Totally normal four-in-the-morning activity, right? Right.
The reason I'm still up is because of ridiculous bad Friday the Thirteenth juju going around, and my jaw is hurting. Not just hurting. Two T3s and 500mg of naproxen with no pain relief and thus no sleep hurting. And let me tell you about the day I had at work. Dead as a graveyard outside of Sunnydale until the second my manager walks in, and suddenly the two salesgirls on the floor have four or five customers each with more rolling in. Stays busy for the next two hours, then starts to die down until about half an hour before the end of our shifts.
Which is when, predictably, both registers go down simultaneously. All day, too, the chainwide stock system had been fritzing, which meant only about half our stock queries could go through and no special orders. The help desk was flooded with calls - apparently most of the Laura stores in the country were having computer problems. And not just with the system that tied them all together, but local hardware and software problems as well. Bad, bad Friday the Thirteenth juju.
Still, not as bad as my friend who lost his job, apartment, and roommate.
To try and counter some of that juju, I decided to be nice and selfish and cast on a new project for myself - the Lacy Diamonds Scarf from Oddball Knitting. No pictures yet, but I've done the first two lace repeats and I like it so far. Ten-row lace repeat, thirteen stitches across with a three-stitch garter border. The pattern calls for worsted weight on 5.5mm needles, but I'm using a laceweight rayon slub on 5.0mm for a skinnier and longer scarf. It's my first time working with this yarn, and it's not terribly evenly spun. So far it doesn't look too bad. We'll see. I think I'll add a long tassled fringe to the ends when I'm done. It's a gorgeous lime green colour, nice and bright and happy.
I've been plunging rapidly through my Baby Yoda for the unborn cousin. Progress update picture time!
The Misti Cotton-Silk is a dream to work with. I hadn't really liked the thought of cotton before, because I've just been used to the rougher Bernat handicrafter cotton. This stuff, however . . . beautiful. I was feeling up some Cloud Cotton at Linda's. Definitely on my favourite fibres list. And it's so easy to work with now that it's getting hot and sticky out. The wool in the hated baby bootie? Hell. That, by the way, has been brutally frogged. I couldn't stand the thought of picking it up again. Ugh. So the yarn's been rewound and is all tucked away and ready to become a felted bag or water-bottle cozy.
I'm trying to put myself on a yarn diet, but people are making it hard. Leah's requested a yoga mat bag out of Noro Kureyon, and Maddie's asked for DK weight cabled wristwarmers - neither of which I have the yarn for. I'll end up with leftover Noro, but that's okay. I finally have the pattern for the labyrinth rug to use up my odds and ends.
Ransacked the library again. I try to limit myself to three or four books on the subject at the time - more, and I won't have any time for them. This time around it was the aforementioned Oddball Knitting, as well as The Best of Interweave Knits and One Skein. I was surprised, but I only got a couple good patterns out of all of them. One Skein has the labyrinth pattern, but nothing else jumps out at me. There's nothing in Interweave that I want to do - which surprised me - except maybe the Forest Path Stole. I might copy the pattern for future reference, but I'm not dying to cast on. The book that I am dying to try almost every pattern in is Folk Shawls. I've been ogling the book at Linda's for the last three weeks, so when payday rolled around I finally went to get it. First up are the Highland Triangle and Irish Diamond, but the latter I may just do as a triangle, because the diamond is huge and I'm not a fan of that construction. Saw some gorgeous baby alpaca that was dying to be my Highland Triangle - but not for almost $50/skein. Not on my budget anyhow.
Other knitting-related purchase from payday: a new purse. Definitely going to get some action shots of this baby. Large but not cavernous, black leather exterior and linen lining. The main bag is divided in two, which enough room on one side for two small projects (both my Baby Yoda and Lacy Diamonds at the moment) and my little kit of notions, and on the other all my other necessary stuff - wallet, cellphone, keys. Even fits my notebook, which was impressive. I love the new handbag with a truly undykelike love.
So, pictures needed: new knitting-friendly handbag, the Lacy Diamonds in progress, and my newly organised stash. In a fit of madness, I went through all my yarn and made up kits for myself; if I did have a project in mind for a yarn, I put the pattern along with the yarn in a large Ziploc and sealed it up. I figure that this way, all my separate balls won't just be floating around, and if I'm stuck for something to cast on I can just reach in, grab a bag, and go. Pictures tomorrow also (hopefully) from WWKIP Day. I'm not entirely sure I'm going to make it up to Scarborough Town Centre to meet up with the ladies from Creative Yarns. It is a pretty long ways to go for only a couple hours. Some knitters up in my neck of the woods are getting together, conveniently at the mall where I work, but while I'm working. I might catch them before or after, in the food court. I should have thought to invite the woman who started talking to me on the bus today on my way into work. She isn't on Ravelry but I spread the good word. She'd noticed my Harmony circs and asked where I got them because they were so funky, so I also introduced her to KnitPicks. Maybe I'll see her around again, who knows?
These posts seem to get longer and longer every time I write one. I really can go on forever. I think I've found my calling, eh?
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