Trying to distract you from the fact that I have been laying flat on my face for the past two weeks. Lame, I know. Imagine how boring it’s been for me.   I have the flu again.  Or maybe it never went away and the last fortnight has simply been an extended infection.  Who knows?

Anyway.  I have been managing to haul my sorry tuckus into work (most of the time) and one of my most recent Robitussin-inspired moments involved publishing another free Gratis Knits (yes, that was redundant) pattern.  You can get it here.

Also, somewhere in there (it’s all a little fuzzy right now), I finished T’s children’s bolero:

Which I really want to see modeled on T.  But I’ve been waiting to, ah, sanitize it since I don’t want handknits to be associated with the creepy crud.  Just imagine the trauma.

Oh, well.  Things have been progressing here… slowly.  Mum’s cashmere lace scarf has a good 18″ on it, I finished a sock last night (my own pattern), and I’m working on a pattern booklet for ShibuiKnits.  But that’s hush, hush.  I’m also working on a new pattern series for the blog – both free and, well, not – that I hope to have started putting up by the New Year.  I really need to find a pattern editor…  maybe I could find someone who would work for yarn?

Hmm.  It looks like I have a lot set out for me.  And that doesn’t even include the laundry – which I am falling behind on.  And on that note, I should go empty the dryer.  I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

October, so far, has really sucked a lot.* I’m not trying to whine, just explain why I haven’t been blogging as much as I would like (I have tons of photos, honest).

Let’s see, the week before last I had a 5-day migraine (oh, yes, five whole days of head-splitting pain and flashing auras).

Then the day before yesterday I was informed by Kristin that she and her husband had been diagnosed with having had the H1N1 flu virus last week.

On Monday I was developing a sore throat.  Yesterday, the sore throat continued, I had developed a lovely headache, I ached all over (especially my joints), and I ended up taking a 6-hour nap (noon to 6 pm) because I was so tired.  I did try and go to work yesterday morning, but ended up feeling so crappy I left (ha, I was ordered out by the Moms In Residence) and came home and crashed.

Today continues with the same symptoms – the sore throat is better (thank you, OJ), the headache is the same, the body aches are 100% worse, and the fatigue is about the same.  In fact, I think I will go and take another nap after I post this.

Yeah.  September was much better.

*It could be worse, though, and I’m the first to admit it.  I don’t have the intestinal problems (or fever!) many flu sufferers have right now.  I’m not sure it is H1N1 (and don’t really care), but I’m not going to go to my doctor (and infect more people) to find out.  Heck, this isn’t even half as bad as Scarlet Fever was.  I just want to get well.  Soon, please.

And I’m just too lazy to go upstairs and get the power cord right now.

Today was the Portland Race For The Cure. As always it started at what felt like the break of dawn (ick, 5 hours of sleep). Opus and I met at Peet’s, grabbed some caffeine to go (thank the heavens for cambric tea) and walked briskly over to the Waterfront to meet out team. Luckily for us (though not according to them), we missed the team photoshoot. Darn.

Then we lined up at the starting line for the 1K walk (I might have registered us for the 5K, but I didn’t get a choice – it being an OHSU team and all…), and I made Opus hold up her traveling sock:

I had mine out to photograph before I realised that I couldn’t take a photo of it – it’s Top Secret. Oy. In the meantime, I contented myself with taking random pictures. Specifically of a participant’s back, just so I could prove that over 51,000 people were congregating in downtown Portland:

(the OHSU team was in the upper 12,000 range)

Opus was floored to discover (as we were waiting) that the Portland Race For The Cure is the 3rd largest in the world (and the largest on the West Coast). I wasn’t too surprised, because I remembered hearing something similar last year, but still… 51,000+ people is a lot of people.

Anyway. I, of course, made Opus hold up her socks for the Finish Line…

I mean, how could I not? I’m sure she thought I was crazy, but that’s par for the course. After escaping the throng (that many thousands of people definitely counts as a throng!), we headed into NoPo to visit a knitting store we’d never been to, Close Knit.

(there is a traveling sock there, I swear)

Which, I have to say, I loved. It really looked and felt like the knitting store I’d set up, if I ever went mad and decided to do that to myself (I work at a knitting store, I know how much work it is!). It was really quirky and quaint and I loved the old recycled, well, everything. Very fun.

Okay, (sigh), my laptop battery just died and I had to rummage around and find a power cord.  One would think this means I have time to blog more in depth, but the lasagne just came out of the oven, I’m hungry, and this looks good enough.  Tomorrow night is “No Mean Feet!”, if you live in PDX, I’ll hope to see you there!

Beginning to lose track of what happened when.  Must be the sleep deprivation.  (joking)

Let’s see.   The day before yesterday, Mum and I went into the Gorge, intent on finding lovely fruit, local yarn*, and panoramic vistas**.  Oh, and local mobile art.  Mum’s very big into that.  Some highlights:

Cool curly antique light fixture at the DFG Vanhorn factory.

“Impaired Side” next to obsolete tracks.

Cuddly alpacas. Or, rather, hungry alpacas that put up with being petted in return for food.

Then, yesterday, I met with Sandy B for breakfast and she very happily showed off her (unblocked) Girasole:

Made with ShibuiKnits Sock in “Finch”, it’s intended to be a baby blanket for an soon-to-be-born baby. Good job, Sandy! It’s going to be just gorgeous when it’s blocked.

Then, after several loads of laundry and some cleaning, I met up with the ladies of The Yarnovers (the Knit Purl lace group), whereupon I rather forced Opus to show off her beautiful Halloween KAL shawl (don’t ask):

(okay, my photography skills suck)

(and a [very blurry] close-up)

I also got Leslie to help Opus hold it up, but none of those photos came out at all. The point’n'click and I are having some issues. Oh, well.

Anyway, that’s the past two days – severely condensed, to be sure.  I’ve got to go now and do some ironing (yeah, at 11:30pm), since I don’t really have any shirts for tomorrow…  toodles!

*Okay, that was me
**Yeah, fell short.  Sorry ’bout that.  It was a quite pretty lavender farm, though.

We’re gonna have a drive-by blogging incident tonight that only involves a weird little video I made (at Mum’s insistence) during our recent day trip into the Gorge. We stopped to admire this old fruit packing factory (on the rail line) that had some amazing architectural features. It actually made me wish I brought my big, clunky Olympus or at least a camera with a wide-angle lens. Until we needed the point ‘n’ click’s audio/ video movie function.

I was wandering around the side that bordered the tracks and nearly freaked out when I heard this weird creaking noise and then… SLAM! It was like something from a really bad horror film. Luckily, the place wasn’t haunted (honestly, I only entertained the thought for a moment or two, which is embarrassing enough to admit to) before I crept around and discovered that it was this extremely old and weathered office door…

making all that ruckus. Sheesh.

Anyway. It’s after eleven and I have to work in the morning. I’ll blog tomorrow night (I hope) with all sorts of lovely updates. Cheers!

P.S. Flickr still hasn’t finished uploading the photos from yesterday and today!

Have tons to blog about but can’t blog about any of it – since it’s all Top Secret.  Grr.  Going on a road trip with Mum tomorrow… hopefully, anyway.  Wherein I shall definitely take photos of something because, darn it,  the radio silence thing is driving me crazy.

In the meantime, though, check out the blog Kristin Spurkland (yes, the designer) set up for the cat shelter she runs House of Dreams (which she has promised to update daily).  I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna follow it -cute kitty pictures and the occasional knitting post!  Go, Kristin!

‘Til later, peeps, enjoy those kitty photos!

Today might have been one of those days where one feels like one didn’t really get much done (despite evidence to the contrary), but at least I got Lindsay to model my Girasole for me…

A shawl that has garnered more gasps and exclamations in one day than I’ve heard in a month. But at least I’ve won everyone over on the Hojlandsgarn. I love this yarn. Love it, love it, love it. Shetland lambswool, milled in Scotland?

How can you not, really? And, for these reasons, I actually have, uh, 10 balls (in four colors) of it in my stash. It’ll get knit up, never you fear.  I haz great and wonderful plans for it.

Anyway. Project specs…

• Yarn: Isager Hojlandsgarn (4 balls in “Sage Blue”).
• Pattern: brooklyntweed’s Girasole shawl
• Needles: 4mm/ US 6 DPNS, 24″ & 36″ circulars
• Notes: Except for the circular cast-on, I actually (no, really!) followed the pattern faithfully.  Probably for the first and last time.

And… lastly, here’s a photo of Lindsay I had to play with because she looked so much like something from a time-warp (and it was unbelievably blown out)…

Just because.

Aside from doing boring things (like laundry and cleaning the kitchen and stuff like that), I managed two important things today. One, blocking my girasole:

Which was achieved with 2 pieces of 40″ x 60″ foam core (duct-taped together on the 60″ sides) and 200+ quilting pins. And what a back-ache ensued as I spent almost an hour bent over it, carefully pinning each little point of the knitted-on edging.

And, two, I made up several samples for my Kitchen-Safe Dyeing class. Of course, since we don’t drink Kool-Aid (or use food coloring) in this house, I had to make a trip to WinCo to get the requisite “dyes”…

Then, as a matter of pride, I set up my little crockpot (it’s actually a rice steamer… don’t ask) in my kitchen and set to dyeing up some wool.

Which worked very well (I think), but Mum and Emmett have both complained about the smell. Again, not a Kool-Aid household. So I set up some fans and the tutti-frutti smell should dissipate by morning.

I hope. I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise.

In the end, though, they both agreed it was worth the weird smell (really weird, all told) when they saw the yarn and roving I’d dyed:

The picture is horrible, I know. It was nearly dark when I’d finished, so the colors are way off. I’m hoping to knit (and spin) up some swatches of each sample so my students can see the dyeing product and how it looks “finished”. Which is why I set about dyeing the stuff now, even though my class is in November.

Provided I don’t fall into a time warp or something equally extreme, I might just make my deadline.

Don’t laugh.

Let’s seee…  I’ve managed to track down some of the stuff previously lost.  But, because even more has happened since then, here’s the condensed version.

A taste of Sock Summit:

• Knit Purl’s booth (in which I spent two days of my life)
• Lucy Neatby held my traveling sock (who was such a good sport!)
• We had a raucous time with out-of-town Sock Knitters (though you can’t tell it from the photo as I forgot to take one until after half had left)
• I came upon some serious stash enhancement (which, luckily, I had been budgeting for over the past six months)

There was also handspinning and carding with Patrick:

• wherein we picked and cleaned his fleece from last OFFF
• I taught him how to card several ounces of his fleece
• and I finished a skein of handspun Merino (from AllSpunUp, whom I absolutely ADORE)

Then, I finished my Girasole on Friday night.  Now I just need to block it…  I would have yesterday, but Mum kidnapped me (and I, in return, kidnapped Opus) and took us on an Oregon Coast road trip that lasted all day, but was completely awesome and worth all the driving (and waking up at an ungodly hour).

It’s the first real “away” time I’ve had from Portland in awhile.  We started out at just after the break of dawn (I hate waking up before 7 am on a Saturday!) and made it to the Coast before noon (with several rest stops & breakfast in between). Some highlights…

First we hit Agate Beach, which was blanketed in traditional Oregon Coast weather (non-Oregonians read: cool and misty):

where Mum was keen to see the fossilized whale vertebrae we’d found last time (over 5 years ago, now):

whereupon Opus and I went off into the crags to investigate the many tide pools and their inhabitants

and I waded in deep to take an “artistic” photo of the traveling sock to put up in the twitterificsock contest (not to actually enter, since I’m already a member of the Club.  But to spark some creativity.  Seriously, peeps, think about it!):

Of course, a giant wave came in right after and soaked me well above where I’d rolled my jeans legs up:

Which amused Mum and Opus to no end.

But Mum made up for laughing at my misfortune later when, as I was introducing the Sock to a group of purple starfish and the yarn made a leap for freedom and started floating off to sea, she literally threw herself into the water to get it.

If I’m a knitaholic, she’s definitely my co-dependent. (This devotion might be explained by my recently finishing two pairs of socks for her, which I cannot show off as ShibuiKnits has bought the patterns!)

After that, all more than slightly damp, we drove North to see some of the most magnificent coastline you’ll ever find. Otter Crest:

And the Devil’s Punchbowl (I think, I rather lost track):

We hunted awhile for sand dollars, but gave up instead opting to find civilization (translation: coffee and a bathroom to change into dry clothes). After changing, and drinking the best pomegranate Italian soda ever, the Sock got to see the scenic Historic Newport Waterfront…

When we discovered that the Oregon Coastal Aquarium was closed early, Opus and I opted to wander around the waterfront while Mum napped in the car. We found some excellent salt water taffy, delicious homemade chocolate truffles and some beautiful handmade jewelry.

Finally, we ended up at The Sea Hag in Depoe Bay, where we had an amazing fresh-caught meal.  Well, Opus and I had halibut – Mum opted for a salad (she ate too many of the truffles we found in Newport).  But, wow, if you’re ever in Depoe Bay, try this place out.  It may look a bit, ah, unfortunate from the outside but it’s well worth braving.  This place isn’t just you’re traditional fish’n'chips shack – I had the most amazing baked halibut in a garlic & white sauce (I could swear it floated above the plate).  And the freshly grilled vegetables?  Lovely!

Then, finally, we began the three-hour trip home. I’m sure you can understand why I didn’t take any photos of that.

I think, mostly, this brings the blog up-to-date, if not entirely detailed.  I still haven’t blocked my Girasole (spent most of today recovering from hiking on wet sand and climbing over slick and barnacled stones).  But I’m going to try to tomorrow, whilst and at the same time* dyeing up some samples for my upcoming Kitchen-Safe Dyeing class.  I somehow offered/ agreed** to teach several classes at the store this fall and now I need samples.

I wish I had more knitting photos to share, but the last THREE pairs of socks I designed were snatched up (quite literally) by ShibuiKnits.  Oh, well.  I’m working on some other Top Secret designs, but can’t show them off either.  Kind of lame and boring from the blog’s perspective, I know.

But, as I don’t have to work tomorrow, I’ll try and post again with photos of my Girasole blocking and my dyeing samples.  I’m not promising anything, though.  Mum’s just as likely to kidnap me tomorrow and drive up to… well, Heaven only know’s where.

Until next time, night night!

*I <3 the Muppets!
**Temporary madness, clearly.

Am sad. Have been working on said post for a week now. Gaarrr. Sorry, guys, I’ll have to track down all the photos and stuff again later… after some food and sleep and more sleep and maybe some knitting…

Oh, dear.  I’m suffering from some guilt here.  I love the Percy Shawl I’m working on, honestly.  And I really, really, really love the yarn.  I do.  But I also really, truly, madly and deeply love this project, too:

Jared Flood’s Girasole shawl. It’s addictive in the worst way – the pattern changes every 20 rows or so (sometimes even less) and it’s just so easy, yet cool! The yarn is making matters worse. I have to admit that it was love at first sight, the Hojlandsgarn and I. I mean, really, Shetland lambswool? Spun in Scotland? I was a goner from the start. A Greek sailor would have had better odds against a Siren.

I only started this beast* four days ago and I’m nearly through the first 300 yard ball of yarn.

This thing is dangerous.

In other knitting news… well, I have no knitting news since The Beast (I’m starting to like this name) is greedy with my time and very jealous of my attention.  I have not so much as looked at another project in days and I’m beginning to feel guilty of abandonment.  I suppose I’m lucky WIPs can’t file lawsuits over neglect or indicted for criminal negligence.

Anyway, maybe I can finally brush my teeth and go to bed.  The bathroom with my toothbrush (and there are three in this house!) has been continually occupied for the past hour and a half, so going to bed hasn’t been an option.

It’s almost a shame I can’t photo-document this phenomenon because I actually just stopped typing for a few minutes to knit on The Beast.

I am in so much trouble.

*1200 yards and a knit-on edging, don’t tell me it isn’t one – as pretty and sweet as it may seem, I know there are dark times ahead**
** I HATE knitted-on edgings.  I would actually rather crochet than knit-on an edging.  And that says a lot.

Waiting for a ride (just finished “No Mean Feet!” at the store), and thought I’d put up my newest wip:

The Percy Shawl, knit with one 100g skein of Suri Blue in “Rose”. Love the pattern and the yarn, especially together.  If you’re a lace freak, I cannot recommend this pattern enough – the Estonian stitches are really, really cool.  And it’s proving to be a quick knit, too.  (It helps that all my commissioned knitting is done!)  I’m also going to cast on for the store’s Girasole KAL on Wednesday, so there’s going to be a lot of lace hanging around for the next few weeks (did I also mention that I found the yarn I bought for Icarus?!  I should probably wait to finish Percy before starting that, though…)

Anyway.  Ride should be here any minute, gotta run.

It’s silly, I know, but I’m really proud of this particular design:

My Asymmetrical Cabled Collar. I designed it and knit it up in two days so ShibuiKnits would have a pattern/ kit to take to Columbus for TNNA. To get the even selvages, there are a series of cabled short rows worked on one end to create that fishtail effect.

Ah, well.

I forgot the needles I bought today at work (lovely, right?), so I can’t progress on three different projects (sad).  And since I still can’t face the Elderflower Skirt, maybe a new project is in order… mwahaha.

D@mn, but I’m tired.  TNNA, WWKIP Day and a family visit – all in one month.  I probably could sleep for a week before I’d feel refreshed again.  Not that I’m complaining (anything but), it’s just that it would be nice to get a break in here somewhere.

Technically, I’m getting a mini-break this weekend (3 days off!), but I think I might actually plan for a week-long vacation once Sock Summit is over, cause I’ll probably need it by then.

Anyway.  Onto more interesting stuff.  Like, oh, Tegan!

Mom and Dad nearly fell over when they saw how big she is now. It’s kind of shocking, I’ll admit, because I remember when she couldn’t even sit up. Crazy. And Dylan?

Left to right: Mom, Dylan, Tegan, and Dad

Superbig now. I’m designing a sweater for him right now (Top Secret, shhh), and Alexa and I have decided to go with the 14-year-old option, instead of 12!

(P.S. No one tell the ‘rents I put that photo up)

Next on the catch up list, well, I can demonstrate to all y’all once again that I’m not actually a knitting guru. I have one heck of a knitting mistake to show off. And, oy, it’s a doozy.

Remember the Elderflower Skirt that I cast on a few months ago, fully acknowledging it was doomed to failure? Well, here’s the first big ‘Uh Oh’ to date. See the lace?

The very lace I was so proud of myself for decoding and progressing on (one-third of the way through!). Well, hah, I realised something this week – - – it’s in the wrong place.

Hah.

Yeah. Partially, I blame the instructions (they’re very vague, I even showed them to Opus who couldn’t make heads or tails of where to start the lace short rows), but I also blame myself. One should not attempt lace short rows after three weeks of inadequate sleep and one too many glasses of wine (don’t ask, it was a very bad day with the server).

Right.

So, I still haven’t ripped back because, quite frankly, I just can’t face it right now. Which might explain the rapid progress of several other projects that had been sitting on the back burner for awhile, liiike Mom’s vine-y socks:

And my Euroflax/ Tsumugi Silk cardigan (no photo, sorry). Plus one or two other Top Secret projects.

In non-knitting news, I just finished the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series, which I really have to recommend to anyone who’s a fan of Greek mythology/ history. It’s hilarious (in a good way – I thought Apollo was spot-on).

Also, Mom and I went a little crazy at the Gardening Center at our Fred Meyer…

… and invested in a lot of plants.

Which helped transform this:

into this:

Much better, right? There’s still a lot of work to do, but at least I won’t be embarrassed to have Patrick and Opus over next weekend for a carding (& spinning) party.

At that’s a lot to cover in one post, but hopefully I’ll have the successful repair of the Elderflower Skirt to report next time.

It seems like I’m always short on time these days.  The blog, my design work, and even day-to-day stuff have really been suffering lately.  Hopefully, once TNNA is over and past, I might just have more time to do the fun stuff like blogging and knitting and (oh) cooking and maybe even not-so-fun stuff like laundry (it’s embarassing how many shirts and shorts/ skirts I’ve had to buy in the last two weeks so I wouldn’t have to go to work in rags or a Halloween costume).  Oh, well.

Anyway.  It seems like I’m always stealing time from something else – I knit instead of eating dinner, or work instead of knitting, etc.  Just so’s we’re clear on the title of this post and all y’all don’t think I’m getting more off in the head than normal.

In the next couple of weeks, I’m hoping to have a sock pattern that will need test knitters.  It’s for a US 7, 7.5-8″ foot circumference and I’m thinking of submitting it to somewhere – so I will need very studious test knitters.  Any volunteers?

Before I can get to that, though, I have to finish three commissioned patterns and all the graphic design stuff I’ve promised for TNNA and the like.  I bet you never knew I was a graphic artist.  It’s because I’m not, but I’m all we have.  Oy.

Not that I’m not doing fairly well, I just have the nagging suspicion that someone who’s been trained in Photoshop and InDesign would do better.

Eh. It functions.

I have good news.  I’ve been promoted.  Or will be, as of July 1st.  I begged to have some time to finish current tasks before starting new ones.  See?  I’m learning.

And that’s about everything.  In short.  I haven’t run off with the French Foreign Legion (I wish) or been kidnapped by aliens (which could be interesting in a Farscape kind of way).  Mostly, life is pretty darn dull around here.  Oooh, are any of you far-reaching readers going to be in Portland for Sock Summit?  I’d love to meet up with you!  It’s always nice to put faces to commentors ;D

Wow, it’s after eleven.  I have to get ready for bed.  Tomorrow’s going to be another late night.  ‘Til after TNNA, stay cool!

… because:

1. 7 news skeins of yarn mysteriously appeared in the stash this weekend.  It’s all Opus’ fault. Seriously.  Blame her.
2. The Sock Club sock pattern was due, oh, 4 days ago.  I might have made that deadline had I not ripped out the sock about 4 times now.  I’ve yet to throw it at the wall, but it’s a near thing.  This yarn is in even more trouble than I am.
3. The ShibuiKnits pattern is not done.
4. Nor are the socks for the pattern.
5. An eCard is scheduled to be sent out this Friday but a subject has yet to be determined.
6. The overwhelming desire to knit something not due last week is slowly weakening my defenses against Start-itis.
7. My new Crackberry is thwarting every attempt I make to check my voicemail.  If you’ve called me and left a message within the last week – send me an email, for the love of wool.

I’m sure there’s good news to be had, but it’s rather elusive at the moment.  Maybe next time.

In my defense, I’ve been taking photos left and right like a maniac and sort of fear putting them all together in a single post – so I keep postponing updating the blog.  Sorry.  I’ll try to do a super-mondo-huje update this weekend – after I’ve finished the Mother’s Day Special that never ends.

Until then, uh, hang tight?  Or try and be more interesting than me right now ;D

I have a lot of it. I also, finally, have come to terms with it and refuse to apologize for my stashing tendencies. A couple weeks ago (I’m not certain I’ve shared this little tidbit online), Micah dared me to run a report and see how much I’ve spent on yarn at the store (there’s no way of knowing how much I’ve spent outside it, let’s be honest) in the last year. He wanted to know if it was more than a month’s salary. Point of fact, it was more than two. For a (very short) while, I was completely mortified by this. How could I have let my spending get so completely out of control?

Until I shared this embarrassing morsel with coworkers, family and friends, whose replies were thus:

“Yeah, but you don’t have to pay rent! If I didn’t have to pay rent, I’d spend at least that much on yarn.”
“You’re stashing for when you do have to pay rent, it’s only practical.”
“You’re a professional knitter. You work at.  A. Yarn. Store.” To which Opus gave one of her Looks.
“You’re a designer. You can’t design without yarn.”
“At least you’ll actually use it.” (This one came from my father)

So, after a week, I readjusted mentally and decided that to Hell with it – it’s my money and I can bloody well spend it on what I want. So neider, neider, neider. Of course, after coming to terms with all this, I also realised how immense my stash will be once it is actually amassed in one place.  Cue some slight internal terror.  But (deep breath), I’ve been slowly collecting it all (there’s a lot in the garage as of yet) and organizing it in the SCU.

To prove this, here’s a terrible photo of the Stash Containment Unit doing it’s job (sort of)

I’ve added to the SCU since this photo was taken last night, but it was impossible to get a decent photo today.  Oh well. But, after sorting all this yarn, I’ve realised a few things. One, I’m a bit of a brand groupie for certain brands. I have a TON of ShibuiKnits, Rowan, Habu Textiles, Handmaiden/ Fleece Artist, and Isager. I also own enough yarn for FIVE full sweaters (actually, seven – no, eight-  when I can locate the rest of the stash), two colorwork vests and a sh!tload of lace shawls. My goodness.  I think I need to back off of the Big Project purchasing for awhile.

Anyway.  That was the news I was too embarrassed to share.  But now that the stash is coming out in a very public way, I might as well confess all.  It might even make me pause then next time I think I simply must have this yarn.

Next.  I have a project I made for the store and it’s a beaut, if I do say so myself.  A Bamboo Porom:

Made with Habu Textiles XS-32, a DK-weight 100% bamboo yarn that is just glorious.  In fact, I might want to marry this yarn.  It’s dangerous.  I already have 4 skeins of the XS-45 (see? stash organization is helping my memory), which is XS-32’s lace-weight older sibling.  This is a dangerously seductive family, beware, beware!

And, finally, the last of my handknitting news – my official descent into madness: Ruth Sorensen’s Elderflower Skirt.  Now, I have long mocked handknit skirts (they tend not to flatter most, if not all, wearers and stretch out alarmingly fast), but I just couldn’t resist this project.  I have lusted for the yarn (Handmaiden’s Flaxen in “Pumpkin”) for so long I can’t remember working at the store and not wanting it (that’s over a year of unrequited lust, people!).

The problem?  Copper is not a color I can wear next to my face.  So that meant anything worn on the torso, head, or neck was immediately O.U.T.  So, somehow, I have half-managed to convince myself that knitting a skirt with this yarn is The Solution I have been looking for:

Now, make notice of how I wrote “half” in that last sentence.  Part of me knows that this is a very, very, VERY bad idea.  But the rest of me maintains hope that somehow, some way, this will work out.  And gloriously.  Right.  I’ve waffled back and forth on a daily basis and haven’t let myself touch in for nearly two weeks (I have a snood, two pairs of sock designs, and have had several store samples due).  But, soon, all too soon, it’ll be picked back up and maybe even finished before I realise my personal insanity.

At least it’ll be fun until it ends.

In non-knitting news, I have a ton of photos from experimenting with my new(ish) camera and it’s macro-lens today.  First, white jasmine from our backyard:

Which seems to be flourishing in spite of our ignorance.

Then, this afternoon, Mum and I made a trip to the Rhododendron Garden.  Wow.  It was worth a trip.  Whomever their master gardiner is, s/he knows what they’re doing.  The layout, the paths, the plants, everything was so well-designed it was amazing.

wildflowers (I’ve forgotten what kind)

water falls over rocks and moss

and isn’t this perfect?

There were Cherry & Magnolia trees in bloom everywhere.  The scent was intoxicating.

(sigh)  I think I might need to get a membership.

It’s past 10:30, I think I might just need to get ready for bed.  Toodles.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m officially tweeting. Since I represent the majority of the store’s web presence, I’ve put the store and several employees on Twitter. Seems silly not to do it myself. So, if you want to know more than you need to about my personal life…

I can’t imagine why you would, but hey, I’m going to try and update it at least daily (I’ve even added my phone to my account so I can text updates, sheesh).

Anyway.

In OMG-I-CAN’T-BELIEVE THIS News, my Offset Wraplan is at 199 projects on ravelry and in 950+ queues. Not to mention that the pattern has been downloaded from ravelry 2603 times. Did you get that? Over 2000 copies of my pattern are circulating and doing heaven knows what around the world. That’s kind of crazy and a little humbling.

And, bugger, I have to run. My ride is here. I’ll be good and update again the blog this week – I have another finished Porom, nearly half a sweater and socks to share.

——————————————————————————————————————————————–

April 1st, 2009; 9:59 pm PST

You know how people used to spend days writing letters and would come back and redate the letter as they wrote it?  Well, I suppose this post is going to be like that.  I got home, wasn’t satisfied, and decided to add some more.

I’m afraid I have no new photos, but I do have a couple of newsbits (is that a word?) that are kind of interesting.  Lesse…

One.  Another one of my sock patterns was adopted Shanghai’d by ShibuiKnits this week.  S.B. saw the finished socks and decided they would make an excellent ShibuiKnits pattern.  So guess what I’ve been doing in my ‘free’ time?  Ha.  The pattern is maybe a quarter written and I’ve just started the insteps of the socks.

Two.  The Stash Containment Unit is finally put together in its entirety.  Expect to see a photo of the ‘contained’ stash this weekend, once I actually manage to corral it.  Or, pray for me, anyway.  I have some (slight) doubts that the yarn may not all fit in it.

Three.  Where the hell is spring?  It’s like 40F out every darn day and just bloody cold in general.  Criminy.  This year has really been disappointing weatherwise.

Four.  If mom doesn’t stop playing the damn Origins: Wolverine trailer over and over and over and bloody over again (fourth time tonight!) I might be forced to commit a large act of vandalism.  Okay, now we’re at five.

Five.  I think I need to leave the room before I hurt someone or myself.  I have knitting to keep me calm…

Toodles.

I’ve been doing a little bit of everything lately. Everything from relearning lessions I should have remembered (and did, but really ignored) to having grand adventures. Here’s two weeks of sporadic photography to prove my point:

1. march-snow, 2. too-big, 3. catch-up,

4. half-linen-stitch, 5. winding, 6. grim-countryside,

7. view-from-the-top, 8. socks, 9. spring-landscape

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

1: snow in MARCH! Unholy, I tell you. 2 & 3: because I didn’t swatch (yes, I know), my first attempt at Porom was well… huje*.  So I had to rip it out and try anew.  4: Opus’ half-linen stitch socks OTN.  5: helping Lindsay wind a skein of Koigu KPPPM at Jake’s while we held three tables for our en route comrades.  6 – 9: shots from a little road trip we went on to Carlton and Woodland Woolworks.  Everything from the grim and grizzly morning to the glass -enclosed bar at the McMenamins Hotel Oregon to the beautiful afternoon you’d never expect in March.

Next, in this very brusque update, we have Karen’s finally well & truly FINISHED socks:

Project specs:

• Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in “Tuscany”
• Pattern: I made it up and ShibuiKnits has expressed an interest in it, so I can say too much here.
• Needles: 2.25mm/ US 1
• Size: Women’s M (7.5″ circumference)

I quite like them and am earnestly considering knitting a pair for myself.

Next, we have photos of my (also finally!) completed Porom:

Specs (really quick, ride is almost here!)

• Yarn: Kathmandu DK in… natural?
• Pattern: Porom by Jared Flood (brooklyntweed)
• Needles: US 5 & 7 (needed to go down a size)
• Size 22″ circumference

Love it and have already promised to make a store sample as well as another for myself, maybe. We’ll see. The To Be Knit list is getting mighty long. And now I’ve GOT to go. I’ll try and update again this week. Honest.

*anyone get the Pratchett reference there?

You may have seen that the new Knitty is up, but unless you have an obsession with tracking designers, you might not know, but…  my socks are in this issue!!  {squee}  It was so stressful – the submission, the waiting, the tech editing, taking photos with Liz – but now it feels like it was more than worth the strain and effort.

So, here’s introducing my Absinthe socks.  Like the blurb reads, I really do want to do a series of socks based off of Art Noveau artists.  And maybe a Renaissance series.  Wouldn’t that be awesome?  I’ve been considering a William Morris sock for awhile actually…

Anyway, here’s the “cover” photo:

And, one of my favorite pics that was, alas, not included:

And, finally, the one with the faux Gothic arches from the First Presbyterian Church down the street from the store:

I’m so glad that’s done.   And, before I commit a major faux pas, let me please thank Bonnie for taking my portrait and Liz and Lindsay for being my models.

In other news, the store’s annual Spring Sale starts tomorrow and I am dreading the masses in a way hitherto unseen, mostly because I’ve agreed to teach three of the free mini-workshops on Saturday.  Since I know how to knit Continental and Brioche (in two ways), it didn’t seem like too big of a deal to fill in for our very ill Fearless Leader.  But, ah, the Chinese Knots class is not coming along as well as one might like.  Eeep.

And, OMG, my handspinning classes start next week and I am so not prepared.  Seriously.  Do I have flax and cotton ready for my students?  No.  Beads?  Nope.  And don’t even ask about the final class at a local farm.  Oy.  I bet you can guess what I’ll be doing on Monday (my rearranged day off).

Pray for us, it’s going to be a looong weekend.

(P.S. am working on Jared’s Porom hat and loving it; am nearly done with Karen’s socks and think I might have an idea for the Sock Club’s sock!  Life is always good when there’s knitting.)

a picture is worth a thousand words?  Well, here’s 16 pictures and less than 300 words to explain them (it’s been that kind of week).

1. daffodils, 2. Alexa, 3. orchids, 4. Waldorf,
5. Toys, 6. Sand, 7. Diggers, 8. Socks for Karen OTN,
9. Display at Vital Tea Leaf, 10. Education at Vital Tea Leaf, 11. Alexa and our tea set for Dad, 12. Peace Pagoda,
13. Socks for Alexa (insteps), 14. Socks for Alexa (heels), 15. Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 16. Waiting

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.  See here for the fullsize mosaic.

1 -3 are from the Mountain View Farmers Market, 4 & 5 are from Tegan’s school, 6 – 8 are from playing in the backyard with Bailey (the puppy) and Tegan (where I took the opportunity to take a wip photo of Karen’s socks, 9-11 are from the Vital Tea Leaf in Chinatown (San Fransisco, not Portland), 12-14 are from Japantown (San Fransisco) where I made Alexa model her finished socks (see the ravelry page), 15 is from the Lacis Museum in Berkeley (awesome place, spent way too much money there), and 16 is from Friday when I forgot my wallet and had to wait for Dad to bring it in (as I needed ID to deposit my paycheck).  And that’s everything that has been photographed.  Lot’s of other things have been happening (moving in, cleaning, writing a Newsletter, etc, etc).  But, for now, this is everything I’ve got.  I’ll try to post again this week with more details.  Honest :)

Today This past week was a little strange.  It went by in such a flurry of exhausting excitement that most of it’s a blur.  In fact, it’s been so busy that I’ve been trying to finish this post since Saturday night.

Right now, I am taking a break from writing tomorrow’s ecard and trying NOT to kill my sister’s dog, Bailey:

Who is asking for such a murdering, if I may say so.  The little sh!t keeps trying to chew on my yarn and brand new silk chiffon (see far below).  My heart nearly stopped when she tried to run off with my goodies from today.  Oy!

But, to keep this from getting hopelessly confusing, this is all gonna be in chronological order…

On Saturday, Opus and I ran a series of errands all over the bloody place Hell’s half-acre town.  First was The Backyard Birder, where I got Dad a bathouse kit:

Which he had been coveting mightily since I told him about it (hey, he has a yard to put it in now!) and a wren birdhouse for Mum (and Audubon warbler stuffie for Tegan, who is not interested in it as much as Bailey, alas):

Both the bathouse and birdhouse were made by Sawdusters, a PNW company that uses local cedar mill ends to make all sorts of cool yard stuff.  Love it.  I really hope a couple of wrens nest in the house.

Anyway, after that was Ikea overload.  Never go there when you are bordering on a migraine, seriously.  But Opus and I managed it.  Rather well…

In fact, we handled the place so very well, I ended up having to call Dad (he has a truck), because Opus and I managed to pick out enough furniture that wouldn’t fit in her car that it was, well… ridiculous.  Dad was just soooo chipper about all that, I can’t tell you.  But, he forgave me a bit when we were loading the truck and he found out that Opus’ Dad’s family are from the same area of Missouri as his family.  So, they started bonding over Bolliver:

Right.  I happily stayed out of this conversation.  I have it on very good authority (my Grandmother who was born, raised, and spent half her life in Missouri) that the family homestead truly wasn’t worth visiting.  If I tell Dad this, he gives me the hairy eyeball despite it being a direct quote from his own mother.  Right.  Moving on.

Opus talked me into a bed frame.  Admittedly, she didn’t have to try too hard.  I picked out the Marm in birch:

I might have been at the store for too long, because I really dug the Japanese-style set-in mattressness of it.  If that makes any sense (right, I know it doesn’t).  The Malm was also really fun to roll around on in the Bedrooms area of the Ikea warehouse.  To go with my new bedframe, for stategic stash-containing purposes (I can hear you laughing, you know), there’s the Billy bookcase with glass doors:

Which serves the dual purpose of containing and corralling the stash while reminding me how much bloody yarn I have. Which is… yes, I know… A LOT. In fact, when I boxed and bagged up the stash on Sunday and Monday, I came to the terrifying conclusion that the stash might not actually fit in a single Billy bookcase.  Especially since I went shopping today (I know, I know!  I shouldn’t have) and, uh, have even more yarn to take home with me.

And then I made the mistake of consolidating the spinning stash.  Yeah.  I can see another trip to Ikea in my future.

Let’s see.  Tuesday was insane.  Truly, “insane” is the only accurate word for it.  Dad somehow managed to schedule the move on the day I flew out.  In spite of two months warning.  In spite of reminder after reminder after bloody reminder.  So, in the morning I helped move some big damn pots…

…and in the afternoon, at 3 o’clock, Mum and I ran to the airport where I just barely made my flight. And discovered that the reason rearranging my ticket had cost so much was I had accidentally booked a seat in First Class.  Whoo.  Go me.

Well, the flight was nice.  Very nice, if I’m perfectly honest.

Oy.

Yesterday was also slightly crazy in that Bailey (the hell hound) decided that I was a burglar (A, K and the kids were out and about) and wouldn’t let me back in the house after I went out into the back yard to let the little monster in.  Suuuch fun.  I ended up texting A for help (she was in a business meeting) and spending a half hour in the hammock (barefoot and in my PJ’s) while Bailey growled at me through the door.  Silver lining?  It was absolutely gorgeous outside (65F!  flowers and sun and birds!)  and the hammock was quite comfortable.

Of course, once K and Tegan got home the little mutt-monster was just fiiiine with me.  Gar.

And today, well… I was bad.  Very bad.  I needed some retail therapy for a variety of reasons (you experience the week I’ve just had and see how you fare).   I walked to downtown Los Altos (about 2mi away) and hit Full Thread Ahead, The Linden Tree, Thai Silks and Uncommon Threads.    Oh, my.  Two yarn stores a silk fabric store and a book store – all within two blocks of each other?  I was doomed when my sister moved to Moutain View.

So, at Full Thread Ahead I got into the most trouble. I will not be visiting their booth at Stitches West, because that would probably be catastrophic. My major most awesome find was this honking huge skein of laceweight Merino yarn by Caellach Dyes:

It’s actually three skeins dyed in gradient tones. Too soft for words and the prettiest dove grey I’ve seen in a long time. It was absolutely destined to be used in my Mondnacht stole (remember that?).

At Thai Silks I went a little wild as well:

From left to right, 80/20 linen/silk, 100% silk chiffon, 100% silk chiffon dyed copper for a very secret, very cool project I’m working on for a friend who sometimes reads this blog. So, shh!, I can’t say more.

The white chiffon was clearly Bailey’s favorite, since I had to literally pull it out of her mouth:

Little monster.

And at Uncommon Threads I found another line of Isager yarns that I hadn’t encountered before, Højlandsgarn (lit. “Highland Yarn”) that I am madly, desperately in love with.

Think Shetland Spindrift… only softer (the Isager line uses only lambswool) and deliciously heathered.  I’m telling you, mad love.  I think I might have to lobby for it at the store when I get home.

OMG, it’s 11:35 and I’m watching American Idol with the ladies (don’t ask), after major trauma involving a screaming toddler (new record) and an overly-energetic and teething puppy.  Time for bed.  It’s 15 minutes to midnight.  Tomorrow (ha, today in 12 minutes), A and Tegan and I are headed to Stitches.  Pray for them, cause it’s just foolish to enter a tradeshow that size with me.

I’m gonna bring the camera.  Prepare for madness :D

Life is still really crazy but seems to be calming down a bit.  Nevertheless, I continue to fantasize about hopping a plane and escaping to a tropical island (warmth! sun!) where no one will find me.  Sounds lovely, right?

Eh.  I’d have to find my passport.

Anyway.  I went outside to take some pix this afternoon and discovered something interesting.  Did you know sage is an evergreen?

Clearly it must be, as this plant survived being buried alive in three feet of snow and is obviously flourishing in February.  And Dad wanted to empty out the pots before the move.  Ha.

While I was out there I got pix of my now finished Esperanza Scarf:

And a closeup of the textured stitch pattern…

Info:

• Yarn: Schaefer Yarn Company “Esperanza” in Jane Addams.  1 skein, 280 yds.
• Pattern: made it up with a pattern from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.
• Needles: US 11 9″ straights

Loved the yarn a lot.  So now I’m harboring a deep lust for the 4 skeins of Clara Bow we have in stock – maybe a vest or lap blanket?  Any excuse will work, really (this should tell you something as I HATE bulky yarns, generally).

Anyway.  Onto an ongoing projects that’s living up to its name.  My backstabbing socks:

and cables:

Grr.  I started on this yarn, intending to make a pair for my SIL Karen (I’m visiting in 10 days and don’t have everything ready, aaahhh!), and… well… grr.  The sock seemed a bit small, so I tried it on.  It fits me perfectly.  Which wouldn’t be a problem if Karen didn’t have US 8.5 feet.  I’m a US 7.  Guess how well it’ll fit her.  Yah.  I’ve just CO another pair (yes, 2 at once) that I’m hoping to finish before I hop on that plane* next Wednesday.

Oh, well.  The Backstabber socks (yes, that’s the actual name of the colorway) are lovely and fit well, so I shouldn’t complain.  It all be okay.

But now it’s 9pm and I’ve got to finish my laundry before I crawl into bed.  Toodles until next time.

*Not the one to Tahiti, alas.

You would not believe all the craziness in my life right now.  I’ve switched jobs at work and am now responsible for the functionality and productivity of the store’s website and online activities. I think. I just started on Monday and still don’t really know what I’m doing.

On top of that, well, the parents (technically ‘we’, I guess) bought a house:

In Southeast Portland, in the Woodstock neighborhood. (We’re currently in the Mt Tabor neighborhood) It’s not that huge a move – maybe 20 blocks in either direction – but the timing is not the best. Our official move-in date is the 21st, 3 days before I hop on a plane to elope to the Bay Area for a week. I absolutely refuse to cancel my travel plans. Aside from desperately needing a vacation, it would actually cost me more than the ticket did to reschedule or cancel my reservation. Oy. So, over the next 3 weeks I get to work FT (while actually figuring out what my job is), pack up all my stuff and work on several Top Secret projects that have deadlines right around the move-in date. Joy.

There is some good news about the house, though. It’s roughly twice the size of the house we’re renting now (which means I can move half of my stash out of the garage into the actual house, ha!), and it has an enormous kitchen:

Considering the one we’ve been stuck with is the size of a walk-in closet, that’s a major improvement. Huge. More than one person can make a sandwich in the new kitchen.

Hm. There’s lots more going on. I’m not supposed to talk about one of the biggies. But, so you don’t get annoyed with me (any more than you probably already are about my bad blogging habits lately), look what I found on the InterWebs while searching for photos of TNNA:

My sweater! How weird is that? Personally, I’m not too big on the collar half unbuttoned, but hey… it’s still cool to have found it serendipitously.

… And the model’s not half-bad either ;D Of course, no man could ever outshine Patrick, right? Anyway. I have to go back to packing boxes and more boxes, but at least we’re sort of caught up.

Not a bad one, and I’m not complaining, but it sure was exhausting. Which can be proven by the 12 hours of sleep I got last night and the 2 hour nap I took this afternoon. Most nights this week I didn’t get home ’til around midnight and usually only got 6 hours of sleep before going to work the next morning. Blah.

Monday through Tuesday?  Work, work, work.  Preparing for this weekend, getting a newsletter together, etc etc.  Wednesday?  Wednesday was awesome.  Mostly because it ended with dinner at Clyde Commons:

With quite a crew of characters.  Left to right: Sandy B, Kristin Spurkland, Jared Flood (yes, the brooklyntweed), Bing, Me, and Sandy Kay.  I have to admit that it was quite intimidating to go to the restaurant alone (the Sandy’s had to close the store) to meet up with two knitting superstars.  At least I know Kristin, but I’d never seen or spoken with Jared in person so it was rather like a blind date when we were trying to find each other.  Oy.

The dinner was great (I shan’t go on because I know how perilous that might be), but it was definitely a contributor to my lack of sleep this week.  I seriously didn’t get home until midnight Wednesday.

Thursday was very similar (in a hectic, late night sort of way).   We ran around all day trying to prepare for TNNA, work on a newsletter and get business done, but at 5:50 I had to leave to prepare for Jared’s lecture:

Which was awesome, of course.  His slide show was just lovely.  Again, not going to go on, because I just know someone will take out a hit on me.  When he finished taking questions, we had a sort of  afterparty:

This was taken just before the end (as I was busy at the register until then), but I think everyone had a lot of fun.  And, just before we closed up shop, Adam (of Twisted) showed us his very nifty Koolhaas made with… ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted!

In Wasabi.

Friday meant another newsletter.  Which went out a little before 6pm.  In it were my newly released Ayanna Mitts:

Made with one skein of Koigu Mori.  I just have to make a pair for myself now, I like the sample so much.

Today?

Today was laziness at its best.  Slept, ate, knit, ate, knit, knit some more, blogging now, plan to knit even more.  Great day, really.

And as for Sunday, I have Mah Jongg tomorrow.  Should be fun.  I’m sorry I don’t have more knitting in this post.  Or decent photos, really.  I haven’t quite worked out this new camera yet.  I’ll try and take some decent photos tomorrow.  Honest.

Until then, I still have tons of knitting time left…

Two posts in two days.  It’s probably not going to become a habit, though.

Let’s see…  so many projects, so little time.  I probably should mention that it snowed again on Friday night.  No, I’m not cranky about how frigidly cold it is right now at all.  There’s even some of that really cold white stuff lying around the yard where anyone might step in it.

Still not in love with it.  Maybe if it wasn’t so slippery every morning.  Anyway, back to the knitting.  I’m halfway through this scarf:

… which is going to be a pattern for the Simple Knits collection at the store.  I think.  Using the new Sheep One by Sheep Shop Yarn.  Can’t remember what color it is.  The yarn itself is quite nice.  Somewhere between Manos and Malabrigo in softness and weight.  I might use it again for myself.

Next is the second Ana Bandana I’m making with Silk Maiden…

In Peridot.  It glimmers and shimmers and just looks sooooo pretty.  This yarn is awesome.  I want to roll in it, quite honestly.

And lastly, for our OTN update, we have a pair of socks (shocker there, I’m certain):

In ShibuiKnits Sock, color “Tweed”.  Loving it.  Always love Sock, really.  The pattern?  Who knows what’ll happen.

While I was out in the sunlight (a rare occasion in Oregon during the winter, to be sure), I snapped some shots of a new Japanese knitting book I got yesterday:

“New Styles of Heirloom Knitting”.  Really awesome book that features traditional Aran, Shetland and Fair Isle inspired garments.  I was finally swayed into purchasing said book by the three lace projects:

Of which the Mondnacht stole (literally “Moonlit Night”) has earned a place in my ravelry queue.

I’m thinking that gorgeous Orenburg lace yarn (Silk/ Angora) would be suitable for it.  The pattern requires 1500+ yarns, which the skein has.  Though, I might change direction after a visit to Stitches West and the Lacis Museum.

Yes, I am hopping, skipping and jumping a flight to the Bay Area in two months to visit my favorite sister’s* family for a week in late February/ early March.  While there, I plan on getting into toooons of mischief.  It’s the only way to travel, in my opinion.

Speaking of travel, I have also made a New Year’s resolution.  It’s kind of crazy and it came to me yesterday as I was sitting at Pho Van talking with Opus about travel.  I am going to go to Israel by the end of this year. That’s it.  No weight loss, no becoming a better person, no vows to finish all my wips.  Atypical and nontraditional, to be sure, but I think it’ll work for me.

This is also a huge resolution to fulfill, as I have lost my passport and I hate the thought of applying for a new one.  I also speak no Hebrew (except Aramaic, really) and… well, I don’t even have a plan set yet.  But, I am bound and determined and am going to do it.  Hamas be damned.

I may even decide to extend my Birthright Trip and spend a couple of extra weeks over there.  Why the heck not?  I bet I could do all sorts of things**.

And after that bombshell, what can I say?  Other than I need to look into Hebrew and Arabic language classes and work on a PLN***?  Not much.  To add some insanity to the crazy, I’d also like to learn Japanese this year so when I call Tokyo for work (cue the dread of tomorrow), I’ll actually be able to respond with something other “Sumimasen, English, onegai“.  All things considered, I might just make next year’s resolution be to visit Japan (if I actually manage to learn Japanese).  How awesome would that be?

… I should probably start saving now, as the airfare will be killer.

*Yes, I may only have one sister, but she’d totally be my favorite anyway.

**That probably won’t involve yarn, dear knitters.  My heart just goes wild at the thought of visiting Petra, what can I say?

*** Sorry, couldn’t resist the Pratchett reference.

Let’s start off by admitting that it’s been a crazy one.

On Monday, Gina wore the socks I knit for her:

I thought they looked awesome and she said she loves to wear ‘em.

Tuesday… well, Tuesday couldn’t have been good because I don’t remember it. That’s not as strange as it might sounds, since I tend to skip entire days and never even notice it. The only thing I remember about Tuesday was the Matzah Ball soup I treated myself (and my sore throat) to at the deli down the street.

Wednesday, I assembled 150+ boxes for the January Sock kits for the store’s Sock Club:

My hands cramp at the memory.

Thursday was very similar to Wednesday in that it was all about the Sock Club. (Happy New Year! by the way) Mum and Dad even came in to help us get out this month’s sock kit because there was so much to be done. Here’s Dad very dutifully folding patterns:

Don’t worry, I’m going to reward them. I already took Dad out for fish and chips at the Rose and Thistle (that was Friday night) and I’ve promised to take them both to Habibi. Don’t think Mum is missing out, she has two pairs of handknit socks OTN.

Friday… was long. So long it involved quite a larger amount of ‘medicinal’ drinking than I normally indulge in. No, I did not get any pictures of this quite rare phenomenon. Imagine me at a bar with my knitting, if you want to be boring and realistic.  If not, I could have been fighting demon hordes all evening.  Since I have no photos, nothing can be proven or disproven – feel free to make up a fun adventure for me.

Today (Saturday) was great. I’m still fighting off some nasty bug, so Opus and I met up and headed over to Pho Van. Pho is like the miracle cure for sore throats I am at least 100% better than I was this morning. After the Pho also came medicinal chocolate:

Which also clearly helped my world view.

This blissful interlude was, rather unfortunately, followed by the most disturbing baby Jesus Christmas tree ornament I have ever* seen (brace yourself)…

Doesn’t he look like some coy 1940’s pin-up? Very distressing.

(Background: Opus and I had stopped in at a post-Christmas sale so she could stock up on presents for next year. Oh, the trauma we suffered for the sake of her relatives. I made Opus distract the sales staff while I, ah, documented this travesty for posterity’s sake.)

Though, as we left the store, we were treated to the sight of the Beaverton Town Center clock tower lit up:

Which was quite pretty. I don’t envy the person (or persons) who get(s) to put up and take down all those lights every year.

And now I’m home.  I probably should mention all three new knitting projects I’ve started in the past two days and a bunch of other things, but I’m tired and ready for bed.  Maybe next time.  If I feel up to it, I’m going to try and post tomorrow.  ‘Til then, watch out for those demon hordes…

*So, of course, I simply had to photograph it.

All that white stuff that was covering everything?

It’s GONE.

YAAAY! Of course, I freely admit that I/ we didn’t suffer even a 1 on the 1-10 scale of snowed-in horror stories.  We had power, we had water and (thank you, Fates) we DIDN’T have a house full of relatives over for the holidays.

But, since the snow finallyfinally melted last night, I met up with Opus at Peet’s this afternoon:

(Who was, arguably, in a worse situation than me with all the white stuff floating around.)

While there I cast on Dylan’s Brainmoster (also ‘finally’) because I (finally) got gauge on the third try.  The yarn is ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in “Dragonfly”.  Loving knitting with it so far.  S’yummy.

Other than that?  Laundry, too many WIPs, and workworkwork.  S’all good.  Well, reasonably.

Anyway, have to go back to the laundry, but I promise to take the new digicam out and have some fun soon.  Also, I’ll get my pattern-writing skills together and come up with some rough drafts that’ll need testing.

We finally managed to dig the CRV out today. Took Dad and me some time, but it was worth it. By and by, both Mum and Dad seem to have recovered from the creeping crud, though Emm is probably still contagious. Yuck.

After freeing the car, Dad and I bravely set out to get food (ran out of meat yesterday and don’t even ask about the crisper). This might have been a mistake for the ages. Hitting Costco two days before Christmas did seem a bit crazy, but we were getting hungry.

While there, I picked out my birthday gift, a new Olympus digicam:

Please pardon the sad webcam photo. So, to break it in (so to speak), here is it’s very first blog post photo:

Gina’s finished Christmas socks. Made with two skeins of ShibuiKnits Sock in “Man Blue” on 2 Addi Turbo 22″ circs size 1.5 (2.5mm). I totally made up the pattern as I went, but like it so much I’m gonna try it out again. Might need a test knitter or two, if it works out to my satisfaction.

You’ve probably guessed by now that I didn’t make it to work today (alas). I am bound and determined to get there tomorrow. I think. I have to call and confirm they’ll actually be open.

Time to eat dinner.  Toods.