Boggled

Today I:

• had a piece of toast with cream cheese and a cup of coffee for breakfast
• have had a lot of coffee since then
• am having leftover fish tacos for lunch
• am desperately searching the Internet for Aran patterns

Weds. night I was pleasantly surprised when I got home by the arrival of two packages: my KnitPicks order and the promised yarn from my grandma. I was also late for the Stitch 'n Bitch meeting, so I only had time to rifle through them in cursory manner before running off excitedly with a bag full of yarn samples. So, it wasn't until I got home that I was able to take a good, hard look at what I had.

I was thoroughly boggled.

The KnitPicks order was not very boggling. Everything was in order, even the stuff I'd forgotten I ordered, like the dpn point holders. Below: 6 50g balls of "Coal" Wool of the Andes

Much to my relief, "coal" is just another word for black. The picture on the KnitPicks website had be thinking it might just be a very, very dark gray.

Below: 10 50g balls of "Avocado" Wool of the Andes

I expected an apple green color, and what I got was more like pistachio, or green tea ice cream. It is mellow and rich. This is not a bad thing. As luck would have it, it's my favorite color in the world (aside from black). I may have to order more. (Cat not included.)

Grandma's Care Box
I'm sure you've gotten one of these before, but not necessarily from your grandma: a box full of used clothing, new socks, packages of hot cocoa and a tin of homemade cookies. Just the things to make a snow day better, if you're not picky. My grandma happens to excel at Care Boxes. Alas, this time, there were no cookies. Or socks.

There was clothing. I'm wearing one of the sweaters now. It's agreed that if it doesn't fit me, or suit my style, I am free to do what I will with it. This sometimes means making a Care Envelope for Sibling #1 or a trip to the thrift store. None of the clothing in the latest Care Box was very boggling - that is, if you're familiar with the ways of the '70's.

This skein was a little perplexing, but not boggling. A quick flame test declared it to be acrylic. No more mystery there.
The "shaggy" yarn Grandma warned me about did give me a slight pause. That isn't an impaled sheep. It's a sweater. Here's what is was supposed to look like:
This Sumptuous Shag of Gespa Yarn is 38% wool, 56% acrylic, and 60% nylon, it claims. Does that add up? I guess it's genuine, 154% ecru fug, but I know what to do with it. It came to me almost immediately:

Bath mat.

Here is the boggling bit. Grandma said she had an unfinished project that she wasn't going to touch again, made of white worsted wool, and that there was probably enough of it to make a sweater.

Yay! I hoped when she said "white" wool, she meant "natural white" wool, because I have been dying to make an Aran sweater for some time now. I thought cabling in one color would be boring, but Kasumi's hat taught me otherwise. I have been searching like a woman possessed for a good Aran pattern ever since.

And then the yarn arrived. And not only was it "natural" white (Yippee!) and didn't smell funny or have moth holes, etc., it was a WHOLE LOT of yarn. Not SOME yarn, which is maybe a handful (enough for a hat, or one sock), or A LOT of yarn, which is what I call the amount of yarn that can be fit into a backpack and conveniently carried, but a WHOLE LOT.

A WHOLE LOT is considerably less than the notorious SHITLOAD (which is approximately twice A WHOLE LOT), but much larger than it's close neighbor A LOT. A WHOLE LOT doesn't fit in a backpack. A WHOLE LOT takes more than one trip to carry. For instance, you could say that in my apartment I have A WHOLE LOT of yarn, since it rivals the furniture, but I wish I had a SHITLOAD, even though I have no idea what I would do with it.

Which brings me to the boggling. I was so boggled when I saw that it was A WHOLE LOT of yarn that I said something that I rarely ever, ever say:

Dude.

Do you see that blanket? That's about 3'-6" by 4'-6", and it's meant to be cannibalized for yarn. Those balls on the blanket, the smallest is 6" in diameter.

This stuff is old, too. Look at this label. This is a testament to my Grandma's fastidious ways.

Dude. I'm 5'-1", about 110 lbs. On a chubby day I wear a size 5. How many sweaters is this? Tams? Twined knit mittens?

I think I need to go lay down.

Yesterday, I:

• had a piece of toast with cream cheese, coffee, coffee, coffee, a banana, and a fish taco at the Cheesecake Factory
• then had potato gnocchi with Newman's mushroom pasta sauce and some rose wine
• stared at A WHOLE LOT of yarn
• finished my Pocketbook Slippers
• had a sore wrist, so I couldn't knit much
• watched more Dark Shadows
• stared at the yarn again