Amid all this insanity, I made a video of myself knitting.  This was mostly just to play with the video funtion on the iPhone 4, but I thought I’d share anyway. The part where I slow down a ton is because the yarn split on me in the row before and I didn’t notice it… oh well! I’m not the fastest knitter ever but apparently this is the speed you need to get a sock done in one day.

Enjoy!

Post video progress:

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To The Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.

And that, my friends, is what I have been doing.  The past month has been filled with amazing experiences for me.   In non knitting world news, Jared came home for a visit.   It was a tough visit, for a lot of reasons, but a good one in the end.   I am again reminded just how lucky I am to be truly loved but such an amazing man.   I ate my first “real” sushi while he was home- it was absolutely delicious- I’m not sure I can go back to the stuff I can get at the market now!  We spent a few days at the lake, watched some fireworks, roamed the bookstore, watched a lot of movies, and played with the dogs.   He approved of Chunk (yay!), and I’m fairly sure the feeling was mutual.    Jared even got me gorgeous lilies that are still blooming (and he left on the 9th!!).

In yarn related news, I’ve got some spinning to share!  The first is some BFL / silk that was dyed for me by Carrie of Funky Carolina.  It’s one of my Pure Inspiration club fibers.  I am completely in love with it!

The second isn’t done yet, but you can see the first half of it.   The fiber is merino / bamboo / silk.  It was dyed by PRS- her colors are just so incredibly gorgeous and full of depth.

I also finished some crochet- it’s a handspun version of the Queen Anne’s Lace scarf.  Please excuse the crappy photo, I’ve not blocked it yet, so it hasn’t had a real photo taken yet.

The biggest news of all is that I am now working for Buffalo Gold Premium Fibers.  A lot of what I am doing is behind the scenes, but it’s a ton of fun and I can honestly say that I love my job.  Part of what I am doing is leading knit alongs on raverly.  Please stop by the group and consider knitting along!  The first pattern is a design of a friend of mine, and it’s absolutely awesome in every way.  Details are all in the ravelry group, and will be on the BG site soon, as well.

Things seem to be moving in a positive direction around here.  So, friends, what have you been up to?

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First of all, my trip to New Mexico… There’s so much I *could* tell you, but it would be easier to just show you the pictures. There’s a TON of them on flickr, and most of them are captioned, so I’ll not post them all here as well.   Here’s a few of them in a mosaic:

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been sick- my mother caught pneumonia at school and just had to share it with me.  Not terribly much has been accomplished (when you think about the fact that this is 3 weeks worth of stuff, that is), but here’s what I have been working on…   mostly spinning, but a bit of knitting, too.

Hopefully I will get back into the swing of regular posting now

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Anyway, I think I’ll make this stuff soon.   The following week, I’ll probably eat only salad, this stuff looks absolutely horrible for you.   Deliciously horrible.  Whipping cream and peanut oil, anyone?

In other, non saturated fat related news, my shawl class is going swimmingly.  Picking 4 lace patterns with the same stitch count is frustrating, but I’ve worked up a few options that I’m excited about.  Now, to knit about a billion swatches.  Which is, perhaps, my least favorite part of the design process.  I’d love to just pick a few things, stick them together and then – BAM- have it work.  Sadly, the wool gods don’t work that way.  Here’s what I’m using for my planning stages ( the blue) and the for the final stages (the pink)

Speaking of wool gods- I went to a sheep farm on Monday.  The sheep were really friendly and absolutely adorable.  Evidence:

Who can resist that face?

I really need to update my flickr with my YIP shots- I’ve not missed a single day this year, yet I can’t seem to get motivated to upload them to flickr- maybe I’ll do it later this evening.

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Post blocking, it’s the perfect cowl size.  Woot!

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In other news, Jared being in WA has proved frustrating.  The three hour time difference is far more cumbersome than I expected since we both keep fairly busy schedules.   He’s been assigned to the wrong course, so he’s trying to sort that out and we’re hoping that he will be put in a class that starts Thursday.   I’m not looking forward to him doing resistance training; so far in his training I’ve taken comfort in the fact that I knew he was safe in and not being harmed.  That’s not the case for resistance training.  Although I’d rather him know how to handle himself if he were ever captured than not, it’s just not pleasant to think about. 

He sent me a picture of his wings today:

And, just because it’s cute, here’s what I got when I went home today:

Here’s some of what I was working on last night- somehow this didn’t get put in the initial WIP post, not sure how I missed it.   Anyway, meet my take on chickadee:

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A test knit for Nina (NinaKnits on Ravelry).   Ravelry link.  I love this hat a lot.  I used the skein of Malabrigo worsted in Amoroso that I had left over from my shoulder warmer.  Not only did this knit up super fast (one evening!!) it’s just pretty.

Surprisingly, I like the way it looks on me.  I was nervous about the way a red hat would look against my hair color, but I somehow managed to find the only shade of red that will look good on me. 

And….  Medici!  Another Nina test.  Ravelry link.   This was slightly more complicated to knit than Orvieto, but still an easy pattern with a great result.  My favorite bit about knitting this is that it looks nothing like a hat until you do the last step.  Plus, since it’s knit side to side, I was able to get an absolutely perfect fit with no guessing whatsoever.  I love the way it looks- what girl doesn’t need more slouchy hats?

I totally f-ed up the grafting, but it was my first time grafting, and since it was for me, I’m OK with that.  At least I figured out what made it so wonky so I know what not to do next time.

So, two FOs… yay!  The keen eyed among you are probably noticing that these were not in my WIP roundup post.  Well, I caved a little bit when Nina needed testers.  I’ve made some progress on those WIPS, too, though!  I’ve knit about 5 more rows of my Pomatotus sock, and the toe of Jared’s second sock is done.

Now for some non knitting news.   In a few weeks, I will no longer be writing for HandmadeNews.org.  They have decided to rework their system such that there is no profit for non-ARTfire sellers.  I am very sad about this, as I have really loved working with Marjorie.  Should they change the system again I would go back to writing for them, but right now it’s a time commitment that I really don’t have the time to volunteer.

Jared graduates from Tech School tomorrow.  I wish I could be there but he didn’t want me to come down (school), so right now we’re hoping that he will get to do the recruiter assistance program sometime in November (after he gets to his base) which would allow him to come home for a few weeks.   Cross your fingers for us…  

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I did it.  I frogged Milkweed.  It was beyond repair, and I finally accepted it.  It will be one of my October projects for the stockpile.

So here’s my skein of Abril, just waiting to be knit up (again).  I told her she will have to wait until a few things come off the needles, but I think she’s ok with that.  Being rewound wasn’t the nicest thing I could do to her, so she needs some time to rest.

I’ve decided that YIP will start on Saturday. Why?  Because I want to start it on a day that I can have lots of time to explore and find the perfect first image. 

That’s all for tonight, too much homework to work on.  Just wanted to show that there has been WIP progress (even if it is in the wrong direction…)

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1. I will finish at least half of the WIPs from my last post this month, or I will not knit more than 2 items for the Stockpile.

2. Start YIP- “Year in Photos”. 365 didn’t work too well for me. I thought it would, but I got bored with it and ditched it twice. I love taking pictures, though, so I’ve decided to do the YIP project instead. My rules: 1. A photo a day. 2. Do it for a YEAR. Not just a month like w/ 365. 3. I will post them to Flickr, and my favorites here, as well.

3. The gym. I’ve not been going enough. I’ve not decided what the new goal is, but I’m resolving to make that decision by the end of the week.

These are just a few things I’ve been thinking I needed to do. I’m more likely to be accountable for them if I make my goal public.

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