Whale of a Week!

It's been a whale of a week!  It started off with a trip to my LYS to see if they could figure out what was wrong with my whale sweater.  Why was I missing 120 stitches on my 'perfectly knit' whale sweater.

Well, apparently I had some kind of mental breakdown and simply X'd out two whole increase row paragraphs of the pattern.  Why would I do that? Why?  Good grief!  But those two paragraphs make up the missing stitches exactly.  

The next day was Helene and thankfully we just got a nice rainy day here.  The wind didn't even barely blow so of course I spent the day sitting on the covered deck knitting another glow in the dark hat.  I realize this one looks just like the first one, but this time I'm using self striping yarn for the background color.  I was worried the white wouldn't stand out or the design would be way too busy but I love the result.

Thankfully our roads weren't flooding or blocked with downed trees and the mail lady was able to bring me my new Hocus Pocus project bag from Twisted Yarn & Fiber.  Wanda, who runs Twisted Yarn & Fiber is local and I have several of her bags.  I love them all but this one is my favorite because, well, Hocus Pocus!

The next day, the mail lady brought me my LindeHobby order.  Have you heard of LindeHobby?  I hadn't until a few days prior to receiving my order.  I was watching random Youtube videos at 3 a.m. while I 'finished one last row' before bed and some lady was talking about how great the site was.  Cheap yarn, fast shipping even though the company is in Denmark and she was in the US....  So of course I had to check them out and of course, I loaded up my cart with stuff and placed my order. 

So yeah, in four or five days, my order of six skeins of yarn plus the 15 sizes set of dpns arrived.  I was, and still am, amazed!  First of all, the set of 15 sizes of dpns cost about what one set costs at Knit Picks.  Not that I'm bashing Knit Picks.  I love Knit Picks but....  And then the yarn.... Two of the skeins were under $10, or maybe they were $12 - I can't remember now, but they are normally $22 - $26 here in the US, or at least at my LYS's.  The other 4 skeins, I wasn't familiar with so I have no idea about their savings.  And then the shipping - they shipped the six skeins plus the needles from Denmark to the US for $4.98.  Again, less than Knit Pick's shipping rates.  And the package arrived quicker than Knit Picks packages do.  Plus, my order was in a super cute package.  I wish I'd taken a photo before I tossed the packaging.  I also wish I'd photo'd the yarn before putting it all into the stash pile.  Oh well.  

The point is, if you're looking for a bargain, check out LindeHobby.  They have all kinds of artsy stuff besides yarn too.

Moving on....

So they announced the east coast ports were shutting down due to the strike and less than three hours later...

I was at work and expecting a nice quiet Tuesday.  Tuesdays are always slow and the poison ivy on my foot was driving me crazy and I was not in the proper headspace for Tuesday night's craziness.  The toilet paper hoarders attacked.  Everyone was buying huge carts full of nothing but toilet paper, paper towels and cans of Chef Boyardee products.  It was insane!

And then I came home, took my shoes off, and promptly caught my non-poison ivy foot on a table leg and broke my toe.  So now both feet are swollen and sore and I'm having a bit of an on-going pity party.  I feel HORRIBLE complaining about my toes when so many don't even have houses after Helene came through but... One foot is itching me to death and the other is throbbing and yet numb at the same time.  It's a very weird sensation.

So I spent today sitting and winding yarn.  I'm supposed to be using all that yarn to knit things for my next craft show but I'm kinda sick of craft show knitting and feeling sorry for myself and want to start a new project.  I just don't know what that project will be.  I should start that whale sweater all over again, but I feel less like doing that than craft show knitting. Ugh! Oh well.  Maybe inspiration will strike me on Saturday.  The Montpelier Fiber Festival is this weekend and I will cram my poor swollen feet into my shoes and limp my way to some new yarn.  And hopefully some inspiration.

Meanwhile, prayers go out to everyone in Helene's path.  I believe everyone I know in her path is safe and well.  A little wet maybe, but safe and okay.  I'm so overwhelmed by the photos and videos of the destruction I can't really comprehend it.  I have sent off some stuff for donation and I'm trying to decide what I can do in my Etsy shop to raise money to send to them.  I just can't fathom what they are going through.  After Gaston, we had 10 feet of water in the house and we lost a lot of stuff and it cost a small fortune to repair everything, but we still had a house to repair.  Structurally, the house was still fine.  I remember how much it hurt my heart to loose my stuff.  I can't imagine loosing Everything, including loved ones' lives.  My prayers go out to those folks.

Meanwhile, happy knitting and maybe I'll see you at Montpelier.