the house is infested

it’s no one’s fault. it just happens. it starts a little bit here and there, and before you know it, the whole house is infested. you know what i mean. yarn creep.
the yarn which gathers on the surfaces of high-traffic areas in your home and seems to grow.
even in some not-so-high-traffic areas.

here’s a really common instance

coffee table yarn glut. this one occurs and re-occurs faster than you can say “i wonder what this would look like in XYZ yarn??” you are sitting in the living room knitting away on something—say, a scarf—and you’ve learned the pattern and are getting somewhat ready for a break (meaning, you are getting a eensy-weensy bit bored, even though you love it), so your thoughts wander to the treasures in your stash (far be it from your mind to wander towards doing the dishes).

you decide you will take five, go to your yarn closet, and just look at the yarn. once there you decide it wouldn’t hurt at all to stroke it a little. and winding it wouldn’t be a crime. that done, you head back to the living room totally satisfied, set the yarn cake on the coffee table and commence to knitting the scarf. the new yarn provides eye candy and something to dream on while your WIP heads toward the finish. it might sit there for a month, soon to be joined by another goodie or two.
it’s the heartbreak of yarn creep.

and here’s another one that anybody with stairs can appreciate

let’s face it the stairs are a magnet for junkpiles. ok, maybe not yours, but mine are.
true, they are quite temporary; i put stuff there that needs to go upstairs (often stuff that just came off the coffee table). when i head up next, i grab it on the way, and deposit it in my workroom. the fact that this happens at least four or five times per day will tell you a lot about the trafficking of yarn around my house.
once in a while, i leave something on the stairs until i’ve written a thank you note to the person who sent it, but never overnight; i have coordination problems on the stairs as it is, i don’t need yarn there to trip me up.

here’s another common spot for yarn creep to appear

tv room. my end of the sofa. i always intend to get more knitting done there than i actually do.

now here’s a spot that in some homes would be sacrosanct, and at the other end of the spectrum, there are people like me, for whom the dining room is a flex space.

it’s a school room, it’s a dining area, it’s my packing and shipping station, and the high-traffic route between the office and the rest of the house passes right through this room (which is conveniently located just off the stairhall).
sometimes i drop some yarn on the table when i am on my way to and fro, or while i am unpacking boxes. and once in a while it sits there for a few minutes while i answer the phone, get distracted, and forget all about it.

it’s never long though, before i see it again and move it to the stairs (or the coffee table).

ok, now here’s where yarn creep becomes somewhat dangerous. i am on my way from the office, see the yarn on the table, pick it up to move it to the stairs, and smell the coffee boiling away on the stove (because the kitchen is off the path through the so-called “dining room”)

i set the yarn on top of the pile of old mail that sits just inside the kitchen doorway on the counter, turn off the stove, get a drink of water and head back through the dining room toward the stairs, empty-handed. while i’m there i notice that the mail has come and it looks like there is a package of—guess what??—yarn.

i stop. where was i going? i can’t remember, but “upstairs” seems right so if i go up maybe i’ll be reminded. as soon as i’m om the upper landing i remember. i had yarn at the bottom of the steps to come up. i look down and yep, it’s still there. but there was something else . . . i had yarn in my hand, didn’t i?

oh well, while i’m up here i might as well brush my teeth. and in the i-kid-you-not category

this isn’t a joke, nor is it a posed photo. this is a common occurrence in our home. see, the bathroom is right on the route between my workroom and the TV room. and that stand is right there, so handy! but i’m often in another world while using this room and forget to take up the things i set down when i move on.
that yarn really belongs on the arm of the sofa; i’ll need it later to start my second sock.

cuz, yeah . . .the first one is off the needles.

i love it, and it fits like a glove (except it’s probably not for me; it looks like a nice gift sock).

helen is already test knitting it (and hopefully having fun!).

yesterday i spent the better part of the day in cleveland with kim from class, exploring the west side city market. i had never been before but i was really glad to finally take the trip. it was a blast . . i brought my camera, but i didn’t use it!
my arms filled up quickly with bags, the crowds were heavy, and it was rather dark inside, so photo ops were scarce. if it hadn’t been so cold an rainy, i would have dumped my stuff in the car and gone back for pictures, but instead, i now have a reason to go back (besides the incredible food shopping).

i bought fresh pasta (which we ate today with sautéed asparagus and black olives), homemade empanadas (we ate those last night), special chocolate desserts (also gone), and lots of salt.

i had run out of my little horde of special salt long ago and was jonesin’. we don’t have stuff like this in the markets in my town. the smoked black salt is new to me. i wish you could smell it, it’s incredible. i’m not sure what i’ll use it for yet but i’ll try not to use it in EVERYTHING at first . . . .

today i have returned to tackling the design of the new shawl and discovered that walking away from it to take a break for a few days did me a lot of good. i should have a cohesive design plan in the next few days.

meanwhile, i started this little fun thing

more on these two projects later in the week.