[Nfb-krafters-korner] Yarn Humor: Vacation Anyone?

[River Woman]

this kind of rang true as I read it.  In my case, I am also packing lots of 
those bags that you can put yarn into, then squish it down to release the 
air in the bag, and VIOLA! you have a flattened out bag full of yarn that 
does not take up so much room. My problem then is, with all the yarn I 
purchase on my trips, I have had to leave other things behind in the garbage 
in my room.  On one such trip, my friend and I were sitting on top of each 
other's suitcases, while we were trying to get it closed so we could leave 
for the airport - laughing and giggling as we pushed and shoved down on all 
those deflated yarn storage bags inside our suitcases and carry on bags.  At 
one event we attended, we found that we purchased so much yarn we had to 
take a BREAK. We found some lockers you could rent by putting quarters in 
them - and we stuffed our yarn purchases into a locker, then, we went back 
to shop for more yarn. Sickening, to have such a marvelous addiction!

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Susan Roe" <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>
To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2013 8:16 AM
Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Yarn Humor: Vacation Anyone?


> Writer, illustrator, and knitter Franklin Habit joins us for his monthly 
> column featuring humor and insights into a yarncrafter's life.
>
> It's July. My grand friends have gone to France, my less grand friends 
> have gone to Michigan, my flat broke friends (the majority) have walked 
> over to the
> lake for the afternoon. There is a general desire to get out of here, get 
> lost, leave it all behind.
>
> All of it except yarn.
>
> The friends who went to France packed passports and hiking gear. The 
> friends who went to Michigan packed swimsuits and mosquito repellent. The 
> friends over
> at the lake took snacks and water bottles.
>
> They all packed yarn.
>
> That is, to me, perhaps the surest sign that a person has crossed the line 
> between fancier and fanatic-when it suddenly takes longer to decide which 
> needlework
> projects to pack than which shoes to pack.
>
> The longer the trip, the more complicated the packing becomes. You find 
> yourself asking questions like:
>
> How close are these current projects to finished? If you're within an hour 
> or so of completing a piece, you can't bring it along as your sole project 
> if
> the trip is going to last more than an hour. You'll need backup.
>
> Can I work on this while chatting? Vacations often involve proximity to 
> other people who will insist on engaging you in conversation whether you 
> like it
> or not.
>
> Can I work on this at the beach, on the trail, in an airplane, in a moving 
> car, while seasick, while waiting in line for Space Mountain? Vacations 
> often
> require that you spend time in settings that are less than optimal for 
> chart reading, or counting, or toting pieces of intarsia that require 22 
> separate
> balls of color. You will need projects that travel light.
>
> So you stand there in front of the open suitcases, trying to make 
> decisions.
>
> I really want to finish up the sock, but it's a second sock and it's 
> almost finished, and I can never remember how to turn a heel or graft the 
> toe without
> instructions, so I'll need to make sure I bring the pattern and my 
> Kitchener stitch cheat sheet. I'll probably finish the sock by the time we 
> land, so
> for the beach.let's see.I'd love to finish the afghan but I'm not going to 
> knit that in the sun by the water.I could get a jump on the Christmas 
> presents.
> Four pairs of mittens and four matching hats, all in colorwork, so that's 
> sixteen balls of yarn.and two sets of needles.and stitch markers.and 
> scissors.and
> tapestry needle.and another tapestry needle for when I lose the first 
> tapestry needle.and stitch holders.and the patterns.which are charted, so 
> I can't
> bring those to dinner or on the tour bus.so I suppose I could knock out 
> some plain dishcloths, just to keep my hands busy.so another set of 
> needles.and
> let's say four balls of cotton.and lace is always nice in hot weather, 
> what about that shawl that's been in my Ravelry queue for a year.the yarn 
> is here
> somewhere.
>
> You go on like this until you find you've packed half your stash and 
> there's no space for underwear.
>
> And you ask yourself, Does a person really need underwear? Really? Is 
> anybody going to check to see if I'm wearing it?
>
> The worst case scenario, of course, is finding that you've run through 
> whatever you brought with you and have no way of getting more.
>
> It happened to a friend of mine, who set off for the getaway of a 
> lifetime-a week on a at a friend's home on a private island off the coast 
> of New England.
> Upon arrival at the airport, he realized he'd brought the wrong piece of 
> hand luggage. Instead of a bag full of yarn, he had a similar bag full of 
> dirty
> gym clothes.
>
> After taking a few deep, calming breaths, he decided to approach the 
> situation as an exercise in self-discipline. He would set knitting aside 
> for the week.
> He would fill the gap with meditation, swimming, sunning, hiking, bird 
> watching, and all the other delights of his temporary island home.
>
> By the morning of the second day in the island house, he had begun to 
> collect the sheddings of the resident shaggy dog.
>
> By that afternoon, he had fashioned a crude spindle with a borrowed CD as 
> the whorl.
>
> By the following day, he was spinning the dog fur into yarn. Which he then 
> began to knit with a pair of sharpened pencils.
>
> If that sounds perfectly reasonable to you.we should go on vacation 
> together.
>
> Having a Ball, Wish You Were Here | Franklin Habit for the Lion Brand 
> Notebook
>
> -
>
> If you'd like to vacation with Franklin, check out his
> 'Nautical Knitting' Cruise
> with Melissa Leapman, now booking for December 2013.
>
> -
>
> Writer, illustrator, and photographer Franklin Habit is the author of It 
> Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons (Interweave Press, 2008-now in its 
> third printing)
> and proprietor of The Panopticon (
> the-panopticon.blogspot.com),
> one of the most popular knitting blogs on Internet. On an average day, 
> upwards of 2,500 readers worldwide drop in for a mix of essays, cartoons, 
> and the
> continuing adventures of Dolores the Sheep.
>
> Franklin's other publishing experience in the fiber world includes 
> contributions to Vogue Knitting, Yarn Market News, Interweave Knits, 
> Interweave Crochet,
> PieceWork, Cast On: A Podcast for Knitters, Twist Collective, and a 
> regular column on historic knitting patterns for Knitty.com.
>
> These days, Franklin knits and spins in Chicago, Illinois, sharing a small 
> city apartment with an Ashford spinning wheel and colony of sock yarn that 
> multiplies
> alarmingly whenever his back is turned.
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