Bits.

My feet hurt. I think that the new running shoes I got yesterday need some more arch support. I knew that the two new pair of boots I got would need it and suspected the running shoes would as well, but a day spent walking around Cranfest in them pretty much confirmed it.

I have just over 4 pounds of Clun Forest lambs wool. I'll be sending it to Blackberry Ridge later this week so they can clean it and process it into roving. I decided that while I am capable of cleaning it myself, I currently have no means to comb or card it myself. For this batch it will be cheaper to send it to them for processing - $14.35 for the cleaning and pr'bly about that much for processing - than to purchase stuff to process it on my own, and it will be far faster.

Speaking of wool, I also picked up 4 ounces of a pumpkin heather wool roving at Cranfest. So.. yeah.. I'm getting quite the fiber stash. I have 3 pounds of merino roving, the aforementioned Clun Forest, and then this little bit, which should keep me busy for awhile. *smile* Oh, and the grey merino is almost finished. I weighed the first little skein and it's only 41 grams, so this next skein will be a bit bigger.

Hrm.. it's been awhile, hasn't it? Mom's Panobo is finished but-for blocking and weaving in the ends. I started working on the Breezy Cables cardigan for Judy this weekend and it's coming along nicely. I'm about two skeins and two and a half pattern repeats into the back. When I started it I was initially concerned that it was going to be futzy with all the little 1/1 cables and the monstrous 3/4 cables, but it's turned out to be pretty easily memorized and not really all that futzy, especially since I'm not doing the bobbles (hate bobbles.. both knitting them and how they look). I'll try to get pictures once it gets light out tomorrow.

Where have you been?

So, can you tell the school year's started? I certainly can! Sorry to have been so scarce, but working 10-12 hour days means that about the last thing I want to do when I get home is look at a computer screen.

Unfortunately, I've also not been terribly motivated to knit or spin. But I have made some progress on holiday projects - the superwash merino is almost finished, mom's Panobo wrap is similarly progressing - and ordered yarn for several more. Progress has been somewhat hampered this weekend by the head cold that seems to have taken up residence in my sinuses. It's better today, but I'm still feeling a bit drained (or maybe.. not.. ?).

I swatched yesterday for the Breton jacket in the Rowan River Tape and decided that it's simply not the right yarn for that project. And while I originally thought I'd just find a different yarn if that happened, I'm now starting to think that maybe I can find a different project for the yarn. It's really a rather interesting yarn and I think it would break up some of what will undoubtedly become monotony of working several items in similar weight wool and wool blends. And if there's enough left over, I might see about making the Mikado ribbon gloves.

O is for Oblique.

Yes, fine, I'm cheating. I can't come up with a good O post and this.. well.. works.. in a way..

I'm not what you'd call a "chocolate lover". Most chocolate desserts are too rich and gooey and.. chocolaty. Fessing up to this tends to get me looks akin what to I'd expect if I said something like "After I cut off his feet...". Don't get me wrong - good plain chocolate (as in chocolate bars or candy pieces) I'm fine with. It's those "death by chocolate" type desserts that are just too much.

However, mix the chocolate in one of those gooey desserts with something like caramel or mint, and I'm all good. Which would explain why the huge brownie with half an inch of mint frostening, consumed in bites between crises today, made things.. bearable.

In other news, I promised pictures.



First up - recent fleece acquisitions. The front left is the peacock merino (2 pounds!) and the front left is the khaki merino (1 pound) roving from Mary Kay. It's very soft and very lovely and I imagine it will be rather dreamy to spin. The back is the 4 ounces of camel down I picked up at the state fair a couple weeks ago. I was warned that this has a short staple and likely to be slippery, but I think after the merino superwash, it will be okay.



Speaking of which, I rinsed and hung the skein I plied and wound it into a skein. I was pleased to see it didn't seem to unply much in the process, though it did bloom a bit and is gorgeously soft stuff.



And here's Rogue, all seamed up, but unblocked. The sleeve picture is pr'bly the most color accurate. The seam in the hood is a little wonky and I'm pretty sure I screwed something up in the decreases for the top of the hood because it's not really flat, but I rather like how the hems turned out, even if the bottom hem left a visible line where it caught in the back.



And here it is blocking. I'm relieved that it relaxed and stretched out quite a bit once I soaked it, so here's hoping it will be quite comfy when it's dry. You can see in the picture on the left what I mean about the hood being sort of wonky. Not sure why some of these pictures look all washed out.. the one on the right is more color accurate.



And last, at least for the pictures for now, is the red Rowan River Tape I got from Saun. This is slated for a holiday project, so it's likely the last you'll see of it until January.

Where did I put that whiskey bottle..?

Who the hell let's their Director of Institutional Research talk to the press?! I mean.. really?! Usually they try to keep us away from the press. We know too much, we get carried away in the data sometimes and stop speaking English, we don't have that certain special gloss that shines under the bright lights and attention, and we certainly don't ever report data without appropriate context, like it or not. We're really like little nocturnal creatures that prefer to hide away in our caves offices away from all the big scary people. We *like* to spend hours immersed in data at our desks*, venturing out only to acquire more coffee or for the occasional unavoidable meeting. Really.**

Now I just need to convince our PR Director to stop putting reporters directly in contact with me. I'm really a much happier and calmer person if I'm not fretting how every word I say (or type) might be taken out of context by some intrepid reporter out to make their name.***

.. I need (another) drink. .. and maybe a Society for the Protection of Institutional Researchers. *sigh*

* Preferably with the nasty, evil overhead fluorescent lights turned off and our little desk lamp (with a daylight bulb that blends in perfectly with the lights coming in through our windows) on so that you can't really tell if we're in there.

** No, I mean.. Really. Honestly and truly.

*** Not really. Well.. maybe a little.

Tease..

I was going to put off posting on weekend progress and recent acquisitions until I could take pictures, but given that I have plans most nights this week, I'm not entirely sure when that will be. So, the short list of accomplishments from the holiday weekend:

• Rogue is finished! It's slightly too small, but I'm hoping some judicious blocking (and twice weekly water aerobics starting next week) will fix that. I also think my gauge was tighter on the sleeves than on the body because the sleeves are fairly tight through the forearms. I admittedly have larger than average arms, but usually it's the upper arms that tend to be tight.
• I am just about half way through the rest of the steel merino roving. This half seems to have fewer snarly bits, which is nice, but I think I'm spinning it a bit thicker than the previous batch. Might have to alternate rows to make sure the socks I intend to make with the finished yarn end up the same size.
• I have about 2/3rds of the Panobo wrap finished. My hope is to finish this one in the next week or two so I can move on other holiday knitting and still have some time to squeeze in work on..
• .. the Blackberry Ridge sweater my sister got me for my birthday/Christmas last year. I started the body this weekend, but am only a very few rows into it, so it's not very exciting yet. I dithered a bit about what size to knit (after Rogue, I started to wonder if I shouldn't just always go bigger than I think I should), but I think it will work out okay.

I also received a couple of recent acquisitions - namely the roving from Mary Kay and some red Rowan River Tape yarn from Saunshine. I got the River Tape with a specific project in mind, but in getting a closer look at it, I'm not sure I want to scrunch it up as much as I'd have to to make gauge for that project work. I'll have to knit some swatches and see where it looks best, but I'm excited to have enough of it to make a sweater.

I also need to order yarn for at least a couple more planned projects, but that will likely wait until this weekend at the earliest.

Right then! Pictures soon, hopefully.

Oh! And the other IR folks out there will pr'bly appreciate this - I was approached today by a graduate assistant in our office and thanked rather profusely for speaking English. She was apparently terribly relieved to hear me speak at a forum last week and not feel like I was speaking some foreign binary language. Heh.