April 1, 2008
So, where was I?
Um, hi!
Wow, that was a long, totally unplanned break. Nothing horrible happened, I just didn’t blog for a bit and inertia kicked in.
I’m back now…hopefully. Maybe I need another resolution. That worked for several months last year.
So… What have I been up to? At a friend’s suggestion, I’m going to try recapping those silent 2.5 months, one month per post. That means today’s post is all about January, or at least the last half of January.
January was (mostly) about TNNA. No, I didn’t go but my friend did. She made a lot of useful connections at the show and I’m going to be very busy this summer knitting prototypes for her. She pays me, at least in part, in yarn. I may have mentioned that I love yarn – or perhaps you figured it out for yourselves? Yes? So, good for me. The downside of the this is it isn’t very good for the blog. I can’t put up pictures of unpublished designs. I’ll take photos as I work but until the designs come out I won’t be able to give out any details.
January was also about the flu, which in no way helped me get back into blogging. I missed getting my flu shots two years in a row. Never again! I always get some sort of secondary infection when I get the flu. This time it was an inner ear infection with a side of mild sinusitis. Pretty annoying, although my office seemed quieter for a while there.
Remember the Fyne vest? My friend wore it to TNNA she liked it that much. I managed to get a couple of shots of her modelling it:
She’s since bought a couple more white shirts to wear with it. The last time she wore it at the store someone (hi Carel!) ended up buying all the yarn to make their own. Since that’s kind of the point behind shop samples I’d call that a success. I haven’t started my cardigan yet but I haven’t abandoned it either. It’s in the queue.
Death by Socks game #3 has come to an end. I only managed one kill this time out. Here’s one of my weapons (make from Koigu KPPPM):
And here are the socks that did me in:
I’d recently walked holes into the only pair of blue socks I had so these couldn’t have been more perfect. I’ve worn them several times already. The yarn is Regia which is, so far, my favorite commercial yarn. Other brands may be pretty but I’ve never yet worn out a sock made of Regia and I make my second ever pair of socks from the stuff! That’s a pretty good survival rate for a sock. Let me just point out here that I don’t own a car so my socks get plenty of milage on them. I’ve worn out several pairs of Koigu socks, a pair of Colinette Jitterbug and even a pair made with Trekking XXL, but not one hole in any of my Regia socks.
Think they’ll pay me for that endorsement? I’d settle for some more Regia. No? Well, can’t blame a girl for trying.
I can’t think of anything else for January so I’ll wrap it up for now.
Next time: February.
January 2, 2008
The joys of working retail
Most people look forward to the holidays. I’m just glad they’re over. I don’t normally work on the sales floor much but when the holiday crunch starts anyone can be drafted into floor duty. Since I’m the resident computer geek I’ve got a pretty good handle on how to run the (computerized) registers, so… I also know how to run the registers at my LYS and helped out a bit there when things got crazy.
Normally I enjoy the small bits of customer contact that I get – I wouldn’t enjoy it as a full time thing but a few hours a week is okay. The trouble is that the holidays seem to bring out all the crazies (or perhaps they just inspire craziness in otherwise normal folks).
Anyway… That’s all over now and it’s on to a new year. Hooray!
Now I may not have been blogging much in December but I was still knitting and I’ve got proof!
I finally got a picture of my Oblique. I’m loving the way the different stitch patterns play with the self-striping yarn. I think I’m going to wear this cardigan a lot. I haven’t made too much progress on it yet (just past the waist increases on the back) because it’s been my commute knitting and my commute is short and the bus stops are dark. Lacy patterns with a dark, variegated yarn under a single, yellow streetlamp – not a recipe for great progress. Plus it’s been cold and my hands wanted to hide up my sleeves not wave yarn around cold metal sticks. It’s been at or below freezing most days. Oddly, for this area, it’s actually been colder at sunset most days than it was at sunrise. Weird weather.
So, my non commute knitting? It’s another shop sample. The Fyne vest from Rowan #42
This is proving to be a quick knit. The stranding pattern is pretty simple and the yarn (Rowan Felted Tweed) is a light DK yarn so I’m US5 needles. I did the two waist ribbings one week (mostly because I wasn’t going straight home and didn’t want to take all the yarn with me). The back (which is nearly complete in the picture) was finished the weekend before Christmas. The front is done now too and I picked up for the neck ribbing last night. I should have the whole thing finished by this weekend.
I had so much fun with the Fyne vest that I’ve decided to do a cardigan version for myself. I changed the colors a bit since all that gold and green wouldn’t do me any favors. Mine will be more pink, lavender and blue with a touch of brown as well. I think it’ll be pretty. I’m debating working it in the round with steeks. I think I will because most of the color changes crop up on odd rows leaving you with a lot of ends to bury.
Speaking of finishing things, the final word on the Christmas projects.
Elijah went off to my mother bearing gifts of jewelry:
My brother’s socks got finished in time (and stuffed with coal – that’s what’s in the ziplocks in the picture). I’ve heard back from him and they fit perfectly which is a big relief.
My sister-in-law wants to hang the Swan Lake Stole on the wall which is a pretty good reaction.
Speaking of the stole, I remember I promised blocking photos so here they are.
Before:
During:
After:
I think that catches me up for now, though I probably forgot something. Oh well, something to blog about next time (sooner hopefully).
Oh wait! I did remember something. Death by Socks is starting another round. The sign-ups for the round close on the 5th and the game starts on the 15th. Go sign up! It’s fun.
ADKD 