Moose in the City

How time does fly....

2005-12-24T18:37:00.000-05:00

....even when you're not having any fun at all!
So I set up this blog, and then I immediately went AWOL for two months. What happened, you ask? Well, it turns out that my new teaching job is both insanely exhausting/time-consuming AND truly miserable. This is not because I hate children or anything like that. It's simply because I've walked into a truly untennable situation (boy do I ever understand why the previous teacher quit!).

But enough about that. I have managed to do just a teensy little bit of knitting in the last couple of months . And now I'm in full-on knitting panic because I have many gifts to give next week and have started.... get ready.... NONE of them!!!!

So of course, what did I do? Did I admit defeat and go buy some pressies for family and friends? No!!! I spent yesterday afternoon, the very beginning of my vacation, at two different yarn stores picking out gorgeous things. Now I just have to decide what to make!

So, here's what I'll be working on for the next week or so:

1. Kitty hat minus the ears. My girlfriend wants a "smooth hat with ear flaps," so that's what she'll get. I'm looking forward to it. Using Lorna's Laces Fisherman Wool. Color: Pioneer. .

2. Voodoo wristwarmers to match the earless kitty hat.

3. Ribbed cap in same Lorna's Laces yarn. (Did I mention that I'm in love with this yarn?)

4. Black scarf in pattern TBD. Yarn's picked and bought, though: sport weight Blue Sky Alpaca. What can I say? It was on sale!

5. Something sparkly and shiney and very airy (only bought one ball!) made from Artful Yarn's Broadway in color #2. Any thoughts?

That's a lot of knitting for one week! Phew. But I don't mine. The yarns are gorgeous, and I've got many long busrides and movies ahead of me, so why not, right?

Nice to be back!

No woman, no knit

2005-11-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

Today is a non-knitting day. It's too bad, really, because I had more than enough time sitting around at school with NOTHING TO DO to make some serious progress on something. However, I can't quite bring myself back to any of my current WIP after yesterday's fiasco. I need to go buy myself a cuddly, soft, easy, fast project to sooth my knitting nerves before I attempt any of them again.

Hello, My Name Is

2005-10-31T23:20:00.000-05:00

Here it is, my very first post, and I'm too tired to think of anything amusing to say. But I guess that's what happens to teachers at 11:20pm, huh? We turn into pumpkins. I'll do my best to post some recent project pics just as soon as I take some. I just started knitting in August, but since then I've already completed 3 scarves and a hat.

Today has been a very disgruntling knitting day. Some days everything goes well: patterns are a piece of cake, tension is even, the inches are just flying off the needles...... and then there are days like today.

I frogged an entire Wavy scarf because I decided my little sis wouldn't like it in that yarn after all. So there's 3 big balls of Nashua Creative Focus Bulky back in the stash. I think it's going to turn into a cute felted tote or project bag. The project bag is what I really need, but the tote pattern is just sooooooo irresistable!

And I frogged about 18" of a ribbed Inca Alpaca scarf in blue heather and grey tweed stripes that I was making for myself. There wasn't anything wrong with it; I just decided that it didn't make me happy. So I'm in the market for a new project that I can love as much as I love this yarn. Suggestions, anyone?

And, finally, I started, ripped, restarted, and ripped again a cute green and charcoal striped stocking cap that just doesn't wanna work. Maybe it's the fact that it's super densely knit on size 2 needles that's driving me nuts. Maybe it's that the guage of my swatch is so radically different from the pattern's expected guage that I feel something must be wrong. I don't know, but the damn thing isn't working, plus the sucker just takes forever to knit.

On the brighter side, I did come up with a totally reasonable list of projects that are in the pipeline for immediate near-term completion (just as soon as I actually start them, that is!). I'll post it with yarns, and pics, and patterns when I'm not so sleepy. Tomorrow, perhaps.

Oh yes, and another trip to my current favorite DC-area yarn store is now scheduled for the weekend. Yippie! Of course, I'd love to go sooner, especially since my current projects are giving me grief and I could use a break with something new, but hey, I'll take what I can get!