Sailing and Sliding Away!

Didn't summer just start? It sure seems like it. And yet the stores are already selling fall-themed items. Joann's has Halloween stuff out already! I know time flies, but come on.

Maybe it just seems like it's going fast because I have so much going on.

So here it is Friday already. The week has flown by because it's been busy and I worked an extra day in the shop to fill in for a vacationing co-worker. She's covering for me during Sock Summit, so it's all good.

Speaking of Sock Summit, here's a little sneak peek at a couple of new things you'll be able to get in the market there,



Yeah, I know it's not much, but it's all I want to show you right now. :)

On the left is a piece of a sock called Come Sail Away, and on the right is another sock called Slip 'n' Slide. Both are knit in yarn from Serendipitous Ewe and the patterns will make their debut at Sock Summit in her booth.

The Come Sail Away sock is knit in her Chance Sock yarn , a merino/nylon blend, in the color Water Lilies.
The Slip 'n' Slide sock is knit in her Lucky Sock yarn, a very lovely merino/bamboo/nylon blend, in the color White Birch.

Most of her colors are available in both these base yarn blends as well as some other choices. If you can't make it to Sock Summit, you can get her yarns online and, once Summit is over, you'll also find my patterns there.

Anyway, now you can see how I've been spending some of my time. The patterns are in the writing stage now and will be off to be test knit soon. I think I'll just make it for the Summit. Whew!

As for the rest of the weekend, I'm finishing up a transcript tonight, then packing up some things. Tomorrow I work in the shop all day and after I close, I'll head across town to a different shop, Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks, where they're hosting an all-night event. Yep, I'm gonna spend the night in a yarn shop with a bunch of other fiber fanatics.

You did know about my addiction, didn't you?

If I survive the night of knitting, spinning, games, old movies, and general tom-fool hilarity, I'll tell you about it next week. Or at least I'll tell you an abridged version. After all, most of what happens at any knit night stays at knit night -- and that's especially true of an all-nighter!

Whatever your plans are, be safe and have a great time, 'cause life's too short not to have fun!

I love quiet days

Unfortuantely, they tend to equal quiet blogs, too!

I have been getting lots of finger exercise lately due to a plethora of transcription work. This is a very good thing, even though it cuts down on my knitting/spinning/blogging time.

Most of the knitting time has been spent on designing a couple of things that I can't go into a lot of detail about right now. I will say that at (or maybe slightly before) Sock Summit, there will be two new sock patterns available. One of them pretty much kicked my butt by being dificult (I swear I redid portions of it at least six times), but it has been whipped into submission and will be off to a test knitter this week (she said with her fingers crossed). The other came together very quickly and one sample sock is already at the gusset section just since yesterday.

See why I love quiet days? I can get a lot done!

I've also knit a new sample of the Gull Wing sock, using lovely Chance Sock yarn from Serendipitous Ewe in the Peony colorway. I'm making a customized version of the pattern for Angela to sell in her online shop. I have to say she picked a lovely color and the yarn is very nice to work with.

I met Angela and hubby John on the Sea Socks cruise to Alaska last year. They're coming to Portland for Sock Summit and it will be lovely to see them both again. And now that she's buying patterns from me, I can rest easy with my decision to claim the Sea Socks cruise last year as a business training expense. I learned stuff and I got business from a friend I made there. Perfect!

I hope you had a lovely weekend and, if you're in the U.S. or an expat, a great 4th of July. Mine was, as I said, quiet. The neighborhood had some explosions, but not nearly as much as in years past, which was good. I spent most of the weekend knitting and working on design details while watching my boxed set of Band of Brothers. I think all the explosions from the TV made the cat a lot less skittish when explosions began occurring in the neighborhood. Perfect. :)

Oh, no progress on the tattoo front except that I checked with a couple of local shops about possibilities. One didn't have any who could design custom ambigrams. There are two places I want to visit in person and discuss designs with the artists, then I'll decide where to get it done. Stay tuned!

Obsession

It's the name of my favorite scent (yeah, I know, it's an old one, but I still love it thankyouCalvinKleinverymuch) and it's also what sometimes takes over my thinking process

Right now, I'm obsessed with the idea of getting a new tattoo. Yeah, I have one. I got it when I was 50. Figured I was old enough to take the plunge! LOL There's more to the story, but. . .

Anyway, the current one, although cool, is on my ankle, partially covering a scar from when I broke the darned thing and they had to put hardware in there. It's pretty, but doesn't really get seen since I rarely wear shorts or skirts (trust me, I'm doing the world a favor, what with one crooked leg that was broken and set incorrectly and the other ankle with Frankenstein scars on both sides from surgery and the aforementioned hardware installation).

But I digress.

I want something more visible, but tasteful, too. I'm really leaning towards an ambigram encircling my left wrist. (Did I mention that I'm right-handed but wear my watch on my right hand anyway? Yeah, I'm just that off-kilter.)

But yet again, I digress.

It would have to have a knitting theme and be pretty. I have something in mind and there's a tattoo place (parlor just doesn't seem the right word) a few doors down from the shop that seems to have some talented artists. (Yep, in one walk along the building, you can do your laundry, learn archery, take dance lessons, get your knitting supplies, get every cake/cookie-making supply you'll ever need, have a great Mexican lunch, and get a tattoo. Pretty darned convenient!)

Yep, you guess it, I digressed again!

Anyway, I may just have to wander over to the tattoo place and see what kind of a sketch they can come up with.

Stay tuned.

Since I really don't have any knitting or spinning to show right now -- everything I'm working on is not ready for prime time and/or still in the design phase -- here's some eye candy of what one knitter had tatted on her bod.

Amazing the variety of knitting-themed tatts there are when you do a Google search!

That's all I have for you right now. Sorry. While you're waiting for me to come up with something more blog-worthy, take a look at Rachel & Owen's new baby girl, Hazel Rose. She's definitely a cutie-patootey!

Okay, all together now. . . AHHHH!!!! :)

I'd show it to you, but. . .

. . . it's just not ready! Besides, it's a design commissioned by a vendor for Sock Summit, so you'll just have to wait to see it until then.

Anyway, silly me! I thought I was almost finished with the knitting sock one of the sample. There I go thinking again!

When I got home from WWKIP yesterday, I treated myself to a Boston Legal marathon, thanks to Netflix, and knit like a madwoman. I would have finished the sock, but there's no use doing it. It barely fits my foot model, which means it's too tight for practical use -- just not enough give in the stitch pattern. So, I'm back to the drawing board. Increasing the number of stitches around only serves to make the yarn pool in ways I don't like. So modification of the design is in order.

No worries. Practice makes (almost) perfect, right? Good thing I like doing this stuff! Back to the drawing board for me.

Shhh!

I forgot to add one picture from yesterday's WWKIP event. This is what happens when you've chased a ball around the grass for just a little too long!



This is Connor and he's as cute as a button. Not long after this, he was running around again. Gotta love the ability of kids to just zonk out when they need a rest!