Negative Stash Flow

I am just so clever sometimes, I could squeal.

I'm thinking of knitting resolutions for the New Year, and I've decided to try something new. The Happy Points experiment has worked beautifully, as I've described elsewhere. Now I'm adding a new layer: I want to achieve Negative Stash Flow.

For 2010, I need to have more yarn going out than coming in.

I will evaluate this on a month-by-month basis. I'm going to try out this counter to keep track.

I do believe a movement is in order. I don't have anywhere near the readership to start one myself, but if anybody out there feels like helping to make this viral, post away.

Happy Point Count: 80 flat. About to go down sharply to support my new idea for a sweater design.

Multiplication Tables

Last night I cast on for a pair of men's gloves requested by a friend. This friend has enormous hands. His wrists are 8" in diameter. His knuckles are 9.5" in diameter. (A woman's medium is usually about 6"/7.5".) There is no one in my household with hands like that, so I am making these gloves somewhat blindly, with only my hasty measurements to guide me.

Here's the math: at a gauge of 20 sts/4", an eight-inch wrist means 40 stitches, minus the standard 10 percent for ribbing.

(Did you know you subtract at least 10 percent on ribbing, to make it snug? You do.)

I decided to cast on 36 stitches. What's 36 divided between 3 needles? Why, 13 of course.

Sigh.

In other news, tomorrow I'll be returning to the third grade, where we learn things like multiplication and division.

Happy Point Count: 63. I have my next yarn order all picked out, but oddly enough, we have no money. I appear to have discovered a flaw in the Happy Point system, wherein previously I had assumed that I would have least that much money to spend on yarn once I'd earned the points. In fact, income has proved to be an independent variable, and long story short, we're damned poor right now, thankyouverymuch RECESSION. (Yeah, I'm talking at you.)

But good golly, Molly. If and when things turn around for us, can you imagine the colossal box of yarn that will arrive at our doorstep? Not just yarn: books, clothes, the entire stock of Anthropologie... A dresser from Pottery Barn... My sweetie wants a PS3...

Navajoland: Come for the Unemployment, Stay for the Dust

(Which is not to be disrespectful to the Navajo. I think most Navajo would in fact appreciate the dark humor. And to be fair, there was an awful lot of dust.)

As I mentioned, the other week I went on a volunteer trip to the Navajo Reservation. We worked on the roof of a house that was about ten minutes from town. Behind the house was a view like this:

Next door to the dorm was a trading company with a wall like this:

I accomplished many things.

Happy Point Count: 52. It was significantly higher, but see that picture? These folks are selling Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb for $4.25/skein, and Lamb's Pride for $4.50/skein. Plus I was lonely, and I'd like to point out that some people shoot heroin when they get lonely.

Sock yarn prizes are awesome.

I've won a prize in the House Cup for my Monet Mitts!

I'm terrifically excited about the prize, too: my pick of one of pacasha's sock yarns from her etsy shop. I've already told her which one is my favorite, but it was a hard decision. Can you guess which one I chose?

Thanks, vberry, for nominating those mitts for a prize. I'm very flattered, and I'm having an excellent time so far with the Cup!

Another update soon, I hope. I just got back into town and I'm leaving again for a week on Friday, but in between wondering where all my white socks have gone and imperfectly timing the depletion of groceries, I plan to post some more pics.

Today's Happy Point Count: 56. Unpacking my suitcase right after I return home has always been such a challenge... until now!

Bylines: Interweave Knits

I just got word in the comments section that Interweave Knits Weekend has arrived in a few mailboxes. If you've got an eagle-eye, you'll notice that I contributed the Ravelings feature to this issue!

The column is about how I combine motivation to finish housework and my yarn addiction to great effect. Seriously -- great effect.

I employ what is known around our household as the "Happy Point System." (To learn more, pick up a copy of the magazine.) I've been itching to write about Happy Points since I first started using them for myself, and now I can mention them freely. To that end, you might even start to see the occasional Happy Point counter at the bottom of a blog post.

Welcome, new readers. Thanks for visiting.

Today's Happy Point Count: 45. Took a big hit on our honeymoon in June; still recovering.