Mistress Stash Enhancer

just waiting for their cast on day, 40 pairs of potential socks... just waiting...  for their turn on the needles...

 Lolly said it best "every stash tells a story". I can remember where I bought each one, (hell if I can remember why I just walked into the kitchen but I remember where I bought my yarn!) 10 hanks came from my trip with Mom to Maryland Sheep & Wool just this past year. 3 where gifts, quite a few followed me home just because I had to have them.

a few have plans, the fleece artist autumn a pair of lacey leaf socks, blustery day or CTH birches either cablely socks or vanilla socks with a picot edge... when their time comes its really about what is going on in my imagination.

going through my sock yarn stash brought back memories. None going back more than a year unfortunately as I haven't been knitting socks all that long. The aquamelon and fire in the sky I bought with mom's special order Vesper yarn, the LL knit happens Mike bought for me all by himself. The girls that work there still remember him... is that a good thing? Or is it because you could never forget someone as cute as this? The strange little momma, is one of the best birthday presents I've ever received!

Tomorrow morning, hopefully before noon, we will have the van all packed and will start our drive to my parent's house in Massachusetts. Hopefully we won't forget anything, or anyone. Mom and I will be at the blogger meet up, I'm praying for anything but rain, I'm sure plenty of sock yarn will follow me home.

I'll be there, will you?

I've been waiting anxiously for the mailman. This afternoon he arrived, I rushed out to collect my package. Apparently I scared him, heehee. Next time, don't take so long Mr! I told him I've been waiting for this package. I was so excited when I realized this was my August Birthday Pal package I ripped the package open in the front yard! As soon as I ripped off the packing tape I could smell this lovely flowery smell. mmmmm! I was able to resist for a few minutes and I rushed inside to take a picture of the lovely wrapping. Which I would show you, but my camera decided to be a turd and ate the picture! I slowly started to unwrap each little package, Carole did such a great job! Here take a look:

(click to embiggen)

Wow! Such a great package! From left to right we have the most FANTASTIC sock yarn EVER! Carole dyed sock yarn for me to match the colors of my blog! Love it! I love what she named the color way "The Mistress"! I think you know what I'm going to be knitting up next! Next to that we have a book  that I forgot that I told her I wanted! The Knitter's book of Finishing Techniques, hopefully this will help with my lousy finishing skills. Up above that there are two yummy dips that I can't wait to try (good thing we are having a party this weekend!) Green Chile Dip and Queso Dip mix. Next to that some lovely soap made by Sandia Soap in geranium egyptian rose oil scent which is going to stay by my laptop so I can smell it all the time! Next to that there is a ball of Mission Falls 1824 cotton in color way 402. And then a beautiful Birthday card.

Thanks soooo much Carole! My present ROCKS I'm very happy that you where my pal! Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!!!

Some of you might read my Mom's blog CJ knits on, a few days ago she wrote about my Aunt Adair (you can find that post here) Mom told me when I called her from DC to tell her I made it ok, and no I didn't hit anything. My Aunt has had a few strokes in the past and suffers from migraines. The past week she has had high fever, and a migraine. My Uncle Bruce took her to the ER and they checked into the hospital last Wednesday August 23. They have diagnosed her with viral meningitis, she is receiving insulin (to the best of my knowlage, she has never been diagnosed as a diabetic, she is just now having a problem with her sugar), and they have done tests to see if she has lyme disease. They also think that she might have had another mini stroke. It's just not looking good. My Auntie Adair means quite a bit to me. When I was little I would go over to her house on Saturdays that my mother worked and Aunt Adair taught me how to sew, decorate cakes, cross stitch, and other various crafts. Aunt Adair taught me how to quilt, and helped me make a quilt that I gifted my (now ex) husband on our wedding day. She also attempted to teach me how to crochet and how to make latch hook rugs. Because she has a migraine we don't visit her and I live so far away. Really, who would want visitors while one has a migraine? Especially loud ones such as my crew. (they sound loud as a herd of elephants, or knitters at WEBS tent sale when I have a headache!) I whipped a little something up for my Aunt to send off to her along with some drawings the kids made for her.

Pattern: velvet oblivion from the summer 2004 issue of knitty

Needle's: size 5 knit picks options size 24" cable

Time: 2 hours total crafting time.

Notions: thread and needle, 10"x 3" piece of velvet for backing cut to match the knitted front, nylon knee high and 1 cup of rice.

What I did: After I finished the knitted front, I cut a piece of velvet to use for the back. I wanted to make a eye pillow for my Aunt not a eye mask. I sewed the front and back together right sides facing, leaving 2" open. Then I turned the eye pillow right side out, and stuffed the nylon knee high filled with 1 cup of rice in there. Then I sewed the whole shut. Wala! All done. Now it can be left in the freezer or popped in the microwave for 1 minute. You can add some herbs like lavender in with the rice. I opted to leave it plain as my Aunt is sensitive to smells.

My thoughts: Love this sinsation, but boy is it expensive! I will be making another one, I want to keep this one! School starts tomorrow! But my Aunt needs this way more than I do.

I hope my Aunt enjoys this, and I hope she feels better too. If ya'll could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, send her a bit of our "knitter's mojo" to help get her on her feet again, her needles back in her hands I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you all for your Happy Birthday wishes! Thanks Mom for your sweet post as well! : )

Allysa and I really enjoyed our visit with Mike in DC. I wish that we could have stayed a few more days it was that enjoyable. (Usually after spending one day and one night in a hotel with a toddler I'm ready to bolt!) But I had to go pick Corra and Bryce up at their "Dad's" (They where at their Dad's parents, anyway...) Friday, after we ate breakfast Allysa and I went to see Mike at one of the Verizon sites that he has been working at for the past few months in DC. Mike is a fiber optic technician. The inside of these fiber sites is just mind boggling. As technology hates me, I shouldn't be allowed in there! There are towers, and towers of computer cards, fibers, the cooling fans howling. Its just amazing. Anyway, after we met Mike's co-workers and Allysa charmed them all. We all went to lunch, and went back to the site. Where Mike said "Since knit happens closes at 5:30, and I don't know when I'm getting off work tonight. Here (hands me his credit card) take this. Don't go too crazy." I'm just in awe. He handed me his credit card, and told me spend as much as you want. Don't go crazy." Go ahead, I'll let you process that. I'll wait.

uh. HUH! Isn't he awesome? yeah I know. *giggle* he is! *sigh* Allysa and I proceeded to find our way from University Park (I think, somewhere near there at least) to Alexandria Virginia. After many wrong turns, a tearful phone call, some screaming (to myself) about why I don't live in the city I found myself at Knit Happens. I also found myself overwhelmed. I had no idea what I wanted. I've never been in this shop before, they carry a lot of yarns that I enjoy. And while I was looking threw the Lorna's laces. I heard the second most beautiful words to a woman's ear "Everything in the store is 10-60% off till Sunday." me thinking "No freaking WAY!" I told everyone in the shop that it was definitely a fantastic day for my birthday, and that my hunny gave me his card to go shopping. Boy, I've never heard so many people laugh! Here is my haul, I have to say I was pretty restrained. A lot of the yarn that I wanted they didn't have enough off. Like the muench Touch me, they had 3 balls of the color I *really* wanted. So I had to settle for green, which they had 4 off, to make the vintage velvet scarf from scarf style.

from left to right, we have

4 balls Muench touch me in color 3622 (forest green)

1 hank Alchemy Synchronicity in color-way the night air.

2 hanks of Koigu kpppm color p446121

2 hanks of Alchemy Haiku in colorway Dylan's Blue Depths.

3 balls of Noro Silk Garden color 232

2 hanks of LL in colorway Irving park

I also picked up a copy of debbie bliss's book alpaca silk, which I've wanted for a while.

Like I said pretty restrained. I did go up to web's while visiting my parents a week ago, and that had a lot to do with it too. that and I wasn't sure what Mike would define as "crazy!" *L*. After Allysa and I left the shop, we drove back to the hotel to wait for Mike so we could go to dinner. We really weren't sure where to eat. I picked Red Lobster. mmmm... what a great meal! Mike the sneaky little devil.  While we where waiting for our main course, I told him please don't ask them to sing. A piece of cake with a candle would be great, but please no stupid clappy dancy song. He told me that I was with him the whole time, when would he have the chance to have said anything. But that little sparkle in his eye said otherwise. After our yummy dinner, a piece of chocolate cake with a candle appeared. Mike had slipped the waiter a note in his menu. Like I said, sneaky little devil! *sigh* it was great.

Allysa and I had to leave Friday morning, amazingly enough we didn't hit any traffic. On the way home we stopped at Stitch your Art out. It was kinda sorta on the way home, ok not really. But I was thinking about my Aunt Adair. She is in the hospital, you can read more about it on my mom's blog here . This is what followed me home:

A skein of Classic Elite bamboo, in purple. A ball of Plymouth yarn's sinsation in purple. A hank each of Claudia's hand painted in midnight and twilight to match the two I bought about a month ago. (yeah, wasn't two different dye lots. It was too different color ways. Yeap.) I wasn't sure if I would have enough of the Sinsation to make a eye pillow for my Aunt, so that's why I bought the bamboo. We'll see. I'll be starting the pillow tonight. (Hopefully)

Now, with so much new yarn. What to knit?? My mind is thinking of all the possibilities of what, but I just can't settle on anything! I have to say, I definitely had a very happy Birthday this year! : ) 

oh! Before I forget again. Here is my Saturday sky. On Sunday.

We arrived back in Pennsylvania from Massachusetts Monday night, and BOY was I tired!! Tuesday was just a whirlwind of cleaning, laundry and kids. Wednesday (today) I ran around running errands, and drove down to D.C. to see Mike. So we could spend my Birthday together.

I have been knitting, really I have! Just not as much as usual. I finished the Opera Scarf by blue sky alpaca. I was inspired by Cayli's scarf a few weeks ago, and thought it was the perfect pattern for a hank of Mango Moon rayon that I've had hanging around for a bit. I started on Tuesday of last week and finished it up on Sunday. Here, take a looksie (click to embiggen)

     

I wonder how long this is going to last!

Time for bed, I get to visit Knit Happens tomorrow! Yay! : )

You would think, with all the time in the car, time spent sitting on the beach, in the house during the kids nap time, I would have a completed shawl to show you, or a pair of socks. Weeell..... I did kinda finish a pair of socks. But they aren't the same size or even in the same yarn. On the way down, I finished a sock for Allysa using some leftover Cascade Fixation.

 I measured her foot, I knew I had 6sts/inch using fixation and size 3 needles. I casted on 36 stitches and pretty much just winged it. Little brat thought it was evil, and would try it on when it was on the needles, but when I was finished she wanted to have nothing to do with it. I don't know how I was able to capture these pictures, she only kept the sock on for 2 minutes.

Somewhere in North Carolina I casted on my traveler's sock pattern by Gypsy knits that I bought after Bryce's allergy test last month.   

  

  

Our trip home from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania was a long one. Probably cause we stopped at 2 yarn shops, for food 3 times, went through a lot of construction, and had a few breaks.

First stop: We stopped at a local yarn shop, which should be left unmentioned. The owner is a itch with a B in front and they are overpriced. I stopped because I *really* wanted to check out the yarn orphanage and find some bulky yarn to complement some yarn I bought recently from the Destash blog. This is what followed me home:

from right to left: 1 hank of manos in rosin color 26, 1 ball cascade fixation. The rest was from the orphanage and was 50% off! 4 balls Jaeger extra fine merino 3 in lilac (989), 1 in dark berry (992) and taupe (938) and 1 ball karabella in white (1350)  I'm going to have to figure with the yardage but I'm thinking of either a tank for me out of the lilac and white, if there isn't a sweater for the monster.

After we gorged on some doughnuts (I had to indulge Heather, we had ice cream too while at my parents! Just don't ask me where the camera was, k?) we hit the road. While on I87 heading South we saw this truck

We thought it was really cool! We don't see Corra's name out there too much, as it is a old fashioned name and isn't used much. When we got home I found their website clicky here. Don't know why a Canada company's truck was in New York heading South, but it was really cool to see it! After lunch we went to a yarn shop in Milford PA that I had never been to before. After driving around the whole town, and finally stopping and asking for directions we finally found Jill Deal fine yarns don't the kids look happy to have found it?

and walked out with all of this

from right to left: 1 hank of pink manos, 2 balls of kidsilk haze in color 600 and another mini kacha kacha. I'm so happy to have some kidsilk haze in my stash, I've never worked with it before and am looking for projects to use it in. I have 458 yards, and suggestions?

Looky! I got free yarn! Free yarn I can touch! Free yarn for you!

Lets have another contest cause just touching the tag of this yarn makes me itchy. Leave a comment from now till Sat at midnight to win 2 balls of Karabella brushed alpaca in color 1074 (blue) The lady at the yarn shop, and another woman who knit a baby blanket with this stuff said this is enough to make a nice bulky scarf and is lovely yarn. But Alpaca (llama and angora, you know the good stuff) makes me really itchy, my hands go numb, blotchy and sneezy, so I think its best this go to a new home! Good luck!

That is where the excitement ended on our trip home, we went though many construction sites made a few more pit stops, and ate at Wendy's before we finally made it home 11 hours later, 8 hours of drive time. Let me tell you, its good to be home.

Bryce has to go to the Allergist tomorrow, we are both nervous about it (him more than me) but I hope we find something that will help his eczema and his allergies. This should be fun.