After breakfast and before lunch

While I was immersed in my yarn, the kids played and drew, and Cap hung a new shelf. Like a humming hive are we.

Who we're spending the afternoon with

Cataloging the stash

I started last night. No rhyme or reason to the timing. Cataloging my yarn stash was never high on my list of priorities. But, something true was percolating in my intuitive self because now that I am almost done, I am seeing, clearly, how helpful this bit of organizing will prove to be.

First, I entered my yarn info in my little plot of database on the Ravelry site (I cannot sing the praises of this place long or high enough). The name and brand of the yarn, where it was gotten, how much of it I have, the color, and any additional tidbits I want to note about the yarn (ie. which projects I have in mind for them, how much I love the yarn, etc.)

I was surprised to see that I have 80+ yarns in my stash (not skeins or balls..that would be more...)

The site makes it very easy to input this type of info. As well as, interface it with info you have input/linked to your account about projects (favorites, your queue, etc.)

For example, when you come upon a pattern you like, you can, with one click of a button, draw up a collection of all the projects in the site that use that pattern, that have been input by other Ravelers. Another click of the button and you can see what different yarns have been used for that one pattern/project by other Ravelers.

You can do searches by patterns, yarn, people, etc. It's a tremendous and amazing free resource.

This morning I have been photographing the yarn and am now in the midst of uploading the pics to Flickr. Ravelry interfaces with Flickr so once the photos are in my photostream, it's easy to upload them into my Rav account.

Grr. Unless you run out of free storage space for the month which I just did. So some of the photo uploading of yarn into Flickr will have to wait till February.

Anyhoo, having the yarn info joining the project info in my Rav account will help me figure out much more efficiently what I need for my next project(s). (I'm thinking I next need to input my needle info. And I need to come up with better needle storage/organization.)

In the end, I think this will help me in my quest to buy less yarn this year. I have plenty of yarn and I'm incorporating the tools at my disposal to manage the yarn I have, better. I am gaining more insight as to what I like about a yarn, what yarns are good matches for what type of project, what I like/dislike about a certain yarn. All this knowledge will lead to smarter shopping this year.

Here are some of my favorite yarns from the stash.

Malabrigo worsted in Tortuga.

Valley Yarns Shelburne. What I used for Roger's Thorpe hat.

Rowan Kidsilk Night. An anniversary celebration purchase that Cap helped me choose.

Noro Iro. Bought in Oakland and designated for a hooded sweater/jacket.

Noro Silk Garden Chunky. Probably will end up as fingerless gloves.

Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair. For a calorimetry. An indie yarn bought on a trip to a yarn shop local to Karen and Brent's.

Gem picked this silk skein out a long time ago. It is really lovely.

A hidden gem (I had completely forgotten I had this yarn.). Araucania Nature Wool Chunky.

My most favorite yarn of all at the moment. Hands and Notions Peaches and Rose sock yarn. An Etsy purchase. Very indie.

Colinette Jitterbug in Toscana. A souvenir from St. Petersburg. A sock yarn.

Malabrigo worsted in Bergamota. The color in real life is a true meeting of red and orange that is unbelievably luscious and deep.

Malabrigo sock in Terracota. I bought two skeins of Mal sock and brought them down to FL with me. I asked Wendy to pick one and so we have one each of a pair of fraternal twins. It was not an easy decision for her, not made till nearly the end of my visit. The other skein is much darker, with tones of eggplant and evening moss.

Noro Cash Iroha. Cash as in cashmere. This yarn is unbelievably soft. But with substance. The color "hot pink" is one of my favorites and I was so happy to find this yarn in VT during a visit with Anna and the kids.

Nameless indie yarn in Rosewood. Bought at the NJ Sheep and Fiber Festival. We had just moved here and still very much getting our bearings. It was a nice afternoon out in the country. Gem picked this skein.

Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I was like a moth to a flame. No, maybe more like a bear to a flying salmon. I saw this yarn and had to have it. From the yarn store in the same building as Barbra's old yoga studio. The colors in real life are truer. Much.

Pagewod Farm hand dyed sock yarn in Spring Brights. Another Oaktown purchase. The indie yarns have a lot going for them in terms of color and softness. The attention that these skeins get because there's less of them being handled during production results in a, for me, more attractive look and feel. Again, the colors are a bit washed out in the photo.

Sometimes

...I go here and just drink in the color combos. I love the names they come up with. My fave today was Christmas Balls. (It's different every visit.)

Facebook

A view outside from inside. It's c-c-cold out there.

The kids having their own fun. Loving Peanuts a lot lately.

Arm warmer #1 done, arm warmer #2 started. Loving this yarn knit up even more. (I have an aunt in Japan, Momoko's mom, who always gives me the most perfect gifts. This pink, white and brown striped bag, perfect to tote a small knitting project around in, is her most recent.)

My organic chai with vanilla hemp milk gone cold as I sat glued to Facebook.

So, Facebook. Or Crackbook, as my high school classmate Jonathan has called it. Something lined up in the universe today and I was immersed in Facebook for something like 2+ hours this morning.

It's nifty and fun though. You can connect with friends old and new...the format really works for me. I added profile info today and this is what I wrote:

Unschooling mom to two boys. Juggling being at home with the kids, knitting, cooking, taking pictures, blogging, staying in touch with friends, watching tv, reading, and partnering with my love of 19 years. Oh, and working on transforming my nemesis of a messy, cluttered living space into a thing of simplicity, beauty, and function.

Look me up on it if you haven't already. Try it, you'll like it!

Tortuga

Drool.

I just love this yarn. I think I'm going back to get more for myself to knit the Shalom Cardigan. It will be my birthday gift to myself.

Malabrigo worsted in Tortuga.

Uncle time

Takai came over yesterday after work and slept over. He wanted some "man time" with the boys and I needed the respite.

They ate pizza and sushi and potato chips (uncle knows how to treat them right) and then watched a Star Wars movie. Then they snuggled in for the night with some reading and then off to slumber land.

We went out for dinner (French lentil soup and crab cakes and apple slaw for me---yum). One of my yarn stores was a few doors down from the restaurant and Cap gallantly agreed to accompany me in.

It was a new experience for me to go into the yarn shop reminding myself to resist my habit of simply buying. I went to the sale basket first and though I held four or five skeins at one point, ended up putting all but one down (a butter yellow Cascade 220: $3). I then browsed and my mind had slowed enough that I could picture and remember some of the yarn I had in my stash (which is formidable) which helped me from buying more.

I did find a skein of Malabrigo in the color Tortuga which was gorgeous, and perfect for Christine's requested charcoal color for arm warmers I'm knitting her. So in the end, I reduced my average spending in a yarn store by 50%.

My favorite part of the evening though, was hitting the A&P at 9pm with Cap to pick up some Pull-Ups and ice cream. It reminded me of our child-free days, wandering through a nearly vacant supermarket pondering the merits of different flavors, finding a never-before-seen rose scented Dr. Brommer's bar soap on sale, and just smiling at each other in that unmistakable fluorescent glare of night time convenience shopping.

Worth mentioning

• The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle (thanks to Mary c. and we thought of you, Sandy)---I laughed so hard while reading this to the boys that I was crying. Freaked Sag out a bit until he felt for sure that I wasn't crying out of sadness. We'll continue reading today.

• My immune system kicks ass. A day of feeling oogy, a day of feeling worn out, (but both days able to perform basic functions without fuss) and this morning I feel great.

• Currently picked-up-where-I-left-off with David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day. It's a collection of memoir-essay pieces. Funny and poignant and thought provoking. Not on my list, but a carry over from the end of 2008.

• My brother is coming over tonight after work with dinner for the kids. Cap and I are going out for dinner and maybe even a movie. "I know!" as Craig Ferguson would say.

• Turning the computer off---there's a massive amount of tasks waiting for my attention---and two amazing young boys.

The fiction list

Sitting at the computer this little guy caught my eye. And gave me a happy moment. So here he is.

My fiction list for 2009:
Breaking Dawn
the last book of the Twilight series...I'm about 2/3 through and put it down because I am reluctant for it to end
Southern Vampire series
my intro to these books has been via True Blood, the series on HBO...I received the set for X-mas
Plague of Doves
the latest by my fave author, Louise Erdrich...I started this book in 2008 but never finished it
Turpentine
recommended (and borrowed from) Barbra...she's the one who gave me The History of Love which was one of my favorite books of 2008 (or was it 2007?)...I'm thinking woman-centered Deadwood on paper...
The Road
post-apocalyptic stories have had me since I read The Stand in high school
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
supposed to be pretty wondrous
The Days of Abandonment
Matt Pond recommended...I love his words so I'll take his word
Middlesex
once and for all...a novel I have started and not finished innumerable times
Not The End Of The World
author I like a lot...a collection of stories I got on the cheap
The Stones Of Summer
Stephen King recommended this one year in EW where he also recommended Case Histories by Kate Atkinson...loved Case Histories
The Dark Tower series
Jake (Cap's dad) bequeathed to me the whole series a few years ago..I've read the first few and now want to read them all, one after the other
The Known World
I plucked this off Anna's shelves (Stiff, too...see non-fiction list) awhile back
The Lord Of The Ring trilogy
I loved the movies and received the trilogy for X-mas the year the movie trilogy completed... time to make the shift from eye candy to read

This morning I had the kids choose fiction for me to read aloud to them. Sag chose Encyclopedia Brown Keeps The Peace and Gem chose The Giggler Treatment.

What fiction are you reading these days?

Roof snow

What is this thing you call a cassette

We've had this cassette player since the boys were wee. It is one of the few objets de babyhood that not only has survived, but has tagged along with us on our numerous moves and gotten used, here and there, along the way.

At the Dan Zanes concert we sang, with funny movements, the song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas. Fast forward to this morning and Sag remembered that we have a cassette of this song. He pulls down the player, I help him locate the bag of tapes, and jump in the shower.


Now what? Hmm. Äiti!!!


Here they are waiting for the tape to rewind to get to the right song. Imagine that, having a moment to contemplate while technology catches up to you.

A boy and his dad

Evening snow

Photographed during shoveling outing #2.

My boys

I've bundled them up and sent them out to play. My due-any-day-now friend came by to pick them up and I am alone, for the first time in a long time.

I've been trying to catch this dimple, digitally, all day. Finally got it!