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Saturday
Feb062010

Yarn that no long exists

This was supposed to be about colorways that were so bad they deserved to be declared extinct.  Someday when I have an archivist -- coughcoughnever -- they'll all be on display somewhere as "Three Irish Girls: the Ugly Period."

But while I researching this post (can you believe I have to research my own hard drives for yarn pictures? I've been working on this for over an hour, that's how many I have.), I came across this:

proudmama.jpg

This is me with my three day old middle baby, B.  B. is not her real name, she earned the name B. when my oldest child would talk to my belly. He couldn't say the word baby, and called the impending arrival "B." The name stuck, and we still call her B. as a nickname today. 

3IG was also in its infancy during this time period. Miss B. was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen when she was born, and she must have believed the same of me, because she was very attached to me from the age of 10 seconds to the age of three years.  She still loves mama, but no longer requires me to hold her 22 hours each day.

B. was adorable. And when I say adorable, I mean

HOLY HECK THAT CHILD WAS ADORABLE.

toocuteforme.jpg

This is what she did all day long. Grinned hugely at me. Batted her long eyelashes. Talked baby talk. Played with yarn.

sheistoocuteforme.jpg

Grew a little bit of auburn hair. Decided her eyes needed to turn from baby grey to coppery brown.  Grinned. Ate. Stayed awake if you tried to set her down. Slept if you held her. Grew kissable cheeks. Smiled. Cooed. Grinned.

When she would let me set her down, I did things like this:

ineededtobesmacked.jpg

Which was not nearly as cute as this:

toocuteforme.jpg

Sigh.

Dear Future Archivist,

I am sorry that you will be forced to go through every 3IG picture in existence. I'm sorry my hard drives are so full. I'm sorry the yarn was so...unattractive.

Love,

Yarnista

****************************

Dear Readers,

I'm sorry that I'm boring you with kid pictures and burning holes in your retinas with fugly yarn.

Love,

Yarnista

***************************

Way back in the day, I wound all of my yarn into center pull balls. My husband helped, trooper that he was. Doing this required me to put the dry yarn on a swift, and then sit, straddle-legged against the coffee table where the winder was housed. When a skein of yarn had a tangle, this process could take over an hour per skein. Your arms and shoulders would be ready to fall off at the end of the day.

I had to have them surgically reattached several times.

I had special bands made to fit around the circumference of the yarn ball.

ohmygoodness.jpg

I remember working on this order in my kitchen -- it was my first large order --  late at night after the kids had gone to bed.  I remember finishing all of this and realizing I had no place to put it all to be counted and packed into a box. So I took a clean quilt and laid it over my couch and gently put my the fruit of my blood, sweat, and tears on top of the quilt.

thatwassomuchwork.jpg

Just looking at this makes me feel two things: grateful and sore.

Grateful that the people who bought my yarn way back when saw through pictures like this:

ineededtobesmacked.jpg

to help get me where I am today, and sore because I vividly remember the backbreaking physical labor that went into that order.

Speaking of backbreaking physical labor, take a gander at our winter extravaganza, the likes of which Washington, DC has never seen.

I believe my car is under here somewhere. We got another 10" (25+ cms) of snow after this picture was taken.

snowisheavy.jpg

These hedges used to be 8-9 feet (2.4-2.7 meters) tall. Now they're so heavy laden they're only about three feet off the ground.

thesehedgesusedtobetall.jpg

We got another ten inches after that picture was taken.

We have the most amazing oak trees in our backyard. My brother in law calls them Fairy Tale Oaks. They provide a leafy canopy over our back deck, and millions of acorns for deer and squirrels. (Do deer eat acorns? Deer sure love my yard.) I would estimate that these oaks are at least fifty feet tall (15+ meters).

fairytalekoaktrees.jpg

All told, we got about 30" (76 cms) of snow in the same number of hours.  The storm system has finally moved out, but it will take days for the region to even have a semblance of normalcy again. Crews are out plowing single lanes down the main streets, and they've publicly announced that they won't be able to even start the side streets for at least 36 more hours.  I'm not sure when I'll have access to the studio again -- our building faces a large, sloping parking lot that will need to be plowed, and then we'll have to go down and shovel out the entry way. We may be able to get in on Monday, depending on how quickly the parking lot is cleared. And that's assuming we have power. 18,000 people in my county don't have power.

In the meantime, I'm drinking tea and coffee and hot chocolate and yes, mom, I'm drinking water and eating apples. I'm knitting and watching movies and sorting my way through the 400 images I took for my first Carpe Yarnem stocking.

And that's all the disjointed news that's fit to print this evening.  Snow. Babies. Yarn. Coffee. Sounds all right to me.

Reader Comments (12)

Oh, my, Baby B is/was? sooooo adorable! And you look so much better in that first picture than any new mom has the right to look!

And wow, center pull balls! Now that is customer service, right there. I recognize some of those colorways!

Hope you don't lose power at all, so you can relax and enjoy your snow days.

And did you say Carpe Yarnem stocking?!? YAY!

February 6, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterguinevere

I love seeing pictures of your kids.. show more. :-) I think ya'll got our winter. We had snow like that last year, but so far just little bits. You'd think Alaska would have more!
Enjoy your forced time out, drink more tea and coffee and eat lots more chocolate. And knit. Oh, and show us some carpe yarnem soon!

February 6, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJanet Dunivin

None of the pictures you posted are boring or burning holes in my retinas LOL!!! I just posted a picture of Alex and I tonight in the forums so it must have been baby posting night!!! YAY!!!

I can't wait for carpe yarnem. I've been working on some new design ideas and I need yarn to showcase the new design!!

February 6, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAudrey

What a fun post :) I'm so glad you're not without power; you, B and the whole family.

February 6, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterRoxanne

What a cutie pie!!

I am really glad you no longer do the center pull balls. The skeins are so much more fun. I think you can see the look of the yarn better too...

February 7, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAmy

We had a B in our family too, only he was a he. Just about as cute though. And he knew it. Still does. So do all the girls.

You have winter! We do not, though it is cold. I'd love your snow. My snowshoes are sitting in the basement crying from loneliness.

February 7, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSandy

Super cute baby! Thank you for sharing her and bits of your life with us.

February 7, 2010 | Unregistered Commenteryarnardent

I have "known" you awhile. I remember those wound balls from the beginning of the first Club. I wind my own now, with my own hands, which is fun because I can feel every inch (centimeter) with my hands but I know if I have several to do, cats, kid, and sore arms can get in the way. Luckily I have only one kid.

For added info, a lampshade makes a great swift (loosen the finial for use) if the lampshade is big enough and is firm. My lampshade is now limp and not usable any longer.

Baby pictures are never boring and parents with babies and kids are even more exciting and sweet (usu.). I'd be entranced by that cute baby of yours as well.

My sister, BIL, and giant 13 yr old nephew (5' 8.5", men's size 12 shoe) live outside of D. C. in Viriginia and they told me about all the snow and showed us a couple of pictures when we saw them at Christmas. Now you have even MORE snow [I typed "yarn" at first]. She said the Smithsonian Institution was closed which NEVER happens so I know you have a lot.

Hope your power stays on for the duration and that the other people get their power back soon. I had no power in 100dF+ heat and you're at the other end of the spectrum. BBrrrr, hope the shelters are open.

Good luck with everything.

[P. S. See, give me a word and I'll give you several stories.]

February 7, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterLoraine

What a beautiful child! (Both the lovely Miss B and the yarn tee hee) I never get sick of seeing cute babies, even if it does make me ache for more! LOL!

February 7, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAmber

Sharon, I love that you converted feet to meters (um, should I have said metres?) ;)

That snow makes me homesick for proper winters, but I am sorry you have to deal with the grown-up part of having winter!!

B is lovely, too. I can see hints of you in her!

And that picture of the big order... oh, those were the days. We knew you when! (and are majorly impressed with how far you have come)

February 7, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAbigail

Amiable brief and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you on your information.

April 1, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterWP Themes

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