Order out of chaos...

Lots of things are coming together, and some things have ended. Our LYS has closed. That's the sad news; the owner has an inoperable cancer and she's decided that while knitting has been a huge part of her life, she'd rather spend her time with kids, spouse, and grandkids. And I'm actually happy about that.

I love it when people have the ability to determine - inasmuch as any cancer lets you have any control - how they want to spend their days. I appreciate her making a very tough decision, and making it with grace.

So the yarn shop is being sold and will be re-opening with a new owner sometime in early 2012. It will be interesting to see how this works, and what the new owner will do. I hope that the community that was established (a) comes back; and (b) lets her make HER mark on the shop. It would be sad if the knitters had 'founder's disease' and never let this gal make her shop her own.

'Founder's Disease' is an ailment known by its chief symptom: "We've ALWAYS done it this way." So we'll see what this new person makes of the shop and life will go on.

Our yarn community is not "dissolving." It's actually "reconstituting" as people make plans to find other places to knit, gather in different groups, and keep in touch; I'm hoping we do keep in touch, because several of us have become good friends, bound by fiber and love of creating.

"Chocolate" Bunnies

On a good note: The bunnies are DONE!! Here's a shot of them. I took a suggestion from one of my knitter buddies and visited the local Fannie May candy store. I plopped them on the counter and said, "White chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate. Think I could buy some ribbon?" They loved them. They gave me the ribbon. What do you think?

I ended up with pearlized heart buttons for their fluffy tails, and then shirt buttons for eyes. Since these are not toys, the buttons are only secured enough to stay on when they're sitting on a display. If I had created them for toys, they'd have no eyes - I'd have embroidered them using duplicate stitch.

So, on the last day the shop was open, I asked for a smidgen of yarn that she'd dyed herself for an egg. Yep, I'm on egg #9 and working toward a baker's dozen. This is what I got handed. "If you can find the end, take what you want."

Hand-dyed sock yarn

This is what we'd classify in knitting as a "total disaster" - and it would only be a "total and COMPLETE disaster" if the yarn was a mohair or eyelash or something like roving.

This is about 500 yards of superwash merino sock yarn. Now, the shop hours were 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. I got handed this hot mess at about 1 p.m. I worked on it, since I'm a pig-headed person, from 1 p.m. till 10 p.m. that evening, and then was back at it the next day.

I spent about 16 hours unraveling this mess. I have lived with this ball of yarn. I have grown attached to it. Even though it was handed to me, I will mail my friend a check for the yarn. I believe they thought I wasn't going to do it. It's only because she'll never dye any more yarn that I spent that kind of time with it. It's not even a color that looks good on me. However, I see some sort of shawl or shrug or something in its future. It's too pretty to make into socks that might wear out, though I may do that, too.

Order from chaos

This is what it looked like after I got done with it. Plus the egg.

Once I get the eggs done, Kid #1 is finishing up the tree for the eggs. The bunnies are done. I have to figure out how to display this whole thing; and then I'm done in time to photograph and enter it into our contest.

Along with the order from chaos that was this yarn, I also completed the 2011 Ornaments. As you may remember, I do ornaments for the kids each year. Each kid in the family gets 18 ornaments. This year is the smallest year in decades! Here are those ornaments. Of course, OUR kids still get the ornaments. What? I can't play favorites with my own kids? Be serious!

2011 Ornaments

So it's harder and harder to find these plaster ornaments. I'm going to have to suss out a new supplier, since the local big box craft stores don't have much of a selection. Someone suggested I knit them. Thanks. No.

What I could do is take the remnants from the sock yarn eggs and do little granny squares or small swatches and use those as ornaments! Or knit a verrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy long I-cord for a garland. OK. I'll calm down.

Just to top off our Christmas, I am again having surgery. I have a very deviated septum - which would explain over 5 years of allergy shots that still leave me unable to breathe through one side of my nose! At any rate, I can now be around your cats without a "croup-like" cough. If you're not old enough to know what "croup" is - please look it up. Hard to explain until you have had one.

Surgery is December 23. My mother says I'll do anything to avoid the crazy relatives on Christmas. Hmmmmmmmmmm. She may have a point!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Solstice! And I'll hold off on Kwanzaa, since it starts after Christmas, and I may be back to the keyboard by then!