Since my last post, I have managed to restart the Summer ‘08 sock, and actually, have gotten the foot portion done up to the beginning of the gusset.  Progress!  But that’s still just one little sock, compared to multiple pairs that other people have been cranking out.

…On the other hand, since my last post, I’ve worked 45 hours, gone to a 4th-of-July bbq, done some gardening, and watched the boyfriend & his band KICK ASS at a local bar last night, so I can probably be forgiven.  Not much knitting is going to happen today, either, as we’re about to head north to go strawberry picking.  Like Marlena said in her last post - there’s only so many hours in a summer (and up here, there’s even fewer SUNNY hours!), and I’m out to enjoy every bit I can.  As much as I love to knit, it can wait.

And on the topic of (non-knitting) needles, my next tattoo is in the process of being drawn.  It was an idea I threw out randomly in a Myspace blog, and my artist happened to see it, and decided to run with it.  I’m not going to tell you what it is, because surprises are good.  Wait and see!

number 1Yeah, I knew this Summer of Socks thing was going to be a bust. I mean, I’m not giving up already, but I will confess to being off to a very, VERY slow start. We’re, what, a week in? A couple days ago, I finally started my first sock - right about when people were finishing their first pairs. Tonight, I checked my gauge on that toe and then promptly frogged it. So! Maybe tomorrow…

pink!In other news, I decided that my hair needed a good dose of funky - and not one to mess around, I went straight for the hot pink.  I freaking love it.  Even my MOM loves it, haha.  I suppose I should just give up on the idea of looking respectable and grown-up, because I’m so much happier when I give in to whims that (I’m sure) a lot of my peers outgrew 10-15 years ago.

One of the delivery guys at work thought I was 19 or so.  I mean, if THAT’s the payoff for dressing like a freak, then may I never change!

So the past 7 or 8 days have pretty much been the week from hell. I won’t bother saying much about it, except (1) if it can go wrong, it probably has, and (2) okay, Universe, it’s not funny anymore so just knock it the hell off. Stheriousthly. To quote Jerry somewhat, even the silver linings have had touches of gray.

that crazy knitting chickProbably the only purely positive thing for the past week has been our participation in the local Relay for Life (an 18-hour cancer benefit walk, for those who may not know). I became a celebrity for the evening when I opened my tote bag, whipped out my needles, and proceeded to work on a sweater as I walked my laps. It’s the first time I’ve ever knit while walking, and lo, it’s really not hard at all. (Says the girl who can’t cook and talk at the same time without burning herself, haha.) This particular picture is a scan of a blurry shot by Eliza, Adam’s doctor and the team captain, but I think Adam might have gotten a better one - true to form of the past week, he’s incapacitated with a bad stomach bug right now, so it might be a day or so before I get to see what pictures he’s got. EVERYONE took my picture, though, so maybe someone he works with will think to pass a copy along.

The highlight of my day today - there was one, thank gods - was finally receiving a little package from Uruguay: my ebay yarn! Yay! If you don’t mind waiting 3-4 weeks for your package to get to you from another country, I can’t recommend this seller’s stuff enough. The yarn isn’t “perfect” in the way that commercial yarn is - it’s handpainted, of course, and also has a tiny bit of a handspun look to it - but holy crap, is it SOFT. That red-blue laceweight (950 yds for $9!!!) is going to make a kickass shawl.

a beautiful bouquet...of yarn

1 down... kindaOver the past couple days, I found myself with a decent amount of knitting time for a change, and I managed to make good progress on my long-neglected Come Dancing socks. I was very excited to finish off the toe of the first sock today, until I realized that I’ve lost all of my toe-grafting needles. Gah! So there it sits.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me… I’m seriously dragging my ass about knitting these socks.  They’re for me, so it’s not like there’s any pressure to finish them.  I love the pattern.  I get a kick out of the color.  I’m just all kinds of weird right now, wanting to start approximately 7348052638492638 different projects - none of which are socks - and knowing damn well that I won’t finish a single one of them anyway.  That’s the very definition of startitis, isn’t it?

I think I probably need to just give up and cast on something else.  I’ve been having a serious itch to start a sweater for myself, but I’ll need to order yarn for the one I really want to make (Thermal), so that’s out.  I’m also wanting to make a simple shawl, but the yarn I’m intending for that (an ebay purchase) hasn’t gotten here yet.  Gah!!  LOL

Maybe I’ll just go take a nap instead.

caseygoat3The Fiber Frolic was… interesting. I probably should have done a lot more reading about the event than just what’s on the website, because it was really not much like what I was expecting. I was expecting… well, something bigger, and lots more yarn. It was mostly roving and fleeces and raw fiber stuffs like that, and for the most part, the yarn was very bulky. If you’re a spinner, it would have been paradise. I, unfortunately, am not a spinner, and I’m also a knitter on a skinny-yarn kick. It was lovely to sink my fingers into all the gorgeous rovings, but I went there expecting to spend gobs of money, and actually, it was kind of a struggle to spend as much as I did!

In retrospect, I should have taken more pictures of the booths, and the yarns, and I have no idea why I didn’t, other than I was too busy taking pictures of OMG ALL THE CUTE AMINALS SQUEE!!, and I was kinda underwhelmed by the rest of it. But what pictures I did take are here. There are a lot of awful cute ones of us holding baby cashmere goats, which actually did make the Frolic worth the 2-hour drive in my mind.

the stashOf course, I did buy SOME yarn and whatnot. I was pretty much exclusively in the market for laceweight yarn, and it was kind of a struggle to find any, but I prevailed. ;) The gorgeous plum-variegated cashmere is from Springtide Farm, the farm also responsible for letting me snuggle with the kids - that little 1-ounce skein is enough for the scarf pictured, which she threw in the pattern for.

The dark spruce merino and turquoise tencel are from Pinestar Studio, an absolutely lovely woman by the name of Linda who does custom dyeing and had some truly gorgeous rovings, too. Most of what she had at the show was laceweight, so I loved her immediately - haha. I haven’t been to her site yet, but she said she was a little more regular about updating her blog than her site.

The tie-dyed rovings are a curly-textured merino and tencel blend, and are from The Sheep Shed. Donna uses a bundle of the fiber and a special felting technique to make the most GORGEOUS felted scarves you can imagine. You know how most felts are stiff and very… um… woolly? This felt like silk, with a beautiful drape. I don’t know if I’ll attempt to spin these or felt them, but either way, seeing the finished product was enough to convince me.

The last of the purchases were a little hank of fuschia silk and a big chunk of alpaca seconds - all together, they cost me a mere $5. I should have grabbed a card or something, but honestly, the girls working the booth made me feel a little awkward - nothing major, just not a friendly “click” like I got with most vendors there. They told me, as I walked away, that alpaca wasn’t a good fiber to learn how to spin with. I shrugged. For $5, do I care if I ruin it? Not particularly. ;)

The only person I recognized there, from Ravelry or otherwise on the ‘nets, was Amy. I should have said hi, I know, but I’m terminally shy and a horrible conversationalist, and she was already spinning and talking to someone else at the same time, so I just petted her yarns and moved on. Adam gave me crap about that, as well he should. I do need to work on this whole shy-and-awkward thing.

Anyway, despite it not being quite what I thought it was going to be, it was a fun time. It was a gorgeous, if hot, day - perfect for a drive, so we took all backroads and really made a trip out of it. On the way home, we stopped in Bangor for sushi, a traditional ending to ‘most every downstate trip we take. In between, there were cute animals, lovely people, and YARN. What more could a girl ask for?

GUESS WHO is going to the Fiber Frolic on Sunday???

WHEEE!!!!

(Nah, I’m not REALLY FREAKING EXCITED or anything. Hah!)

flickr game

This is making the rounds, so I thought I’d play along. Click the picture to see the questions, answers, and “rules”. And if you decide to do it too, comment and let me know, so I can see your mosaics! :)

It’s rare for me to have a Sunday off, and it’s always a treat, because it’s the only day Adam and I are home together.  I was hoping we’d do something fun and relaxing today, I just wasn’t sure what.  Well, about 11 or so, Adam was hijacked by his father and put to work in the yard.  About an hour later, I was recruited as well.  After a couple hours of that, it suddenly started to thunderstorm and we all got chased indoors.  Now he’s not feeling so hot, and I’m too tired to want to do much of anything.  Hah!  So much for a fun Sunday off, but that’s how it goes, I guess. At least we got some long-neglected yardwork done.

I’m spending the rest of my afternoon goofing off on Ravelry.  It’s amazing how much time I waste on that site, haha.  Imagine if I spent all that time actually knitting…!

dammit

I know it doesn’t look that bad here, but trust me - with the loose gauge, it flops right down around my collarbone and doesn’t provide even the slightest scrap of warmth that way.  I also should have given it a border, to keep it from rolling;  I kinda wanted a rolled edge at the time, but now I don’t.  Haha.  I am the wishy-washiest, I swear.

So yes, it’s destined for the frog pond.  But I really still don’t mind knitting it over again.

Last night, while watching Adam’s band practice, I finished the cashmere cowl.  Except… well, it’s too short, and too big around.  Like, WAY too big around.

I’m thinking I might frog it and start over.  I’m not heartbroken.  Knitting with that cashmere was the BEST. THING. EVER.  I can’t afford to buy more, so I might as well knit the same stuff over again!

cashcowl2

…I started the cowl. I’m using a #8 or 9 needle, and I’m glad I am, because it’s a lot looser than my normal gauge, but it’s soft and drapey and perfect. The colors are a little more Barbie-doll than I was anticipating, but whatever. :) It’s so deliciously soft that it could probably be mustard yellow and olive green and I’d still freaking love it.

It only took a couple rounds before I realized that the reverse-stockinette side is a lot more interesting than the stockinette side, so I’m carrying the yarn on the “front”, and will turn it inside-out when it’s done.

cashcowl3

Edited to add: SQUEEEEE!!!!

rav swag!

My Ravelry stuff arrived today!  Woohoo!  Generally speaking, I’m pleased with the quality and all that.  The bag was just the tiniest bit of a disappointment, because I wasn’t expecting it to be square; from the pictures, I got the impression that it was more of a… rounded?… kind of shape.  But it’s ok.  I’m sure that once I get stuff in the bag, it won’t hang so awkwardly from my hand.  And, hello, it’s wicked cute - and the price was right.  If they eventually offer the same style bag with another design, I’d almost definitely buy that one too.

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