One Crazy Fiber Lady

It has been a very crazy week at Chez CFL.  This weekend was hands down a blast.  I had a fabulous time with Jessica, who is as always, a fabo festival buddy.  She has an excellent write up of our weekend.  Heck, I’ve already posted all the photos I took.  Sadly, the only camera I used was my phone and posted them immediately.  I’m also gonna skip the whole photographic evidence of my fiber-y gluttony beyond the shot into the back of my car on Sunday.

BTW, Manise had it right, I only bought one wheel this weekend, the Ladybug.  I had toted the Matchless along as my weekend wheel but she never made it out of the car.  One of my early purchases on Saturday was the trundle wheels for her, but they were returned a few hours later when I bought the Ladybug.  All the stuff on the right side was Jessica’s with mine on the left.  I purchased NO fleece (Jessica picked up that gorgeous Cormo), believe it or not, but the rest of the white fluffy bits were bundles of BFL from Little Barn.

I took Monday off from work to relax and recover from the weekend.  I learned this trick a bunch of years ago and try to repeat it whenever possible.  It gives me a day to indulge the spinning demons that possess me after a weekend at the festival.  I also HAD to get to know the new wheel.  I didn’t realize that each wheel had a little ladybug in different spots.  Here’s my little cutie.  That black bit in the stretchy driveband going over the whorl.  I love that the flyers/bobbins are completely interchangable with the Matchless (who you can see sitting behind the ladybug). 

I started with this bump of mystery roving that I picked up from Still River Mill(?).  It’s approximately 9 oz or so that varied in color from the light pink on the outside to that green on the inside.  I spun it as it at what will hopefully be a worsted weight two ply.  I um, finished this up by the end of Monday :)  Two bobbins worth.  I’m going to ply it with a natural colored BFL that I got from Little Barn.  I’m mostly done with the first of those bobbins now. 

So after all this spinning with the Ladybug, two pretty intense days, I have to say, I LOVES her.  She’s definitely a Schacht and spins like one.  She bothers my ankle not a whit which is perfect.  Anything longer than a half hour and Gem had me hurting.  This baby?  Nuthin.  Hours and hours spent with her were joyful and painfree.  Gem is now looking for a new home.  Again, you can see my Matchless sneaking into the picture behind Ladybug.

Tuesday was just insane.  I chaperoned a field trip for the kids to an area farm to learn about animals.  Four school busloads full of little kids.  {shudder}  Three pre-k’s and the kindergarten class.  It was fun, but somewhere during the second hour, the 21 little kids in my group all started to hit the wall of attention span and were wandering off. 

Wednesday was rather uneventful but my first day back in the office since Thursday.  We’re preparing for a release so things are a bit crazed as we try to cram more and more into the package.  I hit my deadline on the big project last week and have now moved into a QA phase with it.  Feels good, even if I lost about 9 days worth of work in a reorganization of the code.  It took way less time to rebuild, thank goodness.

I had to work from home yesterday as Kat developed a stomach bug.  Ugh.  I think i would have rathered been in the office than spending that much time in the bathroom.  She’s better today and went to school.  Fingers crossed that she stays there.

Since MD, I’ve been feeling a little off on the knitting.  There’s been the overwhelming desire to spin.  More troubling though has been the lack of desire to knit on Unst.  Not sure why and it doesn’t bode well for the project as a whole.  On Wednesday it was replaced for commuting knitting by Leaf Lace shawl.   Then last night, after reading a few Ravelry forums, I jumped in on the May Sockdown and started Uzume  (sorry, only have the Ravelry link) in some Koigu that was sitting about.  I’m really loving this sock.  I’m at the halfway point of the first cuff.  Sweet.  Not bad for casting it on last night before LOST.

Craft on!

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I figured I’d spare you all another picture of just one more repeat of the lace. Other than the bore factor of seeing minor progress, there’s the little fact that I’m off my one repeat a day pace. First on Monday morning, I did the same pattern row twice. Too busy jabbering with my fellow commuters. Naturally I didn’t find this until my commute home when I spent most of the trip TINKing the last two rows. Then this morning I found I’d dropped a stitch and it had gone back 4 rows or so. I had some repair work to do. Finally, as of the ride home tonight I’d finished the third repeat of both motifs. So instead of a lace picture you get a shot I took this morning after getting off the ferry.

I guess everyone has seen the secret coding work I’ve been up to recently by now I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. I like learning new languages, as long as they aren’t spoken languages! Depending on how brain drained I get this summer, I might wind up cranking out socks

Even though I plied this yarn up probably a month ago, I finally got it off the bobbin this evening. Need to get the wheel ready for traveling this weekend and all that! As a reminder, this is from fiber that I bought at NYSW this past fall to knit an argyle vest (Eunny’s Deep V - too lazy to get the link now - sorry). The pumpkin color is pure merino and the multicolor is a merino/tencel blend. I love the colors and how they look together. I spun all the fiber first and have been plying since: the first to the fourth, second to third, etc to even out any inconsistencies over the many months of short spinning sessions. I haven’t done the maths on the blend, but the pumpkin is 240yds.  I think I’ll spend the rest of the night plying the remainder of the blend.  That stuff is taking up my remaining Woolee Winder bobbins for the Schacht

Craft on!

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I’ve been making progress on my Not-so-blue Boatneck Bluebell. It has made for decent train knitting as it is still small and not particularly brain intensive at the moment. I’ve found I can read while I’m knitting it. What am I reading now?: Screamfree Parenting: The Revolutionary Approach to Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool. The SMC multiple mom’s group that I belong to formed a book club of sorts to discuss various parenting books. This is the current one and is actually a pretty decent book. But I digress, here’s the sweater as of this morning’s commute.

In this picture you can finally see the heathery-ness of the yarn with the bits of pink tossed in with the orange.

I’m one round short of finishing the first “clue” in the Orkney Pi KAL with the second clue published today. As promised I have a picture of it for you. I couldn’t quite get the real color in this photo, but for those who have ridden on the newer burgundy NJ Transit train cars, I noticed that the yarn is a dead on match for the seats. Nice. Gave my eye some tricky bits this evening while I was working on it Anyway, you won’t be seeing too many pictures of the growing blob as blob pictures are pretty boring. If I can get sections spread out and good shots, I will.

This weekend’s super fast fiber to yarn to hat project reminded me of how much I like to knit with my own handspun. I don’t do it very often and I’m not entirely sure why. Possibly because I go through phases with spinning where I either do a lot or very little. Another problem is that I tend to buy fiber in bulk which then takes me forever to finish up so that I can knit it. The final factor that I can see is that the yarn itself is a finished product in my mind. A lot of what I spin isn’t destined to be anything but yarn. I rarely spin with an item in mind (this last project was an exception as I intended that from the outset). I really do have to do it more often. Towards that end, I’ve taken to spinning on an almost nightly basis and am a couple of hours away from completing the singles for the vest project I started shortly after Rhinebeck. More on that one another night.

Interestingly enough, the last items I made from my own handspun is this pair of socks from some Spunky Club fibers that I did most of at the June gathering of the Jersey Spinners! I guess I need to get together with these gals more often!

Craft on!

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The last couple of days have just been superb. In no particular order:

1. Alex is better, thank you everyone for your well wishes. His fever seemed to have broken sometime Thursday night. He was fine for the weekend (typical) and even went to school today. He was beat by the end of the day though and went to bed without an argument.

2. Work is going fabulous. I have a totally cool project that is just flowing along. I even figured out the hardest bit that had been giving me trouble for the last couple of days and got it all working. Its all cool.

3. Saturday, as you probably all know already, I spent the afternoon amongst friends and fiber (and as usually goes with those two, excellent food). Jessica hosted a marvelous fiber gathering at her house (I plead camnesia again which is why I don’t have a picture of the gathering). I spun the lovely dyed fiber that she gave me two weeks ago. About 4oz of cheviot wool dyed in my favorite pink/brown/cream colorway! Amazingly enough, I finished the singles (2 bobbins worth) at Jessica’s and then plyed them Saturday night. I even washed the resulting 256yds Saturday night, setting the skein to dry in front of the heat. Forced hot air is good for something besides dry skin



4. Sunday after breakfast I pulled out a pattern and needles and went to work. Shortly before dinner, I had a new hat. This is the Utopia hat. Full project details here. I even wet blocked the darn thing yesterday and wore it to work this morning. Love love love it.

5. My old cell phone number was FINALLY ported over to Sprint on Saturday after a conference call between Sprint, T-Mobile and myself. Now what to do with my old T-Mobile Razr. The downside of new tech means I have old tech laying about.

6. After an email discussion with a fellow CSM’er (Thank you again Tori!!!), I was able to finally get a tight enough gauge to knit a sock to fit my wee narrow foot. I changed back to the 72 stitch cylinder, tightened the tension after adding ALOT of weight until the point where it started skipping needles and then backed it down one crank. Using the heel spring to add tension, I got 10st/in using the Felici from Knitpicks. I did a practice, proof of concept tube, followed by a heel, and then another tube until I ran out of yarn. IT FIT! I’m a happy camper and no longer ready to post the thing on eBay. Yay.

7. I started yet another project. The EZasPi yahoo group is doing another Pi KAL. This time it is the Orkney Pi, designed by Liz Lovick. I’m a few rounds shy of finishing the 160st section. I’m using Misti Alpaca Laceweight in that yummy burgundy color that I do love so much on US3’s. No pictures yet, but I’ll take one tomorrow.

Craft on!

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I got a few comments/questions about the new lace project out of handspun. The singles haven’t been prepared in any special way. I’ve done nothing more with it than let is sit first on the bobbin and then in the center pull ball since I finished spinning it a few months back. I had a discussion with Cheryl at Mass this year about knitting lace with singles and I’ve been meaning to try it since. Blocking will take care of any biasing that will occur because the yarn isn’t balanced. I’m very happy with the results so far! This isn’t a great picture by a long shot, but you get the idea of where it is going.

I did a little spinning today. I managed to finish off two oz of a merino/tencel blend that I bought from Sheep Shed at NYSW’07. I’ve actually finished spinning the solid pumpkin colored merino but do need to ply it. The two yarns are earmarked for Eunny’s Argyle Vest.

I had a reminder of my past as a prolific sock knitter. You see, I’d run out of clean hand knit socks and well, it was time to wash. Yeah, I hate laundry. Very much. So today, in order to avoid cold foot syndrome during the chilly commute, I decided it was finally time for the ritual washing of the socks. I didn’t realize I had so many until I laid them all out to dry. That’s 6 feet of mat that they are drying on.

I think I have my issues with the editor worked out. I did a little googling yesterday and tripped on the whole shift+enter for paragraph breaks. There’s also an acknowledged problem with using the TinyMCE with Safari on a Mac. Any surprise that I’d been using Safari on my macbook? Yeah, now I’m using Firefox to write this. The proof is in the actual post though.

Last night I had a great deal of fun taking advantage of XBox Live and the ability to chat long distance for naught by my membership fee. Liz and I played games together online. It was way cool! Until I had a brain fart and shut down the xbox before saying goodbye. I was busy chatting with her, finished up a game I was playing and then we decided it was time to call it a night. It wasn’t until the thing had powered down and the headset was now silent that my brain kicked back into gear and I realized my mistake. Chalk it up to being a noob in the online gaming arena. Other than a couple of ass-kickings that I took a bunch of years back playing Quake 3 over dialup with a bunch of college guys (who’d frag me as soon as I’d respawn) most of my years of gaming have been solitary and/or local. The ex-h and I used to play NHL on the Genesis. Yes, I’m dating myself a bit now

Okay, time to get the crazy monkeys into bed. Tomorrow is a school/work day.

Craft on!

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Trying something new that has been banging around inside my skull for a couple of days now as a post theme.  Really thinking about it, there are three big components of my life, ABC’s if you will.    I present them to you:

A is for Animals

There are a couple of critters (other than the bipeds) who live in this house.  They are all doing fine.  Here is the choice photo of the week..

Even though I’ve had cat(s) now for decades, I continue to be surprised by the way they contort themselves.  Note that Sara’s coat has FINALLY grown back in from that "grooming" last December.  Took a good long time for it to really achieve full puff.

B is for Babies (though not such babies)

The girl child continues to sleep in increasingly odd spots.  A few nights ago, I found her just inside my room sleeping on the hardwood floor.  Personally, I love how she wedged her Zoey doll into the door

She’s also taken a liking to sock yarn.  I find her quite frequently digging through the sock yarn basket in my room, picking out a few skeins.  I left her one morning, as I went to work, with this collection in the kitchen.  Not sure where this addiction comes from ;)  She does have good taste in yarns though!

Boy is modeling a sweater that I knit years ago out of sock yarn.  I think it is an Ann Norling pattern, but I’d have to go digging in the old pattern notebook to confirm.  I made it for my sister’s oldest, who is turning 11 in December.  It came back as a hand-me-down a short time ago.  Alex found it in his closet and has taken a liking to it.  Fits him well too!  And yes, I have a pair of socks in the same yarn….and if memory serves correctly, probably one of my first pairs also from a Norling basic sock pattern.

C is for Crafts

I’ve been doing some serious crafting, thanks to the daily train ride.  First up the knitting:

I knit a Drive-Thru for Kat in just about a week (10/1 to 10/7 for the knitting and I did the buttons on 10/12).  I made the 4yo size.  The yarn was a combo of Cascade 220 (the fuscia which is the same as last year’s sweater) and Galway (black and white). 

The Galway is left over from Alex’s Drive-Thru:

They’ll probably be wearing these sweaters next Sunday at Rhinebeck.  I’ll be wearing this:

I finally made it through the sewing parts of Minimalist.  I do want to give it a good soaking, probably should do that today.  I do like this sweater very much.  I knit it from Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in the Casket colorway.  It was a fast knit that took me longer to assemble.  I have no pictures of it, but Ribby is also assembled.  It is just waiting for a zipper.  I was on a bit of a finishing quick towards the end of last week.  I should probably sew it in tonight and have a finished shot soon.

Also in the works is my swatch sleeve for Autumn Rose.  I’m loving this project.   I hit gauge right off the bat with it, which makes me quite happy.  It doesn’t make for great train knitting (but that’s what things like socks and Clapotis are for) but I’ve made progress the last two nights while watching the Red Sox play :)  Sara graciously agreed to model…

I’ve caught the Fair Isle bug and rediscovered that I like colorwork.  The Ingeborg kit might actually bubble to the top of the queue sooner now, and I picked up some yummy yarns at MY last week to knit Eunny’s Argyle Vest.

There’s also been a bit of spinning around here.  Have to, must justify further purchases at Rhinebeck next week!!!! 

First, I finally finished that cashmere/silk blend that I bought at MASW this year from Foxfire Fibers in Greylock.  I’m leaving it as singles and will probably knit the Shetland Triangle with it.

I have two bobbins of the wool blend roving that I bought at GSSB  to knit Kat a sweater done.  I’ve been spinning this stuff a rather fluffy long draw.

I also plied a bunch of bobbins that have been sitting around for a while, but no pictures of those at present.  I still need to skein em up and wash em. 

So yeah, its been busy around here, but it always is.  Its better that way.

Next weekend is Rhinebeck.  Woot.  The monkeys and I (along with a mother’s helper) will be there on Sunday.  I’m a square again this year!

I think that covers most of what’s been going on.  I’m sure there’s something I’m forgetting though.  Oh yeah, including my third blogiversary which was this past thursday.  Happy Blogiversary to me :)  Whodathunk I’d still be at it three years later.  Surely not me!

Craft on!

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While it might appear otherwise, I am indeed alive and well.  I’m seriously touched by recent comments inquiring as to how I am.  It has sadly been a long while since I posted, and I’m sorry about that.  Part of the reason has been that work involves a longer day as I’m now getting home at 7:15 instead of 6:15.  Dinner is now later, which I don’t always get to share with the monkeys either.   I’m trying to adjust to the new schedule and hopefully will get into a real routine that will also include semi-regular posting shortly. 

In the meanwhile, here’s a random Wednesday update as to what has happened over the last THREE (can it really be that long?) weeks:

1.  The twins were on vacation for ages.  Their last day at the old school was August 24th.  They’ve been home, making my mother nuts since.  I did provide her a bit of relief that last week of August when I had one of the girls from school come over for two days.  They finally started up again today at the new place (Tutor Time) and were almost eager to go this morning.  They took to it like old pros.  Alex asked of he could go back tomorrow.  I’ll take that as a good sign, especially since they only go M/W/F

2.  We spent Labor Day weekend on the boat.  The weather was gorgeous and sadly, for most of it, I had camnesia.  I did manage to remember the thing for Alex’s first fish.  We fished off the back of the boat while tied up at our regular slip at the marina.  He caught this little baby using grilled chicken as bait.  It’s not a huge fish, but darn good for his first time out.  The little dickens reeled it in himself!  I managed a few catches too including a small pike, a crab and even a catfish.  It was a very relaxing weekend!

3.  I finished spinning up the second bobbin of that BFL on my Schacht last week.  I pulled out the Fricke eSpinner Friday night and plied it all.  I had forgotten how wonderful that sucker is for plying.  It took me over an hour to ply it all.  Contrary to standard practice, I skeined it and then even washed it immediately.  I set it out to dry in the sun on Saturday.  I’m pleased with the colors and am eager to see how it knits up.  I haven’t measured either the length or the wpi of this skein, but it is all of 4.5oz.  Will be plenty for socks.

4.  Knitting continues.  I have finished not one nor two but three pairs of socks since I last posted.  First up was the Monkeys:

Not sure when I started, or even finished these.  I just know they were done when I started the next pair on Aug 15th.  Notice the lack of monkey-ness on the foot.  I went with the plain knit and opted for a smaller needle than the pattern calls for.  The socks fit my little feet perfectly.

With the leftover Lorna’s in Bittersweet, I knit a pair of socks for Miss Kat.  I did hers toe-up over 44st and used a rib lace pattern on the cuff.  I increased the stitch count the round after the short row heel to accommodate the pattern.  Miss-miss is very happy with her new socks and immediately tucked them in the nearest bag.  I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but the chick is a serious bag lady.  Everything is in bags!  Anyway… I’m very pleased with the socks and will prolly make her (and her bro) a few more pairs.  These were started on 8/18 and finished on 8/24 (my former wedding anniversary but that’s for another post

Finally there was a third pair started/finished.  More basic vanilla stockinette socks in STR Silkie Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway.  I believe I got this yarn in a swap with Dorre, for what, I don’t actually remember :)  Couldn’t be more standard.  US1’s, toe-up, short row heel.  blah blah blah.  Started:  8/15 Finished:  8/29.  The preschooler socks snuck in before I managed to finish both socks.

The crochet sock blankie progresses but that, like a few other projects, completely lacks updated photos.  I’m just shy of the armpits on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.  I’ve acquired the yarn (but haven’t cast on yet) for the Hemlock blanket.  It’s rather high in the queue and I might just tackle it this weekend.  We’ll see.  I also finally dug out the much neglected Ribby that I started so very long ago.  A hidden note in the sidebar indicates that I cast on for it on 4/5/06.  I worked on it off and on, mostly off obviously, but last touched it last winter as a break from Celtic Dreams.  Seeing Deb progress on hers made me remember this bad old thing hanging about and I finally dug it out from the back of the closet where it has been hiding since I moved into my new room last February.  I’m ashamed to admit how far along I was when it went into hiding.  Earl here helped me show you:

I had completed not only the back and both sleeves, but also the right front and had done the lower ribbing on the right.  One evening in front of the TV and I had it to the armpit.  One more night and it was done.  I’ve ordered (and even received) a zipper for it, now I just need to do the fiddly things.  But first it needs a blocking.  {snicker} maybe this weekend.

That should do it for now.  Hopefully more very soon including further catch-up.  Miss you!

Craft on!

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First the important stuff, the job is going very well.  It is nice to be wanted for a change.  At my orientation I heard that they’d been looking for someone for a long time.  I’m really honored that they think its me.  I just hope I can live up to that kind of expectation.  I haven’t done any programming yet, but spent the last two days getting my desktop computer ready.  It took over 7 hours today building the website.  Which, by the way, is a pretty nifty product.  The day is longer and I’ll be on a later train home, making the evening shorter.  But honestly, for rewarding work in a healthy environment is worth the extra hour. 

After getting the twins down this evening, seeing as it is Tuesday, I pulled out the Schacht and that lovely BFL.  I could only manage one more length and have two left.  Here’s a picture of where it stands now. I seriously have trouble seeing the difference between this and Sunday’s, but didn’t notice that until I’d uploaded the file to the computer.

I’m going to spare a picture of the second Monkey sock.  Honestly, it looks the same as the first sock, only not finished yet.  I turned the heel this morning and had half the foot done by the time I got off the train this evening.   That baby is going down tomorrow.

I will show the progress on the Granny Square Sock Yarn Leftover Blankie that is turning out to be ever so popular!

I’ve worked my way through 6 different yarns now and am onto the 7th.  I have the remote in for scale and yes, my stitch holder is one of Kat’s barrettes.  She hasn’t seemed to mind the non-traditional use for it yet, though I did expect her to.

I think I’m going to call it an early night.

Craft on!

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Thanks to everyone for all their Last Day wishes.  It was so nice for it to be over!  I got another reminder during those last few hours of why I was leaving as the goofus director used his speakerphone to join a conference call that everyone else was on using their handsets and generated an echo as they spot.  It was lovely and now it is over.  Tomorrow morning I have orientation at the new gig.  I’m really looking forward to starting there.  I just have to remember to get on a different PATH train

The family spent a better part of the weekend on the boat.  We headed up after lunch on Saturday, relaxed for a bit and then went out for dinner.  I got a little loopy on margaritas.  MMMM.  I haven’t had one in a LONG time and it was nice to have a good one.  On the rocks please, not that slushy version, and yes for ice.  Yum.

Today we took the boat out for a ride and afterward, we did some work with a few preschool skills books that I picked up at B&N last week.  We worked on Letters, Numbers and Same/Different.   She did amazingly well with the Same/Different.  Alex wasn’t able to get the puzzle, but Kat scooted over and got it right off the bat.  He got frustrated and disappeared into the cabin with dad while Kat and I continued to work.

I never realized how smart she is.  She’s really quiet and lets Alex lead.  He’s mechanically bright, able to figure out how things work, like the child-proof tap on the water cooler that he got to work last year.  Kat only got it a few months ago, but he’s been able to do it for almost a year.  I was pleasantly surprised.  We’re definitely going to be working with these books more.

I hesitate to admit, what with the already overflowing sock yarn stash that I showed last week, but I’ve acquired more.  I can’t pass up a sale nor not order from a new yarn pusher :)  I tripped on another yarn pusher:  Woolgirl.

From left to right:

• Lazy Perry Ranch in Periwinkle
• Mama Llama Bamboo Sock in Grand
• Union Center WhatNot Sock in Kitty’s Eyes
• Woolarina Handpaint in Summer Harvest

I’d highly recommend WoolGirl.  Shipping was superfast and there was a really cute little sheepy stitch marker and a pack of woolwash (Soak) with my order.  I’m definitely ordering from there again.  There might have also been an order placed with Pick Up Sticks last week too but I ain’t saying. 

Finally, since today is Sunday, there was spinning going on here.  I started on the second half of the BFL from Painted Skeins.  Unlike the first half, I’ve split this half in 1/5th’s lengthwise.   I’ve made sure to keep them in the same orientation  so that I start each with the same end.  Should make for an interesting effect when plied together.  I finished two of the five lengths.  Unlike the first bobbin, you can actually see the various colors peaking through as there was less of each wound on.

I’m looking forward to finishing this up as I want to try something else.  I picked up the book, Spinning for Softness and Speed, and I really want to try it.  I saw it mentioned on someone’s blog recently and ordered it off eBay.  I’ve read the first couple of chapters and am itchin’ to try it.  I didn’t want to do it in the middle of any of the current projects so I need to finish one.  Looks like the Schacht will be the first wheel freed up, now to find the right wool.  I think the processed CVM mellowing in the basement might be a good choice.

I think I’m going to turn in early.  I want to be fresh for the first day tomorrow. 

Craft on!

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No soap opera moments here today.  At least I don’t think so at the moment.  I have an early morning appointment tomorrow at a nursery/daycare center (Tutor Time - if anyone has experience with the chain please do chime in!) and another Friday afternoon.  I should be able to finish this project off before starting the new job Monday.  Have I mentioned that I START A NEW JOB on Monday? :)  Thank goodness. 

I’ve been sitting idle at work since last Tuesday when I deployed the last project I’d been working on.  Figures I get an email from someone a half hour ago regarding something that had been in discussion as a wish list item in APRIL.  They’ve finally compiled what they want, what format did I want it in.  Um. None ;)  I copied my original email, along with a reminder that Friday is my last day.  She’ll have it to me by EOD.  What?  I thought the freakin thing was compiled already.  Geez.  I hope "Brand Creative" has signed off on this wonderful addition to the intranet.  This kind of project I don’t even want to do.  HR wants a page linking to outside vendors.  oh yeah.  You need a developer to do simple html. No wonder they can’t keep anyone here for more than a year. 

Okay, enough griping… this shitty job is almost done.  Since yesterday was Tuesday, I spun!  Amazing how fast bobbins fill up when you spin regularly!  Totally unreal!  So anyway, while watching yesterday’s episodes of Ryan’s Hope, I finished the second bobbin of the hand dyed merino on the Gem.

Still playing TV catch-up as I didn’t get home from the Parent Meeting on Monday until rather late, I watched Hell’s Kitchen while working on the Schacht.  I finished the first bobbin of the BFL and am ready to start splitting up the second half for some interesting stripey fun.

I didn’t do much knitting yesterday.  The humidity was really unbearable.  Even worse today, especially after that torrential downpour this morning that totally futzed up the commute.  I took this picture yesterday morning using the TM dashboard location…

.. I’ve since finished the sock on the way in this morning and (everyone) immediately cast on for the second!  You can see that I went plain footed on this modified monkey sock.

I also managed to get a picture last night of the Striped Baby Sweater in that yummy Smooshy yarn…

It is such a cute little knit.  I’ll have you know that I’ve been working in the ends as I go.  With the three active yarns for each row, the ends were making me nuts so I just had to get rid of them.  The colors in this picture are just a little bit off.  The orange isn’t quite that orange, more a peach, and the others aren’t quite so blue.  Maybe I can get a dashboard shot for true color representation

Craft on!

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