Trading one Addiction for Another

I am making the Worlds Most Beautiful Scarf. Once finished with it people will gasp when they see it. They’ll want to touch it, and once they do, they’ll gasp again.

Yesterday I travelled down to Sheep Street, my favorite yarn and fiber store. I decided to arrive at that particular time because someone was going to be demonstrating how to make cables. I sat waiting in anticipation for the instructor. I prepared myself for the mental acrobatics that we were about to begin. She passed out written instructions, held up two needles and a ball of yarn, gave 20 seconds of verbal instruction, then stopped. I sat, waiting for her to continue. She didn’t. I thought maybe she just lost her train of thought. Or perhaps she was waiting for feedback from us before moving on. Still nothing from her, she just sat there looking at us. I wondered if  maybe she was having a brain aneurism? Then what she had said finally registered in my little pea brain and I shouted, “That’s it?!”

Who knew cables were so easy? They certainly look complex don’t they?

The scarf I am making is done in baby alpaca from an Indiana company called Alpaca With a Twist. I think it is the softest, most beautiful yarn in the world. The color is called Lumber Jack. I have a million other things I should be doing today but it’s 9 degrees outside and all I want to do is sit and knit cables. The reversible cable pattern comes from a book titled Cables Untangled. It is a great book that explains how to do cables, has multiple cable patterns and best of all includes a cable stitch dictionary. I highly recommend it if you’re new to cables.

I haven’t even scratched the surface of selling off my scrapbooking and rubber stamping supplies, but seeing how the price of gasoline is what it is, I killed two birds with one stone and picked up that Strauch drum carder I was planning as my reward. No need to waste another trip, eh?

I can’t wait to use it. Now all I need is some clean fiber… hmmm, where can I get some fiber…

“Why are you looking at me like that,” asks Ethel?

“I’ve noticed you keep yourself very clean,” I replied.

Squirrely Shirley

She’s reached the nut ball phase on the personality scale, giving ol’ Dorothy a run for her money.

She’s small but scrappy. She doesn’t take any bull from anybody else. She bounces around like a ping pong ball and if it ever warms up to the point I can hold the video camera without trembling and chattering my teeth I’ll tape her antics for your viewing pleasure. In the mean time I have no choice but to enjoy her alone.

(I have an overwhelming urge to knit her some colorful legwarmers, Punky Brewster style.)

Three Little Words

Best.

Dog.

 

Ever.

She’s been earning her keep and is generally covered in frost every morning. Bless her heart.

What was I Thinking?

Have you ever watched that show, Hoarders? If you have, you’ve no doubt seen the expression that flashes on some of the hoarders faces when they finally face the reality of what they have amassed.

I’m there.

What exactly possessed me to think that I needed a three foot stack of 12” x 12” paper? I mean wouldn’t that be enough for, oh let’s see, 847 scrapbooks? I’m not even going to mention the amount of rubber stamps.

I’m a wee bit overwhelmed. That carrot seems a long way off.

Wine. I think I need some wine.

And maybe one of those therapists.

The Mule and the Carrot

Cesar Millan always talks about how the pack leader needs to set rules, boundaries and limitations for the pack members. I am a firm believer in that. I even take it one step further though and admit that the pack leader sometimes needs a few self-imposed limits.

For years I was a scrapbooking and rubber stamping demonstrator. Even though I never earned a dime of profit I did manage to amass a large trove of supplies. But as they say, the surest way to lose enjoyment from a hobby is to turn it into a job. I burned out on the craft in a big way and ever since we moved here I’ve not taken it back up. For years now I’ve ignored that stash of supplies knowing I really needed to do something with it. Knowing I had money tied up in all that and that it was worth something to somebody. Knowing it would be an enormous undertaking to organize it and sell it off.

It is time. Call it a New Years Resolution if you will, but it’s going.  I’ve dragged it all out into the open where I have to walk past it every day. I HAVE to do something with it. I can’t leave it piled up in the hall.

I’ve gathered the boxes and packing material and I’m e-baying like a mad woman.

You see I finally figured out what my reward, or carrot, will be when I’m done. I am going to buy myself a drum carder to process those fleeces the Golden Girls are growing for me. And… maybe even a wool picker if I get up enough courage to let go of ALL of it.

So there it is. Item number one on the 2011 Mission Organization Master Plan.

The Other Room at the Top of the Stairs

The other day when I posted the pictures of my craft room at the top of the stairs, Karen Anne commented that she always wished she had one that had a small sofa and some bookshelves. It just so happens I have one of those, too.

You see, this old house has two staircases. The craft room is at the top of the back stairway and this little reading nook is at the top of the front one. I was going to wait until I had cleaned and organized it before posting pictures, but realized at the rate things are going around here that might be awhile.

When we moved in I had immediate plans to recover the cushions and pillows. I made the pillow in the corner and then proceeded to get sidetracked. Four years later this is another project that still needs finishing. So I’ve added it to my 2011 Mission Organization Master Plan. More on that later. Anyhoo, this bench just happens to have storage under those cushions, which I am planning to use for clean fleeces. Of course that is one more thing on the Master Plan, to actually clean those fleeces, but I digress.

The bench until now had been storing even more books. Books that we can’t seem to part with. Another item on the get organized list is adding another bookcase and getting the books off the floor. But again the 2011 Mission Organization Master Plan is a very long post for another day. Right now I need to get back to working the plan.

Off With Their Heads!

Goodbye!

Farewell!

Tootle-loo!

When we bought this place we thought the first thing we would do would be to remove the doll wallpaper border from the parlor. Four years later it’s finally happening.

I’m not going to miss them. They’ve been here visiting far too long.