Worth it

For almost two years now, I've been dealing with costochondritis -- a condition of inflammed muscles & connective tissue between ribs -- which sometimes gets so bad I have trouble sleeping.  It's been bad all this week, and I've been resisting taking the NSAIDs around the clock, but the pain was interfering with my work.  As I'm currently the only gainfully employed member of the Plaid Patrol, it's rather important that I be able to work!  So I took some OTC NSAIDs Wednesday night, and followed with more eight hours later, and again Thursday afternoon.  I'd been afraid I wouldn't be able to enjoy the class in Fair Isle knitting, since I was hurting so.  But by class time, I wasn't in such bad shape -- still hurting, just not to the point of it being a total distraction.  And the class was just lovely, a real upper for my mood -- and I'm knitting a Fair Isle cap for a toddler!  I can so totally do this.  Had to buy some Dreamz needles (two sizes, there's ribbing involved), and I rather like them in spite of them being wooden.  I am just thrilled to be FINALLY getting to this year's "Knitting Resolution".  So, who else wishes they were Kate Davies cousin? 

Still plugging away on the Bunny Hop, but I think my "jogless" stripes on the first sleeve are kinda wonky.  I hate the thought, but I may have to frog & reknit, see if I can make that transition smoother.  Also, I think I may try carrying the yarn up the sleeve -- although it will always be two strands carried, I guess I can catch them alternately.  The stripes are all 8 rows deep, and I think I can use less yarn if I carry it along.  Sure hope I have enough!  Maybe the sleeves will be 3/4 length? 

What new craft techniques are YOU learning?  And who is your teacher?

Do I know what I'm talking about?

Image via Wikipedia

Apparently not! I must stand corrected; Debbie Stoller's line of yarns includes these three so far:
Full O' Sheep, a 100% Peruvian wool, looks like a roving yarn
Bamboo Ewe, 55% bamboo viscose + 45% wool, has a little sheen to it
Alpaca Love, which is an alpaca/wool blend (exact amts?)
Notice that all are derived from all-natural sources--although the bamboo is processed to produce something like a rayon fiber, it did come from a natural source.
Yesterday I got a "care package" from Ms. Stoller, with 3 balls of Full O' Sheep, 2 balls Bamboo Ewe, and 4 balls of Alpaca Love. I've rewound two balls of the Full O' Sheep (let's be careful not to say that aloud too many times), as they were missing their labels and starting to unwind.

The Plaidman was admiring the nice yarn cakes that came off the ball winder he got me for Christmas.
I always make sure to let him know how much I like the yarny tools he's given me. He got a swift for me, which I put away every time because I just love the label on the box. It's Japanese, and the box is labelled "Almighty Reeling Machine"---gives me a giggle every time.

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Soon, my little chickadees, we will be pushing this silly blog into hyperdrive: We're set up to get an upgrade from dial-up (49.2 KBPS) to ACTUAL HIGH SPEED internet! I will actually be able to post pictures without going gray in the process. Which will make this site a heck of a lot more interesting--who wants to read when there are pictures!?!? Sometime ago, I got Zemanta linked into this thing, and that's the source of the picture above. Found another cuter one, alpacas grazing somewhere in the UK, but the stupid Zemanta doesn't want to put more than one pic on the page. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Here's hoping...

That this year doesn't fly by too quickly--I'm thoroughly sick of holiday knitting. So much so, in fact, that the latest acquisition of Wool Ease Thick & Quick -- originally intended for use as holiday 2010 knitting (hats!) -- will be used in a multicolored vest for ME, dammit. I actually need some practice knitting an item larger than a cowl, that has some shaping (armholes, neckline), in order to get a handle on these parts of sweater knitting before I start on Plaidman's sweater. He & I looked through The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd, to see & discuss the possibilities. I have never knit a sweater, so I'm looking for one that will have simple construction with minimal shaping, but that will still allow me to throw in some cables (he likes cables, and I can do cables!). I have a large pile of Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, in three shades of green. No, his sweater will not be plaid. I am so intimidated by the idea of sweater knitting! But it is the main reason I wanted to learn to knit, along with knitted lace, and of course socks, oh and don't forget shawls....shoot, if it can be knit, I want to knit it!
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Some time ago, I was on Ravelry in one of the forums, reading a thread & noticed that Debbie Stoller had an entry in the thread. Well, Debbie's book Stitch 'N Bitch was my ticket to Knitterhood -- she taught me to knit! And I have been so pleased & grateful, I just had to send her a message saying so. I wouldn't care at all if she didn't respond, I just had to let her know how much it meant to me to be able to do all these neat tricks with string & sticks. But she did respond! And very graciously, too. I suspect she may be a really nice gal, so if you haven't read her books, please do. She's also launching a line of moderately priced natural-blend yarns, of which there are three currently available. One is a wool & acrylic, another is alpaca & acrylic, and the 3rd is bamboo blend. I haven't seen or fondled them yet, but I intend to look for them the next time I'm yarn shopping.
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Ok, now the bad news: Plaidman has been laid off. Thanks to the stimulus package, he'll get a little more $ each week than he would normally have gotten. And he's still a non-smoker, so he's saving a lot of money there. Of course, the reason he's a non-smoker is his development of heart-related problems, for which he has to take lots of expensive medication--and he has other medical issues, again requiring expensive medication. But hey, he doesn't snore as loudly as he used to! I noticed that within days of him quitting--now I think I may be a louder sleeper than he is!
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Well, I have somewhere else I need to be pretty soon, so TTFN!