swatching and soaking

Yes, Oh wise Yarn Harlot. I read it. I giggled when I read the post (didn't we all?). I nodded my head repeatedly, affirming your sage advice to never become smug about swatching. Then, (brain like a sieve) I promptly forgot it and cast on a sock. I knit for a couple of inches on really tiny needles with yarn that looks like crochet thread. I gleefully spread out the stitches on the four needles and tried to put the sock on. NOTHING DOING. I transferred the knitting from the needles to a piece of yarn and tried to put the sock on. NOTHING DOING. I pulled the yarn out, rewound it into a tidy little ball, and stuck it back in the skein. Me? Socks? NOTHING DOING. I call this "Aborted Sock Attempt with Toad".

Don't worry. I'll try again in a few days. And I'll swatch first. But right now I've got this wrap going and I really love it. It has beautiful hand-painted yarn and soft furry baby alpaca on nice BIG needles. You see, I don't know if I can use my precious moments to produce the fine-gauge stuff. I have to squeeze in the knitting when I can: a few rows in the laundry room when I should be matching socks, a few rows in the kitchen when I should be loading dishes, a few rows in the bathroom while PeeWee has a bath--or if I can get Eric to go to bed before me, a whole bunch of rows after everyone is asleep and I should be, too. Don't worry, I like my husband and all, but sometimes a girl just needs to knit. And sometimes she needs to be able to finish projects in less than three years.

Guess what? I'm taking a spinning class!!!!!!!! I'm so excited that I'm overdoing it with the exclamation points again!!!!!! We'll learn how to take the wool all the way from fleece to yarn. I came home from my first class with a pound of greasy fleecy and I've been soaking/washing it out in my bathtub. The water that drained off from the first cold soak was downright disgusting. I soaked and drained it 5 times and there were still mats of mud on the tips of the fleece that were not budging. I don't know if I was supposed to do it or not, but I got irritated at the mats and snipped them off. After I did that, the fleece started to look reasonable, so I finally stopped soaking it and it is now hovering on a sweater rack, trying to dry. PeeWee and Middle Sister are feeling very proprietary because they helped drain the tub and swish out the crap each time we changed the soaking water. Next week: carding! I'm all giddy.