Milestones and New Starts

Well, the first week of my new job went very smoothly! Even though I'm working for a very large international insurance company, it's a small branch office of 5 attorneys and 4 support staff. Everyone seems very nice, and they're weren't even freaked out when they discovered I'm a knitter and spinner. Confused, maybe; but not freaked out.

I did stop by the old office a couple times last week, just for a couple of hours on Tuesday and Thursday to take care of important items. Tuesday was my birthday, and after working a full day and then another couple hours, I was too tired to even enjoy it! I didn't get home until almost 8, and after feeding Andy Rooney and getting his insulin shot taken care of, I wolfed down a couple slices of cold pizza and collapsed in bed. I had originally offered to work a couple hours twice a week plus a few hours on Saturday to cover until a replacement was found; but after last week, I've decided that I just physically can't do it. Working just a couple hours means I don't get home until nearly 8 p.m., so I don't have enough time to eat and relax before going to bed; and that means I wake up exhausted the next day. I've offered to train someone, but I just can't keep doing the extra work; especially when they haven't even started running an ad for the job.

Now that I'm back to commuting 5 days a week, I'm back to commuter knitting. I pulled out the Heart and Sole that was in the swag bag from the TKGA last fall with the intent of making myself a pair of socks. Well, on the last row of toe increases, I found a knot. Dang! So, I did a Russian join, marked that side as being the bottom, and went on. Barely another inch knitted, and out popped another knot! Needless to say, I was really ticked off by this turn of events. Good thing I had the Harlot's latest book in my bag, or my fellow commuters might have been in danger. Knitting, in one form or another, has often kept me from maiming people.

Anyway, once I got home, I frogged out the sock and wound the yarn on the ball winder to find out if there were any more knots in there. Good thing I did, because I found 6 knots in one ball! Of course, there were none in the second skein. Well, 6 knots is just too many to deal with in a sock, so I wound both skeins into one ball and cast on for something else. I can't tell you what it will be yet. Yes, I know what it will be! But it's going to be gifted and I don't want to take a chance on spoiling the surprise for the recipient!



















I almost forgot; the spring TKGA conference is next weekend. I'll be going on Saturday to meet Kathleen after her class; we're going to have lunch in Chinatown and then back to TKGA for shopping. This year's marketplace looks even better than last year; I'll have a full report for you next week, provided I remember to bring the camera!

I've also been slogging away on re-designing that driving cap. It's going, slowly but surely. I'm not entirely happy with the way this one is turning out; or rather, not any happier with this version than with the first. I haven't discovered what works exactly the way I want it, but I have learned several things that don't work. To paraphrase Elizabeth Zimmerman, I'm "unventing" a driving cap, so I shouldn't expect success the first time around. It's a good thing the Traveling Stitch Markers arrived a couple weeks ago; I've needed every one of them on this project!



















Last week at Westside Wednesday, I started spinning the yak and merino blend. I did a little sampling of it, but I'm not entirely happy with the way it was coming out. It's so incredibly soft and I want to preserve that loft and softness, but I also want to stretch it out as far as I can. After sampling, I've decided to let it set for awhile and I'll go back to it. I'll go back to it in a couple weeks and see how it goes.



















After putting away the yak, I bought a braid of this beautiful merino from StitchJones in "Earth Angel." Yesterday was the May meeting of Portland Spinnerati and since the yak blend wasn't working out, I took the Earth Angel with me. I'm spinning it very thin; it should come out to a fine laceweight. I don't know what I'll do with it, but aren't the colors just beautiful?

ToolMan and I met our new neighbor this week and learned that she wants to learn to knit and spin! I'll be taking her to Westside Wednesday with me this week, and maybe to TKGA if she's game. And next weekend is TKGA on Saturday, and alpaca shearing on Sunday, so I'll have lots to report when next we meet. Until then, see you in the funnies!