Thankful

This year I'm thankful for a lot of things: Being at one job for an entire year without hating it too much, having a functional new to us 1998 Volvo (New Mulva!), not being at work from Thursday through Sunday this week. Lots! And lots of Christmas knitting progress. First, the handspun. I've been on a 2-ply barberpole heavy worsted kick.

All but the pastel skein are going into a long striped garter stitch scarf that will be a gift.

And the Minimalist Cardigan: Here shown in pieces. I haven't been showing progress on this sweater because there's really nothing to tell. I knit exactly according to the pattern, with the exception of choosing a lighter-weight yarn (Reynolds Soft Sea Wool) than that suggested (Lily Chin somthin somthin I've never heard of) but that knit to gauge, to create a drapier, lighter, stretchier garment. It's a perfect pattern as written, really lovely, and I can't think of anything else to say except you should absolutely at least consider making one.


Oh hey, AND I'm thankful for all this Terra that I bought on sale at A Loom with a View in Newburyport, MA, which I highly recommend visiting (I mean, Terra. On sale. No more of this color though, heh).


It will be a new design, a jacket I'm modeling after one that Nick Cave wore at a concert I saw several years ago, which was velvet and greenish-blue and fabulous. I'll call it The Jacket Like That One Nick Cave Jacket. If there's interest for a pattern designed after a wiry man with ecelctic style, well, I'll write it up.

Lookit!

I made a new sweater!


Okay, so the green one is new; I made the other one over a year ago. This new one will be a gift. Making the gift sweater gave me the impetus to "read" last year's sweater and take notes this time (I swear I had notes the first time, but who knows where they went) and turn it into a very easy and enjoyable pattern, now available for $5.



Huge thanks go out to my friend Amy, who is modeling the brown/orange original World Series Sweater... it was so cold outside when we took these photos. I am wearing the green new World Series Sweater since I like the fact that it looks cool with a lot of ease (I am wearing the 36 inch bust size, and the sizes are meant to have about 3-4 inches of positive ease - so it actually measures 40 inches across the bust, and I am a 32 inch bust). The brown/orange sweater is the 32 inch size, and Amy is somewhere between a 32 and 34 inch bust, and I like the way the sweaters are so flattering on both of us. I don't think you can mess this one up, flattering-wise.

I don't think I've ever made such an easy sweater, and the color possibilities are endless. And it has a Missoni vibe to it, but it's not make out of whatever synthetic blend Missoni sweaters tend to use... it's all wool, baby.

Enjoy!

One year in review

Last Wednesday was my one-year anniversary at my current Job, which was actually more emotional than I expected as I joked about it (throughout the year... "look... 4 months!.... 8 months and 3 days!.... In two days it will be 10 months, which is 5/6 of one year!").

I know a lot of you work jobs that don't use your talents, cubicle jobs, "support staff" jobs to pay the bills (barely) and for health insurance. I know I do. When I think about where I "fit" into the world of employment, there is no easy answer, certainly no answer that really makes me happy. But every day we go do it, don't we? How do you do it? Here's me celebrating one year at Bukowski Tavern downtown:


We pulled out the warm blanket this week, and I realized that I've never photographed it. I made it during the cold winter of 2001-2002, the first year of my PhD program, when boxes of Lopi arrived one after another at my tiny apartment and I slept under the blanket on my tiny twin bed as I crocheted it together.
I have two designs coming out very soon, one of which will be available for free, and the other of which will be a download (remember this? I'm making another for a gift in a different size than mine, so I've decided to write out the pattern and make it available here), which explains the low knitting content lately. However, I'm also doing a lot of boring but lovely Holiday knitting, including a Minimalist Cardigan made of Reynolds Soft Sea Wool. What a yarn! A tightly-coiled yarn, springy, so textural, and, for some reason, I've found it super-fast to knit with. This is the second sleeve. I mean, check out that yarn!


Soon much will be revealed. I'm off to work on that!

Cowl-O-Rama!

Here are a few of the cowls prepared for the Bead and Fiber Holiday show sale! If you don't knit, you can purchase one. If you do knit, get some inspiration and whip one up! These range from about 6 ounces to 1 pound of fiber.

It was a lot of fun selecting and preparing the rovings, then choosing the right vintage button for each from my collection.



After biking into Boston to drop off the cowls at the gallery, we got in our fancy dress for Chris' dad's retirement party. Chris is rocking a jacket we got from a street vendor in New York on the Lower East side, and I'm representing the handknits!

Proud

Biked to the polls as soon as they opened here after waking up at 4:30 am and being unable to go back to sleep.

I wanted to get a more dramatic photo from today, but this is the one I have, so it will do.

In honor of Studs Terkel

Who died Friday at age 96. His book, Working, has been both an inspiration to get to work every day, no matter how ridiculous the job, and a reminder about the inherent unfairness and often soul-crushing nature of said job. Chris and I drank martinis in his honor for most of Saturday afternoon while waiting for an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar to get our Mac Book fixed.

All the martinis and Studs Terkel discussion helped soften the news that our hard drive had died and that the new one was going to be $200.

So the computer is working again, and I must say that Apple customer service is AMAZING. We went from dead computer to live computer in 5 hours, and most of that was spent waiting for our appointment, since it was Saturday afternoon and the mall was packed. Oh, did I say MALL? Yes, that's right, we did the "Real American" thing Saturday and drove our - currently bug free knock wood - car to the mall. God Bless the USA.

Knitting? Yep! Two pairs of Christmas socks done.

Spinning? You got it... that's about 650 yards of my very own handspun.

Can you tell I'm having trouble focusing on larger projects? Only soothing things until tomorrow night. I'll be up until it's over. Let's get out there and make it happen!