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.

Where did they go?

I've got Axel Rose crooning a slightly modified version of Sweet Child of Mine stuck in my head.  It goes something like

Where did they go?
Where did they go now?
Where did they go?

Oh, oh
Where did they go?

Oh,
Where did they go now?

Where did they go?

Oh,
Where did they go now?

No, no, no, no, no, no
Sweet needles,
Sweet needles of mine

I used to be the proud owner of five or six sets of every single sized dpn known to man and now, I find myself knitting a toddler hat without enough needles.  I have 2 pet peeves/OCD factors when it comes to dpns.  One, I need five needles.  Four to hold the stitches & one to knit with.  When I knit on only three, I get ladders, no matter how tightly I tug on that beginning stitch.  Secondly, I hate, hate, hate, with the passion of 1,000 suns, having the needles overloaded with stitches.  I'd rather knit with 18 dpns hanging off the project than have too many stitches on each needle.  

So, here I am, knitting a toddler hat with four #6 needles instead of five and the needles are overloaded and the stitches keep slipping off the ends.  I can't find another #6 needle anywhere in the house.  

Where did they go?
Where did they go now?
Where did they go?

Oh, oh
Where did they go?

Oh,
Where did they go now?

Where did they go?

Oh,
Where did they go now?

I've checked every drawer, every project bag, the couch cushions, and even under the car seats.  No needles, although I did find almost $10 in change and some very stale popcorn.  Yesterday, I caved into the frustration and instead of blogging or knitting, I went to the store to buy another set of #6 needles.  Guess what I came home with.

#7 needles.  I came home with fricking #7 needles, not #6.  Argh!  I'm seriously thinking about taking sandpaper to them & sanding them down to be sized 6.

#todayonmyneedles

So, due to the frustration & time spent searching & shopping, not much knitting has been happening.  The black & silver cowl continues to grow.  It's actually growing fairly rapidly considering the amount of time I've spent on it.  That's sad in a way because the yarn is SO wonderful to knit with.  I wouldn't mind if that project dragged on and on for a while.  Indian Feathers is progressing rather slowly, but that's okay too.  As long as I get the next 18 rows knit before April 1st, the project will be on schedule.  And then there's the hat.  It would be a much faster project if the stitches would stop falling off the blasted needles.

Looking on the bright side....  If I don't take sandpaper to the new set of #7 needles, I can return them.  And if I return them fast enough, I can take advantage of the sale the store was having.  They had bunches and bunches of glass beads on sale as well as Lion Brand's Fishermen's Wool.  Fishermen's Wool isn't exactly pretty, but I like it for everyday use items like hats & mittens.  It's affordable, strong, doesn't itch and still has it's lanolin.  Oh and did I mention beads were on clearance?  I bought a bunch.  Of course, a year from now when I find the right project for them, I'll be singing, 

Where did they go?
Where did they go now?
Where did they go?

Oh, oh
Where did they go?

Oh,
Where did they go now?

Where did they go?

Oh,
Where did they go now?

By the way,

Happy Valentines Day!

Got any special plans?  We'll be celebrating at home.  It's supposed to rain all afternoon then drop down to 4 degrees tonight.  It sounds like a disaster in the making.  We'll just stay home, cook something on the grill (the worse the weather is, the more my husband likes to cook outdoors) and hang out in front of the fireplace.  Knitting, of course.