Never say "Never"

Once upon a time, in a land close to home, my friend Alana crocheted a blanket called "Babette". She gave it away.

Then she decided to make another one. The second Babette was crocheted from all the small balls of sock yarn left over from numerous pairs of socks. It was beautiful. Alana decided to enter it into the Stampede where the judges saw the beauty in it and awarded it a ribbon. And a medal. They decreed that it was the best crocheted item in whole competition.

Others decided that the Babette was a good way to use up numerous small balls of sock yarn. Annie started a Babette. Rose and Michelle also thought this was a good idea. I wasn't so sure. I crocheted one square and ripped it apart. I then gave away many, many small balls of sock yarn.

Correna decided to crochete a Babette out of Wollmeise sock yarn. I thought to myself that the project might be a good one after all. I crocheted another square. I gave the square to Annie for her Babette and my balls of Wollmeise to Correna.

I swore up and down and sideways that I was not going to make a Babette. The mere idea of sewing together 120 little squares would drive me to drink and I was not that crazy. Besides, I had given away all my small balls of sock yarn. I couldn't possibly make a Babette.

But, when you knit many pairs of socks, you soon get more little balls of sock yarn. I now had a small ball of red left over from MrB's Grey Cup socks. I had white left over from my kneehigh socks. I would soon have a green ball left over from the second pair of Brainless.

I thought I would try one more square.



Yesterday I asked Correna if she would mind giving back the WM that I had given her three weeks ago.

Also, keeping with the theme of "Never Say Never" DD#1 picked out this yarn. It looked pink in the skein.

I knit Mr.B a pair of socks to wear to the Grey Cup game.



I now have two weeks to knit a new pair...in green and gold.

The Green Mile

One mile = 1760 yards
One skein of Wollmeise lace = 300 grams = 1722 yards



My shawl used 383 grams of yarn. 2198.42 yards

1.249 miles of yarn. Each stitch used 1/2 an inch of yarn.

I'm not sure if my calculations make me feel better or just question my sanity more.

The next project will be smaller because if I make one that's bigger, I'm going to need a bigger room to block it in.

I Should Have Known

My SIL came for a visit. I needed to start a pair of Roundy-Rounds. My lace shawl was too involved for the Thursday Knit night and even though my SIL is a knitter, she has never tackled socks. I thought I had the perfect solution. I would knit her a pair of socks.

I asked her what her favorite colour was. Pink.

That was a good color for socks. But then, I had a momentary lapse of judgment. I told her that she should pick the color that she wanted. I opened the door to my yarn room and told her to pick whatever she liked.

Surrounded by yarn in almost every colour of the rainbow, She found it.



Yes, I had a skein of purple yarn. Not just any shade of purple but the one I most often refer to as "Mother-of-the-Groom " purple.*

It has been tough knitting these socks. Not only have I been knitting with a colour I don't like, I have had to answer numerous questions.

No, I am not going over to the evil purple side. I do not like purple.* The yarn came in a sock club. I did not willingly buy it.

I started another pair of socks. This yarn also came in a sock club.



I can't decide if I kind of like the mix of colours or if it is the ugliest yarn I have seen in a year. Yes, there is purple in the mix.

I decided to knit it because sometimes it's better of get rid of the yarn you don't like instead of letting it take up room on the shelf.

*My SIL wore black to her son's wedding. The dress she wore to her daughter's wedding was the same colour as the socks.

**I've decided that my dislike for purple is hereditary. My Dad absolutely hated purple. The only time that I ever saw my Mom wear a purple dress was to my brother's wedding.

What do you do when you have big boxes of yarn in your house?



Make castles of course!

Invite all the knights and horses over.


And the movie stars too!

The yarn was moved over to the store. The truck almost wasn't big enough.
I hope the kids aren't too mad tomorrow when they find out that their castle is gone.

Just one more pair

I had a sweater in my closet that was taking up room and and thought this would be a better use for the yarn.

The hardest part about knitting these slippers was not matching up the yarn. I really really wanted to make them match.

I had a plan.

My slippers were starting to wear out so I thought I would knit a new pair.


If one pair is good,



and three pair is better,


then why do people think I'm obsessed when I continue to knit slippers?

When I started this project, I had several single balls of Cascade 220 and slippers with holes in them. I thought that it would be good to reduce the Stash and knit some warm fuzzy slippers at the same time.

But a strange thing has happened. Mr. B. who normally does not know what project I am working on has started to pay attention. He has never questioned the stack of shawls or the never ending socks that come off the needles but he has started to ask questions. Questions like "How many pairs of slippers do you need?" and "Don't you already have slippers?" and "Who are you making all those slippers for?"

While knitting these slippers I learned several things. I learned that if I change needles after knitting the first slipper that the second slipper will not be the same size.

I also learned that even if I have knit five slippers, I still need to refer to the pattern so that the sixth slipper matches the fifth one.

I also realized that I need to put the slippers away in the closet as I finish each pair. It is the two-day drying time that makes it obvious that I have been on a bit of a slipper kick.

I am taking a break from knitting slippers. I still have yarn left but I have also started to take apart old sweaters. I have been spotted looking at new colors of Cascade at the LYS. I will not admit to being obsessed but maybe I will knit socks for a few days.

Enough Already!!!!

On Thursday the bread machine died. We decided that we didn't need fresh baked buns.

On Saturday, the shredder decided that it was time to jam beyond all possible hope of unjamming. Perhaps, those tax returns from 1973 were just a little too much for my trusty shredder.

Today, less than 48 hours after the last mechanical malfunction, disaster struck. The ball winder jammed. In my attempt to untangle the "Bugga" it fell apart completely.

Now knitters will readily understand which one I am most upset about. It is also the only one that has a hope of being repaired. If necessary, all three will be replaced.

I could probably learn to make bread by hand. I also know of some very good bakeries where I can buy a loaf or two.

I have scissors and can shred my receipts slowly. I can save those tax forms for a few more years. Perhaps, there was a reason that the sign at the local UPS outlet caught my eye on Saturday morning. They will shred my papers for me.

Winding a 1500 yard skein of lace weight yarn will take at least two hours. That's two hours of knitting time that I'm not prepared to give up.

If you own a ball winder, I may be coming over for coffee.