Knit PH @ Freddy's Bar, Nov. 27, '11

Scene from a yarn shop: “Where’s the merino wool?” I pointed the way. “What’s the gauge for making socks with worsted weight?”, “Around 5 sts per inch on #6.” I estimated, but I recommended smaller needles and a finer yarn — which I showed her. “Well, I'm not giving you $60 to make socks!" she baulked. I finally said "Lady, I don't work here.”

I shopped locally, but on Black Friday shoppers stormed department stores and malls. The news reported of a few macing and tazing incidents between agitated shoppers... I can’t imagine macing someone over an Xbox, but sales and stocks were up over the weekend.

Meanwhile in Greenwood Heights, Knit PH met at Freddy’s Bar for a quiet post Thankgiving circle. Busy evening, Daedelus Design & Production wrapped up their Annual Turducken Holiday party to give us the back room. I was offered pie but declined, I was still recovering from Thanksgiving.

Time to break out those UFOs. We had some new knitting stragglers. Crystal bussed it all the way from Bushwick with her sweater on the needle; Lauren brought her crochet shawl from just a few blocks away. Nancy and Pat sat with us for a bit as a few people walked into the room astounded that people actually knit over a beer or two.

Tracey is starting a new sweater, but this time not for her dogs; Elena is in mid-scarf; I skeined up most of my hanks. Although “hank” and “skein” are words that are often used interchangeably, they do have specific meaning. A hank is large loosely wound wheel of yarn sold by length. It’s usually sold twisted into itself like a donut twist. A skein is an oblong ball of yarn sold by weight and length. On a commercial level, yarn is sold on cones by weight.

I always bring the swift and wool winder to the meet-up at Freddy's Bar. It’s a good motivator to get your stash balled up and ready for the next project.  As our length of time drew to it’s knotted end we cleaned up and made room for the Open Mic spoken word group. I told everyone to think about the mid-winter yarn trade and pot luck dinner, but I’m sure no one has food on their mind at the moment. Thanks giving has left us, but I'm still thankful for many things, among them great friends and family.