Time flies.

Mostly when you’re busy.  It’s funny.  That little vacation I’ve been talking about for a month now?  I think I might need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  Man.

Let’s see.  Where we left off last time I was lamenting my own laziness.  In my defense, keeping up with an almost-4yr-old is tough.  Especially when she’s super-duper excited to be visiting her relatives and doesn’t want to sleep or sit down for five minutes together.  Seriously.  I made a movie.  In 15 minutes she didn’t sit down once.  I wish I had that kind of energy.

Anyway.  Remember that Ishbel I knit for T?  Well, it fit her perfectly and looked stinking adorable, but could I get her to hold still and pose?

Oh, heck, no.  She thought it was the funniest darn thing in the world to squirm or even hide the shawl…

Whenever Alexa or I tried to take a picture of her in it.  Little squirt.  I’ll get a photo… eventually.

Luckily, T didn’t decide to make a game out of photographing the little bolero I made for her.  Which her Momma dutifully brought up and dressed T in the morning we saw them off:

It fit perfectly.  Actually, it was still a little big, which is ideal.  And it was utterly adorable.  I might have to make another one when she outgrows this ‘un.  In pink.  Hah.

Unfortunately, I had to leave Portland while T and Alexa were still in town (it was unavoidable).  Opus and I had reserved a room in Newport over a month ago, and weeks before Alexa let me know they were visiting.  But I only missed out on two hours of family time.  They had to fly out a couple of hours after I left.

Anyway.  Opus and I met up around midday, after trying to convince T that a bagel was just as yummy as chocolate milk (not too successful there).  We hit  the road and I had to take some shots from the highway.

It was just gorgeous.  I believe this was from Highway 47.  I really want to go back and do some hiking.  There were some really tempting National and State Forests that looked lovely.

Eventually, though, we made it to Newport.  After a couple of stops along the way (one of which involved the extensive purchase of new weaving equipment, but that’s for another day).  I was really excited to see that our hotel of choice, the Elizabeth Street Inn, did, in fact, have a magnificent view:

Clearly a beach walk was absolutely essential.  The sock certainly enjoyed it…

Though I’ll admit to being a lot less tough than Opus and having to wrap up with a scarf and sweater. I can’t believe she spent the whole trip in t-shirts.  It gives me chills just thinking about it.  Anyway.  Beach.  Walk.  Wind.

Lots of wind.  It was quite picturesque and, well, bracing.  Unfortunately, my camera’s battery decided to fail as soon as we got down to the sandy shore and I had to resort to using my Crackberry camera; which, frankly, sucks.

Eventually my hands and nose froze and we had to give in and go back to the hotel.  After that we somehow managed to get lost in scenic downtown Newport.  Yes.  Newport (the town with a population of under 10,000).  Fell free to mock, I did.  We did (finally!) find food and our way back.

Thus fueled, I holed up in the room and spent three and a half hours working on last Friday’s eCard – while Opus watched (get this) Monsters vs. Aliens and then four episodes of On The Road with Austin and Santino.  That was an odd night.

The next morning we made our way to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, where the sock got to see Swampland.  It really liked the anacondas.

After watching the sea otters eat raw fish (yum) and petting some sea cucumbers, we started the return trip home.  Mostly because  Opus had to go to NorthWest MogFest yesterday (family thing).  Fuuun.  In lieu of driving all over Sheridan, Oregon in an all-terrain vehicle (so boring, I know), I spent all of yesterday knitting away on a Shibui project that’s Top Secret.  Sooo… here’s some photos of Westmoreland Park, instead of my progress!

Plus… duckies!

And that brings things up to date.  Think I’m gonna knit some more now.  Or go to bed.  How did it get to be 11pm?  Time flies, I guess.

Lazy blogger.

Actually, more like tired blogger. Keeping up with an almost-4yr-old is hard. Especially when we have a water park, ice cream, cows, horsies, picking fruits and vegetables, swimming at the beach, and heaven only can recount whatelse within the same 24 hours. So, in lieu of an actual post with a central theme and words that are strung together in a sensible fashion, I bring you 50 pictures.

Going to the beach with Opus tomorrow. I’m very sad that I’m leaving before the girls, though, but it’s kind of unavoidable at this point. Oh, well. Mum and Dad can see them off in style. Check back for an update from the coast!

Like Nina sings.

I’m feeling good.

The booklet is out and is actually selling. I know that Knit Purl sold over 20 copies in the past three days, so I’m not as down and worried as I was.  You try being not being down and worried after being told over and over again that there are numerous sock book(let)s out there and that knitters probably won’t notice another one.

Not so good.  But, hah, Socks is only 4 booklets behind Shibui Luxury (well, where I work), and Luxury is knitter’s eye candy in every sense of the phrase.

Anyway.  Deep breath.  Vacation is commencing nicely.  I spent most of the weekend (barring some time at Ikea, g-d help me) relaxing, lounging, and just catching my breath.  The last eight months have been brutal.  Mostly I worked on two things (but don’t tell Shibui):

and

Tegan’s Ishbel was obviously numero uno on my list, because she’s arriving tomorrow!!  Squee.  My sister and niece are arriving sometime around 2:3o and I am just beside myself.  My inner Girl Scout has planned all sorts of activities and cool treats.  It’s going to be awesome.  And I’m going to take copious photographs.

Expect to see some.  Or, rather, lots.

Including (hopefully) Tegan actually wearing her Ishbel.  I really hope she likes it!

I feel I must issue a friendly knitterly advisory.  And maybe alert the DEA.  I just cast on my first project using Lima (last night) and could barely make myself put it down long enough to finish the Ishbel.  Sparkly.  Pink.  Ishbel.  Looking at my template, that should express volumes.  This stuff is THE crack.  I’m kind of afraid of what will happen when I run out…  Will I DT?

Eep.

Maybe this is a sign that I need to stash some more…

The fact that I’m even thinking that is probably not a good sign.

And I thought Malabrigo was bad.

Wait.  Can you hear that?  It‘s calling to me.  I gotta go.

So… yeah.

It’s 1:40am on a Thursday morning and the only reason I’m sitting here typing is because I was stupid enough to take an Excedrin at 4pm today.  Well, yesterday.

Counting sheep definitely doesn’t work because then I start to wonder if they’re Wensleydale or Romney or Bluefaced Leicester and get all hung up on what kind of fleeces they should have and whether or not their polled and… it just goes downhill from there.

I’m surprisingly verbose after 1am.  Imagine that.  Must be all the caffeine overwhelming my system.

If you caught my tweet earlier today, you’ll know that I (briefly) jumped up and down with joy over the fact that Shibui Socks is officially in print.  I am so glad (and pleased with myself) to announce that.  Especially since having to respond to inquiries with the equivalent of “I don’t know – soon?” is a little disheartening.  But I survived the gauntlet (albeit a small one, only ten nine* patterns) and am still of sound enough mind and body to be pleased as punch.

So, I worked until 9pm tonight, writing and coding a Newsletter for Shibui that will formally introduce the booklets to the world at large.  Progress was made, but by 9pm I was ready to give in and go home.  Before I did (and while I was waiting for my ride), I introduced the traveling sock to the booklet.

The traveling sock wasn’t impressed.

Oh, well. I tried.

As I was sitting there (contemplating the feasibility of knitting for 1.5 minutes), I decided to share a super-cool little gadget I found at Utrecht.

That’s not really a gadget. It’s a pencil case (I think). The best part is that all the little compartments are adjustable. Actually, no. The BEST part is that I got it for $2.95 and it was made in America.  Oh, and it keeps my notions organized (also a plus).

Seriously. I’m thinking of naming it.  Possibly ‘Frank’.

By the way, it (Frank?) got along fine with the booklet.

Then, just before my chariot arrived, I decided to let all y’all in on a little secret (but you can’t tell anyone!). Even though I am ardently and devotedly working on the Shibui Heichi booklet, I have been dreaming of other projects (and designs), and even made a little swatch in anticipation of the day when my last Heichi pattern has been submitted. Behold:

A Super Secret Swatch (yes, another one), knit with Madelinetosh Lace in “Graphite” on US 6 (4mm) needles. It is d e l i c i o u s. People go nuts when they see and touch it. I can’t wait to get succumb this particular Siren.

Eventually. Still have to finish the back of one sample and then knit the front of said sample.  Translation: I have to knit a sample.  Bah.

It’s 2:10am now and I’m finally getting drowsy.  I think I’m going to try and go back to bed.  Tomorrow (today) is looking to be a looong day.  Wish me luck.  And, yes, I know I’m weird at 2am.

*Due to space constraints we had to cut one of the patterns.  So sad.

Man, oh man.

Am I sick of swatching.  It seems like my life has been an endless series of small knit squares (and rectangles) for the past week…

Swatches for a new Shibui booklet (with their new upcoming yarn, Heichi, a 100% silk tweed – yumm), swatches for a new line of yarns we’re going to be carrying, and swatches for swatches for swatches.  Or so it feels like.  I’ve also been working on some Top Secret projects, but can’t share them.  Lame, I know.

I can, however, share the Sock and Leverge (and new KnitPod):

The Leverage crew have taken over our neighborhood (at work, downtown) again.  Is this the third or fourth time?  I really can’t keep track.  And as fascinating as it is to see them hustling about with giant spotlights and extras and all sorts of gadgets, it’s a pain in the tuckus.  It’d be nice to have our street back again.  Or, you know, one or two parking places.

Eh.  They’ll move on to their next location soon enough.  If they haven’t already.  This photo was from Friday.

In regards to work (aside from drowning in it), I’m developing my own version of Chaos theory:

And using my desk as the experiment.  A Nobel Prize is just around the corner.  I can feel it.

It sounds feasible, right?

Anyway.  You can see that I was proofing the upcoming Shibui Luxury booklet, which is gaining hearts all over ravelry.  Especially this cute little hat:

Elizabeth

Tessa (the model) rocked the heck outta that.  Of course, it is an awesome design.  Love the texture detail.  The hat is the most popular pattern in the booklet, which sorta makes sense to me… but my favorite is actually Eustacia:

Eustacia

It’s very, as we’ve been saying at work, ‘French Lieutenant’s Woman’.  I really want one.  Without the mohair, ’cause I just love things that give me hives.  Maybe with Suri alpaca, so I’d get the same halo… or with baby alpaca.  Hm.  Tempt-ing.

My bright spot on the horizon (amidst this endless sea of swatches*) is the imminent release of Shibui Socks.  I find it kind of hilarious (and a little disheartening) that the most popular pattern from the booklet on ravelry…

Brooklyn.  The rewrite of The Button-Up Socks, a Shibui pattern I wrote over three years ago.  We (Shibui and I) decided to include it in the booklet because sales were so low.  Hah.  Knitters are so funny.

Oh, well.  Maybe it just needed to be yellow.

It’s 10:30pm and I need to fold some more laundry.  Mom’s watching another episode of Criminal Minds, one of the worst FBI shows I’ve seen.  As likeable as the characters are, it’s just so inaccurate it makes me cringe.

At least I have my knitting.  Even if it is another d@mn swatch.

*How’s that for mixing my metaphors?