bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

Just a Yarn Cake Minding His Own Business

this day started like any other day.  a yarn cake just minding his own business, whistling a happy tune even.

and then DANGER struck!!! " NO!!!!!!!  HELP!!!!!!"  he screamed.

but his cries were in vain.

did the beast eat our yarn friend?  did she pull his yarn end and make him dance across the floor before getting tangled within his strands with a satisfied sigh of contentment?  tune in tomorrow (or maybe the next day -- tomorrow being more of a general time in the foreseeable future rather than actually the day after today) to find out.

this play in three acts is my entry in hannah's bittersweet contest.   i just discovered her thanks to oiyi.

For Your Mother-in-Law ... Or Not

knitting progress has been a little slow lately, but last week, with a few days off, i made considerable progress.  most notably, i finished the scarf for my mother-in-law and gave it to her for her birthday on sunday.   i think it was a success (meaning -- she seemed to like it.)

and if she doesn't like it, i don't care, because i do. 

and if you'd like to make one for yourself, i've written down the pattern.   you can find the pattern also in the sidebar to the right -- over there. 

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also, i'd like to thank you all for the enthusiastic thumbs-up you've given my fun fur tree.  if you make one, please let me know.  i'd love to see it.

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and that's it for the patterns from me for awhile.  coming up with something even remotely original is exhausting.

 

As Seen On TV

a friend just told me that she heard my name mentioned on tv.  this is not a surprise to me as i knew it was a possibility, but it is a little bit thrilling nonetheless.   

these 15 seconds are courtesy of my friend stitchy mcyarnpants who you all might have seen on the Kitschy Christmas episode of Knitty Gritty that aired for the first time yesterday.  sweet huh.  (i, unfortunately, did not get to see her as i do not subscribe to the DIY network.)

anyway, you might have also seen my fun fur kitschmas tree. 

i first knit this tree about 2 years ago, inspired by anjo's dr. seuss-like trees.   i finally wrote up a pattern for it.  my version is knitted from the top down, measures 18 inches in height and although free standing, is also soft and pillow-like.  so here it is.   you can also click directly onto the pattern link in my sidebar over there to the right.

i hope you all like it.

 

Snow!

today was a good day.  i didn't have to go to work and we had our first snow of the season. 

i did some spinning, and i dyed some yarn (it's drying and it kind of looks ugly, but whatever) and a little knitting and ran some errands.  i watched my soap.  went to the store.  made a good dinner.  and took pictures of yarn.

by the way, just so you know.  this is NOT me.  just in case you were wondering.

Ball Talk

hmmm, clearly if i want more blog traffic and more comments, there needs to be more BALL TALK here on the blog.   you people are sick.

oh!  this just in...

way back in august, i quietly submitted a couple of my photos for the 2008 knitty calendar.  i wasn't expecting much but i figured, what the hell.  what do i have to lose?  right?  (it's not like i had to submit them in person and then have amy herself look at them right there and then have her laugh at me or anything.  god i love email.)

well none of them made the calendar, but two (actually all three -- i missed the third) of my pictures made the honorable mention pool!   how's that for cool?!

not making the calendar is ok.  sometimes it's just an honor to be mentioned.

BALLS!

 

WTF Wednesday

in ascending WTF-ness ...

1.  it's november 14th and it's 65 degrees.  dandelions are still growing on my lawn. 

2.  the latest People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive has been announced. 

   

matt damon is a guy i can stand behind.  boyish good looks, dazzling smile, quiet toughness, smarts, sense of humor.  i like the bourne movies.  yeah i can see it.

on the other hand, please explain to me how justin timberlake made the list?  blech.  and the fact that he's young enough to be my son (you know, if i had been a teen-aged bride) has nothing to do with my mild scorn. 

3.  the real reason for this post.  i was driving along the mass pike this morning on  my way to work, when i noticed that the pick-up truck in front of me had a pair of testicles (not as big as my cashmere yarn balls mind  you) hanging from the back bumper.  classy, isn't it.

i tried getting a photo of them with my cell phone, but were were going too fast.  all i accomplished was to give the doofus driving the truck a reason to wave to me as i passed him.  nice.

he probably likes justin timberlake.

  that's all i've got for today. 

To the Rescue!

about 3 weeks ago, i was working at the shop and my co-volunteer, M, suggested i go check out the big bags of "giant yarn balls" in the office.   

giant yarn balls indeed.  they were huge, styrofoam balls, wrapped in a fiber of some sort, made to look like massive balls of yarn.  and in the bags were a couple of pairs of 2 foot long knitting "needles."  hmmmm. 

the story behind these balls was this.  a fancy store at the local mall had been using these balls and needles as part of their store display.  rather than throw them out, the kind folks at "very fancy store" donated everything to the shop.  a couple of the balls and needles were used in our own shop displays, and what was left to get pitched were these two giant bags.

giant bags of CASHMERE!  or so i've been told.  (i do know it's animal in origin and amazingly soft but i'm finding it hard to believe that people would just so casually throw the stuff out like that). 

after sorting and removing pins and styrofoam there is close to 10lbs of the stuff.  10lbs of cashmere!

...that kind of just fell from the sky so that i could save it from the trash. 

i spun this up before i knew what i had. 

Some Knitting

so i'm not one to do christmas knitting because i think that's just craziness.  but i will birthday knit and this year i decided to knit my mother-in-law a scarf.  i know, brave.  i had some pretty deep burgundy alpaca in the stash and initially planned on knitting her the quivet webs scarf (without the quivet) from the interweave holiday 2007 issue.  yeah that wasn't going to work.  (and it wasn't a yarn issue).  so after wasting a day knitting and frogging and knitting and frogging, i punted and came up with something new.   in the end, i really am a simple girl.  if it's successful, i'll write up the pattern. 

i've also been working on a sock. 

yeah, the excitement never ends here. 

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i've added some new cards to my shop.  remember, even if a card has sold, i can always make more. 

 

A Compromise

the other day i was "talking" with claudia and told her that at the top of my camera accessory wishlist was this macro lens.   (this is a very inexpensive macro by the way.  they can get pretty expensive).   but with the home improvements, i really couldn't splurge right now.  so i was using instead a very inexpensive set of magnifying filters.  "what is that you say?" she said?  (ok she didn't say that.  but you know what i mean.)

"magnifying filters,"  i replied.

"how do those work?" she asked.

"well i'll show you in a blog post."

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so here we are.  so what are magnifying filters and what do they do?

let's start with what the deal is with a macro lens, shall we?

a macro lens allows you to get really close to your subject and still be able to focus.  so for example, the lens i mention above, allows me to get 8 inches away from my subject, whereas my 50mm normal lens allows me to focus no more than 1.5 feet.  why do i want to get that close?  because sometimes you want to focus on a very small precise area, with the rest of the field more fuzzy.

because sometimes you want to take a picture that looks like this.

but now you're thinking, "hey i thought you didn't have a macro lens!  LIAR!!!"  no, i don't.  but i have magnifying filters.

here's my anniversary bouquet taken with my 50mm lens alone. this was a close as i could get to the big purple flower and still be able to focus on it.

then i added my 1+ filter to my lens.  see, the flower is closer because i was able to focus closer.  but the focal length of the lens didn't change (when you're using a telephoto lens, you're changing the focal length to bring the image closer to you). 

here's the flower with a 2+ filter.

and so on ...

+3    +4

+5    +6

and finally, +7.  i'm so close to that flower that the petals are practically tickling my nose.

pretty cool, huh.

 

here's another example ....

so claudia,  that's what magnifying filters do.   i'd definitely add a set to your christmas list. 

by the way.  i don't pretend to be any kind of expert.  so if i'm wrong about some sort of technical detail, i apologize.  but the pictures don't lie.

there's a 10+ filter out there too that i may have to get.  i want to be IN the flower next time.

next post will be about knitting, maybe.

 

Deep Thoughts

you know when you're on a crowded train and are forced to stand in the aisle.  and your butt is dangerously close to people's faces?

i always pray that i don't need to fart.

Not My Birthday ...

and yet, i got presents.

i love presents.

first, from cathy, i received this gorgeous sock and enough yarn to make myself it's mate. 

i'm a little afraid.

and this awesome cube/pouch thing that she makes.  you can buy yourself one at her etsy shop here.

thank you cathy!!!

and then from amy i received 8 oz of BFL in her Grand Opening 2007 colors, a prize she donated to stitchy's blogger bingo drawing ... which i won.  yay me.  thanks stitchy and amy!

i love it when my blog posts are color coordinated.

ETA:  I've gotten a few requests for the pattern to the honeybee sock above.  cathy's provided all of the info in her flickr photo of the same sock here.   

by the way, i used to think "ETA" only meant "estimated time of arrival" so i couldn't figure out why bloggers kept using it.      

No Halloween for You

i'm pooped.  another week gone by and can't even tell you what i've done.  not because it's super secret but because it's quite possible that i didn't do anything fun or memorable.

yesterday for example, i was in the car driving to work when i saw the most beautiful sunrise.  (of course no camera) and was again in the car when i saw an equally beautiful sunset.  yep.  in the car, on the road.  both times. 

halloween for me wasn't spent in costume, giving out halloween candy to all of the neighborhood kids.  no, j got to do that and can i just say he's lame at it?  oh sure he gives out the candy, but he wasn't even capable of telling me about the costumes he saw. 
me:  about how many kids came?
j:  i don't know
me:  any cool costumes?
j:  i don't know

nice, huh.  i guess the only way for a kid to catch j's attention would be if s/he were dressed up as a backhoe.

and where was i?  i was sitting in class until 10.  reviewing cellular respiration.  who's idea was this to take this stupid class anyway?

i did finish one knitting project though.  well last week, not this week.

my single sock liberation swap sock.  the austrian from Interweave Knit's Favorite Sock book.  i sent it off to my pal earlier in the week.  i hope she likes it.

that's all for now.  i have big plans for the weekend.  lots of things that i want to get done.  ha! 

i leave you with some halloween-y eye candy.   have a good friday.