Blackout

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This blanket is turning out to be a bit of a black hole- not that it’s a remarkable amount of knitting, it’s just a baby blanket, but because it’s total mass seems to exceed its total area, and I don’t know what phenomenon that is, but let’s go with black hole.

When I planned it, my plan was loose (if by loose, you understand that I didn’t have one at all.) I knew I wanted a blanket of roughly a certain size, that it would be lace, and I took those two concepts and looked at a bunch of other blankets with similar concepts, and I made a really educated guess at how much yarn I would need.  Then I took that idea down to Lettuce Knit and told a whole bunch of other experienced knitters what I was planning, and how much yarn I was buying, and when nobody screamed "Danger Will Robinson, Danger" that’s how much yarn I bought.  It was 10 balls of Viking Baby Ull, and each ball is 50g, and that’s 175m – for a whopping total of 1750m.
That seemed, in any reasonable universe, to be enough.

I started knitting.  I knit and knit, and the yarn was holding out just fine.  I knit the centre, then started on the border, and was pounding away on that up at Port Ludlow when it occured to me that I might want to sync up the yarn supply with the project planned, and did a quick headcount. I had two balls left with me, so I texted Joe and asked him to tell me how many balls were left in the basket at home.  He replied (after noting that being sent on yarn hunts is one of his favourite parts of our relationship) that there were three. 

Two plus three is five (pro tip) and that meant I’d used five, and that meant that I had tonnes left.  Buckets of room.  I decided to make the border a little bigger, and use the three at home for the edging.  Shazam.   I knit and knit, and then this weekend I tossed all the yarn left into a bag and went to the cottage.

I knit like the wind there, and what seemed like ball after ball went into the thing, and it wasn’t until this morning, when I reached into my back to get one of the remaining balls and came up with ONE remaining ball (with 3/4 of the edging to go..) that alarm bells went off.  One ball wasn’t going to cut it. Not even. It took me one ball to do 1/4 of the edging and any way you rig the math on that, I was going to come up short.

I came to the only reasonable conclusion I could.  I must have stashed the yarn somewhere else.  I’ve been in and out of a couple of suitcases since I started this (four, to be precise) so I dedicated a chunk of increasingly panicky time to ransacking my house.  Nothing.  Just the one ball of yarn – and my heart sunk with every moment.  I imagined the look on Jen’s face when I told her that I’d gotten held up on this thing, then imagined the look on her face when I told her that I’d ordered more and was sure it would be here "soonish" and I was sure there wouldn’t be much of a hold up,  and when my minds eye saw the look on her face in my imagination… I realized that there was no way I could tell Jen anything about this.  I would figure out how to get more rather privately.

I still couldn’t understand how it had happened though.  Ten balls of yarn should make a baby blanket bigger than what I was holding… and ten was what I bought, so there should be more in the house.  I  checked the car. Rechecked my bags.  Checked bags I never use – called people to see if I’d left it at their house… and finally, in desperation called Lettuce Knit to see if there was more.

I knew, since I distinctly recall having bought all that they had, that this was a pipe dream – so imagine my surprise when Laura immediately located more, even in the right dye lot.  Crisis averted.  I had her set it aside.

I got off the phone, and thought for a second that I didn’t have a problem, then realized that I might have a bigger one.  This, my friends, means that I have had a yarn blackout, where I knit up two 175m balls of baby yarn and can’t remember it, and that seems like a pretty big chunk of missing time. Even in the blur that’s a biggish baby blanket, that seems like a rather remarkable thing.  I thought all sorts of crazy stuff about yarn fumes and having a little too much yarn in the evenings, and wondered – if I was going to start having yarn blackouts where I don’t remember knitting 350m of yarn – maybe I should cut back a bit on the yarn consumption.

Then I found this.

It’s my receipt, and it turns out that it’s not my yarn consumption that’s the problem.  It’s my memory.  I only ever bought eight balls, and five plus three is eight (pro tip) and not ten, and that’s why I was missing two and why there was still some at Lettuce Knit, and somehow… the idea that my memory is going was a lot more comforting than thinking I’d lost track of my knitting.

It means I don’t have to cut back on the knitting to avoid blackouts, but I might need better records, and then it occurred to me that a little of that decent record keeping here on the blog could have totally given me back hours of my life this afternoon while I ripped up the house (and hours tomorrow when I put it all back.)  I started to write a note about that for all of you, and went back to the entry where I first wrote about the blanket.

No, go look.  I’ll wait. 

See the picture?  Eight balls.
I’m obviously beyond help.

184 thoughts on “Blackout”

  1. Great story! Welcome to Senior Moments… Though you do seem a little young for that yet…

  2. It’s not you. Mercury is in retrograde! I don’t usually set much store in my horoscope but after I went out of the house wearing two completely different sandals (one had a big flower on it–the other didn’t) I’m becoming a believer.

  3. So glad to hear I am not the only one who behaves in this fashion. It is some small comfort. Looking forward to fabulous baby blanket pix….SOON.

  4. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL I just love you! You give me SO much hope for myself and my memory and my ability to count(not), and knowing I am not alone in the universe!

  5. As sad as I am to here about your “moment”, I’m really glad to be in this group with such a wonderful person. I’ve been having those “moments” for a while now. I’ve found that the garden with something to drink and some knitting the best therapy.

  6. Just lost my already typed post! To recap. After planning and executing the Sock Summit, with a wonderful team, celebrating Meg’s 20th birthday, knitting a fantabulous baby blanket and the thousands of other projects you do, it’s no wonder a small matter of a couple of balls of yarn escaped your attention. Going on a search is no fun, but here’s wishing you a smooth finish.
    Eve from Carlisle

  7. Thank the heavens that I’m not the only one who does this. Not that I admit to the world the way you do…

  8. Until you demonstrated that you only bought eight balls of yarn, I was going to suggest that your yarn was hiding with my seam ripper—which has to be in this room but I cannot find it. Two balls of yarn might help me find it.

  10. I suspect that Sock Summit has cooked your brain just a bit. Maybe being in the presence of all that yarn and talent has shorted out a few circuits. The best thing to do at this point is to catch a few more hours’ sleep, drink a beverage of your choice (alcoholic or caffinated or both), and have some chocolate. Everyone knows that chocolate restores brain cells.

  12. Oh I know how you feel, I ripped my house apart over the weekend looking for the second ball of Trekking XXL #100 that I KNOW I had and was sure I must have given it away, how was I going to make my second sock? I refused to give up and ransacked the house again and found it stuffed in a sewing box underneath a pile of embroidery floss, what the heck was it doing in there? So I totally know how you felt.

  13. Someday you will reach the point where you can hide your own Easter Eggs. Please note: I’m way ahead of you on that path. 🙂

  15. This is SO something I would do. Math not being my strong-point, it happens frequently.

  17. Those senior moments can happen to all of us. I’m glad you got it straightened out and no longer feel as if you underwent some form of amnesia.

  18. I got a kick out of the way you spell tons. I got even a bigger kick thinking how this might offend some of your readers. (Not most, thank heavens!)
    As for memory loss, wait until you are well into your 60s. I have developed this condition called out of sight out of mind. It’s kind of fun, actually. Everyday I find new “gifts” in my knitting baskets, on my bookshelves, and so on.

  20. A couple of years ago, I got a pain prescription from my doctor, who was very concerned that it was for a narcotic. I put it in my purse. I could not find it from that day forward. I had to go back to the doctor for a replacement. He was stern and concerned about who had their hands on it. Months later, I opened a purse I DIDN’T EVEN OWN AT THE TIME I GOT THE PRESCRIPTION and there was the original prescription looking at me all innocent-like. So I would not discount the possibility that the pictured skeins rearranged themselves the second they knew you were going to look – I’ll bet the extra two are behind the eight. Oh – and the receipt? Disappearing/rearranging ink, obviously. And p.s., I only took one of the pills anyway because they made me feel woozy but didn’t help the pain. And I returned the original prescription to the doctor so he would know I wasn’t just scamming him for drugs. He was gratified.

  21. I hope you know how much reassurance you provide to all of us through your blog…as you do the things we’ve all done! Have I mentioned how you always brighten our days as you share yours with us? Bless you!

  23. If you think your memory is bad now, just wait until you get to be 60 like me!! Hopeless…..

  25. LOL. Even after knitting for years and years, I suck at estimating. I can’t put leftovers into containers, either… I all but one time end up with some or a LOT extra. I can’t wait to knit leftover socks….

  26. I’m just so happy you’re back! The laugh in the middle of the workday just makes everything so much easier.

  28. OMG, you just totally described why I write down exactly what I bought for the project on whatever is serving as my pattern. Hastily scribbled notes are what passes for a pattern these days, but I totally understand believing I’ve purchased the entire lot only to discover I really did leave 2 behind!

  29. As a quilter who is not great at the maths I find the whole envisioning a knitted garment from only metreage of yarn absolutely mind boggling.
    I am trying to learn more and am currently casting onto circular needles for a scarf. If you understand that as, I have cast on the same 100 stitches at least 10 times cause I keep ending up with around 4 metres of yarn on the end.
    As it is alpaca I am loathe to waste even an inch!!
    Many thanks for the inspiration & your honesty.
    Cheers
    Lush
    London, UK

  30. In terms of yarn, the only thing I find more upsetting than your memory playing tricks on how much you have (and yes, I’ve been there …), is to start on a pattern with more than the pattern tells you and end up with no yarn left at the top of the last sleeve 🙁
    My best stunt in misplaced items was a thermos being stored in the oven. Let’s just say it didn’t end well for the thermos …

  31. Will 2 more be enough? As in way enough or just enough? Cuz when I have 3 balls and 3/4 of the edging to go, I run out needing 10m.

  32. I just had a similar moment. I totally lost a ball of yarn in my house. I’ve looked everywhere and, really, its not that big a house. In the end I knuckled under and bought more. Still mystified though. I’m willing to go with the black hole theory.

  33. Hmmmmm……seems that it may be Joe who is losing it. Didn’t he see three in the basket? Or were they – perhaps – not all the same? I would ‘blame’ him. 🙂

  34. I laughed a sympathetic laugh. Do crazy stuff like that all the time — I hate when I can’t find something; then realizing what I really did while multi-tasking — and hate hate hate it when I spend time I will never, every get back finding stuff (double when it is the kid stuff like their wallet, license, keys …)
    We all have out own special crazy – and at least we can laugh at it!

  35. Those moments get worse as you get closer to 50 and my mother has told me to not even mention how bad they are when you’re close to 70.
    But yes, completely understandable, which is why the top and neck of the blue fair isle sweater I made for my son for Christmas is plum. Because I did not buy 10 skeins of blue, I bought 8.

  36. That’s why I add new yarn to my stash on Ravelry as soon as I buy it – so I can look it up later and see how much there is, instead of cluttering my brain with trying to remember how much I bought.
    It also conveniently means that I can check my stash while I’m at work and see if I have enough for whatever new project I’m daydreaming about 😉

  37. I seem to remember you being a little busy when you started the blanket, I’m not surprised you forgot how many balls of yarn you bought!

  38. Blame it on Sock Summit. That sort of craziness would make anyone forget…well, anything. Lovely blankie, my dear.

  39. Another good reason for me to buy yarn by the pack. Just in case. You never know. Better to be safe than sorry. Heh.

  40. Lol, it happens to the best of us. Go get the yarn, come home, have a sit down w/a glass of beer (wine, whatever suits your pleasure), relax. Crisis averted 🙂

  41. Oh Stephanie, you are wonderful! I’m so glad I knit during a time of blogs, or I would think I was the only crazy one.
    Also, this:
    “somehow… the idea that my memory is going was a lot more comforting than thinking I’d lost track of my knitting.”
    *nodnodnod*

  42. Welcome to my world! I have lost a Verizon Mi-Fi which was in my knitting bag when we last traveled (all important things go in my knitting bag). I have torn the house apart and looked 6 times in various knitting bags without success. At least you put your hands on your 2 additional balls. I won’t tell you how much it would cost to replace the Mi-Fi… Super infuriating to have these “losses”….

  43. Well, we’ve all done that sort of thing. I’m sure I have. I don’t remember the details, though.

  44. If you can’t recall how many balls you’ve used, weigh the blanket.
    I use my tea scale when trying to figure out if I should stop my first sock and use the rest of ball for the second sock. You could use a kitchen scale for the blanket.

  46. I always count the ends that have not been woven in to keep track of how many balls of yarn I used. (I save my least favorite task for last…)

  47. I should apologize for this but: I am *so glad* someone else wastes big chunks of time looking for things that simply *are not there.* Thanks for the laugh!

  48. I read a sci-fi story one time about this alternate universe to ours, inhabited by tiny gnomes whose sole job it is to rebuild our physical world every split second. They do it so fast, replacing every house, doorknob, chair, bobby-pin and half eaten sandwich, that we never notice anything happening.
    Except they miss things once in a while.
    That’s where your yarn goes when you can’t find it. And your needles. And the pen you JUST had right HERE.
    The gnomes forgot to put it back in. Just wait….they catch all of the mistakes eventually. >:-)

  49. Don’t blame yourself. You tried to conserve and buy 8, save 2 in case but between buying and knitting you forgot how good you had been, hallucinated you splurged on all 10 and then panicked when you couldn’t find the other two. If I had a nickle for every time I tried to be “good” and ended up making myself a nervous wreck…Just goes to show you.. ALWAYS BUY ALL THE YARN…listen to that little devil on your shoulder, he knows what he is talking about!

  50. But your were right on one thing. It has been Epic! Such a beautiful blanket, I am going to try out the motif… by guessing, unless you might let us in on the secret?

  54. Hey – at least you could FIND the receipt from two months ago, Steph. If my LIFE depended on it, there is no way I could duplicate that feat.
    Losin’ ur mind – ur doin’ it rite, dood.

  55. yep…me too. I lose more mental screws each day. Pretty soon there will be nothing left to put back togeather. I will have to use yarn and knitting needles to stitch a brain. (i may just use a crochet hook to make the edging though…)
    bjr

  58. What it suggest to ME is that you indulged in a brief, uncharacteristic moment of false-economy, taking all ten balls, talking to people and deciding to put two back.
    You gotta watch that.

  59. Thank you for letting us know that there are lots of us out there who lose things (minds, memory, yarn, time, etc). I can tell by the way you had the skeins stacked up that there were supposed to be 2 more to make a nice neat pyramid. That’s why your brain was remembering that you had 10 not 8!

  60. Uh, Hilarie, how do I remind the gnomes that they missed two of my 4mm Signature dpns? Need soonest!
    And Stephanie–love it. As others have said it gets worse. I’ve always had an excellent memory (had being the operative word) but now at 60+ I can’t remember squat.

  64. As others have noted, Mercury *is* in retrograde. And unfortunately for you (and me), this especially affects Geminis. Not only do we endure a schizophrenic existence (hello, twins!), but Mercury in retrograde ensures that those twins aren’t even communicating.
    Oy vey. Glad you discovered the error!

  65. Ah!!! You figured it out and it will all be okay. Time to put your feet up and have a glass of bubbly!

  66. But you kept the receipt… That is incredible! I only have receipts from 5 years ago or 5 minutes ago. All the rest disappear mysteriously…

  69. Glad to hear that I am not the only one who has yarn blackouts, and I am also glad that you were able to get more yarn.
    Now knit woman, knit like the wind!

  70. Read your tweet about the $20. When my grandmother was a girl during the depression her family of 13 (!) was starving one winter with no food left in the house. On the way to town to beg for food her father found $20 stuck in a fence. Maybe your money did someone a lot of good!

  71. Shoes are my most favorite things to lose, second comes car keys, or the last bite of a yummy cookie. All of these come after my marbles.

  72. I was sure I had three balls of some handpainted yarn that would make the perfect Christmas scarf for one of my sons roommates. I looked for it in every conceivable place and some pretty inconceivable places, too. Then I visited said son and you guessed it – I’d use the yarn to knit the roomate a scarf last Christmas. That’s when I started keeping a knitting journal.

  73. IF I had kept the receipt it would have been in the original shop bag. If I had taken the skeins out more than one at a time, I’d have thrown out bag and receipt.
    I recall a previous hilarious blog about your brother(?) mailing you a drug dealers scale for weighing yarn, so I thought you could weigh everything, but what to do with the needles which must remain attached?
    At least you weren’t so mad that you couldn’t read the receipt properly. That’s what happens to me. There it was – 8 @ $7, but I would have read the 8 as a 10 if I had really convinced myself I’d brought home all 10.
    My lovely LYS will put our “extra” skeins in her back room and we can buy them as we go if we can’t afford to buy them all at once.
    That blankie is going to be absolutely the best, especially if it comes with it’s accompanying story.

  74. Attribut it to not being fully recovered from sleep deprivation and move on. It might be dangerous to give up knitting. . .

  76. The memory fade needs to equal the coping mechanisms! Weighing the project will allow you to calculate the number of balls. Although, if your memory is overriding your ability to reason, as mine does, this will not occur to you until AFTER the crisis!

  77. If it took you one ball to do 1/4 of the edging and you have 2 balls left I think you’re going to come up one ball short at the end. Just sayin’.

  79. Wait until you block it – maybe its really big! There’s a huge difference between 2*pi*r and Pi*r squared.
    Don’t some of those shawl patterns warn that it takes as much to knit the border as to knit the center?

  80. I’ve started keeping track of every project on my computer. In my “Knitting” folder, I have a “New Patterns” folder. When I start the project I record the needle size, name of yarn and number of balls, yardage, swatch info, etc. And I make notes as I go along if it is an original pattern, or if I make changes to the pattern. I’ve been frustrated before without info., so I find this is the best way to know how much yarn I started with if I’m trying to figure out how far it will go. I recommend it. It’s especially helpful if you swatch something ahead of time and pull it out later to actually start the thing.

  81. We all have days like this. Tomorrow will be a different day! Maybe not better, maybe not worse, just different.

  82. Oh man . . . I’m just glad you’ll have enough to finish! (And just barely, by my math.)
    The link to the Matching post reminded me of something fun: my 3yo son matches. When I cut his hair (with the really loud clippers), he hums open-mouthed (if that’s what you call it) just as loud as the electric clippers. He does the same thing other times, too. It’s neat to see him matching to help himself handle things he’s not too sure of.

  83. I was going to suggest that maybe they had gone to live with the purple reversible lace scarf I finished at Sock Summit, which disappeared, somehow, upon unpacking–I swear it was with the two hats, which are still here, but alas, no scarf… At least you did find them–hope they’re enough to finish the border! Best, randmknitter

  85. Not to worry. I have a sweater that my LYS owner helped me with — 3 balls of Cascade Sierra.
    I bought them twice.
    Because I got through the first ball, saw the second and thought, “This isn’t going to finish this shell (see, not even a whole SWEATER).”
    And then I bought 2 more.
    I have enough butter yellow Cascade Sierra to knit THREE more shells. And in a mad search through the stash for a project (where have we heard that before??), I found. All. Of. Them.

  86. I am sooo glad I am not the only one with these kinds of (cough) memory ‘issues.’ However, since we are just about the same age, it is not as comforting as I would like. Aren’t you really closer to 50?? That would make me feel much better, I’m just sayin’. 🙂

  88. Blame it on overexposure to wool fumes at Sock Summit. After all, you had real sheep getting shorn right there IN the convention center!
    And, look at the bright side: You’ve given a lot of stuff in your house a good airing, so it won’t smell musty this fall. Now, if you could only find the cat. . . ;-)!

  89. This is what happens when you are not good friends with MATH. It has a ripple effect – and it starts with the things you love most. Like yarn. And jelly beans.

  90. Now I’ll feel better when I turn into a semi-mad woman in my quest to find all of the remaining yarn for a project, do math on what’s needed to complete it and hold my breathe during the whole scene. Thanks!

  93. Hi, Glad you found the solution, with the young mother waiting and all. You are excused the memory loss. You did have a little thing like SS happening at the time you were knitting it… rather a distraction. Flash mobs and all. LOL.
    Julie

  94. Priceless. No worries…
    I had to read this to my husband Joe. I got to the part where you sent the text to your husband Joe, and my husband Joe said, “What basket? The breakfast nook one, or what’s in progress on the table? The one downstairs where we watch the Mariner baseball games, the one in your craft room, or the one in your car?”
    I stopped reading the post to him.

  95. Oh how I love your blog! You write from my heart. If we’d met when our kids were little we would be fantastic friends or hate each other for the things we are! Thanks for articulating all the craziness that is your life and so much like my own.

  96. Oh how I love your blog! You write from my heart. If we’d met when our kids were little we would be fantastic friends or hate each other for the things we are! Thanks for articulating all the craziness that is your life and so much like my own.

  98. My sister-in-law just told me the other day that she was suffering from CRS. We had a good giggle when she explained “can’t remember sh*t”.

  99. Well, do you have a cleaner and more organized house, now? Mis-placing something is about the only time I ever really dig in!

  100. Oh. My. God. I just love the fact that you have a picture of eight balls of yarn. I don’t know why. My little documenting mind just LOVES it. LOVES it. Ok, maybe the wine, but really, I love it.

  102. Do I see “Addi” on that receipt? Surely not…more knitting needles?
    I remember an epic sorting of knitting needles not so very long ago!

  103. I’d like to say that I’ve never been down that road but I’d be lying. I’d like to say that my record keeping has improved and it will never happen again but that’s a fairy story too.

  106. I’ve made one baby blanket with that much yardage. It took me a long time. I would have welcomed a blackout. And some help. 🙂
    I realized awhile ago that I will forget things that I’ll ‘clearly’ remember later. Such as where I’m at in a pattern. The dye lot. Changes to the pattern. I keep meaning to use the blog to save me, but I haven’t yet.
    And Rocky likes to go on yarn hunts too. Pattern searches – especially when I’m several states (or countries) away – are more stressful for him. good sport, that Joe.

  112. AWESOME. So happy I’m not the only one who does this. And lucky you for getting the same dyelot!

  113. What you need is a Cletterkin….. (google it!)
    And I wonder how many people know where “Danger Will Robinson, Danger” came from???? Or is everyone here as old as me?? And why can I only remember OLD sh1t, and not NEW sh1t???
    Love to read your blog, thanks for the laughs!
    Sue

  114. LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!!! Brilliant story, but it’s a good thing that you have recorded everything.

  115. I loved the last part. The first part of your post seems like everyday at some level around my house. I’m always misplacing things, losing track of stuff. I’m good with my real job activities. It’s the rest of my life that gets a little confused. But what I am obviously missing is recorded evidence to help me keep track of everything. Clearly I, too, need an online diary of everything I undertake. Then I would need someone to remind me that I’ve got it all recorded! Next time, take a deep breath and put out a call to the universe. (That would be us) and we’ll try to help!

  116. Pretty soon you’ll be hiding your own Easter eggs, eh? 😉
    Here’s a suggestion – if you’re ever confused about how many balls of yarn you have used so far in your knitting – put your work-in-progress on the scale and see how many grams/ounces it weighs.
    I have used this trick before when I finished knitting 1 sock and was worried I didn’t have enough yarn left for the 2nd sock. I weighed sock 1, then weighed the yarn I had left for sock 2 to see if it would be enough. It wasn’t. =(

  117. Please also find the blog where you said that it would be a great idea to record dye lot numbers on the blog too… because you’d lost the lable & didn’t know what to ask for when you ran out. But that was just another once in a lifetime happenstance… ;~)
    P.S. If one ball did 1/4 of the edging, & you have one in the hand, & there are 2 in the bush, is it really going to be enough to cover that 3/4 part that is left? Oh, how sweet is life at the edge!

  118. At least you have a husband who will go on yarn searches…I can’t see my DH doing that!
    And it is not early onset Alzheimer’s…
    And you may have been a WEE bit pre-occupied during this time period…
    (And does Jen not read your blog????)

  119. This is completely like something I would do. I would not think to check my blog for evidence or Ravelry (too many of projects only get fully documented after they are done). I would spend a few hours going through all of the hidey holes that I’ve placed my stash (which is a problem right there) only to realize I never bought the yarn I distinctly remember buying. It’s a disease. Really it is.

  120. Ya know what I like about you? You too feel that “the idea that my memory is going was a lot more comforting than thinking I’d lost track of my knitting” classic statement

  122. Would you feel better if you bought one $56 skein (I”m thinking Lorna’s Laces silk/wool yarn)? That’s seven less balls. Easier on the conscience.

  124. End of mystery, I’m sure this is what must have happened: You picked all 10 balls off of the shelf “I distinctly recall having bought all that they had” and somehow lost (as in dropped or set down) 2 balls on the way to the check-out. The remaining 2 balls were promptly returned to the shelf, awaiting your phone call.

  125. I love the edging on the blanket and there’s nothing similar in any of my stitch pattern books. Would you mind sharing where it can be found? If you share it on the blog, you can call it “good record keeping…”

  126. This isn’t a senior moment, it’s an exhaustion moment! The only to beat them is to have some sort of system in place, one that works for you. I personally don’t depend too heavily on the husband or electronic things (memory failure is too frequent with both) and instead I write things down and keep them in the same place always. The trick is to always do it the same way, but really, if we can learn to make a stitch consistantly uniform, then there is hope.

  127. Stephanie, hello…my name is Natalie Herron. My father is, Gregory A. Herron, he has been telling me about his best friend growing up in Ontario, Canada…Charles Tupper McPhee, and I believe he is your uncle…I showed him the picture you have of him wearing some knitted socks, and my dad says that sure looks like an aged Tupper!
    Im 19 years old, and my dad said he hasnt talked to Tupper in over 40 years…i thought it would be interesting to search for him for my dad. Please email me ifyou can.
    Natalie131992@hotmail.com or i can be found on facebook, search Natalie Herron…i hope that maybe Tupper and my dad could talk again!

  130. Maybe i missed something in the tellng. You had five left when you checked (thought you had used five, but really only three) and still ran out? I think the real story is, how did you know you had five left (that part doesn’t change) and then still run out? Obviously there are blanket elves who follow you around and secretly make things bigger (using up your yarn) but use magic to convince you the remaining yarn is untouched (you’ve encountered those skeins that look full but are really hollow vestiges of their former selves) and adequate to complete the project!

  132. Too funny! And my Richard would sympathize with your Joe–when I was in the hospital, (not up to knitting but up to being hopeful that I might), I asked him to bring me back some size 5mms and some carefully specified yarn. He brought me back a whole whack of needles and yarns and begged me to pick out for myself.

  133. hi! I am with you there, and in spades. I am well known in my knitting group for running short of what ever I have chosen to knit with, whether it is a printed, edited pattern or some endeavor where I have changed everything in the directions but the actual pattern stitch. My Ravelry account is littered with messages to perfect strangers asking if they could part with some bit of their posted stash to help me with my “yarn emergency”. Sometimes I get to troll yarn stores and web sites looking for something that will “work” with what I have knit so far…
    And this does not even address the yarn and UFO’s that go missing around here. They usually do turn up, though.
    What else can we do but knit on?

  135. This reminds of the knit blogger who was freaking out that the beautiful lacy tunic she had knitted had changed color from ecru to green while stored for the winter. She received all kinds of helpful comments, e.g., “linen can be susceptible to heat” “Was it stored in plastic?” etc., etc. Then one small voice of reason reminded her that she had sent the original tunic to a show and knitted a second one in green — it was right there in her blog a few months back. If only I could remember who that blogger was, it’d be cool.

  136. And one more thing, now that you’ve jogged those brain cells, maybe you can help me remember what happened to the ball of peaches and cream and the ball of EuroFlax that I took to Home Depot to pick out a bathroom paint that will complement the bathmat that I’m going to knit out of them. There is yarn lurking somewhere in the Home Depot in Jasper, Georgia, I suspect.

  137. Umm, I see “Addi” om that reciept. I seem to recall you being told that you weren’t allowed to purchase any more needles..,or does that only apply to dpn’s?

  139. It is a sad thing when the gray matter starts to deteriorate. I never figured it would happen this soon for me. Looks like you are in the same boat.

  140. LMAO! Thank you for sharing this humbling moment!
    (I feel better now…hope you do too!!!)

  141. …”yarn blackouts” you say? Whodda “thunk” it possible but you!! I do so get a chuckle out of reading how your mind works…Glad your back, Stephanie.

  142. In the middle of your story I was thinking about how my strategy would have been to weigh my knitting so I could figure out how much yarn I had actually used.
    Thinking like that comes from years of being a professional chef and not knowing where all the carrots went.
    Maybe you had brought all 10 balls to the counter but somehow only 8 got written up and tossed into your bag because the other two balls were running away screaming….
    LOL

  143. To quote you: “…and it’s going to be epic.”
    To quote Jean Luc Piccard: “Make it so.”
    And it was good.

  145. After looking at your original post, I’m guessing that your brain had a mental image of a pyramid of yarn with 4 on the bottom, which would make 10 if they had been stacked symmetrically. It’s a plausible defense. You’re welcome.

  146. It’s not dementia. Or pre-dementia. It’s called being busy. My version of your story is I call everthing “thing” and hope everyone understands. We’ve gotta laugh!

  148. I’m 53 and that kind of brain warp is now what I call ‘being human.’ Too many balls in the air (no pun intended).

  149. Oh I think it is catching in some way. I am also working on a baby blanket had a pattern I liked but it was smaller than I wanted so planned on making it larger did the math and ordered the yarn. I am now about 1/2 way through measured today knowing for sure how much yarn I ordered and even have the math from original thought and yet today I sit here realizing I will be not quite 1 skein short of finishing. The math works out and gauge is coming out correct still have not figured out what happened but at the very least I think some form of this weird baby blanket math, gauge, planning thing is contagious. Luckily for me I do have time to order more. But still this is nuts.

  151. Glad I am not the only one with “sometimers!” It is an age thing and then joy when we realize all is OK! It is a beautiful baby blanket—-a treasure for many generations!

  152. I was always taught not to laugh at crazy people but sometimes it’s too hard to resist. Thanks for the lightest moment of my day so far.

  154. I love you so much. You are hilarious!
    I thought “under-yarned” was going to be my Yarn Harlot “word of the year” – but “yarn blackout” made me laugh out loud tonight.
    Genius!

  155. If you believe that you are beyond help…at least take heart in knowing that you have many friends to keep you company!
    I have experienced similar, frantic, tear-the-house-apart-looking-for-what-I-know-is-around-here…where-else-could-it-be!!!??? moments. I once spent an hour or more looking for my set of Denise needles. I knew they hadn’t left the house, so where had I put them? I remembered that I usually kept them on top of my computer monitor, but then I had the great thought, “I’ll put them somewhere where I’ll remember where they are.”
    Unfortunately, the only place I could remember them being was on top of the monitor and not in their “wonderful” new place!!
    Finally, I found them….with the rest of my knitting needles! Aggghhh! Did not remember putting them there (even though it was actually the most logical place. (Sigh)
    Hope you have better luck finishing your beautiful blanket!

  156. It’s a good thing you’re pretty. (a saying we have in our office when we do things like this. We say it a lot. Sigh)

  158. Given all that you’ve been doing and how crazy things have been, to have even remembered to keep track of your knitting all through and blogging has me impressed… and hey, it’s always “beer o’clock” somewhere 🙂
    Are you using a pattern for the blanket? It’s absolutely GORGEOUS!

  161. I`m knitting a baby blanket – since July – on the edging now too however it is going to push me opver the edge and is going to join aran cardigans on my list of things never to knit again. By the way in a brilliant flash of inspiration I decided to knit the blanket in knitted in 4ply ! Never again

  162. While travelling through Ireland I bought 20 balls of Donegal Tweed in a lovely LYS in Donegal Town. When I got home I decided on a pattern for my husband and began to knit it. I separated the 20 balls into 10 in my knitting bag leaving 10 in my stash. As I was finishing I realized I might be 1 short but totally forgot I had 10 balls stashed so in panic, I actually called the store in Donegal (from New York) and they shipped me the ball I needed (same dye lot-amazing.) After I finished the sweater I came across the 10 balls I had stashed. Good news, I made myself a beautiful shawl/scarf. Had about 1 ball left – LOL

  164. Too funny…well it will be in retrospect for you. I’ve done the same thing so you’re not alone. Anyhow, thanks for giving me a good laugh 🙂

  165. I’ll bet you are doubly GLAD that you kept records (and could find them) and took a photo and therefore are not left to count unwoven ends or (worse!!) count woven in areas to determine how much yarn you’ve used to prove you are not crazy.

  166. This would be my recommendation. Have a paperclip or some sort of clip in the project bag with you that will hold the ball bands or labels of the number you purchased.
    Second recommendation. Don’t change the pattern midstream.
    I’m glad things are working out serendipitously. Hugs!

  167. I’m glad all is well as far as quantity is concerned and that Lettuce Knit had more and in the same dye lot. They did the same for me when I neglected to purchase sufficient KPPPM. I loved the sale slip. It reminded me of mine. I always seem to end up with ANOTHER addi lace fixed circ at the bottom of the bill-love those needles. Cheers and red wine, Hazel.

  168. A delightful read once again. Always nice to know even a knitting genius has her days! Also wanted to say thank you (many Times over) for your assistance in changing my Sock summit workshop on the last day. You are amazing in so many ways!

  169. I don’t think that you are losing it. Quite the contrary, your super-smart knitting subconscious knew you needed 10 skeins!

  170. Hi Steph–I received a call from MSF yesterday asking if I could bump up my monthly donation because of the African crisis, and I was thrilled to help. So if you’re still keeping track, add another $60 for this year onto the total.

  174. LOL!!! I want to thank you for sharing such a great story just to make all of us feel better! I hate it when I do stupid crap like that and I do it way more often than I would like to admit. My latest episode was just as sad as yours, but made my dyeing partner laugh till she cried. I have a friend who is making a tallit for her granddaughter and her granddaughter was very particular about the colors she wanted. “No problem” I said, “I’ll be happy to dye it for you.” I started dyeing and got all the colors but one shade of blue. Every time I tried a new formula to get the right color, the shade of blue came out totally different than what I had planned. Now, I’m am by no means Deb Menz (Let us all bow down at her feet and sing Dyerly praises.) but I do know my way around the dye table. I’ve been doing this for years. Well, it turns out that the reason that my blue was coming out all wrong was that somehow I had grabbed the bottle of turquoise instead of royal blue and never checked the bottle after I had grabbed it. The dyestock is a 1% solution so it doesn’t look like the color it will eventually be, and since I had “checked” the bottle when I grabbed it, I just assumed it was the right one. Yes I know all about assumed, it kicks me in the arse every time! Once I figured out what was going on and got over the fact that I had wasted all that time and had made a serious rookie dyer mistake, I just cracked up. It seemed much more reasonable than crying LOL! I got the right shade of blue on next try. So thanks for sharing your knitting black hole. What a riot. Unfortunately there’s a dyeing black hole too!

  175. All those missing items have been taken by the “borrowers”. After many, many hours of searching for something, and ready to give up, they will miraculously appear in the strangest spot. Somewhere you would never have set them down. Always blame the “borrowers”.

  176. same thing happened to me this week with buttons. where are the buttons i bought for my gloves!?
    tears apart bedroom stash
    where the hell are they!?
    tears apart closet stash
    WTF!??
    tears apart back room stash
    ready to cry….
    boyfriend remembers that i put those buttons back so i could “match them to the yarn next time”
    >_<

  177. Just read this entry. DH commented that being sent on a yarn hunt is more fruitful than sitting watching Leafs play.

  179. Been there… (I’ve knit in my sleep. Does that count? Not while being responsible for a sock summit and four suitcases, however.)

  180. Just finished tearing my house apart looking for the ball of yarn I just bought. I had been clearing out my stash and finally came to the conclusion that i had disposed of this new yarn along with the old. Sat down to read emails and there it was winking at me from the chair across the room. In full view, not covered or hiding. At least my house and stash are now tidy! Glad i am not the only one with knitter’s blockage

  183. You have what my kids’ doctor calls: “Sometimers Disease.” Sometime you remember, sometime you don’t. He claims it’s not fatal, but very contagious. You get it from your kids. Too much to remember, and too few brain cells, and no availability to just add more memory like we do with computers. So, take 2 margaritas and call me in the morning….

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