Purl, Interrupted

spoiler alert

It's amazing what you can find to photograph when the alternative is studying for the bar. Here is a picture of our very festive christmas tree. It's a fake tree, because real trees in Alaska are all lopsided and funny-looking, and because the orthopedist didn't approve of our plans to go chop down our own tree. (Incidentally, when people in AK say they are "going to go get a Christmas tree," that -- chopping it down with an axe -- is what they mean. I swear to god.) Anyway, here's our tree, surrounded by the mess of a happy Christmas morning!

Very festive, no?

Now, if your name is Karrie, and you *don't* want to see a picture of your present (the one I've been mentioning periodically for 3 months but haven't mailed), you should skip the rest of this post. If not, check out the cutest thing ever!!!

At least my intentions are good. I'll send it soon. Or at this point, maybe I'll just bring it down with me when we come to SF in March. (Have I mentioned we're coming to SF in March?? Mel-O-Dee, here I come!)

my so-called quilt

Another photo! Here is the quilt (or quilted object) I've been sort of working on. I guess it's not even a quilted object yet, since I'm still just making the blocks and piecing them together.

I made a few discoveries along the way. One, I'm really, really bad at rotary cutting. Two, I was 3/4 through making these before I figured out how the 1/4 inch seam on my machine was actually supposed to work. Three, quilting (or sewing in general, I guess) is a lot harder on your body than knitting or spinning. Maybe it gets better when you're not spending all your time hunched over the machine trying to rethread the damn needle. Too soon to tell.

In any event, I love the patterns on this thing. I may make it into either some pillows or purses. Too soon to tell.

look at the teeth, man!

Were you beginning to wonder whether my digital camera had run away from home? The bad news is that I don't have any good Alaska photos to share (maybe because it's only light out for such a short period each day, and I'm generally inside working during that time). The good news, however, is that I have some photos of my Christmas swag!

First, here is the carder.

Here it is again with its big (little?) sister, Suzie, in the background:

Good god, look at those teeth!

As if life could get any better, the good people at Copper Moose send you a package of "exotic bonus fibers" as a thank you for buying your carder through them. My bonus fibers came today. Here's what was in the box:

The one on top is mohair ... delicious! Actually it looks like someone's hair. I don't think I've ever spun with mohair, or if I did it was during that awful class, so it should be a lot of fun.

On the bottom right-hand side is fawn alpaca. As it happens, I have a big ol' rubbermaid tub of this stuff sitting in storage, but what came in this package is undoubtedly nicer than the seconds I got on Salt Spring island. And who can have too much alpaca.

So far so good, right? Well the third item (bottom left) is something they've labelled "faux cashmere." I don't know what it is, but it grosses me out. It feels like a cotton ball, or the top of a q-tip. Yuck. I'm not a fan.

happy festivus

Happy Festivus, fearless knitters!

It was a wonderously snowy and picturesque winter weekend here in Alaska. As previously advertised, Santa brought me a drum carder (!!!!), which I have now taken out of the box and stared at in awe. It comes with a lot of directions, which is good, because honest to jeebus, I have no clue how this thing actually works.

I desperately wish I was still in close proximity to all my crafty knitting/spinning friends, who could undoubtedly figure this puppy out. As it is, it's currently sitting on the floor of our living room, scaring us to death. (I think it's all the sharp, pointy teeth).

When I say I don't know how to use it, I mean, I have literally no clue where the stick the fiber in! I'm sure a little quality time online will answer that question for me. In fact, good ol' Alden Amos probably answers it in his ptome (which is also sitting upstairs on my living room floor), so maybe I should check there.....

A secondary problem with the drum carder is this: I need to clean a fleece (or part of one) before I stick it in there, but I don't know if I'll be able to get the fleece to dry inside. I'll think it over and maybe give it a shot next weekend.

Other fibery xmas gifts were a gift certificate to my favorite LYS (the far north yarn co.!) and a book of knitting stories I hadn't seen before. No one's reviewed it yet on Amazon, either. I'll let you know how it is.

As the New Year approaches, TK and I are thinking about ways to simplify or otherwise improve our lives. We're getting rid of cable, which hopefully means I'll be doing more fiber stuff. Of course, for the next two months, I should be doing very little besides going to work and studying for the dreaded Bar Exam (the joys of moving to a new state!!!), but hopefully I'll have the time, mental energy and arm strength to do a little more knitting than I have thus far this year.

it's the mel-o-dee calling!

My cell phone battery died this week and somehow neither Terry nor I knew where we'd put the charger after our trip to Phoenix. So I didn't have my phone for a few days. Imagine my delight when I finally plugged it in yesterday and had a phone call from ... the mel-o-dee. Ladies, I'm sorry I missed your call. It made me nostalgic and very, very thirsty.

I've been thinking a lot about the knotty knitters lately, as Alaska has had a lot of exciting geologic news in the last month or so. What's with this volcano that's about to errupt? If only I knew a vulcanologist....

I've also been thinking about the knotty knitters everytime I look at Karrie's funny little present, which I still haven't mailed.

the rumors of my demise...

...have been greatly exagerated. I've just been really, really busy.

Merry Christmas from Anchorage. It was looking like we were going to have a slushy and grey global warming christmas, but a surprise snowstorm yesterday means it's a veritable winter wonderland today.

Mr. Purl,Interrupted is off skiing today, having discovered that while you can't kayak every day here, you can ski every day. My xmas eve plans are much more low-key ... brunch with a friend, cook a big dinner, knit one, purl two, etc.

Primarily I plan to spend the day gazing excitedly at the ENORMOUS box under my tree shipped to me from New Castle Virginia from OTTO STRAUCH HIMSELF! The box has a label on it that says "delicate machine, please handle carefully." I wonder what it is, Santa!

All I can say is, the petite drum carder is in no way petite.

judge me by size, will you?

okay, one last thing. as it turns out, I'm Yoda. (Thanks to B, for giving me something to distract myself on a sleepy Saturday morning....)

"A venerated sage with vast power and knowledge, you gently guide forces around you while serving as a champion of the light."

"Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not - for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life greets it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you, everywhere."

holy xmas, batman!

I can't believe I almost forgot this most delicious piece of news. A little bird told me that Santa has ordered me something absolutely dreamy. How excited am I? Oh ... pretty excited.

In a related story, when we were in Phoenix over Thanksgiving my sister in law said that she'd looked at photos on my blog and was very very alarmed at my huge collection of fleeces. As am I, believe me. Hopefully this will give me the jump-start I need to make some roving!

(Please, I just hope I can figure out how the thing works.....)

reunions

I got a flyer in the mail recently for this year's Stitches-West, which made me very sad. Why? Because this year's even coincides with the Alaska Bar Exam, which I'm sure will, like Stitches, also be a very enjoyable experience for all involved.

In related story, my 10 year college reunion is coming up in June, but it looks like I'll have to miss it, because I'll be up to my eyeballs in Anchorage's trial of the century. Don't ask. But believe me, it has a lot to do with my failure to update my blog regularly, as well as my working on weekends, staying late, etc etc. Someday this will all be over and we can have a big laugh about how hard it was.

Speaking of work, I just found out that I have to take a business trip to Oklahoma -- you know, "where the wind comes rushing down the plains" -- in January. Thank god for those new TSA regulations ... I'll be knitting in style for the whole 8 hours of flying! I saw a list somewhere of what is and is not allowed, however, so I will have to leave my "throwing stars" and "bludgeons" at home. Hope I remember to take them off my keychain....

it could have happened to you.

My most interesting piece of fiber-related news is that my mom had a heart attack in a yarn store over Thanksgiving. I think we can all relate, no? Okay, I'm making light of this because she's 100% fine, and technically they don't even know if it was a heart attack, but she did *collapse* in the yarn store and have to be taken by ambulance to the heart hospital.

But seriously ... we've all been ther, right?