Flashin' the Stash

While cleaning up the guest room yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to "air out" the stash. Since Joe had given me a few extra containers, I knew I needed to reorganize to make the best use of the new space. I had most of my sock yarn in one drawer-thingy, a good bit of handspun/special yarn in another, and then a bunch of other containers with random combinations of recent purchases.

I thought it would be a good opportunity to really look at what I had. And so now, I give you...my sock stash (enough for 40 pairs):


And here's my entire stash...

While some of you might think, "Jeez girl - you need to get some professional help - you're bordering on becoming a hoarder," I guarantee you that at least 75% of my knitting friends will look at this and think, "That's not a stash - that's just dipping a toe into your hobby - come over to my house some time and see what a stash can become."

Regardless, I'm on a strict yarn diet with limited Rhinebeck purchases this year. Too bad I have this job thing. I'd really love to just knit for a while. A long while.

A Few Boundaries

Up until recently, I've thought of my blog as a curious self-indulgence that was mostly filled with home projects and yarn. I've also used it to vent.

I now have to be extremely careful how searchable my vents can be. It's sad. I'm a person with thoughts and ideas. And now I'm a person who feels that some things are very unsafe.

I might continue to blog on strictly harmless things, but for the time being I'm lying low.

Thanks for reading - your comments are fun, cathartic, and make me feel loved.

Wide Awake at 4AM

It's hot. The cats are restless. I wake up to get some water, then suddenly I have random thoughts shooting through my haze of sleepiness...

Don't forget cat food. Need to make a dessert for Tiombe. Find Joe's court notice and put it on the desk so he can find it. That shawl pattern I just bought - double check the yardage needed vs what I have. Check Mom's flight - I think it might be the same day as Jenn's trip to Stitches East. Holy shit, how have I added 39 skeins to the stash this year - and how am I ever going to knit it all? Work is about to get crazy busy. Don't forget cat food.

I figure I'll just jot down a few things so I can let my brain go back to sleep. But of course I can find no writing instruments in the bedroom. Go downstairs, feed the cats, figure I might as well get some of these things done, and here I am.

I think I finally may be able to get back to sleep, now that I have less than an hour before I have to wake up...

Random Thoughts and Memories

Wow - didn't realize this would be my 400th post. I'm not good with the blogging these days (nor are many of my blogging friends, I realize) - mostly due to Facebook, Ravelry, Twitter...time sucks that have bumped blogging out of the way.

So rather than the "hey - look what we did" kinds of posts I've done in the past - which usually involve pictures and long stories - I'm going to change this over to more of an online thought journal. It probably won't be interesting to most, but every blogger has a bit of "I need to tell the world this right now" in them, and so it is with me.

The death of John Hughes yesterday left me feeling a bit empty. I don't recall exactly when I first saw some of his movies - even though they were made when I was in middle and high school, I'm not sure I watched them when they came out. I was into more of the horror genre at that time, and for the most part I don't remember any movies I watched unless there was something important going on at the time. I recall watching Hellraiser (with Pam?) while Katie watched The Princess Bride - unwise choice on my part, even though I'm still a Pinhead fan. I remember watching some really god-awful movies on awkward dates. I remember the first time I saw Brad Pitt on the screen - at the Dollar Theater on Buford Highway, watching Thelma and Louise.

John Hughes's films, however, just became part of my life. I don't know when or how it began, but they were just "always there." They are the go-to films in our home - or when we're on the road. They really are about who we were as teens / young adults. To quote The Breakfast Club, we knew that "each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal."

Rest in peace, sweet man.

And now, I give you one of the funniest scenes from the genius that was John Hughes (apologies for the poor recording):