Weeks of January 9th - February 11th

Has it really been a whole month? It's lucky that weekly blogging wasn't one of my resolutions. Joann Fabrics has had me working a lot of 6 a.m.-2 p.m. shifts, which I like just fine but they usually leave me too tired to blog. I suppose I could blog on weekends, but I'd prefer to spend the time with my husband. Priorities.

I've been busy on the design front. Last month I wrote two patterns for a local customer, both for children's clothes. Over the past week I designed and knit a superwash wool cape with Fair Isle designs; still need to type up the pattern, then photograph and list it. Right now I have a baby blanket on the needles.

As for reading, I've been working my way through the Ender's Game quartet; I'm on Xenocide at the moment. Most of my reading time comes during breaks at work, so I'm a little behind on my book-a-week quota, but the Orson Scott Card books are rather long. I finished Speaker for the Dead rather quickly, partly because it's a great book, but mostly because I got a 24-hour stomach bug a couple of weeks ago and didn't have the energy to do anything but lie down and read! I felt so icky I couldn't even knit.

And I'm pleased to be able to share some more Mother Bear Project photos featuring my bears! I found a bunch of last summer's bears with children in Botswana. Here are a few of them:



Now I'm yearning to knit more bears...

Fair Isle capelet thingy

Many will say that they're either a "process knitter" or a "product knitter" - meaning they either knit because they love the process more or because they love the finished product more. I'm somewhere in between - I love the knitting process, but I have a ferocious drive to finish everything I start. (Finish it or, if I don't like the way it's going, frog it.) Though I usually have two to three projects going on at a time, I hate having too many pieces sitting around on the needles at one time. This piece was in hibernation for a while before I figured out where I wanted to go with it; I started it a few months ago, put it aside for a while until its unfinished presence started bugging me, then brought it out and finished it last week. The yarn I used was Vickie Howell Rock, a nifty soysilk/wool/hemp blend, to work a Fair Isle design. Once I'd finished, I still wasn't sure how I felt about it until I broke out the iron and blocked it - which flattened the stockinette-stitch edge beautifully and gave the piece a nice drape, just as I'd hoped it would do. It's not so perfect that I would put it up for sale - especially since it'll probably need reblocking after every wash - but it was a good experimental piece for this yarn.

New items finished and posted (at last!)

Two Capelets

Just finished uploading two capelets, and I'm almost finished with a third. Capelets and cowls seem to be my new thing; they're just a step up from scarves and shawls, and they're wonderfully versatile. I might be putting them on hold for a couple of days while I attempt to make a Fair Isle-style tam. Pictures to follow, if it all goes well!

8 Sales, and My Current Projects

I had enough sales and custom orders coming in last week that I actually started to feel some works stress relating to my shop. Life is really good!

I'm trying to balance several projects at the moment; here are the primary ones:
1. Dad's sweater. I'm done with the shoulders and almost done with one arm; thus I have an arm, the body, and trim to go. After his, I need to make Mom's. I'm hoping to get them done by January, when both their birthdays occur.
2. An Afghans for Afghans baby blanket. Yes, I know I just made one, but I'm onto another one! I've got some lovely bright-colored wool and I'm knitting a double-thick garter stitch blanket. It should be super warm.
3. A blue lace scarf like the orange one I've got listed in my shop here. I've had it on the backburner for months, but I really need to get going on it now before scarf season is over.
4. A capelet made of deliciously soft bamboo yarn.
5. Knitted roses for my wedding bouquet. I found an amazing free pattern online.

I've also got a bear going, as usual.