not on vacation

i really haven't been on vacation this whole time. honest. actually, it is just that i have been too busy doing to spend time reporting.

craftwise, there have been a few successes and one major tragedy.

first, the pain... remember the gorgeous 'Cabled Denim' vest? it was in fact too big for Roland but it was a proportionate bigness. Mom and i judged that a blistering wash and hot dry would actually bring it right in line...

not only did it grow in the process, it acquired plaques of bizarre white something. in spite of my mother's best efforts to make lemonade, it has been banished to the rarely visited craft room for frogging and reknitting on smaller needles with smaller overall measurements.

we actually learned a very important lesson: Do not attempt to outsmart the knitting gods. Failing to retreat at first smiting will only result in more extravagant plagues.

what, on the other hand, has gone well?

here we have a completed pair of Christmas socks, a cuddly [out of focus] teddy bear,


and the Shoulder Shawl in Syrian Pattern (by Jane Sowerby) from Victorian Lace Today.


the Syrian shawl was started a million years ago (May) but had to go into stasis after i determined it was impossible to have an adequately ginormous shawl given yarn constraints. [i am completely incapable of buying the right amount of yarn for any project. somehow, i always end up either a tetch short or 8 balls over.]

the yarn is All Thing Heather Handpainted Superwash Merino in Periwinkle (on US 10.5s). the yarn is to die for soft, a dream to knit and washes beautifully. i got a killer deal on it because it had a weird colorfast issue and was fading where hit by light. i loved the way the yarn was fading and was looking forward to its progression over time. now there wasn't enough yarn- at least not for the comfy, cozy, every night, cuddly shawl i was envisonin - and of course there was no mutant fading yarn remaining.

i was bereft. eventually i decided i would knit the border from an entirely different color as a contrast. my LYS had nothing that would work so i emailed Heather. out of nowhere, she offered to try and match the yarn. off i sent a big sample. Heather tried and tried but couldn't not replicate the flaw. she sent me back something 'close-ish' with an offer to overdye the whole shawl when it was complete! i remain overwhelmed by her helpfulness in the face of my stupidity and poor planning. i will be buying a lot of ATH (as should you) in the future.

in the end, the border turned out so beautiful that i have elected to keep the shawl as is.


currently in progress are two sweaters bopping along, a sock, a stuffed bunny (the teddy got lonely), a crocheted table runner, two spinning projects and of course a lace project. i don't particularly care for multi-tasking but it seems like i never have the right project in process for my current logistic and anatomic constraints.

speaking of anatomic constraints, did i mention that Travy and i are knee-high in Habitat for Humanity work? we are having so much fun working together to make a difference for others. we hopefully will be taking on more regular responsibilities as volunteer team leaders.

work? we aren't talking about work these days. some of it is bad, some of it is super-exciting but confidential, and the rest isn't worth the copy. i will just say though that I cannot wait until I can scream at the top of my lungs about the super-awesome top-secret thing!