Daft

I have always been a fan of a British accent. I have always found English accents to be charming for the most part, and I find myself gravitating to their vernacular in ways that seem odd for an American citizen. I love it when they say, "Bugger," and "Bloody" with such passion. I realize those statements might be a form of swearing, so I'm not really sure I should be holding them in such a high esteem for the use of those words in particular. Sometimes it's just fun to say that I took a "snap," or I have to go to the "Loo." And I'm totally fascinated with the whole tea thing.
Hmmm....where is all of this leading and how does it relate to knitting? I'm sure you are wondering, as I'm not truly convinced that I know most of the time either. But there is a British word or turn of phrase that describes my current state of affairs in regards to a baby blanket in question.....

DAFT. I must be DAFT to think that I'm going to finish this blanket by 9/11/10. But then again, stranger things have happened. The blanket is not hard knitting - it's only garter stitch. It's finding the time to knit and not feeling guilty about it. That's the key. How do you make time for knitting? Is it ever a guilty pleasure for you?

You Had Me.....

Dear Dream In Color Yarn,
You had me with the Tulip Cardigan. Really, you did. Only then I didn't know what the sex of THEIR baby would be (please note use of possessive). And I had such a passion to order your yarn (please note that I didn't USE it immediately, as I was saving it for the RIGHT baby). Now I know of said baby, so knitting must commence.
I'm really impressed with the feel and "squoosh" factor of your yarn. And really, your colors are fabulously bright for a neat baby project. But not knowing the sex of said baby at the time of purchase of this yarn, I did not choose the Tulip Cardigan pattern. Yes, I know, you do make the cardigan pattern in "masculine" colors and styles now. Your marketers should get a raise. But, I digress yet again. That's not what we're here to talk about. It's your re-skeining that stinks. I'm not sure if you do it manually, or if you have a machine. Either way, you had better take a hard look at this component. Because when a knitter decides on a project, as I have done......., she usually likes to wind up the yarn and cast on for said project immediately. Now we may have a different definition of the word, "immediately," but I'd say in most cases it means in 5 minutes or so (from a knitter's standpoint). You can't work in the fiber industry and not know about the siren call of new projects and the excitement of working with such beautiful yarn.
Anyway, my point is, I uncurled the hanks. I placed them on my swift, and fired up the ball winder. The first two skeins had me loving you even more than I have already professed. They wound up so nicely. But then the trouble started. I fought with the Blue Lagoon as we were winding away, but she was able to stay on the ball winder and swift. But Lipstick Lava made me almost cry. He needed to come off the swift in a hurry. Needless to say, I spent more than 30 minutes with him wrapped around my neck, trying desperately to get him onto the ball winder. Beach Fog threatened his head too, but I gave him "The Look," and he settled down quickly. And finally, at long last, I can show you my stack of cakes. Now the problem is that it's time for bed. Will I have any energy left to start this new project? I better well have, as the finished project needs to be done by 9/11. Irony? I think not!

Sincerely,
Knitting Kris



Project:
Rocketry Baby Blanket
Needles: Size US #7
Dream in Color Yarn in the following colorways, from top to bottom: Strange Harvest, Beach Fog, Blue Lagoon, Visual Purple, Happy Forest, and Lipstick Lava.
Cast on date: Tonight, if I have any energy left.
Happy Monday!

Just Another Manic Monday

Here at Mountain Woman Central, it's life as usual - maniacal and crazy. I'm playing the Bangles as I write this post.....are you all old enough to remember the Bangles? They were/are a typical 80's group. I find it amusing that I can listen to all these great old songs on the Internet. Can I just say that we love our DSL? We had just advanced to DSL about 3 months before we bought out new-to-us house, and then the panic set in about whether it would be available where we were moving to, with the location being somewhat more remote. So, I called the company, and they of course threatened, "No service available Ma'am." I almost cried. Wait, I did cry. It's so easy to use the computer with it, and the thought of satellite or worse yet, dial-up, was too much to bear.....But alas, some strange man named Jonathon (no last name) from the West Coast, called one Saturday before we moved, and lo and behold, there is service available. After a lot of whooping, general jumping around, and acting maniacal again, I calmly thanked him, and kissed the phone when he hung up......long story short. Here at the base of the mountain, we have DSL. Yes, yes, we do!
But I digress......you're here for knitting content. So here's the latest shawl....

Hamamelis shawl by Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops.
Yarn - The Plucky Knitter, 50% silk, 50% Merino Wool in Fingering Weight.
Needles - Size US #6
I wore this shawl with my little black dress to my nephew's wedding in June. Wow, that makes me sound ancient doesn't it? I have a nephew that's married! However, I counter with my best defense, a nephew that is a mere 6 years old. Ha!
Seriously, I hope that this week gets better as it progresses. I have only 6 more working days (and two on-call nights) until a little break. I have decided that if you can't fight it (the whole control issue that alludes me these days), just turn up the Bangles and sing like a mad woman, or man if that be your gender......
Have a great week. Knit on!

Just a quick post, for I'm tired and recovering from bronchitis and sinusitis (in August, no less). Tomorrow I head back to work, with a pager attached to my hip, no less.

Pattern: Ripple Hat by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Merino/Alpaca/Silk blend in worsted weight from The Plucky Knitter
Needles: US size 7
Finished in March, after only a couple of days of very intermittent knitting, but only photographed now. Have a great week!