Japanese Cat Zakka Knitting Book

I saw pictures of this book several months ago, and I've been looking for it since! It's out of print and the only sources seem to be directly from Japan. Amazingly, Lacis is carrying it! I definitely want to buy it, but it will cost at least $30 what with s/h and tax since Lacis is in California. I'm going to look up the patterns first to make sure I want it, but there is a good chance I'll be placing an order tonight. :)

Meanwhile...ever since I realized that there is an *active* ISO/Destash board on Ravelry, I've been lurking there, reading ever FS (For Sale) post and update! I seriously refresh the page every few minutes. I've already spent...$450...buying magazines, books, and yarns. I've also been buying elsewhere too....eBay, Mochimochi Land, Interweave Knits, Lacis, Amazon, StitchDiva, KnitPicks, and Kinokuniya.

Lucky for me, I've got a new weekend job as a receptionist. It pays surprisingly well at $15/hr for doing practically nothing. >_> I should be able to make back the money I spent on knitting the last 2 months by the end of July, assuming I don't buy any more. That prospect does not look good as only today I've spent $45, potentially becoming $75 tonight. The good news is that once the yarn starts arriving, I will be actively matching the yarn to prospective projects (which I have also been browsing through). I will also be digging through all my pre-existing stash to weed out all the stuff I want to get rid of. Some yarns I may be able to use after I think about it and come up with something (NOTE: consider for potential gifts, aka babies, birthdays, Christmas). Then perhaps I will be too preoccupied - by actually knitting - to buy more yarn.

Socks made from Laceweight Yarn

My first purchase from KnitPicks was pure impulse. I read about a sale, and visited the website for the first time. Actually it was also my first yarn purchase from an online yarn store (not counting Ebay). I was taken back by how *cheap* the yarn was! Granted, it was all laceweight yarn I was looking at. Still...$2-$4 for a hank...I totally splurged and bought 4 hanks each of 4 yarns [details here]. I bought for of Shadow in Campfire, which is kind of a brownish, earthy orange. I used over half of one hank of it to make a lace scarf for my mom. I bought 8 hanks of Gossamer in 2 colorways. Sunrise is a variegated light blue with light pink. Sounds and looks nice until you try to figure out wth you're actually going to make with it. Top Hat is a variegated yarn in red, black, purple, and various shades between. It looks beautiful, but as a lacy item...I don't know. The Alpaca Cloud looks really thin and is very soft. It looks beautiful and I still haven't decided on a project I'm willing to use it up on. I got it in a moss green that is a nice soft, muted green color. Here are pictures of the Gossamer variegated yarns.

Sunrise:

Top Hat:

So, while looking at wool/silk blend yarns I can buy to make a sweater out of, I was considering the cost effectiveness of buying a laceweight and doubling it up to get a fingering weight yarn. Somehow I realized that socks are made with fingering weight yarn, and I have a bunch of laceweight in variegated colors that I don't know what to do with. Also, variegated yarns are perfect for socks in ways they could never be perfect for any other garments. Thus, I gave it a try and started on a pair of socks using the Gossamer laceweight in the Top Hat colorway. I also figured that by doubling the yarn I'd be able to prevent any nasty pooling.

I just finished the first sock last night, and the results turned out rather nice. They're soft and they feel sturdy. The colors do not exactly pool either. They ended up striping...but in various ways. It seems like each section of the sock ended up with a different striping pattern. I don't have a picture of the completed sock, but here's a picture I took while the sock was in progress. By the way, the pattern I used was the one I used for my first sock attempt, Aran Braid Socks for Teri.

In the picture, you can see the there is a striping thing going on in the leg of the sock. There's a sort red-black-red stripe pattern going on with bits of purple in between. In hte back and forth portion of the heel, the stripe turned to black-red-purple, repeated. The gusset, being many more stitches around than the leg, created a thinner stripe pattern with a line of black alternating between the red-purples. As the circumference decreases for the foot, the striping returns to something more similar to the leg, but not quite as regular. In the leg, there were long stretches where both strands would be the same color...either red or black. In the foot, somehow the colors got offset enough that the same colors did not overlap together.

Overall the effect is not bad. I like it. I don't expect to be able to duplicate the striping patterns on the second sock. This did not take all that much yarn either. I still have a bunch left from the first hank. Assuming the yardage is accurate, this took less than 220 yards. It will be interesting to see how far the rest of the hank will take me into the second sock.

Yarn purchasing

I admit, I just made a big purchase of yarn. I spent $100 at Organic Imaginings on some SWTC Pure, a 100% soysilk, and O~Wool Balance, an organic blend of 50% merino wool and 50% cotton fibers.

The store was offering a buy 2 get 1 free deal, along with a free t-shirt and free shipping on orders over $50.

LittleKnits is also having a sale on their Noro Kureyon at $4.68/ball or $42.50/bag of 10. I've been trying to decide all weekend whether or not to order a bag. I've really wanted to try knitting with it, since so many people rave about the beautiful colors. They're rather random and unpredictable. I don't typically like yarn in bright colors so I would typically avoid something like this. But, on LittleKnits, they have knitted up samples of the yarn. Based on those samples, I wouldn't mind getting some Noro Kureyon in colorways 150 & 172....but I can't decide which one. Also, I'd like to have an idea of what I would make with 1000 yards of a colorful stripy yarn. I may end up felting it.

Growing Exponentially

I've bought SO much yarn in the past 2 months, it's seriously scary. At least they've been cheap. Except for one $24 skein of cashmere. Everything else has been $6 per ball or under. I don't know how I'm ever going to use it all up. Every time I come up with a project I want to start, I need to buy the yarn for it. Either I don't have the right type yarn, don't have the correct color, or don't have enough. I can't even begin to list all the yarn here. If you're on Ravelry you can check it out (username: matikin9), otherwise tough luck. :)

I got it!

I was just sitting here thinking about the ladies I was knitting with last night and I put the yarn in my left hand and picked at it with the needle. Before I knew it I was knitting continental, just like that! I even finished the rest of my lace row (with yo's, ssk's, and k2tog's aplenty). I tried doing continental once before, but for some reason the hand motion just didn't click. This is awesome! One thing I'm having a little trouble with is holding the yarn in my left hand but I'm sure I'll figure that out with some more practice.

On another note, last night was the first meeting for the Tues night Pasadena Ravelry knitters group. We met at Zephyr, a very cute little coffee house with yummy pastries. I loved meeting other knitters & crocheters and one of the ladies runs an online yarn shop where she sells cashmere yarn! At $24 a skein, I can't run out and buy a bunch, but I think I will get some to make something for my aunt Jennifer. She loves cashmere, but I'm having a hard time thinking of something I can make for her. She doesn't actually wear any knit accessories...but then perhaps she will if I make some for her! lol, she'll love anything I make for her just because I made it.

Edit: Ok, so maybe purling isn't as intuitive. I need to figure out how to hold onto my left needle without my index & middle fingers.

While (yarn<infinity) { yarn+=100; project+=1;}

The yarn I ordered from Knit Picks arrived last week! I picked it up yesterday because I didn't realize it would ship SO quickly! I made my order on Sunday, Oct. 28th, and apparently the package arrived at the end of the week. I didn't even check the mail because I thought it would take 2 weeks minimum. Then Lawrence told me yesterday that when he checked the mail, there was a package notification slip...which must have been my package of yarn!

I bought several skeins of lace weight yarn in colorways that were on sale. In fact, I think they still have more of it that's on sale because they're making room for more colors. Of course, I ordered $47-worth of yarn because orders over $45 get free shipping.

Shadow
100% merino wool
440 yards
$1.99/hank

Gossamer
100% merino wool
440 yards
$2.99/hank

Alpaca Cloud
100% baby alpaca
440 yards
$3.99/hank

Then yesterday when we went to Arcadia to buy Chinese newspapers, we stopped by the JoAnn's there and I bought $27 more in yarn. I bought some Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn for amigurumi, some JoAnn Sensations yarn that was on sale (omg that stuff is so soft!), and some Patons worsted weight classic wool in Aran so that I can try dyeing and maybe felting.

.._.._.._.._.._.._..

Last night I finished weaving in the random ends that were sticking out of the bunny slippers. So that project is completed.

On Sunday, I finished up the lace cuff of the butterfly wrap and wove the ends in. I didn't have time to properly finish the ribbon ties, so I will need to do that. I didn't end up wearing it to the Nightwish concert...and truthfully I probably would have been very cold if I wore it. It still needs to be blocked, and I hope I find another occasion to wear it.

Being a productive weekend, I also finished up Sly's scarf last night. I don't know what the hell is up with my row counting, but it turns out that after "fixing" the red stripe, I ended up with an extra row. However, it's okay because I just made sure that the horizontal red stripe connecting the two pieces had the same number of stitches on both pieces so when I sewed it together, it would just kind of...line itself up. It doesn't look so bad, and will probably be better after I block it. If I can block it. I just realized the Vanna's Choice yarn is acrylic.

I frogged the beginning of Ela's scarf and restarted it to go along with the striped self-fringing scarf pattern in The Happy Hooker. I made it slightly shorter so it's 250 stitches-long instead of 300.

I sewed the body to the head of the amigurumi elephant. I ran out of yarn in the ball I was using, so I'm using the other balls of random blue yarn I had. I thought they were all the same color, but it looks like the other balls are slightly darker. This elephant is going to be kind of weird looking. I also sewed on two of the legs, but I think I sewed them in the wrong place. Maybe it will still be cute in a sort of deformed way... :/

This morning on my way to work, I wound one of the hanks of Knit Picks Shadow into a yarn cocoon so I can start knitting (w00t, knitting!) a lace scarf for my mom's Christmas present. The pattern looks insanely easy...it's just 4 rows of alternating knit increases/decreases & purls, repeated to the desired length or until your yarn runs out. It's the Party Lace Scarf from MagKnits, but without the beads. I'm just doing knit stitches where the beads would have been.

Progress, all around

I finally got my invite to Ravelry yesterday! I spent all day on the site, and it looks pretty awesome. I will probably spend a large portion of Saturday entering project & yarn information.

Lawrence helped me sew the button eyes onto the bunny slippers, so they are also finally, um, non-eyeless! I think I'm supposed to wash them and let them dry to fluff them up a bit, and then they will be completely finished.

Unfortunately Lawrence left his Nikon at work so I'll have to wait for tonight to take pictures.

I am on the last row of the right sleeve before the lace work on the butterfly wrap. I may save that for when I get home just because I don't want to have to deal with losing my place in the pattern. Or I won't be able to help myself and I will work on the lace at every spare moment I get.

It's really a toss up because yesterday I started the mommy elephant amigurumi from Anapaulaoli. I finished stuffing the head last night, and as of this morning I've got 1 ear done. The other ear shouldn't take too long, and then there's the body and 4 legs. Making these is actually very fun! Even though the long stretches of single crochet are monotonous and make me impatient, I love how these things get created so quickly. It's like "Rows 4-11: sc 18" and you're like "4, 5, 6, ....that's 8 rows of single crochet...am i done yet? how many more rows?" But before you know it, you're decreasing and decreasing, and you've just got a little hole left for the stuffing. Like most crochet & knitting, the foundation row/chain and the first row are the most annoying.

The great thing about this elephant is that I get to use up the gigantic balls of blue yarn that my mom and I found in our garage many years ago. I don't know what the fiber is or what brand it is, I just know I have several huge balls of it. There are 4 plys and it splits easily if it becomes untwisted, which it tends to do. However, for some reason it has been fairly easy to work with for this elephant. That's good because I had no idea what I was going to do with all the yarn and it was just taking up space in my stash. On a side note, I think it would be very cute to tie little bow ribbons on these amigurumi.

Lion Brand - Vanna's Choice yarn

I've read some differing opinions of this yarn on the Knitter's Review forums. Some thought it felt strange and too scratchy, not soft enough. Others found nothing wrong with it and appreciated the value (it's only $2.49-2.99).

When I first felt it I wasn't impressed, but after buying some and crocheting with it, I must say that it definitely isn't as scratchy as Red Heart acrylics, nor as stiff feeling as some of the wools. It doesn't slide that easily on my hook, but then maybe it's because my hook is too small. The wrapper calls for size J, and I'm using size I.

One thing that is nice, and I suppose would make sense since they say that Vanna is an avid crocheter, is that the yarn does not split easily. That is the one thing that has annoyed me about working on my Butterfly Wrap - it's so easy for my hook to split the Jojoland yarn if I'm not careful. The Vanna's Choice yarn is wound more tightly or something - haha, or maybe it's just because it's thicker! Come to think of it, I've never crocheted with thicker yarns before. :)

Strangers on the train

On the train home from work today, there was an old man. He didn't speak English, but he signaled me for my attention. He pointed at my crocheting and pointed at his eyes and then made negative motions. I gathered that he was trying to tell me to stop crocheting on the train or else I'll ruin my eyes. I didn't want to bother trying to argue with an old man I couldn't even communicate with so I put my crocheting away. Oh well. Instead I took out the pattern and started reading ahead on the edging and sleeves.

Yesterday a friend I met from World of Warcraft asked me for a knitted scarf. That should be easy enough. I shot him a series of questions about his preferences (because I know he's rather picky about some things) and decided to do a black scarf with one off-center vertical dark red stripe. I figured that it might take too long to knit and so I'm going to crochet it. I also thought this would be a good chance to practice some Tunisian Crochet. I could either do it length-wise or width-wise. If I do it length-wise, the dark red yarn will only take 3-4 rows. If I do it width-wise, then I'd need to do 3-4 stitches of red on every row, meaning I'd have to do intarsia. I suppose it would be a good opportunity to practice that too...even if that means it would be really annoying to do. If I crochet it the easier way, length-wise, I'd have to use regular crochet because my hook isn't long enough for an entire scarf. However, regular crochet isn't as thick as Tunisian crochet, and so wouldn't be as warm - and that was one specific characteristic my friend asked for.

On my way home from work today, I decided to go to Jo-Ann and the local yarn store, Skein. It was a nice little yarn store, with all the yarns nicely stacked in little cubbies everywhere. There were a ton of books, magazines, and binders full of patterns. There was also a table in the back where you can get knitting help. There were a bunch of people there knitting when I arrived at 5:30pm. I decided it would be a good idea to make a lace scarf/shawl for my mom for Christmas, but the mohair yarns were so expensive...either I'd have to make it smaller or I'll have to find a cheaper alternative. I didn't end up buying any of the books or the yarn because it was too much for me to justify when I already had another project I had planned to start. I did however buy a Tunisian hook because I wasn't sure if Jo-Ann would have any. At Jo-Ann, I bought 3 balls of black Vanna's Choice yarn and 1 ball of cranberry worsted Wool-ease. Not bad for $10. I didn't even have a 50% off coupon on me.

As soon as I got home I tried Tunisian knit stitch with the black and red yarns together. Perhaps I was a little too ambitious. It was hard to tell where I was supposed to put the hook, and some of the stitches didn't look quite right. I took out the red and used only black with regular simple Tunisian, and the crocheting started to curl severely after just a few rows. I looked it up and found out that it's *supposed* to curl. Tunisian is back-heavy on the yarn, causing the yarn to pull in a way the curls the bottom edge, the same as a knitted stockinette stitch. It helps to crochet very loosely and use a larger hook, but I don't think my hook is big enough for the fabric to not curl. I think I'll just crochet this normally and save the Tunisian for something simpler. OR...I could try using the knitting loom I bought! I would probably need to double the yarn and then learn to do intarsia on a loom.

I got an e-mail tonight saying the ribbon I ordered has been shipped. w00t! Must...finish...wrap...

Quality over quantity

Time flies - it's already been nearly a week since I last posted. In that time I have been busily working on the butterfly wrap, putting the final touches on my retail business' website, and making an effort to spend more quality time with Lawrence.

It's been a pleasure working on the butterfly wrap, especially since it's been working up rather quickly. I ordered the ribbon yesterday. I ended up choosing the color Lobelia. It's a darker bluish color than the other options, but slightly variated so hopefully it will be good for matching other outfits as well. I've got the back partial panel and the front left partial panel finished, and I only need a few more rows of the front right partial panel. Once that's complete, I can seam them together and start crocheting down for the bottom half of the wrap. After that, only the sleeves, finishing, and ribbon ties are left. Haha, okay, so maybe that's still quite a bit, but it does not feel as daunting as when I first downloaded the pattern! The pattern itself is quite simple, it's basically a repeating series of dc stitches, shells, and chains. Once you have the first row, all the other rows follow the same pattern - you just need to look at the previous row to know what's next, not that it's even a hard pattern to understand. Again, it works up so much more quickly than knitting.

I almost feel like I'm betraying my knitting, but I think I am starting to like crochet more than knitting. You can do 3D objects, cool lace work that isn't difficult, and whatever shape you crochet all you need is a hook. As an additional bonus, I don't feel so weird crocheting while walking. I saw a top on Craftster this morning that I really loved. It would make a great project for me to do next, but I would need to lose some weight first. The garment in question is the Dahlia top found at Labrajogo's Etsy store. It's made with crochet thread, which makes it much finer than the wrap I'm working on right now. Given the surface area of the top, I'm sure it would take much longer to finish as well. Regardless, the detail on the Dahlia is beautiful! The creator took 3 months making it, frogging and reworking rows to get the fit just right. I wouldn't mind doing that if I knew the result would be so beautiful.

Usually I stay away from thin sport weight, fingering weight yarns because it seems like it will take forever before an object starts to look like anything recognizable. As a result, most of the yarns I stock up on are bulky. This results in me making only bulky items with my bulky yarn. As I start to wear things made with bulky yarn I realize how this can be a problem. Even a scarf that's too bulky, wrapped around my neck, will make me look like I have a double chin and no neck. Part of this may be tied into the fuzzy yarns I love to buy. I'm not talking about the boa-like fun furs, but the insanely soft fuzzy yarns like Sirdar's Snowflake. Unfortunately these yarns all tend to be bulky. Stitches also end up being very undefined. The finished object is a fuzzy mass, making patterns with intricate stitching completely pointless.

Lately I feel myself being drawn more towards the no-nonsense non-fuzzy yarns, the ones that give you well defined stitches. I've always been interested in working more complicated patterns, but again, that hasn't been possible with my yarn selection.

Stitch Cafe & Butterfly Wrap progress

Last night I made Lawrence drive me out to North Hollywood so I could visit a yarn store - Stitch Cafe. It was a small store with many shelves, baskets, and racks full of yummy yummy yarns. We went specifically on a Thursday because that's when they're open until 9pm. Other days they are only open until 6pm, and of course Lawrence doesn't get off work until 6:30pm. Wednesday night looked like a get-together night because there were a bunch of people knitting together in the front section of the store.

I went specifically looking for Hanah silk cording to use in my Butterfly Wrap. The Artemis website lists Stitch Cafe as a retailer that carries Hana silk ribbons. Silly me, I did not think that meant they may only stock specific ribbons. At the store I realized they didn't have the cording I needed. They only carried the regular silk ribbons. Regardless, the ladies at the store were very willing to help and so friendly! They immediately made me feel comfortable, and also pointed me to the yarns out back that were on sale for 30% off. Even though I didn't find what I specifically came for, I loved browsing through all the beautiful yarns, and I even bought 2 hanks of sale yarns. I don't know what I'll use them for, but they're beautiful nonetheless. I suppose it would be easier to just buy the silk cording online instead of calling all the different yarn stores to the one that carries it at least an hour away. Now...what color should I get? :( Should it match the dress? Complement the dress? Shouldn't I pick a color that would be easily matched by the other clothes in my wardrobe? Then again, what other clothes do I even have that would match this wrap? Ahhh!

On another note, so far I've finished 7 rows of the back panel for the butterfly wrap. It definitely isn't perfect so far, but I'm torn between wanting to get it done as soon as I can for the concerts,
and wanting to start over now that I have a better insight into how loose to make the stitches. I reread the pattern and this wrap is worked top-down. That means that my *worst* and loosest rows, the initial ones, will be right up at the top. Being so loose, the might make for a strange fit up top. I don't know if the size I chose is correct either, it does seem a little big so far. Maybe it's supposed to be like that? I can't really tell until I finish the other panels and start putting it together. I suppose if it's too big I could wear it for the concerts and then gift it to someone else. I'd really much rather make something nicer the first time around. Even if I decide to restart it in a smaller size...what if that smaller size is too small?

O_o I'm probably just going to continue and hope for the best. If it turns out to be way too big, I could always frog the panels and start over. It shouldn't be too difficult if I don't actually knot the yarn ends together, and it's not like I have to use lots of small lengths of thread.

finally, some pictures

Here's the information, direct from the label for the 2 yarns I used for the Fluffy Bunny Slippers pattern found in The Happy Hooker.

Bernat - Natural Blends Cashmere
color: Petal
1 ball = 60g, 103 yds
65% acrylic/30% nylon/5% cashmere
gauge: 17s x 24r = 4" x 4" on US 8 needles/US H8 hook [medium 4]
care instructions: Hand wash, lay flat to dry. Wash gently by hand in water (not exceeding 30C/86F). After extraction of excess water, dry the article on a suitable flat surface. Do not bleach. Do not iron or press. Do not dry-clean.
Made in Canada.


Moda Dea - Dream
color: Waterlily
1 ball = 50g, 93 yds
57% nylon/43% acrylic
gauge: 16s x 23r = 4" x 4" on US 10 needles, 11sc x 13r = 4" x 4" on K-10.5 hook [medium 4]
care instructions: Hand wash, lay flat to dry. Do not iron, bleach, or machine dry. Dry cleanable with any solvent except trichloethylene.
Made in Italy.


The angle is a little strange, but here's a picture of me crocheting with both strands together:



My Comments
This was my first time using two strands of yarn together on a project. It was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. It was easy to feel when I accidentally slipped the hook through just one yarn and not the other. These yarns were easy to crochet with, the loops slid smoothly off the hook (an aluminum size H/8 Boye hook) and I was able to maintain tension smoothly. The only problem I ever ran into was with the Bernat Cashmere yarn, being 4-ply, my hook would sometimes go through the yarn and snag on the plies. Both yarns are deliciously soft, not scratchy at all. I would definitely use these yarns for future projects. As for the bunny slippers themselves, they are not yet done. I'll put up pictures as soon as they are, but right now I still need to sew on one of the lower soles and then sew on the ears, eyes, and noses for both slippers.

pictures coming soon

I made Lawrence take pictures of my yarn last night. I was going to post about the yarn I used for the Fluffy Bunny Slippers because I spent a while trying to figure out what kind of yarn to use. But, he spent so much time taking and re-taking pictures to get just the right lighting that the batteries for his camera ran out and he couldn't upload them to the computer. :/ So pictures and yarn details will hopefully be coming tonight.

yarn buying strategies

I think discussion of accumulation strategies for yarn is needed. Oftentimes when I go yarn shopping, I end up contemplating exactly how much yarn to buy. Specifically:

• How many different scrumptious colors should I get?
• How many balls/skeins of each yarn on sale should I get?

The decision ultimately comes down to what I can make with the yarn. What usually ends up happening is that I want a little bit of everything! I buy one ball of this, one ball of that - one in each color so I can have them all! The problem with that is that I'm stuck with only being able to complete small projects. You can't make a sweater out of just one ball. But then...I'm also scared of big purchases. For some reason, buying 5 balls of one color of one yarn is a lot harder to do than 5 different balls of yarn. I want to break out of this habit, but I think that perhaps I should first find a larger project I want to commit to and specifically buying the yarn for it. That sounds a less scary than buying a whole bunch of a random yarn that I would have to continue to knit/crochet with.

On that note, this Crochet Butterfly Wrap Sweater from www.SuperCrafty.com is very cute! Both the short and long versions are so cute and I love the shape of it. Hm. I think it would go well with that blue-black goth-lacey dress I got from Nordstrom's. I could wear it to the Evanescence concert in November! :D That'd be awesome! I need to get on that...

I checked my place in the Ravelry line. There's still 15,384 people in front of me! They posted on their news blog that they are now able to invite 500-600 people in daily now. That's still another month before I can get in. ;_; Booooo.

more yarn!

I went to Michaels tonight and bought more yarn:
2 balls Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends (Petal/pink)
2 balls Moda Dea Dream (Waterlily/pink)
1 ball Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends (Indigo/blue)
1 ball Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends (Earth/brown)

The 4 balls of pink yarn are what I used to make the fluffy bunny slippers. I'm want to make another pair, as soon as I figure out what I'm going to do with them. Speaking of the slippers, I just had to frog 2 rounds of my crocheting, because I didn't read the instructions close enough and forgot to do 2 dc in one dc. Ugh. At least crochet works up quickly!

All that's left to do for the slippers is to crochet the pair of bottom soles, and then assemble all the pieces together! Lawrence's (I'm going to start referring to him by name...S.O. is just too awkward) new Nikon DSLR camera came today. That means - I can take pictures of my yarn and my knitting! WHEEE! :D