20 projects

17 of which are pictured in the basket above. These are the "small" projects I picked up during the shop hop. All bagged up with their perspective patterns. Most of these are the 1 skein projects, but the basket also includes other 2 or 3 sk projects I picked up along the way. This does not include the other 3 full sweater sized projects that I also picked up during the shop hop. That makes 20 projects all together. This also does not include the yarn I bought -- um, just to buy. Yarn that was either on sale or the last of it's kind, or both. Yarn that I don't have plans for. Thankfully there wasn't much of that. Well, as much. Now what am I going to do? The stash room is full. It's been full for quite a long time now. I don't finish projects as fast as I can buy them. There was a comment on my last post about knitting all this up by the next shop hop. Not a chance. I only got one thing from the last shop hop done and that was just a hat. I gotta either knit it, stop buying more of it, or give it away. We already know I don't knit that fast. And the last two stash busting/freezing enterprises failed, miserably. I can't seem to part with it once I acquire it either, although today a skein walked out in the hands of my buddy Lisa. But she left some ribbon behind in it's place. Sigh. There's no hope. Stash reduction is a myth. At least in my house. But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.

Shop Hopped Out

That's just a sampling of my treasures, but you can see most of them here. On Days 2 and 3, I brought the pink wristlet with the 3 SWTC shopping bags neatly folded inside into each store. But I forgot to use it at our first stop at Continental Stitch so I ended up with a bag from there -- at least it's paper. When I used up the red bags I used the Tinkerbell sack at our last stop for the day. It was just me doing my part to go green and I was rewarded at Commuknity and Full Thread with an extra point toward a discount at one and an entry for a monthly drawing at the other, respectively. Day One: Friday, 9/19, 6 hops The hop actually started the day before but since Kelsey wanted to do it again** (we did all 16 shops last year) I had to wait until she got out of school. Promptly after 3pm we met Sylvia at the Knitting Room and got our passports. Our next stop was Commuknity, then Bobbin's Nest, followed by Yarn Place, Purlescence, and Yarndogs our final stop for the day. We had a lovely dinner at Thai Pepper. Each shop had a one skein project and I picked up Commuknity's beaded shawl with matching beads from Beadz occupying the same retail space, Yarndog's neckband in Curious Creek and Purlescence's mitts in Dream in Color Classy for Kelsey. I also scored 3 skeins of Manos Silk Blend in a beautiful black multi at Purlescence. Day Two: Saturday, 9/20, 7 hops Saturday was our biggest day. Starting at Continental Stitch I picked up the crochet one skein project -- a lovely beaded mobius in Schaefer Susan, and a sweater's worth of Berroco Jasper for Joyella. We took the long drive south and headed for Carmel. At Knitting by the Sea I found a new-to-me Noro called Taiyo. The huge 100g sks were a cotton blend and I only needed 5 for Klaralund, a sweater out of Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton 2. Our next stop was Monarch Knitting in Pacific Grove where I picked up the one skein mitts from Monarch (a pattern I saw previously at The Knitting Room and got the yarn w/o the pattern). We had lunch in Monterey at Sea Harvest then made our way up Highway 1 to A Yarn Place in Capitola and of course, Gayle's. Our next stop was Swift Stitch where I got the makings for a lovely knitted/woven scarf and their one skein beret using Chasing Rainbows Texas. From there we went along to Golden Fleece's new location -- which we passed on our way to their old. I picked up a button for my Anthropologie Capelet and a pattern for a Circle Shrug in Boku. Our final stop for the day was Luminous Threads which we arrived after 5pm. There was a large container full of strawberry lemonade waiting for us. Here I found enough K1C2 Paint Box for the Circle Shrug pattern I had just got at Golden Fleece. Day Three: Sunday, 9/21, 6 hops This was by far our best day. Kelsey, Sylvia and I were joined by Cris, Carol and Fae. Yarn, Paper, Scissors was our first stop, the one furthest north. Kelsey, who was picking up things here and there all along the hop had her eye on an origami kit and we both found a sock monkey hat kit for Lindsey. Before we continued on to Nine Rubies we all trotted down the street to Peets for a cuppa. At Nine Rubies we all were enthralled at the beaded bag. I got a skein of the recommended Art Yarns for Kelsey and a skein of Baywood silk for me. Cris, Fae and Sylvia bought some cotton for the same project. From there it was down to Creative Hands, Fae's last stop. I got a skein of sock yarn for their crocheted mitts. After we dropped Fae off the rest of us made our way to Los Altos. At Uncommon Threads I found copies of Rowan Studio issues 1, 2 and 3 -- I love Sarah Hatton. They were one of 2 shops* that had a sock pattern which I got with a ball of Opal Feeling. I also scored 6 sks of the now discontinued Kidsilk Night in a beautiful light pink -- no surprise there, eh? We walked a couple of blocks down to Full Thread Ahead our penultimate stop, where Hollis the shop owner proceeded to show us their one skein projects. She's a hard sell and we happily got both, a hand dyed sea silk shawl in LuLu's Marinella and a Louet linen shopping bag that folds into itself. Our last and final stop was Green Planet Yarn back in Campbell where our knitting group meets once a month. I think I'd had enough one skein projects so I skipped their's but I just might pick it up when I return this week for our meeting. We all turned in our passport page and made our way down to the new bakery for a well deserved treat. *Bobbin's Nest had the other sock pattern and I got that too, the first day, with a skein of Hazel Knits. **Links to last year's shop hop here and here.

What we did on our Summer Vacation

Kelsey and Lindsey leaning in front of NY, NY 

Lindsey leaning over Hoover Dam 

Kelsey leaning on the Grand Canyon 

It was a 9 day vacation and I brought 8 projects with me in hopes of finishing some of them. I got to work on 3, and I finished one. Here's my undulating waves scarf, knit mostly in the car on the way to LV and back while listening to Harry Potter book 6. 

Where are all my dpns?

The other day I went to my needlebox to find a set of dpn's. I was looking for US 10.5, and found none. Then I started going through the box to see what I did have and noticed that most of my needle tubes weren't there. Now I have multiple sets of each of these sizes but I keep the tube that contains all of them in with whatever project I'm working on...so I searched all the UFO's... My size 6's are here:

size 7's: 

2's, 3's AND 4's, stuck in this: 

And my 5's and 8's are here: 

It turns out I don't own a pair of 10.5 dpns which was remedied by a quick trip to my LYS, but OMG -- all those UFOs? And that's just the one's that use dpns! Ok, that's it -- this is way outta control (even for me) so this summer? It's the summer of knit. All the UFO's are listed on the sidebar -- ALL OF THEM. 15 UFO's. The goal is to get myself down to 10, by Labor Day. Do you think that's reasonable? What's your all time high?

Bagged by Vivian

Vivian wants to know:

What was I doing 10 years ago? Hmm, that would be June 1998, that would make L almost 4 mos and K 3yo. I was knee deep in diapers? Just returning to work with 2 small kids. It was a circus act I tell ya. And later that year I joined a startup. I guess I thought I could do it all. It was tough, but it was from this point on that things started to get easier. DH just got his MBA and a job that didn't require a 2 hour commute. Definitely better.

What are 5 things on my TO-DO list for today? Wait for the A/C guy to come in and fix a wire -- very important wire connecting the switch to the relay that turned the fan 0n, $100. Take the girls to see Indiana Jones. Make dinner -- DH's favorite. The dishes. Blog.

Snacks I enjoy: Today? Ice Cream and cookies. Other days? Chocolate and cheese, but not together.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: I'd retire to this house.

Places I have lived: California, that's pretty much it, first Southern, then Northern.

Jobs I have had: If I count the last five they would be programmer, programmer, programmer, programmer, and programmer. Oh and before that, programmer.