I was wondering why turning on the heat seemed like giving up. Yarn Harlot seems to know the answer – it’s my Canadian heritage shivering, I mean, shining through. We live on the third floor of a beautiful old 3-family house that has not a stitch of insulation. Nope, naked as a jaybird our home is. Figures we has to find the only triple-decker nudist on the block. All four of our cats have been huddling on our bed at night for warmth. One of them dragged a metal barrel up and started making a fire, but I put a stop to it when I smelled the catnip burning. This morning, my husband (who is referred to as “hot water bottle” or “bag of warm blood” during the winter months) and I slept in for half an hour because it was too cold to get out of the cat-encrusted bed.

I think it’s time to take the air conditioners out and close the storm windows.

I always drag my heels in doing this because I never want to admit that Old Man Winter is coming back to try and kill us again. The only ray of sunshine in all of this is that soon it will be time to put the insulating plastic in the windows. Once it’s up, we sit back and watch the cats bounce off it when they try to jump onto the windowsills. Amazingly, this never gets old. The 100th time I see it is as delightful as my very first. Sometimes life tosses you a bone.

In other news, I discovered that Webs has a “garage sale” section on their site. When I heard this, I knew it was going to be a problem. Luckily, there isn’t a huge selection and I got away with spending $20 plus shipping on two sweaters worth of wool. Pretty fan-freaking-tastic, if you ask me. I just got the yarn today and it’s really quite nice. I got the Inca Wool in Yellow Green and Dull Orange. Whoever thought of these names hates yarn and wants to spread all kinds of nasty rumors about it. Looking at it on my desk, I see Olive Oil and Pumpkin. Doesn’t that sound much nicer (and more delicious)? It’s softer than I thought it would be and the two colors go kind of funkily together. As usual, I don’t have a specific pattern in mind, so I’m imagining how they’d look striped together in a scarf set or a blanket. Or perhaps I’ll just get two single-colored sweaters out of it. That’s the joy of impulsive stash yarn. It has so much potential. Why, this yarn could be president one day! (seriously, I really think this yarn has a shot considering the competition)

Here’s something you don’t get to say every day: I love melanoma!

But you’d say it too if you met her. Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Melanie and some other really swell gals at the Knitmiths meeting in Brookline.

Here’s something weird. One of the blogs I’ve really enjoyed since I started reading blogs is Alison’s Blue Blog. I knew she belonged to a group called the Knitsmiths, I’ve occasionally read the blog for the group, and I’ve thought it looked like a fun bunch. When Melanie invited me to join her at Sunday’s Knitsmiths meeting, I thought “Hey, Knitsmiths. Just like on the Blue Blog. Funny that they have the same name.” I sat there for the entire night never once realizing that these were one in the same. I only figured it out today. I should not be allowed to operate heavy machinery.

Anyhoo, I’m so glad I went! When is the last time you met someone for the first time and they said “Oh! I have a present for you.”? I’m delighted to report that my answer is “Yesterday!” Melanie and I met through the comments sections of our blogs and have emailed each other a number of times over the last month or so, but I hadn’t met her until last night. When I got there, we chit-chatted for a bit and she made her declaration, leaned over to reach into her bag and came out with these:

I mean, come on. How sweet is that? It seems her mother-in-law has a bunch of vintage patterns and she brought me some. I was just so touched, you have no idea. And I’ll have you know that her mother-in-law has fantastic taste because there isn’t a beer can hat in the bunch! Every pattern is a classic and there’s not one you could really poke fun at. Amazing! So no poking, but I will, however, share some of my favorites.

This saucy redhead may have given me a new idea for mt Geisha.

Or maybe this little number would do.

Check out this cool split cable! I don’t think I’ve seen one like this and I love it.

Va Va Voom

Here’s a truly handsome sweater. Very Dad-worthy. And even the horse is wearing a pretty scarf.

And last but not least, some purty ponchos. I’m still not convinced to make one, but these could be good shawls . . .

I also have to send a big shout-out to Johanna, who helped demystify the cast-on for the Hallowig. I got stuck at the bangs and thought I’d just end up settling for a Ben Franklin type of thing instead. Big relief. She showed me two types – the backwards loop cast-on that the pattern recommends and the cable cast-on, which she thought would look better. Thank you so much, Johanna! I’ll definitely be getting back to Brookline for more meetings. It was just so nice to hang out with a bunch of people with the same preoccupation. And there was such a great mix of people. Along with Melanie and Johanna, I chatted with two other gals whose names I totally forgot, one was a college freshman and the other was a lawyer. I love that people from different walks can come together like that, needles in hand. I’m also going to do my darndest to get to Melanie’s group in Kingston. She came a long way to hang with us in Brookline! Presents AND a long drive. See, I bet you’re taking quite a liking to melanoma now too, aren’t you?

Recently, I got some Geisha from Elann. It’s cute and fuzzy, like so many other things I love. But I bought it without being sure of what pattern I was going to use. I had a vague idea of a pattern I liked, but didn’t bother to check the guage or anything. So I did a swatch just now using size 10 needles.

It came to about 5 st = 1 inch. Unfortunately, the sweater I originally had in mind has a guage of 3 st = 1 inch on 10.5 needles. And you have to use 2 strands of yarn. I could size up the needle, but I’d like to do it in all 1 color after all, so I won’t have enough yarn even if I can get guage. Here is the sweater I wanted to do. I will eventually. It’s kind of goofy, but that’s why I like it. It’s from a Bear Brand Mohair pattern book from MCMLXIV (that’s 1964 to you non-Romans. Yes, I had to look it up). The popcorn on the hood would probably be kind of bulky, so I’ll probably leave that off. I will also wear actual pants with it instead of spray-painting on a pair. The world heaves a sigh of relief.

So that one is out. But there’s this one. Remove those odd non-pocket things and the pearl buttons, and you’ve got a good, solid cardi. I like the length of the sleeves and the edge pattern. The guage on this is 4 st = 1 inch on a size 10, but I think I can get guage with 11s. I’ll re-swatch later. Click the picture for a better view of the detail.

And in Manly news, I’m cranking away. The back is finished and the front is just about there. I keep getting paranoid that is looks kind of small, but I know once it’s blocked it will be fine. I think Amy is making me paranoid with her manly Manly).

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It seems that Dot didn’t appreciate the whole “knitmare” thing and has decided to tell her own side of the story. Since I didn’t want this blog to become overrun with the ramblings of a fiber-eating maniac, I have helped her create her very own blog called Fiber Fancy . It’s a place where pets of all kinds can share their stories and handiwork without feeling the disapproving glare of humans.

If your pets would like to contribute, send an email with whatever they’d like to post along with a picture of themselves and/or their work. Kitty p*rn will NOT be accepted. Dot’s email address is FiberFancy at Yahoo dot com.

Cats today. They’re spoiled rotten.

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Woo-hoo! What a weekend! I started shaping for the arms on the Manly sweater. It’s coming along really well. I made the Hub try it on once I took it off the circulars and put it on two different sections. It fits really well and already looks swell on him, even if it is a Cirque de Soleil-esqu torso tube kind of a thing that shows his nipples off. Sorry ladies, those pictures are for my eyes only. 😉

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I also got myself a little something at Elann. In my defense, it was cheap, fuzzy and has over 229 yds per skein, so there was really nothing I could do. I’m not made of stone, after all. I think these colors go really well together and I’m thinking of a stripey hooded sweater. I have a great old 60’s pattern book full of mohair patterns, and there’s one in there I might do. When I find the pattern and am sure this is the right guage, I’ll post it. This might even be enough for two sweaters! (the example that Elann is using only uses 4 skeins and I have 12!)

Geisha

BUT

The best part of the weekend was when we spent the day going to yard sales with my parents. It’s one of those family activities that we always enjoy together. My dad loves trying to strike bargains with people and my mom always gets annoyed with him when he offers someone way less, I mean waaayyyy less than they’re asking for something (although I’ve seen her talk someone down on a 50 cent item). Someone had a DVD player for $40 and he actually said to the lady “I don’t really need a DVD player, but I’ll give you 10 bucks.” as if he were doing her a favor. She thanked him but said she’d hold on to it for a while. At the end of our yard saling, he wanted to drive by their house to see if the player was still there. He was going to give her another chance to sell it to him because by then she’d just want to be rid of it and would be begging for his ten-spot. So we drove by and they were still there, but mostly packed up. I piped up that the DVD player was still there (of course it wasn’t, but that’s just how I am). My mom was yelling at my dad that he had better not get out of that damned car. We didn’t stop, but my husband (who is really getting the hang of being part of my family) pipes up with “Well, by the looks on their faces, I’d say they’re about 10 dollars short.” My dad loves it when he helps tease my mother.

So I got some good stuff. I got a cool set of 1950’s dishes with service for 12 for $5. It was all wrapped up in plastic zippered bags made for dishes and they were in perfect condition. They’re still in the car, but I’ll append this post when I get them inside.

We also hit a sale that was a group of people selling stuff to benefit a local organzation of some sort. These are the best because it’s not their stuff, so they have no sentimental attachement to it and just want to move it out. At first there wasn’t really anything good. Then I went to the indoor portion of the sale and found this:

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Pretty intriguing, eh? Wonder what they are?

Well hey, they’re Esther Martin’s Workbasket magazines from 1961-1975!! Wow! Esther sure LOVED this little magazine, she subscribed for 14 years!

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And who wouldn’t, it’s got knitting, crochet and sewing patterns, embroidery transfers, gardening tips, recipes, and all sorts of ads for sensible shoes, dentures, and real live pet monkeys.

What?

Yes, there are. Look. (click the picture so you can read it)

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So all of these magazines were $5! I carried the box around and came across another box of even more interest. Here is a sampling of the wonders within (again, click for a better view):

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25 cents each!!!! I’m going to type that again because it makes me giggle like a schoolgirl. 25 cents each!!!! I got 20 magazines and pattern books from the 50’s and 60’s. At 25 cent each (!!!!), that’s another $5. So I was getting all this goodness for $10. Too cool. Then I went to pay. Imagine my surprise when the nice lady told me everything was . . .

wait for it . . .

HALF PRICE!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOO

What a great weekend!

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