(I shall continue to make efforts to compartmentalize my life, blog-wise, and try to keep it as light and airy here as I possibly can.)
I was back down in South Florida this weekend, this time without Travis and the pups. (So we managed to not incur anymore exorbitant stomach-pumping vet bills...huzzah! I feel like we should have one of those signs like they have in industrial work areas that state how many days we've gone without an incident. "Congratulations! 8 Days Without Veterinary Disaster!") I wish it wasn't for such a shitty reason that I was getting to spend this much time with my extended family and beloved bestest friend in the world. Jess and I did get to take a few hours on Saturday to get out of the house and unwind as much as conceivable, hitting a few shops and having lunch. Of course, I had to make a small detour. Or two. I'd discovered there was a chain of yarn shops (Great Balls of Yarn, heh) in the West Palm area. (And a fifth store will soon be opening about 15 minutes from her house...huzzah!) I behaved myself with remarkable restraint - a few Secret Pal purchases and a couple of skeins of sock yarn for someone not only desirous but also well-deserving of some handknit socks. Nothing intended for me directly. (See? I'm all about other people!) And we might have picked up something for her as well....
Lookit!! Lookit!! I got her! She can knit! She picked out a yarn she liked (having attempted to learn a couple of times with crappy yuck-yuck acrylic, I know the value of learning to knit with a yarn that really appeals to you) and we got to work. Would ya look at that garter stitch? Daaaaamn! And check this out:
Dude! No accidental yarn-overs. No weird flubby stitches. She started with 20, she ended with 20. She cast-on and cast-off, and would you check the consistency of those stitches?? Sheesh. She attempted to attribute it to the fact that she had a teacher, and I'd learned from a book - but I'm willing to concede anyway that she's better from the get-go at this than I was simply because she's brilliant.
I even got a picture of her with her swatch:
I'd like you to notice that she also knit that swatch while wearing braces on BOTH wrists. (Yeah, carpal tunnel, too. She's somethin', I mean it.) I love that in the background, her brother's face is all "sure, knitting, whatever" but his arms are totally "hey, my sister rocks, what what?!"
I could shed a little tear.
I spun up some stuff when I got home. (This isn't it...this is old.)
This is Spritely Goods batt, about 80 yards in 50 grams. Maybe a week old? I spun up some more Merino today, and some llama (which I freaking ADORE and have to keep reminding myself I spun for a pal.)
My weekend knitting was the Boyfriend sock for my dad.
This is my first toe-up sock. That short-row heel is a bitch the first few times, huh? I didn't mess it up (and actually, damn it looks good) but it was a bit of a pain. This is that Koigu I hand-painted, and I was a bit concerned that the variegation would obscure the cables, but I like the way it looks. Some might think the yarn turned out a bit muddy, with all the colors, but it actually ended up doing exactly what I wanted it to - look at it with those leaves on the ground. Nice camo effect.
Travis was wonderful while I was gone this weekend...the house was spotless, the yard was mowed, the flowerbeds were weeded, and he was appropriately overjoyed to see me walk through the door. So he got his Christmas present a bit early. It seemed only fair - I spend hours every evening spinning or knitting, and this way we can entertain ourselves in the same room.
Unfortunately:
"Great. Yeah, real glad you're home and everything...but between the fluff I'm not allowed to play with and the Gears of War explosions, I can't get a moment's peace!!"
(I know sometimes it looks like I'm totally ripping off Wendy. I don't have an excuse....sometimes I just really like to post cute pictures of Rooster.)
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