Small, homely pleasures

I felt like a good steward yesterday. Ran out on my lunch hour to The Shabby Sheep and picked up two sets of 4” HiyaHiya DP needles and the yarn for Willow’s birthday present (not due until October, something of a dangerous precedent). It’s the same yarn as for Lark’s shawlette, but in a different colorway: everything from horizon blue to turquoise, true blues to greyed blues to my favorites, the ones amply mixed with yellow. I have another of SusannaIC’s designs bookmarked on Ravelry and need to check if it requires beads. If so, I will pick them up on the way to the funeral this afternoon.



[That’s it on the left.] After work I drove to Whirled Fibers and bought a HiyaHiya needle gauge. This would be my third gauge in what appears to be a new category of stuff-I-collect. I have the standard aluminum one with the window for checking a 2” gauge swatch (laughable, really, because a 4” swatch is more accurate). Also the one made by Addi, because their sizes are slightly different from standard American issue, and I have a respectable collection of Addi’s. I bought this new one because it was the only one I knew of which can size a 6-0 needle. [I learned at the shop that there is another one, sold by Debra’s Garden; scroll down until you find the one for lace and socks.] I also bought a set of 6” HiyaHiya DP’s in 000, to supplement my cheapie aluminum ones, which are more than a little the worse for wear.

The needles and yarn are now properly entered on Ravelry.

I am getting antsy for another Namaste circ organizer, because the couch and the coffee table and this desk are rapidly filling up with knitting paraphernalia, and I am starting to feel the slightest bit twitchy about that. I am also thinking about how I want to organize my DP’s. I think it will involve a fair amount of sewing on my part, although I might cheat a little if I can find suitable placemats at World Market or Pier One. For now, I have slipped the 4” needles into the same package as their 6” counterparts [except for the 4-0’s, all in use], which reduced that portion of the clutter by half.



I wish that I had bought the red leather remote control organizer at JoAnn’s when I saw it a few years ago. It was NotInTheBudget at that point. I am wondering if the red leather pencil cup I saw awhile back at the Container Store would corral four remotes? Oh wait: red latte cup leftover from my MK gift bag days, and it’s free. Problem solved.



I took a little PT on the way into work yesterday, to nip into WallyWorld’s electronics department for a cover for my iPod. Nothing that I liked. So on the way home from Whirled Fibers, I stopped in at Frye’s and found a black leather case on closeout, and now that’s checked off my list.

I have eight CD’s loaded into iTunes and plan to add more of them today. The Amazon box with the CD’s my lawyer friend gave me before Christmas is sitting atop the shredder in its new location, i.e., the space formerly occupied by said box of CD’s I am still working through, next to the TV. If I get all the way through that box this weekend, I can take the contents to Entertainmart when I am in Arlington next Tuesday for my haircut and Knit Night, and maybe come home with a few dollars or some new music. And then I can start working my way through the CD’s in the over-the-door organizer in my boudoir.

The ongoing project of converting two large balls of plied laceweight tweed yarn into single plies, is a little farther down the road than when I woke up this morning. Thus far I have created another 100 yards of singles, all wound neatly into five-yard loops and waiting patiently in their gallon Ziploc bag. The larger of the two balls, which was significantly larger, is now only a smidgen bigger than the smaller ball. I wonder how many Ziploc bags I will fill before I am done?



I like this new computer. It has its quirks, and I’m not sure at this point if they are quirks in the system, or operator error. I really, really like how much better my game scores are on the AARP games website. Not important in the eternal scheme of things, but still a lot of fun in five-minute increments here and there.

The cross-stitch software I have on my old computer, is offering an upgrade special for Mother’s Day. Even though I have no feel for when I will be picking up those needles again, I do have a few ideas for embellished doll clothing (perhaps personalized?) that are rumbling around in a corner of my brain. If Fourthborn could draft (or help me draft) a vest pattern for each of my dolls, I could design vest fronts with their names worked into the design. One cool thing about the resin kids is that a stalker is not going to take advantage of personalized clothing to overcome the stranger-danger factor.

I think doll-sized needlepoint vests might be a hit with the steampunk crowd. Girls?