Been there, done that

Austin was, as usual, very laid back & quite relaxing. The Amazing Abigail & I got to spend some more time knitting together, which was the best of the highlights of this trip. Turns out she's seen Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch, so maybe I could get her a copy of it without her Momma going nuclear. I'll consider that for the holiday. I met Ms. Estella, and that was an interesting experience. She's got a degree in Psychology, and a way to cut right thru to the heart of things, bless her heart! As a result, I've had discussions with the rest of the Plaid Patrol about the state of our base of operations (aka home sweet home), to the effect that the master bedroom has been "tidied" without my having to do all the work. Also, I've let it be known that the folks who're at home most of the day should be doing more to maintain pleasant living conditions WITHOUT MY HAVING TO STAND OVER THEM WITH A WHIP. Ahem, excuse my emphasis, but this issue has rankled in my mind for a long time. My roomies are not live-in houseguests; I spend about 14 hours every workday in the process of getting ready for work, traveling there, working, and returning home. I have about 2.5 hours from the time I get home in the evening until I must retire for the night, while the two of them spend most of every day sitting on their duffs reading, playing Bejewelled, or watching TV. So, I've expressed my indignation at their expectation that I will "take care" of all the cleaning in the household, in very strong terms. I feel better now.
In the Knitting News, I have been pounding away on the fingerless mitts for gift giving. I will try to get more photos as I get a few more pairs ready. DiscoDame wants a pair in "disco colors"; I'll have to go stash diving this weekend & se what I can come up for that. I have a stealth project planned for Disco, too -- which I'll not mention here as she's following my blog. I don't plan on buying any yarn for it, and I believe I've got enough on hand to work up something for her & still have some for me, if I stick with the plan.

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!