Taking Care of Business

So much has past in the last 3 days. On Friday, we had a lot going on project-wise, so I missed the Software department picnic. The one issue that has been going on for us brought the vendor on site during that afternoon, and we were taking advantage of it, well him really. But since he has to come back tomorrow (on Monday), maybe I could have gone to the picnic. 🙁

Saturday started off well. I took a picture of the Sky for Sandy as soon as I got out of bed. I tried to get more sky this time instead of trees. Hope you like my shot of it!

With the Amazing Lace’s latest Challenge, I thought about entering, but I was too tired to make the effort at this time. My last entry for Challenge #3 proved to be a flop, so I decided to step away from #4. Instead I worked on the Lace-up Camisole, and realized that even though I changed the 1st lace pattern from 12 repeats to 10, a major overhaul was needed for the 2nd and 3rd parts. I had switched to size US4 needles versus the pattern’s required US7, but in the end I saw the error in my ways. The Horstia silk/wool blend I had chosen was too heavy for this pattern. I am not giving up on Lace-up Camisole for the Amazing Lace, but for time’s sake I will be knitting the Mystery Stole 2 knit-along. In case you are wondering, the MS2 KAL is being hosted by Melanie, and feel free to join in the warm water. I have some gorgeous purple Zephyr for this project, and will be gifting the completed stole to Rasha as her going away (slash birthday) present. The Horstia is not going to waste. I will be using it in the pattern next to the Lace-up Camisole, another shrug/camisole with lace trim. I did start knitting it, but since my gauge was off, I frogged that project too.

While my knitting experiments were going on, I had started dyeing my PS July Dye-Partner’s yarn. Unfortunately this time the dyeing was not going well. The Richfood drink mix did not take to the yarn as expected, and today, lots of bleeding occurred in the rinsing. Refusing to admit defeat, I left the hank in the dye bath, and I hope the color stays for my Pal. If not, it looks like a trip to the grocery store for the real Kool-Aid is on my list of chores for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the next item on the list was to find a toe-up sock pattern for the yarn I have been dyeing for everyone. It is a blend of cotton, silk, and nylon, and I wanted to find a fun stitch to try. For quite some time, I went through “A Gathering of Lace” by Meg, “Knitting on the Road” by Nancy, “Socks on Two Needles” by Cat, the free online patterns (Knitty, MagKnits, SockBugs, and Townsend), all my Vogue, Interweave Knits, and Creative Knitting magazines.
I settled on the Turkish cast-on with 12 cast-on stitches, and increasing every other row at the front and back of each circular needle. As for the pattern, I chose May 8th, which is my wedding day, from the “365 Stitches a Year” perpetual calendar with mock cable ribbing on the sides of the foot. I am only on row 5 (or is it 6?), so I will let you know how it turns out.

Finally, I have a blocked shawl for you. Unfortunately for me, I lost Lorain’s home address. I only hope that Joe will be here this week so I can get her address from him. If not, I better ask Meave! The photos I have here do not do this yarn any justice. There are shades of blue, green, and copper that appear in a subtle hints throughout the the steely grey.

For those of you who are interested, I have more yarn up for sale. There are 3 types that I am offering at this time: Cherry Tree Hill’s Possum Laceweight in Java at 480yd each hank, and Filatura di Crosa’s College in mutli-ivory and Gioiello in multi-brown (both these offer at least 200yd per ball). I put them up on the De-stash Blogsite for you all to see. And I am debating on putting up my Rowan’s Kid Classic in soft light grey; I have 10 balls in my possession.

With all the fuss going on with knitting, you would think the rabbits would be running around and crazy with the ado. But the heat and humidity seems to be affecting them. Shhhh! (Quiet voice) There are sleeping bunners in the house! Click on Zy’s photo above to see what he was doing before I disturbed him. =:8