Countdown

I caught myself having my old annual "Ohnoit'salmostthefirstdayofschoolandmyclassroomisn'tready!" panic the other day, and I had to remind myself (again) you aren't a teacher anymore, remember? Oh yeah-- back to school is a GOOD thing now!


Anyway, most of this week was spent getting the kiddo ready for school (she had a back to school fun event thing, going back another day for her class assignment, buying supplies, school clothes, etc). Yesterday we went shopping for new ballet shoes (she's a little hard to fit due to her ski-like super narrow feet) and went in to the yarn store (hey, we were driving past anyway-- I couldn't help it!) It's not my usual place to shop, but they had something irresistable:




Yes, Silk Garden Sock. I'm sure I'll get more next time I get out to Berkley, so don't worry Bridget! (And yes, I bought it even though knitting the Kureyon Sock makes me mad. It's just so pretty that the constant yarn barf and less than soft feel is worth it!! Bonus- the Silk Garden Sock is much softer than the Kureyon (duh), and prettier than the picture reveals).


Design-wise, I started another sweater today (shipped out 2 others earlier this week, one on Monday and one on Wednesday) and continue to chip away at the tech editing pile, though I'm looking forward to being home alone starting after Labor Day-- then I can get so much more done in a day!

Edited to add: I am also a total lucky brat. Sonya, who loves me, gave me a gorgeous skein of Silk Garden Sock that she picked up for me at Have You Any Wool in a different, equally beautiful colorway. I'm not worthy!!

Ravelympic Recap

Well, my goal for the Ravelympics was to start and finish 2 sweater designs (of the many I have due in the near or immediate future). I almost made it... I finished the first sweater in a matter of days, and did finish the second, though not in time for the "official" cut off, in fact, just about an hour ago. Oh, and I accidentally did a different second sweater than I signed up for. Oops-- guess that means I have a lot going on!


Here's two little peeks, nice and vague so as to not give too much away. One is for the yarn company, the other for a book, and coincidentally they are in the same yarn, Nashua Handknits Cilantro.

Spinny Goodness

I'm still working on those designs and tech editing, with a little spinning sprinkled in for good measure (and-shock-going to the gym, which is much overdue).


Here's that Corriedale I was talking about (the sproingy stuff), spun and dyed (with food colors and I managed to deliberately get a semisolid color in the end). It's a 3-ply, spun on my wheel.



I ended up with a little less than 100 yds of about DK weight yarn (it was just a little sample o' fleece, after all) so I decided to whip up some really simple wristwarmers with it. I ended up with some yarn left over, so I could have made them a bit longer or made thumb gussets, but that's okay.

The color is a bit more accurate in this picture.

I've also been spinning the pretty BFL I got at Rae's when we went to Lansing a few weeks ago on a mini yarn-crawl. It's working up into more of a heavy worsted. I'm thinking it might end up being a scarf or something for me once I spin the rest-- I'm not sure yet.

Sock

Finally finished this sock-- I've been working on it a little each week while Emma looks for books in the library. Pinecone likes it, apparently.

I've embarked on my second Ravelympic sweater-- trying to crank out a few quickly to lighten the load on the "yarn to knit" shelf-- 3 sweaters down since July 28th, 2 to go by the end of the month.

As for today, though, I'm going to take care of some smaller editing projects now that the big one is done- then maybe a bit of spinning, perhaps? I got some gorgeous Corriedale from one of the ladies in my knitting group- soft, very springy, and for lack of a better word, fresh. Spins beautifully.

Yay for Mohair

Why would I say this in summer? Well, because I received my copy of the new pattern book from Nashua Handknits, Mohair 3, with my design in it! The funny thing is that I knit this sweater last summer (they did an early call for Fall designs last year, so I was working on Spring and Fall at the same time). As much as I didn't love knitting mohair with sweaty summer hands, I really love how this sweater turned out. As a bonus, it was featured in an ad, and in the pattern book itself it's on the inside front cover AND the back cover- yay!

In other news, I finished the sweater in Aslan Trends Artesanal for Knit n' Style (for the Feb 09 issue) AND a sweater for Spring 09 for Nashua in the past 11 days. The second was one of my Ravelympics projects and I received my medal last night (I feel like I deserve it-- an adult cardigan in 4 days?!?) Ah, deadlines.

Little peek

Nothing seems as far away as next spring, but I'm working on designs for it at the moment. Last week I finished my first of 2 for Nashua (little peek above) and I'm currently plowing through one for Knit n' Style, then on to the other Nashua design by the end of the week (plan to cast on Friday night in true Ravelympics style).

I've just about finished another big tech editing job-- just need to double check a few things before I send them off. What a relief!

Slightly deformed

I haven't spun in a while. The other day I tried finishing up the pink Blue Faced Leicester I bought from Beth at Knit Michigan (finished skein shown above). I'd lost my touch a bit, though, and the last bit I spun was pretty wonky, so the resulting skein is rather on the thick and thin side. The upside is my fingers remember what to do now, so when I dug into the pretty stuff I got at Rae's last weekend, it went much better. I'm going to use spinning that lovely stuff as a motivator to get me through the work I need to finish this weekend, let's see if it works!