Monday, January 12, 2009

Exhausted. That's the word for today boys and girls. We started using a new program at work today and because we are not computer weenies but mental health professionals, it was not an unqualified success. It was probably not a success by anyone's definition.

I could go on and on about this but it's a tiring subject and I have a headache from all of the hullaballoo. Instead, I'll show you this. Why, yes it is exactly what it looks like: a brown paper bag sitting on my laptop. (and blurry at that). Why am I showing you a brown paper bag? Because it is the first installment of the "do it yourself sock yarn club". I have been inspired by Jeanne. The whole idea is to use up the sock yarn that just sits in the stash because something else catches your eye. So, you take 12 different skeins of sock yarn (c'mon, you know you have at least 12 in there!) and put them into separate brown bags. You can put a pattern in there, too, if you are so inclined. Each month you reach in and pull out a bag and knit up the yarn into a pair of socks. I put my yarn into bags and put them into my tote without patterns. I didn't feel like finding 12 patterns all at once. I figure, I'll choose patterns as I pick yarns. This was in the bag for January. It's a bamboo/superwash/nylon blend I bought from Jessie at a piece of vermont. I really like the colors. I'll be using it as soon as I finish my Go with the Flow socks. I'm almost done the foot. I've pulled out some sock pattern books and I'll look around for something for me. Some of the yarn I've put into the bags was earmarked for socks for family members so when they get chosen, those family members will get socks. This in no way means that I won't buy sock yarn that calls out to me but it does mean that I will use some of the beautiful yarns that are just sitting there. Anyone who would like to join in is invited! Pull out the brown bags! It's like giving yourself a gift each month and it doesn't cost anything. Can't beat that!
We are supposed to get ungodly cold temps this week. It's been cold but bearable. This week and next week it's supposed to be down below freezing and stay there. Is it wrong to hope that we get some frozen precipitation in the form of snow? Living here in the Middle Atlantic states (that's what we were taught in elementary school), is heartbreaking. They predict snow and then we are just on the edge where it turns to rain. The temps creep up just above freezing and it rains. But hope springs eternal in this child's heart! We are due for some precipitation this week and with the cold temps, maybe, just maybe, we'll get some snow. My fingers are crossed!
Tomorrow will be another day with the new program. Sigh. Thank goodness for the crock pot. I had a beef roast and some potatoes in there tonight and tomorrow it'll be chicken cacciatore (chicken with tomatoes, onions and peppers). Then I'll just have to come home and cook up some pasta. It's so easy when the day has been long.
Technology. Gotta love it.

15 comments:

Geek Knitter said...

I cannot count the number of times my crock pot has saved me from living on popcorn and chocolate bars. Altogether a wonderful thing to have in the kitchen.

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

What a great idea for using up your stash. It could be applied to so many different types of materials. Look forward to seeing your progress.

Bells said...

RoseRed and I just wrote about this today too! It's a fabulous idea huh? I just have to get some brown paper bags now.

MadMad said...

OY! I wish I could give you some of the snow we've gotten! It IS pretty, though, I'll say that. But it's going to be sooooo cold this week! Love the sock club idea!

Galad said...

I love the brown bag sock club idea. Now I have to see if I have some brown bags.

Hope tomorrow goes better.

amy said...

Can you share that chicken cacciatore recipe? I have a crock pot that is covered with dust. It looks furry, that's how bad it is. I think I should wash it and use it and make my late afternoons a wee bit easier.

Rose Red said...

Ha ha, snap on the sock club idea!!! Heh!

DPUTiger said...

No real snow here either, dammit! :( Love the DIY sock club idea. I may need to do that!

Bezzie said...

Wear your jammies to bed backwards tonight! I wouldn't say they're ungodly cold temps coming down the pipeline, it could definitely be colder!

I love the sock yarn club idea! It's like the Recession Sock Yarn Club!

Em said...

What a cool idea! If there was a chance I could make myself finish a pair of socks in a month, I might try it. But I am the World's Slowest Knitter Ever, and I think it would take me eternity. Oh, and you can have some of our snow. We keep getting little bits, an inch here, an inch or two there, and then it all freezes over so you have to scrape hard, icy snow off your car and you're soaked and frozen all the time. I remember when I was little and snow was fun.

roxie said...

Bless your dear heart! Learning new computer stuff is SUCH a mental workout! And then there is the month of errors while all the info settles. And then there is the month when you help each other re-learn . . . You are definitely on my gentle prayer list. (As opposed to the urgent prayer list where I stand on God's desk and shriek incoherently and He knows what I mean.)

Have a ball with the personal sock club. I have a memory like a steel sieve, so every time I go to my stash I get surprises. Oh yeah! I forgot I had that!

Alwen said...

I think I ought to bag up a dozen of the patterns I keep saying "I have to try that one" and do that.

That sock yarn is gorgeous. Yarn stores are like picking berries: there always seems to be another juicy one just a little farther on.

We are having plenty of snow and I really ought to go see if my husband can even get IN the driveway.

Amy Lane said...

That is a wonderful idea--seriously--I will have to do this!!! (Maybe next year, but definitely!)

Sheepish Annie said...

Change has never been a friend to me. Those new programs that they hit us with always seem to make life more difficult. Until I master them, anyway. Then I wonder how I lived without it...

Good thing there is knitting to help us keep our minds off all that change!

Dianne said...

I love the idea of a Brown Bag Sock Club. Must get brown bags, since it just wouldn't be the same without the brown bags!

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...