Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Estes Park

There is too much to relate quickly, and I'm just not mentally with-it enough to type out a major long post. So, I'll sum up. (And add photos later. Bad Gallery. No cookie.)

Trip to Estes: fast, effortless. Bradshaw Cottages yet again wonderful beyond wonderful.

Thursday: Altitude sickness sucks. Galina Khmeleva is really fricking awesome. Chendra (aka TheRedHead) is also really fricking awesome. Connie is a total sweetheart.

Friday: Orenburg lace techniques are mind-blowing. Chendra is worse than awesome, she's an evil enabler!

Saturday: Wool Market is crazy-fun-hectic. Many people are really fricking awesome, the fleece Robin picked out to buy wins THREE ribbons in judging, and Chendra is the most evil of all evil enablers. I bought a spinning wheel because of her. But Galina said I should continue spindle spinning, 'cause it's "good".

Sunday: Slept late. Blissful. Robin and I drive up the mountain to see what there is to see, and knit at 12,000 feet. Then we crawl back down saying 'owie headache'. Went back to wool market to pick up Robin's judged yarn and shawl, spend the rest of my life savings, and get one more hug from Galina.

Monday: (happy birthday me!) Wake up painfully early, get back to airport, eat birthday chocolate cookie in airport, fly home with goofy funny flight attendant guy, slug about at Dad and Mamash's ('cause I forgot to bring a house key) until Ceci picks me up after work.

Tuesday: Dying of the plague. *sniffle* Colds suck.

entrelac at 10:15 PM :: |


Friday, May 30, 2008

FO: Revontuli

Can you believe it? One month I'm taunting you with yarn photos, and the next month I actually have a finished object! Okay, I'll wait for you to wake up from that faint...

Look look!



Now, bear in mind I took that in the middle of the night less than five minutes after I finished binding off and weaving in the ends. It WILL be blocked (Robin the Great has offered her blocking space as I don't have a blocking space), and then there will be final finished prettypretty FO photos! But until then it's been going with me to work and back every day right alongside the cashmere/wool shawl that Robin knitted for me, and the two of them together are super mega yummy warm and comfy for when the A/C at work is set to super subarctic. Which is all the time now that the weather outside has the audacity to hit 90 degrees F.

In other knitting: The easter bunny barf scarf is moving along swimmingly, the yarn ball is noticably smaller almost every day. Oblique is even starting to show signs of progress -- I attached the second ball of yarn just the other day. Bad news: after knitting two rows with the new ball my fingers had the faintest blue tinge. Could be...interesting. And last but not least, I'm part of the Slow Bee Mystery Shawl Knitalong, and am true to the KAL's name, slower than sludge. Here's what I have so far, less than half way into clue #1. Keep in mind that this week the hostess releases clue number FOUR. Le sigh. Oh well, I wasn't planning on trying to win any speed races with this one anyway.



Crocheting: Hm. Kinda not really doing anything in this field right now, but I'm watching a thread on the Crochet Liberation Front in Ravelry, where there's the possibility of a mystery lace shawl crochet along. Yeah, I'm getting into those. I have no illusions that I'd keep up with a crochet mystery any better than I do a knit one. But it'll still be fun.

Spinning: Still almost no progress as I still don't have a wheel. I'm still up in the air about getting a new place to live, and I can't really justify a $600 purchase until I decide one way or the other once and for all, you know?

Stitch Markers: Just keep swimming... I added some new stuff a week or so ago, and I think when/if I get the time and wherewithal this coming weekend, I'll add some more to both stores. We'll see. Here's a peek at what's in the store now:



Other news: I very much WILL be at the Knitting Nest this Saturday for Franklin Habit's 1000 Knitters photo thing, and I plan to be there by the time they open their doors and I plan to stay until they kick me out. Okay, that's pretty ambitious as it'd mean being up, showered, dressed, and out the door at least an HOUR earlier than I do for work, but hey, this is a once in a lifetime thing. I think it's worth losing even more sleep than usual.

Okay, enough blather for tonight.

entrelac at 3:27 AM :: |


Monday, April 28, 2008

Sad moment: Destashing

I never thought I'd have to do this (and considering I have 15+ year old yarn in my stash, I was doing pretty well there for a while), but times are bad, money is tight, and I don't really have many other options. And before you think I'm doing this just because, Ceci's going through her stash as well. I'll be posting on Knittyboard and on Ravelry offering the items to sell. Click on each photo to see the details in my Gallery.















Of course, I'm not expecting much, but anything will help. Thanks.

entrelac at 12:07 AM :: |


Tuesday, April 08, 2008

And now, to TAUNT you..



Jealous yet?



The yarn was custom handspun for me by Robincat and is a merino/silk blend that was custom dyed for me by Dragon Fibers. And what am I doing with this yummy stuff?



I'm knitting Revontuli -huivi shawl with it to wear in Estes Park this coming June. Wish me luck with finishing it in time!

entrelac at 6:14 PM :: |


Tuesday, April 01, 2008

How gorgeous is this?



EEE! I LOVE IT! My wonderful customer Gill sent me a photo of some recently purchased stitch markers in action -- it looks like a professional protrait, doesn't it? I'm going to set it as my computer wallpaper RIGHT NOW! :D

(And, uh, give y'all a more informative post later. Promise.)

entrelac at 8:57 PM :: |


Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Ravelry Meetup: Sunday March 16, 2008

The Knitting Nest in Austin is having its second Ravelry Meet-Up this coming Sunday, March 16. Why am I mentioning this? Because Stacy, the owner of the Knitting Nest, asked me to be there as a vendor! So if you're gonna be wandering around South Austin this weekend, drop on by and say hello! (And, um, to laugh at me while I fumble about trying to learn this vendor stuff on the fly. Hm, I wonder if the people here at work would loan me a POS program to use while I'm there.... Kidding! Or maybe I'm not...the thought of having to keep a reciept book is daunting!)

Another thing to woohoo about: Spindlecat Studios agreed to send me some of HER gorgeous markers to offer at the Ravelry Meet-up alongside mine! YAY! We love Spindlecat! Her markers are so gorgeous, I'm considering buying some for myself and making earrings and necklace from them. :) And Ceci has already said she'd love them for earrings too.

And last but not least (by NO means least), Robin is ALSO going to be at the Meet-up as a vendor! YAY!! She's gonna be there with her super mega yummy handspun yarns to sell, as well as demonstrating spinning on a spinning wheel -- and she's borrowed my Ashford Joy to demo with (her gorgeous Kromski Symphony production wheel gets carsick easily so is staying home). So come say hi, and marvel at how scary FAST she is at spinning even on what she calls a "slow" wheel. (Which, when compared to her Symphony is true. My little Joy is like a moped, and her wheel is a Jaguar.)


Hope to see you there. Y'all come down now, hear? :D

entrelac at 4:38 PM :: |


Saturday, February 16, 2008

Easter Bunny Barf Scarf

Silly name, sillier scarf. The colors make most people cringe, but I have to admit I'm really enjoying knitting it. The pattern is easy without being mindless -- perfect for knitting on while I'm at work. Putting it in my carry-everywhere bag has really helped to keep it moving, as it's always right there for me to pick up and work on when I'm waiting at the post office or whatever.



That was taken on January 30, and it's already grown another few inches since then. One of my fastest knits to date. Pathetic, huh?

Other knitting: Pretty much everything else is stalled, though I did break into the ELECTRIC blue Malabrigo I bought for Oblique because I simply HAD to swatch the stuff. Verdict? I had every size but the one I needed in my Harmony set. Of course.

Crochet: I'm still SLOWLY working on my design submission for the CLF book. I really don't think I'm going to get it in time because I can only work on a row or two of the prototype before my hand starts to ache. And I can't send it off to a test crocheter until I have at least the baseline pattern written out. Phooey. I need bionic hands/wrists.

Spinning: A whole lot of not much. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Stitch markers: Still steadily rolling along. I have WAY more stitch markers finished than I have photos, and that's what's killing me right now -- lack of photos because of lack of secure, uninterrupted time and space to take the photos. Soon, I hope. Soon.

More later.

entrelac at 2:36 PM :: |