No pictures

I am still working on my Ariann [Ravelry link] and I have the sneaking suspicion that I do not really need the two extra ball I got. You see, I realized that I thought I was decreasing for the yoke, but I was not, because I was balancing the decreases with yarn overs of the pattern. So I ripped the whole thing off to the beginning of the yoke and then I went 4 inches up, 2 inches down, 5 inches up, 1 inch, down and so on all week.
I swear, you would think it is called Penelope instead of Ariann.

For the trill of finishing something, I made another Jen's Sensational Scarf [Ravelry link], same yarn, same everything.

I have not forgot about the contest, I just forgot to post about it. Thank you so much to everybody who donated, and we have to winners: Erica (very rightly so because she was the first one) and no-blog Mary. Gals, I will email you shortly about your prizes!

March Finally

I am so glad February is over, I just do not like that month. It is too short and with ski week smack in the middle, even more. And the peak of the flu season, so everybody gets sick. Really, really happy is March now!

Update on Ariann [Ravelry link]: the wonderful of Little Knits sent me two more balls of Queensland Uruguay DK [Ravelry link], even matching the dye lots - yippee! I can now finish Ariann, in fact I have been working on it no stop. I will probably only need one extra ball, just you know, just in case.

This latest incident of yarn shortage made me think about my yarn habit.
Should I stop buying yarn in I do not have a project for it so that I buy the right quantity? This would not have prevented the Ariann problem, because I did have the right quantity according to the pattern.
Should I try and use the yarn I buy in a reasonable time frame so that it does not become impossible to match dye lots if I need more? I have yarn in my stash whose photo I took in 2005! Don't know why, but yarn sitting in my stash for more than 2 years bugs me and makes me feel guilty. Poor yarn, waiting and waiting for my attention! So next project will be with the last 3 balls of my first Karaoke (July 2005) - does that sound like a wine?

While waiting for Ariann's yarn, I made a baby hat [Ravelry link]:


Yarn: LuLu's Yarns TM Sock in Ciclamini (double) - 1/3 of a skein

A scarf [Ravelry link]:


Yarn: Baywood Yarns Luxury Sock & Shawl in Summer Sunser and Karabella Gossamer (1/2 skein each)
Pattern: Jan's Sensational Scarf [Ravelry link]

And I finally put the fringe on my Multidirectional Scarf [Ravelry link]:


Yarn: Lang Yarns Mille Colori - 3 balls
Pattern: Multidirectional Scarf by Karen Baumer

I can't believe it

This week is ski week, aka President Day Week, but here it is called ski week. Why? Because kids get a week (A WHOLE WEEK) off school.
Why?
So that people can go skiing.
You see, here you wear a t-shirt in January, so if you want to go skiing, you need a week or so to make it worthwhile to drive up to Lake Tahoe.
I do not ski. I do not like snow, it is cold and wet. And my minimum requirement for a vacation is that I can knit without risking to lose my fingers because of the cold.
Still, one week off school.

And, and the "and" really makes me mad, Stitches West is the same week as ski week. It is not that the folks at Knitting Universe do not know that it is ski week (everybody I know who knits and has school age children had emailed them about their lousy timing, maybe even several times.)
Still, ski week.
And it is raining.

So, if it were not ski week, I would be shopping until dropping dead at Stitches right now (well, not really because I do not do well in crowded places and I am making a serious effort to reduce my stash, and I am not saying this only because HWME reads this blog, hop over to Ravelry if you do not believe me.) Then I will have lunch with my husband who works five minutes away from the Santa Clara Convention Center. And then I will drive back toward home to pick up the kids.

Instead I am trapped with my kids at my store because my business partner is sick (that has nothing to do with Stitches, I'll admit that) and it is raining so they can't play outside in the gardens.

And I ran out of yarn for my Ariann. Yes, AGAIN I run out of yarn on a project. The pattern indicated I needed 1,240 yards of yarn, I had 1,240 yards of yarn, still .... running out.
And I need to rip about 5 cm back because I forgot the "AT THE SAME TIME" for the neck shaping.

The pouch? Made it last night. It's a pouch, you ran out of yarn? You make it smaller. Naturally Yarns Merino & Fur, sadly discontinued because it is a dream.

REMINDER: The contest closes Thursday at mid night.

Could this be the year?

Could this be the year I finally knit things for myself? Not only I finished my SBK [Ravelry Link]:



but I am almost done with my Ariann [Ravelry Link]:


Yarn: Queensland Collection Uruguay DK

The plan is to wear it at Stitches, I am going to be all Saturday at the FTA booth.

And, I casted on the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest[Ravelry Link] from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel:


Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8

Well, I like purple, I like Stephanie Japel's work.

UPDATE on the CONTEST: Principessa has raised almost $100 - thank you so much to everybody who donated on her page or sending me the money via paypal. She she does reach $100, there are going to be two winners! Or three if she reaches $200 and so forth.