Yarn Diets Suck

I am on a yarn diet. It started on November 12th and i have not bought yarn since then. Yay Me! For those of you who know me, this is impressive, i have issues with resisting impulse purchases. Thanks to Jenny and Nicole, my new favourite people. I have been listening to the podcast Stash and Burn. it is one of the most excellent things ever. I know i am a little late to the party, but everyone who hasnt already seen it should check it out. Yarn and patterns and silliness abound. Plus Jenny says Yaaaay like i do. And she is recorded and broadcast around the world.

Back to the yarn diet. The rules of the yarn diet are as such:

I am not allowed to buy yarn for myself until... we are not sure when. The goal, I hope, is my summer vacation, aka a 2-week yarn binge. However if i actually run out of viable project yarn, meaning there is enough for a sweater or reasonably sized project, I can buy yarn. Two more exceptions, all yarn that i special ordered before the start of the project don't count as cheating, including my new yarn club that i signed up for 3 weeks before the yarn diet start. And yarn purchased for other people does not count. This is yarn that is bought as a gift in yarn form, not yarn to knit a gift. Which turns out might be a problem. Hopefully, it will resolve itself around Christmas, but i have found that i am buying others yarn that i lust after. My best friend is getting Lavender Malabrigo for Christmas, and my mom is getting 2 skeins of Arucan Ranco Multi. So there are the Yarn Diet Rules. At least the ones i have thought of. Thank you for listening, i needed to state them somewhere publicly.

Happy december again! By the way the lack of pics is due to the Christmas Knitting. If all else fails, blame Christmas.

Happy December!

I have been tagged with a meme by MinervaTurkey, my downstream Secret Pal. November is over and i have been revealed. I have never done one of these and probably will refrain from many more, but here you go. Enjoy!

4 jobs you have had in your life:
Marshall Fields Clerk (The Seasonal department, swimsuits and coats)
Architecture Intern
Mac Guru
Customer Service Rep for a Communications Company

4 movies you could watch over and over:
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Marie Antoinette
Love Actually

4 places you have lived:
Columbus
Manhattan
Cincinnati
That's it.

4 TV shows you love to watch:
The Office
Pushing Daisies
West Wing Reruns
CBS Sunday Morning

4 places you have been on vacation:
Austria
Seattle
Wales
Italy

4 websites you visit daily:
Ravelry
Jezebel (yes, its my trashy guilty pleasure)
woot
GoFugYourself

4 of your favorite foods:
Angel Food Cake
Cheeseburger with Bacon and Bleu Cheese
Tomato Bisque
Cinnamon Toast Crunch

4 places you would rather be right now:
I'm at home and that works for me, but i would rather it not be late on Sunday night.

If you would like to complete this meme consider yourself tagged!

Birthday Yarn and Alpaca Fest!

My birthday was last weekend and it was a good time. No sprained ankles, crashed cars, I didn't get stood up, and my wallet was still with me at the end of the weekend!I got tickets to the blue man group from my parents and i am really looking forward to it. The show is later this week. This week is going to be hell at work so the show will be a nice perk at the end of my week. I also got yarn. Lots of yarn. My uncle bought me 4 skeins of Donegal Tweed and my brother bought me 4 more plus the Debbie Bliss Rialto book. I am debating now about which pattern to make, I think i have settled on Demi from Rowan Vintage Knits but we shall have to see what I actually cast on when i can start working on me-projects again.

The biggest event to hit Columbus came in this weekend. Alpaca Fest 2008! And yes it was as awesome as it sounds. The biggest disappointment was that I forgot my camera. I really wanted a picture of me + an alpaca, but not this time. Ill just have to go next year. There wasn't as much fiber as I had hoped for, but there were 2 buildings worth of alpacas. I had never seen an alpaca before so this was great fun. I got to pet Gus and Augustus, and I am working on convincing my mom to get a pair of Huacayas. She wants a Suri but I disagree.

I did buy some yarn though. There was yarn available from the North American Alpaca Co-op. I bought 1350 yds of DK weight 100% baby alpaca for $35. Maybe it was a silly impulse purchase, but it seemed like a good deal at the time. All me-projects are officially on hold until Christmas is over, but this yarn moved to the top of my yarn queue. Do you think that is mean to my birthday yarn? Shh don't tell it.

My mother is waiting to get into Ravelry and in the meantime, I have let her sign in as me so she can browse patterns. The downside to that is now she has seen the catalogue of my stash. And that is just the yarn I admit to publicly, there is some Lion brand hiding in my closet somewhere. There was some chastising, and I have agreed to not buy yarn until I have knit 2 sweaters, or 2 sweaters worth of yarn.

Finished! Tahki Cabled & Ribbed Vest

Tahki's Donegal Tweed Cabled and Ribbed Vest from the Tweed Collection

I saw this pattern as a sample at my LYS and immediately had to have it. I used my leftover Cascade Eco Wool from the Hemlock Ring Blanket. I think I used just under 2 skeins, about 950 yds. I used size 8 needles. It was an enjoyable knit and I hope to make it again when I find a proper recipient. This one is for me. I would like to play with the cable pattern on the front and perhaps do something more creative on the back. The back is just reverse stockinette.

I wanted to wait until I could photograph some action shots but I cant get the stupid thing to dry! That is what i get for a full wet block on aran/bulky yarn rather than just my normal spray block. So for now you just get to see my blocking picture. If it is not significantly drier when I get home from work today I am going to have to move it to next to my furnace.

Presents!

I got presents in the mail. Its almost like its my birthday or something! (tee hee it almost is my birthday actually.) There was yarn and bath mitts and lotion and bath salts and yarn oh my! The body products are from Etsy and smell yummy. They are on my nightstand right now and I can smell them before I go to bed, and when I first wake up.

The yarn is delicious, it is Berrocco Ultra Alpaca. I am pretty sure that my secret pal is psychic (or a stalker) cause I have this yarn on my wish list at my LYS. And guess what my LYS also has: more yarn in the same dye lot! I am not sure how this happens cross country, but I was amazed. I bought more yarn and now I am making Something Red from Knit and Tonic. I hope my pal doesn't mind that I bought more of the yarn. I am soo excited that I got yarn on my wish list. Yay.

Also, while I was watching the Sox (YAY) sweep and win the world series I cast off my Tahki Vest. I will make a special post for it when it is properly photographed and blocked. I also was a bad kid and bought some lace weight Zephyr to make Muir from the fall Knitty. It will be my first foray into lace. At least lace that is lace sized, does a chunky weight afghan count? I made a gauge swatch and it turned out beautiful, but it took a lot of concentration. I think I will wait to cast on until I have my Christmas presents finished and have time to concentrate and knit at the same time. Ick, knitting I actually have to pay attention to. At least it will be something different.

todays daily rose candy

the posh of the future

Finished! Clapotis

I have finished my first Christmas present of the season. It is my infamous Clapotis from Knitty. The only modification that I made was using a DK weight yarn on 5's instead of worsted weight. I used Fiesta Ballet in Morocco. It is very lightweight and drapey, and should be warm because of the alpaca content. The gift is for my grandmother, and hopefully she will love it. The colours are very "her."