Kiss My Knits!

My kid’s first grade teacher is going out on leave in early April. I’m thinking I should knit something for her upcoming baby boy.

And so, I solicit your opinions!

Call me old-fashioned, but I like the first few days of Spring to be filled with flowers and sunshine, not wind and sleet. I went a mile on the treadmill this morning, because the weather was unpleasant. Fortunately, I have discovered the wonder of podcasts, and so I listened to a “best of NPR” type selection which was pleasant. I hope to check out knitcast tomorrow. Unfortunately, I think I need some noise-cancelling headphones. I’m uneasy with turning up the old earbuds that high to overcome the roar of the treadmill.

It looks like my swappee from the fibergoddaughter swap isn’t going to be able to post pics anytime soon, so here’s one item that I sent her that I thought was kind of nifty.

It’s felted soap, which is just roving wet-felted around a bar of soap. So it’s a bar of nifty soap encased in its own washcloth, basically. It lathers GREAT. If you squeeze it out between uses, it does last a nice long time. I’ve used this stuff and I love it. I may have to make myself some more soon. Heck, I make some for others, if there’s demand.

Knitted another repeat of the cable pattern on Shedir, which is looking much better to my eye now that I can see its shape emerging. I’m alternating using cable needles and not using them, just because sometimes it feels unwieldy to do some of the crosses without them. I’m happy with it so far. (, if you look closely, you’ll see that I’m using your stitch markers. Thanks again!)

I’m watching “A History of Violence,” which should be titled “A History of People Getting Parts Of Their Face Shot Off In Gory Closeup.” William Hurt hasn’t even shown up yet, and you just know he can ramp up the crazy factor by a power of ten. Good movie, don’t get me wrong, but I’m off of hamburger for a while for sure.

Jayne hats are chugging along. , you’re #2 on the list!

I had an appointment to have my hair fixed at 10am this morning, but didn’t keep the appointment. Last night I was out and saw a woman my approximate age, build, and face shape. Difference? She had FANTASTIC HAIR. I asked her who did her hair, and she raved about her stylist and gave me her card. So rather than get the same cut I’ve had for the past 20 years, I’m going to this new woman and we’ll see what happens. If I have to live with crappy hair until Wednesday, then so be it. That’s the advantage of working from home, no co-workers to impress.

In talking with the hubby about MacGyvering a yarn counter out of a fishing line counter, I also ran across this woman’s homemade ball winder. I’ve seen ball winders made from hand mixers before, but the drill-mounted one looks like it would have the advantage of letting you vary the speed. It seems like such an easy solution that you’ve got to admire the ingenuity.

Got a shipment of 150 boxes – 100 for single hats, 50 larger ones for double orders. Going back through my records I realized I was ordering 50 boxes every month or so, so I bought in greater bulk this time. I was down to six boxes left when these came. It’s not a huge crisis, because I can run up to my local office supply store and get more, but I pay literally ten times as much if I buy them singly. The hats are zipping right along, I feel like I’m starting to get back ahead of the curve again. For the first time in a while, the line is back around 35.

I’m wanting to get more involved with Dragonrealms again, now that I’m starting to make some hat headway. I had scaled back my involvement (aside from the Merelew festival) to nurture the Jayne hat biz, but I miss DR. I’m going to start picking up weddings again, and see how much I can handle at the moment without giving short shrift to either my wedding clients or my knitting clients. I also placed a couple of real gems today, which is always fun. When I was a player, I never spotted one, but I see the behind-the-scenes numbers and people really do find them! Also updated some visions, and saw that the rumor system is nice and healthy. I like to add onto the atmospheric-type systems when I can. Also, updated records on the description of a DR-specific wood, and GMs Reexa, Ilanya, and myself discussed a new fabric. Looks pretty cool, I think fluffhounds will be pleased.

Now I’m off to snag a copy of TurboTax for the Mac. Last year’s fiasco of actually doing taxes ON THE DUE DATE and discovering a form was missing has scared me straight, so to speak. Later, taters!

As time went on last night, the hair got more and more rounded at the sides, until I resembled a Powerpuff Girl. Specifically Buttercup.

I showered and blew it dry today, and it just wasn’t getting any better, so I have an appointment tomorrow for them to fix it. I thought maybe I could salvage it, or learn to like it… but no. If I had to pick one word for this haircut, aside from “bad,” it would be “dowdy.” Yesterday’s decade-old picture aside, I currently have a round body and a round head, I do not need a round haircut to complete the set.

And speaking of hair, check out the stylin’ newly discovered lobster! People in various fiber communities were speculating as to whether you could spin up the fur. Me, I just think it’s cool.

And speaking of fiber… okay, that was a weak segue, but just go with it… a local yarn store just started carrying Rowan Calmer. Usually I’m a big snob when it comes to acrylic, but this is such a soft, springy cotton/acrylic blend that I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been wanting to knit Knitty’s Shedir anyway, and it only takes one ball. So in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m working on a khaki green cabled cap.

For some of it I’ve cabled without a cable needle, but those bits have tended to be sloppier-looking. I’m trying to decide whether to plow on through and potentially pick up a handy new technique, or to make it look nicer with a needle. In the long run, perfecting up a new technique would be good. We’ll see how it goes.

…for the worst haircut of my life.

Before ……………………………………… After

And that, my friends, is why you always bring a picture to the hair salon.

The weather’s beautiful, wish you were here!

The huge rosemary bush out back is blooming. It never puts out many flowers, but a few have made an appearance.

Went grocery shopping, and happily, most of the things that we needed were on sale. Saving $18 on a $100 order is one of life’s little victories.

Knitted a little on the crazy loopy scarf last night.

Just what every well-dressed circus clown needs!
Yes, I do like it. No, I don’t know why. And no, I don’t know what got into me. Blame it on Spring.

“Oh. My. God.

Keep up the great work! :D”

And THAT, my friends, is why I knit the same hat over and over.

http://www.gatewaygrizzlies.com/news/?id=2723

I imagine the Happy Meal version comes with a special toy surprise: a defibrillator.

Spring, Sims2, and, of course, knitting.

Knittin’ Blues