Summer Doldrums and Yarn Diet

We have had so many days over 90 degrees this summer, with only one bout of rain in the last month and the heat is finally starting to get to me. In the winter, I can put on wool sweaters, socks, hats, scarves and mittens, and I should be knitting to prepare for next winter when the cold chill sets in. However, today with the temperature again over 90, I just don't feel like it. So there.....

I have enough spun yarn in the blue green to plan a hat/mitten combo, but can't narrow it down to a pattern choice. I will use the bulky skein for the hat and the 2nd thinner skein for the mittens. My spinning on this fiber is getting close to the end, and I should have enough yarn for sure with a 3rd and possibly a 4th skein to finish up.

I have put my self on a self imposed Yarn Diet and I won't buy any new yarn till September at the earliest. There, I have said it out loud, told my readers, and the world wide web (exaggerating, yes!) and now I have to stick with it. If you look at my Ravelry page (for Ravelry members), you will see I do have a stash that will last far beyond the New Year. I haven't totaled my yardage in my stash but I am sure it would add up to A LOT. Maybe not as much as some who have to hide their stash in every nook and cranny of the house, but the bookshelves in the craft room upstairs are getting full. I have at least two whole sweater projects to start from scratch and a heavy weight pullover that just needs finishing.....for the last 2 years! There is a Sunrise Circle Jacket in which I have finished the back, not to mention many pairs of socks-to-be. These don't show up in my projects page, because I have not yet photographed them or added them to my Ravelry page. Now that I look over this posting, I have to chuckle because September is only 5 weeks away.. That is like saying I am going on a very serious weight loss diet and I will stay on til Monday! I guess I will just try to be good and thrifty and knit from the stash.....for as long as I can.

There were two bright spots today, however. I went to a 95th birthday party for the father of a friend of mine. Even though Homer is not a relative, we were all family as we shared a luncheon, stories, memories and laughter. It is so nice to be able to tell the stories with the honoree and family and friends present, instead of after they pass on. Hear Hear! L'Chaim: To Life and raise a glass to Homer!

After I got home in the early afternoon (95 year olds do NOT party at night!) I quickly changed clothes and ran down to my LYS to knit a bit on the World's Biggest Sock. Darn I forgot my camera, but the sock will be there about a month and I will go back to add photos to the blog. The sock started originally in the UK and sock arrived from Rochester NY. The box was 23 lbs in weight and as a top down sock, it is aiming for 12' (that's 12 feet!!) for the cuff before the heel. There is about 4 feet done in worsted weight mostly of all colors and texture, with a few novelties thrown in for good measure. I couldn't really tell exactly, but there are about 6 circular needles which you knit on one set at a time for as long as you want. I heard that a few men learned to knit and added a few stitches each, and some knitted a whole round. Quite a feat, as there is probably a 12 foot circumference to the top of the sock. I knit about 100 stitches, but didn't even get to the end of my set of needles. If you have ever knit socks on two circular needles, it is the same technique, but with multiple sets of needles. After it finishes up its stay in Littleton, it travels on to Anchorage Alaska.