Less is Really Much More

[In which I have a conversation with a fellow sock-knitter in England and then learn how not to save money.]

First a few words to my friend Anne in England. I am making my Sockapalooza socks in the Crosshatch Lace pattern found on page 90 of More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I'll post a picture after I put batteries in my camera. By the way, I sincerely hope you have been safe and dry this past week. The news would have us believe that all of England was flooded, but I know that's not true, because my sweetheart has been in and around Croydon this week and has hardly seen any flooding at all. Those of us left in Connecticut, on the other hand, experienced a tornado warning.

Ok, now, my adventure in (not) saving money. I have signed up for the Lapland Hand Garments, Mittens from Rovaniemi class at Webs. Read what the Harlot has to say about it. How could I resist? So, the preparation homework requires that I come equipped with 25 yards of Cascade 220 or the equivalent. Now, for those who, like myself, didn't know why they named it Cascade 220, I have the secret answer for you right here: 220 stands for 220 yards. That leaves...math after dinner, even simple math after dinner, is not a good idea...195 yards. So. I went shopping on-line. And I discovered the following:

• The Village Sheep in New Milford (driving distance from my home): in-stock, $7.50/ea.
• Webs in Northhampton, MA (hours from home): out of stock, price ignored
• Average price on the internet in-stock: $7.00/ea. plus shipping.
• Ebay, right color: $5.60+$3.50 shipping = $9.10.

I decided to go to the Village Sheep. It was clearly less expensive.
Well...no. I came home with my required skein of Cascade 220, one skein of Tofootsies and one skein of Mountain Colors Barefoot.
I am not sorry.

Long Overdue

[In which I finally show pictures of projects finished a while ago.]

Do you recall I gushed over Dave's garterlac dishcloth? Well, here's the picture, along with the coffee-cup sleeve I knit out of the leftover yarn. I guess I'm beginning to get along a little bit better with cotton. I've stopped expecting it to behave like wool, anyhow.

I also knit a pair of socks quite a while ago that I was pretending I was going to publish someplace. Don't be silly. I couldn't come up with a catchy name. They're fraternal and syncopated.


If ten people actually tell me in my comments that they're even remotely curious about the syncopated pattern, I'll post a chart of the pattern in a future post, ok? (If there are ten people who still read my blog, especially after I recently missed a whole month between posts, I'll be shocked!)

Charity Knitting

[In which I display charity knitting, most of which was not knit by me.]

I ended up a point person for collecting scarves for a local chapter of the American Cancer Society. As part of their Relay for Life, they wanted to give scarves to cancer survivors at a banquet. We didn't end up getting enough scarves for the banquet, and the scarves were instead given to people currently in treatment. The first two pictures are of scarves delivered with less than two week's notice by the wonderful members of Knit Happens, the Naugatuck Knitting and Crochet Guild, which meets at Yarn Knit All in Naugatuck, CT. If you're in the area, please drop by and support this wonderful community-oriented place!


The other third of the scarves delivered were knitted by myself and a few co-workers.

The orange one at the bottom left is an Argosy. Yes, I am insane. And that was really fun to knit!