Twists of Fate

I’m totally in a knitting slump. I haven’t picked up needles since I finished the mittens, which still need a lot of work to be felted. I really should’ve paid more attention to my yarn selection there, I think. I, for some reason, thought the alpaca/wool blend would felt as soon as someone sneezed on it, but apparently this is not the case. I hope the receipient has better luck than I.

I think I need to unravel the Chicknits Cardi I started for my sister. For some reason one sleeve is about four inches longer than the other, and it’s just not really working out. Time to rip and re-evaluate. I got some Rowansoft 4-ply recently in one of the destash posts, and might swatch some of that as a possibility for this sweater. I think I mostly have Navy though, and I’m fairly certain she will find it a depressing color. However, she also works in coffee, so maybe the darker color would be better anyway. It would be a more workable color when you’re surrounded by grounds that stain things if you’re not careful.

I think a lot of my “meh” is driven by the fact that two of my extended family passed away within a week of each other. Aunt Mary Jane was wonderful, though I barely knew her. Very “momly”, I know all of her kids just adored her. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with her when we were able to do so, and I am confident that her gentle energy is relaxing in a well deserved cosmic spa somewhere. I was a lot closer to my Uncle Bill, and his passing is hitting me harder than I thought it would. He and his wife Jayne (my father’s sister) were just about the only doses of normality that I had growing up. We had some serious differences of opinion, most notably in the arenas of human sexuality and religion (you know, the little things), and my last visit back to see him was not as smooth as I had hoped it would be. Regardless, I will miss him greatly, and hope that he has been reunited with my Aunt and that they’re enjoying new adventures together.

But the wheel turns, and I have to get going on a knitted gift for a friend who is having her first baby in May. I find myself drawing a total blank. I need things that are easy to knit right now. She’s having a boy - a blanket perhaps? A small sweater/bootie set? I don’t know! My experience with small humans is very…well. Small. I’m not much of a baby person, and I find myself nearly paralyzed by all the choices. Suggestions would be wonderful.

Work continues to kick my arse, though a really lovely and pretty woman just came into the office I’m sitting in and randomly said hello. So, hey, bonus there! :D

I ache, and I hurt, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other and hope it’ll get better soon.

With a Klondike bar?

OK, how ’bout four skeins of Noro’s Cash Iroha in a lovely dusty purple? I think I got this on clearance, or maybe in a trade. I recall it being $5/skein, which is probably why I went “ooo!” and snapped it up. Ah, the memories.

But it’s been in my stash for like three years, and I want to knit something with it. I just don’t know what. I thought I had more, but I think it’s just these four skeins. Probably for my sister, and while she is The Teeny, she’s not small enough for this to make a full sweater.

So, any suggestions on what to make with these four skeins? I’d dearly love them. :)

Damn insomnia. I’m so tired, and yet, when I curl up to sleepy? It doesn’t come. Foo.

Question for all you yarn addicts. Is there a sport weight (though I’ll take fingering weight) yarn that’s at least 50/50 wool/silk? I’d settle for dyeing my own colors, but I would like at least that ratio of fibers. I’d settle for wool/tencel, or a greater percentage of the silky stuff in the blend. My google-fu is offline, apparently, after five consecutive days of less than four hours of sleep.

I hate that. I need MacGyver to come work some mojo on me. Interpretation of how he manages that is up to you, dear reader. ;D

Alternatively, can I just say RDA is absolutely adorkable as Nicodemus Pratt in that very short lived series Legend? I ::heart:: him so!!!

OK, I have about 920 yds of what is technically DK weight, but feels a LOT more like worsted weight 100% wool yarn. It’s handpainted in lovely shades of rose, a peachy color, and a light-to-charcoal grey. (Sorry for the craptastic shot - me and my camera are still getting to know one another.

I’m looking for suggestions for a shawl to make for myself. I had started out with a basic garter drop rectangle (the Sarah Blanch shawl in the back) as I was going to just work on it while watching TV, but I think I’d like to do something a little more challenging.

I’m a big woman (fat, oh yes indeedydo!). I was working the Sarah Blanch on 10s rather than the suggested 7s because the yarn seemed a lot bigger than DK.

Any suggestions? I’m open to a variety of shapes, as long as I can secure the finished item around my person. In a fit of sleep deprived frustration last night, I ripped the few rows I had and started tinkering/swatching for other things. I can’t find my copy of Three Cornered & Long Shawls anywhere, and the Stahman Shawls & Scarves book had some possibilities, but the few lacy patterns I tried out of it really weren’t working. I think perhaps I could try the first, mostly garter shawl in the book, and possibly get a feel for Faroese shawl shaping, but I’m not jumping for joy at the thought.

The only shawl appealing to me with regards to this yarn in Folk Shawls is the Sarah Blanch, and my binder of loose leaf patterns (mostly Fiber Trends and some Fiddlesticks Knitting shawls, most of which are laceweight) failed to thrill me. I think I’d like a triangular, Faroese shaped or rectangular shawl for now, as they seem better suited towards more ample figures, especially with the amount of yarn I have available to me.

Anyway, suggestions = good!