This has been a challenging week for me. We put my niece on a plane headed back for Arkansas yesterday. In the short week since my last post I completely reversed my rather bitchy opinion on her behavior. I LOVE this kid. I didn't want to give her up. Even though it would mean totally re-organizing our lives, changing our (incredibly) selfish spending habits, and otherwise behaving as if there were people besides ourselves on the planet, I would completely welcome this kid into our home. I adore her. The second week of her stay was a lot quieter than the first. I feel like we really got to know her a bit. She opened up. It was beautiful to see. I wanted to hug her every time she smiled, mostly because she's 13, so it doesn't happen that often. I realized that my complaining was the worst sort of silliness because she was really quite considerate and careful as a houseguest. It could have been a LOT worse. I thank her parents for letting her come to visit, her friends for sharing her with us. I know it was a trial for everyone...except us. She can come back any day as far as I'm concerned. Because I was so focused on spending time with her after work, I didn't get as much spinning and knitting done as I normally would. But I do have progress (of sorts) on both the Tour de Fleece and the February Lady. First, the tour: I have one skein done and all I can say is I HATE THIS WOOL. I know, I know, only a bad spinner blames the fiber, but it really wasn't fun to spin at all. I also misjudged grist and spun it too fine to match the rest of the sweater. I was only thinking about stretching the fiber as far as it could go (pun intended) to get extra yardage. BAD idea. It looks terrible. And I had more trouble than I expected with consistency. Normally I'm a pretty consistent spinner. Not with this wool baby. Thick and thin, blobs everywhere, in both the singles and in plying. I swear I spun Witness:
Yeah, I know. I think so too. But the second skein will be better. A bit thicker. And hopefully more consistent. I promise. The first bobbin is almost full. But that brings me to hairpin curve #2 in this little tale of fiber woe: I'm not going to have enough. Yep. I only have maybe a couple of ounces of roving left. I will, if I'm lucky, get another 150 yards or so out of this. I'll finish the Tour, but with a distinct lack of necessary yardage. Not nearly enough for the cardi. Which leaves me with two choices: frog the cardi or make it stripy on the bottom half. I hate both options. I'm praying that Isis, Athena, Amaterasu and Frigg take pity on me and a miracle occurs. Because otherwise it's a trip to the frog pond. And no one likes to see a grown knitter crying into her yarn.
On the knitted object/crazy joiner front, I'm making sloooow progress on February in June. Observe:
I had cast-off the hem and picked up the stitches for the first sleeve while sitting in the airport waiting for her plane to board. Naturally it was the emotion of the moment that made me completely screw up a pattern I've had memorized for weeks. There's nothing like frogging in public to remind you how ridiculous you can look. I was sitting in an uncomfortable airport chair, covered in kelly green yarnbarf, trying not to cry. For the kid, not the sweater. I swear. I finally fixed it and am moving along nicely now. I think I'll have just enough yarn and may actually be done in time for Spain. Also, this will NOT make me look pregnant. I refuse to allow such an injustice. Refuse I say!
Yeah, I know. I think so too. But the second skein will be better. A bit thicker. And hopefully more consistent. I promise. The first bobbin is almost full. But that brings me to hairpin curve #2 in this little tale of fiber woe: I'm not going to have enough. Yep. I only have maybe a couple of ounces of roving left. I will, if I'm lucky, get another 150 yards or so out of this. I'll finish the Tour, but with a distinct lack of necessary yardage. Not nearly enough for the cardi. Which leaves me with two choices: frog the cardi or make it stripy on the bottom half. I hate both options. I'm praying that Isis, Athena, Amaterasu and Frigg take pity on me and a miracle occurs. Because otherwise it's a trip to the frog pond. And no one likes to see a grown knitter crying into her yarn.
I had cast-off the hem and picked up the stitches for the first sleeve while sitting in the airport waiting for her plane to board. Naturally it was the emotion of the moment that made me completely screw up a pattern I've had memorized for weeks. There's nothing like frogging in public to remind you how ridiculous you can look. I was sitting in an uncomfortable airport chair, covered in kelly green yarnbarf, trying not to cry. For the kid, not the sweater. I swear. I finally fixed it and am moving along nicely now. I think I'll have just enough yarn and may actually be done in time for Spain. Also, this will NOT make me look pregnant. I refuse to allow such an injustice. Refuse I say!
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