Dangerous Addiction

While I pine away this morning, beating myself (metaphorically!) into submission to my husband's decisions for us today, I thought I'd publicly confess my (most recent) addiction. Now that the cold weather is upon us, I've let my knitting needles out of their off-season hibernation.

And oh, my.

I've decided I need three of me. At least. One to sew (things like knitting bags and needle-holders?), one to knit (all the Christmas gifts I have in mind and NO way to complete timely), and all of us to cook, clean, organize, and educate. Emphases on the 'clean' and 'organize'.

We were back in Gi-gi's neighborhood for a day or two, and my dear friend was in town from New Zealand to visit her folks. We are mutually guilty for getting ourselves into knitting... I began after she brought me some sturdy wool from NZ last Christmas to crochet some wool soakers. The wool inspired me to something nobler (knitting), and by January, when I saw her again, I was preaching the virtues of interchangable circular needles and everything else that I fancied, in my vast 3-week experience. In any case, I took her to a yarn shop I'd visited last weekend (which nearly resulted in the dissolution of my marriage, but that's another story. :)), which we both thought was entirely lovely and wonderful. We had googled directions to two other yarn stores in neighboring towns, and made our way to the first.

Heaven help us.

It was in an old downtown storefront, with old wooden floors and high ceilings. It was amazing. Yarn everywhere, wool, alpaca, mohair, cashmere, synthetics, blends, hand-dyed, kettle-dyed, variegated, in hanks and skeins and those cute round doughnuts. All the way to the ceiling along the walls, and in cubby-style bookcase things everywhere in between. A room of sock yarn and racks of chunky yarn, worsted, aran, dk, sport, fingering, lace... and I don't even really know what I'm saying! Like most shmancy yarn shops, nearly everything was out of my price range (unless I aspire to knit a single mitten, or something equally tiny), but this place was running sales. Fifty percent off a LOT of things, and 40% off a couple different brands of yarn. This is how I roll.

I bought 2 tiny skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino to make a gift for my brother's firstborn (due in Jan). I had been working on a sweater, but it's just NOT HAPPENING. ALL that time spent drooling and I only came away with that!!?! I know. But don't worry. I went back the next day! (it is a very good thing that I live far, far from this store) This time I bought 4 hanks of a hand-dyed red wool to make a thingy. A, um, short poncho thing (this is not the exact pattern, but similar. The cabled band at the bottom is narrower and, um, simpler). You see, my friend (who could NOT even purl last I saw her!) has showed me up entirely by knitting all kinds of incredible and amazing things, and I am provoked inspired to at least attempt something similar. Okay, fine, copy her thingy exactly. "Me too, me too! I can do that!" At least, if she makes and sends me a copy of the pattern, I can. Try.

I console myself that she lives in a quiet corner of the planet with no children and no job (NZ wouldn't approve her for working) and her husband goes to school full time. That, and she seems to find winter twice each year, which kindof seems like cheating in the knit department. :)

I also bought a skein of dark red sock yarn. Not because I've ever knit a sock (okay, I knit a pair of tiny ones in worsted cotton last winter/spring), but because I might want to try someday when I have nothing else to do (*guffaws*).

Well, I'd love to go cast on something, but I should probably clear a square foot of kitchen counterspace, or sweep the half-bushel of biscuit crumbs from below the dining table.