July

The month of July will be a busy one for me. I bought a house (closed today!) so I'll be painting, cleaning, packing, and moving. I also decided that wasn't enough and signed up for the Tour de Fleece and the WIP Wrestlemania on Ravelry, on team LSG in both cases. I have a few works in progress to finish and some new fibers I want to try, so those are my goals.

I'm going to try to keep updates on those three things throughout the month so this blog gets used more.

Spinning Wheel!

Spinning Wheel!, originally uploaded by LaurenKnits.

That is a spinning wheel. It is now mine.

Someone on one of the Ravelry boards was asking about places she could go to sell her wheel that didn't involve shipping. I piped up to ask how much she wanted for it, as I've wanted a wheel pretty much ever since I started spinning last year. I expected her to give some huge price and that would be the end of it.

Except not. Her asking price was extremely reasonable. So I called mom and asked if it would be possible to make a wheel a combined Christmas/birthday present and she agreed. And since the seller was local, I was able to pick it up after work today.

I've never spun on a wheel, so I have some learning to do, but I'm very excited.

The only bad part? I'll probably have to put it in storage soon because there really isn't room in the house for it. The only way I can see keeping it in the house is by boxing up some of the stuff from my room so it's out of the way, and then putting it in there. We'll see.

Trying to come up with witty titles about being busy

I don't want to talk about being busy at work. Until I get some help, I will remain busy. I'm thankful to have good job security right now, so I'm trying to keep the complaining to a minimum. So instead, I'm going to post pictures of things I've been working on lately:

4 0z of merino from Freckle Face Fibers on etsy. I'm not over the moon about it and may give it away. It was fun to spin, though.

Spinning in process. 4-ish ounces of merino. I'm working on pre-drafting better and so far I'm getting a pretty consistent single. And the color is spreading nicely throughout the single, too, so I think it'll be really pretty when it's done. I'll probably navajo ply it.

Baby blanket for C. I need to send this to her soon. Log Cabin pattern in Knit Picks shine sport in a bunch of colors.

I'm really proud of this one. 4 oz of merino from Spritely Goods. The colorway is called Olive Grove. I love it. spun on a 1-oz Golding and navajo plied. I need to figure out what to do with it.

I've been working on a lot of baby stuff lately. I'm almost finished a pair of booties (just need seaming and buttons) and I'm most of the way through another blanket. I've got a couple more projects planned, so I'm keeping occupied.


I think I'll be ready to buy a house soon. It's scary and exciting all in one. It'll be nice to get out of my parents' house and on my own again. I saw one online today that I really liked, but would probably be out of my price range. I guess once I get pre-approved for a mortgage, I can start seriously looking at locations.

Catching up

I figured I should post at least once more before the end of the year.

I mention this each time I write, but this year was kind of insane for me at work. Long hours, lots of stress, and just no time to breathe. Add on top of that my grandmother's illness and passing, my brother's drama, and trying to have a little bit of a life, and I just seem to have no time. I think one of my resolutions for 2009 will be to not let myself get so crazy.

So a recap:

At the end of August my grandmother passed away after fighting cancer for most of the year. She was a stubborn woman who was extremely healthy her whole life and didn't want to deal with the crappy treatments and side effects anymore. She was awesome and I'm going to miss her. The family had a lot of fun telling stories about her life and trying our best to celebrate instead of mourn.

I got to go to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in October. That was really fun and made up for having to miss MD Sheep and Wool in May. I have lots of new fiber to spin and really wish I had a wheel.

In November I finally got time to visit my friend in North Carolina and see her amazing house and baby A, who is now toddler A and is about to be a big sister. (I came home with a cold, which is the only crappy part.)

On Thanksgiving we had a great dinner, fun afternoon of hanging out and resting, and then I sprained my ankle in the evening. I'd twisted it before, but this was a whole new level of pain. It was an event that made me glad I'm still at home with my parents (for just a couple more months) because I couldn't get myself in the house without help. A few days of resting on the couch, elevation, ice, and hobbling around on crutches, and I was ready to go back to work. I'm not on crutches anymore, but I'm still limping a little (worse when I've been on my feet a lot), wear my brace when I need to, and have to deal with my ligaments being tight and painful. I took some pictures of the bruising. The sprain also meant that I had to miss seeing They Might Be Giants in DC, something I had really been looking forward to.

My brother moved back home in December. It seems the girlfriend's family weren't the best group of people to be living with. He's still spending lots of time with her, but I really hope he breaks it off. It sounds mean to say it, but she's a really unhealthy person for him to be with, and the sooner he can get out of the manipulation and codependency, the better.

So now it's a few days after Christmas, which was a good day. I turn 28 in a couple weeks and I think starting in the spring I'll be looking at buying a house. It's exciting and scary all at once.

Happy Holidays!

Busy

yarn, originally uploaded by LaurenKnits.

Yarn is my first completed handspun skein. Merino/tencel blend. yummy.

Release time has always been busy, but it seems like the last two major releases have been worse. I don't know if it's because I'm not able to work as well as I used to or if something else changed, but I'm finding myself really frustrated with working long hours because I get so easily distracted during the day and night time is the only time it's quiet around here. Of course, it's night now and I'm blogging, so there you go. I'm going to have to get better at tuning out the background noises and loud people as the company continues to expand. We're almost filling up the new office already.

As a result of being so busy and working long days, my sleep lately has been crap and I've taken two vacation days all year. It'll be nice this fall and winter when I have lots of time to take off, but it would have been nice to feel like I was able to take more time off on a regular basis. Sometimes you need a day to recharge, you know? I'd really like to avoid making myself sick, and if I go by yesterday's headache, I'm already doing.

I picked up my knitting again. While I was in the beginning stages of learning to spin, I sort of dropped knitting for a while. In the last month or so I made a shirt for baby A and I started a sweater for myself. Last winter's sweater endeavor didn't go too well, so I'm going to try this pattern and then try a couple other things that will hopefully be relatively easy. I haven't taken pictures of the new sweater yet.

Oh yeah, and I got a new camera. I've been having fun playing with it, but I want to learn how to effectively use it because it's a nice piece of equipment and I don't want to waste its capabilities by always using the Auto setting.

Spinning

Ever since missing the Sheep and Wool festival this year, I've been obsessed with learning how to spin yarn on a drop spindle. At the first festival I went to, I got roving (processed but unspun fiber in a long strip) from a Jacob sheep, purple and blue merino, a sample pack, and some from a breed I can't remember the name of (but the sheep's name is Peanut Butter). And they all sat in my stash with my yarn, because I didn't know what to do with them. Finally sometime last year I got a learn-to-spin kit from someone on eBay and went to teach myself. Fail.

Since joining Ravelry and finding so many resources there, I decided to take another look at the spinning concept. I got a couple better-quality spindles (love my Goldings!), watched videos on YouTube, read tips and recommendations, and started again. This time it clicked. I love spinning. Right now I'm working on that big ball of the purple and blue merino, even Navajo plying it. I just finished my first ever skein of yarn, which is a merino/tencel blend. I andean plied it last weekend and it's drying now after its soak-and-thwack (making yarn is fun!).

Once I get off my butt and find my camera in my disorganization, I'll put up some pictures. I've got more fiber to spin, both dyed and undyed.

The universe hates me

Last Wednesday, in preparation for the MD Sheep and Wool Festival, I ordered a pair of Crocs from Amazon. They were cheaper there than at Zappos, and I get free two day shipping. It was great. They were meant to arrive Friday.

Friday afternoon they still hadn't come so I checked my tracking number and saw that they had made an attempt and that they'd redeliver Monday. But I wanted the Crocs for the weekend, so I went through the process on the UPS site to have them held at the shipping facility and I'd pick them up that night. When they called to confirm, they said to be there between 8 and 9 to pick the box up. Cool.

I got to the customer facility at 8:15 and checked in with the counter person. She said my truck was still out but was due back any minute. So I waited with a bunch of other people. One by one, they all got their boxes, packages, and envelopes. I was the last one. The women there (who were so nice and great about everything) were in contact with someone at the shipping facility, who eventually told them that they couldn't find it. Yippee. So I went home with their promise that it'd be delivered on Monday.

Disappointed, I got home and started preparing for the next day. I was tired but wanted to leave early so I started getting my things together. Right before I was ready to get in bed for a little TV downtime, I leaned over to get something and felt a twinge in my lower back. I figured it was because I had been standing for over an hour and my back was a little stiff, so I used my pillows for support while I watched TV and then went to bed.

Saturday morning, however, my back hurt so badly I could barely move. It took me an hour to get myself into a position where I could stand up. I had to prop up pillows and slowly get myself vertical. I staggered out to the bathroom, which wasn't fun, and then staggered out to the kitchen. I told my mom I wasn't going anywhere and then went to the living room where the chairs with massage/heat are. I was able to sit for about 40 minutes before the spasms made me get up and go back to bed to lay down.

I tried a little later to get up and was able to sit up long enough to eat breakfast and then had to lay down again. Finally, around 3:30 that afternoon, the medicine, BenGay patches, and heat were enough for me to sit in the living room with pillow support and massage. I stayed pretty much put until that night.

Sunday was less horrible, but still painful. My back got progressively better through the day and I was able to sit in the chair without the extra support, so I could have the heat and massage right on my back. Still didn't get up too often.

Today I was able to get up without too much pain and take a shower, which until that point would have been too much standing. I was all set to go to work when I discovered my car wouldn't start. Luckily it did start after I gave it some gas and I was able to get to work, hobbling from the parking lot to the building.

So I don't know if the universe didn't want me at Sheep and Wool, it was punishing me for buying Crocs, or if it was punishing me for cutting my hair. All these crappy things can't be coincidence, can they?

Ramblings

I have about 8-10 inches done on my first sweater. I need to take a picture to post, but I've been way too lazy about it. The stockinette is already boring, and I have lots left to do. Suffice to say that I probably won't be wearing this sweater this winter. Maybe it'll be something I can keep at work this summer, because I know it'll be freezing in the office. We'll see.

The documentation organization project that was supposed to go throughout the year took about a month. There wasn't actually that much to do. Now I'm going through stuff on the network and getting together with other people to decide what to do with a lot of it. Most of it apparently needs to be tossed, but I'll probably save it off onto CD. I'm crazy that way. At least then if someone needs something from 7 years ago, we have it.

The normal work stuff is going well, too. We're hiring a ton of people, which is good normally. I think my fears of an increasingly loud working environment are a bit premature, but not unfounded. And, as nice as it would be to have an office, that will probably never happen for me, so I need to get used to that idea and move on. I did get a raise, which is excellent because now I feel like I'm making an average salary for my position, instead of below average. That's one of the downfalls of working for a small company, I think.

C's daughter A had her first birthday! It's hard to believe it's already been a year since I held that little girl and stared into her new-baby eyes. We had a really fun party with really yummy cake. And tons of presents. The only bad part was an overeager party attendee who had to "help" A with unwrapping, and pretty much did all the work for her. Luckily A is still too young to notice this, but I think it got on C's nerves a little.

Spring is coming soon. I'll be glad for the longer days and warmer weather, but I feel like we didn't really get a winter. Sure, it was cold for a while, but the weather did all sorts of weird things and we didn't get a lot of snow, which means winter to me. So it's hard to think that it's already on the way out. I've been waiting for it to actually start.

Excitement!

You know what next week is? Assuming I get this one project done, next week is the first week since probably October that I don't have a specific thing to work on. Wow.

A couple things could affect this. I have the one project, which needs more work that I originally thought, and I have to finish part of another one but that will more than likely be done this week.

So next week is the first week I can really start on the documentation organization that I've been dying to do! So much fun! Yes, I'm a document geek. But things like that make me really happy. As messy as my personal environments tend to be, I really like neatness and order in a lot of places. Kitchens, bookshelves, yarn shelves, and document storage. I'm going to be a happy camper next week. I hope nothing comes up in the meantime. (That, right there, that's where I jinxed it.)

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I started my first sweater. It's going well so far. I like that it's all stockinette so I can work on it while I watch TV. I'm already thinking about modifications to it, but I think I'll play it by pattern this time. Next time I might make it a V-neck instead of crewneck. Assuming I like it and it turns out well. And I hope it does. I should work on that during Project Runway tonight.

Maybe Ricky will cry again.

27

Yup, I'm 27. Yay for me. I had a fun birthday, which is nice because the last month has pretty much sucked.

It's always hectic around release time but this time seemed so much worse. Probably because not only was there the normal release stress, but also the holiday stress, the I-have-to-get-a-full-week's-work-done-in-two-days stress due to days off (which were very much needed, appreciated, and used to every advantage), and just trying to get everything done. As a result of all the craziness, I ended up staying late at work every day except two.

Now that I'm approaching the end of the work related to the release, I'm realizing how burnt out I am and how much it affected me. I've been sleeping poorly, I can't concentrate worth a damn, and I seem to get annoyed/frustrated way more easily than normally.

The good news is that I have a great boss who not only notices the effort and hard work but also makes a point of telling me it's appreciated. Sometimes hearing that is what I need to get through stuff like this. Of course, emotions being so close to the surface, I tend to tear up when I hear that, but it's still appreciated.

I'm excited about the year coming up. I'm taking on a new project of my own creation and convinced the right people that it's a good thing for the company. Basically updating and organizing the documentation. I think it'll be fun and will (I hope) demonstrate that I can succeed at something else. And maybe that will someday lead to a promotion. Plus the project is different enough from my normal tasks that it'll have that feeling of something new that I like to experience every so often.

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I seem to be in a little bit of a knitting slump. I'm not sure what I want to make. I've been exploring the patterns on Ravelry and have some ideas but I need some inspiration. I haven't started my sweater yet. Maybe I should make myself start. Because I'm fine once I'm actually working on a project, it's the project choosing that stumps me. I hope that the slump is due more to the last month than being bored with knitting. Or spending too much time reading the Ravelry forums. :)

Cookies

Picture 124, originally uploaded by LaurenKnits.

Have I mentioned before that I'm really bad at blogging? Because I am. Like, terrible.

I made my yearly ton of christmas cookies over the weekend. Six different kinds in three days. It was fun. I also made fudge. NO more baking for a while. Actually, that's not true. I have to make a cake this weekend for our December birthday at work. But then I can take a...no wait, then I have to make some more cookies Christmas weekend to give to my brother and send my grandmother. Then I'm done. Until I make the January cake.

I'm almost finished Christmas shopping. There are a couple people left on my list that I haven't completely figured out yet, but I'm hoping they'll be done soon.

At work I'm moving forward in my plans to get myself more responsibility and authority over my domain. The ultimate goal is to get a promotion. As this is my first "real" job, I'm not sure how to go about doing that, but I think I'm on the right track. I'm being proactive and not just content to do the same things over and over again. Go me.

I started spinning with my drop spindle last night. I'm glad I have practice roving because what I did was crap. But fun. I way overspun most of it, so I may let it unspin a little or something. I think I have to find some videos online that go over spindling so I can see what to do. The directions that came with my spindle aren't that clear because I can't visualize what they're telling me to do. I find I learn much better through demonstration and analogy. Strange, but it works for me. I figure videos helped when I was learning new techniques knitting, they can help with the spinning.

Someday I think I'd like to have a spinning wheel. Nothing huge or fancy, but I had a lot of fun last night spinning during The Office. I want to be good at it. I figure a wheel will be sometime in the future when I have money and space for such a thing. The idea of someday having one is exciting. I mentioned it to my dad as something I'd *like* for Christmas, but that isn't practical right now and he agreed. It would be nice if I still got it though. I think I'd need to test drive some before choosing one anyway.

An End, Part 2

The Office Issue is over. That's all I'm going to say about it because, even though it's a relief, there's still a decent amount of stress to deal with resulting from it. I'm hoping that things are back to normal by the end of the year at the latest.

I decorated today. This is the first time I've put anything on the walls since I moved back here. It's making things feel more like home. Plus it helps empty some of the containers around here. I still have a few things to hang (and a few holes to put in walls to do so) so I'm not done, but at least I've started. The goal this evening is to get all my closet clothes hung up, put the obviously summer clothes away, and move my desk chair into the other room. Mom and dad are fixing up another room to be my brother's temporary space since he decided yesterday to move back. Of course, in the process of breaking up with the Girlfriend, she was doing her damndest to get him to stay. She's got many issues and him being around her isn't doing either of them any good. He needs to cut the ties and get away. That's going to be hard for him as she's got a manipulative grasp on him. Sigh.

The Jayne hats are finished. I got some crap from another coworker because I'd promised him a sushi roll toilet paper cover and he was jealous that the hats were done first. Of course, he was completely kidding. I'll probably work on it tonight and see how much I can get done. I've also started the BSJ (have to remember to add that to the project page) for G. It's a really pretty blue yarn. I'm trying to think of what buttons to get for it. Either some yellow or bright green, or something with cute shapes. I love making baby things.

I think I'll start on my sweater soon. I'm a little nervous, but I don't want to keep putting it off all winter. I also need to figure out something to knit on during the halloween party next week. I'm pretty sure Madame Defarge didn't have circular needles or acrylic, so I'll have to raid the wool and haul out some straight bamboo or aluminum needles, I guess. I'm pretty excited about it.

An End

The Office Drama I've alluded to and tried very hard to not be specific and ranty about may soon be coming to an end. That makes me very happy. I may just bake cookies. Purely by coincidence, not to celebrate, of course.

I've finished the Gryffindor scarf. Actually, I think I need to reblock it because the jog didn't end up on a fold like I'd wanted. But the damn thing is around 10 ft long and it's hard to find that much space. Maybe I'll just add the fringe and be done with it. I have to have it ready in a week, so that may be something I do this weekend. I've also made a couple Jayne hats for a coworker and his wife (actually, I'm not finished with either of them--they both need pompons attached). I started another BSJ, this time for G, but this past weekend I decided to move furniture around instead of knit. Because I'm apparently crazy. But it's nice that my bed is back in my old bedroom; it feels much more familiar this way. I just have to finish putting some of the stuff away and bring up my smaller desk and I'll be finished.

So...Ravelry. I'm officially obsessed. I was falling asleep reading the forums last night but I couldn't make myself stop reading because the discussions were fascinating. I love it. And now C is knitting and is on there. I feel like I've corrupted her. In a good way.

Baby Surprise and Stuff

FO - BSJ, originally uploaded by LaurenKnits.

I finished the blanket! Not in time to give to C when she was in the office, but in plenty of time for cold weather. I think I'll be seeing her on Monday so I can give it to her to give to J. I hope he likes it. My to-be-completed list is actually shrinking despite the picture above. That's the Baby Surprise Jacket that I made on a whim. I worked on it over the weekend while I was on the couch with a headache. Since nothing I did made the headache go away, I decided to knit. I'm officially in love with this pattern. It's like knitting origami.

I think I'll be making a couple more for the other babies. Actually, I already ordered the yarn for them, so I will definitely be making them. And when the Gryffindor scarf is finished, I can start thinking about my own sweater that I'm getting excited about. The yarn is waiting patiently for me.

So the BSJ is for a temp who's been working with us since August. I'm almost finished a matching hat, and I should be able to finish a bib (from Mason-Dixon Knitting) in time to give her tomorrow, which is her last day. I hope she likes them. I'm pretty sure she will.

My friend (the recipient of the Endless Scarf of Stockinette) is having a Halloween party and we're supposed to come as book, tv, or movie characters. I'm actually pretty excited about my costume. I'm going to be Madame Defarge from A Tale of Two Cities. That means I can knit and still be in character. I ordered the pieces for my costume, and I hope they come in on time. The good thing is that the party isn't until the first weekend in November. So I hope that's enough time for the various parts to come together. I like when I have a good idea. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is what to do with my hair, but I think I'll look on a costume site or on eBay for a wig. We're spending the night after the party for a Supernatural marathon, so I don't want to powder or spray my own hair white and then have to sleep on it.

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Blanket Proof:

Almost ready to move on

Work: Crazy busy. We moved offices and I was the unofficial semi-volunteered packer of the supply room, shipping stuff, kitchen, and other “common” areas, in addition to my own cube. Lots of busy. Now the writing stuff seems to be ramping up, so that’s nice. Some of the drama continues but I’m trying not to be too involved or think about it too much. It really bums me out sometimes.

Home: Pretty relaxed. I think the parents are getting annoyed that I haven’t gotten everything unpacked (read: out of the living room) yet. I am working on it, though. Just sort of slowly.

Knitting: Ahh, something I can go on about at length! I joined Ravelry in July-ish and check in every day. I’m not a big poster in the forums, but I read a lot and am learning new things just by reading answers to other people’s questions. I also swapped some yarn with someone who wanted some of my stash I had put up to trade or sell. She sent me some really cool wool yarn with sari silk woven in, plus a hank of sari silk yarn, which I’ve wanted for a while. I think I’ll be making a felted bag with the wool. Dunno what to do with the silk yet, other than stare at it. It’s really pretty. :)

The Mystery Stole has bitten it, I think. I’m not going to frog it until I’m sure, but there are other things I want to knit more than that right now and I may want to use the yarn for something else. We’ll see. I definitely want to make it at some point, I just don’t know when that will be.

I’m nearly almost finished with J’s blanket. I really want to finish, including washing and blocking, by next Tuesday so I can give it to C when she’s in the office. I’m trying to make myself do at least 10 rows a night, but I get tired and need to put it down. It probably won’t happen, but I want to at least try.

The Gryffindor scarf is going well, but the endless stockinette tube is really getting to me. I’m definitely more than halfway done, and I need to step it up because it’s for Halloween.

After these projects are finished I may start my sweater or make a baby sweater first. I don’t just want to keep putting my stuff off, though. I’ve heard Tubey is pretty easy as long as you take good measurements. It’s a little scary though. I’m ready for a challenge.

Resolution

I bit the bullet. I'm re-knitting the blanket narrower so it'll be long enough. And I think I'm going to stick to my row # estimate for each half instead of trying to use 4 skeins on each half. Any extra at the end can be added to the sides or something. I'm very nearly tired of this blanket, but it's nice tv knitting.

I've started looking at other projects as well, namely lots of baby-sized goodies for A and G. I may do a sweater each, depending on time and stuff. I'll have to take age and size into account for each of them. For instance, they weigh the same, even though G is two months younger. He's a hefty boy right now. But A is longer. We'll see what I find and what I want to try. I'm ready for a challenge and I think I'd like that gratification of making a sweater in a smaller size before tackling one my size. I keep seeing things I want to make for myself, so I'm pretty sure I'm ready to move on to the next thing.

The Mystery Stole is still in the works and no farther along than a month ago. I'll keep working on it, I guess. I've seen others' and they're lovely, but I'm not sure the current style is my thing. I'm hemming and hawing over it. It's been a nice project for my first major lace project (other than the lace panel baby blanket) and is pretty straightforward. Maybe I'll complete it and find someone to give it to. I don't have to like everything I keep for myself, after all.

Blanket surgery

Ok, been a while. We’re moving offices so it’s hectic around here, and I’m knitting like crazy at night and on weekends and, well, blogging lost. Not that I’ve been a regular blogster in the least.

I started Mystery Stole! I got the first 50 rows done while on vacation in VA, and haven’t touched it since. I became slightly discouraged by the final design, because I love symmetry and I didn’t think it’d be right for me without. (Don’t get me wrong, I think the design is gorgeous. I just don’t want to have to think too much about how I’m wearing something, ya know? Maybe it’s just my own weirdness.) But Melanie is working on a symmetrical wing design as a bonus when the original MS3/Swan Lake stole pattern is sold, so I think I’ll get that—and maybe Scheherazade—when it’s released so I can have the beautiful wing and symmetry too.

I’m maybe a third of the way done with the HP Gryffindor scarf. Need to take more pictures of it. It’s easy to work on at lunchtime , although as it gets longer it’ll be more of a hassle. I believe there’s either 13 or 14 repeats, and I have a little more than 5. I think I’ll just go until my yarn runs out.

I’m almost finished with the blanket for C’s husband, too. I think it’ll end up smaller than I wanted it to be, but I think I’ll have some extra yarn so I can extend it. If I were smart, I’d undo the cast on edge (if that’s possible) and the seed stitch border, knit a new border plus some center rows, set it aside, extend the existing blanket as much as I could, and then graft the border on. The other end I’m still working on, so I just have to not finish it before performing surgery on the other end. I think that would be easier than adding length to the sides, because it would look weird with only two sides of extra-long seed stitch that switches to perpendicular at a point. I think I should research how to rip out a cast-on edge and how to make that transition invisible. I don’t think it’ll be completely unseen to a trained eye, but I think the non-knitter won’t really notice.

If anyone reads this and has any advice, I would be extra super happy to hear it!

Finally Starting MS3

WIP - Gryffindor Scarf
Originally uploaded by LaurenKnits

I think I'll finally have a chance to start Mystery Stole 3 this week. Wednesday after work my brother and I are driving to my grandmother's house in SW VA for a family reunion. It's also a bit of a vacation for my family and I'd like to spend at least a few hours knitting. I also don't want to be the last person of the 6000+ in the MS3 KAL to start. I may not get too much done, depending on how much time I have, but I'll be able to get started at least. The crappy part? The new clue and theme are revealed on Friday and I will not have internet while down there. :(

I'm also taking a couple books with me so I can read in the car. I don't think reading charts will work too well for me on the ride back. Maybe I'll take one of my other projects for car-knitting. Or I'll just expand my mind. I've got The Time Traveller's Wife, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Water for Elephants (if I can borrow it) to choose from, all of which I've heard are excellent.

Above is the first repeat of the Gryffindor scarf I'm making for Jenn's Halloween costume. She decided to be Ginny. I just hope Halloween night isn't too warm for a wool/alpaca/silk blend scarf. It shouldn't be, but MD weather is unpredictable sometimes.

Log Cabin Baby Blanket

FO - Log Cabin Baby Blanket
Originally uploaded by LaurenKnits

Here it is. The finished blanket. I actually finished it over the weekend (put off reading Harry Potter 7 until it was done) and gave it to the recipient on Tuesday this week. He seemed really happy and touched. I was just glad to make something pretty that the baby can hopefully enjoy for a long time to come.

He told me yesterday that when he took it home, his three year old used it as a superhero cape. But when he told her it was for the baby, she went straight away to lay it carefully in the bassinet. Very cute.

In between finishing that and getting the new yarn for the Gryffindor scarf and blanket, I made myself a Calorimetry. I've been looking at the pattern for a while, because I always have my hair in a ponytail or something similar, and I hate having that bump when you wear a hat over a ponytail. I had some Knit Picks Panache that I didn't know what to do with, so I used that. It's so soft and lovely. It's nice because it covers most of the top of my head and my ears, but is narrow enough in the back. It's pretty much perfect. I got some buttons for it last night so all I have to do is wash it to get any extra dye out and sew on the button and I'll be ready for the cold weather.

So now I'm working on the Gryffindor scarf for my friend's Halloween costume, C's husband J's blanket, and, eventually, Mystery Stole 3 for me. And also back to my laceweight Clapotis sometime in the future. Busy busy.

These aren't idle hands

Drama at work. No specifics because I'm too paranoid about someone with excellent Google skills stumbling across it. Needless to say, drama. And it's weird because up until now there really hasn't been that much here. Everyone gets along and does what they're supposed to do. Pretty nice work environment. But lately you can feel the tension in the air, and that's too bad, because I think it's affecting the group as a whole instead of just those directly involved in the drama.

The log cabin blanket is almost finished. I decided to put a cream-colored border around it to finish it. I think it'll look really nice. I'm doing a sewn bind-off for the first time and it's taking a really long time to do, but I think it's better than the standard bind off because it's stretchier. I've got two more sides to add the border to and then I can weave in all the ends, wash and block (as much as cotton will really block--I'll probably just put it through the dryer) and then it's off to its recipient and I can start my next two or three projects.

I ordered some black Malabrigo laceweight to make the Mystery Stole 3. I'm really enjoying seeing everyone's progress and I can't wait to start mine. I also have had two commissions: a Gryffindor scarf for my friend's Halloween costume and an afghan for C's husband. He can't have too much acrylic too close to his skin, so the afghan I made for C a while ago (the Gondor Tree one) out of Simply Soft gives him a reaction. I'm making the afghan out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Seaside. Pricy, but he doesn't mind paying for natural fibers. And I like working with the LLSW, so it's all good. I just hope he doesn't mind it taking a couple of months, because having a wool blanket across my lap as I knit it (in August) isn't my idea of the most comfortable time I could spend. I'll probably cycle the three because the blanket and scarf will get boring and I'll need something interesting to break up the monotony.

I think this year I won't be doing a lot of Christmas knitting, if any. Last year it was just so much to do with gift projects and the baby items and I didn't actually finish until recently with the last xmas gift. So unless someone asks for something in particular, I'll just be knitting for fun on my own schedule and that will be that. Ok, I'll probably knit something for the babies like toys or something, but not a ton of stuff.