Red Faced, once again!

Last week DH and I went to the movies. This, to all who read this blog, even on a semi-regular basis, should not come as a surprise. Nor should the fact that I was knitting at the movies.

So there we were, minding our own business when the unthinkable happened. It was so horrific. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

During a quiet part of the movie, I had just finished knitting part of a round when my now free DPN escaped my left hand and fell to the floor. I have no memory of how this happened. Was it an intense moment in the movie? Did I suddenly feel the need to make a hand gesture? I have no idea!!!!! It's possible that because the event was so tragic I have blocked it out.

Picture this, if you will. You are in a dark room full of people and without warning you find yourself with only three DPNs. All you can do is sit quietly and go through the three steps of grief.

1. Embarrassment-When a needle falls to the ground you'd be surprised at how loud the sound is during a quiet part of a movie. At least I realize, that at this point if anyone starts talking I've got no right to play "no talking during movies" police. I just don't have a leg to stand on.


2. Upset- I have no idea how much longer the movie is, so I don't know how long I'll be without my knitting. At this point, DH holds my hand to help calm me.


3. Panic - If I can't find my fourth needle then there will be no knitting during the entire drive home. This will be a whole hour of lost knitting time. Tragic, tragic, tragic. Can you feel my pain?

The movie ends and the lights turn on. People quickly leave the theater. Not DH and I. We are on our hands and knees looking for my DPN. This was NOT our finest hour and the experience was more than just a little humbling.

This story does have a happy ending, we found my needle and I was able to knit all the way home.

Personally I think the socks will be worth the humiliation.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

On the first day of Christmas....

.......my true love gave to me.......

Here's one side,

and here's the other.

Do you think that I'll get a new toaster for Christmas?

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

I've been replaced!

The fact that I love making socks has never been a secret. I've been very open about my obsession of sock yarn. If you recall, I've even laid out my collection of sock yarn for the world to see.

The thing about sock knitters is as much as we love wearing our own creations, eventually we have to share the knitted love with those around us. I've found that when the recipient of knitted socks happens to be extremely fond of knitted socks, the world is your oyster.

"Look dear I bought 5 skeins of gorgeous sock yarn and this one is for you."

He is not thinking about the extra 4 skeins you bought but the pair of custom sized hand knit socks that he will eventually get.

DH loves the socks I knit for him. He refers to the department store socks as the "disposable ones". He even wears his hand knit socks for three days straight before giving them up to the laundry. Last night he was commenting on the pair that I knit for him, last month, for his birthday. They fit just right and are very soft. They have even felted slightly in the heel making that area even more soft.

I swear the whole time he was gushing about the socks, he was fondling them. What's a wife to do?????

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

How to make a UFO

First start with 20 balls of a luscious yarn containing 20% cashmere (VIP by Lana Gatto). If said yarn was 50% off then you'll know that you are off to a great start.

Mix in a cute (and free) jacket pattern that you found on the DROPS site.

Sprinkle in a wool festival that will be attended by thousands of knitters to admire your creation. This in itself creates a deadline but you've added your own modification to the recipe in the form of plenty of confidence.

Mix altogether with a healthy amount of procrastination and this is what you get....

Two sleeves and an almost finished back.

Finish by letting jacket simmer while you try desperately to finish knitted Christmas gifts in time.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

It's Hip to be Square

When I was at Rhinebeck.......

I'm sure that you think all my conversations start out like that. They Don't....HONEST!!!!

I'm a type of person who likes practical souvenirs. Instead of a T-shirt with a city logo, I'll choose a bag, with logo, that I can flash on a regular basis. Sometimes I'll find a souvenir that I be able to use often. but unfortunately I won't be able to flash it to the general public. I could carry my yarn meter around but that would give muggles, as a whole, the wrong impression about my sanity.



When I was at Rhinebeck....... I picked up something cool: Kollage square DP needles(US 6 - 4mm). I was doubtful about these strange contraptions....but WOW .....double WOW......I love them so much that I've ordered a couple of sets in sock knitting sizes. But you knew that I was going to say that.

At first they seem crazy strange to you and you wonder why they are even in your house and near your other stuff. Slowly you get use to them and eventually you'll never know what you ever did without them. Sounds like the definition of motherhood.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

I'll Let You Decide

I'm not normally a rude person.
I'm not normally an inconsiderate person.
But as for my actions the other night, I'll let you decide.

DH and I were off to a Pops concert at the NAC and of course I brought some knitting along. It's a sit down event where the audience get to enjoy some great music. No different than going to a movie but different from going to a Great Big Sea concert where I'm constantly
up and down.

So there I am sitting quietly, enjoying the music, with a sock on the go. Shortly after the concert starts, I notice the woman sitting next to me, staring in my direction. It's getting rather obvious so I turned to look back at her.

Annoyed woman: Are you going to do that all night?
Me: Is it bothering you?

At this point I'm concerned that perhaps the needles are making some noise and disturbing her. If this way the case I would have gladly put the sock away.

Annoyed Woman: Yes, I can see it.

My knitting is bothering her because she can see it......I could think of only one response.

Me: Don't look at it then!

DH did say afterwards, that to my credit, I did bring my knitting lower down and made my movements much more subtle. Despite this, the annoyed woman felt the need to hold up her program to shield her peripheral vision from the sight of my knitting.

The annoyed woman and her friend left during intermission. When they came back, for the second half, the two woman switched seats so the annoyed woman wouldn't be disturbed by the sight of my knitting. I should mention there were plenty of other seats they could have moved to for the second half including a stretch of 8 empty seats two rows in front of us.

So...am I rude and inconsiderate??????

I'll let you be the judge.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Pure Pleasure

While I am a little late in reporting this, I can't go without giving you the rundown of a most fabulous weekend.

The weekend started with DH driving me to Ogdensburg, NY. He had his misgivings about leaving a car in the parking lot at Wal-Mart for a whole weekend. I understand this, but it did make things a little complicated, at the border, when he went into a long tirade explaining the situation, to the customs guy. Sure enough, Customs Guy needed to be enlightened about all things woolly happening in his own state.

Me: I'm going to Rhinebeck.

CG: blank stare

Me: The Duchess County Wool and Sheep Festival

CG: Where's that?

Me: Across the river from Kingston

CG: Are you here to catch the bus at the Wal-Mart parking lot?

It turns out that a carload of Canuck ladies went through before me and had explained the situation to another CG who then passed on his little understanding of this weekend.

In his own humorous way, as I got on the bus, DH told me not to socialize too much. Funny man! He knew exactly what would happen. A bus full of ladies (and one token husband) tends to socialize...a lot. Some of us had never been to Rhinebeck and we were eager with anticipation. Others were returnees and were excited because they knew what was in store for them. In my own little corner the conversation went from husbands to work, kids, quilting and pole dancing. You can't say the the topics of conversation on a bus trip aren't varied and interesting. LOL

As mentioned before, the phone in my room did not work so I couldn't get a hold of Mad Mad. Bummer!!! But hopefully I would be able to run into her at the Ravelry meet up on the Fair Grounds.

At the meet up I circled the group, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of Mad Mad. No!!! I can't see her anywhere. I can't identify her from the vast crown of ravelers gathered. I was ready to yell, at the top of my lungs "Hey Mad Mad" because I'm not above embarrassing myself in public. But then I was distracted by a couple of ladies who came up to me and went gaga over the Noro sweater I was wearing. While it might be a little vain, I think that at one point I did start strutting around because of the many compliments I received about that sweater.

But wait....I have her cell number. I raced to the pay phones only to discover they didn't accept coins for long distant calls. I tried to get the call billed to my home phone but when DH answered he didn't hear the recording of my name so all I heard him say was "sorry I need some confirmation". Despite me yelling into the phone "Just say yes" (although I suspect he couldn't hear me at all) he hung up. So I called collect and told DH to call Mad Mad to tell her to meet me at the First Aid station. At that time I didn't realize there were more than one First Aid station. Confused yet? You should have been one of the ladies in the line up to the washroom housed next to the phones listening to my conversations. I am, if nothing else, amusing to total strangers.

I think that a trip to Boston (I think she lives somewhere around there) is in order. If I'm ever going to meet this elusive blogger.

Pictures????? Of course I took pictures......traveling sock mojo with Bob

a kangaroo

a lemur

sheep shearing

a sheep to shawl competition

a way to use up stash if I ever need a place to live

the spinning wheel of my dreams (it is so on my want list),

This is the Big Sock started at the Sock Summit and yes I did knit on it

If I weren't traveling on a bus I would have found a way (excuse) to bring these little guys

home with me...

.......or maybe this one

My favorite event???? Aside from the shopping????? The leaping Llamas competition. I'd go back next year just to see that again.

Speaking of shopping, yes, I did pick up a few things. Not as much as I'd like as I have a MAJOR trip planned in a few months...but that's a topic for another post.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

It never fails

It has been said that in life there are two things which are certain.....Death and Taxes!

I'd like to present two other certainties for your consideration.

1. If I pick the weekend to go camping, it will rain. DH has pulled down the tent and packed up our gear in "cats and dogs" type monsoon rain so many times that I am no longer allowed to pick camping weekends anymore.
2. If I make the hotel reservation, there will be a problem with the telephone. I wouldn't normally put this on the list but this is the third time I've had telephone issues.

Here I am in Kingston, NY, eagerly awaiting tomorrow for the bus to carry me off to Fibre mecca AKA Rhinebeck. I wanted to call DH to let him know that I arrived safe and sound. I really wanted to call Mad Mad so that we could arrange a meet up place. BUT.....the phone in my room does not work. I even walked down to the local wine and liquor store to see if she was there but Mad Mad was nowhere to be seen.

Hopefully I can find a pay phone and call her cell tomorrow or maybe she'll be at the Ravelry meet up in the afternoon.

Maybe someone is trying to tell me that I should break down and get a cell phone.....

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

A Stitch in Time

Just to give you a bit of background, DH and I love garlic. We've even converted the kids...that is if you count putting garlic in everything so the kids just get used to the taste as conversion. So when a co-worker of DH recommended going to the Perth Garlic Festival this past summer, we packed up the kids and made a day of it.

Before arriving at the fairgrounds, I noticed signs for a quilt show. Yeah....two events for the price of one trip. The quilt show was a bonus as I had no idea that it was going on at the same time. After getting four kinds of garlic to plant this fall and seeing all there was to see at the garlic fest we headed to the Lanark County Quilt Guild show, being held at the local high school.

I can't begin to tell you how gorgeous the quilts were. They were true pieces of art. Even DH, who is an artist in his own right, was impressed. He used to think that my quilting was a useful and creative hobby but after seeing the first few quilts, at the show, he now has a different opinion.

Here is a picture of my favorite quilt.

I liked the next quilt and thought that it was the most original.

How about a closer look.....

It was made with the salvage edges from fabric. It is a work of true genius.....using what would normally be thrown away and creating a piece of usable art from it. I could easily gush over this quilt because I thought it was so amazing visually and the idea behind it is just plain brilliant.

I knew that I was going to be impressed with the show overall because of what was parked at the entrance of the school. I just had to show the sock.

The sock was feeling overwhelmed and very self conscious. I will admit I had to stretch the truth a bit when I told the sock that it was just as good and impressive as a quilted car cozy. What else could I do? I didn't want the rest of the day ruined by a sock sobbing because of feelings of inadequacy. Let's face it, no one wants to wear a depressed sock.

I probably didn't help the situation by rushing to my sewing machine the minute I got home instead of continuing to knit.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

A warm and giggly feeling

The other day a guy at work tried to sneak up on me.


"You'll have to be sneakier than that. Sorry to say, you're just not that stealthy."


He asked if I have kids and when I replied in the affirmative he tells me that motherhood has probably given me super sonic hearing. Eventually the conversation turned to the ages of my kids.


"My oldest will be 16 at the end of October."


His jaw dropped and I thought, for a moment, that he was going to rupture something. He tells me that he thought I was in my mid twenties. Now it was my turn to have an aneurysm or some kind of coronary. I have never been given such a compliment since.......well......I don't know when. Slightly stunned, I returned to my duties. A few minutes later he came over to me and said that he honestly thought that I was about 25. I get weepy with tears of joy just thinking about it. Just when I thought that I was about to reach the top of the hill, to go over it.....it looks like I slid back down by several years.

So out of all the people at work, who have asked for hand knits....he is at the top of the list!

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

I said..."I DO!"

This past week I did something important and life changing. This is something that will require much of my time and money. Much of my free time will now be devoted to this.

I'm already married and I already have three kids so it can't be either of those things.

After I committed myself to this, I started to cry, hyperventilate and I wanted to throw up.

This is really starting to sound like my wedding day. But it isn't......

What I did do was sign my life away.

I am now officially a university student. I will spend the next few years taking courses to get the old sheep skin. I realize that it would be easier just to put everything on hold and attend classes full time, but I can't do that. As much as I would like to, my family won't let me set them aside while I pursue my higher education.

So how am I going for the brass ring while I have a DH, three kids, a full time job and all the chores that a family and a house produce? Correspondence courses.

Raise your hand if you think that I'm a masochist.

OKAY, OKAY.........you can all put them down now.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

A strange chain of events

Do you remember that I mentioned I work with a bunch of guys?

Even though I do, when one asks me what I did over the weekend I don't make something up to keep them in their comfort zone. No I didn't go to the races, I didn't go to a monster truck rally and I most certainly didn't go to a football watching, beer guzzling and butt scratching athon.

"I went to the Akwasane reserve in New York to buy fabric at the quilt store there"

How girly of a response can I give? I suppose that I could have also told him that I spent the weekend spinning or scrubbing toilets. But let's face it, one of those replies would have been a lie.

His reply??? He tells me that the supervisor's wife is a major quilter and they shop at that store all the time. Later that day I make small talk with the boss and we talk about cross border shopping for quilt fabric.

Now you may be wondering where I am going with this. The funny thing with chains of events, you never know where they are going to take you. If I had told to my co-worker, that I had done nothing all weekend, the following conversation would have never taken place.

Last Wednesday I walked into the office and the boss was there.
"There's a sale on at Akwasane this weekend." I know that he is referring to Dream Crafters. He even phones his wife to verify the dates of the sale. "It's from the 3rd to the 8th"

So on Labour Day,with my Visa and my passport in hand, I got into my car, headed along the 401 to Cornwall and crossed the bridge into New York. From there I headed east towards quilting mecca and a 25% off on fabric, notions, patterns and books sale. Did I also mention that since the store is on the reserve, there are no taxes?

I'm sure you know what happened next (sheepish grin)

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Does anyone know CPR?

I'm not an anal person. I can live with imperfections. My standards are not exceedingly high. The proof...just look at my housekeeping abilities. I'm just doing my kids a favour by helping them to boost their immune systems with small doses of germs throughout their childhood.

But how does soap scum in the shower and dog hair on the carpet relate to my knitting? While I can let most things slide......I do have high standards with my socks. My hard and fast rule, when it comes to socks, is that they must be perfectly identical.

So when it came time to finally do something with this sock yarn, I quickly realized that I would have to deal with any sock anxiety and go with the flow. This sock yarn was not going to align magically for me no matter how much I wanted it to.

Big deep breath..... I plunged in head first making sure that both socks were separate throughout the entire knitting time. I didn't need any reminders of what I was doing. Finally they were completed (almost as I still have to weave in the ends).

Much to my surprise, I'm still here. Despite the need for oxygen and the constant heart palpitations, the whole non matching socks experience didn't kill me. I am however, not ready to repeat it again, anytime soon as I wouldn't want to take any chances.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

At least they can't confiscate these

I'll admit it...now that I've finally gotten onboard the information highway, IN THE FAST LANE, I'm addicted to YouTube. In my defence, while there are some crazy and wacked out people out there who think that a video of themselves ranting is publish worthy, there are some very usefull things thing on that site.

It has been almost 8 years since 911 and there is still talk of what we can and can't bring on a plane. Can I knit on the plane is the question on every knitter's lips as they plan a trip. Will they allow my teeny tiny sock needles? Will they allow my innocent circulars? Would bamboo or plastic needles be acceptable over metal needles?

Such questions weigh heavily on us but I have the answer. A quick trip around you tube land provided me with a solution. FINGER KNITTING!

1. you always have your fingers with you
2. the "I'm paid to rummage through your stuff" people can't take them from you
3. you always have the correct size of fingers
4. You can use and weight of yarn
5. you'll never drop one and be forced to start looking for it in the most cramped space possible (the economy section)
6. you'll never have to say to the person seated next to you "excuse me, could you look under your seat, I dropped my finger and I think that it rolled your way"

Finger knitting is easy and very fast to learn. My kids have been known to take an odd/partial/scrap ball and finger knit on a car trip. I've even been able to calm the "I'm bored" monster with a ball of yarn. I've even had the strangest conversation with my 8 year old DS as he was rummaging through my sock yarn scraps. He figured that since they were scraps, they were fair game so I had to go into the whole "there are different levels and categories of scraps" speech. He either understood or realized that mom will wig out if he touches the sock yarn. Regardless, materials for my sock yarn blanket are safe once again.

I taught kids how to finger knit and for awhile all three of them were addicted to finger knitting. This is something I embraced, something I encouraged and perhaps I even pushed on them until one day it occured to me:

What am I going to do with all these??????

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

Pardon the Pun

For the longest time I have been quite envious of Bells' garden. In fact, I am green with envy. So this year I decided not to sit around bemoaning the fact that even with all my property, I don't have a decent veggie garden.

DH put up the fencing and helped with the digging. I even had 2/3 of the kids help with the planting of some seeds. The garden area is a work in progress and I hope to have the entire area worked and planted next year.

The first thing I planted were Roma tomatoes. I never expected them to grow so out of control otherwise I would not have planted the squash with them. Yes I know, it looks more like a tomato hedge rather than a group of individual plants.

Here are my zukes, cukes and more tomatoes.

I am pleased with how my beans are progressing. Even my jalapeno peppers are going well despite the cooler summer temperatures we've been having.

Today I harvested my garlic. Last year we were given a head of Spanish and Russian garlic by a co-worker of DH. When asked how we liked them he had to confess that instead of eating them, I planted the cloves. They did quite well but the only problem is that I can't remember which type is which. I've got to remember row markers for next year!!!!!

I once read a quote by an anonymous author "God created rainy days so that gardeners could get their housework done" Obviously this person was not a knitter otherwise they would know that even with rain we still have nicer things to occupy our time with than housework. Good thing that it has been a wet summer other wise I'd never get any knitting time.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

Wanted: A Life

It isn't just me, I think my whole family needs a life. I think this because I doubt if their reaction was motivated by a good blog post for me.

TURTLES:

"Spring is here and once again, turtles are emerging from their winter hibernation. Many of the slow moving critters will attempt the extremely hazardous trek across roads and highways in search of food and nesting sites. Unfortunately, a turtle’s thin shell is no match for motor vehicles. Highway fatalities are devastating for turtle populations. In Ontario, we are lucky to have all eight of Canada’s native turtle species. Sadly, seven of these species (the Spotted, Wood, Blanding’s, Eastern Spiny Softshell, Common Musk Common Map and Snapping Turtles) have been classified by provincial and national authorities, as endangered, threatened or of special concern. The good news is that there are now 700 turtle crossing signs installed on highways throughout Ontario, thanks to the dedication and efforts of Turtle S.H.E.L.L Tortue (a registered charitable organization). You, as caring citizens, can help by paying close attention to the road and shoulders in these designated turtle crossing areas and near any water-bordering areas from April to September."

The above is an excerpt from a post by this organization. http://www.turtleshelltortue.org/

With that being said (or written) let me continue on with my lack of life story. I was getting dressed for work the other day when I looked out the window.

Me: Hey there's a turtle on our lawn, quick go get the camera!

The whole family rushed out to see the turtle. DH had the camera and took several shots. Seriously, I have never seen four people move that fast. I doubt that they could move that fast if the house was on fire.

Yup, I definitely need some excitement in my life!

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

No more smoke signals

This is a tale of two companies.
A few weeks ago ,DH decided that enough was enough. Dial Up was too slow and we kept getting disconnected after 10 minutes of activity. This is no tconducive to web surfing/downloading by any stretch of the imagination.

There are very few Internet companies servicing my area (aka the boonies) so there is little to choose from. The one company we did decide upon has two install contractors and this is where my story begins:

Installer number one was rather eager to make an appointment.
"Are you sure no one will be home on Monday?"
"Yes I'm sure"
"What about Tuesday?"
"Same thing....."
He shows up on Wednesday, because I'm not working that day and he has no other choice to accept this. After standing on my roof twice and calling to see if the nearest tower is undergoing some unscheduled maintenance, he tells me that the very tall trees surrounding my property are interfering and he can't even get a bar. He tells me that he'll put my name on the list if a much closer tower becomes available. He leaves with $30 of my money.

With head hung low, I shuffle back to my Neanderthal cave to once again send the equivalent of smoke signal emails.

DH is determined in his need for speed and, when he gets home, calls our neighbour to find out how she got high speed with the same Internet company. Answer: she used installer company number two.

Company number two asks questions when we make the appointment. They want to know they layout of our property and surrounding area, do we have tall trees....etc. All things that would affect us getting a signal.

The appointment is made. This time two guys show up and they bring an extender with them. They test the signal from the top of our antenna: two bars. They go up even higher: Five bars.

Moral of the story. High speed Internet is a wonderful thing, but people who know what they are doing are priceless.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Bust a Stash

If you have ever wondered "how do I use up all those odd balls in my stash or how do I get rid of all my stash so that I can start over"......I have the solution for you.

Rachel John....EXTEREME KNITTING

I'm of two minds about this. Part of me says that this woman is a genius and that I should just leave it at that, the other half wants to knit my own mattress. I almost regret giving away all those odd balls.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Flashing my needles at the public

Me: This Saturday I'm going downtown to a Knit in Public event.
Teen: Why? You knit in public every day.

She does have a point but off I went to Majors Hill Park with chair and sock yarn blanket in tow. I met up with a group of ladies and had a great number of laughs. This is a picture of my view from my knitting spot under the shade of a tree.


We have a number of Gothic style buildings in Ottawa which equals lots of opportunity for sock mojo. This is the back of the Connaught Building.

While I am content to knit in the seclusion, of my corner of the world, it did make me realize that I miss a regular knitting group.

However, driving for an hour, to get together with a knitting group seems like an awful waste of valuable knitting time. What a conundrum! I need to find something local.....

But this does bring to mind the fact about how much I knit at work. I told you all that I babysit a building but I didn't mention that there are people in this building who walk by me and see me knitting. Lately some of them are calling out numbers....."7 1/2, 9, 9 1/2, 11" they sound suspiciously like shoe sizes. I think these people want socks. HAH!!!! I'll put it on my TO DO list just before the large man's sweater and the car cozy I've been asked for by these people.

A co-worker once gave me the "I can buy socks for next to nothing at Wal-Mart" spiel. (The nerve!!!!)
My reply? "That's because no one likes you enough to give you hand knit socks"

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Out of the Closet

You know that you've hit a new low when the only place, in your house, that your kids don't try to follow you, is your closet.

I hit that low last weekend and ended up in my walk-in closet. I learnt a few things while I was in there:

1. walk-in closets hold a lot of stuff.
2. I put a lot of stuff in my closet.

So while I was in there, hiding, I decided to tidy up a bit. I discovered that:

1. my closet really holds a lot of stuff.
2. if I organize some things and get rid of others, my closet will hold more stuff.
3. if I organize it all and find other places for some things I will actually have a nice place to sit and knit as I cower and hide from my children during the summer holidays.

In my initial survey of this hidden hideaway I discovered this:

It is a hexagon from the Mountain Laurel Crib Counterpane. It's been a UFO since I bought the yarn almost six years ago. I knew that my friend was going to have another baby so I wanted to knit something special. Since time flies when you have so many projects on the go......let's just say.......that baby will be 5 years old this August. (Stop laughing.....all of you)

This project really deserves to see the light of day so I'm determined to finish it.....(I mean it, stop laughing). Wish me luck!

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

Shifting from Cheek to Cheek

Yesterday I bought a torture device.

Yes, I willing went to the store and bought something that was designed to inflict pain upon its users. Or maybe this thing is completely harmless and has been possessed by the demon of agony and sore muscles.

I'm sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that I have not gone near one in over a decade. NAW!!!!! can't be it at all. It's got to do with an old gypsy curse dealing with torment. Or maybe a witch doctor put a spell on it to cause untold suffering to the users. Yes that must be it!

In any case, here's a picture of the guilty party:

Its only saving grace is the fact that it is attached to this:

So until my underside toughens up, while sitting down, I'll just shift from cheek to cheek, as I try to get comfortable.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

Have Sheep, must Travel

Me: Woolworth what are you doing in my suitcase?
WW: I bought a book.

Me: OK, but what are you doing in my suitcase?

WW: I bought a book!

Me: I understand, you bought a book. But why did you get my suitcase out and why are you sitting in it?

WW: I have to go see Denise.

Me: Denise?

WW: I want her to sign my book.

Me:(clarity has come upon me) Oh I see. You do know that Denise lives very far away.

WW: That's okay. I have to ask her something very important.

Me: Why don't you ask me, it would save you a very long journey.

WW: No, it's something that I can only ask her.

Me: OK, but you'll have to wait a bit before I can get you and the book to her for the question and the signing.

WW: I can wait.

Me: I'm glad that you are showing such patience.

WW: So next week then?

Me: Not next week or even next month.

WW: So when?

Me: Before you know it.

WW: When is that?

Me: Forget what I said about you having patience. Why are you so anxious to meet Denise?

WW: Denise? I don't want to meet Denise. I want her to introduce me to LuLu.

Me: Lulu? This has just been about meeting Lulu?

WW: Yup.

Me: Figures!

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

I wanna Real Man

Since the guy who works opposite shifts from me will come into work and 90% of the time will find me knitting, he decided that he would treat me to a knitting video. He found Real Men Knit on DVD at the local library last weekend and brought it to work for me to watch on my next shift.

While I don't want to give this production two thumbs down, I felt that it lacked in a few places. Any topic that was discussed was only briefly mentioned. I was hoping for something with a bit more meat of the matter. The movie talked briefly about how, historically hand knitting was a male dominated occupation. That is, until the knitting machine made hand knitting no longer financial feasible so the task was handed off to women. (Sounds familiar!!!)


Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and and host of average Joes were interviewed. It turns out that both men and myself knit for the same reasons: texture, colour, to alleviate boredom, stress relief, to make something for a loved one, because it's fun...... These are all reasons (plus several more) why I pick up the sticks and string.

From Jocks to stressed out tech geeks and everyone in between were featured on this video.

Now before I go any further, I want to make it perfectly clear that I know knitters come in all shapes and sizes and have a wide assortment of appearances from formal to very casual. A few of the knitting guys were visibly pierced and I don't have a problem with that, at all (honestly).

However...........watching a guy stick a cable needle through the piercing in his nose (because that's where you can keep it so it doesn't get lost) and then hold the tip of it in his mouth is something no one should have to see.

But I digress.....


Knitting is a craft that is so versatile that it can appeal to every different type of person. What I love about knitting could be different for someone else, but it doesn't matter. I get excited about cables and they might drive the person next to me to the frog pond. I can't stand knitting mittens and someone else could live for making them. It's all wonderful as there is room in this craft for everything and everyone.


So to use a South African saying from Brandon Mably.....when it comes to knitting "what lifts your skirts?"

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

I Have a Problem

I like to knit socks.....that's not my problem!
I like to travel.....that's not my problem!
I like to buy sock yarn when I travel as a type of souvenir.....that's not my problem!

Here is the sock yarn that I've purchase during the last three trips.



Not a lot but so far I've only knit 2 pairs of socks from my small collection of souvenir sock stash.

Maybe it has something to do with this:





Or maybe it has something to do with this:




Yeah I think that it has something to do with my entire collection of regular stash sock yarn (there's enough for 43 pairs of socks in this picture). I tried to give full disclosure but found that 6 balls of sock yarn did not make it into the picture nor did the 7 skeins of bare sock yarn from Knit Picks.


I'm a weak woman with a problem. I enter a yarn store/wool shop and head straight for the sock yarn section. I stand amazed at all the beautiful colours. I touch, fondle and caress, then I am hooked and I can't leave the store without at least one ball or skein. Even with all the sock yarn at my finger tips I can't wait until my next fix. Eventually the urge will be so strong and I won't be able to control myself. I'll have to find a way to satisfy this urge growing deep inside and the only way to do that is to add to the stash......


I'm a Fibreholic and sock yarn is my drug of choice. I make no apologises but I think that I'll have to divide the stash again and hide it all before DH gets home tonight......just in case!!!!

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

I should have known

Sigh....there is a lot of effort going into this. Probably much more then she'll ever realize, but it was inevitable. Once the blanket started to take shape she saw the possibility and potential of this thing. She became enamored and declared the blanket hers. I don't blame her though, if I were my teen, I'd probably do the same.

On the recommendation of Taph, I've decided not to publicly beg for leftovers of sock yarn. However being the ....ahem....the collector.....of sock yarn that I am, I'll never lack materials for this blanket. When you have your own stash that you are trying to control there is no need to add to the chaos with the help of other. I am doing a good job of it all on my own.

As with many mother/daughter relationships we have discovered that we are at an impasse in our opinion of the construction of this blanket. I see a great sock yarn and think about the wonderful socks. She sees the same yarn and wants it to go immediately into the blanket. She not quite there yet on the concept of leftovers yet...that....and patience. Since I am the one knitting this project, she has realized that she must resign herself to waiting for the finished product for however long it takes. It's a life lesson that she's not too thrilled about.

So without further ado, here is an update of my mitered square, leftover sock yarn blanket.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

On the Road to Rhinebeck

I've made a decision.

Many of you will not be surprised, in the least, by this decision.

It is in no way life altering or the answer to world peace.

I've decided, that each year, I should take some kind of yarn/knitting/stash enhancement trip.

This year's S.E.X.(y) trip is none other than a visit to New York's famous wool and sheep festival in Rhinebeck.Ever since I've moved to the area, I've been wanting to go, so the trip has been on my TO DO list for some time. When Mad Mad wrote about her trip to Rhinebeck last year, I knew that it was time to go.

Now for me, planning a trip is actually part of the fun of actually going on the trip. So the earlier I get to plan and the more I get to plan, the more fun I'll have with my pre-trip. Please don't get me wrong, when I eventually go to a place I've been known to throw out the planning/schedule out the window and follow my nose to the great unknown. I've seen some neat things and encountered some amazing people this way.

For the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival, there is little to plan out. Show up and take in all there is to offer: book signings, fleece auction, livestock show etc.....and lots of shopping!!!! But there were a few things that I had to consider: how to get there and where to stay. Rhinebeck is several hours away and I didn't want to waste all that valuable knitting time by driving myself there. Also since people didn't start to discuss sharing rides to Rhinebeck, on Ravelry, until the beginning of September, I didn't want to wait until then to firm up any plans.

In February, I attended the local Spin-In and wouldn't you know it, my answer was there. A member of a spinning guild from NY was there trying to get additional people to sign up for their bus trip to Rhinebeck. I jumped on the offer faster than you can say "cashmere is my friend". The group has also booked a block of rooms in a nearby motel so I was able to get a reduced rate as well.

Since that trip is nicely wrapped up with a ribbon and a tag that says TO: The Fibreholic, I tried to sneak in a second S.E.X.(y) trip. DH wants to go away for a weekend, for our 20th anniversary. Yes, Virginia, I have been married for almost 20 years. Well, it just so happens that the Sock Summit is happening around that time....heh heh heh.

Sigh....DH caught on and has put his foot down and has declared that we are not going anywhere near Oregon during that time. There was something about how the trip was supposed to be about us and spending time together. ARRRGGGGHHH how that man can be unreasonable!!!!!! I'll just have to make sure that the route we take, to where ever we go has yarny/wooly type shops along the way.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic