Alpacapalooza is going on at the Puyallup Fairgrounds this weekend! Apparently there will be retailers, so lets hope that means yarn! So for those of you who read this in time (probably zero, since I'm still waiting for approval to get into the webring) I hope you have the opportunity to go. I'm really looking forward to supporting some local farmers.

I need a job. I am so sick of filling out paperwork. Some of it is due to my own procrastination which I acknowledge. However, when you are applying for a job that is WELL beneath your qualifications because you just left an extremely stressful position with crappy hours and you just want to relax for a while and earn some yarn/pocket money you have to ask yourself if filling out 7 separate attendance vouchers to send to jobs and colleges you attended in a past life so that this new employer can verify your character is really worth it. Not only does my hand hurt, but I am irritated that I have to look up all this information on stuff that should be irrelevant...like my first job ever. I stayed there for 3 years and the experience is extremely relevant but I can't even remember my supervisor's last name. What are the odds that a retail supervisor stays in the same store for 10 years? And even if that were to happen, what are the odds that said supervisor will remember me? After 10 years. I know all of this is necessary, but it really makes me wish that my skills from my last job were more marketable here. Hal ay minkum bihajaa ila mutatarjima?

In knitting news, I bound off my pup's sweater on Friday, but I hated how the decreases looked when I tried it on him, so I frogged it. I wasn't as heartbroken as I thought I would be after frogging, probably because the pup only weighs 8 pounds and reknitting parts of a sweater that size just doesn't seem daunting. But I finished it and bound it off and now it is awaiting ribbing. I started at the neck so that part is ribbed, but the bound off edge at the other end needs to be picked up and knitted into a nice finished-looking ribbed edge. And I also need to pick up at the armholes and rib that for about an inch, but I'm not so good at picking up stitches yet, and hubby thinks it looks good without the arms done. It's probably fine for now as the weather warms, but next winter I will definitely have to take care of that. Last night I casted on for my first pair of socks! I was turned on to the website from another new knitter who assured me that she had never knitted anything other than a scarf when she started her socks, and she swore I would have no trouble. I'm using stash yarn (again) so they will not be comfortable or soft. But I'm getting great practice, learning new techniques, and when the time finally comes that I spend my entire paycheck on yarn, needles, and knitting books and patterns I will look back on these times and laugh. Or something. I need a job.

I love this sweater.

Another Great Weekend. I spent all day Friday indulging in all things yarn: I started off at the library, checking out some knitting books and the latest copy of IK, which I hadn't seen yet. Then I got to meet my husband for lunch, by far the highlight of my day. After lunch I headed out to some yarn shops near his work, which I had never been to. The shop itself was ok, and the employees were really nice but they didn't have a huge variety of color. Lots of different materials, just not an abundance of what I was looking for. But I always love just looking and feeling the fibers, and letting myself be inspired--which I was. More on that later. Then I went to the bookstore and looked at MORE books about knitting and yarn. When I was finished with that I had about an hour and a half to kill so I picked up a peppermint mocha from the nearest coffeeshack and I sat in my car and sketched and knitted while I waited. It was such a great day, not being rushed through the bookstore or distracted while I'm counting stitches. I finally managed to make the armholes and bind off at the belly for the dog sweater I am making (sans pattern!) And just when I thought it couldn't get any better...get home, flip on the tube, and At Close Range is on. What an awesome movie, albeit a little more intense than I remembered. Christopher Walken rocks.

About that inspiration and sketching--Have you ever seen the show "Inside Passage"
that comes on PBS out here? It is about the coastal land that stretches from Seattle to Juneau and all the native people that inhabit it. The photography is incredible, and the subject matter is near and dear to me (I am a very proud member of a tribe native to south east Alaska). While I was watching the program (which I caught about half way through, unfortunately) it showed a shawl from my tribe which had been hand dyed, spun, and woven out of mountain goat hair. The designs were traditional Pacific Northwest Coast art, and the colors were white, red, turquoise, and black. It was absolutely beautiful, and one of the most amazing hand-crafted works I have ever seen. It made me so proud, and I began to wonder if any of those traits flow through me. Perhaps one of my ancestors was a great basket weaver. Or a wood carver. Anyway, I was thinking about all of these things on Friday, and thinking about future knitting projects (including the felted purse for my MIL) and inspiration struck me. I was thinking specifically of the shawl that my mother used to have which was sewn from black and red felt and embellished with small pieces of abalone shell, and I started sketching. I came up with a felted black messenger bag with a wide strap and fold-over flap. The flap will have a traditional design (from my tribe) on the front of the flap and maybe some beadwork on the strap. I don't anticipate starting this project (or the sweater I designed after looking at the Burke Museum's ethnology pages) for quite some time, as I just don't have the skill set needed. Oh well, I guess that gives me something to strive for. And a reason to get a design notebook!


Let me take this opportunity to express how much I adore the programming on PBS in the Puget Sound. Great cooking shows, documentaries like Inside Passage and Alone in the Wilderness, the Scandinavian cooking show which shows shots all over Sweden (more family ancestry), the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, stained glass instructionals, etc. PBS rules out here and you may never fully appreciate how great it is until you live in a place that thinks PBS is public access and all they play is civil war recreations and gardening shows that don't apply to you because all flora melt in 102 degree heat combined with 98% humidity. So if you have the means, help them keep this great programming up!

What a great weekend.

The Sopranos returned. My husband started his new job. My younger brother's baby got to come home from the hospital after a week in the NICU (he was born on March 3rd) and he got to pick up his new car. My youngest brother bought his first new car (for those of you who may be confused, I am the oldest of 3 kids and the only girl). WHEW! Action packed and full of fun new stuff to celebrate.
My MIL also had a clutch performance, coming through for us yet again. As a token of thanks, I wanted to knit her something but was having a hard time deciding on a project this time of year. She has a beautiful new 100% cashmere calf-length coat which I thought would look great with a cashmere-silk blend scarf draped around it, but since she lives in a much warmer climate, the coat is probably already out of commission 'til Fall. As I'm contemplating this, my husband, never at a loss for great ideas and a master in the art of Timing, suggested I make her a felted handbag with bamboo handles. YES!!! I've wanted to try felting for some time, and that is something she can use all year. Perfect. What a genius he is. But I'm forcing myself to finish the sweater for my Miniature Pinscher before I start anything else. My poor little 8 lb boy just shivers in this cool damp air (he's originally a Texan and has spent the last 2 years in GA so he has some acclimating to do).

I took some pictures of the finished projects I happen to have with me. Much of my stuff is in storage or was gifted prior to the start of this blog, so I didn't have much to photograph. A knit beanie and crocheted scarf (the striped scarf from Fall/Winter KnitScene in blues and black) for my husband, and a lacy crocheted scarf and the fingerless mitts from Weekend Knitting for myself. Those were the first things I made for myself, and the only thing that made my guilt wane was reminding myself that it was just stash yarn, I didn't have anything better to use it on anyway, and since my stuff is in storage, I needed them. It was colder here than I anticipated.

The pictures of my FO's can be found to the right. The striped scarf actually has a dark blue stripe too, but the camera didn't quite pick it up. It's kinda visible in the close-up of the beanie.

DISHCLOTH COTTON??!!!!

I must say, I am rather dismayed. Hard worker? Yes. Most at home when I'm at home? Yes. Thrifty and seemingly born to clean? My husband would beg to differ. You see, I'm an "organized chaos" kind of gal. Not everything has it's place in my world, but I always know where stuff is. I will say that I'm sorta thrifty, but it was forced on me. One can only do so much on a military pay check. And what's with the Christian Slater question not having "True Romance" as an option? That is by far his best movie.

You are Dishcloth Cotton.
You are a very hard worker, most at home when

you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly

born to clean. You are considered to be a

Plain Jane, but you are too practical to

notice.


What kind of yarn are you?
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This is my very first post! This blog is still under construction so bear with me...