MUST Refrain from Visiting Yarn In Stores . . .

because I feel guilty if I don't buy anything. I'll admit, I stopped by a needlework store yesterday just to check it out and lo and behold, they had yarn there. I was the only customer in this huge store, and the employees seemed very happy to see me. But I couldn't leave with a clear conscience no matter what. I felt obligated to buy something because I know how much retail stores are hurting these days and I really want stores that sell yarn to make money and stay in business. But, as I said before, I have enough yarn. In fact, I have way more than enough. I could knit comfortably for at least the next two years and not buy another skein. But I found I could just leave the store. I felt bad for it. So I tried to pick out something I liked, that wasn't too expensive. I ended up buying another skein of sock yarn, because I just don't want to knit another hat or scarf, and I sure as heck don't want to shell out the money for a sweater's worth of yarn until I knit up most of the other stuff. The skein I bought was Mountain Color's Bearfoot in Juniper. It's a nice hand painted kind of green, and it's machine washable. I guess it was the lesser of two evils, but I guess I learned my lesson and that is, don't go into stores that sell yarn!

chevronscarf

chevronscarf, originally uploaded by KristintheMom.

This is the Chevron scarf mentioned in the previous post. Made it in Socks That Rock Mediumweight, Fred Flintstone and Farmhouse.

Man, it feels good to be frugal!

april09 079, originally uploaded by KristintheMom.

For once, I used up every last bit of something I had. I knitted the Chevron scarf a while back, and was disconcerted by the amount of leftover yarn I had. Surely, there had to be something else I could do with it. I was pretty sure I couldn't knit a whole pair of socks for me with it, but maybe, just maybe I could knit a pair for one of the kids. The only real way to do this would be to knit the socks toe-up. So, with a little guidance from Wendy Bernard's book, Socks From the Toe Up, I took the plunge. These socks were knit for Katherine in my leftover Farmhouse colorway. Look for the upcoming socks for Caroline in my leftover Fred Flintstone colorway!

All the Octopi

april09 005, originally uploaded by KristintheMom.

Here are three baby Octopi I made. The yellow one I made for Caroline a while back, the mint green one I made for Katherine, and the pink one is for my neice Nikki, when we stayed at her house. Needless to say, the girls were very pleased.

New Obsession

Hi all, just been doing a little knittin' around the house lately. I find it's a good excuse to watch tv and ignore housework. It's more fun anyway! I'm making good progress on my two current projects, the Back To School U Neck Vest from Fitted Knits, and my Monkey Socks. I'm knitting the Monkey socks during the day, and the vest at night while I watch Colbert Report, CNN, Wife Swap or Clean House. I've joined the Ravelry group Vestuary, and I'm pretty sure I'll be done with the vest by the end of Feb, at which time I will post pictures. I've found a few new patterns that have recently caught my obsession, one of them being this one:
http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/freeKnittingPatternScarvesToThrowMonth5.asp
I love it. I don't know why exactly. I love it so much that I made just a very small little order to the Loopy Ewe to get some Dream In Color Classy in the Dusky Aurora colorway so that I can knit it. Okay, so I ordered two balls of it, because I felt sure that after I knitted this wonderful scarf I would want to knit myself a hat http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/meret-mystery-beret## or some fingerless gloves http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/evangeline## to go with it. I like to match, what can I say? I've been pretty good otherwise, though I almost gave in when I saw that Lion Wool was on sale at Michaels this week. But I stayed away! I'm being kind of frugal! Maybe Suze Orman is finally getting to me.

Classic Socks, A Penguin, A Hat and Fuzzy Feet!

Well, I finally finished my husband's socks, after much knitting. I thought they would never end! I made them from the book 2 at a Time Socks, and followed the pattern just as it said. However, I ran out of yarn towards the end so they're a little shorter than I had intended, but I think they'll be okay for Rob.

Project Number 2 -- Fern Glade from Knitty. Ran out of yarn here too. Hmm. Seems to be a trend. Maybe I knit fat. I love it though and it was an easy lace pattern.

Project Number 3 - Penguin from Amigurumi World. Made this one for Katherine with the intention of giving it to her for Christmas, but I didn't finish it until this month. Oh well. Enough with the crochet. Back to knitting.

Project Number 4 has no picture. I made a pair of Fuzzy Feet from Knitty. I haven't felted them yet and I have a lot of leftover Lamb's Pride - almost a whole skein. I'm going to make a pair of socks and send them to Afghans for Afghans with it. Maybe I can fit in a little pair of baby socks too.

The year long yarn diet is going well so far, but I can't say I haven't been tempted. So far, I've been able to talk myself out of it by getting excited about my next project. Next up is the Back to School U Neck Vest from Fitted Knits. Hope to do a swatch today and get started.