I don’t know about you, but I have this abnormal inability to pass a rack of Sugar ‘n Cream yarn without picking up at least one ball of it. Due to this addiction, I have more balls of cotton yarn than I know what to do with.

Of course, the perfect solution is to knit dishcloths. The great thing with dishcloths is that you can always use them, or you can always give them away. (I have several family members who specifically ask for them because they love hand-knitted dishcloths so much.) They’re also a great way to try out new stitches on a small scale.

Here’s a few links to great sites with lots and lots of patterns to use up all that cotton yarn you might have hiding in your stash:

• Dishcloth patterns at Knitting Pattern Central
• The Dishcloth Boutique (Note: this site seems to be down at the moment, hopefully it comes back up soon, as it has a huge collection of dish cloth patterns on it)
• More Dishcloth Patterns
• The Knit Dishcloth Pattern Corner
• Lily’s Sugar ‘n Cream Free Knit Patterns Page
• The Tribble Scrubber

Today marks 4 weeks since our wedding day. It hardly seems like it’s possible that 4 weeks have passed already.

Nick’s 25th birthday is on Monday. I was at the store tonight getting a birthday card for him and out of nowhere it hit me: I can buy him a card that says “happy birthday to my husband” on it. I actually got misty-eyed at the realization. I felt like an idiot tearing up all alone in the card aisle at Target.

I’m looking forward to this first year together for us. It’s going to be full of special moments like that, I think. Holidays and special occasions take on a whole new meaning now. It’s just lovely.

Nick and I have a house guest at the moment… of the fuzzy, feline variety.

She actually showed up on Erica & Alan’s doorstep on Halloween night. They searched the next day for her owner but had no luck. She wound up at our house because Erica & Alan already have two cats and couldn’t take in a third (apartment complex restrictions). So that’s how she wound up at our house instead. I took her to be checked for a microchip today, but unfortunately she wasn’t chipped either. We’re going to check again with our apartment complex and the local humane society, but if the owner doesn’t turn up, we may just have another furry family member.

And speaking of house guests, Nick’s mom is also flying in to Nashville tomorrow evening. She’ll be staying with us for a few days, so that should be fun too.

The kitty and Gracie-dog are already sleepy and it’s rubbing off, so I’m off to bed. G’night!

I got some scrumptious new sock yarns in the mail to share with you today for Fiber Friday:

The top two yarns are from my favorite online shop, The Loopy Ewe. The first is Sheepaints Bamboolaine in “Cinderella”. This isn’t a color I’d normally pick out, but something about it caught my eye and I just love it. It really does make me think of Cinderella too. Then in the middle is Chewy Spaghetti Spagettioni in “Starry”. That particular colorway has caught my eye in the past but it was never in stock, so I was very happy to get a hold of a hank of it finally. Lastly, I got the Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock limited edition November ‘07 colorway “Autumn Leaves” from Jimmy Beans Wool.

I was excited to finally get my copy of 101 Designer One Skein Wonders in the mail earlier this week. I have the first book (One Skein Wonders) and I’ve found it’s most helpful for using up stray balls of yarn that inevitably accumulate in your stash.

The book has photos of all the projects in the front with directions in the back. They’re arranged by the weight of yarn that’s used. If you’re looking for patterns to use up chunky-weight yarns, this won’t be the book for you. There are patterns for lace weight up through heavy sport weight yarn. There are also a few patterns specially designed for mohair and novelty yarns.

I haven’t knitted any of the patterns from this book yet but if the first book was any indication, I’m sure they’ll be easy to follow. One complaint I’ve heard from others is that this book writes out the patterns rather than using charts. For me, that’s not a problem because I’m not much of a chart-knitter, but some readers might find this irritating.

I’ve already bookmarked several patterns: flip-top mittens, arm-warmers, a lacy beanie hat, a ribbed vest, his & hers soap holders, a knitted notebook cover, and an eyelet shrug. And that’s just at first glance through the book. I’m sure when I go through it a second time (probably looking for a project for a specific skein of stray yarn), there will be even more patterns that catch my eye.

I definitely recommend this book. It’s great for small projects: gifts or just things to pass the time. It’s also great for stash-busting. If you liked the first book, then definitely pick up this book. It’s also so reasonably-priced that there’s really no reason to not snatch it up!