Hi! Remember Me?

Yes, I know. It's been a while. So. How ya been? Weather's nicer now, isn't it?

Stitches West made me do it. The ultimate fiber conference-convention-learning emporium is held right in our little corner of the world. Once a year, Stitches takes over the Santa Clara Convention Center and the Hyatt Hotel (formerly the Westin, formerly the Doubletree) for four days. Four days of lip-smacking fibery goodness. Hundreds of vendors of all things knit/crochet/spin and every peripheral thingy there is. Heaven. Nirvana. Pick your bliss-word.

The after-glow hit on Monday and Tuesday, today was just withdrawal. Work? You expect me to work? How can I work knowing that I didn't get that extra skein of handpainted merino? That I was silly enough to walk away from the Jordana Paige bag (again)?

I didn't do too bad. Current situation being what it is, I couldn't go overboard, but I actually spent far less than I thought I would, and tried to buy more intelligently than at past Stitches.

Thursday was a hoot. The Monday knitters (ChickenKnittle, LMKnits, Gromnits), ChickWithSticks, and I all had Thursday afternoon classes, so we congregated afterwards and stopped into the Ravelry party going on in full swing. Jess and Casey are so awesome to have come up with such a great site; I almost went stalky on them, gushing over it. I wiped up my drool and our little gang went to Tomatina's for dinner. Bright and early Friday morning, I was back, this time with Kadootje. A few more people there than Thursday night, but still manageable.

Avoided Stitches on Saturday like the plague (it's sooooo crowded on Saturdays), then had two classes on Sunday, meeting up with ChickenKnittle for lunch and not hearing our names called for the big prizes. But she won a Ravelry prize - a hat kit!

So, here's the haul. I'll try to describe...

So the freebies first... There's a sample of TOFUtsies sock yarn (wool/soy/cotton/chitin) and the current Knit 'N Style magazine, from SWTC. There are 3 tiny skeins of Malabrigo lace weight (I told the guy I already had gotten 1 sample and he told me to take another... then when I told another guy later on that I already had 2 samples, he told me to take a third! Guess they really didn't want to cart them all home.) I picked up a NSK (Notorious Sock Knitter) sticker to replace the one that fell out of my car window.

Five skeins of Newton's Yarn Country's merino/cashmere blend in autumn colors (lower right). Lush, absolutely lush. Some dyed roving (center top) that I will not spin, but will knit with, right from the roving (how cool is that?). Some Leggero from Yarn Place that I had bought for ChickenKnittle and LMKnits, but hadn't gotten any for me - remedied! Picked up some wide beads to go with the Leggero.

My favorite purchases, though... Signature Needle Arts, size 4, 10", stiletto tip, spiral top (upper right). They're like works of art that you can really knit with. Very well balanced in your hand. The favorite yarn purchase? Pigeonroof Knits' hand-dyed superwash merino (lower left). Krista has quite a beautiful eye for color; these are the most unusual colorways I've seen. In the picture I caked the blue/green, but the gold/eggplant is still in its skein; I've since caked it and it's just as pretty that way, too. Yeah, I know, I needed more sock yarn...

And I'm making progress on Serendipity; almost done turning the heel of the second sock. Decided I'm going to knit the instep plain and shrink the stitches down to a more manageable number (i.e., 'way less than 72!).

I really do need to get some real work done tomorrow...

I (Heart) Hubbie

Valentine's Day was quite lovely (as it always is). I was under strict orders to be ready by 6:00 -which included not just showered and spiffied up, presentable to the outside world, BUT also relaxed and ready for an enjoyable evening. Ah, my hubbie knows me so well...

So at 4:30, I'm rushing to finish my billable hours so I can shower and sit for at least a half-hour before he gets home. Almost worked... was ready about 15 minutes before he came home. Um... about the 'relaxed' part? Well, I hadn't quite finished knitting his present, so while I was trying to act relaxed, I was wondering how much time I really had before we left!

Fortunately, he had to take a shower, so I knit like the wind, trying to get the last 8 rows of Harlot's Unoriginal Hat done in time to stuff it in a bag and bring it along. No such luck; he's a fast shower-er and I'm a slow knitter. We needed to leave when I had 2 - only 2! - rows left to go! (And sinking ends, etc., but let's not quibble.)

We wound up at one of our favorite restaurants, Crimson, in Los Gatos, where Diane Rose (owner and chef extraordinaire) was presiding over the dining room this year instead of the kitchen. It's been a tradition for a couple of years to have dinner with G & K; lo and behold, there they were! And these two humungous flower arrangements were waiting for us on the table - so big, we couldn't see each couple on the other side! And something we laughed about all night long? We were the only foursome in the place. Think about it... Valentine's Day? Romantical evening with your hunny-bunny? Snuggly-wuggly kissy-face couples all around? And there we are, the four of us, having a rolicking good time!

Yeah, it was fun. And I finished the hat in about 10 minutes once we got back home. It even fit him.

Knitting progress - Slow, but am making my way through the Serendipity heel. My, but it's taking a long time! I'm used to doing short-row heels with an 8- or 10-stitch w&t on each side... this one is 15! (15 wrapped on each side, 12 in the middle.) Damn!

Also managed to do an inch or so on D's pass-around sock. Have decided I really hate purling in the round. Oh, and I'm almost finished with my Stitches homework. Whew!

I Need to Check My Meds

Knitting up a new set of toe-up socks tonight, DH and I plopped on the couch and turned on the face magnet. A quiet night on the cable dial, so I tuned to the USA Network and the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Just in time to see a beautiful Weimaraner trot around the ring.

She won best in the sporting group. I promptly cried. I do not know why I cried. She was a very pretty dog, she ruled the ring. Not enough criteria to make me cry.

DH went up to bed, I swapped the new socks for Serendipity and watched the other best in group doggies strut their stuff, feeling sorry for the poor poodles forced to endure those ridiculous haircuts, and laughing at the Komondor - which looks a lot like some extra super bulky yarn made into dreadlocks.

Then came Best in Show. Uno, the beagle, won. It was the first time - ever - a beagle had won Best in Show. I didn't cry.

I sobbed.

*sigh* Better check my meds tomorrow; something may be a bit off...

Blog readers, meet Uno, WKC Best in Show 2008. Isn't he cute? Snoopy won!

Counting Down

All hail XRX... the Stitches Countdown begins! Ten days until the first classes (1:30 on Thursday, Feb. 21), ten days and a couple of hours before the stampede to the Ravelry, BMFA, and FoxyKnits booths! (Oh, and any vendor selling alpaca... I'm such a sucker for that stuff...)

Let's not talk about the homework for the classes... or the [giftie] I still need to finish for Valentine's Day... or my SIL's socks... or CG's new and improved socks (may as well admit she knows what she's getting)... or writing up the pattern for the cable class at Bobbin's Nest...

Instead, let's focus on the biggest whirlwind of a petting zoo that is Stitches!
10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6...

Cute, but Dense

So I've been out of the corporate world for over 2 years now (October 2005). While I was saying, "This is great; I'm going to simply adore being home!," others who apparently know me better than I know myself were saying, "Three months before she goes stir crazy and wants to go back to work."

Well, HA! They were wrong!

It only took 2 months. So there.

So I've kept myself busy, working at the yarn store, teaching a few knitting classes. In August 2006, I found myself doing technical writing work from home. But, you know, it didn't feel like a real job. I mean, how could it be a "real" job when I liked what I did, I only took the work I wanted to do, I could work in my jammies if I wanted to, and I charged a lot of money for it?

About a week ago, my client and my DH and I were talking over dinner and I said something very silly. I told them my thoughts about my job not being a "real" job. And I was telling them that while I didn't miss corporate life, I miss the structure. They didn't let me get to that part, though, they latched onto the bit about not having a "real" job and kept telling me that was the beauty of having your own company - you get to set the rules and you get to decide what to do and when to do it. For about 15 minutes, we violently agreed with each other.

They never let me get to the part where I could explain further, the part about the structure. Structure and ritual. I miss the structure of a "real" work day, to know where the boundaries are, just like I miss the rituals of organized religion. Neither means I want to go back to cubicles or go back to church, it just means I want to put these pieces back into my life.

I'm working on being up and at my desk by 9:00. Just like a "real" job. Taking a break for lunch midday. Just like a "real" job. (Okay, so I occasionally get focused and don't get to lunch until 2:00 or 2:30...) Being done with what I planned to do that day by 4:00-ish, so I can spend the night with DH, not sitting at the computer finishing up what I promised.

This is a bit of a ramble, I guess. Learning something about me that everyone but me knows, that I need to make order out of chaos. I'm not one of those people who can survive when everything is topsy-turvy around her ears. Structure. I'm working on getting it back. But I can put it in when I want and where I want, and I can wear my jammies if I want. So there.

A Super Stupor Bowl

Wasn't it great?! No, I'm not talking about the game (well, the last 10 minutes were pretty good), I'm talking about all the knitting I got done. (Some of the commercials were cute, but in general, they were pretty lackluster.

The mittens... Good news is, they're done. Bad news is, I ran out of yarn halfway through the second thumb. Good news, I had enough of another yarn to substitute. Bad news, substitute yarn is totally different color. Good news, I can live with the color difference. Bad news, substitute yarn is a different gauge. Good news, I frogged the first thumb and re-did with the same substitute yarn. Bad news, different gauge means it looks like both thumbs went to a witchdoctor and got shrunk and shriveled. Good news, I can probably find another substitute yarn that matches color and gauge better. Bad news, I'm not really likely to do that. Good news, I did figure out how to do an afterthought thumb. Bad news, I miscalculated how wide the thumb opening should be. Good news, I can do it again, correctly this time.

The real bad news about the mittens, though, is that they were supposed to be a birthday gift (for another knitter) but they look really dorky. Oh well. Time to break out the gift certificates.

Serendipity socks... I finished the first 28 rows of the pattern and have embarked on the second (of which you only do 26, but let's not quibble over 2 rows of stockinette). I'm looking forward to doing the short-row heel over more than half the stitches. I think that will solve a lot of tight-instep problems I've had on other socks. Even better, I slipped Serendipity up my leg and they actually seem to fit, even though they look rather large.

(I guess I should just get used to the idea that every body part I own is ginormous. I mean, I see sweaters and pants that look HUGE, positively 4X, and think, "oh that's so big, it will swim on me." And then I can't get them over my big fat blobby hips, either coming up with pants or coming down with tops. Bleah. Think I'll go get a donut.)

Hm. Doesn't sound like I got a huge amount of knitting done, but believe me, I was having A Time with the mittens.