I am weak.

I was able to resist buying a $23 pair of earrings yesterday, because I'd just spent $27 the night before on that yarn at LYS. But later in the day, we ended up at Joann's, and, well...I had an accident.



I have been collecting this yarn for months. It retailed for $5.99/ball. Every other week, I'd go and buy a ball (always of the same dyelot) with my 40% off coupon. Then one week I went in and it was on sale for 35% off, so I bought all that was on the shelf (maybe 6 or 7 balls). At that point I think I had a dozen balls. I know where at least half of them are...the rest must be in one of the various stash-management attempts I have here and there. Anyway, yesterday when I went in to Joann's (I was only looking for buttons for the baby sweater, honest!) I made the mistake of going down the clearance aisle. There, on the bottom shelf, was my beloved lavender Tesoro. Marked down to $2.37/ball. I bought all eight that they had in the right dyelot. I feel I showed admirable restraint in not buying the other two orphans while I was at it. I also managed to leave behind the several balls of yellow (more than enough to make a cute little baby set) in the bin.

I am still weak, though. I'm considering heading to the other Joann's in town to clean them out, too.

Clapotis is still progressing. I've started straight-row repeat #13 (granted, only one row of it is done). But still. This is the last repeat before I get to DECREASE. I think it'll be finished by this weekend...in fact, I'm sure of it (unless something crazy comes up).

Oh, and since it's been a while since I've given a Tallulah update, I'll leave you with the link to this video I posted on YouTube. She's really come out of her shell and gotten playful. Her favorite toy? Ponytail holders, which she steals out of my purse. Mr. Nekkid actually caught her in the act of digging around in my purse with her paw (no, really, I'm not kidding). I'm sure that when we move, we'll find a bunch of these things underneath the couch and coffee table and bookcases and...anyway. Watch the video...she's cute!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

(Tallulah's is absent because a) I haven't made a loop for it and b) we only have two stocking hangers anyway.)

Mr. Nekkid's is two strands of Red Heart Soft Yarn in Grass Green, and mine is two strands of Lion Brand Wool-Ease in White/Multi. I think it looks a little like snow. :) I used Crystal Palace US 11 DPNs.

I'm so proud of these! I did better on the grafting on Mr. Nekkid's stocking, and I think I finally got the hang of it with mine (third time's the charm, after all). I had so much fun with them that I'm thinking about making mini-stockings for my coworkers. Dunno if I'm that ambitious or not...

Tallulah is settling in nicely. She still hides a lot - her favorite spot is still behind the couch - but she seems to be getting accustomed to sleeping in her bed, too. We can only hope that someday she'll be comfortable enough to just lounge around somewhere out in the open.

Short one today, I know, but my friend got me the first season of House on DVD and I can't wait to watch some more of it. I've got to find a project that's mindless enough to let me glue my eyes to the screen. :)

We have a new member of the family!

This is Tallulah!



She's making herself invisible, you see. Poor thing is scared out of her wits...new place, new people, new everything. We're hoping she'll venture out and eat and drink something while we're asleep tonight. Meanwhile, if she must be holed up somewhere, near her litter box is a good choice I suppose.

Moving on...Odessa was taking too long so I temporarily abandoned it in favor of making a hat to match the Wifey scarf. This took about as long as watching O, Napoleon Dynamite, and Office Space. Sadly, it's a little big, but it easily pulls down to cover my ears and even a low ponytail so it's not too bad.



Yarn: 1 skein plus a bit of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky
Needles: Crystal Palace DPNs sz. US 10.5
C/O 80 stitches, moss stitch for ~1", stockinette for the rest. I began the decreases at about 5.5". I think I might try another one, this time with 75 stitches, and it will probably only take one skein. I know I could just frog this one, but I have enough of the yarn to just start over and that will be faster than undoing everything first. :)

Oh, and I did get a snow day on Friday. :)

Fickle-hearted woman.

Good news first: I found the rest of the yarn for Cozy! Not surprisingly, in the same box was also my red Cashmerino! Hoorays!

So much for not starting anything new. But this is necessary, honest...see, it turned cold today. Yes, I have scarves, but what I don't have is a scarf made out of cashmerino that will actually keep me warm. I have cheapy synthetic scarves that do nothing to insulate - they just make me sweat underneath them, and offer no protection at all for when the wind actually picks up. And I couldn't steal Mr. Nekkid's scarf because he actually bothered to wear it today. Since the Cashmerino has been found, I cast on - with apologies to Judy Blume - the Wifey scarf tonight. (I figured it was only appropriate since I called the previous one Hubby.)



Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky in red, Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs (only because that's what I happened to have) sz. US10.5, moss stitch with 13 stitches cast on. For comparison, the Hubby scarf had 23 stitches. It is approximately 3.5" wide, and I will probably use 3 skeins for it too. Yes, that will result in a scarf significantly longer than I am tall, and yes, that is exactly what I want. :) Surprisingly enough, even though I used the flash on this, the color is fairly true. Maybe this throw pillow is an ideal backdrop for such things...maybe it's so bright that the camera thinks it needs less flash. Who knows...but I'll have to try it again and see if the results can be duplicated.

Meanwhile, Cozy will be relegated to WIP storage (also knows as my living room floor) until Wifey is finished. I just have to finish quick, because Cozy needs to be done by the first week of February. It takes me just over 1 hour to finish 1 pattern repeat, and my roughest estimates indicate that I will need about 50 more repeats. Yes, I could technically knock that out in a week or so...if I did nothing but work and knit. Mr. Nekkid, however, has the expectation that he will be able to spend at least a little quality time with me here and there (I know, the nerve!) so that's not going to happen. Instead, once I'm back on it, I'll shoot for one repeat per weekday, and two repeats per weekend day. Hopefully that will enable me to finish it before the deadline even if I don't get back to it till after Christmas.

In other news, we met Tallulah on Tuesday night. We were very taken with her, and have stepped up preparations to bring her home. In keeping with my tradition of putting the cart before the horse, I have already chosen her food dishes, bed, litter box, toys...but have no concrete plans on where these objects will actually go. Ah well, it will all come together. I would have spent tonight getting some of those things in order, but instead, I spent it baking a Praline-Pumpkin Cake. (Recipe calls for store-bought icing but I made C&H Cream Cheese Icing instead.) Yum yum. I'll probably make it again (if for no other reason than to use up the leftover pumpkin) for Thanksgiving. Oh, and Sunday's project is the Hershey's Brownie Cemetery Cake...my boss turns 50 on Monday. >:-D There will definitely be pictures of that.

Nighty night!

I have a problem.

This is Cozy.



I am pretty proud of it. I don't want to jinx myself by singing my praises too much, but suffice it to say that it has gone reasonably well thus far. Unstretched and unblocked, it is currently 7.5" long. However, I have hit a snag.

This is how much yarn I am currently able to locate for purposes of continuing Cozy.



I'm not positive, but I don't think that will be quite enough.

See, we moved about a month ago. Until a week ago, all my WIPs and all of my stash were packed. I managed to locate one WIP box (I know there is at least one more) but I am at a loss as to how to go about unpacking the rest. My stash storage used to consist of three laundry baskets. Now, however, it seems that Tallulah may be joining the family.



I'm sure I don't need to explain why having baskets of yarn lying about would not be the best plan. So the stash remains in boxes until I can come up with a storage method that is at least mostly contained and not wide open to the world and Tallulah.

Somewhere in those four boxes is nine more balls of the yarn for Cozy, which is plenty considering that I've done more than 10% of the project with only 10% of the yarn. Maybe I'll have enough leftover for a panta... Alas, I may have to pick up one of the other WIPs instead. This could work out well for my can't-finish-it-itis, though...if I am forced to work on everything until I run out of yarn, then I will get considerably farther along in them than if I had eleventy gajillion other yarns and projects to choose from. Of course, I could buy more yarn, but that would require funds that are not available to me at this time. And I've already played the, "Honey, can I have this for Christmas?" card for purposes of obtaining new cookware. (I know, I know, this means I'll actually have to cook every now and then. But it's for a good cause, really, because my old cookware is to be donated to a coworker whose townhouse caught fire a few weeks ago.)

I'll leave you with a bit of yarn pr0n. This, along with three or four more balls, also resides in the stash, and it will become a scarf for me that (sort of) matches the one I just finished for Mr. Nekkid. But I'm fond of long skinny scarves, so mine will probably be about half as wide and twice as long. No, I'm not kidding.



If you think I am, I'll show you the 9' monstrosity that was my very first FO. It's itchy, but damn if it doesn't keep me warm.