Month: September 2008

Last week I wasn't in my office at all. We had a storm come through (remnants of Ike) on Sunday and somewhere in the ballpark of 600,000 people were without power. We lost power at the apartment around 2 pm on Sunday and didn't get it back until Tuesday around 7 pm. There are still about 8,000 people without power in the area, so I'm thankful that we at least have power back, but we don't yet have our own internet back. We lost a whole fridge worth of food because the power was out for so long, but on the upside of that we cleaned the whole thing out and only have food we will actually eat in there now! See? Not all bad ;o)

Anyhow, I wasn't in my actual office for a week because there was no power until late Wednesday, so we were working from the main building downtown on Tuesday and Wednesday since I'm fortunate enough to work for a department that can't be down for long. I was out on Thursday and Friday because I had to have a little procedure done on Thursday (I'm fine – it wasn't that bad and everything went well). I was worried about Toby, Angela and Dwight (my plants) and when I came in yesterday Toby and Dwight looked okay, but Angela was a bit droopy. She's apparently pretty high maintenance! Didn't take long for her to perk back up, though. A lady I work with was kind enough to water my plants when I was out. She found Angela very droopy and was worried she might die, so she watered her for me and she kept checking on her to make sure she was coming back to life. I'm grateful she was kind enough to take care of them while I was out! I think I do need to repot all of them, though. They're growing rather quickly!

Not that long ago I posted about a raffle Robin was having for supporting her friend who's doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Well… I won a skein of Wollmiese from her! I had actually forgotten about the contest and was just happy I was able to support a great cause. Then Robin contacted me and let me know I won! She even delivered it in person at knit night! It was, of course, passed around so everyone could see, but I made sure to keep my eyes on some of the folks that admitted they wanted to steal it ;o)

There was some talk on Plurk and Ravelry recently about Sundara's yarn clubs. I have been wanting to get a hold of some Sundara yarn for a long time, but kept missing out on shop updates and folks on Ravelry who had skeins of Sundara sock yarn listed as for sale or trade only wanted to trade for another colorway. I was seriously considering joining one of the sock yarn clubs, but wanted to be able to see the yarn in person before committing to it. About two weeks ago now, I posted in the Sundara Yarn Love group on Ravelry and someone was willing to sell me a skein (actually, I sold a skein of yarn in my stash and used that money to get this, so it was more like a trade). I was open to any colors at all figuring I could trade/sell the skein if I didn't like the colors in person. On September 10th a skein of Sundara sock yarn in Pine Over Gold arrived in my mailbox:

The colors really are that vibrant in person. It's shiny and beautiful, but the twist and thickness of the yarn reminded me a lot of Louet Gems except more shiny. I'm always undecided about green for me. It's really pretty yarn, but just wasn't for me, so I sold it on Ravelry and then used that money to buy a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Farmhouse (another "trade"!), which arrived this past Saturday:

I have never been disappointed with STR and I love these colors. I've wanted a skein of Farmhouse for a while now, but I never want to spend the money to order from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Ravelry gave me the opportunity to get a yarn I want yet again! I really do love Ravelry – can you tell?

Last Thursday, after my doctor's appointment, we stopped by Joseph-Beth Booksellers because I wanted to see if they had any new knitting magazines. They did have some new ones and had the one I was looking for:

The new Debby Bliss magazine! I like a lot of the patterns in it and can't decide what I want to make first. It's definitely worth checking out this magazine – it's packed with great patterns and interesting articles.

Saturday Matt and I went to A Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, OH. We got there a little late in the day because we took our time getting ready and getting there. It was nice to be rushing around to get ready and get there since we weren't on any real schedule. I think we got there around 1 pm. First we went through the tents to get an overview of what was there. There were two booths that had angora bunnies for sale and I kept asking if I could take one home with me. While I really want one, I know that it'd be best to wait until we're living in a house to have one (or more). They were so adorable and soft! There was even a little baby that was so tiny and about 6 months old.

I was quite restrained with my purchases. Honestly, I didn't feel much like buying yarn. Creatively Dyed Yarns had some absolutely beautiful yarns and rovings. I had a hard time picking one out to take home with me! Matt helped me pick one and I brought this home:

One thing that I really wanted to get while I there was a shawl pin. Knitting Notions was there again this year and I bought this beautiful bloodwood shawl pin:

I love it! It goes great with my Clapotis, as you can see, and I think it will be great with Juno Regina, too.

There was TONS of fiber. I was really tempted to buy some, but I refrained since I only have a drop spindle right now that's really hard for me to use (hurts on my shoulders a bit). I spent a lot of time talking about spinning wheels with Matt (there were a lot there) and he kept telling me that we could totally build one for much cheaper than what they're sold for. At first I was pretty skeptical, but the more we looked at them, the more I was convinced we could make one and I started getting excited about the idea of finally having a wheel! When we got home, we looked up some information on building a wheel and I think I have some good thoughts, ideas, and references to go off of. I'm waiting on a book from the library before moving forward with it. I'm really excited about it, though, and plan on documenting it here, hopefully helping others to build a wheel themselves! Stay tuned!

I've been moving right along with my Pomatomus sock and have been working on it while watching tv. I've turned the heel and I'm now working on the gusset. Here's my progress so far:

Juno Regina is coming right along, too. I've had some issues with the pattern, but it ended up being my own fault for having an extra stitch or not really getting what the pattern wants me to do. That happens to me sometimes, nothing to do with the actual pattern – it's pretty clear, but my mind is not sometimes! I think I capture the colors pretty good here:

I have found that amigurumi is a LOT of fun to make! I'm working on the Grim Reaper from the book Creepy Cute Crochet:

The picture shows the start of the body, but I've actually completed the little guy! Well, I completed the crochet part and sewing him all together, but he still needs eyes, a mouth and a scythe. Today Matt called me to tell me an idea he had about a little girl design he thought I should create. I have some ideas about how to make it, but I'll have to think on it a bit more. I thought it was so fantastic that he called me with an idea like that! It made me smile :o)