I hate Mondays.

Due to doing various things with my aunt yesterday I pretty much got nothing done that I had planned. I did however make her 3 containers of Emulisfied Body Scrub. I used brown sugar this time so the color was a bit different. It threw her off and made her thing I had messed up the recipe. I made her test it with me before I scented and bottled it however, and it works just fine. One was scented with a copy of Givenchy Pi and the other two were scented with a copy of B&BW Stress Relief. I kept the odd end of the batch for me. Yay for scrub!

I only got two more repeats of my feather and fan done, sadly. I just couldn't make my brain or fingers get into it last night. I started the Jayne hat instead.

I have five more rows of the orange left before I swap to the yellow. It's going rather quickly I must say.

This is the first time I have used Lamb's Pride Bulky and I like it a lot. It's soft, it feels nice to my hands, and it knits up quickly despite the fact that I hate my cheap ass walmart circulars.

I recently bought the Bulky Cabled Cardi pattern from Glampyre's site because I liked the neckline on that sweater a lot. Perhaps I will use the lamb's pride bulky for it when I get around to making it.

Off to the doctor so I can get my "Darth Vader" mask and air machine. I have sleep apnea and they (the medical powers that be) have decided that wearing a stupid mask with a stupid machine going all night to force air down my nose/mouth is the best thing for me. I would beg to differ, but I am tired of waking up at night when I have stopped breathing. I'll just chase shmoo around with the mask on screaming, "LUKE! I AM YOUR FATHER!"

Problem solved.

Shmoo's mom will be knitting him a sweater. She said there is no mother/son sweater curse so she will make him one. Speaking of shmoo's mom, today is her birthday, Happy Birthday to her!

On to the shrug! I have changed plans. I am not doing 12 inches of ribbing. I am doing 8. This is not because I am totally sick of ribbing and I don't want to order more of the darker blue yarn. While both of those things are true, I would have persevered. Truth is I got worried. I think that 12 inches of ribbing will somehow screw with the way the shrug is supposed to go together. And I didn't want a really big collar either, which the ribbing seems to totally become at the neck. So I stopped at 8.

Then I began my feather and fan in the light blue. I was very doubtful about this once I actually started it. I was worried about it looking like crap. I thought, "oh noes! I am going to have to rip it all out in it's entirety and just make something else!!!" But now, taking a couple of pics and looking at it from a distance, I think it just might be ok.

And here's a close up.

Also, for those of you who have made the shrug or are in the process I made some other mods as well. I didn't add 4 inches to my shoulder measurement. I only added two. I did this because I want to add sleeves. Also I didn't k2tog p2tog for a row. I just k2tog. Since I wasn't doing the mock rib, I was able to make my decrease row also serve as my first pattern row, so that's what I did.

I don't think I will make huge amounts of progress today as I am packing some stuff up and helping my aunt do some things, but one can always hope!

The Boyfriend Sweater?

Shmoo wants a sweater. He KNOWS about the boyfriend sweater curse and still wants a sweater. Nevermind that I haven't done a sweater before either, so his would be my first one and could therefore suck really badly, he wants a sweater. So now I want to make him a sweater. Well, I did before but I was resisting the urge pretty well. I have already told him he can't have a boyfriend sweater, but that he can have a husband sweater.. one day, AFTER we get married. But it's hard to resist. He appreciates that I make stuff. Whether that is soap, or lip balm, or lotion or a knit hat. (OK, he doesn't USE the lip balm and lotion, but he appreciates that I can and do make it. He didn't make fun of the amount of bath and body product making supplies I have, nor the mock the numerous bits of soap I have in the shower from testing different recipes.) It's harder to resist a plea to make something for someone you love when they appreciate it.

So... what's the verdict? Is the boyfriend sweater really cursed? I await your opinions (while I look at men's sweater patterns).

Tag! I'm it. Meme.

Eunny tagged me! When I grow up (as a knitter), I want to be just like Eunny.
As a fairly newb knitter, my scope is a bit limited, and thus, my answers will be also. It will be interesting for me to come back a year from now and look at these answers and see if/how much they have changed.

What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?
So far, besides really cheap acrylic, I have used some handspun, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Brown Sheep Co. Prairie Silks, and some random stuff from a yarn store that I have no idea what it is but it alternates bulky and thin, almost Lopi style. Oh! Lopi! I am using some for that Jayne hat I am making next month. So far my favorite has been the Prairie Silk. I know that Noro (of any kind most likely) will certainly be a favorite one day. I just have to try it.

Your favorite needles?
I have acquired a rather modest range of needles. I have some boyle's and susan bates, I think all beginning knitters do. I don't really like them much, but I like Susan Bates better than boyle. I have some quicksilvers, both circs and dpns, and they are ok. I have a pair of Britanny Birch needles and I like them, a little more than I like my bamboo needles. Mostly I really like my Addi Turbo circs and my Lion Brand plastic dpns. They Addi's for their smoothness and the cable that is ever so fabulous, and the lion dpns for their flex and give that doesn't stress my hands as much.

The worst thing you've ever knit?
Well I am still a beginner so, my early swatches still come to mind. The problem with knowing what good fiber work should look like means that when you start a new one, you know exactly how crappy your efforts are. Give me time and I am sure I will hate something else more.

Your most favorite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it...but it was the most fun to knit)
Right now I really like the SNBN cabled hat. I feel good when I finish one. It looks like it's supposed to, and if my head were not shaped like a melon I would surely wear one myself. Instead I will just keep making them for other people.

Most valuable knitting technique?
So far the coolest thing has been the way you can splice and semi felt wool skein ends together so you don't have to have loose ends, and then you don't have to weave them in. That's pretty neat. Yay wool!

Best knit book or magazine?
So far, The Knitter's Bible. I am a book person and as nifty as it is to find things online, I like the tangible feel of a book. I also like that this covers most of the basics I need to do things.

Your favorite knit-a-long?
My ONLY kal so far has been the Mystery Shawl 2 KAL. It was my first lace knitting, and I did it with cheap red heart acrylic. I got midway thru clue 2 before I took it off the needles because I needed them to start my craftster shrug. I plan on restarting it with the lace weight Shadow from Knitpicks in Lost lake some time after I move.

Your favorite knitblogs?
Well, See Eunny Knit of course. I paste the link to her blog to shmoo so much he has come to expect it. I also like to read Whispering Pine, Marnie MacLean, and Fig and Plum. I read others but not regularly. Mostly I just click links to the blogs that come up in the commentary of these main blogs and if I like it, I try to add it to my links here so that I can find it later.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
I really like a lot of the things Teva Durham designs. Unfortunately, she knits for skinny people. Or at least for non-short, non-fat, non-big-boobed people. I am ok with this. It just means I won't knit her designs.

The knit item you wear the most?
(how about a picture of it!)Well.. I wear nothing I have knit.. yet! I am sure I will wear my craftster shrug a lot, and when I make socks, (especially those Geisha ones, so I can wear my flip-flops year round! year round I say! Ok maybe just in the house but... YEAR ROUND!) I will wear those too. Mostly I just make stuff for other people.

I have no idea whom to tag with this next. If you wish to be tagged, please do let me know!

Dog, Interrupted

Ok, so THIS! is why I didn't get as much knitting done last night as I wanted. It's often the reason I don't progress as much as I would like to. It's name is Daisy. She likes to get in your lap when you are doing things. Then she likes to insist you give her blankets to burrow under and gets mad when you wake her up to reposition her because she is on your yarn. It's like having a cat, that barks a lot.

I only got an inch of ribbing done last night. 5 down, 7+12 to go.

And my brother was nice enough to send me a picture of him in his latest hat. He said it was perfect. While I know better, I am glad he liked it.

And finally, it occurs to me that because I do know how to crochet, rather well, I should start using the crocheted chain cast on method, but I haven't found pictures of it I understand yet. If anyone has a link to good instructions on it, I would really love that.

1 inch, 2 inch...

3 inch, 4. 4 inches! I have knit 4 inches!!! Muahahaahahahahaa! (Done in the Sesame Street Count's voice.)

I have made it to 4 inches on the ribbing. It took one skein of the wool of the andes to do it. This means I will need to order more of the dark blue for the cables I want to do on the sleeves. I worry a bit about not having enough light blue now as well for the center. Perhaps it will be fine.

/sigh.

I do think that wool is way stretchier than acrylic and it's nice to work with, so that's a plus. Also, I did my first join between skeins tonight. That was pretty nifty as well. I hate weaving ends.

Also, after conferring with another knitting friend today, we decided I am a slow knitter because I knit English style, and wrap the yarn around instead of knitting continental. But I have to knit that way, if I hold the yarn in my left hand, then my brain thinks crochet. If I hold it in the right and wrap then my brain understands I want to knit. If I hold the yarn in my left hand and try to knit, my motor skills rebel immediately. It's not a pretty thing.

I am guessing I will just have to be a slow knitter.

OH! and my Jayne Hat kit came today! Thanks Heather, you put together an awesome package!!!

Slow and steady?

It occurs to me that I am a rather slow knitter. I realize this could be because I haven't been doing it that long, but regardless.... SLOW. It takes me a approximately 15 minutes to complete a row on the ribbing part of my shrug. There are 6 rows to an inch and I am doing 12 inches on each side. So that's 72 rows per end. 1080 minutes for each side. Which comes to 18 hours. Just for one side of ribbing. So I will have about 36 hours of knitting in just the ribbing. I have no idea how long the feather and fan section will take. It's less stitches but I have to pay attention to the pattern. I don't think I will have this finished before I move. Nowhere close.

And I realized the other day that I was doing the YO on my purl stitches backwards. It doesn't make a difference in how it looks, but it does make a difference in how it sits on the needles. So now I have to concentrate on wrapping counter clockwise. It's getting easier. Bit by bit.

Shrug it off.

So my wool came in. All Knit Picks of course. This is my first time ordering from them but I like the yarn. Shadow lace yarn in Lost lake. Wool of the Andes in Hyacinth and Chambray. The wool of the Andes will become my craftster shrug.

So then I finally got home and did a baby swatch on my size 8's. It came out to just a touch over 5 stitches per inch. I decided to do the measurements as if it were 5 exactly.

So then I did the planning and used my meager math skills. My drawing skills really aren't that hot either, but you get the gist.

And then I cast on. I started out with straight size 8s and after casting on and setting up the first two rows I switched to my size 7 addis, for both ease of use and to trim down my gauge a tiny bit.

The great white north (OK, Maryland) will NOT defeat me! I will be warm in my craftster shrug!

mmmmmwool

My wool from knitpicks came in while I was gone! Yay!
AND Heather is mailing my Jayne Cobb hat kit today as well.
I gave my notice at work, so now I just have 3 weeks of chaos and I am done.
Life feels pretty good today.

Mug Shots.

Today I went to visit my Mom, Stepfather, and brother. I kissed my brother and told him he wasn't allowed to scare me like that anymore. I gave him shmoo's message of "Hey, once you learn how to drive, you can come visit us in Maryland." He grinned at the message, so I think the humor it was said in was appreciated. I could be wrong. I'm just his sister.

We went to the 41st Annual Chiaha Craft Fair. It was ok. There were only two homemade soap vendors there. One's booth was just ok. The other one had it going on. She had vision. About both her product and the way it was represented. I was impressed. I have no idea if her soap was impressive however, because I didn't really look to closely at it. The packaging was drool worthy. If I didn't make my own stuff, I surely would have bought from her. And she had cinnamon flavor lipbalm. That is intriguing, perhaps I will try it some time.

There were several, and by several I mean MANY, pottery booths. I bought two mugs for the new household. I paid $10.00 a piece for them. This is funny because just 3 days ago I gave shmoo total shit for being willing to pay $12.00 for pottery mugs. I pointed out the Ikea mugs that were only .50 cents and said it was ridiculous to pay $12.00 for something to drink coffee from. I called him to let him know I had bought them and he could mock me. These are the mugs.

My stepfather also gave me two ceramic mugs. The guy that made them has some stuff in the Smithsonian, so he's apparently famous. I can't read his name from the bottom, so I shall remain unenlightened as to his greatness. They are nice mugs. Here is a picture of one of them.
And finally, because you know, this post just hasn't been near long enough... My mom gave me a ceramic sea turtle for my birthday. She went ahead and gave it to me since I will be gone when my birthday gets here. I think I will try to rework the soap website logo, when I reopen it, to include my new turtle friend. P.S. I just added the verification for comments. I got tired of editing the comments for hot dates and pr0n. I hope it's not too much of a pain for any legitimate readers who wish to say something.

Pictures from the North.

This is the coast guard ship near the Baltimore Aquarium. And the other picture is the same area. It's just the back of the shops. They look like they are old shipping warehouses to me. I just like the brick.

Towns with water are appealing to me. Perhaps because I have been so land-locked all my life. I like the way Balitmore "felt" and I thought it was a pretty city as well. Despite the cold. I never think of Atlanta as pretty so perhaps it won't be so bad. It was a little on the cool side to me however. And now I have come home to a cold snap in Atlanta. Hopefully it won't last my remaining 3 and a half weeks here.

My yarn now resides here. In it's Ikea hanging bag, next to the Ikea bookshelf. If the cat doesn't decide it's a toy, (Bad Bri! No!) then it shall be a great thing. I have enough hanging cubbies to sort out the yarn and space to add more, but not too much, so the stash should stay well under control. I hope.

I have worked a little more on my mystery shawl and am almost finished with clue 2. Clue 4 came out while I was in Maryland and from the amount of emails in my box when I came home, it looks like people are pissing themselves. This might turn out to be a little too hard for me. I plan to continue on with it however, as best I can. Even if it's a massive failure, it was cheap yarn and good practice. Also, I have no other current projects available so if I want to knit, it must be that.

Today I am going to a craft show with my mom. And possibly my little brother. He was in a very bad car accident while I was out of town, and has to be watched closely the next couple of weeks. I knew that it would be hard to be so far away from my family if something bad happens. It was just as hard as I thought it would be. Luckily, he turned out not to need emergency brain surgery and appears to be recovering nicely. Now I get to go scold him for scaring the hell out of me.

And finally, I miss shmoo.

Home again, home again,jiggety-jig.

Except it doesn't really feel like home anymore. Mostly it's the place I keep all my crap. The apartment in Maryland is home now and I am feeling a little displaced at the moment.

We had a good couple of days. I met people and had a good look around. We did stuff in the apt. Hooray for Ikea. I had never been there before. I really liked it. We have a monstrous bookshelf and we'll probably end up getting another. We found storage solutions and things we want to buy in the future. I look forward to settling in and getting everything nice and homey.

I have decided when my last day at work will be.
I have decided when exactly we are moving me.
I have the time I need to pack.
I want to be there now.

Pictures in the morning. Tonight I am too tired.

Now Calling...

DELTA Flight 5795 to Baltimore Washington International Airport. Woot! Going to spend a few days with shmoo and check out the area before I haul all my junk up there. I have a lot of junk.

I finished Josh's hat. It being black doens't really help much with photo quality. But that doesn't really matter much. It's a hat.

And this is my walmart sweater. I bought it about a year ago for $12.95. It's acrylic. It has a zipper that can be unzipped from the top or bottom. It has cables and a bit of ribbing around the edges. It also has a hood, which you can't really see in this picture. I freaking love this sweater! It is disturbing how much I care for this sweater. I feel like as much as I love it, it should have been hand made. My goal is to make myself a sweater I love just as much. One day. I'll start with that shrug once my knitpicks yarn gets here. And then one day I'll feel knitter enough to replace my beloved walmart sweater.

I hope you all have a fabulous rest of the week. I know I shall. Back on Sunday with random Baltimore Aquarium pics. I have a thing about taking pictures of fish. Don't ask, just humor me.

Bagels and Guilt.

As I sit here eating my bagel and cream cheese this morning... Joshua's unfinished hat is staring up at me. Trying to make me feel guilty. I mean, YES! I should be done with it already, it's just some decreases and finishing, but I am not. Perhaps I will take it to work today and finish the hat on my lunch break. That would silence the guilt!

Knitpicks sent out my yarn order yesterday... YAY!

I have not heard if my Jayne Brown Hat kit has been mailed so I am guessing it has not. It's a shame too, ideally I would have it today so that when I finish the current hat I would have a nice new project to occupy me on the plane. I guess I better find a new book. Or maybe just reread an old one.

I hate flying. I don't mind the airports, or the waiting. I am not claustrophobic and I don't think I am going to die. I just get really nauseated. Every movement of the plane makes my skin turn that wonderful shade of Kermit Green. And Kermit was right. It's not easy being green.

My head hurts...

My head hurts this morning. I don't want to be at work. It's getting colder too. I don't like the cold. WHY am I moving to Maryland if I don't like the cold? A boy. That elusive and magical creature that makes all women do things they swore they would never do. (Move anywhere north of Atlanta, get married, have babies, etc)

It's like catching a unicorn and then having a find a place to stable it. You want the unicorn, you cherish and love the unicorn, but getting things worked out so you can keep the unicorn, well.. that's work.

I left Josh's hat at home so I can't even do stress relief knitting today. I didn't knit on it at all yesterday. I should be done with it. But no. In fact I didn't knit at all yesterday. I did more cleaning and "am I keeping this? really?" sorting. Sadly once I finish this hat, I'll no knitting but the Mystery Shawl. The one I am doing in cheap acrylic just to learn. Hopefully my yarn orders will get here soon so I can go back to having multiple WIPs to rotate between.

I've been a bad bad girl....

Ok so I didn't finish that black hat for my brother. I am on the decreases at the crown but he decided he had to go and couldn't hang out any longer. That's ok. We had a good day.

I still haven't made soap this weekend. I may not after all. I brought work home because I am out next week and I needed the peace and quiet to think about how the customers messed up their EDI so I can submit changes to mapping, OR tell the customer what data they left out, and what data they should have never put in.

I did go thru all my stuff in the bathroom. Turns out, I am throwing most of it away and that it will all fit into one box after all. Woot. I also packed up all of my stash, except the hat and lace projects, and all of my books/magazines and made them fit into my larger suitcase. Managed to get my needles in there too. I am taking it with me Wednesday so I don't have to move it later.

Ok, so before you gasp and pass out at the idea of having neither stash nor needles nor books....I ordered a Jayne Cobb Hat kit from one of my fellow craftsters. Shmoo's best friend loved Firefly, and he's getting a hat for Christmas. I kept the size needles I will need for that.

I also have 16 skeins coming from knitpicks. 4 skeins of Shadow in a green color called Lost Lake. Also, 12 skeins of Wool of the Andes. 6 in hyacinth and 6 in chambray. The green is for a lace version of the MysteryShawl2 KAL. The blues are for the Craftster Shrug that has developed on this thread. I have decided on the dark blue for the ribbing; the light blue for the body, in feather and fan stitch. I also plan on light blue long sleeves with dark blue cables that are a bit circular, stacked so there are three. All three lines won't go all the way down the arms. Mostly because as I have to decrease I will run out of cable pattern room, and I don't want big blousey sleeves. I figure by the time I have this shrug done I will have completed my move to Maryland and have desperate need of it. Actually, by the time I finish it, it might be next spring....

So I have packed my stash but have more coming. It'll be like.. a baby stash! An offshoot of the parent stash that is waiting patiently to be joined with the masses of other yarns I have.

I hope I like the Wool of the Andes a lot because it's pretty cheap, and it's actual 100% wool. I would hate for it to make me itchy however. That would make me sad.

Should I get the black hat finished up today I will throw it up for viewing.

Why people think southerners are stupid.....

This picture really says it all. It's a couple of miles down the road. I pass it daily on the way to work. And now there is even more junk in the yard than when I took the picture. I am not sure if it's the RIP #3 or the 8 on the rusted roof that is the best part of this picture. Regardless. I hear Deliverance in my head every time I drive by.

Hats.

I've spent the last couple of weeks making hats for the various men in my life. Ok, the two men in my life. My honey, from here on referred to as shmoo, and my lil' brother.

For shmoo, I made a single ribbed creation out of some wool that was spun by my lil' brother's ex-girlfriend's mother. She raises sheep and spins. This particular sheepie was clipped for the first time in 2003 and his name was Jack. I got his first skein of yarn. It's white and brown and black, two ply, and a spun a little uneven, but it's fabulous. I have demanded that my brother get back together with Dana in order to procure me more yarn from her mother. He is possibly going to organize a swap for me. Homemade soap for homemade wool. I feel that despite the fact that I would give her a batch of 20 or so bars, she would come out on the short end of the deal. I hope she falls for such a trade.

I also made that Cabled Hat from SNBN. Well, I sort of made it. I made a mod in the starting rounds and just did 2x2 rib instead of the 2p2k. I wanted it to flow neatly up into the cables. This hat was the second time I have made this hat and my second experience with cables. The first being the first time I made the hat. (Another story and no pic so I digress. Moving on...) I actually used the recommend Black Sheep Prairie Silk yarn in a color that shmoo picked out and I ordered online. It was the guilder green. I also snagged some in a lighter green for a hat for myself, or someone else, at a later date. While knitting this hat I discovered the Lion Brand dpns that are plastic. They bend and give nicely, and I like the points on them. The Prairie Silk has a nice give too, so for the first time in a while, my hands didn't hurt when I got finished knitting. Cotton is nice, but it has no give. Alas, the hat ended up too short. I will have to perform emergency lengthening on said hat next week. Here is the green hat. I will post a pic of the gray one when I make him model it for me next week when I visit our new digs in MD.

The green hat in progress on the new lion dpns.

The completed hat blocking on my wig head.

Then there is the 2x2 rib hat I just winged for my lil brother. The previously mentioned Gryffindor hat. I am pleased with it and after making it sat down and planned out my decreases a little better so the next one, also his and still on the needles, (Hey sis, that hat is rocking, can you make me one in just black and gray too?) will have a better pattern at the crown.

He wanted it snug and short. It is. I should finish up his black one this weekend. He's supposed to come visit me to pick them up. I will try to make him model his black one for me.

Now we come to the non knitting stuff I have been making. Last weekend was to be my last soaping weekend before the move. It's not. I am going to make one more batch this weekend. THIS weekend shall be the last weekend. I am also thinking about lipbalm. Just because I am down to two tubes from the last batch I made. I love it. I like having it around to give away to friends too. It's small, easy to have on hand, and fabulous. Besides, who doesn't like lipbalm? The last batch was a peppermint/spearmint blend. I think this new batch might be that new hibiscus flavor I bought at the soap con and haven't used yet. YUMMY.

Shmoo hates to shave, so I made shaving mugs for his birthday. This was one of my projects last weekend. I scented them differently so he can lather according to mood. He will be getting these for his birthday. Actually he will be getting them next week when I visit because I am not sure I will be with him on his birthday. Currently it's looking like I won't. The dark green mug is scented with a copy of Bulgari and the white mug is scented with a Sweet Orange EO/ Tea Tree EO blend.

MS2KAL

So I need to learn how to knit lace because I want to make Rowan 37's Butterfly. I want to get married in it. Mind you, there is not a date set for this wedding, nor is there even the request of my presence at the altar yet, but I figure that those thing will come with time, and I certainly need the time to make the dress. The dress is done in Kidsilk Haze, and I think I want to use the color Grace. Not positive about this however because on some sites it looks pink (ew) and some it looks faintly lavendar (yes!). Obviously this will entail a trip to a real yarn store to find out for sure.

In the meantime however, there is the Mystery Shawl 2 KAL. I am using cheap-ass red heart acrylic, in Blue Ocean (I think!), and US sz 8 needles. I am not after the "lace" look. I am after the knowledge that creating this piece will give me. I plan on doing this shawl again after I complete it in the cheap worsted. The second one will be done with proper lace yarn after I learn not to lose my place on the chart and cry and tink it back and cuss and then go again.

Clue 3 comes out today. I am not yet done with clue 2. But I started a week late and I am almost done with it. Below is clue 1 completed.

It's not light, nor airy, nor full of grace. The yarn splits, and there is no delicacy to it at all. It is however, teaching me a lot.

Culling the herd.

There comes a time when you have to say goodbye to the ones you love....

I am getting ready to move to Maryland next month. Among the tons of books and computer equipment and soap making supplies.... I have my stash. My beautiful beautiful stash! And tonight I went thru it all and decided what to give away. Some of it hurt. But I keep telling myself it's going to a good home.

One of the women I work with has a little old lady at her church who makes afghans for every baby that is born in that church. I am sending most of my random yarn collection to this woman. I don't know if she will weep in pain at the eyesores I am sending her way, or dance and be happy for the multitude of odds and ends she is getting. I hope she doesn't cry.

What is left is this. All the stuff on the top is mostly acrylic. It was good enough for my great granny, and sometimes, it's good enough for me. I have landscapes, and sassy stripes. I have homespun, and thick chenille. The top shelf is varied in colors. With the blues that I choose and the naturals my honey likes. And of course the colors of Gryffindor for my little brother's hat and scarf. The hat is done, the scarf may never be.

The bottom shelf has the good stuff. The cottons that I like for various things, but mostly hand knit or crocheted washcloths. The cotton chenilles that make the best washcloths ever. The wools, and the hand painted cottons. The Stork yarn in red that I will be using to make Marnie Maclean's Pismo hat, with a bit of a twist. It will be a Team Zissou hat when I am done. And then there is the hand painted cotton chenille that is a twisted horror of a skein that I am still not done unraveling. I am not sure what it will be used for, but I love the colors and texture. Perhaps it too will be washcloths in the end. But if so, they'll be nice ones!