Rain, Rain, Go Away

For the last couple of days, it has been grey and raining. The dogs are tracking in mud. The icy patches have water on them, to make them more slippery. Good days to stay in and hide. Good time to knit!

 The first baby sweater is done, and looking very preppy.

The second is started and will be the reverse of the first. This picture shows the blue a bit better than the first one.

The yarn is a nice soft acrylic/nylon blend. It will wash and dry by machine. However, my house is so dry at the moment, that static is a big problem with this yarn. It seems to attract dog hair out of the air. The scientist in me went looking for a solution. I am trying an experiment.

The yarn is currently being stored in an anti-static bag, the kind used for electronics. When I am not knitting, the sweater goes in there too. I think it is helping, although a regular ziploc bag might have worked as well. If it does work, I'll be asking for some bigger ones at the local computer store.

I made a heart for Valentine's Day.

The pattern is from Bethany's blog. I didn't stuff mine, I kind of like it flat. The yarn is some sock yarn scrap from my stash. Cute, isn't it.

I have a question for the big yarn manufacturers out there (as if they read my blog). Why does this happen?

I was knitting away, cheering Canada at the Olympics, when I felt a lump in my yarn. It was a knot. I had to undo the row, so I could cut out the knot and make a flat join. I pay for good yarn, I expect my skein to be one continuous piece of yarn. This is the second time I have had this happen lately. When it happens in a striping yarn, it messes up the stripe pattern. I ended up paying full price for a ball of yarn that I would consider a second. Could you mark the ball, so I can look for it? Give me a choice on whether I want to use the ball for this project? If this happens in fabric, I expect the store to skip that part of the bolt and give me a continuous piece. Why do we put up with this from yarn companies?

I cannot remember ever finding this in yarn I have bought from a small independent. I suspect if they get this in a skein, they turn the skein into two minis or use them for samples. They don't sell them for full price to their customers.

Okay, rant over.