Who am I and what's in my pants? --I mean my purse!

I'm sort of a stream of consciousness-zen type of person. Some people see that as disorganized and laid back. Hah!

The little picture of spilt yarn on the sidebar doesn't say it all, but it says a lot of it. I'm not one of the tidier people roaming the planet. If something falls on the floor, sometimes I leave it there because it can't fall any further. Safety first. I brag, but I'm not necessarily proud. My current life struggles are about decluttering and energizing.

I'm an elementary school teacher. I have the worst classroom management in the building. I asked the 5th graders, our top class, why all the classes come unglued when they're with me. They said I'm too nice. We were reading some parent comments at a staff meeting. In one, a disgruntled parent implied that the kids were scared of me. The other teachers laughed really hard. I didn't know I was the nicest teacher. I thought I was just the comic relief.

Oh, and I have the messiest desk in the building. Surprised? Are you going to be surprised when you see my purse? Are you scared? It's actually not that bad. I keep switching purses lately to cover different circumstances, so some things are missing (like the pharmacy: ibuprofen, dramamine, eyedrops, dental floss, and an antacid) and it's a little more jumbled than usual. I try to have whatever a person could need at any given moment. For instance, bandaids. I keep bandaids in there. I keep supplies that women need. I keep a pair of emergency socks. There are prescription sunglasses and coupons in case I end up at a JoAnn's or Michael's. I've at least one pen, a hairbrush, my wallet, Tic Tacs or other mints, a little pack of kleenex and a tape measure. There are a few things in the pic that there just to be of use on certain occasions, like bug spray and anti-histamine gel. Others don't really belong there at all, like crumpled up receipts and candy wrappers and business cards that I accepted to be polite.

The wallet itself is the repository of many useful things. The most useful is the yellow card in the picture to the right. It is with this magical little thing that I purchase yarn and other knitterly things online and elsewhere. Also lunch. I also have coffee cards, discount cards, an AAA card, the phone number of a good plumber, a library card, driver's license, cash sometimes, postage stamps, and if you look carefully in the left photo you can see a sewing needle to the right of the blue card. It was utilized just yesterday.

Knitting content alert: -->My purse socks somehow escaped the picture. Not the emergency socks--the purse socks! Are you not listening? The purse socks are my knitting. Sometimes I have two different ones, but usually only one. I only take one sock at a time from any pair, to reduce bulk. I try to use point protectors. Here's a lesson I learned earlier in my career: Addi circular size 0 is to can of Sprite as iceberg is to hull of Titanic. (Yes, I aced the Miller Anaolgies Test)

I don't keep my cell phone in my purse usually. I often walk away from my purse and then I miss phone calls. Post a comment telling me where you think I keep my cell phone. If you are correct, I will send you some ho-made stitch markers or some destash yarn or both.

The pictorial testimony of the wallet shows some organization. I think I get a point for that. Did you ever hear this line from a Woody Allen story? The butler had an airtight alibi for the time of the murder. He claimed that he had been downstairs in the kitchen washing dishes and produced some suds from his wallet to corroborate his testimony. I want to be that butler, to be never caught unawares, unprepared, or without an alibi.

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool

Elizabeth and the sheep

What do you suppose they are talking about?

Sock Yarn

There has been a failure of the software that I have been using to edit my digital photos. So I thought I'd try Picasa, a Google program. I've made an album of my sock yarn stash. To be sure, there is more, but I photographed everything that isn't involved in any WIP socks right now and that isn't hiding. I think I got most of it. I didn't count non-sock yarn that I bought with the intention of making socks or sock yarn that I bought to make something other than socks. Minus all that, I came up with 27 pairs of potential socks. The impetus was to get it on Ravelry. I can't do that yet because I'd still have to upload it to Flicker first. You have to use Flicker. Well, here's a link to my photo album on Web Album. Link

I've made an agreement to make Molly from CelticSwanForge a pair of socks. They will have a bit of color work on the tops with blacksmith symbols--Well, blacksmith tools. I told her about the dark green yarn I had leftover from Packer Fugarama and she requested a lighter green to go with it. To that end, I did a little playing with color this weekend. I may not be done tweaking the color. The actual color turned out brighter and less minty than it appears here, but the picture is really not that far off. Maybe I will learn to like Picasa, though I am dissatisfied with the sizing options.

In other sock news, I've finally made it past the legs on the secret socks I'm making for my Knitty sock pal, Fschmom. They've been taking forever. It is partly because they have special features!!! which I cannot discuss right now and partly because I wasted a lot of time trying to master the short row heel. I, um, didn't master it.

Last Stitches Post 2007

I bought this knitting bag at Stitches. It says "Baskets from Cambodia" on a label in the interior. It was SO hard choosing the color, but when in doubt, go with the wildest, least conservative. Thus, spring green. The photo doesn't show this, but the base is kidney shaped to hug the body. The thing I'm having issues with is that I can't snug up the drawstring so that it shuts completely, try as I have. This is the kind of perfectionist I am. I end up breaking things once in a while because of it. I definitely overcook things. A little is good, a lot is better. I managed once to partially felt 900 grams of llama/wool that I'd overdyed by zapping it too long in the microwave. Oops. Another example is that I have a really, really, really hard time not putting more gas in after the pump stops. This is not what I set out to blog about, but I'm just killing time while the picture of the purse uploads. La di da di dum, di dum. Here is the rest of what I bought at Stitches. Just 5 skeins of yarn from Newton Farms' four-dollar yarn man. Last year he was the seven-dollar yarn man. This year he was the four-dollar yarn man and the skeins were smaller. Not a problem. The 2 pale blue skeins are 60/40 angora/merino. I have a weakness for angora. There was another color, but I had to think about the unknit angora I had at home. The other stuff is 100% rayon. It's soft and drapey. After returning home I realized it was a lot like some of the cotton I visit occasionally at the Elann site used for a vest I like. See? I think it'll knit at 5 to 5.5 stitches per inch. The labels were marked 80 yards, but I knew that was wrong. There is definitely more. The angora labels didn't state yardage at all.






How to measure? I remembered hearing that one could put a hank on the swift, measure the circumference of the swift, then count the revolutions as the ball is wound and do the appropriate math. I had no confidence in my ability to count the revolutions. But never fear, I figured out a way that probably everybody else already knows. Anyhow, first I laid out one hank so that it was double. I measured that length and doubled it to get the full length. Then I counted the number of strands in the hank and multiplied that amount by the length I'd gotten. Here is the best yarn shot I've ever taken. Actually there are 2 as you plainly see. The thing is, I couldn't decide which illustrated the counting of the strands better, and besides, I'm powerless over angora.

The next task was winding. All five hanks unrolled cleanly off the swift. That was a treat. Either I'm getting better or Newton Farms has a superior hanking method. A problem did develop between one of the angora skeins and the ball winder. Halfway through the skein this happened:





Oh, oh, big mishegoss (Yiddish mess).










Down to one little snarl. Piece of cake








The heart of the matter. It looked like I'd have to break the yarn.









Glasses off. Now I'm serious, and look! Success!









Aw, not again! Only 9 yards from the end? Sssssssssnap! Problem solved.

Oh, the people you'll meet!

Seiding and I went to Stitches on Friday, the 10th. We saw and spoke to Lily Chin! Seiding saw a woman sitting a chair knitting about a million miles an hour. When she commented to the woman, the woman looked up and said, "I'm from New York. I do everything fast." We figured out who she was and spoke for a couple of minutes. We didn't introduce ourselves. That was rude. Sorry, Lily Chin, wherever you are. We didn't ask to take a picture. Duh. We also found my friend Bev's booth. She sells a line of jewelry knitting kits. The jewelry is knitting with wire. Bev blogs at Knitter's Journey (see the sidebar). Bev was there and so was Carolyn whom Bev had recruited from Monday Night Knitting. They were doing a whizbang business and we didn't get to talk much. Again, I didn't take a picture. Duh. I even had the camera out to show them a saved picture of a friend's new dog. Double duh. (He came with the name of Scooby.)

Along about noon Seiding and I headed for the snack bar, whipped out some of our new yarn, placed it delicately on our poor foolish heads and waited for the Knittyhead meetup to begin. Ah! Celtic Coyote has spotted us! And then there were more!

Cast of characters:

Celtic Coyote Plum Fan

Big Wild Onion

Darx

Chanell

Errs

Disclaimer: Every single one of these people look better in person, in fact they are stunning women known far and wide for their great beauty.