Books, Garage Sale, and a Lovely Yarn Shop!

The saga continues regarding my quest to organize my home.  The recipe project is finished (see my previous blog entry for details), and I have moved on to our books.  When I say "our books," I'm not referring to a bookshelf tucked away in a corner somewhere.  Oh, no.  We are a family of avid readers who love the feel of a REAL book in out hands.   We are slowly being smothered by all of our books. So, we finally tackled them, keeping this thought in mind:  "Will I read it within the next five years?  If I have already read it, will I read it again?  Was it a life-altering book or possibly a beloved favorite?"  

It actually worked.  When we were finished, we had six banker's boxes full for a garage sale, and 15 full to list on Amazon.  My plan was to finish this project before my upcoming garage sale.

I am impressed with how organized our bookcases look now!  Can you imagine all of those other books crammed willy-nilly in here too?

So ... the next step is the garage sale, which is this coming Saturday.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, I have retired from teaching high school reading, and have a lot of classroom supplies, teaching materials, decorations, and hundreds of books to sell.   Adding six more boxes certainly isn't a big deal.  The Amazon listings will take a while, and will probably be my "Fall project."

On to knitting news .....
Well ..........NOTE TO SELF: when purchasing yarn for a child's clothing item, knit the darn thing immediately!!!  Why, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  I don't have enough yarn to complete the sweater I am knitting for my grandson for Christmas.  No big deal, right?  After all, someone on Ravelry will probably have some in their stash, or certainly I should be able to find some online.  With the world at our fingertips, surely this should not be a problem.  

R..i..g..h..t.   

Only one person on Ravelry has the yarn in their stash, and has not responded to my message of over a week ago.  I searched online for HOURS and could not find the color ANYWHERE.  So, I decided that two balls of a contrasting oatmeal color would look very nice for the shawl collar.  I ordered them from LoveKnitting.com, and all was well.  Or so I thought.  Now I have finished knitting the back and half of the front of the sweater, and realize I won't have enough red to complete the sleeves.  Guess what I had to do?  Yep ...order more of the oatmeal color to stripe the sleeves.  

Now ....I admit that my gauge was a TAD off ....one stitch less in 4 inches, but for a child's sweater, a tad bigger is better, right?  I seriously don't think that small difference in gauge on a child's size 6-7 should have made such an enormous difference in the amount of yarn needed.  I will definitely make a note on the pattern in case I ever want to make it again.  I will post a picture when the sweater is finally finished.  

Better knitting news .....I finally made it to Criativity in Largo, Florida.  What a lovely shop! All of the people there, both working and "playing," were extremely nice.  Besides yarnie goodness, the shop also has clothing, accessories, toys, games, soaps, and more.  Worth a visit if you are ever in the area!

I couldn't resist the call of the fibers, and bought a skein of Petite Madison (75% Merino, 15% Cashmere, 10% silk) in colorway Harvest to make the "That Nice Stitch Cowl" on Ravelry.  I think I will leave it as a scarf, rather than kitchener it together at the end. The Purl Bee has an excellent video on the kitchener stitch here.  I plan to take this new project to my daughter's house on my upcoming visit.  

Until next time, HAPPY KNITTING!