Thursday, January 22, 2009

Further thoughts

I want to thank everyone who commented yesterday for their thoughtful posts.

I did rip out the socks. As Tina said, life is too short not to knit something that makes me happy. I'm still using the Mirasol Hacho yarn, because I do love it; but I changed needle size, correcting the sizing issue that I should have corrected by ripping out starting over, and I'm happily knitting myself a pair of socks.

I have 140 yards of sport to dk weight, handspun BFL that I would love to make into something nice for myself. Any ideas? I'm not terribly into Cowls, because I always ending up sweating and not wanting anything around my neck (damn hormones). Other ideas?

I stayed up way too late last night reading Burn Out by one of my favorite mystery writers, Marcia Muller. I've been reading this series since it first premiered 1977 (youch!) and Muller has never disappointed me. If you want a mystery series that keeps its heroine edgy and yet takes her through character growth over time, get a copy of Edwin of the Iron Shoes and go forward from there.



Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Must update blog....

Sometimes, when I sit down to write a blog post, I look back on my recent weeks and wonder what I've been doing. Frequently I can't find anything to write about. Today is no exception. But, since I'm rarely at a loss for words, I'll babble for a awhile, and you can stop reading when you lose interest.

I spent yesterday watching President Obama's inauguration with a dear friend who doesn't blog. I don't think she reads this either. All I can say is that it was really, really nice to just hang out with a girlfriend during the afternoon. It's been a long time since I've done that. Not since I had to cut A. loose.

I've been knitting, but I don't have anything to show for it. The hat for J. isn't done yet, I'm still in the process of the Mirasol Hacho simple socks . I'm about 1/3 of the way done and I don't like the way they're turning out but I don't want to start over. So in the spirit of deluded knitters everwhere, I'm forging ahead.

Mr. Greenjeans is still on the needles. If I read the pattern correctly, I misread the pattern about 81 rows ago. It's sitting in time-out until I have the presence of mind to read the pattern again, count stitches, see where I am and what I can do from here. If I have to frog it again, the yarn will become something else. I will accept that Mr. GJ is NOT for me.

I'm still working on Waves of Grain, which is currently the only project that I have on the needles that is pleasing to me. Although, truth be told, I kind of wish I'd used a different yarn. Don't get me wrong, the yarn I'm using is lovely, handspun merino, but I think it could have been better showcased in a different project. But again, I'm not going back. I'm also in the super boring section of repeating the same 2 rows SEVENTY FIVE times (and that's just for the first half...oh look! I get to do it all over again for the 2nd half!!!!)

And then there's The Luna Moth Shawl which is still in its embryonic phase and, as far as I can tell, looks like crap. True, that's the general issue with lace until it is blocked, but there's something about either the yarn or my general lack of confidence about the knitting (don't understand that one) that makes me want to rip it out and start over.

As I'm reading this, I can tell I'm not feeling very enthusiastic about anything that's on the needles. Maybe that is why I keep thinking about starting another project.

On the writing front. Wait is there a writing front? For there to be a writing front, I would actually have to be writing no? Ever since my crit group exploded last April, I have been writing only sporadically. Of course, the manuscript critique I received that said, "this book cannot be salvaged" didn't help. Nor did the rejection from the agent that said, "I wish there was someway I could have loved this book." (maybe not a direct quote). Maybe that hurt more than I've been allowing it to hurt. Maybe I've needed to put it out to the world that something that I thought may have needed some more work, but was essentially a good piece of work (and certainly better than a lot of crap on the market) was actually crap. Maybe putting that out there in this journal will help spur my creativity. Let's hope so, anyway.

Spinning. Yet another thing that has been languishing. After a fairly good start at the beginning of the month, in which I spun up a half bobbin of alpaco/merino blend, I've kind of been watching the wheel collect dust while I've been struggling with less than satisfying knitting. Is anyone seeing a pattern?

I am. And I think it means I need to dust myself off and get back to work. Thanks for reading this guys (if you've gotten this far), I think it helped.



Friday, January 2, 2009

A missed opportunity


Because I didn't post it earlier, here is another picture from Yule and Yarn 2008.



Thursday, January 1, 2009

Playing Catch Up

As noted in my last post I've been busy, busy, busy.

A few weeks before the holidays, Tim and I took a ride to Kinderhook to pay a visit to Year Round Yarns. Where I purchased some Plymouth Suri Alpaca

On the way back we stopped at Wholly Cow Restaurant for dinner and had the best BBQ I've had north of the Mason-Dixon Line.





And to keep this fiber related, I did knit at the table.



The Suri Alpaca was purchased to make a hat for my friend Judith. The hat is not yet finished.


But that's okay, because our plans to see Judith on New Year's had to be moved because she was having some stuff go on with her apartment. We'll catch up later and the hat will be given. Since I have extra yarn, maybe a pair of mittens? Fingerless gloves?

On the subject of fingerless mitts, I made two pair. A goth version of Fetching


And another pair of my own design that remind of a Chanel suit I had a long time ago (in another life)


They are for two young friends, Maggie and Janet.

In the meanwhile an 11 year old girl in foster care wanted a pair of mittens, a hat and a scarf. Her favorite color is purple. We figured not many kids in foster care get hand knits, so....


We hope she had a very happy Christmas and stays warm throughout the winter.

At some point we went on a Yule Tree expedition, which included a Hay Ride


A magical grove


Freezing (if not for our wooly hand-knits)


And warming ourselves with hot cocoa around a bonfire (while waiting for the snow and ice to melt off our tree)


And the day ended with a beautiful sunset


The following week, I received email from my niece,


who is studying in Paris. At a museum, she saw some wool

And, naturally, thought about her aunt and took pictures, which she sent to me.

The week after that, was Tina's (formerly Pheonixfiberworks and now Rows Red) annual Yule and Yarn party. It was held at the Muddy Cup in Hudson (where it was hastily moved to after the discovery that The Muddy Cup in Catskill was closed for renovations), where a splendid time was had by all.





Tina is wearing the cowl that was my gift to her:


Since then, I got a chance to hang our with both my nephews and my niece who isn't in Paris


As well as my sister and brother and their spouses.

I've had a chance to spin.

416 yards of laceweight icelandic wool (singles)




And 4 oz of Carolyn's handpainted merino in the Jammy colorway.




And, I've finished a pair of socks for myself. These are Tina's "Baby Fern" socks, made with Pace Step yarn.


And, finally, for those of you who don't know why I'm called the Cat Whisperer, I leave you with this: