Winding Woes

Has anybody else experienced big time tangle issues when using a 'high end' yarn? I set out today to wind some super luxurious cashmere into balls to make another pair of Log Cabin Socks (Note to self-post pictures!) for myself. Today being the first day we've seen snow this year and being that I'm stuck inside waiting for fish eggs that were supposed to be in my original order I was supposed to get Thursday which came minus one jar of said caviar and I'm the putz waiting for a delivery that UPS does not deliver on Saturdays.

ANYWAY....my nerves have about had it and I'm about to set fire to this cashmere yarn. I won't mention any names, I think you can figure out what yarn I'm talking about as I raved about it a few posts back. The yarn is nice, HOWEVER the experience is more than the end product to me...it begins with the hank, proceeds to the ball winding, then to the knitting and finally the end product. This super luxurious cashmere yarn is nothing I'll be blowing money on again, it's crap as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather be handling Red Hart yarn...yes, I said RED HART. This particular brand of cashmere is EXTREMELY overpriced and unabashedly over-rated to the Nth power.

At first, when I made fingerless mitts with this, I had the same problem but thought perhaps it was just a hank or two that was bad....Now I see it's not just a hank or two, it's the whole damn lot.

I'm going to attempt to make heads and tails of this knotted, tangled mess they have the audacity to call a hank. I'll tell ya what I call it...cashmere or no cashmere, this is what you call a Hunk O' Junk! I may or may not end up with ashes, depending on how long I can stall my nerves.

Can I get my Valium now?

2.04 PM ~ My nerves did get the better of me. This is what's left after I cut it up to confetti with some nice, sharp cooking shears. These shears go through yarn even cleaner than they cut throgh chicken bones. Too bad I'm going to the doctor in a little over a week or I'd go take some Serax and get in bed and read the rest of the day. If he does blood work and finds Serax in my blood, there's no way he'll ever give me Valium so I gotta be a good boy and suffer a little longer. I fear I've got a brain chemistry imbalance :-(

Morpheus says:

Knitting and podcasting and stuff

Hmm, lesse...I want new stuff! I should be happy since I now have an almost complete set of the Brittany needles I've coveted since last year and I'm real happy knitting with them but I think I want to try a pair of Lantern Moon needles just because they look nice. Not quite as nice as the Brittanys but nice! I also think these square needles look intriguing and I want to try a pair. Not sure they'd be all that comfortable? Just something new to try.

I've been busily knitting away on Patrick. I think maybe this photo will show the detail a bit better, it's just so enormous at this stage that it's difficult to get the centre panel of diamonds to show up. While knitting, I found myself all caught up with my favourite podcast, Cast-On.

I discovered I need to keep a notebook by my side LOL! Brenda has such great content that I'm quickly filling up the chart for Patrick with notes on new podcasts, songs she plays, or other stuff she mentions. One such podcast is Sticks & String. It's done by a guy named David Reidy from Australia. I have a couple of episodes before I'm caught up with him and he'll not be doing another episode until the end of January. Check his cast out....it's really very good!

Another podcast I found, I think via Brenda Dayne, is the first video podcast on knitting I've ever seen Let's Knit2gether This is so cool! You have to check it out. It's nice where knitting is a visual thing and you can see what is going on.


Right then, that's about it on the knitting front. I was startled awake about 2.30 AM by the start of a panic attack so I jumped out of bed, got a handle on it before it got a handle on me and I think I'm going to settle on the sofa now and watch one of my favourite movies for a bit.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Yule or whatever it is you celebrate :-)

Finished!

I got the back of Patrick done tonight, and what a feeling of accomplishment. I spent the day listening to Brenda Dayne while knitting. It feels like spending the afternoon with a good friend, she just has a very comforting way about her.

Anyway, this is the correct length...this yarn is supposed to shrink up considerably in length and you have to wash & dry it in a clothes dryer before sewing it together. Let's hope it does shrink up as it should else I'm gonna have to find me an 80's style girl who can pull it off with a pair of tights and a big, chunky belt.

I'm almost sorry I didn't make this in a wool instead of cotton. Perhaps one day I'll re-knit it in wool-I think it'd look wonderful in a heathered green.

Took nine and a quarter balls to make the back.

On another note, we went and had dinner with my cousin and her husband last evening. It was nice. I haven't seen them in 20 years and never really spent any time with them. It was great to spend time with them and talk. We need to do it more often. They live out in the middle of nowhere which was nice in a sense. You could see stars in the sky, they have deer that run around there, that's how rural it is. No street lights. Her husband took the four of us to see some Christmas lights which was nice. I haven't done that since I was a little boy with my grandparents.

The ride back home, though. OMG...I'm questioning moving now. Maybe it's too rural but it was pitch black, no street lights and we're driving having no clue where the hell we were going and I'm having to do deep breathing and think happy thoughts (roller coasters) to prevent myself from freaking out BIG TIME in the car. I told Chris maybe I can't do this....and that perhaps it may be that we're stuck in the city and I just find a doctor who just prescribes Valium without a problem. I really don't think I can handle that, as much as I want to get the hell out of here, I had a big problem last night. I dunno what the hell is wrong with me. I guess that dashes any romantic notions I had of finding a little cottage in the Scottish Highlands. :-(

ANYWAY....1 piece down, three more to go on Patrick. I wish the pattern showed up better in this photo. Maybe if I get one in the daylight rather than a flash. It's really striking when you see it in person.

Log Cabin Socks done

I finished them Monday or Tuesday. I'd post a picture but have to wait until the spousal unit gets them for Christmas and tries them on before I get a picture.

I'm tossing around the idea of making a pair for myself in Jade Sapphire Cashmere but I'm not sure I want to use the yarn for socks. I don't know WHAT I want to use it for. I made a pair of fingerless mittens, I just am not sure if I want to use cashmere for socks. My very first pair of socks are kinda ruined...the toe area has felted and gotten very stiff. I guess maybe I wear them too much.

Have been busily knitting on Patrick tho I'm getting nervous it's going to be too large. My nerves are shot so I'm not even going to think of that at the moment.

Does it feel like Christmas? It doesn't to me...not sure if that's my nerves or the fact it's too goddamned tropical? I dunno.

Not having a good night but then, that's pretty usual for me ROTFLMAO! I can't stomach this time we live in has moved from drugs to this holistic crap....but what can I do? I'd rather drugs....I'm jus sayin' :-)

Now Playing in iTunes ~ Future Memory by Heth & Jed

Ghostly apparitions and other such things

LOL! I've been playing with my camera and experimenting with double exposures again. It's been 5 years since I've really shot anything seriously so it's a huge learning curve again. I'm not totally pleased with these results but I'll get there again.

I've been wanting to try light up needles as they look interesting and fun but I'm not a fan of plastic to start with. Has anyone used them? I guess I'd do well to really get knitting again. This time last year I was knitting up a storm for Christmas. I had a mountain of hats and mittens and slippers and what not. Now I barely sit and knit. How do you mothers with kids do it? I just find by the time I get a grip on my stress, I just have no enthusiasm to knit even tho I want to. I can no longer sit on my sofa and knit in the evenings due to the noise level here. I just seem to get up, muddle through the day, and go to bed. If I can get through the day without smashing something, that's a good day.

Have started to look for a new place to live. I've decided I don't care what capital gains penalties I have to pay, it's not worth it to stay in this ghetto any longer. I spent a couple hours this morning on the Remax and Century 21 web sites looking at new homes and am not real encouraged :-( I'm hell bent on a Victorian and can't find any at all. But this stuff is like shopping at a vintage clothing store, you have to hit it on the right day so I've not totally given up hope.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to toast in the New Year. generally, tradition has it that I get a bottle of Dom Perignon for New Years but I've been unable to drink the past two months. The alcohol really wreaks hell on my nerves so I've not touched a drop. I'm hoping I'll still be able to drink the Dom.

Anyway, better days are coming.....When, I'm not exactly sure but I have to believe in that.