Slogging In Place

First, Pedro wishes to thank Michele and a:-) for the kind comments. Yes, Eileen, he still loves you, too, and knows you understand you are his first West Coast sweetie. I just hope his head doesn't get any bigger than it already is.

I've missed blogging the past few days because each and everytime I attempt to, lightning literally strikes. The thrill of living in Virginia in the summertime. You spend most of the day feeling like you're covered by a huge wet woolen blanket if you have to be outside and then, sooner or later, it storms. If it would storm and alleviate the heat and humidity, that would be one thing. But what usually happens is that it pours a sudden monsoon-like downpour of rain, thunder is heard booming for miles, and lightning plays all about the house. If you're lucky and quick, you can get everything unplugged and the a/c off before it hits. This is if you're home. If you're not lucky, you get to replace the a/c unit or the computer or the modem gets fried or a tree falls on something you wouldn't wished it wouldn't have. Ah, well. I still love my house on the hill next to the woods and that's part of living here.

I've had several projects in the works for the last couple of months and been really, really faithful to them. However, that dread disease, Startitis, cropped up about a week ago. Hmm, about the same time I suddenly went AWOL here, eh? I'd like to blame it on Eileen, who kept talking about it but she knows me too well and that I can not be expected to be anything other than a polygamist at the best of times. I found myself looking through magazines, browsing every link anyone mentioned on any list I'm on (and I'm on quite a few), and checking every online shop I have bookmarked, which are also quite a few since I have them for knitting, spinning, and weaving. Guess what? If you're busy browsing, you're not knitting. Or spinning. Or weaving.

So I have exactly this much progress to report on my beautiful roving.

This is it before I started spinning it:

I think it looks like the colors of the sunset I managed to take some snapshots of the other night:

This is the Welsh wool I really liked the looks of when I bought it. Plus it was named "Kelly". I thought it had to be for me. But it and I have not gotten along well at all. Hence the BFL on the bobbin in the flyer instead of it. Those are prickly bits sticking out here and there, if you can tell from my still blurry photos. This is first macro attempt shot, courtesy of Tech Support herself, who recommended I try that to see if it helped.

And this is how much I've gotten done on my weaving the past week:

The idea is that since I'm using the same number of epi's, I only need to tie my new warp onto the ends I had already left after I cut my last project off. (Yes, photos of it will be forthcoming. It's just awfully long and I haven't quite figured out how best to photo it. Not that that matters with the quality of photos I'm exhibiting so far.)

I did finish up the baby bonnet that goes with the christening dress. I chose to use Reynold's Utopia for the yarn, in white. Now it is 100% acrylic and I frankly don't like acrilyc but it feels really soft and it's washable and dryable. But after I finished the bonnet, I discovered it's also totally limp. There is no life to it. No crispness. But what do you do when it's in the 90's (F) and the humidity's killer? I don't have time for a cobwebby heirloom lacey set. And that's about the only way you could do that in this kind of weather. Silk would be as lifeless, as well as let's realize there's none in the stash. Linen. Well, yeah, that would have worked but is somewhat beyond my price range. So it's going to have to be the thought that counts. I mean, it's going to be perfectly fine and it's pretty and all, I just don't like the yarn personally for this project. But I'm forging on and have the 13 triangles knit for the bottom of the dress. That is the sum total of my week's knitting--a bonnet and 13 triangles that felt more like I was knitting 13 gazillion triangles. I thought I'd never get them done. I'm still only 5 rows into Clue 3 on the Mystery Stole 3 and guess what? Clue 5 gets posted tomorrow and so, since I haven't any other projects I really need to do, I went and joined the Six_Sox_Knitalong.

But it was totally worth it. I absolutely love knitting socks and the one for August is wonderful. I do need a solid sock yarn to do it in though and guess what? I haven't any solids at all. Which will lead me right back to where I was at the first of the week--browsing the Internet for something else to either start or buy. Which brings me to Eileen's comment on the name of the mystery sock yarn. No, it isn't Regia. It looks quite a bit like Regia but has a heavier hand to it. I got it on my little expedition up North where I shopped my way through about 6 states. I'm pretty sure it had "Raggi" in the name.

I do have one good thing to report: I got into my spinning class at SAFF. It's the second level one and it'll be my first time to go to SAFF, so I'm really excited about it.

Well, I'm going to go do some actual knitting now. Pedro says buenos tardes to all his fans.