The floor is done being scraped. For now.

The ice is melting on the Lake.

The sun has been out for almost a week.

Our new building is lovely.

The knitting books have a new home.

The yarn winders are poised to come out of hibernation.

I have some yarn left for Carpe Yarnem.

I still lack the internet.

My hands are healing.

I’m happy to be here.

The plumbers are still not finished.

I’m itching to fire up those dye pots.

I think this is a lesson in patience.

The break area and snack bar are all set up.

My fancy coffee machine broke in the move.

How are all of you? I miss you.

…because of the blisters.

I think I have about seven. Two of them started from gripping the steering wheel too tightly as I drove 1200 miles this week. The other five came from the manual labor I’ve been doing since arriving at the studio.

We did make it safely to Minnesota, thank goodness. More on that story another time. Today, a couple of studio updates. Still no internet or computer there, bear with me.

When we decided to take this 110 year old building, we knew it needed some TLC. But it turned out to be reconstructive surgery, not just a little pampering. In addition to the month of work put in by a team of contractors and family members, we’ve been working nonstop since arriving just to get one section of the Enchanted Forest in usable condition.

When we arrived, we found some beautiful paint colors. We didn’t have much time to sit and stare, as there were trucks blocking the driving lane that needed unloading.

Cast your eyes onto the middle section of this floor:

Just to give you a better idea of what needed to be reconstructed:

This is not just an ugly, eyesore of a floor. This is practically unwalkable, certainly a safety hazard. 110 years ago, the people who built this building installed pine hardwoods. In the 1950s, someone thought it would be a good idea to install linoleum directly on top of the hardwoods. And then when people tired of the linoleum, they decided to staple plywood directly on top of the linoleum. And then they put lunchroom tiles. And then on top of that, carpet glue and carpet.

Someone then decided it would be interesting to rip up the carpet and see what was underneath. They took a couple of whacks at it with a scraper and a crowbar. They saw exactly how much back breaking work it would be to get all of the layers of floor off, and they just left it. I don’t know who this person was. I would like to show them my blisters. And I’m sure the three other people who’ve been helping me would like them to spring for a massage for their backs and some salve for their hands.

In case this ever happens to you, here are the steps involved in removing 60 years of flooring.

1. Rip up carpet.

2. Pry off chunks of plywood subfloor with crowbar.

3. Scrape off layers of adhesive to make sure everything is nice and uneven.

4. Leave for two years.

5. Research what will remove all of this crap off your floor, discover that flooring adhesive in the 1950s was not nearly as water-soluble as what is made today, and that your best bet is to get the floor really wet with water and soap to soften everything.

6. Get down on your hands and knees.

7. Wonder why there is not a machine that will do this for you.

8. Use a 4″ razor scraper to begin scraping the layers off the floor.

9. Realize that you’re barely marring the surface with your industrial scraper, and that this will take a lot of time, a lot of elbow grease, and a lot of water.

10. Get more buckets of water and soap. Kneel back into the 1/4″ of water standing on the floor that is now mixing with contractor grime and 60 year old adhesive and turning into a brown sludge.  Scrape some more.

11. Squeegee off the floor periodically to get rid of the sludge. Shovel up garbage cans full of black goo.

12. Dump 900 more gallons of soap and water on the floor.

13. Cry quietly to yourself.

14. Muck around in the muck, scraping all the while.

15. Give up and just accept that your clothes and shoes will be dripping wet all day, and that they will stand up on their own when dry.

16. Take pain killers for your knees, neck and back.

17. Scrape.

18. Scrape.

19. Scrape.

20. Enjoy some of your handiwork.

21. Go back tomorrow and do it again.

22. Go back the next day and do it again.

23. Post some pictures on your blog so that people know you aren’t dead and that you still care about them.

24. Thank God for the independent coffee house that’s 1/2 block from the studio where they already know your name. Otherwise, you probably would’ve fallen into a deep coma right there in the brown muck.

25. Thank God for all the people willing to help with steps 6-22.

This is it! My last day here in my studio and my house. Tomorrow we’re off to big adventures in American Siberia — wish us luck!

– Yarnista

Some enchanted evening

There will be lemongrass and wine

Some enchanted evening

The mermaid treasures will be all mine

Told you I was talented.  Especially poetics. Poetics are my strong suit.

The theme for the main workroom is Enchanted Forest. Doesn’t that sound like a grand place to work? I think so. That’s probably why I’ll be working there.

And what good is a little Enchanted Forest without a little chlorophyll? Deep grassy leafy foresty green.

I came, I saw, I liked this one best.

The wall behind the sinks will be this color — I’ll get to look at it all day. If there can’t be windows over the sinks, at least there will be a hint of the outdoors.

The opposite wall will be wine barrel brown. A warm brown with an auburn undertone.

The wine barrel isn’t quite as saturated as it will be in real life — you can see that it needs a second coat of paint. To round out the Enchanted Forest, we’ll paint the front and back walls a strong lemongrass color. I love lemongrass as a spice and now as a paint shade. It will be a crisp counterpoint to the leafiness and the barkiness of the Forest.  I threw in Mermaid Treasure for good measure — you can get a better idea in this picture of one of the main wall colors in Irish Sea, the other side of the studio.

And hey, I have three days left here in Maryland. I’m totally packed and ready.

And also, I am a size 0 petite with raven locks and chocolate eyes that dance with lightning on a midsummer’s eve.

If I keep repeating it, it will come true. If I keep repeating it, it will come true… right?

Colors, colors everywhere

On the wall

And in my hair

Colors, colors everywhere

And not a drop to drink

You like that? I wrote that just for you, because I am a prodigious talent, and because I care about you.

You’re welcome.

Colors on the yarn! Last club shipment from our Maryland address heading out this week!

Colors on the wall! Studio painting commenced!

I thought long and hard about the colors I wanted for the walls of the new studio. What would I love seeing every day? What would make me happy? What is fresh and dynamic and pleasing but energetic? My goal was not to soothe myself into a coma, I need fun, I need high impact color. What kind of yarn studio would have beige walls, I beg of you?

So I narrowed it down, and then I went to the paint store and bought no fewer than 25 small paint samples to try out. When I brought in all my swatches, the guy behind the counter stared at me and said, “Well, it’s going to be like… a couple of hours for us to make all of these for you.” (Translation: I don’t want to make all of these for you, it’s too much work.)

“That’s OK,” I said. “I can run my other errands and stop back later.” Just to make him feel better, I added, “Once I decide on the colors, I’ll be buying at least fifteen gallons of paint.” I didn’t want him to feel like I was wasting his time so I could do craft projects.

First, I admired the hole in the wall that will connect the two spaces with a French door.

Then I painted 76,000 swatches to approximate the final paint shades I’d chosen.

I had it narrowed down to some combination of turquoise, mallard, grass green, jade, and purple.

I painted the same swatches on the opposing wall, just to see.

I like them all.

I test out the idea of doing a saturated sari-like gold or tangerine color on the back wall.

I love it, but not in this space. The studio is too long and narrow, and the sari effect will be lost, because you won’t be able to easily see the colors play with each other.

I sleep on it. I come back in the morning when the paint has dried. With walls that are thirteen feet high and eighty feet long, the walls will not be easy to repaint, and the wrong color will seem really, really, really wrong.

What’s it going to be?

The grass or the jade?

Remember that I don’t have to match any furniture to these saturated colors, and that helps a lot.

Here’s what I ended up deciding on:

For one wall of the studio, the side that will be directly across from my desk:

Jade with a hint of teal.

For the back wall and the front wall (the short ends of a long rectangle), I decide on:

Orchid purple. Because the space is so long, the back wall color really needed to have impact, lest you have to squint to tell what it is.

For the wall behind my desk:

Mermaid Treasure, naturally.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the colors in the other side of the space, the main work room.

But I would like to point out one other small color sample:

What say you? Yay or nay? I am ambivalent about the cut — it will grow out. But how do you feel about the red?

The paint? It doesn’t matter. How do you feel about the color of my hair?

So, on Sunday, I taught a class at The Yarn Spot in Wheaton, MD.

What a lovely shop in every way — I highly recommend a visit. The staff was very warm and inviting, the environment cheery, and the selection well edited. I saw many things that were unique — this is not just another yarn shop carrying the same four lines of yarn that you see everywhere. This is but a small part of the store — it’s quite spacious.

There was food, good food. The shop owner, Victoria, even asked me ahead of time if I had any special dietary restrictions.

I thought that was very kind of her. I wish I had some dietary restrictions. I fear I suffer from a lack of dietary restriction in general. I should have said something like, “Yes, I only eat celery and rutabagas.” But then when I arrived, they could’ve laughed and called me a liar, because I obviously have no such restrictions, as was evidenced by the very ample bottom that was photographed many times Sunday evening.

I will spare you the pictures. Suffice it to say my skirt appears as though it could provide shelter in the wilderness for a small party of explorers. Lewis and Clark, maybe.

The attendees could not have been more gracious. They chuckled at the appropriate times and raised their hands to ask questions. I did not have to call security or call anyone’s mother. I hope they got something out of the class, something other than a view of me doing this:

Or this:

I’m not quite sure what I’m doing here, but it looks amusing. Perhaps the students were slightly amused, maybe that’s what they got out of the evening.

Amusement.

Either that, or fear.

It is a bit frightening, truth be told.

I’m sorry.

Now this is what a yarn instructor should look like!

Blurry and perplexing.

All the best instructors are blurry and perplexing.

And they sing opera.

I am quickly moving up the ranks as one of the best instructors, as I am clearly demonstrating my librettos here.

I have something that the other instructors don’t have. The ability to quickly swap out one head for another.

It’s very convenient, I use this skill often.

We did establish a few other things at the class.

1. Lagoon is beautiful in any kind of weather:

2. So is Cheryl:

3. I need constant supervision.

Thank you all for coming! I wish I had thought to take everyone’s picture! I wish we could’ve stayed longer!

Let’s do this again sometime! 

I’m leaving in a week. Everything is done. All the boxes are packed, labeled, and organized. 

Not.

Not even close.

It’s a good thing I live such a life of ease and leisure, so I’ll have plenty of time to accomplish my checklist of Things to do Before We Leave Town.

Not.

But I do want to take a moment to reflect on what I’ve loved about living here. I want to say goodbye to the things I’ve loved for 8-1/2 years, the things I’ll miss.  And I will miss many things about Washington, DC.

Mostly people. The people I will speak to privately. They don’t always want their information shared on the internet, I can’t imagine why.But today I want to publicly say goodbye to one of the best things about DC.

Spring.

Less than two weeks ago we got more than 40″ of snow. Unheard of in this area, where snowfall is light and infrequent. This morning, there were daffodils poking their heads out in my yard. You can practically see them craning their necks, saying, “But we always come out at this time!”

Spring comes to Washington early and riotously. I will miss the profusion of flowering trees in mid-March. I will miss the fuchsia azalea bushes that line the hedges of practically every home.

They do not have this where I’m going.

You know when your kids are little and you tell them, “Say bye-bye to the park!” so it will make for a smoother transition in their mind?

Yeah, that’s totally what I’m doing here.

Bye-bye gorgeous, amazing, early springtime.

Goodbye daffodils growing on February 22nd. I’ll miss you.

Are you sure you don’t want to come live with me in Zone 4?  Pretty please with sugar and cream and cherries and nonfat whipped topping?

Minnesota would be just about perfect if we could just have a glorious spring that came before May.

His name is Charles Dickerman. This picture was taken in the late 19th century. He was probably wearing a wool suit. He was definitely growing something on his face.

I would like to take a moment to thank Charles Dickerman, wealthy businessman, entrepreneur, and (obvious) wool wearer. Thank you, Charles E. Dickerman, for building this building in 1901:

Thank you, Charles E. Dickerman, for building this building that in 1901 served as a women’s millinery shop, a furrier, a clothing store, and on the second floor, a dance hall.

Thank you.

Thank you for building the future home of Three Irish Girls.

How do you think Charles Dickerman would feel about his building being used for ballet?

And now, for yarn?

When Charles Dickerman built this building, he intended for there to be three retail stores on the main level and a larger dance and meeting space on the second floor.  Over the course of more than 100 years, you can imagine that the building saw some challenges. At least seven fires occurred here. I’m going to do my best to make sure there aren’t eight. Disrepair. But the bones were good, and no amount of new construction can create a history like this one. I love knowing that I’ll be working where women used to make and sell fancy hats. 

The building was purchased and fixed up several years ago, and three loft-style condos replaced the dance hall.

We’re moving at the beginning of March to our brand new, bigger, more awesome, absolutely fantastic home. (Yes, that’s only a couple of weeks away!)  We’re packing everything we own, bidding our windowless but colorful studio in the suburbs of Washington, DC adieu, and moving across the country to Duluth, Minnesota.

Our new studio has twice the space of our current studio. And it has windows, which is an unimaginable luxury to the likes of us.  We’ll be occupying two of these spaces on the main level, the space in the middle and the space on the left.

The space in the middle and the space on the left will give us more then 3,000 square feet of dyeing, drying, and storage space — space that is sorely needed.  It will also give us the ability to work better, smarter, and faster, as we’re able to set up the most efficient work area possible.

Having lived with the limitations of my current setup for more than two years, I have often dreamed of what I would do if I ever had the opportunity to build a dream studio. And you’re looking at it, kid: Yarnista’s dream studio.

We’ve taken these two spaces and made them adjoining on the inside with a French door.  It’s already happened. It happened while I was here in DC answering your emails and dyeing your yarn and shipping your packages. It’s like magic.

Moving home to Minnesota means that I can be close to my mama and daddy and sisters and nieces and nephew.  Moving home to Minnesota means that my kids can play with cousins and spend the night at Grandma’s and go sledding anytime they want, practically all year long.

The plumbers are more than 80% done with the work on the new studio. They’ve installed the water lines for the sinks and the washing machines. They’ve put in the mother of all hot water heaters. The electrician is putting in lots of ambient lighting, and is installing modern pendant lighting for the color mixing and dyeing stations.  The painters are painting, the carpenters are carpenting, and I’m marveling.

Years ago, in this very city, a twelve year old girl tried to knit a blue cotton dishcloth. And now she’s coming home to nest here:

I can’t even believe it. Over the next few days, I’ll give you some studio updates, including the colors I picked out for the walls while on my secret mission.

I feel so grateful that my years of early mornings, late nights, sore backs, burned arms, and delighted eyes have created something to be proud of. Thank you for coming along on this journey with us.

Things are going to get even better from here.

XOXO

– Yarnista

P.S.

I was outside minding my own business.

As usual. Isn’t that what everyone does when they’re outside?

Admiring my Fairy Tale Oaks, which look like human capillaries this time of year.

Admiring the icicles that are forming like stalactites from my eaves, even though I knock them down every day.

Tootling about (I do love my tootling!), watching for a break in the clouds, looking at the interesting coloring on the leaves of my holly tree:

And discovering this puffy robin bird taking cover in the brush:

All perfectly pleasant. A delightful morning here in creation.

And then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Is that…?

Could it be…?

Are those YARN NINJAS?

Did you send yarn ninjas disguised as furry woodland creatures to steal my yarn?

Two of them?

Did you tell them they could sleep in my yard?

Did you instruct them to watch for me to leave and then surreptitiously break in and take all the yarn for you?

Is that what you’ve done? Is that what you’ve stooped to?

Your mother would be so ashamed.  My mother is ashamed of you too.

Shame on you. Shame shame shame.

Sending a furry woodland creature to do your dirty work. How unoriginal.

Not everyone played nicely at our first Carpe Yarnem stocking.

Most of you did.

Some of you didn’t. Some of you were mad at me. Things sold out too quickly, or there were not enough skeins of something to go around.

I know. I know it’s frustrating to not get what you want. I’m sorry. That’s why I’m going to give you another chance. Another chance to score some one of a kind lovelies.

I have some things ready for our next stocking, including this number here:

Reds with flecks of tan. Surprisingly pretty.

I have about ten other colorways, just waiting to be adopted.

When shall we have this open adoption call?  Weekend? Weekday? Evening? Mid-day? Look at your calendar and let me know.

Because I get to see the mess created by five year old hands learning their way around the kitchen.

Because of homemade ciabatta bread croutons, baked with olive oil and kosher salt.

And some freshly shaved parmesan never hurt matters, either.

Because of little girls who spend twenty minutes fashioning the perfect heart-shaped biscuit for their daddy.

Because of the patina on the baking sheet that has faithfully seen us through every holiday, every good time and bad time.

Because my children are learning to do things they can someday teach their own children.

Who will, of course, live with me. Because I said so.

Because a two year old in a footie sleeper and a five year old in a Cleopatra Halloween costume can have the best “Valemtime’s Day ever” with their very own mama in their very own kitchen.

Because I can see the years slipping through my hands with every blink, and because I have a camera to document the moments.

Because plastic cups are just as good as fancy biscuit cutters.

Because the jumbly, misshapen ones taste better than the perfectly round ones when you see the pride on your baby’s face.

Because even though my Valemtime’s Day wasn’t full of jewelry and trips to Paris, it was full of love and good food.

And hello? There were warm homemade biscuits at my Valemtime’s Day. Beat that with a stick.

And you? Did anything special happen to you on Valemtime’s Day?

Here are some things you may not know.

1. I get very freckly in the summer time, despite my diligent application of SPF. This is very important information, please write it down.

2. I do things last minute. I just got back from an 8:00 pm shopping trip to Target to purchase Valentine’s Day cards for my children’s classes. If the calendar is to be believed, that means I had four hours left before it was actually Valentine’s Day. That could be an improvement over last year’s performance.

3. I have a son. There’s a lot of talk about girls ’round these parts, what with the logo you see in the upper left corner and all. But I do have a son who is tall and handsome with blonde hair and blue eyes.

4. My son will probably be at least 6′7″ when he grows up. Everyone will want him to play sports.

5. I don’t really like sports. I like knitting and other safe hobbies in which serious injury is unlikely. Hobbies like reading and baking molten chocolate cakes.  I think I will force my son to work for the family yarn business and become a pastry chef on the side.

Yes, that is what I will do. And he will live at home with me forever and clean the bathrooms and bake for me and rinse the yarn down at the studio.

6.  Both of my daughters have brown eyes. Sisters are the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen in your life, bar none. I recommend getting yourself a pair of sisters, if possible.

This is a toddler sister (whose arms bear the marks of her passion, drawing) entertaining a baby sister.  Better than Bravo reality TV, I’m telling you. It’s better than The Real Housewives of Orange County, better than Top Chef, better than Project Runway.

7. My children all have different colored hair. Blonde, auburn, dark brown.  My mom finds this very remarkable and comments on it often.  My mom loves her grandbabies. I need some grandbabies, come to think of it.

8. This child will not let me brush her hair.  I swear she believes I am lighting her head on fire when I try to gently comb or brush it.  I’ve tried detanglers of every kind. It’s not even so much the tangles, she just hates the feel of anything being done to her head. Any tips?

9. Soon, you will see a new blog design here at The Yarnista. It will have a wider center column so I can post larger pictures. My designer is a saint, she takes all of my scatterbrained ideas and makes a cohesive look out of them. And then she puts up with my endless, “What about this? How about that?” stuff that designers usually hate.

10. I am cooking dinner for the hubs tomorrow night. Here is the menu he’s requested:

– Steak

– Sauteed mushrooms

– Homemade biscuits

– Caesar salad with homemade dressing and croutons

– Bacon wrapped scallops

– Peach cobbler

Certainly not the most cohesive menu. Certainly not the “I’ll just whip up a chocolate dessert” kind of menu I was initially thinking of. But we’ve been together for 11 years and I love him and he deserves it. I did have to throw in the Caesar salad, because left to his own devices, he would never touch anything green, ever ever ever.

I have never made peach cobbler before, and peaches are not in season, so I think I’ll be left using canned peaches. I guarantee you he’ll think it’s just as good.

11. I am almost done with my club colorway pictures for March. This is a fun month.

12. We’ll be opening to new club members in March. If you’ve been pondering it and aren’t currently on the waiting list, send us an email (threeirishgirls AT gmail DOT com), and we’ll add you and notify you when a slot becomes available.

13. I have a fuzzy green bathrobe that my sister gave me for Christmas last year that I am wearing right now.

Good night from the land of snow and half plowed roads.

–Yarnista

Some people have amazing brains.  I do not pretend to be one of them.

Some people’s brains can learn six languages effortlessly, or allow them to see exactly how a steam locomotive is assembled, or how to take pictures of objects that are millions of light years away.

Marjan from Yarnissima has a cool brain.  Out of her brain has come arguably one of the best collections of sock designs in the world — certainly some of the most original and architecturally challenging.

If I could keep Marjan on staff, I would. I would like to move her from the Netherlands, along with her family of course, and give her a lovely office with a window and some yarn. I would make her a cup of tea and come back and check on her a while later.

I know she would come up with patterns like this, because she already has:

When you put them on, it looks like your ankle is wearing a necklace.  I’ve had the very good fortune of getting to know Marjan — and her personality is just as lovely as her designs.

Today, I give you something new from one of the great creative brains of the world, an exclusive pattern called The Portland Gussets.

Look at those amazing, curved lines.

I would love to have one of these kinds of brains.

I would love to have a pair of these socks.  They speak to me.

This pattern was inspired by Marjan’s trip from the Netherlands to Portland, OR. We met at the Sock Summit — some of you were probably lucky enough to take one of her classes. Her pattern writing skills are also second to none — everything is beautifully illustrated, clearly explained, and edited to the Nth degree.

So, support one the great (independent) brains of the world. You can click on this link and buy one of her patterns. and perhaps a pattern from some of the other creative greats of the knitting world. If you do, be sure to choose the Download shipping option, so you won’t be charged anything. When you’re done clicking through all the screens, you’ll be taken to a link for the PDF, and you’ll also be emailed a copy, just in case you aren’t able to download it immediately.

You get started knitting up some ankle necklaces or some Portland Gussets. I’m off to use my comparatively average brain to think up a way to retain Marjan on staff…

Yes indeedy, the snow is high, deep, cold, and white.  I’m sure you’ve seen it on the news, or experienced it firsthand.  This is the snowiest winter on record in the DC area, and we’re feeling it pretty acutely. This Southern city is just not equipped to remove over 40″ of snow from the roads in a timely fashion. School has been canceled for the past five days. People everywhere are infected with the stir-crazies.

Here’s how tall some of the banks are. I am six feet tall, in comparison.

But on to today’s real topic.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m working on the curriculum for my upcoming class at The Yarn Spot in Wheaton, MD.  In addition to the course materials, I’ve also been practicing my classroom management skills. Knitters can be difficult to work with.

Twelve years of teaching high school taught me a couple of things about teenagers, and one of them is that they respond very well to humor. If you can make something funny, they will cooperate with you far better than if you try to play it straight. After I realized this and stopped trying to impress them with my useless Minnesota trivia, I had time to develop my repertoire of accents, ranging from hillbilly to Queen Elizabeth.

Somehow, it’s more interesting to 10th graders when you lecture on judicial review in a Minnesota accent.  (Note to educators: to students on the East and West Coast, a Minnesota accent will be one of the funniest things they’ve ever heard.)

I’ve already decided that the entire Yarn Spot class will be conducted in my over-the-top, worse-than-Paris-Hilton Valley Girl accent. Because knitters are pretty much like teenagers, right? Right?

In addition to the accents, I have an arsenal of ridiculous facial expressions, and I’m trying to narrow down which ones I’ll be using during the class. I’ve included the standard classroom application for each face, but need help translating these to a knitting class application. Feedback is welcome.

Face #1:

Used when examining an badly forged hall pass. It’s best followed with:

And then a statement like, “Good try, but this is obviously your handwriting. Next time, try writing it on something other than a paper towel.”

Face #2:

Used when fifteen year old boys are making strange noises, emitting strange smells, or asking you ridiculous questions like, “Can I please, PLEASE share a desk with Tiffany for just this one class period? PLEASE!?”  No verbal followup is usually required when using this option. If this face is held long enough, students will eventually give up and say, “ALL RIGHT. That’s what I thought you were going to say,” and go back to their desks.

Face #3:

Used when teenage girls try to convince you that Miley Cyrus is a legitimate musical artist. Followed with, “I don’t understand a word you just said. What language was that?”

Face #4:

This is the, “I don’t really care that you don’t want to do the homework” face. Followed with, “I’m pretty sure you’re going to live through it,” or, “If your arm falls off from all the writing, just let me know, and I’ll get my first aid kit out.”

Face #5: The Eyebrow of Death

See, THIS is why you can’t get Botox and use my system. Look at how the brow must furrow and arch simultaneously. This face is so ridiculous, such a caricature, that it has a twofold effect on teenagers. First, they freeze in their tracks. Then, they laugh and say, “OK, OK! I get it!”

This technique is especially effective when coupled with the phrase, “Let me show you the eyebrow of death,” and then a dramatic gesture in which you move your sideswept bangs out of the way so they can better see your expression.

And finally.

Finally, I bring you the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your whole life. It is so bad, my fingers are trembling at the mere sight of it.

Get ready.

Put down what you’re drinking.

This is the face I used to make when I was five and I was really REALLY angry with my mother. I would make this face to convey my extreme anger, and everyone would promptly burst out laughing, which would make me even angrier.

When you use it on students, they can’t help themselves. They shriek with laughter. They say, “Do it again! Do it again! Do it again!”

It’s bad.

You may never look at me the same way again.

Fair warning.

*

*

*

*

*

*

Face #6:

When the wild rumpus begins — and you know it will eventually — whip this baby out and stand there as still as a stone.

I haven’t sent anyone to the principal’s office in years. I didn’t need to — all I had to do is talk like I just jumped off the turnip truck and make a face like this:

and I could usually get 32 hormonally-charged beings to at least fake a little cooperation. I just hope this will be sufficient to keep these knitters under control.

What do you think? Will any of these faces work on my knitting students, or do I need to come up with new ones? Oh dear, what if no one listens to me? What if someone calls me an ugly whore, like on my first day as a high school teacher?

Oh dear.

Oh dear.

On a scale of 1-10, how neurotic are you? Assuming that 1 is: not neurotic in the slightest, nothing makes me anxious or distressed and a 10 is: neuroses have taken over my life.

For most things in my life, I would say I’m a three. I do not live my life ruled by anxiety and neuroses, but I have a normal amount of motherly concern for my children’s safety.

For a few things, I am a twelve. There are some things that absolutely drive me crazy, and I can’t explain why. I think that’s what makes it a neurosis, right? It’s not logical or rational. It just is.

This is one of those things:

It’s twisted wrong, just all wrong. Wrong wrong wrongwrongwrong.

This is a Z twist. That’s ZEE, not ZED. Which is another one of my neuroses, which I’ll explain later.

There are two ways to twist up a skein of yarn: one results in a Z twist, and one in an S twist.  It’s all based on which direction you rotate your arm in, clockwise or counter-clockwise. Clockwise is correct.

This is the wrong way. According to me. For no other reason than it just feels wrong in my hands.

This is the correct way. If you’ve ever received a skein of yarn from me, I can pretty much guarantee it looks like the picture below.

Ah.

See the difference?

One is correct and one is not, that’s the main difference.

According to me.

Another of my neuroses — maybe a six on the scale — is the word zed instead of zee.

I do not feel zee is fundamentally more correct, historically speaking. Of course, zed existed first and is used in almost every other English speaking country.

Zed just sounds wrong. According to me.

My friend likes to tease me that she’s going to open a store called Zed’s just to grate on my nerves.  If she really wanted to annoy me, she would open a yarn shop called Zed’s and use the Zed twist on all of her skeins. I would be sure not to visit.

Here are a few other neuroses of mine:

1. AM Sports Radio. I can’t explain why, but it sounds like static. Loud static. Hate it.

2. Top sheets. I dislike them. I use my flat sheets as bed skirts.

3. Tucked in blankets. I like my covers to move with me, and when they’re tucked in, they can’t.

4. Warm feet, cold ankles. I have to wear socks in my slippers, because I can’t stand for my ankles to feel naked all by themselves. I am perfectly happy barefoot in the summer, though. My ankles just want my feet to be naked too.

OK, your turn to weigh in on S vs. Z twisting of the yarn. And don’t leave my ankles all naked-y — what are some of your neuroses?

Shudder.

We have sock dare winners! We have two winners, in fact, both of whom knit this awesome Carassius pattern into a pair of special socks.

Take a look at these:

Love the scales!

Look at the little beads for the fish eyes! Adorable! Yay, Bethany!!

And I love the beads on these:

So cute.

Yay, Crystal!

Since both Bethany and Crystal sent in their pictures on the same day, they’ll both receive a prize. I hope you’ll enjoy the best prize, though: an awesome pair of socks!

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Have you peeked at our project gallery recently?

We are having so much fun around the studio looking at all of these amazing pictures! So please contribute yours, if for no other reason than you want to entertain us. We love them. (Thank you Trisha and Jennifer for the pictures!)

Link to Flickr Group. Come and see!

Also, if you live in the Washington, DC area and you want to come to my Knitting With Hand Dyed Yarn class on February 21st, there are still a couple of spots available. The class is being held in Silver Spring, MD, at The Yarn Spot yarn shop. You can contact them directly at 301-933-9550, or at victoria@theyarnspot.com, to sign up.

I am hard at work on the curriculum, and will have lots of examples and tips for you.

Here’s where I need your help:

What sorts of things would you like to see covered in a class like this? Any questions you’d like to have answered? Topics I could better elucidate for you? Any feedback is welcome, I want to make sure I’m giving my students what they want!

Thank you for your help! I know the students will thank you, too!

Be sure to read the rules first. Please and thank you.

A button will appear beneath each colorway that says “Buy Now.”  When you click on the button, you’ll be taken to Paypal to pay for your item. You don’t have to pay with a Paypal balance, you can still use your credit card. In this case, Paypal acts as an intermediary and keeps your financial information private.

We’re using this system for this go round because it has excellent inventory control, unlike our regular shopping cart, which can oversell in times of high demand. When our new shopping cart system is up and running, we’ll be able to move our Carpe Yarnem stockings there.

The stocking times will be slightly staggered to mitigate system overload. If someone doesn’t follow through with a purchase after clicking “Buy Now,” the system will restock that item within a few moments. Please check back to see if there’s anything left instock later this afternoon.

Shipping is included in all prices — please choose the correct option based on your location.

Raspberry Cordial

Beautiful raspberry pinks, plum purples, burgundy wines, and small bits of ripe peach make up this kettle dyed colorway.  Random color variation means that this would make a gorgeous shawl, shrug, or pair of socks. Twelve skeins are available, all dyed on Adorn Sock, our soft, squishy, and long-wearing fingering weight yarn. 80% merino wool, 20% nylon, 430 yards per skein.

Some skeins have a little more purple and burgundy, others have a little more raspberry pink, and still others have a little more peach showing.

Sold out, thanks everyone!

Persimmons

Persimmons is kettle dyed in a similar fashion to Raspberry Cordial. The colors are more muted an autumnal, with woodsy burnt oranges, brown, persimmon purple, and threads of deep blue. Five skeins are available, and all are dyed on our Carys BFL Sock, a blend of superwash Blue Faced Leicester wool and nylon. This yarn is hardy and soft at the same time, and has a lovely halo. 450 yards per skein, fingering weight.

Sold Out, Thanks Everyone!

Lilypad

Cheerful and whimsical — that’s what I think of when I see Lilypad.  Fresh greens and pops of pale aqua will make a charming pair of socks of a lacy scarf. Two skeins are available, both are dyed on McClellan Fingering, a blend of merino, bamboo, and nylon. McClellan has a lovely sheen and drape, with no trace of scratchiness to irritate sensitive skein. Fingering weight, approximately 410 yards per skein.

Sold Out, You guys rock.

Loch Ness Garden

My seven year old insisted that this be called Loch Ness Garden, because it, “looked like a garden with flowers and evergreens near a mysterious deep lake. Maybe with a water horse.” These skeins were dyed with a unique process, and will knit up looking like a Monet painting, with small mosaics of color. Deep greens, blues, peaches, and pinks are present in different quantities in each skein. Blend the skeins together, or knit from lightest to darkest, depending on the effect desired.

Five skeins are available: three are dyed on our worsted weight Carys BFL, and two on our worsted weight Galenas Merino. (Click links for more information about each yarn type.)

Sold out, thanks to the awesomest people ever!

Fairy Forest

Mysterious and moody, Fairy Forest uses kettle dyeing to blend deep teals, kelly green, orange, pine, rust, and brown. Each skein varies slightly, and will yield random color variation through the skein. Three skeins are available, and all are dyed on our Springvale Super Merino. 

All gone to new parents, thank you!

Seaglass

If no one wants this skein, I will be happy to keep it. Really.

This Frosted Solid has enough visual interest to hold your attention while knitting, but is subtle enough to not create distracting color patterning. Seaglass is a serene mixture of medium blues, greens, turquoises, and teals. One skein is available, and it was dyed on Adorn Sock. 

Sea Glass has been adopted, thank you!

Woodland

These are my kind of colors. Turquoise, teal, hints of purple, pink, brown, and green. Kettle dyed in a splotchy, speckly way. Yum. Two skeins are available, both dyed on our worsted weight Galenas Merino.  Sold in a set of two.

Woodland is sold out, many many thanks!
Strata

Like layers of igneous and sedimentary rock, Strata is comprised of natural, earthy colors. Coppers and browns are mixed with threads of greens and blues. Three skeins are available, and all are dyed on our Wexford Merino Silk, which lends a lovely gleam to this colorway.

Strata has gone to a new home.

Morning Glory

Like a breath of summer air, this one is. A lovely Frosted Solid that’s not too busy for an intricate pattern, Morning Glory mixes shades of lavender, lilac, and periwinkle. One skein is available, and it’s dyed on our 100% superwash merino Springvale Sport. Approximately 350 yards per skein, I think this knits up more like a heavy fingering weight.

Sold out, thanks again!

Tiara

Aptly named by my tea-party obsessed nearly three year old, Tiara gleams. Kettle dyed on McClellan Fingering, it’s comprised of silvery grey, amethyst purple, and aquamarine blue. Two skeins are available.

Bye bye, Tiara! Enjoy your new homes!

Rose Gold

A pink-copper-gold color, complete with shiny silk content and pink speckles that add interest as you knit them. One skein is available, and it was dyed on Wexford Merino Silk. 

Rose Gold has been adopted!

Ten Thousand Lakes

This colorway is perfect for a pair of warm winter socks, for him or for her. Light teal, grey, mocha, subtle green, and golden brown are kettle dyed in this colorway. Two skeins are available, both dyed on McClellan Fingering. 

Ten Thousand Lakes is sold out.

Jubilee

Cherries Jubilee and a bright spring day — that’s what this colorway conjures. Warm pink and red atop a base of pale blue. Jade green and bark brown balance the colorway. Two skeins are available, both are dyed on our McClellan Fingering.

Enjoy your new homes, Jubilee!

Chlorophyll

Last but not least, another skein I should be happy to add to my personal stash if none of you desire to adopt it. Chlorophyll is everything that’s leafy and beautiful and alive. Not unlike the view from my deck during the summer:

Or after a rainstorm:

A single skein is all I have. I wish there were endless supplies. Dyed on our lovely Adorn Sock, it makes my heart beat a little faster.

Chlorophyll is going to live with a new owner! Thank you!

Seize the Dye!

Previews are being posted all day today, so you can see what will be offered. I’ll be updating at the end of this post, so you’ll need to scroll down to see new previews. There are a total of 14 different colorways being previewed.

Some rules, if you’ll permit me.

1. This is for fun and for stash enhancement. Play nicely! Don’t make me turn this stocking around!

2. These skeins are one of a kind. I didn’t write down any recipes, I didn’t try to remember the recipes, these cannot be recreated.

3. Every skein is a little different. Even though I may have dyed 12 skeins of something together, they all turned out slightly differently. That’s the serendipity of the yarn.  Embrace it. Breathe deeply and embrace the serendipity. Some might have a deeper concentration of one color or another. If you want to use the skeins together, it might be best to alternate them while knitting.

4. I take great care to portray colors accurately. I have a professional camera and photo editing software. I use diffused natural light. I have a graphics monitor. I calibrate the monitor with a colorimeter. In other words, the colors are as accurate possible. Unfortunately, I cannot see what you see and control what your monitor displays. I know that the color displayed by my laptops and smart phone are very different than my nifty graphics monitor. Please also read the descriptions to make sure that you know what you’re getting.

5. All of these skeins are instock and ready to rock. We’ll send them to you ASAP.  No waiting, except for the post office.

6. Because these are one of a kind skeins, returns are not accepted, unless there is a defect in the yarn.

7. Have I mentioned play nicely? Play nicely.

8. The yarn will be available for purchase at noon Eastern time on Monday, February 8th.  These previews will give you a chance to think about what you might like and to plan projects.

9. Most importantly, Carpe Yarnem. Seize the Dye while you can. And have fun. And play nicely.

Preview #1: Raspberry Cordial

Beautiful raspberry pinks, plum purples, burgundy wines, and small bits of ripe peach make up this kettle dyed colorway.  Random color variation means that this would make a gorgeous shawl, shrug, or pair of socks. Twelve skeins are available, all dyed on Adorn Sock, our soft, squishy, and long-wearing fingering weight yarn. 80% merino wool, 20% nylon, 430 yards per skein.

Some skeins have a little more purple and burgundy, others have a little more raspberry pink, and still others have a little more peach showing.

Preview #2: Persimmons

Persimmons is kettle dyed in a similar fashion to Raspberry Cordial. The colors are more muted an autumnal, with woodsy burnt oranges, brown, persimmon purple, and threads of deep blue. Five skeins are available, and all are dyed on our Carys BFL Sock, a blend of superwash Blue Faced Leicester wool and nylon. This yarn is hardy and soft at the same time, and has a lovely halo. 450 yards per skein, fingering weight.

Preview #3: Lilypad

Cheerful and whimsical — that’s what I think of when I see Lilypad.  Fresh greens and pops of pale aqua will make a charming pair of socks of a lacy scarf. Two skeins are available, both are dyed on McClellan Fingering, a blend of merino, bamboo, and nylon. McClellan has a lovely sheen and drape, with no trace of scratchiness to irritate sensitive skein. Fingering weight, approximately 410 yards per skein.

Preview #4: Loch Ness Garden

My seven year old insisted that this be called Loch Ness Garden, because it, “looked like a garden with flowers and evergreens near a mysterious deep lake. Maybe with a water horse.” These skeins were dyed with a unique process, and will knit up looking like a Monet painting, with small mosaics of color. Deep greens, blues, peaches, and pinks are present in different quantities in each skein. Blend the skeins together, or knit from lightest to darkest, depending on the effect desired.

Five skeins are available: three are dyed on our worsted weight Carys BFL, and two on our worsted weight Galenas Merino. (Click links for more information about each yarn type.)

Preview #5: Fairy Forest

Mysterious and moody, Fairy Forest uses kettle dyeing to blend deep teals, kelly green, orange, pine, rust, and brown. Each skein varies slightly, and will yield random color variation through the skein. Three skeins are available, and all are dyed on our Springvale Super Merino. 

Preview #6: Seaglass

If no one wants this skein, I will be happy to keep it. Really.

This Frosted Solid has enough visual interest to hold your attention while knitting, but is subtle enough to not create distracting color patterning. Seaglass is a serene mixture of medium blues, greens, turquoises, and teals. One skein is available, and it was dyed on Adorn Sock. 

Preview #7: Woodland

These are my kind of colors. Turquoise, teal, hints of purple, pink, brown, and green. Kettle dyed in a splotchy, speckly way. Yum. Two skeins are available, both dyed on our worsted weight Galenas Merino. 

Preview #8: Strata

Like layers of igneous and sedimentary rock, Strata is comprised of natural, earthy colors. Coppers and browns are mixed with threads of greens and blues. Three skeins are available, and all are dyed on our Wexford Merino Silk, which lends a lovely gleam to this colorway.

Preview #9: Morning Glory

Like a breath of summer air, this one is. A lovely Frosted Solid that’s not too busy for an intricate pattern, Morning Glory mixes shades of lavender, lilac, and periwinkle. One skein is available, and it’s dyed on our 100% superwash merino Springvale Sport. Approximately 350 yards per skein, I think this knits up more like a heavy fingering weight.

Preview #10: Tiara

Aptly named by my tea-party obsessed nearly three year old, Tiara gleams. Kettle dyed on McClellan Fingering, it’s comprised of silvery grey, amethyst purple, and aquamarine blue. Two skeins are available.

Preview #11: Rose Gold

A pink-copper-gold color, complete with shiny silk content and pink speckles that add interest as you knit them. One skein is available, and it was dyed on Wexford Merino Silk. 

Preview #12: Ten Thousand Lakes

This colorway is perfect for a pair of warm winter socks, for him or for her. Light teal, grey, mocha, subtle green, and golden brown are kettle dyed in this colorway. Two skeins are available, both dyed on McClellan Fingering. 

Preview #13: Jubilee

Cherries Jubilee and a bright spring day — that’s what this colorway conjures. Warm pink and red atop a base of pale blue. Jade green and bark brown balance the colorway. Two skeins are available, both are dyed on our McClellan Fingering.

Preview #14: Chlorophyll

Last but not least, another skein I should be happy to add to my personal stash if none of you desire to adopt it. Chlorophyll is everything that’s leafy and beautiful and alive. Not unlike the view from my deck during the summer:

Or after a rainstorm:

A single skein is all I have. I wish there were endless supplies. Dyed on our lovely Adorn Sock, it makes my heart beat a little faster.

And that’s it for this Carpe Yarnem stocking! All of these will be available for purchase right here on the blog starting at 12:00 noon Eastern time tomorrow. Program your cell phone alarms now.  Thank you for having a peek at my recent bout with Creativity!

This was supposed to be about colorways that were so bad they deserved to be declared extinct.  Someday when I have an archivist — coughcoughnever — they’ll all be on display somewhere as “Three Irish Girls: the Ugly Period.”

But while I researching this post (can you believe I have to research my own hard drives for yarn pictures? I’ve been working on this for over an hour, that’s how many I have.), I came across this:

This is me with my three day old middle baby, B.  B. is not her real name, she earned the name B. when my oldest child would talk to my belly. He couldn’t say the word baby, and called the impending arrival “B.” The name stuck, and we still call her B. as a nickname today. 

3IG was also in its infancy during this time period. Miss B. was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen when she was born, and she must have believed the same of me, because she was very attached to me from the age of 10 seconds to the age of three years.  She still loves mama, but no longer requires me to hold her 22 hours each day.

B. was adorable. And when I say adorable, I mean

HOLY HECK THAT CHILD WAS ADORABLE.

This is what she did all day long. Grinned hugely at me. Batted her long eyelashes. Talked baby talk. Played with yarn.

Grew a little bit of auburn hair. Decided her eyes needed to turn from baby grey to coppery brown.  Grinned. Ate. Stayed awake if you tried to set her down. Slept if you held her. Grew kissable cheeks. Smiled. Cooed. Grinned.

When she would let me set her down, I did things like this:

Which was not nearly as cute as this:

Sigh.

Dear Future Archivist,

I am sorry that you will be forced to go through every 3IG picture in existence. I’m sorry my hard drives are so full. I’m sorry the yarn was so…unattractive.

Love,

Yarnista

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Dear Readers,

I’m sorry that I’m boring you with kid pictures and burning holes in your retinas with fugly yarn.

Love,

Yarnista

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Way back in the day, I wound all of my yarn into center pull balls. My husband helped, trooper that he was. Doing this required me to put the dry yarn on a swift, and then sit, straddle-legged against the coffee table where the winder was housed. When a skein of yarn had a tangle, this process could take over an hour per skein. Your arms and shoulders would be ready to fall off at the end of the day.

I had to have them surgically reattached several times.

I had special bands made to fit around the circumference of the yarn ball.

I remember working on this order in my kitchen — it was my first large order –  late at night after the kids had gone to bed.  I remember finishing all of this and realizing I had no place to put it all to be counted and packed into a box. So I took a clean quilt and laid it over my couch and gently put my the fruit of my blood, sweat, and tears on top of the quilt.

Just looking at this makes me feel two things: grateful and sore.

Grateful that the people who bought my yarn way back when saw through pictures like this:

to help get me where I am today, and sore because I vividly remember the backbreaking physical labor that went into that order.

Speaking of backbreaking physical labor, take a gander at our winter extravaganza, the likes of which Washington, DC has never seen.

I believe my car is under here somewhere. We got another 10″ (25+ cms) of snow after this picture was taken.

These hedges used to be 8-9 feet (2.4-2.7 meters) tall. Now they’re so heavy laden they’re only about three feet off the ground.

We got another ten inches after that picture was taken.

We have the most amazing oak trees in our backyard. My brother in law calls them Fairy Tale Oaks. They provide a leafy canopy over our back deck, and millions of acorns for deer and squirrels. (Do deer eat acorns? Deer sure love my yard.) I would estimate that these oaks are at least fifty feet tall (15+ meters).

All told, we got about 30″ (76 cms) of snow in the same number of hours.  The storm system has finally moved out, but it will take days for the region to even have a semblance of normalcy again. Crews are out plowing single lanes down the main streets, and they’ve publicly announced that they won’t be able to even start the side streets for at least 36 more hours.  I’m not sure when I’ll have access to the studio again — our building faces a large, sloping parking lot that will need to be plowed, and then we’ll have to go down and shovel out the entry way. We may be able to get in on Monday, depending on how quickly the parking lot is cleared. And that’s assuming we have power. 18,000 people in my county don’t have power.

In the meantime, I’m drinking tea and coffee and hot chocolate and yes, mom, I’m drinking water and eating apples. I’m knitting and watching movies and sorting my way through the 400 images I took for my first Carpe Yarnem stocking.

And that’s all the disjointed news that’s fit to print this evening.  Snow. Babies. Yarn. Coffee. Sounds all right to me.

There she is.

Throughout my tenure in Washington, DC, people have called me Miss Minnesota. While I sported no tiara or evening gown, I was an ambassador of sorts. People on the East Coast believe Minnesota is a vast arctic tundra navigated only by dog teams and explorers wearing blimp-sized parkas.

“Does anyone actually live in Minnesota?” my students would ask. “What is there to do? Sit in the house? Stare at the wall?”

I grew up in the 32nd state, the Land of 10,000 Lakes. (Let’s make that 11,842 lakes over 10 acres in size.) “Yes, in fact, more than five million people live in Minnesota,” I would answer my students. Then I would tell them about the Mall of America, the world’s largest mall, complete with amusement park, aquarium, and more stores than you can visit in a weekend of shopping. I would remind them of the professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey teams headquartered there. Minnesota morphed into Mecca, the land of never ending Super Bowl Sundays and vast food courts of burgers and fries.

Yes, Minnesota has some good shopping. And some good health care (Mayo Clinic, anyone?). And just a teeny tiny bit of fishing in the 11,842 lakes. And maybe, possibly, some hiking or hunting or canoeing in the more than two million acres of forest.

Minnesota is also home to Duluth.

Situated at the tip of Lake Superior, which is the largest freshwater lake in the world by some measures.

Duluth takes its name from a French fur trader who first explored the area in the 1600s, and in the 1800s was one of the most bustling cities in the United States. It was, and still is, home to the world’s largest inland port, and the westernmost point of the Atlantic shipping route.

My hometown is also home to the world’s largest freshwater sandbar, which at over six miles long, is wide enough for a road down the middle with houses and beaches on either side.

You may recognize the Aerial Lift Bridge, one of only two bridges ever built like it in the world (the other was dismantled in the 1930s). The Lift Bridge was built in 1905, and has been in continuous operation since then. It connects residents of the sand bar, called Park Point, with the mainland, and it also raises up to let boats and ships from all over the world into Duluth’s harbor to pick up iron ore and grain.

If you’re from Duluth, you would recognize this boat as a “thousand footer,” a boat that traverses the Great Lakes and measures over 1,000 feet in length. Thousand footers have a unique shape, and the public library there is built to mimic the same shape, with the U-shaped bow and the raised stern.

In the summer, the bridge raises and lowers 20-30 times a day, and in the winter once the shipping season has ended, hardly at all.

Duluth was once home to the largest population of millionaires per capita of any city in the United States, the shipping, mining, railroad, and timber industries having made wealthy men of smart investors. The city is sprinkled liberally with majestic century-old homes, many of them quarried red stone and brick. The most recognizable is the estate that once belonged to Chester and Clara Congdon, known as Glensheen.

This is but a small portion of their mansion found on the shores of Lake Superior. I volunteered here as a docent in college, and it was here that I came to take my sunrise pictures a few days ago.

In Minnesota,  all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

The Mississippi River begins in Minnesota, and is the dividing line between the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minnesota is home to the largest community of Finnish people outside of Finland, and was initially settled almost entirely by Scandinavian immigrants. This Scandinavian heritage is still seen in the culture of the state, particularly the northern regions like Duluth, where the local meteorologists are named things like Sven, and a regular column in the newspaper is titled, Eh?

I could go on here, people. And I probably will on another day. Gosh darn it if I didn’t really earn the nickname Miss Minnesota. I don’t know why my brain stores this kind of information, but it does, and if something doesn’t stop me, I could ramble for hours. I can make a Minnesota connection out of just about anything. Pick a topic, any topic, and I will find a connection.

Try me, if you’re up for it. I will answer you in the comments.

I really must stop for now, I can feel the engines revving, and once they’re warmed up, they’re hard to shut down. Better to just turn off the ignition now and come back tomorrow evening, when I’ll have some old school yarn pics for you!