Nothing to see here . . . .

I know it's been a week since our last chat; my, how time flies! Since we last talked, I have finished the project with my handspun. I knit a tam for myself out of it, but I tried the magic loop method for about the umpteenth time, and am now convinced this is not a good method for me. I'm sure other more accomplished knitters find it produces a perfectly acceptable fabric, but for whatever reason, it doesn't work for me. I started the brim on the magic loop and then went to dpns. The fabric is fine, but the 1x1 ribbing is too loose (that's the only part I did on the magic loop), so I've got some elastic thread that I'm going run through the inside to firm it up a little bit. Although the tam may not be a staple of my winter wardrobe, I am very happy with the way it turned out. I did like the way my handspun knit up and the fabric it produced. No, I don't have a picture because I am a bad blogger and waited until too late and now it's too dark.

I'm down to spinning the last of the Dragon Waste that I bought at OFFF. I was working on a gold and brown marl and had only some very dark brown after that. ToolMan remarked that he'd like another pair of socks and thought the marl would be nice. I'm not sure that I'll have enough of the marl alone, so I'll use the dark brown solid for the toes and heels. I've finished 3 bobbins of the marl, which have had the twist set, and are hanging in the bathroom drying as we speak. I've also spun the 4th bobbin of marl and plied it, and done the first bobbin of dark brown single. Hopefully, I'll get the second (and last) bobbin of dark brown spun and both bobbins plied this week. I'd like to have ToolMan socks for communter knitting next week. And no, I don't have pictures of these, either.

I also finished the cabled hat and mitts that I was working on last week. The mitts are Fetching, but I'm not at all happy with how they fit. They're much too loose and not nearly long enough to suit me. So I cast on for another pair, along the lines of Voodoo wrist warmers, in yarn to match the cabled hat, which turned out fine. I was worried about the top being too "pouffy" on top, but most of it came out in blocking. It's not exactly the pillbox I was hoping for, but it's pretty close; snug enough to keep my head and ears warm, but not firm enough to give me "hat hair" when I take it off. ToolMan took pics of me wearing the finished hat and mitts, but they're very dark and don't show off the knitting all that well, so no pictures of those, either.

Friday was my last day at work. No, I'm not unemployed again; I actually start a new job tomorrow morning. I took the last job because it sounded like a good opportunity to try something outside family law; the attorney was setting up his own office for the first time (he'd always been with a medium-size firm) so I'd get a chance to start from scratch setting up an office and learning the ropes of plaintiff's insurance claims. Although I like setting up the office, like the attorney, and like the co-workers, it really wasn't a good fit for me. I missed doing family law; I missed the variety of contacts throughout the day; I missed not handling multiple cases in one day (or even one hour); and I missed the feeling of having a positive impact in client's lives. I had already made up my mind to look for something new after the first of the year; when I got a call from a family law firm inquiring if I was still available, we negotiated a pretty good deal. I'll be working at a well-known firm and for a respected attorney, and I am really looking forward to being back in family law.

The news and weather people spent the latter half of last week forecasting a big storm for the weekend. So ToolMan and I were prepared: stocked up on food, charged all the batteries for everything, made sure the car was filled up, lots of rechargable batteries on hand, candles and matches in case the electricity went out, de-icer for the stairs (did I mention we FINALLY got a front porch and stairs last week? YAY!). I came home on Friday fully prepared to not set foot out for the rest of the weekend. Problem is, the storm never reall appeared. Oh, we had big flakes of snow falling most of Saturday morning, but it never got cold enough to stick. By mid-day, it had devolved into the same incessant rain we usually get in the Great Pacific Northwet. And, no, that is NOT a misspelling.

As it happened, we did leave the house today. We have been invited to a holiday party next weekend at Pyramid Brewery, and ToolMan needed something a little more spiffy to wear. So we went out to breakfast this morning and then to Kohl's ToolMan snagged a nice pair of dress slacks, a button-down shirt, and a cabled cardigan. I know, what a travesty, that the spouse of a knitter has to wear a store-bought cardigan! But, hey, the price was right (under $20), even for acrylic. It does have nice woven leather buttons, though, which will look really nice on his alpaca sweater. Right after I get that pound and a half of roving from OFFF spun, and plied, and the twist set, and the pattern found, and the gauge swatched.