Tuesday 21 February 2012

Reorganization

It's been almost three weeks since I've put fingers to keyboard, for the purpose of blogging anyway. Trust me, there's no way I've given up my computer entirely for three weeks, it's just not possible :-P I can't even plead being busy unpacking things because I haven't really done much of that either. Mostly I've been somewhat depressed due to the circumstances surrounding (not)work and so I've done some baking, some cooking, a little bit of visiting and watched what I'm sure would be considered far too much tv.

I've also finished some projects, made headway on Rod's Halloween socks (finally past the heel on 'B' sock - yay!!!) and gotten some more lovely yarn in the mail. It's a good thing to be in the clubs I'm in - they're already paid for, so it's like free yarn ;-) Not really, I know, but still it's wonderful to get packages in the mail :-)







These first two are from Apothecary Yarns and are the first shipment in the Pure Imagination club, a six-month club with two skeins of yarn each month as well as swag. Each month a different Tim Burton movie is chosen as inspiration for the colourways and the first one was drawn from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The top one is Jack & Sally, a lovely melding of the colours from Sally's dress and the grey and blues of Jack. The bottom one is Jack's Lament, taken from the iconic pose of Jack against the moon. They're beautiful colours on beautiful bases, J&S is merino/cashmere/nylon and JL is merino/silk. Somebody suggested some sort of patchwork pattern for J&S, reminiscent of Sally's dress but that's a pattern that would most likely have to be created as I don't think there's one like that out there.

I also received some more yarn from Tri'Coterie - I got the rest of my grab bag from January and they're just lovely :-)




The top is superwash Aran merino, two skeins, and I'm thinking I may make a lovely scarf out of it. I found a pattern on Rav that looks like it would be really pretty. The middle one is Sterling sock, which has little silver threads running through it and as yet I have no idea what to make with it. The last one is lace weight and is just gorgeous!

They came along with these two that I had ordered - rainbow stripes :-)


There are a few more that have shown up, but I don't have pics yet as they seem to show up on days that aren't sunny enough to bother with pics. I also need to get some white poster board from Staples or wherever to have a decent backing when I do take photos of my new yarn. I have a feeling that at least some of them are overexposed, but maybe some day I'll manage to take a class or course on how to use my camera better than I do at the moment. I get lucky with some of my pictures, thank goodness, but I know that some are really not so good.

Other things I've managed to do include give my puppy girl a trim finally. Her hair was getting way too long and she was developing some matts which are not a good thing for a poodle-y girl. She looks adorable as always, and I'm going to give her another bath on the weekend, I think, and a proper trim with the clippers this time instead of the scissors.

I finished Leigh's socks, and I hope she's got them by now. I sent them out about two weeks ago now, but I haven't heard from her as to whether or not she's received them. I guess I should message her and find out, shouldn't I :-)

I also made a pair of socks for my friend as a thank you for helping me move, and a pair of fingerless mitts for my other friend for helping me pack up the apartment.



The other thing we've managed to do it get rid of the old hutch in the back room and put up one of my bookcases and the two dvd shelves and put all the movies we have on those shelves. This opens up the back room quite a bit and clears the path for the door more than it has been.


That's about all for now, I'll try to come up with something more entertaining for the next post :-)

Later.

Thursday 2 February 2012

February

I'm sitting here, watching Sanctuary and trying to decide what to say in this blog. I have many thoughts and opinions about what's been going on in my working life but I really don't think that it would be a very good thing to air them publicly. I have started to write it all down in a separate file, and maybe someday I'll be able to post at least some of it here but for now all I will say is that we're still screwed. The other two bargaining units have gotten acceptable contracts from their employers and I wish them all the best, but we're still sitting here waiting for some sort of resolution that will allow us to move on.

Having said that, moving on... I am completely out of my apartment though I still have to hand over my keys, and that I will do tomorrow when I have to go up to Newmarket to pick up my cheque. My upstairs neighbour should be home and I'll just leave them with him. My mail has been on redirect starting as of last week, so I doubt there's any of that there, but I could really use a lovely package of yarn to perk me up. Having said that, I have been going through my stash and photographing it so I can properly catalogue it on Ravelry. It's nice to know what I have when I'm cruising through the patterns looking for what to make next :-)

Here are a couple of my latest acquisitions:


DK Merino, colourway Ravenclaw (yes, that one, from Harry Potter)


Sock MCN - Even Cowgirls Get The Blues - so soft and squishy






BFL Sock - Storm Chaser - gorgeous colours...

The first two are from Maylin at Tri'Coterie from a grab bag that I bought in her end of year clearance. I had paid for a $100 grab bag but only got a $50 one, so she's sending some extra stuff in my next shipment to make up for the mistake. Her January colours are rainbow stripes and were just too delicious to pass up. I ended up selling one of my Fresh From the Cauldron colourways to fund it. I had bought it in an update last September and it still wasn't growing on me as a colour to love. I thought perhaps I should give someone else who would adore it more than I a chance to fondle him.

It was this one:


The last one up there is the January club selection from SweetGeorgia (obviously). It's called Storm Chaser and I'm trying to figure out what to make to best show off the wonderful colours. I made a Sockhead Hat (Rav link) with the October skein and it's great - really floppy, but so soft and comfy.



The webcam pic is kind of crappy and I'm sorry about that, but since it's actually not a bad pic of me, I thought I'd stick it in here. Let's see, what else have I been working on... Oh! My Happy Socks! They're awesome :-D


They're almost knee socks, except that my legs are too pudgy to pull them all the way up :-P I've also been working on some socks for my friend that I had started back in the summer. I ended up putting them away in the time out basket because I was trying to work the pattern toe up and it just wasn't computing for me at the time. I'm pretty sure I can convert it now that I've done it the way it was originally written, which is cool since I really prefer to use all the rather expensive yarn I have a habit of buying.


This is the first one, I managed to finish it in just a few days and I started the second one yesterday. I'm down to the foot already and should hopefully finish it tonight. I managed to get my friend's address today - I had saved it from the lovely Christmas card she'd sent but since moving I can't find a damn thing - so I can send it off when they're done. I really hope she'll like them.

Anyway, that's all for now. Time for some lunch.

Later.