Picking Favorites

And the sorting and packing has begun in earnest.  Things will be traveling over seas by two methods, slow freight and air freight, or they will be put into storage for our return in three years.  This has become a very hard decision on where things go in respect to one main area of my life:  My Stash.

Some yarn will be packed up and sent Air Freight which should take a few weeks.  There is less chance that this yarn will be subject to the elements.  So what should I pack in here?  Yarn that I have queued up to use in the next 2-3 months seems like a good starting place.  I should note that I am being brutally honest with myself about my queue and what will reallistically be used.  Air Freight has a weight limit and I also need to pack the Fed's clothes, shoes, basic baby stuff and household necessities like towells and sheets.  So just yarn that I will use.  And foreign yarn.  My sock yarn stash from Germany and my scarf yarn from Turkey.  And my luxury yarn.   Because really, the more expensive stuff would kill me if it got ruined sitting on a barge for a few months.  And I admit that I have a few skeins of pricier yarn (don't tell the Fed, he thinks that all yarn is $4 a skein).  I have some cashmere, baby alpaca that is butter soft, some premium and unusual fiber, and 4 skeins of Blue Heron Metallic in Old Gold (I think these 4 alone are around $180 and I really should find a new pattern to knit it into).  Really just too pricey to leave to moths, rats, pirates and sea air.

But some yarn is going to have to be shipped by way of the slow boat.  I can only pack about 25 pounds of yarn in air freight.  Does that mean that I love this yarn any less than the shiny silks and soft merinos?  No.  In fact, some of that yarn is my favorite and I have faith that it will survive the journey.  Skeins of minimally processed New Zealand wool that will one day turn into a classic Guernsey with cables and bobbles and diamonds.  This yarn is made to last through hurricanes and years at sea.  So I look at it as pre-seasoning.  Like you do with a new skillet.   All of my roving and my wheel will also be shipped across the ocean.  I am taking all the wool I can, as I have heard that natural fibers can be hard to come by in my new home.  (I guess they haven't heard of knitpicks.com)

The last group is yarn that will be going into storage.  Now, this yarn and fiber should really be destashed.  And if I had more time, I just might give them up.  But I am out of time so into storage they go.  Some of these yarns are perfectly good.  Lamb's Pride which is a great yarn, unless you are me and discovered after buying 20 skeins that I can't stand the mohair in them.  So a destash is in order when returning to the states and I have to unpack the house.  Again.

And while all this seems like a good plan on dividing my stash, it is still really difficult to do.   Look at your stash and see if you could divide it up so easily.

Time to start bloggin again

It is time to start blogging again.  Not that I have ever been really diligent about blogging.  Not that I've ever been really diligent about anything really.  But it is time to begin again.

Life is all about changes.  And changes are coming in swift waves and torrents.  I am still settling into married life, expecting our first child and in a couple weeks will be moving overseas to South Africa.  With all of that comes a gazillion things to get done before we fly out.  Like packing up the house that I JUST finished unpacking.  Knitting baby wear.  Buying baby gear (not that I know what I'm doing there).  Sorting what goes quick route, slow boat and what goes to storage.  The obscene amount of filing that has fallen by the wayside because of laziness.  Now, throw in there the holiday seasons and the in-laws coming. 

So wish me luck and hopefully I will keep posting.  In the mean time, here is a baby knit picture or two.

Knitting and Poker

In our house, there are two nights a week that we are busy.  On Wednesday, I travel to my weekly knitting circle.  Occasionally I have dinner with a girl friend beforehand or stop in a shop in the town where we meet.  We sit around the Espresso Bar (or on special occasions, The Shenandoah Chocolate Bar), laughing, knitting and enjoying each others' company.  This night is a great help to my sanity so I feel no guilt leaving my husband home alone to fend for himself.

There is usually leftovers in the fridge, should he choose.  But me not eating with him means he gets to go to places that I won't eat.  Like Chipotle, which uses cilantro in everything that I can't stand.  It's like serving me rice with a heaping spoonful of Ivory dish soap on top.  Eww.  Or Chic-fil-A, that I won't patron for their corporate policies and beliefs.  Which I won't get started on.

The reverse happens on Thursday nights when dear hubby has poker night with the boys.  They have Chen's Famous Chinese or Rocklands BBQ, and play cards trying to get each others' parking change.  And while he's away,  I get to eat things that he won't.  Tofu and broccoli, Boca burgers and zucchini or if the mood strikes, nothing but a huge bowl of popcorn.

It works for us, having our own special time with friends.  And at night when we get home, the other is there to snuggle up to.

Spring showers for flowers...

Yes, I love the sun, but where are my showers?  I went through all the work of digging out new garden beds in the hopes of having fresh veggies come summer, yet mother nature isn't cooperating.  This time of year is when we start getting these weird rain storms that start after sundown for a few hours and nice weather through the day.  Ideal for the gardener, because you get to have your rain for the plants and the sun too!  But lately it's just been cold and overcast.

Now, maybe I jumped the gun a bit in planting my seedlings outside.  But I did go through all that work preparing the beds that it seemed like such a waste to just have soil to look at.  I guess I will just wait to see if I need to replant.

In other gardening areas, there are these weird shoots coming up.  I have no idea of what they are.  Dealing with gardens that someone else has planted, I keep getting surprised with bulbs that are popping up.  And I am a little scared.  The previous owners are the same people who planted mint in the GROUND.  (FYI- NEVER do that.)  It will take me years to try and get rid of the invasive pest.  So, I admit to being scared that some of these shoots are bamboo.  There was a pokeberry plant too, I can only surmise that they wanted to poison the neighborhood children and attract every deer in the area.  That took me most of the day to dig out and I fear that I may not have gotten all of it.

I do have high hopes for the roses.  I mean, roses are roses, right?

Upon waking

Anyone else ever dream of yarn? I do. Last night I dreamed of yarn. Yarn that I knew I had. Yarn perfect for a spring/summer top. Yarn that I couldn't find. In my dream, I knit the yarn into a lovely top, with gorgeous drape and an airy swing. My brain wouldn't let it go. So, on a Sunday morning, I awoke at 6:10am and HAD to hunt for the yarn. Trying to be very quiet as to not wake my hubby. But I found it, and the relief was profound. I will make my top and it will be beautiful. I may even swatch. All is good.

(I also found enough yarn for 2 other perfect tops. Life is good.)