First, a site that sells beautiful silk yarn,
with information about using it,
and beautiful photographs – Sundara Stitches
Second, an etsy seller – hedgehog fibers
I keep repeating to myself, “must.not.buy.more.yarn”
but, gee this stuff is pretty . . .
Tagged hedgehog fibers, silk yarn, sundara
This post is about storing yarn, but first a photo I found while researching this. I love this picture!
Okay, back to business. I’ve been thinking about the best ways of storing yarn. I am way past the “few skeins picturesquely displayed in a basket” stage and well into the “plastic bags on the floor of the closet” situation.
Baskets are nice for current projects. I have two nice baskets, but limited baskets-on-parade space to display them.
I saw a blog today where someone was using large glass bottles – I’d never heard of that before and will keep my eyes out in the thrift shop.
Open shelves have many advantages, but offer no protection from insects. Also, you know how depressed these balls get in winter – that’s the only explanation I can think of for the way they’re so prone to suicide leaps out of the shelving and onto the floor, rolling off the shelf at the slightest setback in their plans.
Conclusion: I think the best type of storage might be chicken coop style shelves, each with a slight tilt-back or front-edge panel. As for the bugs, vulnerable skeins can always be in ziplock in the shelves.
Here’s a photo of the kind of shelves I imagine:
Tagged yarn storage cat shelf
See previous post for the full question.
Okay, for reals, the way I keep warm is to wear lots of clothes and always carry a few cats around.
Sunday morning:
I have to take my father to the Duke Eye Center this morning.
(crossing fingers)
Monday morning:
Review of Duke Hospital:
1. Medical care – the important thing.
The nurses and doctors were kindly, patient with my dad’s longish answers to questions, competent, and reassuring.
2. Physical facility:
Really dirty, like no one cleaned/washed/vacuumed in a week.
3. Cafeteria:
Okay. Par for the course.
4. Gift Shop:
Substandard: crowded, understocked, and staff lacked information.
5. Security:
Ridiculous!! They actually have a rule against knitting!
Even the airlines don’t do that!
It’s just stupid, since they have never ever ever had any kind of incident in the hospital involving knitting needles. No, it’s NOT a matter of “better safe than sorry” it’s stupid. There should be SOME dim connection between the item being seized and the likelihood of it’s being misused, other than “Um, it’s sharp?” ANYTHING can be used for ill, including ballpoint pens, fists, a pocketbook slung at someone, a waiting room lamp thrown at someone, a shoe, etc.
Rant, rant rant . . .
What is your favorite way to keep warm when it’s snowing outside? (And if you live in a warm weather climate, what would you do to stay warm and cozy while it’s snowing?)
I have to head out to work – I’ll think about the answer on the way to work.
I have had trouble connecting to the Etsy site,
both from home and at work.
Has anyone else experienced this?
The header image is back, but I’m still flailing, floundering, and generally flopping about like a fish on the CSS.
I started with WordPress’s theme “Misty Look” (gagging on name), and then played around using the WordPress “edit CSS” feature. The problem is that I have no idea what I’m doing. Nonetheless, I think it looks okay (pats self on back), except for a couple of things that I cannot figure out how to fix. They are:
1. See the lists of links to other sites, over on the right? There is way too much space between each one.
2. That goes for the “Archive” list too.
3. That little calendar thing? I cannot get it to budge off the left side of the sidebar, to which it clings like a barnacle.
Yoo hoo! Does anyone ever read this but me? Anyone who knows someone who knows how to fix these things?? Hello?
And now I’ve lost the header image! First you crop it and then it says “go look at your site and you’ll see it” but it isn’t there because I have to insert in into the CSS that, as discussed above, I am flailing around blindly in.
Okay, I’m going to try to upload a mosaic.
I got the idea from Mojave Knitter in the Desert
When I got the mail this afternoon,
it included a skein of yarn from Mama Llama.
The yarn is a lovely soft merino, in a lilac shade,
and “Mama LLama” even included a small bar of soap.
Here’s a photo:
There’s only one weird thing —
I have no idea where it came from. I mean,
I know that physically, it was sent from Texas.
But why? Who? What?
Surely I haven’t reached the point of buying
so much yarn that I forget ordering it?
It’s a mystery. A delightful one at that!
The yarn is Merisoft hand painted 100% Merino.
The pattern is just a 2 x 2 rib, with a 2 stitch garter edge.
But, the colors!!
I’ve tried to capture how captivating the colorway is.
Heavenly Spirit,
Grant Barack Obama wisdom, strength, and humor.
Keep him safe as he leads our country forward.
Grant us patience, resolve, and humor. Give us the
ability to change habits that no longer serve us well.
Grant the peoples of the world compassion, kindness,
and tolerance towards each other.
Thank you.
The post before this one consists of photos of my gorgeous (except for Miranda) cats. They are Blue, Tupac, Miranda, and YT.
Contest Question: What is the origin of the name YT?
First person to answer this without using Google wins a hand-knitted bookmark. (Honor system in effect).
Contest opens . . . now!
Contest closes . . . oh, sometime before the inauguration of our new president.
YT pointed out to me that my blog is all knit, knit, knit and not enough purr. So, following are a few pictures of the purr-ers.
First is YT. I rescued her from the animal shelter, and she’s at least half singapura, and she has amazing blue eyes, and she adores me, and she sleeps between my husband and me and is so small it doesn’t get in our way.
Did I mention she’s my favorite?
Moving along, notice how YT has plenty of room on the printer? Here is Blue, our classic tabby, on the same printer:
Blue and YT engage in fierce battles over nothing. Blue wins but YT always hides in some out of the way corner where he can’t follow her.
Tupac is my other favorite cat. We got him on December 2, 2002, when he showed up in an ice storm. My son was young enough then to name him Tupac. He’s hard to photograph because the black fur kind of disappears.
Here are YT and Tupac together. They are the only two that are actual Friends. They sleep together, wash each other and play roll ‘n tumble.
Finally, the old girl, Miranda. ‘Randa is over 20 years old and will outlive us all. She’s the alpha cat and indisputable ruler, by virtue of her Fierce Glare. We’re very protective of her because of her advanced years, but she doesn’t really need protection. She’s been my daughter’s cat since she (daughter) was four. (she’s 25 now).
Gee, isn’t this fun! Well . . . it is for me, anyway. I realize that “cute kitty” photos are not of general interest!
I’m supposed to be working, but instead I’ve been goofing off by looking at all the profiles and blogs of the other people in Ravelry’s Warm Ewe Up Winter Yarn Swap. The moderator posted a contest requiring us to answer questions about our fellow-swappers. I’ve got all but one.
I must say, it succeeded in getting me to take time to learn about the other folks who are doing this swap, but it isn’t getting my work done!
Just look!!
Thank you!!
It’s too bad you can’t feel how soft the yarn is!
“Quelle Surprise” really figured me out. She sent enough Peruvian wool/alpaca/nylon sock yarn for a pair of socks, and the colorway is a mixture of lovely colors. AND two skeins! of Mishi baby llama in burnt orange. But, my absolute favorite might be the kittycat buttons.
Merci beaucoup, Quelle Surprise!
Just look!!
Thank you!!
It’s too bad you can’t feel how soft the yarn is!
“Quelle Surprise” really figured me out. She sent enough Peruvian wool/alpaca/nylon sock yarn for a pair of socks, and the colorway is a mixture of lovely colors. AND two skeins! of Mishi baby llama in burnt orange. But, my absolute favorite might be the kittycat buttons.
Merci beaucoup, Quelle Surprise!
Spincycle Yarns! A Few Reasons Why:
1. Spincycle Yarns makes beautiful yarn in gorgeous colorways and gives them great names.
2. I like their generally environmental, creative, and practical approach to the sheep, the yarn, and their knitting patterns.
3. Spincycle Yarns is run by Rachel and Kate, two young women in Bellingham, Washington. They bicycle to the Bellingham Farmers’ Market to sell their yarn.
4. My daughter also lives in Bellingham, and I’ve developed a great fondness for the town and its energetic artists.
5. The last time I was in Bellingham, I went to their studio to have some yarn wound into balls, and they very kindly let me hang around awhile and look at everything.
Question #2
If you could only knit or crochet with one brand of yarn for the rest of the year, what would it be and why?
Ideally, this brand would
1. make different types, colors, weights of yarn,
2. make yarn that is soft to the touch,
3. from animal and plant fibers, not acrylic or novelty yarn,
4. in beautiful colors,
5. and there would be something interesting about the company.
Right off the bat, I have no idea. Perhaps a field trip to my LYS is in order.
Bellingham WA is in a county whose name reminds me of an internet startup – Whatcom County.
Check out the photos of Flooding there today!
I’ve deleted a couple of recent posts, just so I don’t have to worry about who’s reading what, y’know?
I’m looking for outlines of basic garment shapes, so that when I knit
something I can record the dimensions in inches. This will be especially useful for making things for someone far away. The recipient could just write exactly how long they want the sleeves, etc., and then I’ll be able to make it just like they want! Like this:
Here’s one example: Yarn Standards Does anyone know of others?
I have waded into the waters of CSS tinkering, with not the slightest idea what I’m doing. So far I’ve successfully retrieved the header picture, and started changing some of the colors and fonts. The whole point of this paragraph is to see how wide the lines are. Okay.
Many Happy Returns 