The Clown, The Devil and the House Detective and Don’t Forget the Nun with Red Nail Polish

This is a random post about random things with some knitting thrown in.

I’ve decided that 2014 is the year of my stash. Reacquainting myself with what I have—not just by looking at what I’ve logged on Ravelry—and knitting or crocheting it. As well as finishing or frogging any wips. My goals for the year is to knit or crochet 10K yards; that works out to a minimum of 833 yards worked a month.

I am one of the 70+ million affected by the Target credit breach. It’s been an interesting experience not pulling out the card for every purchase. One is constrained to spend only what is in pocket at the moment and I have found that I purchase more of what I need than what I want. In that sense, it has been a sobering look at how I spend. The frustration is that the card-issuing industry and merchants, especially the big-box stores, haven’t been more proactive in instituting the more secure chip cards and in making their own systems more secure. This being the second year—last year it was the Knit Picks breach—that I’ve been at risk from a data breach, I will definitely be more of a cash-only shopper going forward. Here is an interesting article on the situation.

In reading yarn reviews on Ravelry, one often encounters complaints about knots in skeins—the more expensive the yarn the more strident the complaints. I suppose I’ve been lucky, but I haven’t encountered the problem until lately. There were about 5 knots (places where the yarn is joined by knotting) in the 1.5 skeins of the Harrisville yarn used for my latest cowl. It was surprised by not annoyed. The Harrisville Shetland Tweed is a lovely rustic yarn. A little hard on the hands when knitting but I was able to offset that with generous applications of Lavishea and Aloe Vesta. Yes, there was veggie matter; but what do expect in a rustic yarn. What I must enjoy about yarns like the Harrisville Shetland Tweed is that once soaked, blocked and dried, the stitches relax, the yarn blooms nicely and softens and the result is a wonderful fabric. This yarn was perfect for the Cowls pattern, which is one of my favorites.

 

Speaking of finishing wips, I finally finished the Nomad Hat and Scarf started in 2011. Why so long? Well the yarn got scattered (disorganized stashing) and as I was finishing it, I realized I hated the yarn. I also realized that I prefer scarves to cowls, so I didn’t knit the scarf to the full length called for in the pattern. The hat is wonderfully warm and matches my purple coat. I’m thinking of knitting this again, probably in Cascade Eco.

Currently on the needles is Harvest Moon by Florencemary. I’m using the Sirritogv 2ply, which I think is the wrong yarn because it doesn’t show the pattern very well. But it will be wonderfully warm when finished.

Toupie has become quite spoiled as the office was closed between Christmas and New Year’s and then I was home last week for the Kagyu Monlam. It has been bitterly cold most of the last two weeks and remains so. He spends most of his time nestled on the ottoman or lounging on the top of the bookcase…when he isn’t pestering me for treats or for a frantic game of rolling one of his toys across the floor.