Must Have More Yarn!

14 Fall Semesters and Counting

Ezara — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:46:44 +0000

Last Monday was the start of the fall semester. Today it hit me that I have been here for the start of the last 14 fall semesters. In that time, I have seen the campus grow from four buildings to seven. Over the years, I have had four offices in two buildings. The college has had seven presidents: two who served two or more years without problems, two who have been ousted for misconduct, one quit a week after being hired and two interim presidents. My department has had five leaders during this same time. One person has retired from my department and four others have quit and been replaced. When I started, my department had thirteen people and today we have 21. When I started, I maintained two physical servers, today I maintain eleven (soon to be 13) physical servers.

It still seems like I started just yesterday. :)

Claret Forest Canopy Progress and Mental Meanderings

Ezara — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:17:52 +0000

The Claret Forest Canopy shawl progresses at a steady pace. I knit a few rows here and there and have consumed three skeins of yarn. Skein #4 will be added tonight and the final skein will be used for the edging. If I say I will finish the shawl by the end of the week, it won’t happen so, when the shawl is finished, it will be finished and I will have 20 skeins of this colorway left.

Yesterday a bag of acrylic-based yarn fell on my head (for real). It took me a while to remember when I bought this yarn (2006) and what I purchased it for (a shrug that looked horrible) and why I had so much of it (if 5 balls are required, then I should buy 20 – don’t ask).

I was going to add the yarn to my pile of clothes for the donation bin but the more I touched it, the less able I was to part with it. After having a fleeting vision of being featured in a future episode of Hoarders, I almost put it in the pile only to hesitate once again. I stuffed the yarn back into my yarn honeycomb and started to put some books away. Sandwiched between two books was the hat pattern I had used for Melody’s chemo hats. It hit me like a bolt of lightening. The yarn is Caron’s “Simply Soft”, and is very soft and machine washable and would be perfect for chemo hats! :)

Melody started her chemo treatments in January and started losing her hair very quickly. During one of her early chemo sessions, she did not wear a hat (she thought she had enough hair to keep her head warm) and was surprised at how quickly her head got cold with thinning hair. The nurses in the chemo department allowed her to pick out a hat from a basket of hand-knitted hats that had been donated for chemo patients. It meant a lot to Melody and it meant a lot to me too. I’d like to send some hats to the center where Melody received her treatments as my way of saying “thank you for taking such good care of my baby sister”. I get an hour for lunch and will be knitting hats while slurping down my Slim-Fast shakes.

Tonight after work I will finish my remaining swatches for the Wise Sweater KAL (pattern is Wheatgrass Truffle) which will be starting in just a few days. I think I am spot on gauge with my first swatch but we are to knit one on needles one size larger and one size smaller in addition to size that gives us gauge. I’m not a swatcher by nature and I have been seriously burned by not swatching (I have an XXXL “Mr Greenjeans” to prove it) but I’m actually enjoying swatching now that I really understand how vital it is to a project. Doing is one thing, but understanding the mechanics of the doing is vital to the process.

August 27th

Ezara — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:05:03 +0000

Today would have been my father’s 68th birthday. Today is the 60th wedding anniversary of Samuel’s maternal grandparents.

I find it hard to be sad when I think of the grandparents celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Sitting here typing out this post I can think of a dozen things they do on a regular basis that brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. They will squabble back and forth with each other in a tone of voice that clearly shows the love and respect they have for each other. They can finish each other’s sentences. They help each other out in the day to day tasks of living. The love they have for each other is clearly visible in their eyes and their actions. Together they produced a daughter and two sons. They have six grandchildren and 3.5 great-grandchildren (#4 is due later this year). What a wonderful 60 years! :)

Happy 60th anniversary G’pa and G’ma!

Happy birthday Papa! You are loved and missed.

Wheatgrass Truffle Swatch #1

Ezara — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:43:51 +0000

My pretty Blackberry Gloss DK from Knit Picks arrived today. The yarn is a deep, rich blue-purple (or would it be purple-blue?) and soft as can be.

I am participating in the Wise Sweater (the pattern is called “Wheatgrass Truffle”) KAL on Ravelry and one of the tasks is to knit three swatches using three different needle sizes to get gauge which should ideally be 6 stitches to the inch. I knit my first swatch on US Size 4 needles. My rough guestimate (I cannot find my knitting gauge since I cleaned the coffee table last weekend) is that this is pretty close to six stitches to the inch. Tomorrow I will find a ruler and get pre- and post-bath measurements of my swatch. I will knit another swatch using needles one size larger and one size smaller for comparison purposes. This is part of the swatching exercise.

I think this is the first time I have actually enjoyed knitting a swatch!

The Knit Picks Gloss DK is a scrumptious yarn to knit with and I think it would be a wonderful yarn to weave with. :)

The Claret Collection

Ezara — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:03:29 +0000

I’ve been happily knitting away on my latest Forest Canopy Shawl in Claret Heather Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks. The shawl will use 4.5 – 5 skeins of yarn leaving me with 20 skeins to do something with. Um, yeah…what the heck am I supposed to do with all of this yarn??

I will be knitting a sweater very soon and do not want to start a second sweater or other complicated pattern. I need simple and easy, in other words, mindless knitting in front of the TV. What to knit besides Forest Canopy Shawls?

Knitting Daily featured a simple “Vacation Scarf” with a super-easy-to-remember pattern. The scarf has a lovely lacy appearance and should knit up quite rapidly. This should be a good way to use a skein or two of yarn. Then there is the Forest Canopy Cowl which closely resembles the Forest Canopy Shawl. Maybe a bit on the overkill, but the pattern is very easy to remember. The Tuesday Night Cowl is another viable option for using up some of this yarn. A pair or two of Fingerless Mitts would probably be a good way to use some of this yarn as well as keeping my hands toasty in the office when the cold weather sets in. Several of these items will most likely be gifted during the upcoming holiday season. They should all knit up fairly quickly and not require a lot of attention on my part.

Yes, I think I have a nice selection of knitables for my “Claret Collection”. By the time I have used all of the Claret Heather yarn, I should be thoroughly sick of this colorway. Now, will I actually do all of this knitting or procrastinate as is my usual way of doing things? Hmmmm….