Happy Post Pi Day!

Pi Day? What's that? Why it's 3-14!! I didn't make pies, though; I made cakes. Yarn cakes. I hauled out my umbrella swift and waded through the boxes in the garage and excavated my ball winder. Call it a keeping-up-with-the-joneses move. Now that I am going to a weekly knitting group at the rather posh LYS, I don't want to be showing up with ghetto hand wound balls of yarn. Also, it's a HECK of a lot faster to wind a skein of yarn that way and you have access to both ends of the skein.


















Knitter's tools: an umbrella swift on the left and a ball winder on the right
















A skein before winding and a center pull yarn cake after the swift and wider have been put to use.

I have been doing a fair bit of panic knitting, to try and keep stress at bay. My mom is in implode mode, and I need an emotional go-to to keep from spinning out. Obvious--KNITTING! (An aside--MAJOR kudos to my brother, husband and two dear friends down in the Southlands who have run interference with Mom. I am beyond deeply grateful. K, the scotch is on me!! Single malt, of course.)

So yesterday was a Flop Day--no obligations. I puttered with yarn. I prepped five projects-- the Five Alarm Bag, , most of the remaining of the skeins for Jiada, the skeins for the Peony Sweater, the Triad scarf, and The Be Sweet Slubby Shawl. It took maybe 45 minutes to make cakes where it would have taken ours to hand wind. They are so tidy looking!



















A nice Saturday bounty.

Another great stash action--this time with beads--was made, too. I recently unearthed my random stash of seed beads, much of which I have had since I was a kid. (always the pack rat, me) I am using a pre-beaded yarn for the Be Sweet shawl and I decided to bead up one of the other yarns, so I randomly seeded all my turquoise colored beads on it--some matte, some clear, but I think it will look quite fun, and it gets a lot of beads out of tubes and tupperwares and into actual USE. (a novel concept!)

I also got my marmalade kidsilk haze in the mail and pick up the stitches for Belinda, which is now in go-mode. Last week, I finished the front of Jiada and started the back--BORING stockinette, but I can pick it up when I am at loose ends and need some yarn freecell to keep be occupied.

So, I have been busy. I have also knitted a lot. Clapotis is done and now needs blocking and tassels made. I am going to block and sew Zarah before I decided how to do the collar. The smoke ring is about 1/3 done, and has been going with me to work and knitting group. Belinda is also ready to go. So is Jiada. This may sound mundane, but productivity helps in the face of situational difficulty--meaning my mother. I have always said that a hobby is a comfort and I stand by that statement. Mine sure has comforted me!

So have another piece of pi(e) and a yarn cake on the side!!