The Stuff of Knitting...and Some Other Stuff

Ok, so I have a few things to report on the knitting front. One is, I broke down and bought a yarn-ball winder and a swift. I got them from Knitting-Warehouse.com for a great price. I mean, the swift is all wood, much nicer than their picture (smooth, and nicely finished) and it was $39!

Here it is all set up with the winder!

So I used them last night to wind up some Tilli Thomas 100% silk chenille yarn that I got on clearance from somewhere---2 hanks of it. This task would have normally taken me well over an hour and I would have been rendered hoarse from all the cursing and swearing. Seriously.

Before

After

Done in like 10 minutes, not even, with the swift and ball winder. I was like Keanu Reeves in...well... basically any movie he's ever been in: "Whoa." Incidentally, have you gotten a gander of him lately? Shit on a shingle, he looks BAD. Bloated and semi-crazy. He's only 42 and easily looks 20 years older than that. And what's up with that facial hair? Is he like razor-phobic on the down low? Or maybe he's just outright homeless. Not sure. All I know is he looks like a creepy college professor who drinks Tequila in his office before stumbling across campus, 15-minutes late, to teach a bunch of college sophomores about medieval England.

But I digress...

So along with the swift and winder I bought a couple of skeins of Bernat Cool Crochet yarn. It's like 70% cotton with 30% nylon. I bought a coordinating pink color to use to make the i-cords for that baby kimono and hat that I knit. I had tried to use the same yarn that I used to knit the kimono and hat and it just was not making a decent i-cord. I made the cords for the kimono, and I attached them last night. It looks cute. I will post a picture of the hat once I get that done.



I also bought 2 skeins of the Cool Crochet in the Neopolitan colorway. How cool is that yarn? It looks like Neapolitan ice-cream! I am going to use that to make one of those market bags that I love so well. Now the problem is that it's supposed to be knit on size 5 needles. I think that it might be a little thin for a market bag, so I am going to double up the yarn. Just so I have enough, I bought a couple more skeins from this new online store that I discovered today: Yarn & Thread by Lisa. I bought a bag of 3 skeins and it was $8.07. CHEAP!

I bought a few skeins of regular, old, Sugar & Cream cotton yarn there too, because I need to make a couple of dishcloths. I've joined the Summer Dishcloth Swap. This sounds so neat. I am really looking forward to it. I decided to get the Sugar & Cream version of Neapolitan Ice Cream, which is actually called Rosewood. I think that's what I will use to make the dishcloth for the swap. I am going to attempt a whole ice-cream/dessert theme, I think. I also got a couple of skeins in the Buttercream and Landscape colorways. If I have the time, I might make 2 for the Dishcloth Swap, using the Buttercream for another cloth. Hey, look, it's $1.63 a skein, so I HAD to. Come on! If I have any left I might make some bibs for my sister's baby. Like I have infinite amounts of spare time on my hands....

Anyway, what else? Hmmm....

Oh, I hate my job. Like seriously, I am having major problems even motivating myself to get out of bed in the morning to drag my sorry ass over there. I am getting more frequent migraines and anxiety attacks. I am depressed and can't sleep and I am paranoid too. Not good, in fact, decidedly awful. I feel pretty much sad and at my wits end about a lot of things, but feel utterly powerless to change anything. Very frustrating. Ah well, life goes on I suppose....