Off to See the Wizard!

It’s a fact, she must be a wizard to do all that she does.  The Yarn Harlot knits (a lot…and quickly!), speaks, travels, writes, and raises a family (with 3 teenage girls…holy moly!).  She has a following of which I am proud to be one, and I am going to hear her speak tomorrow at I Knit in London.  Not only will she be there, but there will be a variety of other speakers, workshops, and knitting and fiber related stalls for shopping.

It really is like going to see the Wizard and Oz!

I spent a great deal of today trying to figure out what the heck to bring with me to knit.  After all, I’ll be spending 6+ hours on the train, and knitting during the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s session (that’s the Harlot’s real name) and meals.  There’s no room for error when packing, that’s for sure.  Forget a needle?  I could have to sit on the train and do nothing!

I decided to stick with socks, which make a perfect travel project.  I’ll be bringing a simple stockinette sock in the Lorna’s Laces Pilsen that I showed off yesterday:

and I’ll also be bringing the Halloween themed Horcrux socks that I’ve been knitting:

You can’t see the Horcruxes (it’s been raining for days…there’s not much I can do without natural light), but they are there, Harry Potter fans!

So, I think I’m prepared.  I’ve got my knitting notions/needle case, so I should be good to go.

And of course, I am going with three other knitters and traveling to a knitting show…so I could always buy anything I’ve forgotten.

Good to remember.

Yarn Diet: Countdown

The yarn diet officially ends on Saturday…thank goodness! I am really pleased with my willpower overall. I did shop a bit when I was in Virginia and online, but I spent gift money, picked up swap gifts and gifts for friends, and used store credits. So, all in all, I only ended up spending $50 of my own money on knitting related things for myself in the past two months. Pretty impressive based on my past lapses, don’t you think?

Take a look at a couple of the exciting purchases that did manage to make their way into my stash this summer. Note that some were ordered before the yarn diet ever began.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock; Pilsen

Blue Sky Alpaca; Undyed Organic Cotton

P2Tog Hand-dyed Fingering

This is just a sampling, of course.

And the yarn diet officially ends at iKnit on Saturday.  Ahh…iKnit on Saturday.  I can’t wait!  The Yarn Harlot, Purlescence, Socktopus, stalls upon stalls filled with wool, and 6 uninterrupted hours of knitting on the train to London.

Wahoo!

Must. Step. Away.

I am seriously in trouble.  Yesterday, for our anniversary, Marcus “took me” online wool shopping.  I bought the wool for my mother’s Christmas cardigan, the wool for Kiki’s Christmas cardigan, and then the wool for a hoodie and a cardigan for myself.

And 5 balls of wool just for fun.

And some new needles and sock wool from a favorite ebay seller.

Then, this morning, I realized the wool bought for my hoodie might be too tough (thanks for the tip, Anne), and I bought a different wool off of ebay.

All in all, I just spent (gasp…seriously…you may want to look away) $250 on knitting related items.  In less than 24 hours.

And don’t forget that tonight I am buying Sue’s Namaste Newport bag in Charcoal.

That’s it.  The time has come.  Remember when I scoffed at the so-called yarn diet?  Well, the time has come.  I am not allowed to buy ANYTHING knitting related until I go to iKnit in September.  That means no knitting bags, no wool, no needles…nothing until September 6th.

I need your support here, friends. Seriously.

And while we’re on the subject, don’t tell Marcus about the wool that I ordered this morning…he doesn’t know.  He doesn’t need to know.  It’s better for all of us if he doesn’t know.