Sophronia and the Peacock

Things Are Looking Up

2008-07-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

Merlin is settling in beautifully! He doesn't seem to need quite as much exercise as we'd thought, which is sort of nice, and he looks pretty cute when he zonks out.

He is also gorgeous when he's just been groomed. Luckily, he was trained to lay down and be good while being brushed, which makes it a lot easier on me! He also responds immediately to "No" and "Leave it", and seems to remember boundaries well. This makes him a very polite dog! He also likes to get excited and play. He's already commandeered some of the cat's toys (she wasn't really using them anyway) and likes to just mouth them or carry them around.

As for the cat, the two are getting along very well. He's still very nice to her, and occasionally tries to get her to play, but she just doesn't understand. I can foresee them playing together in the future, once she's more used to him, though.

Really, the cat isn't TOO upset by his presence in the house :).

Another good thing is that I have been really searching hard for a part time job and I may have found one. I did a group interview yesterday morning, and by afternoon they had called me in for a second interview. It went very well and we agreed that I'd be a great fit, but they have another candidate who was good, too, whom they will interview on Monday. So I will know on Monday. Please think good things for me! If this works out, life will be running very smoothly.

The only things I've been knitting lately are silk shawls. I love knitting with silk so much; I may never make a wool shawl again! One of them is quite tedious, being mostly stockinette: the Icarus shawl by Miriam Felton, out of Sundara Yarn Silk Lace in Black over Violet. I'm calling it my Darkangel shawl, after a beloved series of books.

A project I just started is the Print O' the Wave stole by Eunny Jang. I used a gift certificate that my mother in law got me for my birthday, and got my first Claudia Handpainted Lace yarn in Jungle. The colors remind me of a kelp forest, and the yarn is a joy to work with! The stole will likely turn out quite small, since I'm using size 1 needles, but I don't mind. The pattern has just the right amount of interest for me, so it's nice to go back and forth between this and the Icarus shawl. I have fifteen repeats done.

OK, that's all for today! My preceptor is coming over later with her kids and we're going swimming. They're excited to meet the dog, too. Should be fun!

Meet Merlin!

2008-07-05T13:57:00.001-07:00

This is our new dog! Merlin is a seven month old Sheltie. He was a show prospect that didn't turn out, and so we got to have him!

He dealt with the car ride very well:

He's getting used to going to the backyard:

And he and the cat, Valentina, are getting along very well:

He is very sweet and I think he'll be a great member of the family. Maybe tomorrow he'll pose in the sun for some better portraits!

Ravelry is spoiling me

2008-07-04T20:52:00.001-07:00

Oops! I hadn't realized that while I added new pics of my finished sweater on Ravelry, I hadn't done a blog post with them. Sorry!

My sweater hasn't been getting a ton of wear because of the very hot weather, but it fits well and I really love it! Again, this is the Sienna Cardigan, in Malabrigo.

I went to my LYS, Web-sters, to find buttons. I thought wood might look nice. It turns out that the first ones I looked at were the best! The colors in the grain perfectly match the array of colors in the yarn, and the shape is interesting yet simple.

So, tomorrow I will probably have more pictures--of a new addition to our family. We're picking him up tomorrow morning, and I'm so excited!

Chocolat

2008-05-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been keeping myself busy whipping up a nice warm sweater out of Malabrigo Merino Worsted. This is my first time using this yarn, and I'm very pleased (except when it's 100 degrees out!).

Check it out:

This colorway is Rich Chocolate. I've seen a lot of variations in it on other people's blogs, and I'm happy with the version I got. It's a rich brown, with hints of pink and gold shading. The color isn't quite variegated, but still has a lot of interest.

I've finished all the pieces of the Sienna Cardigan and am ready to seam it and add the collar. I like the simple yet interesting cable along the fronts:

As you can see, I added shaping to the waist that isn't there in the pattern. It appears to hit me just right, so I hope it looks good in the finished product. It will probably make its debut on Saturday, so stay tuned!

My picnic blanket

2008-05-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

This shawl is really quite big on me, even though it only measures 64" wide by 36" deep. I consider it my picnic blanket! I am happy because it is nice and warm and fuzzy, and should ward off air conditioning quite well.

Also, some more garden pics:

Bee Shawl takes wing!

2008-05-01T17:05:00.001-07:00

I finished my Bee Fields shawl yesterday and blocked it. Here are some blocking shots:

It starts with a little edging:

Then a beehive:

Now bees swarm from the hive:

Into the fields where they enjoy summer's bounty:

Full view:

This shawl is by Anne Hanson of Knitspot, a true lace genius. It is the first lace I have done with pattern stitches on both sides, which definitely got interesting! I think it is the most difficult project I have done so far.

The yarn is the Wooly Wonka laceweight merino in Tupelo Gold, a beautiful blend of yellows and grassy greens. I used size 4 Addi Lace needles.

Pictures of the shawl in action to come, once Daniel gets home from work!

I think spring has finally made it to southern Oregon! I was inspired by the beautiful blossoms right outside my house.

Shaking the Blues Away

2008-03-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

Oh, my. I really didn't intend to just not post for nearly six months. If anyone out there is still checking this blog, I apologize. There has been so much upheaval in our lives here--including a period where I didn't knit for three months--that blogging just got dumped by the wayside. Mild seasonal depression combined with situational depression has made me not feel like doing much of anything.

But spring is here now, and for those watching Easter Parade in honor of the holiday, Ann Miller has the perfect solution for the blues--just shake 'em away!

With that in mind, I have a couple of blue projects recently finished. I guess you could say I've shaken them right off the needles into their finished glory.

I started the Peacock Feathers Shawl in October, out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread in Spinel. The teal color is beautiful, if a little lighter than I would have liked. I put down all of my knitting shortly thereafter in order to write a novel in November, at which point I learned that my job was ending. After scrambling, I found the perfect apprenticeship to a local midwife and started that in January. Eventually I picked up the shawl again and almost in a frenzy, completed it in about two weeks. I blocked it on a beautiful snowy day and came up with this:

I think it's really lovely, and can't wait until my wedding in September when I get to wear it!

Light as a feather! I used size 0 needles with the thread-like yarn to achieve a size more suitable for my petite figure.

The next project I tackled to finish was the Indigo Ripples Skirt. I wanted to be able to wear this fun, flirty skirt in the spring. I had the yarn for it on hold at my LYS and was purchasing one ball at a time as we could afford it. This week, I bought the last two balls with birthday money and finished it up.

It is rather flirty!

Unfortunately, using this heavy cotton yarn hurt my hands a lot. As I said in an earlier post, I had to go down three needle sizes and reduce the stitch count to even get the skirt to fit, and so each stitch was rather difficult. If I had not been looking forward to the product so much, I surely would have quit a while ago. The pattern is great: the lace pattern is fun, and the ruffle is very cute. It did take quite a lot of yarn for just that last little bit!

Next up for a springy finish: the Bee Shawl. This project caused me a bit of angst because I picked it up after leaving it for so long and realized that I had made a mistake somewhere. With lace on both sides, I really didn't want to undo it all, so I put the project in timeout for a while. Then I was reading a thread on Ravelry about very difficult lace shawls, and someone said, "It's just knitting!" I thought about how much more difficult this lace could have been, and decided to tackle it again. I read the pattern carefully, tinked back a couple of rows, and found my mistake. Having familiarized myself with the pattern again, reknitting was easy, and I finally felt like I had my lace mojo back. I love that feeling--being so confident in my skill that I can just memorize each line and hum along, easily seeing what stitch goes where. I put this to the ultimate test by taking the shawl to a jazz jam session in a bar. Even after having part of a Long Island Iced Tea, I was mistake-free! (I did put it down after a while; no sense in tempting fate!)

Anyway, I've finished the Bee Swarm section and am in the Bee in Field part. It's fun doing the great "googly-moogly" as Grumperina would say to complete the bees.

This has been a very long post, so I will just close with a small request for good thoughts on my partner finding a job soon. Because of the economy, the job hunt has been extremely frustrating and we really need a stroke of good luck. Thanks!

Reading Meme

2007-10-15T21:08:00.001-07:00

I like doing the book list memes that float around occasionally. Here's one from Blue Garter.

These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users (as of some days ago). Bold what you have read, italicize what you started but couldn’t finish, and strike through what you couldn’t stand. Add an asterisk to those you’ve read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude*
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The name of the rose*
Don Quixote
Moby Dick*
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice*
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities*
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked: the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West*
The Canterbury tales*
The historian: a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s pendulum*
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath*
The Poisonwood Bible: a novel*
1984*
Angels and demons
The inferno
The satanic verses
Sense and sensibility
The picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s travels
Les misérables*
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela’s ashes: a memoir
The god of small things
A people’s history of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved*
Slaughterhouse-five
The scarlet letter*
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The mists of Avalon*
Oryx and Crake: a novel
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the art of motocycle maintenance: an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down*
Gravity’s rainbow
The Hobbit
In cold blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The three musketeers

An Affair to Remember

2007-09-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to lead off with a picture, right?

I'm so happy to have completed the cover skirt from "Romantic Hand Knits"!

Specs:
Pattern: An Affair to Remember from "Romantic Hand Knits" by Annie Modesitt
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL, 5 balls, color 005 Aged Wine
Needles: Takumi Velvet size 9 circulars
Size: hip 34 (my hips are actually 37, but this fit well)
Time to finish: one week exactly, from 9/15 to 9/22
Mods: Went down one needle size, added some length to the top section

This is a beautiful pattern that was actually highly intuitive. The genius of Annie Modesitt is evident in this skirt shaping--that is, the lack of shaping. Instead of increasing and decreasing to make the skirt fit snugly around one's hips and backside, she uses ribbing that stretches over these areas, then gradually changes into stockinette to draw the skirt in around the lower thighs. It is easy to formulate the skirt to fit your individual measurements (I used the direct method of continually trying it on to check that it fit right). While I have seen many in blogland long for this skirt, but claim they don't have the body for it, I believe that with careful attention to how the skirt is constructed, it can flatter a variety of figures.

Though the pattern is marked as advanced, I found it rather easy, and ended up not using stitch markers except for center back. You need to know how to execute cables and do a simple lace pattern, but everything is straightforward and well explained. I loved not having to worry about increasing/decreasing over the hips, since it was built into the design.

I used Classic AL because it was the right weight, came in gorgeous colors, and was on sale at WEBS. I'd love to do this skirt in the called-for A-maizing, because it would be a lot drapier and smoother, but it's nice in the wool/alpaca blend, and probably a lot warmer (certainly more affordable!).

There were a couple of minor errata, which I'll be sending to the designer. I understand her life is rather hectic right now, so if they don't go up soon, they will at least be here to hopefully help people.

1. In the first decrease row in the Waistband section, there is a mistake in the number of stiches you knit before the k2tog. In the size I did, the second smallest, it should read k12 instead of k16. Other sizes should look at how many stitches you are supposed to end up with, and adjust accordingly.

2. In the Lace section, once you have reached the part where there are no nonlace stitches in the side panels except the center p2 stitches: the next oddnumbered round says to "p1, k1, (YO, k2togL) 13 times, p2, (k2togR, YO) 13 times, k1, p1," etc. When you get to the p2, there is one stitch left, and no way to k2tog. I just knit this stitch and went on to the p2, and on the next lace round, the pattern matched the directions. I'm not totally sure if this is right or if I somehow messed up, but this method kept the stitch count correct. Maybe others will figure this out, but since I ended up having to rip a few rows twice, I want to warn you to watch out for it!

This skirt was a pleasure to knit and even more fun to wear; I expect to get it out a lot this fall. If you're on the fence about this project, I highly encourage you to go for it!

One last pose like the model:

Busy knitting

2007-09-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

While I haven't had much time to blog, I have been busy knitting! I started several projects and finished one.

First, my Isabella from Knitty, as worn by my straight-haired twin sister:
It doesn't fit quite as well as I'd like, but I'm slowly getting better at making well-fitted garments.

I've made progress on both the Indigo Ripples Skirt and the Bee Fields Shawl:

However, I've temporarily put them aside in favor of a project whose finished product I long for, and which I hope to complete by this weekend.

Yep, it's the "butt skirt" from Annie Modesitt's awesome book "Romantic Hand Knits." Otherwise known as An Affair to Remember, I'm knitting this out of Elsebeth Lavold's Classic AL in Aged Wine. It's going very fast with the large gauge, which is also a relief for my hands. I want to wear it this weekend because I'm finally going to a knitting/spinning event: the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival up near Portland. It should be a lot of fun! I can't wait to post finished pictures of the skirt, because so far it fits very well.

Prodigal Summer

2007-08-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

My Bee Fields Shawl kit finally came!

Here is the enormous hank of yarn lounging on our back fence. The colors are lovely, a beautiful blend of appley green, pale grass, and sunshine yellow. It really does look like a late summer field.

My cat, of course, wanted to know what the heck I was doing out there.

Gauge problems

2007-08-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have discovered that I am a very loose knitter.

That is, not only do I flit from project to project, but I also have a tendency to make things too big. I swatched and cast on for the Indigo Ripples Skirt from IK Spring 07 yesterday, and only after six rows did I try it on and discover it was enormous.

I thought I would be all right. When I swatched, I went down two needle sizes and got 6 stitches to the inch, as opposed to 5.25 as required by the pattern. I multiplied this by my waist measurement and cast on. Unfortunately, I must knit much more loosely when not doing a gauge swatch, and that didn't work. I swatched again, knitting more loosely, and got 5.25 st/in. So, I'm just going to cast on for the smallest size and hope it works out this time!

I'm also impatiently awaiting my Bee Fields shawl kit. I'm excited about this project, like many others in Blogland!

Shetland Triangle Shawl

2007-07-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Stats:
Shetland Triangle Shawl by Evelyn Clark from Wrap Style
Needles: Size 4 Bamboo Addis
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk in Amethyst
11 repeats of the pattern plus edging
Started June 2007, Finished July 2007

I should have bound off more loosely, but I had been struggling with untangling the yarn in order to be able to bind off and may have been a bit frustrated. Also, I finished this while at a bar, sipping a drink called The Peacock and listening to live jazz!

Thanks so much for the kind words on my sewing project! I really love it and want to wear it all the time. I hope to be showing more sewing soon.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

After two hours and twenty minutes, I have finished the final installment of Harry Potter.

Yes, I am bawling, aren't you?

Yes, I can use a sewing machine!

2007-07-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Quite some time ago, I received my future mother-in-law's sewing machine as a gift, since she wasn't using it anymore. I will admit that I have been somewhat afraid to dive into sewing, since it has been a long time since I did any and when I did, I had my own mother to hold my hand through it. Well, I finally took the plunge!

This is the Cabo Halter by Amy Butler, made out of some fabric from the new line from Free Spirit called Freshcut, by Heather Bailey. The pattern calls for 2 1/2 yards, but I had read that it takes much less, and it did. I asked for 1 1/4 yards, and that was all that was left on the bolt! It worked out perfectly, especially as I took some length off (and would like to take off more). I love the fabric and want to get more by the same designer!

I was so nervous while working on this top, because I knew it was the last of the fabric in town. Still, I didn't have to rip any seams or redo anything. I even put in my first invisible zipper, without an invisible zipper foot. I don't think it's perfect, but I'm satisfied!

We went out to dinner tonight, which was part of my motivation for finishing it today. One reason I look so happy is that as of today, we have been engaged for one year. It really doesn't seem that long to me...at least we have finally started actually figuring things out for the wedding! Since that is still over a year away, I'm confident it will all go well.

Now, I apparently have some pants to go hem...

Egg carton stage

2007-07-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

My Shetland Triangle Shawl is nearly finished!

I have done ten repeats and am not sure exactly how much yarn I have left. I think what I will do is put in a lifeline, then do one more repeat and the edging. If I run out, I can rip back and just do the edging.

Amethyst Sea Silk is a lovely semi-solid colorway that ranges from deep blue-purple to a lighter red-purple. It's hard to see the variation on the screen.

My favorite part of this design is the way the rows of stitches flow back and forth in sinuous curves. I can't wait to finish and block it!

Tonight I should be finished with my sewing project (my first in a long time!). Stay tuned!

New things

2007-07-11T08:23:00.001-07:00

It has been a while! However, I believe my blogging will now take an upturn as I have access to a digital camera and am learning how to use it. The following are a few projects recently finished, in process, or barely begun.

Isabella:

Needs blocking, seaming, and then sleeve edging and a hem. I should do this soon so I can actually wear it!

Swallowtail Shawl:

This is out of Sea Silk in Rose Garden. I love this yarn so much, I bought two more skeins of it, in Amethyst and Mermaid:

I've begun the Shetland Triangle Shawl by Evelyn Clark in the Amethyst. Tomorrow, I'll post my progress on that, along with a partly finished sewing project.

In other news, my fiance is moved in with me and settled, and I've moved up substantially at work. Life is pretty good!

Bloggers' Silent Poetry Reading

2007-02-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

On seeing this in other blogs, I remembered that I did it last year, and then I realized that I just missed my own blogiversary! One year ago, on January 31st, I started this blog. It's been fun! I hope once I have access to a camera I will be posting more often. It just seems weird to talk about projects and not post pictures of them.

This poem is not really suited to a silent reading--you really have to read it out loud, luxuriate in the cadences and appreciate Tolkien's complete mastery at putting words together. It's such fun.

Errantry
J.R.R. Tolkien

There was a merry passenger,
a messenger, a mariner:
he built a gilded gondola
to wander in, and had in her
a load of yellow oranges
and porridge for his provender;
he perfumed her with marjoram
and cardamom and lavender.

He called the winds of argosies
with cargoes in to carry him
across the rivers seventeen
that lay between to tarry him.
He landed in all loneliness
where stonily the pebbles on
the running river Derrilyn
goes merrily for ever on.
He journeyed then through meadow-lands
to Shadow-land that dreary lay,
and under hill and over hill
went roving still a weary way.

He sat and sang a melody,
his errantry a-tarrying;
he begged a pretty butterfly
that fluttered by to marry him.
She scorned him and she scoffed at him,
she laughed at him unpitying;
so long he studied wizardry
and sigaldry and smithying.

He wove a tissue airy-thin
to snare her in; to follow her
he made him beetle-leather wing
and feather wing of swallow-hair.
He caught her in bewilderment
with filament of spider-thread;
he made her soft pavilions
of lilies, and a bridal bed
of flowers and of thistle-down
to nestle down and rest her in;
and silken webs of filmy white
and silver light he dressed her in.

He threaded gems in necklaces,
but recklessly she squandered them
and fell to bitter quarrelling;
then sorrowing he wandered on,
and there he left her withering,
as shivering he fled away;
with windy weather following
on swallow-wing he sped away.

He passed the archipelagoes
where yellow grows the marigold,
where countless silver fountains are,
and mountains are of fairy-gold.
He took to war and foraying,
a-harrying beyond the sea,
and roaming over Belmarie
and Thellamie and Fantasie.

He made a shield and morion
of coral and of ivory,
a sword he made of emerald,
and terrible his rivalry
with elven-knights of Aerie
and Faerie, with paladins
that golden-haired and shining-eyed
came riding by and challenged him.

Of crystal was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
with silver tipped at plenilune
his spear was hewn of ebony.
His javelins were of malachite
and stalactite—he brandished them,
and went and fought the dragon-flies
of Paradise, and vanquished them.

He battled with the Dumbledors,
the Hummerhorns, and Honeybees,
and won the Golden Honeycomb;
and running home on sunny seas
in ship of leaves and gossamer
with blossom for a canopy,
he sat and sang, and furbished up
and burnished up his panoply.

He tarried for a little while
in little isles that lonely lay,
and found there naught but blowing grass;
and so at last the only way
he took, and turned, and coming home
with honeycomb, to memory
his message came, and errand too!
In derring-do and glamoury
he had forgot them, journeying
and tourneying, a wanderer.
So now he must depart again
and start again his gondola,
for ever still a messenger,
a passenger, a tarrier,
a-roving as a feather does,
a weather-driven mariner.

Swallowtail Shawl, Done and Blocked!

2007-01-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

Two weeks--I think that's my record for any lace project! I completed the shawl on Friday and blocked it last night. I am so happy with it! It is really the most beautiful thing I have ever made. I'm sorry there are no pictures yet, but I may be able to get some if the boy visits me soon.

I'm doing The Artist's Way exercises to try to help myself find the right career path for me...wish me luck!

Hello, 2007

2007-01-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

I guess I am really overdue for a new post, eh?

I have been busy, and also not doing much knitting. Daniel came to visit in early December, and we finished up the year with a visit up north to my family. We also got to see Ingrid Jensen perform on New Year's Eve. The only thing I did in that period was finish a Branching Out scarf for my mom's birthday. It was in Rowan's Kidsilk Haze, which I don't think I'll work with again, despite its beauty. It was just too hard to work with, and fluff got everywhere.

I did order some Handmaiden Sea Silk for myself, in Rose Garden. It has a beautiful blend of rosy pink, shell pink, twig brown, and sage green. I've wound it up (so soft!) and am starting the Swallowtail Shawl with it. The impracticality of a lacy shawl in the middle of winter has occurred to me, but I'll love having it once spring actually starts.

In big, life-changing news, I just found out that the midwife school I was planning to go to in the fall will not be offering its program. This was a big shock and is forcing me to really evaluate what I want and try to figure out what to do next. This is a really hard time for me, but I'm trying to see it as a way to look at all the other opportunities I have and maybe bank on some of them.

Until next time!

It was a dark and stormy night....

2006-11-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

Just wanting to set the scene for my interesting experience Friday night...

I went to the store after work on Friday and then went home on the bus. I used my free rental from Blockbuster to get the new film version of "Phantom of the Opera." It was dark by the time I got home and changed into pajamas, curling up with my cat, the movie, and a bottle of beer. I haven't drunk in quite a while, and the movie did manage to tug at my heart, though I had a few beefs with it. So I was in a somewhat sad, nostalgic mood when, at 9pm, my doorbell rang.

What on earth? I cautiously tried to look out my peephole, but everything was too dark to see clearly. Then whoever it was knocked, loudly. I went in the living room and hoped they'd go away when I didn't respond. Then they rang the doorbell again. Getting close to panicking, I grabbed my cell phone and thought about what to do. If it was just my landlord, who lives next door, I really shouldn't call the police. But what if it wasn't? I dialed my boyfriend Daniel instead, intending to ask what I should do since I was rather scared.

Imagine my surprise and shock when he answered the phone and said "Open your door!"

Yep, my sweetie drove eight hours through driving rain, taking advantage of his three-day weekend to come and see me, even if for only a short time. Honestly, I was so shocked out of my wits that I just sat on the floor for a few minutes, hardly able to believe it. I hadn't seen him since July, when I proposed to him. We both had been starting to feel as though we couldn't remember the other. I never expected him to do something like this, though. It was a tremendous thing and I'm so happy that he decided to do it and give us some time together, which we so desperately needed.

Not only that, he brought his camera!

So I have some photographic proof that I did finish my sweater, and I think it looks pretty good on me!

I had to do a Rachael...

We once again confirmed that I really don't photograph well, though for some reason, pictures taken in my bathroom mirror turn out better....

This is more what I really look like ---------->

I actually haven't done any knitting since finishing this beast...I was pretty proud to finish it and be able to wear it. In addition, I've been doing National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) and coordinating events for it, so I've been pretty busy. Even so, I'm way behind on my novel, so I think I need to crawl into a dark hole and not come out until November is over...

I'll be back once I've written a novel!

Hobbit courage

2006-10-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a bit like Samwise Gamgee lately. Last week, I killed a couple of black widow spiders at work that rather felt like Shelob to me. I hadn't known that we had them in the office, until one day a guy came to spray for them and my boss casually told me that he had seen them in the office late at night, when he went in to work (it's a converted garage right next to their house). They subsequently left for a convention, and I was left vacuuming up the dead bugs and killing a couple of spiders that decided to come out of hiding. I didn't even know black widows were common in this area until the spider-spraying guy gleefully told me that he's guaranteed to find at least one in every house in Ashland.

I hope that the one I found tonight right outside my door was my "one." At least it was smaller than the one at work, and I killed it with some cleaning spray. The one at work was arrayed in full splendor on part of the door frame when I came in Monday, and probably measured 3.5 inches in diameter (legs included). I just sat at my desk looking at it for a while until I finally got a large board and bashed it a few times, leaving spider gore everywhere. The other one at work lay there dead for a while until I disposed of it, I would go and look at it periodically (especially that red hourglass). I'm not usually bothered by spiders and bugs, but large, poisonous ones do get me going. It's really made me a bit more watchful and wary lately. I hadn't really known how scared I could be of things like that, but it makes me feel more brave for having had to face them.

Speaking of bravery, whenever I tell people that I've moved to Ashland without knowing anyone, they exclaim about how brave that is. I hadn't thought it was such a big deal to move far away, though of course I had some fears and doubts. I used to think I didn't have much self-confidence, but I guess it takes a lot to just move to a new place with no local resources and expect to do well. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, I have done well. I have a good job and a good place to live, will soon be getting insurance, and will also have my fiance to mold my future with. I'm grateful for my past circumstances which have allowed me the opportunity to succeed, as well as some spark in me that made me strike out on my own. I'm reminded of Bilbo's saying "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step into the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Though I seem to have my feet, it's true that I don't know exactly where I'm headed. I'm really weighing the midwifery business in my mind; is this the lifestyle for me? Can I handle it now, at this point in my life? How will it affect my family? Is there something else I would rather be doing? I'm glad that circumstances forced me to take a year off, because I really need to be at least somewhat sure of where I'm going. Various things appeal to me, but there is also fear about each. Being alone is forcing me to really examine these things, my emotions and my rationales. I think this is a valuable time for me.

Of course, that doesn't make me miss Daniel less. Tonight, as he is at a jazz gig, I was listening to my Jazz Nutcracker from two years ago and admiring the splendid clarinet playing. I'm such a lucky girl!

In other news, I did finish my sweater, am blocking it this weekend, and will hopefully have pictures next weekend!

Plugging along, and rings

2006-09-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I have no progress pictures of my sweater, though progress has been made. I have the body and one sleeve done, and am starting on the second. I'm very excited about the finished product! I'll probably have pictures sometime late in October, when a camera visits me.

In other completed project news, Daniel's and my engagement rings were finished and sent to us.

These matching rings are made of blue spruce with a juniper heartwood band. The rings are not only beautiful, they are ecologically and human rights friendly. The makers, David and Nicola Finch, were wonderful to work with. Please visit their website at www.touchwoodrings.com if you'd like to see more of their work. We are so happy with our rings! They are exquisite and suit us perfectly.

A sweater in September

2006-09-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

I've decided to take the plunge and create that most knitterly of knitted items: a sweater. Since this is my first one, I tried to pick something that will be simple and fairly easy. The Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts is simple and knit in the round, bottom up with no seaming. I love the idea of no seaming, because that's one of the things that scares me about sweaters. So I've settled on this pattern.

I wanted to go with cheap yarn, because another thing that scares me about sweaters is the sheer cost of all those balls of yarn. So I chose KnitPicks' Andean Silk, a nice blend of alpaca, silk and wool. I'd heard good reviews of it, and several people have made this sweater in it. I picked Lettuce, a pretty, fall-ish shade of green.
It arrived yesterday, so I swatched and cast on. It's nice to work with and hopefully I'll end up with the right size. My swatch was too big, but I'm doing a size that's smaller than I am, so it might work out. I'll just have to see! I'm using some of my handmade stitch markers that match the yarn almost exactly. It's pretty fun. I'd love to get this sweater finished in September, before it gets too cold. I really need a new, nice sweater to wear to work. My office used to be a garage, so it can get pretty cold in there.

I also would love to do the Gatsby sweater from Fall IK. I'd probably do it out of KnitPicks' Merino Style. I can't decide on a color though, they are all lovely! I also love the Sienna Cardigan. Fall is coming...my favorite season. I would love to be wearing my own creations during the chilly season.

In spinning, I have been doing more soysilk, some roving that I bought from Susie (To Knit Perchance to Dream). It is in pretty shades of pink and purple, with some white where the dye didn't catch. It is rather fairy-princess-y, a little much for me, but it appealed to me for some reason. It may become a gift for someone, after being spun into laceweight and knit into a scarf or shawl. It is also good practice for my Peacock silk.

Daniel and I have now told a lot of people about our engagement. Since all of my dad's family were together after my cousin's wedding, I called them and told them the news on the speakerphone. It was great timing for announcing, since not only was there a wedding that day, it was also my great-aunt and uncle's 40th wedding anniversary. Some of my relatives even found out through this blog! Hello, out there! Don't be afraid to say hi!

We have been having fun researching locations and thinking about the style we want. We haven't thought of much at this point, except for the fact that we don't want a huge shindig, seeing as we're both quite shy and private people. We just want a small celebration with our closest friends and family. Luckily we have a long time to plan and don't have to feel too overwhelmed yet!

Ta for now! I hope you are all enjoying these last few days of summer. Despite a few things that could be better, life is certainly good for me here.

A little announcement

2006-08-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

While my boyfriend, Daniel, was visiting me, I proposed to him and he accepted!

No picture of us together, but we did take pictures of each other, before going out to a nice dinner:

We won't be able to be together until June, when he finishes school, but then he will be moving down with me. We will be married a year later, in the fall of 2008 due to logistical reasons. Details have not yet been worked out, although my mom and I are seriously considering recreating this dress from Somewhere in Time together:

My other hopeful plan is to complete the Peacock Feathers Shawl and wear it for whatever celebration we do. I've been a fan of peacocks and peacock colors for a long time, and after all, peacocks are a symbol of love and marriage, in both ancient Greece and India. Plus it will be beautiful when it is all done!

We are both very happy and excited to be getting married! We will have to be a little patient, but it will be worth it. Thanks to everyone who has offered us good wishes so far!