or fatigue I normally would have experienced when knitting this much. I had no idea I was injuring my hands....

Until I was finished with my prednisone. Dear God. The pain was awful. My hands were hurting from elbow to fingertip.

I'm still recovering. I can knit and spin a bit, but I don't dare do it for more than a few minutes, though, and I'm wearing an arm brace and carpal tunnel brace on my right arm. I also have a thumb-and-wrist brace for my left hand, but only wear it at night, since, geez, how can anyone expect to do anything, much less knit or spin, with a thick brace like that on one's hand? Plus, the yarn and fleece stick to the stupid Velcro, and my arms end up looking oddly hirsute with vari-colored fiber.

Ugh. This does not make me happy. Still, better those who will appreciate the fiber get it, rather than it just sitting around.

I can do some spinning and knitting, though, just as long as I don't overdo it. But I'll never get to dealing with all this yarn and fiber unless I let some of it go. (Sigh)

Yarn, more yarn

The more I wrangle with my writing, the more I spin yarn. This is actually a good thing. If I didn't spin yarn, I would have writer's block worse than I do already. Spinning yarn is a soothing activity, and keeps the highly critical part of myself subdued, if not silent. Whenever I get stuck, I spin yarn, and within 15 minutes, I know what I need to write or revise.

However. This does mean that I also knit all of the yarn that I make. It builds up. My office is 1/3 desk and writing materials, 1/3 books and research materials, and 1/3 yarn. And filling up rapidly to the point where the yarn is beginning to crowd out the rest of my stuff.

So, I've resorted to selling the yarn. I did begin selling them at eBay, but now I've switched to Etsy, a web site at which artisans, artists, and craftspeople can sell their handmade and homemade goods. It's less of a busy-looking place, and has very fun ways to search through different artists' stores.

As a result, the more yarn (as in, yardage) I have up there to sell, the more snags I've hit in my writing.

(sigh)

Finding stuff

One good thing about cleaning up--in this case, my office--is that I find all sorts of nifty things I forgot I had. It’s like finding nice surprises. Which is sort of an excuse for not cleaning up, because if everything was neat and tidy, I wouldn’t discover delightful things all over again. For one, I discovered a small zippered purse, in which I had at one time put about five dollars in coins and paper money, which apparently fell off my desk and behind some...stuff. Picked up said stuff and now I’m five + dollars richer.

I discovered I have some very nice taupe cashmere roving; I’m debating whether I want to use it as it is and spin some pure cashmere yarn, or whether I want to combine it with wool into batts and spin it that way. Or, combine the pure cashmere with hand-dyed silk of gold, silver, bronze and copper colors. That would be quite a delightfully sinful combination, but I’m not sure whether it’d be worth it to sell it on eBay afterwards. For one thing, it’s heading into summer now, which is a bad time to sell yarn, and for another, I’ve got some yarn up on eBay for sale that’s made of Lorna’s Laces roving, and I’ve discounted it twice already since it hasn’t sold. Discounted it so much that it’s below cost, and I won’t make any money on it, unless I get lucky.

So I’m thinking it’s not time to spin the cashmere and put it up, because there’s no way I’d get a good price for it. Or rather, I can spin it up now, and save it to sell later. Or, I might just keep it myself, or give it away as a Christmas present for my mom, who most certainly knows the value of a good cashmere yarn.

I did discover some lovely hand-dyed cotton roving, which I think I’ll spin up during the summer, and see if that will sell at all. I’ve never spun up cotton, so it’ll be something new.

Cleaning House

It seems as if every time I finish a book, I start cleaning. This time, it’s the office. Ye gods, but it’s awful. I mean, awful as in a narrow deer path from door to computer desk. Piles of stuff on the desk. I’m seriously thinking the only way to really clean out this place is to do it the Clean Sweep method. Just empty this room, sort, toss, re-organize, and then bring back only the necessary things.

Most of it is office stuff, but part of it is fiber--yarn, rovings, bats, fleece, parts for the spinning wheel. It’s a small room--8 x 9 feet, I think, but surely there is a way to store the fiber and such, plus have room for my books. Dare I say it? I might, might, might get rid of some books.

Oh horror! Oh, woe! My precious, precious books! To take them from me is to tear out my heart, nay, my soul!

On the other hand, when certain books collect a rather thick layer of dust, chances are good the tearing isn’t going to be all that painful. There are of course certain ones that I’ll keep--the primary source material on the Regency will probably stay, but I think I’ll get rid of some of the costume books, since I pretty much have the clothing styles memorized by year. I’ll keep my Riverside Shakespeare, of course, because all English-speaking households should have a copy of Shakespeare (or at least a book that contains notable quotes from Shakespeare) somewhere about, in my humble opinion. Reference books, such as the Chicago Manual of Style...but I’m thinking I might just get rid of some of my writing books. Twenty Master Plots, for example. I think I can say I haven’t opened that book in perhaps a decade. It’s pretty obvious looking around this room that I haven’t read through Organizing for the Creative Person by Lemkuhl and Lamping, but maybe I should give it another try.

Ugh. The more I think of getting rid of books, the more I can feel myself dragging my feet. It must be done, however. Really, there are more than a few of my books that I haven’t looked at for years. If I can just clear out one bookcase--which I am sure I can do if I try hard enough--I can use the shelves for my fiber stash. (I know there are fellow fiber and craft addicts out there who doubt I can do it, but I am strong! I will prevail! I will also get rid of some of my stash--shudder--on eBay. That will help.)

Freddie Kruger sweater

Never try to knit a sweater for someone and ask them via e-mail what they would like. You will not do it exactly the way they want it.

I so very kindly decided to knit my son a sweater, and so asked him via e-mail what he would like. He said he'd like a Freddie Kruger type of sweater, with black and red stripes. I was not comfortable with this idea at first, because why Freddie Kruger? Was there a darker side to my loving son that is only now creeping out due to some horrible influence he encountered at college?

But I have faith in the boy's good nature, and surely something made lovingly by his mother, even a sweater that might evoke thoughts of psychopathic killers on Elm Street, would counteract all evil. Yea, it would be as a shield against all wrong-doing and iniquity, because each stitch is made with love--a mother's love, which has deep and spiritual properties, as we all know.

Also, I happened to have the right amount of Brown Sheep Yarn's Cotton Fleece in Cavern black color for a medium men's size sweater. All I needed was red, and since he specifically mentioned Freddie Kruger, the red has to be blood red. Cotton Fleece does not come in Blood Red, however, which I suppose is wise of the Brown Sheep company, since the idea of Blood Red in Cotton Fleece would probably evoke thoughts in potential buyers of poor slaughtered lambs. I had to find something close to blood color for it to work, and then I had to consider whether it would it be blood red as in fresh blood, or would it be blood that has been sitting around for a bit and thus oxidized?

I asked some folks on the JennyCherries fan list (many of whom are also knitters, and Who Know All about knitting and other various and esoteric things. Do check out Jennifer Crusie's web site, by the way. Jenny's one of the best writers I know, and a danged fine person to boot), and they kindly pointed me toward a web site featuring a picture of Freddie. Unfortunately, his sweater (or shirt) seems to be made of more than one shade of blood red color--both the fresh kind and the sitting-around-for-a-bit kind, except the two reds are mashed around and splotched amongst each other within each evenly-spaced stripe. It's hard to tell which is the true color of his sweater, since the folds are highlighted and such.

The closest I could come to the color is Candy Apple and Barn Red, so of course I bought both, just in case. I started out with Barn Red, which is closer to the fresh blood color, while Candy Apple is closer to the sitting-around-a-bit color. Fresh blood is better, I thought.

I should mention that I have been writing my vampire historical romance every day, so it might be that some of it has been seeping into, so to speak, my choice of colors. I assure you, however, that this is as far as my "method writing" goes, even if my good friend and critique partner Gerri Russell gave me a "Vampire in a Box" kit for Christmas. I also received a God-and-Jesus mini-calendar that another critique partner, Pamela Bradburn Ochs (who is in seminary) bought as a souvenir when she went on a cruise to Mexico. So, if I ever feel overwhelmed by the forces of darkness, I will be able to work it out by having the vampire-in-a-box battle it out with the God-and-Jesus mini-calendar, and we all know who will win that contest. I mean, two against one, you know?

But I digress...

I decided to knit the sweater in pieces, since it's been over 20 years since I've knitted one that way. I usually knit raglan sweaters top-down using circular needles, because I didn't want to bother with sewing seams, but this time...eh, I really should learn to do sweaters in pieces. Besides, it's easier to carry around. I started out knitting the bottom ribbing with the Cavern Black, and then knitted with the Barn Red, and then with the Cavern Black again, same number of rows each. Not too bad, actually, although the Barn Red did look quite bright against the black.

Problem is...boredom set in. Black, red, black, red. Same old, same old.

But I persisted, because this is for my son, and it's the first time he has asked me to knit anything for him. It positively warmed my yarn-aholic heart, even though I know it's because for the first time, he's experienced a few weeks of persistent sub-freezing weather. By the time the boy came home, I had knitted the front piece almost to the armholes. Proudly, I showed him the progress I had made on it.

"That's a really bright red," he said. "And the stripes are all the same width."

Foreboding descended upon me. "You said you wanted a Freddie Kruger sweater. It's the closest red I could find to the red on his sweater."

He looked over the sweater-in-progress thoughtfully. "I said I wanted one with stripes like his, not exactly his. I was thinking of two kinds of red, and then varying the stripe widths in a random way." He spied the Candy Apple skein. "Like that color. If you put that color in also, it'll be good." Apparently he caught the consternation on my face, because he patted me on the shoulder kindly and said, "but you don't have to undo it, you can just add that color in the rest of the way."

Which I took to mean, he probably will only wear the sweater around me and not around anyone else if it has those wide red stripes in it. I've seen him do this, wear something just to please me, and then take it off when he thinks he'll be seen by one of his friends. And really, I don't think it'll work if I just "add that color in" as I go along. I was suspended between despair and...

An intriguing vision of what the sweater could look like if I did unravel it and knit it up with the stripes in random widths, and with both kinds of red.

I unraveled it. And began knitting the stripes in a random way.

I have to say, it's not so boring. The combination of the two reds and then the black in different stripes has a sort of Japanese black-and-red lacquer box look to it. Also, I get to change colors at whim, and not have to count each row of color to make sure they are the same every time. It will, at least, look interesting.

So, it will not be a Freddie Kruger sweater after all, which is just as well. I was having less than charitable thoughts when I unraveled the work, no doubt reducing the effectiveness of the sweater's power against wrongdoing and iniquity, but since it won't look exactly like Kruger's sweater, it probably all evens out.

--Karen H.

You Knit What??:

You Knit What??: I hate you so much.

Okay, I've bookmarked this blog. As a knitter and a creative person, I want to celebrate creativity in needlwork. But there are some people who go too far. Especially when it comes to torturing kitties with their knitting.

On the other hand, if the particular kitty was very bad about messing with the knitter's stash of yarn, it might be revenge.

--Karen H.

International Scarf Exchange

Since I love to knit, plus tend to stick to scarves a lot since I don't need to think much about them and can watch TV while knitting them, I thought I'd post this URL (click on the title "International Scarf Exchange" above to get to the blog, or click here). I can't find an introduction, but from what I can discern, you sign up (well ahead of time!) to knit a scarf for a "scarf pal" somewhere in the world, make and finish a scarf, then send it to that pal, which has to reach him or her by February.

I've not joined but I might next year.

Also, there are links to free scarf patterns. Very cool!

--Karen H.

Puyallup Fair

Went to the Puyallup Fair a few days ago with my mother, and I am (not so) sorry to say that we aid and abet each other in our fiber addiction. It's a bonding experience, or so I tell myself. My mother is a superb seamstress, trained in Japan to do English tailoring by a man who learned his trade in London. She can look at any picture in Vogue, make up a pattern from it, and duplicate it exactly. She probably has more fine cloth stored up in her house than a New York textiles warehouse. Well, okay not that much, but if gauged in percentage space occupied by textiles, I bet she has 'em beat.

I had gone to the Fair some days ago by myself, and I resisted temptation, despite the bounty of sheep fleece, roving, and batts there.

But then there is my mother, who is a sturdy, 4' 11" Japanese force of nature. She seems to pull people into her wake, and there is no escaping the path of her influence.

We stop first at the 4H and crafts exhibits, which are safe because you can't buy any of them. These competitors for the best dress, woven cloth, tatting, pie, cake, cookies, etc., are all very nicely arranged in rows according to category, although you may see a knitted sweater next to a woven basket, or a hand-spun skein of yarn.

My mother examines all that have won a prize and will give a thorough critique of each one. If she could, she'd reach into the display cases and look at each seam and lining, like she does every time we go into Nordstroms. She'll critique clothes from Nordstroms, too.

Peering through her bifocals, she narrows her eyes at a 11th grader's 4H contribution that consists of a tasteful plaid wool jacket with matching skirt and purse.

"Look!" she says, her face brightening with utter glee. "This girl has made a placket buttonhole! This is better than the adults' work upstairs!" She frowns for a moment. "Huh. This should be upstairs with the adults, it is that good." People turn to look at the display. "And look at this--the darts, very nicely made, very even. Perfect. See, Karen, this fringe along the seam--very original. " People begin to crowd around us. "Ahh, see the shoulder? It is even all around, smooth, no creases, no waves. Very excellent. It is good to see a young girl has learned so well."

She moves to the next display, and I notice the people who have gathered at the last follow us. "Hmph. I would not have given this one second place. It is not as good as the honorable mention over here. Look at the lining--it is cheap rayon, I am sure. Much better to have good lining like this one. The design is not original." She waves her hand at it with queenly dismissal, and goes onto the next. More people have joined us. She seems not to notice them at all, and I wouldn't be surprised if this were so, because she has a single-minded focus when examining textiles and the sewing art. By the fourth display, I notice those who are listening nod and also examine the items closely, and the crowd is larger than ever by the time we get to the woven goods.

By the time we are finished, I notice there are people who have pieces of paper out and making notes, and discussing amongst themselves. The 4H information ladies look at once alarmed and pleased, mostly pleased I hope, at the attention the 4H displays have received. One of the more alarmed looking ones approach, and I tap my mom on her shoulder. "Mom, I think we should go see the Artists in Action."

She beams at me. "Yes, yes, we have spent enough time here," she says, and we leave before the alarmed 4H lady is able to work her way through the crowd.

I high-tail it out of the building and into the square, glad that my mother has followed me quickly. I slow down so that she can catch up, and then we head out to the back of the Exhibition Hall, where the "Artists in Action" are.

It's disappointingly small, smaller it seems than it was last year, but one of the spinners explain that they'd been moved away from the Hobby House into their own area, which I think is inconvenient, because it's nice to go from the fiber arts to the pottery to the painters all at once. Still, there is much to delight in; there are nice, mundane pieces of hand-thrown pottery amongst some very superb pieces, all for sale. I resist, mostly because there is no where at home to store them. I mentally pat myself on the back for that, but then we move to the yarn....

My palms itch. My mother is smiling beatifically as she peers at the yarn and examines the texture and quality. I think, it can't hurt to touch. So, I do, and the itch in my palms subsides somewhat, but not totally. Then I see some skeins of yarn, and I recognize them by their ply and color as products of a spinner I had met earlier in the year at the Spring Fair and Shepherds' Extravaganza. (Later note: this spinner is Heike Utsch, and you can find her rovings and yarn at Handspun On the Web.) I turn to my mom and say, "I think I know who spun this yarn," when the lady herself appears. "Ah!" I say. "I knew it was your yarn by the ply. It's superb spinning." The lady beams, and we begin to talk of spinning, of the qualities of Targhee wool versus Merino, and what would work for certain knitting projects. My palms cease to itch--they ache.

I am doomed.

For she directs me to the different rovings she has hand-dyed, and discusses the process through which she chose the colors and the techniques of steam-dyeing versus a bath, and shows the results of the roving as plied yarn. My eyes roam lustily over the colors of purple, black, pink, green, blue--more colors than the rainbow. I will resist, I tell myself, and pick up what seems to me to be the ugliest combination of colors--camouflage, with a few touches of hot pink. It looks like the sort of colors Paris Hilton would wear if she went to Iraq.

A mental picture flashes before me of Paris in camo-duds liberally splashed with hot pink and matching tinkling earrings, colors that scream, Shoot Me Now!

Nope, not going to buy that roving.

My mom hovers at my shoulder, listening with much interest to the talk of dyeing. "That is a good color," she says. "You should buy it."

I look at her with doubt. Usually, she has superb color sense.

The spinner nods. "It's a strange combination, but once it's spun up, it looks very different." She points to two spun skeins of yarn. "See that one? Same colors."

I am not going to look, I am not going to look....but my eyes are drawn inexorably to the skeins, because my mother has already gone to them and taken them down off the display hooks. The skeins are beautiful. She holds them up to the roving I have in my hand and beams with glee. "Look, yes, it is the same! You should buy it, Karen."

Argh. I have probably at least 100 lbs of various types of fiber stored in my office, and more down in the basement. It would take Rumplestiltskin to spin all of what I have in any reasonable amount of time, and I'm not that fiber-crazy to give up my first born, especially since we've already sunk a lot of money in his college education. She KNOWS this. I shouldn't buy this roving, I shouldn't.

But I can't even say the words. "Well...." I say instead. "It's an interesting color." I force myself to put down the roving--yes! Will power!--and turn to the hand-dyed Targhee roving in deep hues of violet, purple, and lapis, which would make some stunning socks because of the bounce and elasticity of the wool of this particular breed. I'm not going to buy this Targhee; I have quite a lot of Targhee cross wool already in this color.

My mother shrugs. "Okay," she says. "Your choice. Maybe I will buy it."

I swivel around to look at her. "But you don't have a spinning wheel. You don't even spin on a hand spindle."

She shrugs. "Eh, maybe I will learn."

I gaze at her skeptically. Yeah, right. Like she doesn't have over 100 lbs of fabric stored in two rooms of her house, and at her age, I'm not so sure even a sewing-inclined Rumplestiltskin could go through it all by the tiime she goes to the Great Textile House In the Sky.

She lets out a large sigh. "It has very nice colors. It would make a very interesting vest. It is worth the money."

Money. She's on a fixed income, and though she's very thrifty, it's still a fixed income. I begin to feel just a twinge of guilt. "No, no," I say. "Don't buy it." A pressure underneath my breastbone begins to build. My palms itch again, and become warm. "I'll buy it!" The words burst from my lips before I can stop them.

My mother beams. The spinner smiles happily. I sigh and bring out my wallet. I buy two bound packs of the camouflage and hot pink rovings, enough to spin the yarn for a vest. I think to myself that I'll get my revenge, especially after she goes over her finances for me, and I see that she has indeed been very, very, very thrifty. (Sigh)

The roving is interesting-looking, that's for sure. Once I spin them up, I'll take pictures and put them up on my web site.

--Karen H.

Yarn madness

Not only do I spin yarns, I spin yarn...with a spinning wheel.

It all started because I'm also a knitter If you're addicted to fiber and textiles, though, you will know that one is not just a craftsperson regarding these items, one is a collector. You wouldn't belive my yarn stash--well, maybe you would, if you were also a knitter or crocheter. It really isn't about the knitting per se, it's about the potential for knitting nifty little projects, as well as the sheer sensuality of running your hands through the different textures and gazing in sybaritic pleasure at the colors.

However, there is a line that one crosses from abundance into guilt when looking at the piles and piles of neatly and not-so-neatly stacked yarn in the closet, the drawers, the shelves...you get the picture. So, I told my husband I was through buying yarn. If I wanted some yarn, I would spin it by hand. This would reduce my yarn stash.

He, poor man, thought this was a good idea.

Well, my bought yarn stash went down all right...to be replaced by bags and bags of raw wool fleece, hand-dyed silk roving, hand dyed wool roving, Merino wool (both raw and processed), Corriedale wool (ditto), Columbia wool, Shetland fleece, shredded sari silk to put in my carding drum, my hand cards, my wool combs, my spindles and bobbins...well, you get the picture.

Thank God for eBay. At least I can sell the yarn I make and claim that I at least support my addiction, and wow, look at all that nifty roving and silk and fleece also sold on eBay---!

I'm a hopeless fiber addict. My dear hubby has learned just to close the door of my office and pretend he doesn't see the bags of wool. He has learned that it's worth it to ignore such things, especially since it's relatively harmless and it does keep me sane and happy.

Did I mention I have a very kind and understanding husband? He surely is. :-)

--Karen H.