Bad Blogger!

it has been over a week since my last post, this "retirement" sure is cutting into my blogging time. I have been knitting, top secret project that cannot be photographed until after the deed is done!

A few days ago I had the pleasure to go to visit Communknity again. That store has it all, great staff, huge stock of Rowan yarns, and best of all completely natural lighting. No worries about getting home and finding out that you bought three different dye lots! Never happened to me, nope, no way, ahem. They also carry an extensive library of Rowan books. Have I ever mentioned how much I am in love with Kim Hargreaves, Martin Storey, Sarah Dallas, Kaffe Fassett, Kim Hargreaves, did I mention Kim Hargreaves? I wish I lived on a wild and windy moor, where I could waft around with my messy hair, big lips and gorgeous hand knits!

Anyhoo I picked up Rowan's A Yorkshire Fable and Kim Hargreaves A Season's Tale. Yum. I'd say that I want to knit each and every one of the designs. Here are a few that I plan to make (at least in my head I fantasize about making them).

Kim Hargreaves' Renaissance. Need I say anything? Just lovely.



Kim Hargreaves' Dunoon reminds me of Teva Durham's Tartan Jacket from Interweave Fall 2004 (another designer whom I just love love love!). I still want to knit the Tartan Jacket. Now I'll have to make a choice.



Kim Hargreaves' Heather. Heather is the camel colored cable knit. Although I was unable to join the Cable KAL (due to bizarre blogger issues, and quite possibly my own inability to follow directions), I choose this as my project. I have cast on three times... again issues with reading the pattern before you start to knit. I know that the fourth cast on will be the charm. I am using stashed Kid Classic for this project.



On a sad note, Garland ist tot. I just don't have the patience to spend my hours knitting stockinette on teeny tiny needles. I haven't frogged her yet, but she has been relegated to the back of the project drawer in a Walgreen's bag. Sigh, what a shame.

And I am sure that everyone is dying to know how my photography class is going, given the artistic quality of the photos in this post... Well its just groovy, but it is a class in black and white manual photography, so the benefits have not manifested themselves in my digital world just yet. Not only that, these pics were taken at 8am, inside on a dark and rainy morning. But the quality of photography on this blog will improve! That is my promise.

So much to do

so little time.

How is it that when I was employed I had hours to read blogs, to work on my blog, to plot my next knitting coup, to shop knit stores on-line, and now, while unemployed (or as my husband likes to quip "she is retired!"), I have no time to do any of it! My days seem to be packed to the gills. I still get up at the same time. I spend an hour or so working on my resume, poking around on job boards, drinking coffee, reading the paper, and then the day starts to gather speed.

Twice a week I am in class, one of those days I have a lab that takes up most of the afternoon. Boy howdy, photography is magic. I tell you developing the first role of film is magic, you start out in the dark, swish around some chemicals, trust that the clear liquids that you are using are indeed the liquids that you think they are, play in water a little bit and ta-da! You have negatives.

I have been reading plays like crazy. Working on revitalizing this stalled theatre career of mine...

During my other days I have been working on a secretive little project. Today is the day to out it. I have opened a small (wee, teeny tiny) store at Etsy.com. As you all know I am for the felt. I have been felting up a storm. A storm of felting does not make for a whole lot of inventory, but it is growing. I have also put my fabric headbands up for sale. I get head aches from the plastic ones, and the fabric ones I have found in the drug store are butt ugly, only a mother could love 'em, hair holding sweat bands. So here it is GodivaBacci and a preview of the wares...





Please stop by the store, comment on the wares, I need help with the descriptions. Normally wordy as all get out, my verbosity dries up when I try to write about my own work.

I'm off to shrink some more stuff in the washer!

p.s. Garland is terribly abused. Haven't knit a stitch on her since my "retirement". Also starting some top secret pressies that will have to remain under wraps for a few months... cos too many nosy peeps read this blog, and you all know who you are!
p.p.s. Spellcheck always cracks me up, for one thing it replaces my name with Cholera, and secondly although it is embedded in a "blogging" application, it does not recognize "blog". Silly.
p.p.s. you can also get to my store by typing in godivabacci.etsy.com

Happy blogiversary Mim

As I have a ready made pic of da feets, here they are.



If you are curious (and I know you are) please refer to Rabbitch's entry of 10/10/05. Love the silliness.

"FO" is for folly

or foolish, or foolhardy... woe to me who blithely substitutes yarn. The gauge widthwise was perfect on my 4x4 swatch, it was one row longer lengthwise, which I did not worry about so much as I have a long back, and like my sweaters to reach the waistband of my pants (and with waistbands falling as they have recently this sometimes leaves me with a big patch of flesh bared that I'd rather have covered). So I knit for a 36 inch bust. Oh well, my tiny mother will have a nice new sweater to keep her warm in Colorado's winter.

Here it is, in its tiny glory



And a shot of the collar, which I love, love, love!



And the sleeve, again, love!



Details: Drop-Stitch Cardigan from Interweave, Fall 2005. Knit with Manos in colorway #109 (on a side note, you would think that Manos might be able to name their colorways - 109 is just so bleh. This colorway reminds me of wonderful berries, leaves, and twigs, perfect fall colors - "berries and chocolate with mint garnish", or "Autumn walk in the woods", even "Yum" would be better.) Knit on size 8 bamboo circs. It was a fun fast knit. Its great fun to drop and pull out stitches when you are supposed to do it. I recommend this pattern, and will knit it again, but might try it in the wool suggested. The zipper is a bit messy, but to tell the truth when I realized that it wasn't going to fit me I lost interest. In fact the front is finished with an i-cord zipper placket, which I did not do. Can I just say that making i-cord is about the least fun you can have with two sticks and string. How horrible am I to admit that I am going to give this away, and that I didn't do my best work on it. So smack me.

I am on a finishing streak. Next on the list is Garland. And I have my suspicions that I will be able house a small family in this one... looks big...

FO, toe, doh!

Ok, a soon to be FO.



What happened to my toe?



Grape stomping, I kid you not. Ok I realize that the toe does not look that damaged in the photo, but trust me it hurts!




Doh!



Didn't know that they came apart so easily...


This not working is killing me, I am so crazy busy. Need to find me a job so I can slow down a bit.