Send the stashweasels

I’m still here. Haven’t killed any teenagers or bought a ticket to Belize. Thanks for the sympathy, support and reassurances that the do grow up and that I won’t be left a shattered shell of a woman at the end of it. Turns out that I didn’t feel nearly so doomed once I got sitting at the spinning wheel. For the gratification of the Gansey brigade, who seem to doubt that all of this washing, carding and spinning will ever add up to a sweater….

Totalyarnrg

It turns out that I deserve every snide stashweasel comment Rams and her team have ever sent my way. This is the total effort thus far. (I would rather not discuss that I was so shocked by this that I trashed my own stash looking for the rest.)It’s a mere seven (7) skeins of three ply yarn, about a dk weight, with each skein coming in at about 150m. That means that since I started this June 17th 2004…um…a while ago, I’ve managed to turn out about 1050m of yarn. (In my defense it IS three ply, which means that I have spun three times that.) I estimate that it will take about 1800m to make a sweater for Joe, so I’ll just nip off and lie in the road now. I did a little math to get the facts.

92 Tuesdays (Tuesdays are for spinning) have passed since I began.

I have 1050m of yarn.

1050 divided by 92 = 11.41

I am producing roughly (I’m going to round up here, not that it helps much) 11 1/2 metres of yarn per week. Considering that I need 800 more metres, I should be done in 69 weeks.

Hold me.

121 thoughts on “Send the stashweasels

  1. you’ve never let us down before…and, if anyone can do it, you can! think olympics here. think baby-inducing labor. think. well, don’t think – spin, woman, spin!

  2. Oh dear, that’s a lot of Tuesdays to go. What are you doing every alternate Thursday? Or the first Saturday afternoon of every month… I guess it would be bad to start knitting before you had the whole lot spun, wouldn’t it?

  3. True love is knitting a big sweater for your big love. I have a big husband, too. Your path is an honorable one…

  4. I’m not even gonna touch this one. I’m just gonna go get popcorn and beer and get comfy and wait for Auntie Rams to get home…

  5. In your defense, I recall at least a few Tuesdays where spinning was not done… so you must have done more than 11 1/2 on some of those Tuesdays. Of course, now you have a goal to reach for, every Tuesday spinning more than 11 1/2 meters… Luckily summer’s coming, so Joe won’t need the sweater until next winter at the very earliest. 🙂

  6. Little sprints… you’re my hero for even knowing how to spin (not to mention dye, knit Dales of Norway, and an abundance of other things I’m sure I never even thought mere mortal knitters could attempt). And making us all feel sane for this crazy obsession.
    Just don’t do the math…

  7. Stephanie — even at that rate, it’s less than a year and a half of Tuesdays away. . . I think that’s damn good!

  8. Well, passing over the “snide,” I’m provisionally with Cassie (who I credit with drawing our attention to Tuesdays are for Spinnings and then allowing me to assume the thorny mantle, bless her); those numbers would be discouraging if you actually had spent all those Tuesdays spinning gansey yarn. Since, however, a close count would reveal that ten of them, tops, were so spent (oh, you don’t really want a count, do you, when I’m actually giving you good news?) you’re actually cranking out nearly ten times the yardage you think.
    Just a question of substituting one semi-truth for another. I could give seminars. You’re welcome.

  9. Well, Rams brings up a very good point – Actual Spinning Tuesdays versus elapsed Tuesdays. Can you recalculate?

  10. This just isn’t your week! Buck up girl, pull it together. That bottle of wine recommended yesterday- grab it (if there’s any left). You are roughly 2/3 done! Just be careful pretty, brightly colored roving doesn’t catch your eye…

  11. OK, so the kids had slack, hum, study week, so why don’t YOU have a spinning week…

  12. I think that’s quite okay. Considering it will probably take two years for me to just KNIT a man-sized sweater, and that you’ll probably knit it up in 2 days when the spinning is done, I think you are making good time.
    Was that hug tight enough? ; )

  13. On the up side, 69 weeks until the spinning is done, but you could start the knitting earlier so it could theoretically be a finished sweater in 70 weeks.
    Right?

  14. Let’s just put a little Harlot spin (no pun intended) on things and make those numbers say what we want them to say! And maybe take that seminar offered by Rams…or maybe not. She could bring the weasels!

  15. How does your sweet husband look in a vest? 🙂 Remember that you can’t rush beauty and you are a self-identified process knitter, so you’re likely a process spinner too.

  16. I think Kelly’s on to something here. Maybe what you need is an irreversible deadline of the sort guaranteed to produce a respectable case of IT just for this sweater. 😎

  17. Uhm, what if you started knitting the gansey, maybe that would inspire you to spin more? I mean if you could see it coming together and you knew you were needing more yarn wouldn’t that make you spin more? Maybe i’m crazy though.

  18. Coming down firmly on “the glass is half full” side of things here’s three reasons you MUST give yourself a pat on the back:
    * Consistency. You have been able to produce consistent yarn over a period of years. Something many newbies would give their left foot to be able to do.
    * Persistence. You have stuck to the project over time and didn’t give up.
    * Constancy. You and Joe are still married. I think this speaks for itself.
    Three cheers for you!

  19. Hm. In 69 weeks it’ll be the middle of July. If it takes you 2-3 months to knit the sweater (which I think is reasonable, given both your knitting speed and the distraction of all the *non*-sweltering projects which will woo you away from gansey knitting during the summer), it’ll be ready just in time for Heat War 2007. Perfect.

  20. Since I currently have a migraine the size of Texas and the thought of looking at things going round and round makes me faintly green, you’re my hero for doing ANY spinning. ANY. Tell Rams to get new pets and you just do things in your own sweet time. Besides, I haven’t heard much from Joe about desperately needing this gansey, so I think you’re fine. Really. Check out that chocolate in your drawer and relax.

  21. I’m so with Cassie on this. Maths and I just don’t get along.
    On a happy note, Joe’s yarn does look quite beautiful.

  22. As Rams so clearly stated, you really do need to recalculate to reflect the Tuesdays that you really did spin. I don’t suppose you have enough fiber left to just 2-ply the rest and save yourself considerable spinning time?
    Tuesdays are for spinning here, also. Unfortunately, I had a conflict last night, so will have to pick out something nice to spin tonight. What a nice thought…stash diving!

  23. SPIN like the stashweasles are chasing you!
    Perhaps Tuesdays and Thursdays are for spinning?

  24. Stephanie,
    Three-ply? Holy cripes. Three-ply (Navajo) is, of course, ideal for making sock-yarn with That Laurie’s rovings, but for making a whole, monochrome sweater? Eep.
    On the other hand, now that BBB3 has appeared in the real world, you could think of the yarn for Joe’s gansey as having one ply for each book you’ve written. It would have been inappropriate to have finished the spinning before the third book appeared; you planned it that way. (Didn’t you?)

  25. Ok-so there is 1050 meters of yarn. But there is also three finished books to factor in as well, not to mention book tours, Knitting Olympics, bodice corsets, bike travels, countless socks and Christmas gifts, as well as *three* TSF mittens. So hey, don’t beat yourself up. Actual spinning time compared to actual meters of yarn spun is probably a better way to figure it.
    The yarn is lovely though…..

  26. At least by next year you can be sure that enough time has passed (and enough glances from Joe) that he’s definitely going to love the sweater when it’s done. Spin on!!

  27. In your defense, you are truly spinning 35 yards per Tuesday…and it isn’t as if you have nothing else to do. You also wrote a couple of books, raised a few lids, went on a few book tours, satisfied your husband in ways a sweater never will, renovated the mud room, organized a few thousand crazy people into the first ever Knitting Olympics and ALSO managed to keep a blog.
    I am tired just typing this. Must rest. As you were.

  28. oops. was supposed to read “raised a few KIDS” — not “raised a few LIDS”. That’s not nearly as taxing. But it does cause munchies.

  29. Hmmm . . . I bet if I add up of the Tuesdays missed due to Olympic Games, etc. you would have a week of Tuesdays at the very least to use. Lie down on a cold floor quick. That nauseous feeling will pass in a minute.

  30. That’s very nice yarn. Quality not quantity, right?
    Why hurry at something you enjoy?

  31. That’s very nice yarn. Quality not quantity, right?
    Why hurry at something you enjoy?

  32. Ok, let’s think positive here. While you’ve been spinning on this for awhile, it isn’t like you’ve actually spent every Tuesday spinning for this sweater. You’ve missed at least a few. Maybe more than a few. So, really you’re doing better than you give yourself credit for. Positive Thinking!

  33. But your over 1/2 way there; that’s a lot of progress (especially in 3 ply) and it looks like such lovely yarn. Just think of all the wonderful anticipation you’re giving yourself for when you sit down to knit it. Epic works don’t happen overnight.

  34. We won’t be “left a shattered shell of a woman” at the end of it. It happens long before then.
    (Yesterday was our first day back after spring break, and I have done nothing BUT celebrate since dumping them at the curb.)

  35. Now, now…no laying in the road. You have overcome far larger obstacles than this. You have two choices…live with the current situation, or change it. Simple, no?

  36. Aidan, you gave me a laugh about raising a few lids – it made me picture Steph pacing around the stove, twisting her hands, trying and trying not to peek under the lids of three simmering pots to see if her kids are done already. Kind of like, I don’t know, trying to patiently knit a recalcitrant sweater with a button band…

  37. I agree with Gail, you’re more than 1/2 way there. You should be celebrating with some wine. There’s no way I’ve the patience to spin my own yarn, I give you so much credit for sticking with it; I would have given up prolly sometime in July 2004.

  38. just a little bit at time… just keep working at it:)
    you can do it:) maybe you should dedicate another day to spinning… so you could cut the time in half?

  39. Didn’t we have a bet that Joe’s Gansey would be finished before the FIRST bookbookbook came out??? So much for non-self-imposed challenges…
    Seriously, we all know that if Joe NEEDED a grey handknit handspun Gansey…it would be done…after all…there was the crazy Rhinebeck sweater…the knitting Olympic sweater and several Christmases in between…Joe probably appreciates the non-insanity of it all…

  40. Considering that I’m a complete beginner with knitting, and spinning is WAY beyond my abilities right now, I am impressed as hell.
    Still I had to laugh at Cassie who said “Maths are evil. Never listen to them.” That’s kinda how I feel too.
    Just the same, after everything I’ve seen you accomplish, I have no doubt that you will do this too.
    By the way, I got your first two books for Christmas and I just finished them. They made me laugh my head off and a couple of the stories in the Yarn Harlot book actually made me cry. I’m sure you can guess which ones. You are SO gifted as a writer. I can’t wait to get the new one!

  41. I’m with the group that is focusing on quality over quantity. What you have is beautiful, and as it doesn’t seem that Joe is tapping his foot while you spin, I say, take your time. The yarn will wait, Joe will wait and in the end he will have a gorgeous sweater that will warm him until he is an old, old man. Heirlooms don’t happen overnight. Breath, Steph, Breath

  42. Did you check all the sleeves of suit jackets?
    Did you check the freezer?
    Did you check in the piano?
    Did you check in the punch bowl you use only once every 5 years?
    did you check in all the fancy teapots?
    mabye there is some gansey yarn hiding somewhere lurking mocking you saying bah! She will never find me.. she will feel doomed doomed doomed!!!
    Mwahh ahhahahahah
    Just a thought..

  43. I think it’s obvious that you are much more productive that you think you are, you just need to make up for a couple of missed spinning Tuesdays. 😉

  44. I’m with LaurieM, you’re still married. Plus you published 3 books, you didn’t spin all those Tuesday, you had to travel the globe, er, this quarter of the globe… and I think I recall you spinning other things on some of those Tuesdays… so all in all, it’s a long term project and that’s okay. It’s not like knitting for kids, he’s not likely to outgrow the sweater in a year’s time, you won’t need double the yarn. There are enough stresses in the world that come from without, no reason to add this one from within. 🙂

  45. I’m sure that Joe is the kind of guy who looks great in a vest… maybe even better than in a sweater so it would be a shame to prevent the world from seeing him in a vest!
    Just bought “Knitting rules” at my bookstore. I will curl up and read it tonight 🙂

  46. Who cares how long it takes. It is a labor of love for him — and 69 weeks is a drop in the bucket when you compare it to the number of weeks that you’ll have in the future with him.
    And Stephanie — look at that wool. It is beautiful!

  47. This isn’t the same wool that the yard squirrel was in love with in its fleece incarnation, is it? I love your books…I love your blog….I love your knitting….I love your spinning…you are an inspiration to us all. Keep up the good work!

  48. Rams has quite the good point… if you were to buckle down and devote the next three months’ of Tuesdays to spinning (no ifs, ands or buts about it), you’d have the yarn by summer, the sweater knit by fall! Perfect!

  49. All right. So I’m a bit obsessive.
    I just went through your archives from the day you started the gansey to now. Out of those NINETYTWO potential Tuesdays, you spun on Joe’s gansey approximately 12 of them that you reported back to the blog. Two of those, by the way, were actually days you carded, but didn’t spin, but I’m throwing them in so that you look like less of a gansey-slacker.
    That means, in all actuality, you actually are doing about 87.5m per session, which should be much more heartening than the 11+m that you thought you were doing.
    Really, you could have it done in way less time than you think…if you can avoid the siren song of those other, more exciting rovings that are calling out to you…

  50. Considering that we’ve all seen you knit a complex sweater in 2 weeks, that means Joe’s gansey will be done 71 weeks from now. You hold your head so it won’t fall off. I’ll give you a hug!
    Just think, if you cross-stitched instead, all you’d have at the end of 71 weeks would be a pretty picture…and you’d be blind. Much better to spin and knit. It’s worth the effort.

  51. I agree with Kristi (I think it was Kristi), just start the sweater. This works well for me, it has worked for my first hand spun multicoloured vest and my second hand spun vest (just finished) and seems to be working for the Aran for my husband (similar size to Joe). As soon as I’m down to one or two unknit skeins I get back to the picking, carding and spinning. Of course if you are planning to dye the yarn, that is a different story. Good fortune.

  52. Hmmm, maybe every time you knit a skein on the gansey, you stop and spin a new skein for the gansey? Does that make it sufficiently not monogamous (polygamous?) to keep your interest?

  53. Math is not your friend. Math is discouraging. Put this up against reality and consider: THREE BOOKS have also been published in that time.

  54. Tell Joe the results of your maths. Like all other men, all he will hear is the number “69,” and he will then be distracted by the thought of marital relations. And then you can blame him and the relations for the lack of spinning.

  55. Oh, sure you’ll survive the week with no ticket to Belise and no murder convictions, but no one said ANYTHING about not being left a shell of a woman!
    🙂
    At least there will be less mess. And less noise.
    I have snorted out loud at the word stashweasel. It makes me happy. Is that weird?
    ~nod

  56. There is a reason “spinsters” were all older ladies back in the olden days. They didn’t have to raise the children and do all the other things and so had the free time to devote to the wheel. The other reason is/was spinning, even with a wheel instead of a spindle, it is/was extremely time consuming. You are a highly accomplished woman working on more than one thing. You are making progress and now have 7 skeins. So if your rate of spinning bothers you, I suggest a change of viewpoint. This is sort of like working toward a degree. Some days it seems awfully far off, but, you know, persistence pays.

  57. Oh Aidan, raising the lids…munchies…I haven’t heard that word used in that way for….over 30 years, laughed my butt off, thank you. Steph, your math was woefully off, think about it, anyway, you are the Superhero, WonderYarnHarlot, spinning scads of wool in mere moments(time warp). All the hugs you want and need.

  58. Look on the bright side. Having goals is a good thing, and besides, there was a day in the really not so distant past when people had to produce ALL of their own clothing…or at least everyone except the Emperor/King/Czar/Mikado 🙂

  59. Life Lesson # 304 Never do the math unless you have a bracing shot of burbon handy. Or at least Screech.

  60. It’s been, er, well, an embarrassingly long time since my spinning has produced any usable yarn, so you’re way ahead of me.

  61. Why do we women do this to ourselves? Why do we turn our backs on the huge pile of accomplishments we’ve managed to tally and point out (hysterically or morosely or dejectedly) the ONE thing we didn’t do perfectly, immediately, single-handedly, and unselfishly? I do it all the time and sometimes I just want to smack myself.
    I need a rams, too.

  62. First, what everyone else has said about the math involved here — you have calculated to your own detriment AND not counted the considerable labor of washing and carding — also part of spinning (as is PLYING, come to think of it!). Second, you have also written 2-3 (4?) books in this period of time — blame it on book tours and making us happy.
    Third — and this one is key — you need to start knitting the sweater! Nothing inspires power spinning so much as the need for more yarn when the sweater is underway. The knitting creates the love of the yarn which begats more yarn.
    The one problem with your readers’ advice about the vest is that I bet you are planning to DESIGN your Joe’s Gansey, possibly using Beth Reinsel-Brown’s delightful book? Even so, you could start.
    After all, your working gauge in gansey knitting MIGHT mean you need less yarn.
    And, yes, major hugs in your direction!

  63. Oh my goodness woman, that is crazy. You’re a good woman for knitting and spinning it all and 3 times that amount. Good luck with it. Maybe a little more focus on spinning for Joe on more than one day a week could resolve that for you?
    cheekily yours,
    Wanda

  64. Now there’s nothing wrong with wanting to go to Belize. It is warm, the water is incredibly blue – I think it’s where they get the color “carribbean blue” and English is the official language, but you will hear almost anything spoken there. It is a lot like Toronto, or Seattle, except for the warmth and crystal blue water.
    I have joked to my DH lately that I should learn to spin, maybe even have a couple sheep, eventually. He keeps giving me evil looks, and I don’t understand why. He has THREE labrador retrievers, uncountable duck decoys, incredibly expensive shotguns and rifles, duck calls, specialized clothing and will be going to at least two out of state dog events this year. All I have is thousands of books, an embarassingly large closet full of yarn and more knitting needles than a family of octopusses could use, and a duvet cover that has been chewed to shreds by his latest puppy. Why can’t I have a spinning wheel? At least a hand spindle………

  65. Well…. you did slack off on some Tuesdays so you must be spinning more per Tuesday than what you calculated. Given that you have been more focused on the spinning of this yarn, I’ll bet you’ll get it done a TON sooner. I’ll think good thoughts and warp speed for you, so before MD Sheep & Wool. 🙂

  66. Stephanie, reading your blog always gives me a severe inferiority complex. Yes, you’d think it would be inspiring, and it is for several seconds while I think, “Hey, I want to go knit!!…on the baby hat too small for even a preemie? on the pitiful teddy bear that passes for a project? on a stupid ribbon yarn scarf? on afghan squares for a collaboritive project? Compared to A FREAKIN’ GANSEY? Naah…”
    Joe will have more gratification by knowing you had to follow a long road before even casting on. The 3+ years spent spinning the yarn will make the sweater even more special than if you’d taken only a couple of months to spin it.
    And I would be honored to give you a hug.

  67. I think you need to set a stashweasel trap, and either make yarn out of their fur, or make _them_ spin.
    It could be worse, you know. You could be attempting what I’m attempting: spinning silk thread on a spindle. That will be Navajo-plied. For a camisole top. Yes, I am insane. This is why I got my taxes done early – spinning avoidance!

  68. How does Joe feel about a mid-riff baring tank top? No? Well then, take heart. At least spinning is relaxing and keeps the stress of having teenaged daughters at bay. Looking at it that way, you have 69 more tuesdays of total relaxation.

  69. Okay. Listen. Stripes are very cool. Fairisles in natural tones are also nice! I say you find a compatible commercially produced yarn and use them together. Another yarn would be honored to co-habitate (or is it co-kniticate) with your beautiful handspun. HONORED I tell you!!!!!

  70. I really like your approach to things, hmm “Tuesdays are for spinning”. Is there a story behind that, what do you do on the other days i wonder. Knit of course, writing too, occasional house construction, do they occupy particular week days and what is the penalty for spinning on another day other than tuesday, an “hand pass” perhaps? When you knit on a Tuesday instead of spinning is that a “high sticking” penalty. You just need to give your other activities an “interferance penalty” and bench the lot of them on Tuesday and enjoy.

  71. DONE spinning that wool in 69 weeks!!!!Holy Smoly .!! There are only 39 Tuesdays until Christmas , 278days.!!! Book passage to Belize right now . Have a nice vacation haha

  72. Dear Stephanie, read all those wonderful, funny and loving comments and you will realise that in those last few years you have, by your own activity and attitude, obtained the (nearly) most important thing in the world: lots of marvelous friends who care about you!!!

  73. Steph, haven’t you heard of the “new” math? It will take exactly as long as it takes! or as soon as it does. Three ply…..hmmm can’t you un-ply it and then just re-ply it double and then you will be done!
    That’s better than math anyday! I’m just trying to think outside of the box here! Work with me here!!!

  74. Oh Harlot– I both feel your pain and wonder how you can be surprised–or even disappointed. The very nature of our “Yarn Harlot” is that she finds it difficult to be faithful to any project for any length of time… we love that in you–your fiber promiscuity makes you endlessly fascinating…this is simply what happens when you, an extremely creative, intelligent person with a large number of interests puts one of those interests into a compartment… now, if you’d allowed your obsession free reign? Joe’s Gansey would have been already spun and partially knit… for the last year. We all have faith that Joe’s Gansey will be complete before Joe shrinks three inches and loses four in the chest… don’t sweat it… it will be done, it will be fabulous, and then, after your photos and our praise, it will be forgotten as you move on to the next splendid project… (Your other alternative? Lock one of your offspring in a room and only give her food when she produces yarn…but you’re really too nice a mom to do that…)

  75. You can knit a complete sweater during the Winter 2006 Olympics and it will take you 69 more weeks to spin the rest of the yarn for this sweater? What am I missing here?
    Glad you survived the school break without strangling anyone or buying a ticket to Belize. Would you have a supply of good wool in Belize and would you really want to knit wool there?

  76. I think you need to sit back and enjoy the process. You could start knitting now, then you won’t feel like the sweater is so far off. I’ve knit one and they are a joy to knit and wear! nothing like it! I’m impressed you are spinning the wool! I agree w/Shanny Mac, if you weren’t the Harlot, we would expect something different. You keep us all on the edges of our seats, or laughing hysterically. He’ll get his gansey…no worries. We all have total faith in that.

  77. How about this: Thursdays are for washing, Saturdays are for carding, Tuesdays are for spinning? With mounds of clean, carded wool around I’m guessing the spinning will move along a bit more briskly. Unless (and it is OK to admit this) you are maybe a tad bit bored with this project, in which case 69 weeks could be a conservative estimate! Ok, let’s not go there at all. BIG HUGS!!!!!

  78. mmmmmmm that seems like a lot of Tuesdays! But at least its a gorgeous colour!…There is a bonus… I think
    Katt

  79. Oh god, don’t start with the math. My husband, who has a 52″ chest, wants a sweater and I told him I’d spin the yarn for it, too.
    I’m thinking of divorcing him, instead. Got any really skinny friends who are single?

  80. Oh dear, i hope i’m not adding to the anxiety by saying this…
    I’ve been reading since…ohhhhh, about last May, or so…and just the other day i was thinking, “Gee, that Joe must be one hulk of a strapping lad for all the spinning The Harlot’s been doing for his Gansey!”
    Keep in mind however, that i’ve never spun before so i had no concept of the three-ply aspect of it all.
    Ok, i’ll just shut-it now! 😡
    ~Suz~

  81. Alrighty then, the comment about a crop top on Joe just made me spit coffee! Good thing I’m at work and not at my own computer.

  82. wow. math can be scary 😐
    I’m having enough of a struggle imagining myself ever finishing a sweater for my dad – and I definitely did not spin the yarn myself! I’m very much in awe of your goal here 😀

  83. Hey. . . you’re more than halfway! I had a recent brainstorm to spin up a pound of roving to make a shawl during vacation the first week of April. If I could spin a bobbin every other day . . . you know how it goes. Last night I spun nothing and fell asleep at 8:30. On top of that, I’m taking a class online and I noticed today that I am a month behind and it ends in the middle of April. Crap. So if Joe doesn’t have a no-return deadline, I think you’re doin’ just fine.

  84. Hey, that’s only a little over a year. And, pretty soon it will be spring/summer and it will too warm for him to wear it…

  85. Wow. Ram! I am shocked. Letting her off so easy!
    Steph,
    Snide? You really think?? I was thinking more along the lines of encouraging and supporting… Maybe you should have done with the gansey spinning what you’ve done with your books: spun quietly in private, without our so-called “harrassment”, and one day posted a picture of a completed sweater and a title like “Ta-da: looky at pretty sweater I made from scratch” or something to that effect. We love you no matter how little you spin on Tuesdays! 🙂

  86. What I really want to know is what Joe thinks of all the creative fashion suggestions…
    (howling with laughter)

  87. (((hugs and more hugs to you!)))…but that’s why my spinning wheel has dust on it…I only take it out to apply some Howard’s to it occasionally, in case I ever feel like spitting into the wind again, or rather, like spinning again. that aside, your handspun for the gansey looks quite nice, a big round of applause to you.

  88. I just got your new book a few mintues ago from my wonderful UPS man and it is FANTASTIC!!!!
    I’m going to finish my housework so I can sit and read the whole thing. Thanks, Stephanie!!!!

  89. I’m with Rams in terms of a more realistic approach to the math involved, but an even truer approach, I think, is this: You are spinning amazingly beautiful yarn (I mean this!), and it’s quality (as evidenced in your photos) is equal to its beauty. It is an act of love for your wonderful Joe, and when you knit it into a gansey (which takes at least as long as a traditional Dale – you know this, right?), you’ll pour even more love into it and make it even more beautiful. So, it doesn’t really matter at all how long it takes. The fact that you are doing it and continue to do it is what matters. Congratulations to you!!!

  90. Oh how soon they forget!
    NOT TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO, you – yes YOU WonderHarlot – were regaling us with tales about qualities such as endurance and patience. O, what has happened to the “nerve, judgement and enormous leaps of faith”? Be that as it may …
    I think we’re missing a tremendous synchronicity here. I’m all for plopping the hormonal teenagers down in front of that wheel in rotating shifts *daily*. You work out a barter system – yeah, that’s it! You wanna permission slip to go to New Yawk? Crank out 30 metres me darlin’ and you’re on your way.
    Albeit the smallest may be a bit too young yet, but the other two? Wasn’t it just last week that Meg appropriated your wheel? Did she or did she not respond to your gracious offer of assistance – and I quote – “Mom I’m not stupid. I know how to use a spinning wheel.”
    Capitalise on this.
    (p.s. I could never spin in a million years. I have no patience.)

  91. Adopt the mottor of my Buddhist yoga teacher: “The end of the journey is what you have learned, not what was achieved.” Of course, she said this to an overweight, out of shape person struggling just to assume a basic mountain pose. *sighs* But look at what you’ve learned this last year plus — about spinning, knitting, writing, what we your loyal minions will do for you (namely the KO) and about Joe (who is surely the world’s most patient husband). And heck, this is beautiful yarn, perfect yarn. Quality right?
    That said, and recognizing Rams’ point that every Tuesday has not been spent in spinning, and having read the previous column — Maybe you should sentence rebellious teenagers to cook, clean, etc., while you use that time to spin. . .

  92. OMG!! I can’t believe you are coming to my town (Rutherford). I have reserved my seat already. Will we be able to buy books at the library, or should we get them before?

  93. Harlot, when I think about it, I always seem to need to spin about a mile (American) of single ply yarn for a shawl or a large sweater, no matter how many plies the finished yarn will be. It gives you a different perspective when you think of yarn in mileage.

  94. Harlot, when I think about it, I always seem to need to spin about a mile (American) of single ply yarn for a shawl or a large sweater, no matter how many plies the finished yarn will be. It gives you a different perspective when you think of yarn in mileage.

  95. Having just returned from Belize, I’m sorry to read that you didn’t just up and buy a ticket. It was lovely there.
    I’d have gladly put you up on the couch in our condo’s(!) living room (!).
    although it’s a glorious place, they have NO YARN stores. Well, none that I found anyway.
    It’s a void that needs filling, don’t you think?

  96. I think at one point you did mention that Joe has a 52 inch chest? Or was it a mere 48 inches? I thought my beloved with his 46 inch chest was asking a lot to have more than one sweater. You my dear are a Star!You are spinning the yarn too. Perhaps I should reconsider, maybe you are a super nova!

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