what a fiber geek does during a snow storm

I publicly concede that the weather person was not entirely incorrect in their spazzy predictions about the snow storm. We are slowly being buried at the moment. (But I am still bitter about having to get up so early yesterday. I fell asleep at 7:30 last night. I blame Dooley's snoring, its hypnotic.)

I had planned to go the Spinner's Flock meeting with Herb today but its not the closest drive for me (around 45 minutes in good weather). Self-preservation won out again and I decided to stay home instead...

...and clean.

Not the most thrilling of activities but necessary. I have a very high tolerance for clutter. I am a pile maker. They are usually fairly tidy but sometimes my bedroom begins to resemble a cave full of stalagtites and that when I know its time to take action.

But I did have an ulterior motive...I was searching for this yarn:

This is Socks that Rock lightweight in Goody Goody (club colorway). They are going to be a new pair of socks for mom. She's wearing her Frog in a Party Dress socks so much that they are beginning to whimper. Besides, when I showed the yarn to her, she instantly knew what I planned to do and got all smiley. She is no fool. Her enthusiasm alone is enough to spur me on.

I did catch a re-run of Knitty Gritty the other day that had Cat Bordhi on demonstrating one of her sock knitting techniques. The woman made a little garter stitch square and turned it into a sock. My mouth was kind of hanging open. I'm intrigued, never seen anything like it. So I taped it and ordered her book. (Knitpicks currently has their books on sale for 40% off, good deals.) I may wait until I get the book to start mom's socks, not sure yet.

I'm also ramping up to get a big project on the needles. This came in the mail yesterday:

This is Downpour in Blue Moon Fiber Art's Geisha weight lace yarn. Its 70% kid mohair, 20% mulberry silk, and 10% nylon.

I want to marry this yarn.

Which is mildly ironic since its going to be for someone who is getting married. I plan to turn it into this for Mary's wedding this coming september. This is my first really big lace project and I'm geeked in a huge way about it. Say a Hail Mary, do a little dance or make a sacrifice to the Knitting Goddess (I hear she likes it when luxury yarns are burned at the stake). I will take whatever good karma I can get for this project.

But lest you think that all I did was rifle around with other people's yarn today, I did not. I also attempted to make some of my own:


Well...it sort of looks like yarn. More practice should make it look even more like yarn. I consider the fact that its holidng together and isn't twisted into mangled coils an improvement. (Notice that I refused to show you my very first attempts. I have too much respect for you all and didn't want to torture your good sensibilities with such a sight.)

I'm thinking about taking classes at Artisan Knitworks. They are working on setting up a sunday class and that feels like it will suit my schedule better. In the meantime, I'll continue making sort-of yarn on my own.

Oh, and take a gander at this:

That, my dear friends, is mom's knitting.

Last week she looked at me one evening and said, "I want to learn to knit."

To which I replied, "Okay, I can teach you."

She sort of just sat there and stared at me and then said, "Now."

A girl can take a hint. So I dug out some yarn and needles and she's been doing very well. (She got nervous when she saw me taking pictures of it for the blog.) I cast on for her and knit a couple rows and she's been praciting a little everyday. You can't find the row where I ended and she began and that's excellent.

I could see evidence of the inner knitter in her coming out today when she walked in on me obsessively organizing a pile of yarn by weight (I'm a Virgo, it can't be helped, shut up). All she kept saying was..."That's a pretty one." Then she'd point to another one and say, "Oh, I like that one."

I do believe my stash will be well loved by more then one knitter then me soon. Which I'm totally fine with, should be interesting to watch.

My lofty plans for this evening include watching movies and working on Babette. I am entirely thrilling person. I blame the snow, leaving the house was not a good idea today. I am simply making sure I remain safe. Its only natural that I would migrate toward the yarn when trapped in the house with it all day. Its not my fault.

(Am I convincing at all?)