Darn!

After accomplishing the grand feat of cleaning and organizing my stash, I was ready to get back to knitting and crocheting. I do love my fiber crafts and I use them to keep me calm in the stressful times and there is nothing more stressful than unemployment and a slow job search. But before allowing myself to dive into the stash to pick out a new project or even allowing myself to pick up an in-process project, I had to revisit my growing pile of socks that need darning of some kind. Darn!



I took a darning class about 3 years ago at Stitches South and I had yet to actually use the skills that I had learned. And with the variety of fixes that need to be made, I’m probably going to put everything I learned to the test. I pulled out some gray wool to mend with. This yarn is felt-able, which is key to the process.The pink socks are the very first pair of socks that I knit and they have done nothing but get softer and warmer over time. I know it’s not really possible to get warmer, but cut my nostalgic heart a little slack. These are my favorites. The others are not as special when all is said and done, but I do love having hand knit socks and I’m not willing to sacrifice any of them--at least not yet.



The two pair above were easy to fix. Using a darning egg and a lot of patience, they are mended and back in rotation. The holes on the pink socks are clearly products of wear as I have lovingly worn these socks for years. That other pair is a mystery to me. I just finished these socks a few months ago. As a matter of fact, I blogged their finishing here. I doubt I was able to wear these three times before a hole sprouted on the side of the foot. The side! I am going to completely blame this on the yarn and not on my construction abilities. That’s the version of the story that I’m sticking to, you will not change my mind.



Now, this sock is a little different. The hole itself is easy enough to fix, but there is a problem. I machine wash all of my socks. This is not a problem for most of the sock yarns on the market so don’t let this keep you from machine washing your own. But, please make sure you are careful with what you washed your socks with. This pair inadvertently got washed with a really fuzzy set of bath towels that I absolutely hate. That fuzz has worked its way into the lacy pattern of the sock and made the cuff section of the sock incredibly stiff. The result is that I would have to stretch the sock entirely too much to get it over my foot, hence the making of the hole. Really, I should probably find another use for these socks--I thought about making them into fingerless gloves but they are such cute socks. Needless to say, I have not made a decision and these will need to go back into consideration for the day when I am a more skilled knitter. The instructor of the darning class I attended would cut the entire cuff section off and knit a new one, but I am not that dedicated to these socks.And then what yarn would I use?



These Noro socks are just as much a mystery to me. Those are actually holes, but areas where the yarn is so thin that it’s easy to be poked through so the area is stretching out. Again, I am not a skilled enough darner to fix these as the yarn is so thin and the areas curving around the toe. It almost seems like poking through the darning yarn will do more damage than good. I’ll have to think on these a little more as well.

So, my darning adventures only led me to getting two pairs off socks back into rotation, but I will consider that good enough to free me into more yarn crafts. In the meantime, I would love to hear from you knitters out there on how you would repair/remake the socks that I am not brave enough to tackle yet. Thoughts?

Why the Kindle Fire Doesn't Work For Me

When tablet fever hit the world, I was interested. But the iPad as the leading device did not and still does not appeal to me. It’s entirely too big and after being an Android user with my cell phone, I see a lot of limitations with the form factor of the Apple iPod/iPhone/iPad software. I was determined to get an Android tablet when they hit the market, but I couldn’t justify the $500+ price point. To justify the purchase I needed to figure out ahead of time exactly what role the tablet would play in my life. I set about trying to decide exactly how I would use it, which really just resulted in it being an extension of the things I could already do on my cell phone. Of course, the bigger screen was a great selling point. I even considered incorporating the tablet into regular use and downgrading to a feature phone.

When the Kindle Fire was announced at $199, I no longer needed the justification. I was okay spending the money to try it out. Fast forward a few months and I hardly ever use the thing. One reason is that Amazon has put Apple-like limitations on the Android software so unless you are comfortable with rooting the device, you were a little stuck until app developers worked around things. One of the best and most useful things to me about Android is the use of widgets on multiple home screens. Amazon only offers you one home screen that displays like a book shelf.

But, I can still get most of the apps that I love on the Kindle and so I could still do all of the things that I like to do on my cell phone. But I find myself not even thinking to pick the thing up. When I’m home, I go for my laptop. When I’m on the go, I go for my cell phone. The Kindle Fire, although a really great device at a really great price point, has no place in my life. And I do have to say when it’s time to read, my go-to device is the e-ink Kindle.

I have to expand this to be inclusive of any tablet. I just don’t have a place for them in my life. Most of the people that I know that use and love tablets so much are people who are not big laptop users or have children that can not be trusted with a laptop. Some of them still have desktop computers at home and so the tablet hits a nice sweet spot for them. That place does not exist in my life. I never thought I would be rejecting a nice little piece of technology, but it is nice to say that I have everything around me that I need.

Maybe in a couple of years when it’s time to update my computer needs will I reconsider using a tablet device. For now, I will be bidding a fond farewell to my Kindle Fire. I have already wiped it and deregistered it and will be selling it on to someone who can find a place for it.

If you are a tablet user, I would love to hear how it is working out for you.

Tossing The Stash

Warning…more cleaning and organizing!

If you are a follower of The Yarn Harlot, you know that Ms. Stephanie likes to “toss” her stash once a year. She’s not getting rid of anything, just mixing it all around so the old stuff is not constantly stuck on the bottom. I decided I needed a bit of the same thing. Even though my yarn closet had a little bit of organization to it, it had gotten a bit out of hand and I’m not sure what all I have anymore.



These are shots of my closet. It was stuffed. I couldn’t see the floor anymore and to get the folding tables out, I would have to pull out several bags of yarn first. This was really starting to irritate me.

Step 1 is to get everything out of the closet! As usual, my guest bedroom is the staging area for the mess that was to ensue.



I had already taken the sheets off the guest bed to wash. If I had not already done it, it would have been necessary after this. Piles of yarns makes a mess and something in my stash makes me itch a bit. I have no idea what as I touched everything so I’ll have to keep an eye out when I finally get to knitting some of this stuff. Note, both the bed and the fold-out table in the back are covered with yarn.

Some of my yarn is still in the bags they were purchased in but so many of them had the misfortune of just roaming free. If you really need a reason to keep your stash organized and neat, just take a look at the yarn nests that had been created.



The situation was actually worse than it looks in the picture. It took hours to get all of the yarns untangled. And actually that black has not been completely untangled yet. I think I’m going to have to devote some serious movie-watching time to this one. To keep this from happening again, I have separated all of the yarns into separate plastic bags. I have collected a mass of those plastic covers from sheets, pillowcases, curtains, etc. And I am so glad that I have. These things really come in handy. When I was out of those, various sizes of zip bags fit the bill just fine.



Getting it all organized and neatly put back into the closet has made me want to get back to my yarn crafts, but there is one more thing I am determined to do first. More on that later. For now, look at how great my closet looks now. I’m so happy I can actually see the floor and my folding tables can slide out with no yarn shifting at all.



For all you yarn crafters out there, are you a regular stash tosser?