Knit Addict

It happens, with time. And it’s made easier with support.

To only say I’ve been humbled by yours would be a huge understatement. I’ve tried to answer everyone individually, but if I missed you somehow, thank you.

Murphy was with us for 15 of her 17 years. She had her ups and downs, but overall they were happy, healthy ones. When it’s a little less raw I’ll tell you some stories about the little monster. For now, the best I can do is to tell you it was very peaceful, and she’ll be buried in one of the mass graves at the pet cemetery in Norman. That’s where Paco, Skeeter and Kitters are too. I’m moving on now because I’m still not capable of more than a couple of minutes or I tear back up. So. Deep breath. Subject change. Here we go.

Yesterday was yarnie day in OKC. SWAK had their grand opening celebration for the Classen store. I popped by for a bit since I hadn’t seen it. If you haven’t yet - you can’t miss it. When they say big GREEN house, that’s what they mean. I was coming from the south (nice scenic drive up Western Ave from 126th South to where Classen peels off… NOT!) and spotted it two blocks away.

The place was swarming with people. I was a little creeped out because I swear every other one of them was preggers. Scary! I made sure not to touch any of them in case it’s catching, and I sure didn’t drink any of the water. Anyway - had nice chats with Kary and Anna and Rene (apologies if I spelled it wrong!), a shorter visit with Sherry, and kind of waved at Keely in passing. She had her hands pretty full yesterday, including with Mason as I was leaving.

Also saw and said hello to a few people I hadn’t seen in a while, some that I see all the time, and I met a spinner (note I didn’t say a fellow spinner - I’m not good enough to classify myself that way yet) who attends the Monday gathering at Wanda’s. I’m just going to have to break down and go I’m afraid. They meet 1st and 3rd Mondays, which means tomorrow night. We’ll see. Back on track, the store has wonderful south and west exposure. Well, the west is wonderful in the winter. I suspect those shades will get a workout in the summer, but for yesterday the windows were just lighting the place up in a great way.

The selection wasn’t as good as the Guthrie store, but I heard them tell more than one person if they didn’t have something they could have it brought down. There were some of the “classic” sort of yarns, but most seemed to be geared towards socks or towards the… looking for the right word… trendier? knitter. Lots of bulky/novelty sort of yarns for instant gratification type projects. There was lace yarn. Notably Zephyr and Prism. Of course I had to leave with something so I got some Zephyr. Please don’t faint when you see the color.

Yeah, I know. Me and a color called Ruby. Whodathunkit?

So from there it was off to Gourmet for Knit In. As usual, it was a packed house. As usual, it was a hoot. Really, it felt like more of a hoot than normal to me. I stayed until almost 8, and I usually bail a little earlier. There’s a sweater pattern we’ve all been drooling over since it came in a couple of months ago. For whatever reason, last night there was a run on the thing.

I got mine in beige.

I saw turquoise go out the door with Carolyn.

Sherry started with coral, but I think she wound up switching to the rose in the photo before it was all over with. Hard to keep track of since she switch about 4 times, and we had to take treks to the storeroom with David to make sure we weren’t missing any colors.  Needless to say, that generated plenty of comments from the peanut gallery.

Amanda got hers in…was it purple?  I don’t remember, but she got it too.  We cleaned out the pattern copies and a whole bunch of yarn went out the door too.  Here’s mine:

It’s a cotton/acrylic blend that’s machine wash and dry.  Very inexpensive, like in less than $30 for any of the sizes.  The sample hanging in the shop feels a little softer than the yarn on the ball, so I suspect the washing and drying contribute to the final hand.

I also came home with some Fiesta Ballet to work up into socks.  To replace one of the pair Mom stole.

The color way is Sapphire.  Isn’t it gorgeous?

For someone who doesn’t knit scarves, I seem to have gone on a binge.  In addition to the two for me and the two gift ones late last year, I’ve got two working as samples for classes.  The first is out of Karaoke and is the project pattern for the second session of Beginning Knitting.

It’s a very simple pattern, just knit and purl in clumps of 5.

Good way to introduce them to reading a pattern, switching from knit to purl, and give them something nice when they’re done.

Oops - forgot to mention I also won a prize last night.  We took the word “Gourmet” and made as many words as we could from the letters.  Thanks mostly to playing Word Whomp on pogo, I pulled 21 words out of it.  The prize was a kit for a catnip mouse.  Which is funny, since I was just thinking about making Squeek one.  Her energy level has shot up since we’ve done something about her blood sugar and I think she’ll enjoy it.

I heard lots of agreement last night when I mentioned pogo.  If you play drop me a comment or an email (knitaddict at pahdoco dot com) with your nik.  I’ll compile the list and send it back to everyone who wants to share/be added to friends lists.

The other scarf is a feather and fan for the beginning lace class.  I’m doing mine out of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn.  The two hanks were different enough that I’m alternating every two rows.

Finally, an update on the Happy Sox.  Started the first heel flap last night.

So far I’m loving this yarn.  Feels good, not splitty, and the price is simply unbeatable.  MG said she was ordering from Plymouth this week so more should be on the way soon.

Whew!  Feels like I just wrote the Great American Novel.  If you’re still with me, thanks.  If you’re not - well you’re not.

Happy Sunday everyone.  And thanks again for the outpouring of caring.