How Plummy!

Another project finished! Just in time for the new year! I'm calling it my Plummy Top.

I started it on the trip to Yosemite on Thanksgiving day weekend.

I just did a gauge swatch, and cast on the proper number of stitches to fit me around the bottom. Knit a 3x2 rib for a looooong time! Then I decreased within the purl portions all the way around, evenly spaced. Switched over to stockinette, and increased back out to my original number of stitches - and knit for a while more. I marked a couple of stitches directly under where the girls reside, and did a couple of of double increases just in that area. Joined the sleeves to the body, and did a standard v-neck, by knitting back and forth. Decreasing every other row on the outside of a little 1x1 rib that I used on the neck.

When I was done, I was done - all I had to do was weave in 2 yarn tales - and put it on!

I'm pleased! I'm very pleased actually... It fits wonderfully!

Here's a pic of the back

A lot of the shaping was total ballpark guesstimate on my part - but it all worked out perfectly, and fits really really well, and it's flattering!


Christmas was pretty good round at abiabode - not too much going on. I basically tried to make sure that Boo got enough stuff. Ended up driving the daughter all over creation and back on Christmas day - didn't get my bread in the oven until much later than I wanted to...

I cooked a prime rib, roast potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, with braided egg bread, and for dessert an apple, blackberry custardy tart thingy, which was ok, an experiment more than anything. Of course that meant that I got to whip the whipped cream by hand - at least I got my exercise that day!


Oh - I have big news! Really big news!

My Azalea shawl (there's a partial pic of it at the top of the blog there) - handdyed, and handspun, handknit by me - is not hanging over my bed at the moment. It's in Colorado right now. It won't be back until March.

Why is the Azalea shawl in Colorado?

Well... It's being photographed by the most lovely people at Interweave that publish Spin Out! Isn't that the most exciting thing!?!? I was e-mailed out of the blue by the editor asking if she could feature it in the Readers Gallery. I didn't even have to submit it or anything! She saw it on Flickr, and requested that I send it to her. So I did. Keep your eyes out when the Spring issue of SO comes out.

Other exciting (maybe) news... The BBE and I are trying to work things out. Still a lot of problems - but I'm trying, and he's trying. I'm feeling a bit unhopeful about the whole thing today - but that could well change tomorrow. We'll see.

Anyway - one more shot of the Plummy Top

Until next time... I'm working on a hat for the BBE's birthday using size silly small needles, out of some 4 ply wool - just plain grey, but I'm going to try to go for something a bit technical this time. I'll post pics as soon as I get some.

Yosemite

Thanksgiving weekend was so nice! I actually got to go someplace!

Wow - went to South Lake Tahoe,

Mammoth,

and then Yosemite, coming in through the back way. I'd never been before, and it really seemed necessary!

I took a ton of pictures - and spent an awful lot of time in the car... There was a lot of driving! Luckily I was able to sit in the passenger's seat a lot of the time, and even started a project out of the plumpy plum yarn that I spun up not too long ago. No pictures yet - but they will be forthcoming...

So yeah - this post has been in "edit" mode for a few days now, and I think I'm just going to post it up, even though there isn't too much more information...

Weirdness abounds!

Yeah, so the last couple of weeks have been pretty darn hectic. Work is hectic; Dating is hectic; The universe has been throwing me curve balls all over the place; Progress on projects of any sort has been pretty non-existant and yet, I'm still plugging away.

I started a Veil of Isis shawl in my Abby Batt yarn, just got through the first chart, and when I went to work on it yesterday - well, somehow it was no longer on the needles... D'oh! So I started swatching my plumpy plum yarn instead.

No progress really there.

I've decided to go ahead and list a couple of things on e-bay - I have a Mongold spindle that I never use. These are highly sought after and collectible spindles. I bought it years ago from Scottish Fibres when I still lived in England. It's a full sized one, with the etching that is the trademark of these lovely spindles. They are quite literally indestructible. Though I haven't used it enough to do any damage to it. I think in the 7 years that I've had it I've used it to ply one skein, and probably spun up half a cop worth of singles. The whorl is nice and big, so you can fit a lot of yardage on this puppy - it's a perfect plying spindle, but I usually use my wheels for plying.

The other thing that I'm putting up for sale is Knitting Lace by Susanna Lewis... I bought it new in London, and have never really used it.

The reason I'm putting up these rare finds? I got the car that I was talking about a few posts back! I'm making payments on it, and need the extra income.

I keep meaning to get some of the Optim that I imported dyed and put up on Etsy - maybe this weekend? Except of course, I have to reorganize my entire Monstrosity of Stash...

I got home last night. Boo had been home sick all day, he had decided to go ahead and move the yarn that I have in the living room, and replace it with the desk which used to be in my room.... Now, the yarn that I have in the living room is not all the yarn that I have (not by any means). But it did occupy the corner of the living room in a big way! So I got home last night, and saw that something was decidedly different. It took me a minute to figure it out - but there was my desk (sans the shelves that sit on top of it), in the corner - between the couches. My desk chair was in there too. But there is no room to actually pull the chair out, you know, to maybe sit in it or something?

I looked in my room, and this is what I saw. OMG! I was so upset! Yarn everywhere, all over the floor. All the contents of the desk strewn onto my bed. I just don't even know where to start to get this all sorted out. I think everything is just going to have to go back the way it was, because we can't figure out another configuration for the furniture in the living room that will handle the desk as well.

I'd been wanting to rearrange, and reorganise the yarn - but was so daunted (it's a huge job) that I haven't gotten started on it yet. Now it looks like I'm going to have to.

So I got home, and I yelled at him - took a shower - got out, yelled some more... Cancelled the date that I was supposed to go out on, cried for a minute - and then passed out on the couch.

And the dating thing? Being single is really not fun for me! But I've been out with some interesting people - there was a NASA engineer (a bona fide rocket scientist!), a painting contractor, a contractor who specialises in remodeling and updating Victorians in the City. A film maker, and even my ex-cousin-in-law!!! Which was a totally random happening! We were both pretty freaked out when he discovered the connection (as you can imagine!) The ex-cousin-in-law is my English ex-husbands first cousin - I pretty much figured it out as soon as I saw his first e-mail. He was named after their grandfather.... Turns out he lives less than 4 blocks from my house. What are the freaking odds!?!?!?

The BBE and I were talking there for a bit, but that all went horribly wrong... right now I'm feeling really disgusted with him, which is taking up way too much space in my head... but I know that things weren't going anywhere, and I know that I'm better off where I'm at. It's just very difficult! But I'm getting through it.

I have a nice walk planned for later today, which I'm really looking forward to... First I have to go to my mom's house. She's moving to Arizona in a couple of weeks, and getting rid of a lot of stuff. I need stuff.... She has nice stuff. This whole thing has been really hard too. My mom and I aren't really very close, even though she lives about 2 miles from me, we don't see each other, or talk very often. Now she's moving far away.

So yeah, things are a bit stressful for me just lately. I just keep showing up for work, which is going pretty well, the gal that was on maternity leave is back, so now I'm just doing my own job, instead of both of our jobs... I'm just trying to put one foot in front of the other, and see where things go. That's the hardest part about all of this - I really don't like the limbo feeling, I never have. Not having a framework of a relationship (no matter how limiting) is something that I am just not used to. But that doesn't mean that I'm just going to settle for just anything. I know what I want, and I will know when I find it.

Sigh....

Another No Gauge Swatch Top

So I've got another FO! Whoo Hoo! I actually finished it a couple of weeks ago, but just wasn't able to get around to posting any pictures of it. I finally got my son to take some pictures of me in it. That was interesting. He took a whole bunch of pictures, and when I went to look at them in the camera, they were all head shots! Dude, I need pictures of the top!. So back out we went, and he got a whole bunch of headless shots. I don't know about you, but I just like to be able to see who is wearing the stuff that I look at online. Finally he started taking pictures of the right area, but by that time, the light was about gone, and most of them came out blurry. D'oh - I'll train him up right eventually.

So without further ado. Here you go


A head shot










A headless shot...





And one that didn't come out too blurry. Of course I think they're terrible pictures of me, but at least they show that I've made some progress.

If anyone's interested - this is the pattern on the Left sidebar over there, I just used SWT Phoenix (a soysilk tape) in a pretty variegated blue/purple colourway. Added a 5 rounds of half double crochets around the neck and the bottom, instead of the lace pattern in the original, and voila! A new original top - designed by me! =)

In my last post I wrote that the BBE and I were growing apart, and it just got to the point where I decided to break it off with him a couple of weeks ago. So, I'm single again - and not so sure about how I feel about it. I'm sort of putting myself out there a bit, and have had a few "coffee dates" now. No big deal, one that I really liked and am planning on seeing again next week. We'll see how it all goes. I'm feeling pretty discombobulated by it all, and haven't got any exciting new projects to write about. I want to start something new, but just haven't been motivated to do any actual work yet. I'll get there though.

Last weekend was my company picnic at Marine World. I tried to get the Boo to go with me, but he couldn't be bothered to get out of bed, so I went solo. I had a great time though! There were no lines on any of the roller coasters, so we got to go on a couple of them right in a row. We saw the Killer Whale exhibit, went on roller coasters, the butterfly house was amazing... I got some good pics!

Ethereal Chevron - Put a fork in er.

Whew...

So the last couple of days has seen me dive into a pile of books... I read the Deathly Hallows on Sunday, a good finish to the series, very satisfying. Monday I read a book called Spindle's End. Go figure! It was very good, a novel - but a take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, and Tuesday I read one of the many Dragon Lance volumes - not a series that I've gotten into too much yet, but definitely see myself reading more. But last night I definitely just needed some air - three books in three days, does funny things to my brain! I managed to clean up one corner of my room, and do some dishes - but that's about all the energy I could muster.

Anyway... I have an FO!! Whoo Hoo and a yippeee... I finished weaving in the ends at lunch time today,= and I think that it could actually benefit from a blocking (which I might get around to at some point, maybe after I've finished the F&F Comfort Shawl properly. If one has to crawl around on the floor pinning out sodden wool, one might as well make a party of it right?)

Anyway I wove in the ends today at lunch. I got home to an empty house (but a swept sidewalk) so I asked my lovely new neighbor to take some shots of me. I think she did a pretty good job. I lent her the Spindle's End book, as a thank you.

This is yet another handdyed, handspun sweater.

The yarn itself is a three ply. Two plies of CVM, (that's California Variegated Mutant to non-sheepy people) and a ply of silk. All dyed in blues and greens.

It's not exactly my design, it's a Rick Mondragon bias knit jobby from Knitters.

I did some modifications though - the sleeves being the most obvious. I'm still on the fence about the length - but I didn't think it would look quite right with full sleeves. I am still kind of envisioning a longer belled sleeve. But I was a bit worried about having enough yarn to do the sleeves, so I kept em tight and not too long. Turns out (of course!) that I have plenty of yarn! Enough for at least another sleeve - but that would be silly. I only have two arms, so these two sleeves should really be sufficient, I should think.

I'm supposed to be going camping with the BBE and some of his family this weekend, so I wanted to be sure to get this post out there, and I still have laundry to do - not to mention the fact that I desperately need to empty up some bobbins on my Joy, which I'm planning on taking with me. We're not going far away from home, but just getting away for the weekend. I'm not looking forward to it so much. We haven't been spending nearly as much time together as we were. Nobody's fault really, we're just both stressed out, and I'm not feeling very sociable.

But I'll leave you with a pretty picture of a white rose that I took at a friends wedding not too long ago...