...and two months later...

Where to start? Certainly not at the beginning, that's a long time to catch up on. So here's just the latest.

I bought a new wheel, a Baynes. She's spoiled me.

I opened an etsy shop: earnknittoownit.etsy.com

I'm teaching spinning lessons from my "studio" (that's suburbia code for garage). I have two students signed up.

I'm working on starting a spinning guild here in Central Arkansas.

I have become the slowest knitter ever.

I took a class on handying yarn and made two stunning skeins called "Rotten Banana" and "Denim Americana".

I am loving life!!

...midyear resolutions: Knit during lunch at the library. Give in to dorkiness. Grin uncontrollably.

Prodigal Blogger..

Um, wow. Two months. It's not that I haven't had anything to say, I've just been introspective. Here's the highlights.

Spinning - my Babe broke a few weeks ago. I've gotten really good at spinning. I'm trying not to be proud of it, because pride comes before a fall, and then snap, my wheel broke! That'll teach me. So I did what any sensible person would do: I paid my new Baynes wheel off and searched for a box big enough for the Babe. The Baynes is in the mail and I'm still searching for a box.

Knitting - I knit my first handknit into a baby pixie hat and a Calorimetry. I was surprised at the yardage. The Navajo plying left it a little rougher than I'd like, but the colors are gorgeous. Right now I have socks for Josh's birthday, Icarus, a slouchy hat, and the Gluttony socks on the needles. The Icarus is going to hibernate for a bit.

In other news, not much. It's gorgeous outside. I'm trying to get back to the park on Sundays and Tuesdays for swordfighting. It's way too much fun and quite a workout.

I'm also joining the Junior League.

Yesterday one of our rescue dogs had to be put down. She was heavy pregnant, full of heartworms and had a bullet shatter her elbow. I felt so bad for that family who found her. They gave her a week of life as a loved, indoor dog.

The cure for one disease is simply another illness

So I cured my spinning addiction by becoming readdicted to knitting. After spinning all the fiber in my house, I purchased more fiber and picked up my pointy sticks. I finished my Monkey socks, a Quandt (the cool entrelac headband from Knitty), blocked two scarves, and am halfway through a second Kitty Pi catbed that I cast on over a year ago! I have all these items to cast on my head (2 sock projects from my sock club, 2 shawls, Pomatamous socks, thrummed mitts, Unoriginal hats) but I want to get these projects that I started and then dropped done. After the cat bed is the sock that I cut in half. That promises to be...interesting. My nieces have birthdays soon, so some baby knitting also needs to occur before April/May.

They're trying to make me go to rehab, I said no, no, no.

Contest: First to give me the name of the song and the artist gets a yarny prize of either Lorna's Laces or Malabrigo. Your choice, but the color is green, because I have a bit of a green problem.

I think I have a bit of a spinning addiction. I'll do a photo dump tonight, but I've basically predrafted every fiber in my house. I've learned to Navajo ply, and then plyed on my wheel yesterday which was a workout. I've completely forgot about knitting, which is not good, I have a sock left to finish for the Loopy Ewe swap. In short, I need spinning rehab.

I had a wonderful time in Jonesboro at a knitting meetup. It was quite a little drive though. I am not fond of driving. Someone really needs to work on that teleportation thing.

The sleep study went well. I now have a breathing machine for nighttime. I feel like a completely different person. Well, not totally different, I'd still rather knit and spin then clean the house.

Which reminds me, I need to call around about finding a maid for twice a month, someone to cut down the dead tree in our yard, and a new lawncare worker. I'm spending my government refund check before I get it. Remember, kids, spend it on services or American made goods.

Use your imagination..

It's tragic that the digital camera has bitten the dust. But, in a positive, silver-lining moment, I realize I have about 3 disposable cameras that are half finished, and a bunch of mystery film. Does anyone else have that problem where you have rolls of film that have been used, but you have no idea what's on it? So, I'm going to take some sock pictures with the ends of my disposable cameras and find one of those mail in places that uploads them to the internet to you. That will be my tragic version of the digital camera until I save up for one.

I'm knitting on some Monkey socks which are gorgeous. I love that pattern in a busy varigated yarn and the one I picked fits the bill perfectly. It's Yarn Love and the fabric it's producing is so soft and gorgeous. I still have Branching Out on the needles. When I knit it, my nose itches and my throat tickles. Possible mohair allergy? It's not bad enough to stop me from knitting and wearing it though. It's purple and green and glossy. So me..I can endure a bit of a sniffle.

My Babe wheel arrived! She needs decoration. I think I'll be going to the local hippy store to see if they have a triskele sticker or two for her treadles. I've been working on getting my pedaling smooth. Hopefully this weekend I'll try again at running some fiber through her.

The local yarn store, Yarn Mart, now carries Shi Bui Knits! I fell pray to a gorgeous navy blue semi-solid and took two skeins of it home. Sock yarn, of course. I also had a swap from Ravelry this week and received the crochet hook I needed to cast on for my Ogee Lace skirt. I've had the tape yarn since the Arkansas Knit and Spin meetup, but lacked the hook. Maybe I'll have it done by the Jonesboro meetup. Here's hoping!

What are you up to?

Well poo...

I've developed another disease. Apparently I snore like a 70 year old fat man. Why has no one told me this until now? I also stop breathing and wake myself up constantly. So I'm exhausted. I have a sleep study at the end of the month. After almost causing a head-on collision Friday, I now have some nice drugs to keep me awake during the day. The sleep study can't come soon enough. The anatomy of my mouth and neck is to blame for all this.

My digital camera is DEAD. Really dead. So there goes any dream of making my ebay store a reality, unless I use stock photos.

So that means when the spinning wheel gets here, there will be no pictures. You'll just have to trust me that I'm actually spinning and knitting on this end.

Right now I'm working on a pair of Monkey socks and a never-ending Branching Out. That is all that's on the needles. After that I have a Kitty Pi to finish and the pair of socks I cut in half a long time back.

Sniffle sniffle...

I caught a Christmas cold! Merry belated Christmas everyone! I just finished a pair of socks and got to reflecting on the past year of knitting...

10 pairs of socks knitted. Some of them were given away in swaps. I started sock knitting in February when Josh purchased me some Collinette Jitterbug in Lagoon and a sock class at Yarn Mart. It was all downhill from there. Besides the sock obsession, I finished a cat bed, several hats and scarves, and dishrags this year.

What's on the horizon? I have enough stashed for a sweater, several scarves and mittens, 7 or 8 pairs of socks, various baby blankets and the like, the Ogee Lace Wrap and Celtic Tote from Interweave Knits, Pretty as a Peacock Shawl, about 10 dishcloths, and who knows what else is hidden in my cedar chest. Unfinished objects left from 2007: an entrelac scarf, a Branching Out, and the beginnings of a Kitty Pi. I'd like to get some bigger projects going, along with the socks. I'd like to not overbuy this year. So here's my schedule, resolutions, or master queue for 2008. Needles up!

1. Finished Branching Out, the 2nd Kitty Pi and Entrelac Scarf
2. Keep socks on the needles at all times
3. No more swapping! Knit for Christmas instead.
4. Cast on for Pretty as a Peacock, Ogee Lace Wrap and Celtic Tote and finish at least one of them by Mid February.
5. More thrummed mittens
6. More hats
7. Use stash
8. Take more classes from Yarn Mart
9. Shop locally!
10. Avoiding casting on before finishing up an UFO or whipping up something small for the gift closet.

Tomorrow, pictures of the year in review and the story of Tick's missing ear.