Yet more yarn

A wonderful visit to the Big Apple resulted in ... yes ... TWO yarn store visits and ... yes ... MORE YARN. By the pound! School Products is an unusual industrial-like store on the third floor of a building on Broadway and 28th. The doorman knew without me saying a single word that I was there for the yarn store and directed me upstairs. Hmmm. What do knitters look like? Or maybe it was the needles sticking out the side of my bag pack.

So there are tables and tables of yarn on cones, sold by the pound. How many pounds does it take to make a sweater, I asked? Sounds like a joke, n'est ce pas? I bought 2 pounds of a lovely blue-marble alpaca wool blend. Turns out it is Marble, by Karabella. $84 bucks, and I'll probably be able to knit 2 adult sweaters from it. Good deal.

Then, the next day, Twin2, or TwinB as she was known in the womb, and I went to Flying Fingers in Irvington. A world of difference from School Products. Lush skeins of yarn pouring from packed shelves, comfy loveseats, a table full of knitters learning new techniques. But small. Most of their stash is down the street in a warehouse, but there are at least two "runners" -- young men who zip over to the warehouse and come back in record time with yarn, needles, or whatever you want. No die-cast model of the Flying Fingers yarn bus though. :(

So a successful trip, more yarn, and nary a finished product to boast of. Sigh.

KnittingJones

KnittingJones

The Year of Knitting Selfishly.

This is it. The big year. Sweaters for me. Mittens for me! It was last week, when I was searching in vain for me $1.99 stretch gloves and a hat, any old hat, that pushed me over the edge. At the same time, my knitting basket was loaded with: Mittens for future son-in-law, scarf for twin daughter, sweater for oldest daughter, socks for spouse, mittens for step-grandson, and countless promises for others.

No more! Attention friends and family! After 40 years of knitting, and only 1 sweater and 2 shawls to show for it, the tide will turn. Yes, I will finish your items. Yes, I will teach/help each and every one of you to knit on your own. And yes, I will be well-dressed, and warm, in the coming year.

How much is too much?

As I sit in my office, the shawl I'm working on hastily shoved beneath my desk before the last client came in, I feel compelled to start this blog with true confessions -- I am a compulsive non-finisher. Just one day after vowing not to buy any more yarn or books until my unfinisheds are done, I bought:

6 skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky -- Chianti
Blocking pins
and a lovely book on lace knitting -- "A Gathering of Lace" by Meg Swanson

Of course, these purchases are justified by the fact that I received one skein of Burly Spun in wonderful purple and maroon tones for Christmas, so I needed to get yarn to complement the colors and knit a vest, and my oldest daughter got engaged, so a wedding shawl is in the works.

Rationalizations, pure and simple.

So here goes -- this is what's on the needles now:

1. The aforementioned shawl (did I say I was a lawyer -- who hates words like aforementioned but I swear it's in our blood)

2. Bulky Mittens from "Weekend Knitting" for future son-in-law

3. Same pattern mittens for me

4. Ivory cable scarf for twin daughter Andrea.

5. Cross country ski sock for hubby

6. Sampler shawl in lovely blue heather NatureWool

7. Kool-aid dyed sweater from Stitch-n-Bitch

8. Fuzzy pink alpaca socks

9. Cable and trinity stitch vest for me

10. Prayer shawl in Homespun

11. Coronet hat from knitty.com

I'm certain there are more that I've overlooked, as I'm in denial.

Is this normal? Is this unique to crazy women lawyers who knit?