Purl, Interrupted

a festivus for the rest of us

Terry says that he didn't know what to get me for Christmas, but then he spent some time looking around my blog and figured out what to get me. I think we can all safely assume that soon I'll have an alpaca to call my own.

I've missed the last 2 weeks of the knitting circle, but will be there this week. I really need to finish that damned blue and orange scarf -- I can't leave for xmas until I give it to John! It's almost done -- I think I can finish it this weekend. I'm going to add fringe (which I've never done) which will serve the handy purpose of giving the illusion of more length....

my new look

everyone likes a new look for the holidays -- even my blog....

moving right along, again

I finally finished the 70's scarf and decided it wasn't so 70s after all. In fact, it's kind of snappy. So now it's all wrapped up and ready to wing its way to my mother-in-law. I forgot to take a photo before I wrapped it, so I'll have to get them to send a photo of the scarf "in action."

In other news, this weekend I got the great idea to make some little beaded stitch markers but guess what -- I'm not quite as craft (read: coordinated) as I was as a teenager (e.g. the last time I made jewelry). So it was a little harder than I thought it would be. I think they're going to be cute though. But no work on those -- or anything else -- until I finish the striped scarf, which is taking a long time. I still haven't finished T's sweater but figure I can do that in the car en route to Phoenix. He's all mad b/c he wants to wear it around our unheated house *now* -- but that wouldn't be very Christmas-y....

now that i'm a professional

my friend asked me to make a scarf for his high-school age daughter. it's striped in her school colors, orange and blue, which, coincidentally, are also my college's colors. anyway, the scarf is definitely slow going. he wants to pay me for it, which raises at least two questions in my mind:
(1) what's a reasonable amount to charge? he bought the yarn, so there's no actual expense beyond my time. and as for my time, no one would ever pay as much for a handmade scarf as would compensate you for the time you spend knitting it. so what's reasonable? i think i'm going for the cop-out: "give me what you think is fair." he owns a cafe that we go to all the time, so he can just pay me back in lattes anyway...
(2) even more importantly, does this mean i can start writing off knitting supplies? i suspect not. in fact, it's hard to think of a bigger IRS red flag than writing off trips to the yarn store. maybe that just means i should sell more scarves....

the other side of the mountain

This weekend I took a pilgrimage through the mountains ... well, through the caldecott tunnel ... to what may be the world's biggest yarn store: Big Sky Luxury Yarns in Lafayette. As I'd been told, the selection is outrageous -- lots of amazing yarns, lots of things I haven't seen anywhere else. I spent about 2 hours there, and left with some new Noro (silk garden and big kureyon). There was some other yarn I wanted to buy to make a scarf until I decided I didn't want to make a $45 scarf. Which brings up a serious problem with this place: way too spendy. The Noro, for example, was about $2 - $3 more than I've seen it elsewhere. Which makes me equally suspicious about the other yarns.

A related issue -- and equally troublesome -- is the "membership system." Apparently the woman who started the shop eventually found herself unable to handle the large volume of customers seeking individual assistance with patterns, techniques, etc., so ... she instituted a "membership" system, where people pay for an annual membership that gives them (1) a certain amount of free help time with the owner and (2) a certain discount on yarn.

Hmmmm ... I could achieve both of these objectives free by shopping at my LYS ("YARN!") -- the owner is always happy to share her time and the yarns aren't overpriced to begin with. y'know?

But I will admit that the yarn selection is incredible and it's a nice place to visit. But I'm not going to be signing up for a membership anytime soon!

stranger than fiction

A former secretary at a friend's lawfirm has quit her job to strike out on her own as a ... Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. So my friend hosted a "beauty party" for 8 of her friends: 7 attorneys and a winemaker. Totally surreal. And most surreal of all ... it was a ton of fun. They have this amazing hand cream that has at least temporarily cured me of scratchy knitter's hands. (Ah ... glorious "satin hands...") Talk about the Twilight zone.

Anyway ... sleeve # 1 is 2/3 done. I want to finish it this week, although I'm not sure if every-4-row decreases are the best activity for the Tuesday night knitting circle. I guess I'll work on the 70's scarf.

70's scarf

And since B was asking about it ... here is the 70's scarf. I didn't think it was going to look so 70s when i started. I still can't decide whether I like it or not....

really almost done

I wish you could actually touch this sweater, b/c it's so much nicer than it looks in this photo. But anyway ... FYI it's all natural alpaca -- undyed, and although you can't see in this photo, it's basically brown with little blue flecks. I'm very excited about how it's turning out. Only the sleeves to go!

sweater-mania

all of a sudden ... t's sweater is almost done! it's looks great!! (if i do say so...) the body and neck are finished, and i'm working on the first arm now. the finished product looks and feels really dreamy. and the yarn is a great weight, so it hangs beautifully. but is incredibly soft and warm. (hey, it's alpaca). i'll post a picture soon. and as soon as x-mas is over i'm buying the same yarn in black and making myself a copy!

on an entirely unrelated note ... i've been trying to do some online xmas shopping. did you know that costco online sells caskets? i swear to god. ah ... the holidays.

is anyone going to the felting open house at deep color studio tomorrow? i'm getting my hair all glammed up (read: cut & colored) in anticipation of the trip home. but i might stop by....