Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

:whew!: It's been a bit busy around here.......LOTS going on. Let's dive in, shall we?

We started March the usual way - by picking up a load of chicks. We started with 20; lost 2 the first few days. That's normal....actually, it's better than usual. Day-old chicks spend their time looking for ways to die. :sigh: Any way, we have 9 Sapphire Queens, 4 Silver-laced Wyandottes, and 5 Cinnamon..something or other. They've grown quickly, and we are planning on moving them out today/tomorrow.

As well as the......geese. Um, yeah - the feed store got in 16 goslings, and...um.......we ended up with 6.



They're cute, but BOY HOWDY are they MESSY. And huge, comparatively speaking. So far, they are sweet...we'll see how long that lasts. :lol:

This explains last weekend's project - I built (with a little help from the husband) a fledgling hut. We'd been using dog crates, but.....they were not going to hold 24 birds. One of the mobile homes down the street has been sold to a flipper; the rehabbers told me I could rummage thru their trash pile if I wanted. I scored some skirting (tin!) and 2x4s.....after a quick trip to pick up some used pallets, I was set. It took all day Saturday, and a couple of hours Sunday, but we now have a fledgling hut (or, as we call it, the "Fluffly Butt Hut". :lol:)
Total out-of-pocket expense: $60.







I have more than enough pallets left to build a goose hut - I need to get more skirting first. For now the goslings will live with the chicks.

Last week, Zoe lost her kids......5 weeks early. I've been trying to bring in her milk, but it's just not working. :sigh: Hopefully the other does will carry to term - we need the milk!

It hasn't all been work, though - I've been knitting as well. I already showed you the Birds of Paradise mitts, now I give you: Dreidle Socks! The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL in the color way "Dreidle"; the pattern is Cookie A's Cubist Socks.





I then knit up a pair of mitts for Herself - another pattern by Kulabra, this one called "Frozen Songs". I dyed the yarn to Herself's specifications - Soot and Fire, and........here are her Firebird Mitts:





I was over the pattern halfway thru the first one.....:lol:

I've started a pair of socks, but you'll have to wait for photos. Since I actually started them in April, I'll save it for the April posting. :lol:

One more photo - this one is the resident Dragon King, Iroh. Herself made him a hat......he is NOT amused:



Today is grocery day, then we have to fix the run so the chicks/goslings will be safely contained. I'll try to get photos of them outside.......

I finished a pair of socks...which is normal, and normally I'd wait and have a few to upload all at once, but this pair...well....







Pattern is "La Mancha's Giants", I've had it in the queue since at LEAST 2015 (that's when I dyed the yarn for it), and, well - I am very very very pleased with them. Herself picked out the colors, I dyed the yarn, and then it sat until I was ready to knit them. :lol:

Pattern was relatively easy. LOVE how they knit up!

I just had to share.....off to work on my current pair (Plain vanilla, no pattern - just knitting.)

Hoo boy. Last year, woke knitters heads exploded when Hobby Lobby (that evil corporation whose owner has the audacity to impose his personal beliefs into his company, how dare he???? Oh, wait.....) introduced their take on hand dyed yarn with their house brand, Yarn Bee (in 100% super wash Merino fingering/sock and chunky weights. They also have a 75% super wash Merino/25% Lyocell fingering/sock, but I haven't used it yet.) Immediately, there were wails of "how dare they price hand dyed yarn under $20/skein!" and "they aren't paying a living wage!!" and "100% wool won't last!" and - my personal favorite, "they stole my colorway!"

:sigh: Let's discuss this, shall we? (I waited until now, because I wanted to actually knit up some of the yarn in question, and see how it held up to my use. Actual review at the end!)

1. The price/living wage thing. This yarn is sourced in Turkey. I don't have a clue about the cost of living in Turkey, but I'm *pretty* sure it's less than it is here in the good ol' USA. It's priced at $14.99/skein, but you can either use a 40% off coupon OR catch it on one of their bi-weekly 30% off sales (pricing it at $10.59/skein or thereabouts). The full price is good for hand dyed sock yarn (not sure about the chunky) Previously, I thought $18.99/skein for commercially dyed sock yarn was good - $14.99 for hand dyed? Sign me up!

1b. Some knitters immediately exclaimed that the *sniff* knitters *sniff* that purchased this were NOT the market that would buy from exclusive indie dyers. Um...most of the indie yarn I've purchased over the years has started at $20/skein, and gone up from there. (My most expensive skein is a cashmere blend that starts at $35/skein.) This price is a bit steep for most of the people I know. I won't say it's overpriced...but I DO dye my own, and.........let's just say the profit margin is pretty nice at that price point. In this day and age, most people don't have the disposable income that they used to have; if it comes down to buying yarn at Hobby Lobby for $11 vs no yarn, well..........

2. The durability. This one.......:sigh: Wool has been the go-to fiber for centuries. Nylon didn't come around until 1927, and wasn't commercially available until after that (1935?). Before that.....it was wool all the way. Some spinners might have blended it with cotton or linen, but from what I can tell, it was mostly used by itself. Yes, Merino *is* a less strong breed, but it still holds up. AND....this yarn is marketed as fingering weight, not sock weight. Yes, sock weight IS fingering (for the most part), but.....you can knit other things out of it. Hats, mittens, and gloves (or sweaters, even!) don't get the abuse that socks do, so....this argument is really a non-starter. (The main difference is that sock yarn is usually spun tighter, to make it more durable. Not always, but.....and modern sock yarn usually has that nylon component, while fingering doesn't. You can either one in any situation where you gauge matches the pattern. :shrug:)

3. "Stealing color ways". Ha. HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Um.....this one is too stupid. There are only so many colors, and only so many ways to combine them. Yes, that number is high, but.......the indie screaming the loudest didn't invent the color way to begin with. The yarn in question is dyed......OK. I don't have a photo, but I have what I think is the original tutorial from 2013. (Yeah, so the shop in question claims to have been in business from 2011. IF this was her invention, she would have shut down the poster of this tutorial way back in 2013, right? I mean.........and she'd be screaming about JoAnn's, too.)

The color way is known as "unicorn farts"....basically, you have half the skein in a solid color (usually black/gray), and the other half is dyed in a rainbow. When you knit it up, you get flashes of color against the solid background (in the Hobby Lobby yarn, you get a rainbow spiral around the sock. It's fun!) LOTS of indie dyers have this color way in some form or another - it's not unique by a long shot.

Speckled yarn - the other "contested" color way - has been around even longer. I have books in my library from the early 2000's - when the indie hand dye scene was in it's infancy - that tell you how to do this. None of this is rocket science! (I, personally, don't like hand dying my own yarn. I prefer techniques that involve plunking the yarn in the dyepot and pouring the dye solution over it. These other techniques, while giving really cool effects, are - for ME - too labor intensive. Long time readers might remember my Yaakov sock dyeing experiments. I LOVE the resulting yarns, but the procedures to get there....aren't my cup of tea. I'll do it as a one-off, for particular projects, but I don't like the mess and multiple steps to get to the fun part - knitting the yarn. :shrug: Different strokes, right? Also, these techniques used to be called hand PAINTED, which makes more sense to me. Again, whatever. :lol:)

To be so conceited that you think that a corporation "stole" a dye technique from you.....I can't even. :shakes head: I guess I should be upset that Hobby Lobby has tonal skeins, huh, since that's what I usually dye up myself. :rolls eyes: A LOT of indie dyers have the same types of color ways - heck, JOANN'S has hand dyed yarns now - but you don't see anyone throwing a fit over *that*, do you??

Anyway. I have.....a few skeins of the Hobby Lobby yarn. I've knit up 3.5 (the .5 is currently on the needles) - 2 in the chunky weight, and 1.5 in the fingering. I'll get photos up later - I don't feel like messing with uploads right now. Let's do a proper review, shall we?


Yarn Name: Yarn Bee Hand Dyed, by Hobby Lobby

Colorway: Multiple

How Knit: Hand

When Knit: 2020/21

Specs: All the skeins I have are 100% super wash Merino, in both Chunky weight and Fingering.

Hand: All the skeins are soft and bouncy, which you'd expect from Merino. Very slight elasticity.

Care: Not sure what the tag says, I machine wash, hang dry. It's super wash, which means it's been chemically treated to not shrink or felt.

Longevity: My finished pair of socks is currently 1 month old, and has been in constant rotation since it came off the needles. There is NO pilling, and no visible wear. (At this point, they've been worn 4 times. No, it's not a lot, but I've had some socks pill and start to fall apart after the first wear. I'm *hard* on socks - I go around sock-footed all the time, even running outside in them.) They were knit on size 1.5s, and the resulting fabric is nice and sturdy. You can't see thru it very easily (socks should be knit tightly; if you can see thru it like you can a screen door, it's too loose and you need to go down a needle size or 2.)

The chunky has been knit into arm warmers. Both pair have been worn for 3 weeks, alternating pairs each day. It's pilling a bit - which is to be expected from Merino. Merino is short-stapled wool, and should be spun into a fine yarn, and tightly plied. This looks like it's a 2-ply; both plies are rather loose. It's a VERY squishy yarn, and warm when knit on both size 8s and 9s. (The 8s made a slightly dense fabric, the 9s is nice and fluid.)

Notes: I am quite impressed with this yarn. All 4 skeins that I've used have been dye fast - no crocking. (Not even the lovely blue chunky yarn!) There's been no splitting while knitting, and it feels good in the hands - not too stiff, or rough. The colors are clear.

The sock currently on the needles...the "unicorn farts" color way (Techno Tribe is the actual name)....it started off spiraling nicely, but when I got halfway down the leg it sort of......exploded into a pool of rainbow. I don't mind.....but I would prefer that it continue in the neat spiral. I don't expect perfectly consistent patterning in hand dyed yarns, but this is a bit.....different. I'm not far enough into the 2nd sock to know if it'll repeat - but I'm used to fraternal socks, so it's all good. (Oh, and it turns out I'm not knitting these socks for me. I finished the first one last night, tried it on, as one does, and realized it wasn't "right". I handed it to Herself, who grabbed it and immediately tried it on, and...yep. It's hers. I should have realized it sooner - ever since I started the leg I had this niggling thought that it wasn't me. :lol: She doesn't get the orange-based version, though - that one's MINE. :rofl:)

At this price point, it's a good way to knit up some of the more common types of hand dyed yarn. If you don't like the resulting fabric, you haven't lost a lot of money. Also, if you can't afford the more pricey indie dyed yarn, this is a great way to get in on the trend without having to decide between yarn and more important (*gasp*! How dare I!) purchases.


I need to get back to it - I have thrown out 4 pairs of socks in the past 2 weeks. It's not a problem - all 4 were over 10 years old (yes, you read that right - *10* years old!), so it's about time I start refilling the sock drawer. My plan for this year is to try and NOT repeat a pattern. I do have plans to knit at least 1 pair of Monkeys (even though I have 3 older pair), because that pattern works with all types of color ways. I've got so many patterns - it's time to test knit them!

because I just finished something I started on Sunday evening - well, finished it yesterday. Photos today - I had to wait for it to dry from it's bath and block. :lol:





This isn't for me; it goes into the "present box" that is woefully empty this year. Normally, I stockpile things for gift-giving.....this year, since I couldn't knit, I couldn't think of anything to gift. I'm trying to make up for lost time......I just started a pair of socks for Herself. Again. I started yesterday, but that little voice told me "too big! Abort!"....I measured it against a pair of my socks, and yeah - it was about 2" to big. :blink: I haven't been that far off in...well, years! I went down a needle size (from 2 to 1.5....:eek!:); this time the cuff looks a bit more reasonable. I'll be restarting the color work in 6 rounds, so we'll see then.

I did bugger up my wrist this AM......I mowed the back yard. I don't use the self-propelled part of the mower, because I figure mowing is the best form of full-body cardio I can get. Normally, it hasn't been a problem. This AM however, I ended up with a weird.......tingly feeling, almost like how you feel when you bounce your hand on a trampoline. The kinda......"sproing-y" feeling, with a bit of pins-and-needles thrown in. Really weird and off-putting. It's still kinda..weird feeling now, almost 8 hours later, so I don't know what's going on there, but I'll watch it. :Sigh: I just got my knitting back, too!!!! :pout:

I need to get dinner going - tonight is spaghetti night. The challah is done and cooling, now to start the sauce.

Have a great one!

I know this probably doesn't mean a lot to most of y'all, but....You Guys. YOU GUYS!!!!!

I can KNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, I am a Knitter - knitting isn't a hobby, it's a lifestyle. Sounds weird, right? But.....for the past....20+ years, up until the Incident, I had a knitting project on me at all times (except sleeping and bathing, because that would be weird. :lol:) 20 minute wait at the restaurant? No problem - let me turn the heel of my sock. 3+ hour wait at the IRS (ugh) - Cool! I can get the leg finished! Hours upon hours upon HOURS at the Social Security office? Let me work on my never-ending sweater! (an aside - I don't see how there can be a lot of Disability scams - they were VERY thorough on Herself. Multiple meetings, plus 2 hours-long evaluations with their own doctors...it was tedious. And thorough. And something I never want to do again!)

The past year has been very difficult for me - my coping mechanism has been unavailable. I don't know how "normal" people cope with lines and long waits. Reading helped, but....I devour books. (3 250 page novels per DAY. Yes, it's a habit. Yes, I comprehend what I'm reading. I just...read very very fast. Always have.)

Yesterday, I ran out of books. :gasp: Herself has taken over the Studio so sewing is out for now.......and I couldn't play any video games because it was Family Battlefront 2 night. I looked at my knitting...and thought "what the heck - if it hurts, I stop."


It. Didn't. Hurt.

I knit for a solid 40 minutes before I got ouchy. 4 pattern repeats on the scarf that was supposed to be last year's present for Himself. I'm SLOW, but......knitting.

I am SO thankful, y'all. Slow is fine - I don't have to rehome my stash! (Seriously. I have......yarn. Enough that I probably don't have to buy any more for....almost the rest of my life (as long as I only knit socks or scarves. Sweaters...I'll have to buy, because I don't have any sweater amounts in my stash. :lol:)

Just wanted to share.....I can knit again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So. How've you been? I've been busy - as usual. :lol: Himself asked me to replace his shirts with me-made ones, :gulp!: so I've been in the Studio working on a muslin for him to abuse. Funny thing - about the same time he asked me, Fabric Mart sent me an email with all shirtings on SALE. DEEP sale. (Gotta love Divine intervention, no? :rofl:) He now has 5 pieces of designer (seriously - Ralph Lauren, a "famous Hawaiian designer", and someone else I can't remember) cotton waiting to be turned into lovely button-down shirts. The muslin just needs buttonholes and buttons, then he gets to abuse it for a couple of weeks before I start on the "real" fabric.

In the meantime, I'm going to be sewing him a body double - Bootstrap Fashion has done it again. They offer custom drafted dress form patterns now....$24 for most sizes ($35-ish for the standard, multi-size patterns). I have his pattern, and we went out Friday and picked up the fabric for it (plain, gray, mid-weight cotton. He didn't want a pattern - even though it's in MY Studio. I don't mind - as long as it's in the color scheme I have going, it's good.) Soon as I get the buttonholes in, I'll start on it. :excited:

I'm not doing goals/resolutions/aspirations this year. Too much stress. :lol: Instead, I'm going to look back at 2018, then forward to 2019 to see what I plan on doing.

Knitting: Last year was pretty much a bust once FIL died. My knitting mojo left, and still hasn't really returned. I think it's because I had just finished a pair of stained glass socks (he LOVED them), and started another pair when he died. I finally finished the 2nd pair in....August, I think (he died in MAY). I started a scarf for Himself in December, and I'm finally 2/3's done.

This year, I'd like to knit more. I need to finish his scarf, knock out a hat for Herself, and start on this year's scarf for Himself. And finish a few pairs of socks for me. We'll see.....

Sewing: Last year wasn't too bad. I spent at least half focused on bags/purses, but I did get a few clothing items done. This year, I want to do Himself's shirts, then focus on undergarments for Herself and me. And a few purses, here and there, for the shop. Oh, and a few laptop cases - Cyn needs one DESPERATELY, and I want to see if maybe there's a market for geeky ones. (Hers will be the tester. :lol:)

Spinning/Weaving: I honestly haven't done much of either. I NEED to get back to the loom - I need the quiet contemplation weaving brings me. Spinning......well, can't do that in the house right now, as Duncan would eat the wheel. Teething wolfhounds are...well....a MESS. But cute!

Exercise: By December, I had a decent routine worked out. Sun/Tues/Thurs I do the weight machine. Mon/Wed/Fri I do a Pilates tape - 20 minutes right now. I want to keep that up - I've lost an inch in my waist so far! :huzzah!: Soon as my ankle gets better (don't ask) I'd like to hit the treadmill.......:sigh:

The contract job has sorta started back up. We'll see how it goes - I don't mind it. The money is nice, and the work is easy. I'm supposed to help Cyn with tax returns, so that'll also help.

Himself has gotten me to play some video games with him - it's fun. It's also a good way to bond...so this Mama is going to try to become a gamer. :gulp: So far, he's got me into Subnautica (creative only - I don't DO scary sea monster jump scares! I like building underwater bases and exploring.), Medieval Engineers, and he wants me to start playing Space Engineers, too. Oh, and Kerbal Space Program. :lol: He's offered to buy me the older Star Wars games, too.....but that's going to involve getting a MS :hiss: machine to properly run them - Macs aren't great for gaming. (I think I'll be getting one, anyway, for the contract stuff. All the programs client uses are MS based.....:sigh: I HATE MS machines! I'm an Apple fan......) Ah, well - it's fun. The kids are currently playing Borderlands 2........it's too violent for *me*. I'm a wuss.....

Let's see....oh. Monday last Tigger had a seizure. NSDH immediately ran her to the ER Vet - she's now on anti-seizure meds. (Don't mind me. We can't afford for me to go get my ankle checked out, but we can go into debt for a dog. Sure. Why not?) She's doing fine now - we have no idea what caused it. Our vet said they don't diagnose epilepsy after the dog is 5.....she's going on 11 now. So....who knows? She'll be on pills the rest of her life (at $75/month. Really, don't mind me - I'll get over it eventually.)

Anyway, I think that gets me up to date. Tomorrow is back to Cyn's, then Tuesday is finish the bloody shirt and start the body double day. Should be fun!

Wow, it's been a month....let me fill you in on our doings:

No, wait - it's too much. Let me sum up:

1. Himself is.....well, Himself. He's started social skills training, and has had 1 meeting with the therapist assigned to him. That.....didn't go to well; he doesn't like her. She - get this! - has NEVER SEEN STAR WARS. This is an issue........:sigh: He starts with the medical side on it Tuesday.

2. Herself is OK. Stressed over her brother, of course. I'm trying to get her into the same program.

3. Me. Hanging in there. Over-booked, but it's for the kids, so I'm OK. I've made 10 batches of soap - so far. I finished my "Skywalker" socks (Mark Hamill breathed on them! :squee!: /fangirl ), started and finished a pair of Firefly-themed socks, and am halfway thru a pair of Shakespeare-themed ones. Why Shakespeare? Because....

3a. This weekend is Dallas Fan Days. Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) was supposed to headline; Yawn. I was going, but not to see him - he and the Ponds RUINED Dr. Who for me. :shrug: However, he cancelled, and they brought in 10. David Tennant. Oh My GOSH! David-freaking-Tennant! Mr. Scottish Shakespearean actor!!!!!!!

3b. I ponied up extra $$$ to get a "Gold" pass for this con - after the Mark Hamill fiasco (HOURS in line!), I swore never-again. The Gold pass gets you in all 3 days (we only went 1x, so that was a waste), PLUS 5 line jumps. Meaning - NO long waits!

We got there yesterday at 9:30; the doors opened at 10. *I* could have gone on in, but wanted to wait with SG and Herself (we could honestly only afford 1 gold pass.) We went straight to the autograph floor, and found Tennant's line. Since we had a gold pass, we went straight to the front (along with about 50 of our newest best friends. :lol:) He was supposed to start signing at 10:30; at 10:20 he arrived to a loud, long, cheer and started signing.

By 10:40, we were done. He is a VERY lovely person - he was friendly, actually *looked* at each person in front of him, and made small talk with ALL of us. Herself made a "Tiny 10" for him - he was gobsmacked. Asked if it was Fimo (well, yes/no - it's actually Sculpey, but that's basically the same thing), then asked if it was really FOR him, to actually TAKE home (yup!), then said his kid(s) would LOVE it. :squee!: It was great! (and, honestly - worth every penny we paid!)

We spent a few more hours there, shopping and talking with folks. Himself stayed home (he was pre-alpha testing a game), but he had tentatively requested a light saber - IF I could find either Kylo Ren's or Vader's, and ONLY IF it wasn't "too expensive". "It's just going to, you know, sit on my shelf, so I don't want you to spend too much. I really don't want you to spend...anything...but.....I.....I wouldkindaliketohaveacoollightsaber. If that's OK....."

My baby (who never asks for anything, and refuses to let me spend money on him) actually ASKING for something? You KNOW Mama's going to do whatever she can to fulfill THAT wish, right? Right. He now has an Ultra Saber "Chosen One". :snerk: In a nickel-plated finish (because SG insisted, and paid for half of the saber, so....Sure!) He was totally thrilled when we got home - he actually LEFT his game to admire his new saber! (That's BIG. Really, really BIG.)

4. Slowly working on getting the house in order. The kitchen is DONE, the family room is almost done, the dining room is...well, done, but I need to get the donate pile out of there and to the donation center. The Game Room is a DISASTER, but that's not my problem - that is SG's room. He said HE was in charge of it....so *I* am leaving it alone.

5. I need to find a new calendar/schedule app. Preferably one I can have color-code appointments so I know at a glance WHO I am hauling someplace. Bonus points if it lets me also schedule chores. DOUBLE bonus points if it is "cross platform" - meaning I only need to buy it once, but can run it on my iPad, iPhone and, maybe, my MacBook. Off to the App Store I go!

Sorry it took a month.....but seriously, life is packed right now.

Because I have a LOT of photos, I made a college. Kinda sucks, but hey - it's photos! :lol:



This is all the stuff I've knit and finished in January. The socks were started....in late September, but all the rest was started and finished in January. What can I say? Stress knitting at it's finest! Also, all the January stuff is knit in worsted weight yarn - which is thicker than my beloved sock weight, and knits up faster.

I am in the midst of another set of fingerless mitts......my kitchen can't be finished soon enough! I'd like to knit something...smaller. Like socks. Right now, though, I can't get to my ball winder, so I have to knit with yarn that comes in ready-to-knit packages. :shrug: I can always use another hat or two or three....:rofl: Especially "fashion" hats like the cloches - they're warm, and cute, and give me options. As do the 2 new geeky hats.....Star Wars and Dr. Who for the win!

Back to the knitting.......beats painting. Which I did yesterday - the kitchen has been redone AGAIN. I....liked the aqua-isa blue, but I didn't love it. It's now a nice Federal/French blue...and I LOVE it. It's a bit dark right now, but once the white cabinets go in it'll pop.

Have a great one!

We've been busy, but let me get this out of the way: Rogue 1 is a good movie. It is a Star Wars......made-for-TV-movie. It doesn't FEEL like a true Star Wars movie...it feels like a one-off (which, it is.) IF you've seen the 1977 Star Wars (aka "A New Hope"), then you already know what HAS to happen here - and it does.

This is a WAR movie. It's not......over-blown violent, but people die. On screen. (Again, if you are at all familiar with Star Wars, then you KNOW what is going to happen.) It does fill in the details about what happened just before Ep. IV opens - literally, Rogue 1 ends moments before the screen crawl of IV begins. it was a satisfying show, but.......it feels like a - dare I say this? - Holiday Special :snerk: :rolls on floor laughing uproariously: :have you SEEN the Holiday Special from the '70's?????: :lol: Only, Better. This has story, and plot and it's a good show.

Ah :wipes eyes: - it was good, but I won't be going back to the theatre to see it again. I'll buy the DVD, because Star Wars, but.....:shrug: They did a good job with the Senators that started the rebellion (Mon Mothma, Bail Organa) - they aged them from the prequels beautifully. The CGI Tarkin (that actor died years and years ago!) works, IF you don't scrutinize it too much. There was only 1 plot.....pothole; it doesn't matter, it doesn't make you question the movie, it just......doesn't explain WHY the Tantive IV was docked with the ship it was docked with, during the battle (again - if you've seen IV, you KNOW there was a battle. I'm trying my best to NOT spoil it!) - there isn't a logical reason for it, but - eh, it works. The motivation for most of the characters makes sense, the acting is really, really GOOD, the dialogue is snappy (a bit too much, honestly, but.....eh. I could do with less smart-alecky-ness, but it wasn't enough to make me quit caring.) The action is intense, and everything *works* - you care about the characters, you care about the mission (even though you already know that they succeed - we've seen the future!). AND Vader gets to Vader around - SHOWING why people feared him.

Anyway - that was Friday. :lol:

Yesterday was Ikea. I HATE Ikea, I really do - it's a soul-sucking bastion of the Underworld - but they have affordable cabinets. That I actually like. :Sigh: I got an appointment for Wednesday for a kitchen planner to come out and spend up to 4 hours with me, actually planning my kitchen. Yes, I have set it up in the official planning program......but. It's buggy, it doesn't have everything *I* want, and I don't want to buy a lot of stuff only to find out it doesn't work the way I thought it would. Plus, we get that fee back when we order the cabinets, so....it's free piece of mind. We also bought the vanity, sink, faucet, and storage cabinet for the kids' bathroom. We then hit Home Depot and bought paint and the tub fixture, then priced a new tub and toilet (the Jeep was FULL, and it'll take the truck to get the tub. I want porcelain over steel, NOT fiberglass, so....yeah. Truck.)

This week, I have to go order the floors. I have to wait until the bank releases the rest of the funds, but.......:huzzah!: Things are starting to move along rather nicely.

I finished scarf #6 today - I am back to socks, now. :lol: Cyn gave me some $$ for my birthday; I bought some worsted weight yarn. Smiley's Yarn has the BEST prices I've found for economical yarns - it's kind of hit-or-miss on fiber content, but they had a decent selection of 100% wool worsted and DK weight yarns. I bought....well, I bought enough that I should be set for a while. I have a large selection of sock-weight yarn; it was time I branched out. (Yes, I can use sock yarn for other things...but it takes longer. Smaller yarn = more stitches. I want hats NOW, not 2 weeks from now, y'know? :lol:)

It's almost lunch-time; better skitter! It's currently 22*; need to toss another log on the fire!

Seems I got bit by a knitting jag Friday afternoon. My knitting mojo has been mostly gone for a while - understood, but still. I guess spending a lot of time the past year in hospital rooms knitting kinda ruined my mojo......but I was still plugging along on a sock. If by "plugging along" you mean knitting 1 needle's worth of stitches (18) every day or so......

Anyway. Friday I was upset with myself, so I decided to go find some BIG, fun yarn and try to knit something mindless. Unfortunately, I am predominately a sock knitter - which means SMALL yarn. I did have 1 ball of Bulky yarn that SG bought me last year (yes, HE bought me a ball of yarn, un-asked for. It's not "my" type - it's 75/25 Poly/Wool - but HE bought it.).....so I went to Ravelry and looked up projects using it. There are...a LOT of projects using bulky wool! Who Knew???

I settled on a nice cowl, CO enough stitches to wrap around 2x, and went at it.

3 hours later, I was DONE. Finished. So I cast on 60 stitches with the leftovers, and......1.5 hours later I had a nice, snuggly cowl.

SG took me to the yarn store in Ft. Worth (we went to pick up Herself).....they were having a 30% off EVERYTHING sale. I, um....fell down. Not hard....but 6 balls of yarn, 4 of which were bulky (2 are worsted for a hat for me). Of the 4, I am on ball #3. Since Saturday afternoon. :blink:

I still don't want to work on the sock, but I think my mojo is coming back. I also think I am slightly addicted to super-quick knits......:lol:

I think I am going to stock up on bulky yarn, and knit it up during the year. That way, I'll have some presents ready to go - and some new warm things for me/mine. Win/Win - just because they are quick doesn't mean that they aren't worthy presents. :lol:

I have the 4 finished cowls drying now; the 5th one needs washing and the 6th one is on the needles now. the last one is for Herself.......I put it off because she chose the most eye-blinding skein she could find. :lol:

Oh! Himself talked me into playing Subnautica......it's pretty, it's neat, and it's TERRIFYING. The killer fish are...well.......scary. He's going to set me up in Creative mode so that I won't be bothered by them - I'm not so much into the story as I am into exploring the pretty, pretty world. He's also playing - I'll get the story from him. :lol: