I really need to do better than once a month...

I hope that will be easier soon. By this time next month I think I will at least know when I will be able to move everything back home. Can't recall if I've mentioned here that we have been spending the last few months mostly in Texas. The FoUI (the Fount of Useless Information - aka my husband) is doing some work for a client of his company there. The carrot that got homebody me out of my house here (we're home this week) was that after the months in Texas we'd then be sent on to Australia for a year. Now I ask you, could any fiberholic say no to a year in Australia? Only, it appears that the Australia part has gone poof.

Which is ok. We'd have had to leave our dog behind for that year and I think I'd miss her an awful lot. And besides, now that we'll be home instead, Operation Second Dog can commence sooner. As soon as I get us moved back I'm puppy proofing and then we are on the hunt for a new Golden Retriever puppy. We like to have two dogs at a time so that when we're out they have company. And we haven't had two dogs for a very long time now. It still feels a bit odd. Although not as odd as no dog at all!

OK back to fibery goodness type stuff... Except, I got nothin'. A few more rows on what I posted last time. A decision made that there was no way the sock I was designing was going to work as I had done it so I had to rethink it. A new sock started for that friend in someone else's pattern thinking that that would be quicker at least. And it looks like my gauge is off... In fact the only thing I have is new yarn and fiber which arrived while I was in Texas. And is staying here because even I can't really imagine taking it back to Texas just to move it here in July or August.

I swear my fibery mojo has totally deserted me in Texas. I need to get home for good. I had a sense of direction there (which I don't here nearly as much) which was nice but not if I had to give up my fiber-pursuits mojo for it.

I promise some kind of actual knitting or spinning or something related content next time.

Busy busy busy

Boy, time flies when you're busy. Nothing much to show for it I'm afraid. Most things I have been knitting on over the last two weeks have ended up frogged. Or not appreciably further along. But I'll show them off anyway. I've got nothin' else that I've done.

A Very Late Birthday Present:

That's not that great a photo but that might be ok, since this pattern is going to need some rejiggering I think. I've been avoiding frogging it though. Mainly because it is so late a present already. 'Course at this point wool socks are probably not needed until fall anyway. Maybe I should just do it right and make it a half birthday present. Votes?

Clapotis 2:
Which, naturally - partly because there is only one yarn ball to cope with and partly because the magically changing colors is entertaining, is further along than Clapotis 1:
Which is being knit from two skeins of All Things Heather Merino/Silk so means changing yarns every two rows. I had to alternate because my skeins were pretty different. But they are making a kind of nice stripey effect. See:


I also recently got my first shipment from the Tactile Fiber Arts Fiber Club. Oh boy is it well set up!

Look at what I got:

That's Finn fiber dyed with weld in a solid and in a multi-color to pair with the solid. I'm not sure yet what I am making with these. Aren't they the epitome of spring though? I love it and I am soooo not a yellow fan usually. Here's a close up of the fiber:

And here's one of the awesomeness that is Maia and Brooke:

They know I need all the help I can get to keep track of stuff and so along with a binder they have included a couple of business card storage sheets and a little card that I can attach a fiber sample to and also a singles sample and then a finished yarn sample too for that matter. Is that not Brilliant!!! One of the nicest touches is that the binder is both made of recycled materials and also is itself completely recycleable. Awesome! There's also a fantastic info sheet on the dyestuff. I love this club.

Sadly that lovely fiber is not yet spun up (in my defense I have only had it a week). Unfortunately for my fiber fun time I have been busy with other things. Including, starting the work to get us ready to move back to California this summer. Which is getting closer and closer. And most recently finally making a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts here in Houston. We just managed to get there in time to see the exhibit from Afghanistan. They still have some info up about it. I found it to be a very interesting exhibit and I would have loved to have had more time to study it. I very much recommend going to see it if you get a chance. It looks like it will be in New York City at the Metropolitan June 23rd through September 20th. I thought it was interesting enough to seriously be considering making a trip back east in the right time frame to see it again there.

It has completely reawakened my fascination with ancient history and archeology. This is not necessarily a good thing considering the size of my to do list.

In the "slightly closer to textiles" arena there was also a fascinating art installation that was so like something my brother would have done (not in content necessarily, more just like the artist's mind works in similar ways to my brother's or something) that I find it a tad heartbreaking.

Ok, back to work.

I think I better give up sleeping...

'Cause that's the only way I am ever going to be able to come close to catching up. Or even keeping up were I to get caught up.

Since my last post, knitting has just not been going well. That's all there is to it. I didn't manage to make it through the third round of Sock Madness this time. Which is not necessarily bad. But isn't necessarily good either of course. But the attempt meant that other stuff didn't get finished either.

I went to Spring Fling at The Loopy Ewe which was a great deal of fun. I sure hope I get the chance to go again next year! At Fling I took a lot of classes (which meant I got no knitting done on my Sock Madness socks for long stretches of time) but I really enjoyed all the classes.

I took Sock Design classes from Wendy Johnson and from Cookie A. So in theory I now know how to design socks both toe up and toe down. LOL

I also took Anne Hanson's Advanced Lace class and was a bit worried about whether I qualified for an advanced lace class. But I kept up mentally if not with the actual knitting. Learned lots and had fun so I am very glad I took the leap.

Both Cookie A and Anne Hanson mentioned that they teach longer versions of these classes and I hope to someday take them because I can tell that I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg vis-a-vis what all three of these ladies have to teach. And I love to learn.

I picked up a few yarns at Fling but it will be a little while before I get going with anything with them so I will wait until I have a project for them before I start getting silly with the showing off or anything. I'm also still not properly unpacked from Fling so no longer remember what I had been doing before I left and can't remember where I tucked my current knitting projects so can't show them off either for the little progress that was made until I find them again. So I need to do some hunting.

In the mean time, I'm going to do a little WIP list from memory to remind myself why I need to spend more time knitting. So, in no particular order (and certainly not in need to finish first order):

Round 3 Sock Madness 3 socks
Round 4 Sock Madness 3 socks
Rounds 5, 6, 7 and maybe 8 are coming up soon too.
The Loopy Ewe second quarter challenge (I still don't know what I want to knit for this)
BFFs socks (my design which I think needs a little reworking which means tinking back because like an idiot I didn't put a lifeline in - when will I learn!!!!)
Cluaranach (it is too warm to work on this right now even though I am not that far along - the yarn is marvelously warm so when I do get it done it will be wonderful)
Baby Bee (class project from Anne's Advanced Lace Class at Fling)
Clapotis 1
Clapotis 2
Design project 1 (child's vest)
Design project 2 (shawl)
Design project 3 (mitts)
Design project 4 (hat and mitt set)
Design project 5 (stole)
Design project 6 (socks from Wendy's class)
Design project 7 (socks from Cookie's class)
Leaflings
Zazzlejeans sweater (need the needle tips from Clapotis 1 for this)

And then there are all the not even started yet things. Which I won't list because if I do it will damage my calm. Although I need to remember at least a few of them:

S's socks
A's socks
Socks for The FoUI (the Fount of Useless Information aka my DH)
Vest for the Remembrall (aka DD)
The Loopy Ewe Second Quarter Challenge project
my personal challenge to myself (knitting up all the yarns that remain unused from my first 6 orders at TLE)

I also need to frog some projectst that simply aren't going anywhere and either repurpose the yarn or put it up for destash.

So much to do... I better go get started. I hope to be photo heavy next post to make up for being so photo non-existant this time.

It's Sock Madness's fault

Well, by dint of ignoring everything else I was supposed to be doing, including getting back into a proper blogging routine, I managed to make it through both Round 1 and Round 2 of Sock Madness in time to move up. I'm now in the gap just before the start of Round 3 and finally catching up on other things again. Since last year I almost made it through Round 3 I feel a dreadful despairing urge to make it through Round 3 this year. This could be very tricky. Although I would already be out if I had been in the "For Whom The Ball Rolls" division (whew, there's a bunch of speedy knitters in that group) so I'm counting myself lucky.

So what have I been doing since I last posted? Well, strictly speaking since before the last post. Round one of Sock Madness this year was a pattern that I designed and submitted for the contest last summer/early fall.

Tropical Mer-tini in Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Beach Glass

Tropical Mer-tini (Ravelry link) is based on the Drunkard's path quilt block. To make it extra wiggy for Sock Madness I developed a way to do a heel flap heel as an afterthought heel. The pattern will eventually be available outside of Sock Madness participants but I want to add a second size option and also see if I can make the heel prettier. And include improvements from the feedback I have gotten from the lovely folks who knitted it up and then let me know what they thought. This has been a very fun learning experience and I have really enjoyed it. Although, I have to say, I was worried I wouldn't make it through the first round since I was trying to make sure I was available to answer any questions, I wasn't concentrating as much on my competition pair as I would have been if they had not been my pattern.

Tropical Mer-tini in Celtic Memory Yarns Merino-Tencel in Irish Mist

I still need to come up with a nice greenish martini to pose with these socks. Possibly I will have time for that once Sock Madness finishes. Or I get knocked out of competition.

Round 2's socks were Tokena (Ravelry link) by Tricia/Zemy. I found them very hard going. Mainly because they were my first Fair Isle style color work knitting. And partly from poor choices I made about which yarns I used (I should have gone for the ones that were closest in size) and how I worked.

Tokena in All Things Heather sock in Raspberry and Apple Laine Apple Pie in Silver

But I got them finished in the alloted time and I have found a home for them (although I wish I had done a better job on them since I am sending them to a very sweet fellow raveler) so really, it is all good. I think I have enough left of the yarn to knit a second pair for myself if I use the Raspberry (how could I have not bought that yarn?) as the contrast color and another shade for the main color. I'm thinking maybe black? Thoughts?

I've also been slowly working on my Cluaranach and my two Clapotis and a pair of socks for a friend's birthday (I'm late with those too) and trying to develop some more designs. But I'm going to save all that for another post. Within a week I hope.

Good Grief

I have been appallingly neglectful of the blog. I do apologize. It's partly that things weren't blog-able for a while there. And partly that moving only some of your stuff is so much more complicated than moving all of it. And partly that I just didn't think I had much to say I guess.

Anyway, I did Christmas knitting. Some of which was actually finished in time to give on Christmas but not in time for the last post. Like this pair of socks for my mum (of which I apparently do not have a FOto. I'll try to get one when I see her next):

Simple Stockinette Socks - Berroco Sox in Humberside

And some of which ended up being birthday knitting for my daughter. Thank goodness her birthday is in the early part of the year and thus after Christmas.

She had mittens on her list as the highest priority for knitting. So I made some basic mittens for her:

Simple Mittens - Union Center Knits Whatnot Sport in Stormy Sea

And then I had signed up in October I think for the Loopy Ewe Swap 3 on Ravelry. So I made Anne Hanson's Boing! for that:

Boing! - Malabrigo Lace in Loro Barranquero

I also was busy working on a second sock for a Sock Madness 3 design I did. More on that later. Sock Madness 3 is ongoing now and I still haven't finished the Round One socks so I need to get cracking! Back in .75 socks.

Still not dead

Not a lot bloggable in the fiber sphere though. We are now in our rental house in Houston Texas which is driving my DH up a wall because since it is a rental he can't fix any of the many issues with it. He picked it so you'd think he'd have come to terms with it by the time I got here but apparently not. We'll be here through the summer so I think I better get knitting on some shawls for air conditioned places soon. But first I have to get through the holiday and birthday knitting. My family is all clumped at the end of the year which makes for an expensive and/or time-consuming December and January. Not that I have gotten anything done yet for anyone (except Mum - shhh don't tell). I'm sort of hoping that Santa will give me an extra week (who am I kidding, I'd need an extra month for my list) in my stocking and when I pull it out everyone else in the whole world will go into suspended animation while I get all my Christmas and Birthday knitting done and wrapped and under the tree (or in other rooms in case of birthday stuff) before the magic wears off. Must remember to stock up the larder just in case Santa can manage this one.

I have managed to get the stash mostly unpacked. Public Service Announcement: I don't recommend moving the week before Thanksgiving folks. Especially not if you are a knitter or any other kind of crafter.

Shades of Monty Python and the Holy Grail...

Like the "Dead Body That Claims It Isn't" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I'm not dead yet. Indeed, I am feeling much better although possibly I shouldn't say that in order to avoid getting conked on the head in 7 more lines. I am touched that Lynne worried enough to ask though. Thanks Lynne!

I have however, been awfully busy with not fun stuff. The busy-making-est of which is getting ready to move temporarily. The FoUI (Fount of Useless Information aka DH) has been rented out on a job (he works for a consulting company) that requires that we move to Texas for a while and then to Australia (or so they promised or I'd have never fallen for it) for a while. When they were talking him into it in July it was 4 to 6 months in Texas followed by a year in Australia but once they had him hooked it became a year in Texas first. So I have been trying to get ready for that since that means a bigger more complicated move.

A person living in a normal household would perhaps not find that as daunting a prospect. Unfortunately I do not live in a normal household. Just as well, perhaps, since I'm not exactly normal either.

I have been trying to get the stashes (yarn, fiber, fabric, bead, etc) organized as well as get rid of lots and lots and lots of stuff that we never got around to dealing with in the last decade or so. And all the stuff we kept (for sentimental, or legal, or privacy, or "no one else would take it" reasons) from the clearing out of DH's parent's house when it was sold several years ago. I'm only about 1/3 of the way done but I've used up half my time so I really need to get better at that.

What knitting I was able to squeeze in since last posting is stealth knitting (developing a sock pattern for Sock Madness 3 if they decide they like it anyway) so I don't even have that for today.

I will however, sometime in the next few weeks maybe have knitting and definitely have some destash stuff to do.

And I do have some WIP photos but I'm saving those for another day because I only get the DH on weekends now (he's already in Texas working) and only some of them at that so I want to get back to him and make sure he's still working on the great long honey-do list for this weekend.