I've started my operation Mondays. Basically, I don't go into work on mondays. It's amazing what a week is like where it's more balanced between work and play. Starting to revive a bit although I have to admit my Tuesdays are now crap. Next weekend I'll be visiting friends in NY, but this last weekend, I hunkered down and watched movies, knit and cleaned. Saturday was glorious and I had a nice bbq for a friend who is leaving this coast for the other coast. And sunday and monday were wonderfully tumutulous with the storms passing through.
Unfortunately my movie watching knitting revealed my latest pattern of errors. Just a reminder my previous pattern was knitting torsos too short and having to rip out quite a bit to rectify the sweaters. This time, my pattern is a little harder to fix and most likely a little bit more expensive. It is simply that I do not always buy enough balls of yarn. For some reason I think I'm a 10 ball a sweater kind of gal - regardless of yarn type. Recently I've amended it so that I purchase 12 balls - the usual 10, plus 2 in case. However, the two sweaters I'm working on are going to be grossly inadequate even with this revision. I'm knitting a simple pullover with a bit of a neck and my initial brilliant remedy was to knit 3/4 sleeves. This is a sweater I pulled out of hte basket that's been there since I moved to the east coast (over two years). The other bad news is that I buy most of my yarn from Webs, their clearence discontinued section.
I had knit the front, I was knitting the back. I realized the yarn wasn't going to make it. I thought of the 3/4 sleeves solution and kept going. I kept eating up yarn at an alarming rate, but kept on trudging along. I decided to forgo the sleeves for right now, sew the shoulders and knit the neck up. I've just finished the neck, fell in love with the sweater and realize I only have one ball left. One ball left for two sleeves and seams. That basically means cap sleeves which just don't cut it as this is supposed to be that cuddly warm sweater your snuggle up in come the cool fall days. I can't believe it's only one ball left. I haven't the heart yet to search the web for matching balls of a yarn that was disontinued over 4 years ago.
And my other project, hopefully my first successful cotton yarn project. (I've knit in cotton before but have had to rip it out due to not fitting right). I'm totally in love with the pattern and yarn combination and can't imagine it any other way. I'm knitting up a sleeve and am just ignoring that I'm going to have to buy more yarn. The good news is that even though it is a Webs discontinued sale, I found a distributor on ebay. Of course they want full price so am starting to think I might end up spending the same amount on the few additional balls then the original purchase. Oh well, it still sits in my bag for commuting and I keep knitting away.
In regards to the books, knitpicks is having a big book clearance sale. Usually I don't give any regards to these sales as they include the books from a few decades ago. But this time, all four books that were on my amazon wish list were on sale, and cheaper than the discounted amazon price. Plus free shipping. And apparently no tax. I just put my order in. I thought this weekend I was good, holing up and not going out which sometimes leads to buying stuff. It's my low tech budget approach to life. Well, enough complaining about all the good stuff in life. I need to stop procrastinating and start cranking on a report I just don't want to do. (It has nothing to do with knitting).
