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Stash Sunday – Rock Creek Yarn Silk/Merino DK

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This has been hanging out in my stash for a while.  As in, probably more than a year.  It’s one of the cases of it’s so pretty, I don’t know how I’m going to use it.  The design has to be worthy.  Plus, when I bought it I was intending it to be for myself, and since then, I’ve shrunk.  I probably have enough that I could make a WHOLE DRESS for myself, as long as I did it in lace.  I’ve even swatched it, so it’s not like I have any excuse.

In fact… that’s the other reason I haven’t worked it yet.  I want this to be a piece in my wardrobe for many years to come, and as such, I want it to fit for a long time.  So I’ve been waiting until I shrink just a little bit more.

The Deets, as always:

Yarn weight

DK / 8 ply (11 wpi)
Amount stashed

6 skeins = 1380.0 yards (1261.9 m)
Purchased at

The Yarn Spot in Wheaton, Maryland
Dye lot

Colorway

Intense Violet
Color family

Stored in

Trunk

Precious Little

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I have an infinite fondness for children’s books, and have a
fairly large collection of them that I haul from place to place.  Some of them are mine, some of them I “appropriated”
from my home.  Some of them are gifts and
some of them are children’s books for adults. 
Children’s books I love because when they are done well, there is a
perfect melding of text and illustration that enriches both.
I suppose some people could make this argument for comics,
and while I enjoy comics, I just don’t have the same attachment to them as children’s
books.
I came across one the other day while at the Hyattsville
Library.  Now, the girls and I have a
favorite librarian at the Hyattsville Library. 
We call her Mrs. D for short (Mrs. Danielle).  She’s amazing.  She remembers that Bella loves mysteries and
Vivi loves Maisy and knows my standing rule is I’ll only read 3 character books
per child before we have to pick something else. (character books are books
like the Bernstein Bears, Dora the Explorer, Aurthur, Franklin, etc… basically
books that are perfectly lovely but a bit formulaic, and can get boring for an
adult to read.  I want the girls to
discover things other than mainstream books). 
She’s the one who has recommended children’s books to me that have
stayed on my keeper shelf: Ladybug Girl, anything by Gerald Morris, and several
others.
Yesterday she pointed me to Precious Little, a new children’s
book that has come out.  Precious Little
is up there with some of my other favorite children’s books, that melds art and
story in a way that is just… amazing. 
The illustrations for the book have depth, the allegories and metaphors
are great.  It was a book that after I
finished reading it to the girls (twice) I stayed looking at it myself because
it was just that good.  I’m planning to
buy myself a copy.
Now, I don’t talk and recommend books very often, both
because my tastes tend to run toward a very specific set of genres, and also
because… well, my love of books is very deeply personal in a way that is almost
like telling a room full of strangers my most embarrassing moments.  But this book I think deserves to be talked
about.
So just… go to your local library and check it out for me.
On a side note… do you have a favorite children’s book, or a
book that speaks to the child in you? 
Tell me about it.  I’m always up
to reading new books.

Stash Sunday – Mountain Colors Mountain Goat

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Mountain Colors is a yarn company which which I have a strong and passionate love.  The colors they create are georgous, and when I talk about the company, my passion comes through.  Often, I will walk into a new store, and the first yarn I approach, without even seeing the ball band, will be Mountain Colors.  I was Beyond Thrilled when The Yarn Spot started carrying this yarn, because I love it.  Whoever plans the colorways at Mountain Colors must have the very same color sense as I do, because their colors speak to me in a way I can’t describe.  Other companies I love the colors because they are “OOO, SHINY!”  Mountain Colors I love because the colors say to me, “home.”  They fill the warm place in me that yearns for peace.

Needless to say, I’ve had a fair amount of their yarn over the years, though most of it isn’t documented in Ravelry.

Mountain Goat I love in particular for it’s hand.  It’s solid.

The Deets:

Yarn weight

Worsted / 10 ply (9 wpi)
Amount stashed

3 skeins = 690.0 yards (630.9 m)
Purchased at

Charlotte Yarn in Charlotte, North Carolina
Dye lot

Colorway

Sweet Pea

Birthday!

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Last week was my birthday and it has now launched me into my
26th year… that is, I’ve completed 25 years of my life.

My sister Rosemary called on the morning of my birthday to
wish me a happy day.  In the course of
our conversation she pointed out to me that I’ve lived a quarter of a
century.  “You know, you’re old,” she
told me from her vantage point of 17 years of age.  “And if you are really unlucky, you’ve now
lived about half of your life.”
“Thanks,” I told her. 
One of the lovely things about being the oldest is my three younger
siblings.  They just love telling me how
old I am.
Later, I went to work at the Yarn Spot, where I got wished
happy birthday again.  There, everyone in
the store was telling me how young I was, “a practical baby.”  It’s amazing the range of reactions turning
25 gets.
I guess I expected 25 to come through with more of a flair,
but I feel like 24 was actually a bigger birthday, in some ways for me.  More was starting or beginning a year ago,
now I’m in a rythmn, and 25 just represents another year turning, a
continuation of the story instead of a new book or new chapter.  This is not a bad thing, as beginning over
and over again can be exhausting.  That
re-forming and re-defining of yourself and your surroundings is tiring.
The weekend following Michael and I had a small birthday
party.  It was supposed to be bigger, but
many people had to step out at the last moment. 
Ellie made me a lovely rainbow confection again, this time a cake
instead of cupcakes.  Any more of this
and it will start becoming a tradition. 
It was delicious, and Michael and I were eating the leftovers several
days afterward.
My friends at the Yarn Spot got me some lovely yarn they
know I have been eyeing.  Bobbi acquired
a really neat puzzle from Interweave that I’m looking forward to putting
together.  My family also showered me
with cards and love.
How do you celebrate birthdays?  Do you make a big deal about it?  What was your 25th birthday like
(if you’ve had it), or what do you imagine it being like if you haven’t?  I’d like to know.
PS: Also, I called my mother on my birthday and thanked her
for birthing me.  I suggest that you do
that for your mother too.  And as my
mother said this year when I thanked her, she laughed and said “Oh, I remember that like it was
yesterday.”  I don’t think she was
talking about the joyfulness of the occasion.

Stash Sunday – Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light

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This was given to me as a gift from Bobbi, of Covers and Soles.  It’s got a nice hand, and it’s Berroco, which is a solid company.  She said it was too bright for her, and while I admit it is bright, it’s perfect for me.  I like bright colors.  The only detractor is I had a hard time getting a picture that did the color justice.  So you’ll just have to bear with me.  I think this is intended to be a spring-weight pullover.  Something light with a fair amount of drape, but some shape to counteract alpaca’s tendencies.  I must do some swatching before I start.

The Deets:

Yarn weight

Sport / 5 ply (12 wpi)
Amount stashed

7 skeins = 1008.0 yards (921.7 m)
Purchased at

Dye lot

0701
Colorway

4233

Crafting Spaces

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UntitledInspired by a few people who where talking about their knitting nooks and where they work on the Three Irish Girls forum, and also a post or two that I cam across in the last week (which I now can’t find the source… oh well).  I thought I would share some pictures the new place Michael and I have moved into.

By new place, I mean we’ve been here for more than two months, but before now, it hasn’t really quite felt like home, just the place we crashed.  I’m starting to feel proprietary toward the place, which tells me that it’s starting to feel like home.

UntitledSo, my time is divided by two places.  Most of my blogging and pattern writing happens at the computer desk that I share with Michael.  However, since I spend more time there, I have my bookshelf right next to the desk space.  I do have to try my best to keep the desk space clean, because Michael also uses it, but now, after a few years of sharing a desk, he’s become quite tolerant of my mess.

When I’m just working on a project or a sample, swatching or doing other things, I’ll put a show I don’t have to watch on my computer (or put a book on tape on) and work at the couch.  I’ve got an ottoman where things get thrown into when I’m not working on them, so Michael doesn’t sit on them and they don’t get tangled or ruined.

UntitledStuff that needs to be blocked or needs to be spread out is put on the kitchen table.  I can add two leaves to it, and then stick my mats on it to block something big out.

Finally, if I’m just crocheting for fun I’ll settle into the comfy chair, but the comfy chair is only really for work that isn’t under a deadline, because most times when I’m in this chair?  I end up drifting off or falling asleep.  Also, this chair is comfy, but not so much when you are trying to get real work done… it doesn’t provide much back support.
Untitled
 So now that I’ve shared my work space, what does yours look like?  Tell me about it, or post some pictures and link back.  I love to look at where other people work.

Stash Sunday – Anzula Sebastian Seacell/Merino

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Anzula is one of the companies I think should get more love, and isn’t.  The colors they produce, all solids or semi-solids, are of a lovely drape, quality, and intensity.  To of my projects that I’m currently working on are done in Anzula Sebastian.  The brightness of their colors is really sweet.

The Deets:
Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi)

Amount stashed

2 skeins = 750.0 yards (685.8 m)
Dye lot

72011
Colorway

Arizona
Color family

Orange
Stored in

Trunk

Interview question

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Michael and I were talking the other night and he shared with me his new favorite interview question. “You are being mummified but only have one canonic jar. What organ would you take to the afterlife?”

“My spleen.” I said.

 “that’s what I said too.”

 Both of us, in tandem “-because it would be fun to say.”

 “And,” Michael pointed out, “How great would it be in the afterlife to be wandering around with your spleen in a jar?”

 I have to admit I agree with him. That would be cool.

So I will turn the interview question on you… What organ would you bring to the afterlife?

Acrylic Hotpads… not a good idea. Let this be a warning.

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This was my fault, really.  Michael and I inherited some really ugly hotpads from a friend a couple of moves ago.  They were the ones that make me wince – acrylic, with plastic in-between to hold it stiff.  Done is some ugly colors.

Now I’ve known from an early age that hotpads should never be acrylic, for the same reason acrylic isn’t good for anything that might be exposed to heat.  It melts, and actually can catch fire, and when that plastic gets on skin, it sticks, and melts into you.  I once actually got rather badly burned on my leg because I got a piece of burning plastic stuck to me.  It took a long time to heal.

This once was a hotpad.

So I’ve always kept these “hotpads” away from the ones that you use to get things out of the oven, and in fact, had always stashed them away where someone wouldn’t get themselves into trouble using them.  I really couldn’t bear to throw them away… after all, they represented somebody’s hard work, but I really didn’t want to use them either.  However, in the last move Michael was the one unpacking, and he, unbeknownst to me, put them with the other hot pads.

You can see where this was going.
Melted. Use wool, people!
Last night, he used one to put beneath a hot tray.  It melted to the tray and stuck, and Michael didn’t notice.  He put the tray, with the hotpad still stuck to it, back into the oven.

This is what happened.

So, let this be a warning.  Acrylic.  It’s plastic.  It catches fire, and has a relatively low melting point.  This is why you don’t want to use acrylic for hot-pads.  Or why you don’t want to use it for anyone or anything that might get exposed to extreme heat.  Or for people who might accidentally catch fire.

Use wool.  It is fire-retardant (why wool blankets are thrown over burning people), burns at a higher temperature, and if it does catch fire, stops burning as soon as the source of heat is removed.  Or use plant fibers, which will burn once the heat is removed, but at least char, and don’t actually melt into you.

Finally, it’s a really bad idea to throw an acrylic blanket over a person who is on fire.  Just sayin’.

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