As if you need more reasons to think I've lost my mind...

Ok, I'm outta control right now, LOL. The PVC skeinwinder is finished (finally!) and it has made my life so very much easier. I can now wind hanks of yarn for hours at a time without hurting my tender post-surgery shoulder- something I thought wouldn't happen in my lifetime. Here is a pic of the finished beast:

Hooray for boyfriends who are supportive in helping build crazy contraptions out of PVC pipe! ;)

Last night I made the mistake of looking through DBF's Bed Bath & Beyond flyer and saw a storage ottoman. Oh man, did that get me salivating- more yarn storage! Today when I got up I went to BB&B and looked at the one they had advertised. Um, no. It was tiny, and didn't seem made very well. Fortunately for me there is a Target next door to BB&B, so I went over there... and since I have no willpower (and because I got paid today, which is always dangerous) I bought this:

It's rather large, and holds an impressive amount of yarn and knitting supplies (I tested that out immediately). It actually matches the stripes on my couch, too, and can function as a coffee table when I eat dinner watching TV, and extra seating when I have guests over. So now, not only do I have a yarn store in my office, but I have yet more yarn storage in the living room. I'm happy.

XO-
D.

This can hardly be good.

Three posts in one day- please don't pass out on me! ;)

This just happened:

The copper wire that holds the whole damn thing together just snapped off, leaving me with a hank of yarn in a tangle and saying a few choice words about just where the swift could go. (See the offending piece of wire to the left of the swift on counter? There's the culprit!) This creates a bit of a problem, as I use a swift-to-swift winding method, and with just one swift one can hardly expect that to work. I am now having to wind the yarn into balls, then rewind it back onto the swift, as DBF and I haven't had time to finish the skeinwinder yet. *big sigh* And honestly, it doesn't seem fixable, as the thing was very intricately put together to begin with... so I did what any other sane person would do (although by my behavior at the time, my sanity would probably have been called into question by anyone who witnessed my temper tantrum)... I bought a new wooden swift from KnitPicks and had it rush-ordered. I've been wanting one for a while, and I needed some dye anyway as I was running low on a couple of colors, so there you have it. The Knitting Gods have conspired against me once again, to make me spend money I need to be saving. I *definitely* won't be able to go to the Krazy Knitz sale now! :(

What's In A Name?

What Dana Means

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace. People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

A very important lesson.

I learned a very important lesson tonight/today... don't ever eat spicy Indian food at 9:30pm if you have sinus drainage and haven't eaten anything of note all day. I actually had to call out of work today because I couldn't stop, um, getting sick. I feel awful about it, because I really need the hours... but if one can't stop going to the bathroom, then one can't wait on customers. Bleh.


In knitting news, I made the most adorable baby hat on Thursday! It's from Charmed Knits, and it's the Dobby's Tea Cozy hat. Here's a pic:


It's for another of my mother's coworkers, who is expecting a baby soon. (What is it with these people?! I swear, I think it's something in the air in that office... which means I will NOT set foot in there again for a while, LOL!)

I'm still working on the Eyelet Cardigan, and have gotten to the middle of the leg on Cissy's second sock for Christmas. Right now I'm just attempting to decide what knitting to take with me on vacation. I leave two weeks from today, so that should be plenty of time to decide. I hope to have the Eyelet Cardigan finished so it won't be an option, but worse comes to worse I can take it because the pieces of it aren't very large. I just don't want to have to seam the thing while sitting on the beach, you know? :) Socks might be a good option, but I don't want to take a sock on the plane just in case they decide to take my needles away... decisions, decisions. Ideas, anyone?

Well I'm off to drink some Sprite and hopefully get my stomach to settle down a bit. Later everyone!

XO-
D.

I *do* still knit, you know...

I promise I do still knit! And here's some FO pics to prove it, even if they are a bit late...

First of all, here is the first of a pair of socks I'm making for DBF's mom, Cissy... and yes, it's the start of my Christmas knitting!!! :) The yarn is Berroco Sox, and I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. Funny thing about this sock... the entire foot was knit at work during a shift in the womens' department during a slow day. It's probably a really good thing my boss wasn't there that day, as I think this *might* have been frowned upon... ;) but what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right? Teehee!

Second, here's a lace headband that I made for myself because my others were just too thick for this time of year. You can find the pattern here on Ravelry... it was rather quick and used very little yarn. The yarn, incidentally, is KnitPicks Dancing, which is sadly discontinued.

Lastly, here is a washcloth I made for my mom's coworker, Judy, for her new baby girl. It has a picture of a lamb on it, but didn't photograph well due to the fact that the washcloth is white. I promise, it's at least a little more noticeable in person.

As for my works-in-progress... mainly I've been working on the Herringbone Neckwarmer, and the Eyelet Cardigan. The neckwarmer is coming along nicely... I'm using some gorgeous handspun I got as a birthday gift from SDSpin's Etsy store (one of my fabulous Etsy finds and now a friend... you should definitely go look at her yarn- it's incredibly affordable!). If my boss behaves herself between now and Christmas, the neckwarmer will be hers... but if she's mean in any way (as she's prone to being), I think I might just keep it because it's gorgeous so far. ;)

The cardigan is going well... I have the back and most of the right front done. It's portable at the moment, so I can take it with me, but for some reason it's become my at-home knitting... I suppose because it's lace and there are some pattern directions I have to read periodically. I just don't like taking patterns out of the house- especially ones I've paid for. I'll take a picture of it when I get more done... right now there's just not very much to photograph.

On the back burner are my Ocean Currents scarf from the book Ocean Breezes: Scarves Inspired By The Sea, and a wonderful crochet scarf by MK Carroll called Anne. I don't have a picture of the Anne scarf, but here's one I took a while back of the Ocean Currents scarf...

I think it's quite lovely. :) The yarn is Artyarns Regal Silk, in a gorgeous light blue/kelp green colorway. I love the pooling- it honestly adds to the pattern!

The Anne scarf is a friend's Christmas gift, but as I think she reads my blog I'll keep who it is to myself at the moment... I'm sure you understand.

I've dyed up some yarn lately, and listed 5 new yarns in my store just today. I have some more to wind, but I've got two days off later in the week so I'll probably wind them off and list them then. OH! I almost forgot... DBF and I started building my PVC Skeinwinder! We forgot thumbscrews and a spacer at Home Depot, so we have to go back and get those before we can finish it... but the hardest parts are over! We had quite a good time putting it together last night. I'll take pictures of it when it's finished. I do believe it'll help me a lot when I wind yarn, as it's probably a bit easier to use than using the swift-to-swift method I use at the present.

Well I'm going to go sneak a bit of knitting in before I have to go to bed. I work tomorrow morning pretty early and I need my sleep! :) Hope everyone is doing well, and I look forward to your comments!

XO-
Dana

Finally! An update!!

I promise, I'm still around! Work has just been kicking my ass lately. And when I do have a day off, I'm definitely not just sitting around on the computer, LOL! ;)

But I have been knitting a little at night, or whenever I can fit it in. Last Monday at Stitch N Bitch at Greenlife I started this scarf: Ocean Currents from the book Ocean Breezes- Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea. The yarn I'm using is Artyarns Regal Silk in a beautiful sky blue/kelp green color, and the pattern is simply amazing.

It's not really mindless knitting, because there is patterning on every row, but it does get easier after the third or fourth pattern repeat. I've got about 26" done right now, and I'm not even to the end of the first ball of yarn! :)

I highly recommend buying that book. There are a lot of great scarf patterns in it that I'm dying to make as soon as possible. Plus, for a pisces girl like me, anything with the word "ocean" or "water" in the title is going to have my attention. ;)

Other than just knitting on this scarf, I've been making a headband out of some scrap sock yarn. I tried to photograph it but it wasn't having any of it... it needs to be blocked first. I will take a pic as soon as it's blocked, though! :)

Well off to get ready for errands, then work! Tomorrow is my only day off this week, so I'm going to live it up as best I can- dyeing yarn, running around w/ Amanda, and Riverbend w/ the boys tomorrow night! :)

XO-

D.

If you're wondering...

...why I haven't updated lately, it's because I'm working myself to death. Actually, Talbots is trying to do it for me. Today was my 6th day in a row, and tomorrow makes my 7th... so I have not had any time to do anything for the shop. Not surprisingly, I've only sold a couple of hanks this week, because if you don't list regularly, you don't get found in the search pages. *sigh* I'm planning to wind up the last of the yarn for the store in an hour or so, list it, then Monday and Tuesday when I'm off, dye up a bunch more. Right now I'm out of every base but the merino/seacell, so that's what'll be going up. :)

I've been knitting on a couple of socks, and actually finished the second of Amanda's socks, and the first of Mom's short socks. Very exciting!

Here's the first picture of Amanda's socks... aka my Twisted Grapevine pattern. It will be available early next week from the Etsy store! (btw the yarn is my handdyed "Peony" 100% superwash merino fingering weight)

Here is the first of Mom's pair... knit in Oceanwind Knits superwash merino sock, in the color "Razzcherry" (Feb. installment of the yarn club!)

That's about all that's going on right now! I started a new pattern, Shockwave (found on Ravelry) but am having some gauge problems and will probably rip out. Plus, the yarn is not the best choice for the pattern... it needs a self-striping yarn and the yarn I chose just isn't doing it justice. Maybe I'll dye some up this week to use. :)

Well, off I go! I'm going bowling tonight with friends so I can blow off some steam. Love to all!

XO-

D.

Anniversary love

Our anniversary was fantastic. When I got to his house on Friday, he had my present waiting for me: a beautiful promise ring!

He actually picked it out himself, and I was thrilled. It's gorgeous, and I have barely taken it off since he put it on my finger.

We went to the aquarium, and had an absolute blast. The saltwater portion is new to me (has been open since 2005 but I haven't been to the aquarium since 97!) and we had a blast with it. Here's a pic of my sweetie in the "underwater" tube. It's actually pretty neat- you crawl under the tank and stand up in this tube, and it makes you look like you're "swimmin' with the fishes!" He has one of me doing it too, but I don't have his memory card here... damn.


We went to our favorite Indian restaurant, Sitar, for dinner, and had a great meal. Afterward we went back to his house and played Wii until our arms were sore and we were exhausted.

We went home to Motown yesterday, and saw the families last night for dinner, went bowling with my friends, etc. It was great visit, but all too short. And idiot me forgot to take my parents their TomTom that I got them for combined Mother's/Father's Day! *headsmack* Oh well- I'll get it to them soon enough.

I've spent this evening dyeing up yarn for The Knitting Experience in Brunswick, Maine! They have a great exclusive colorway coming their direction- I'll be sure to take a picture before I ship their order off. I'm so excited to be working with Chesley and Becca- they've been sooo sweet to me!!!

Well I'm off to bed, so I can get up tomorrow and get some things done before I go work for *10+ hours*. This week is going to be hell... our Regional Director (my boss's boss's boss) is coming on Wednesday morning so we are all stressed out about it.

More later!

XO-
D.

A small sneak-up

Today's sneak-up is rather small, because I've got a big day ahead of me.


A year ago today I started dating the most wonderful guy I've ever known, my DBF, Chris. Over the course of the past year we've cried, we've laughed (thankfully WAY more than we've cried!), we've shared everything. My life has changed in so many ways since he came into it, and I'm so grateful for that! If it wasn't for my relationship with him, I probably wouldn't be in Chattanooga right now, working at my job and having the friends I do. In a lot of ways he has healed me of the past and helped me to get excited about the future. I love you baby!!!





So now onto the yarns. I've dyed up some of my superwash merino/sea cell blend, and if I do say so myself- they're gorgeous! Here are the ones that I just listed in my shop:


Nutmeg semisolid



Maize self-striping



Redwing Blackbird self-striping



Heavenly Day semisolid

And one hank of superwas merino/silk that I've been holding onto for some reason, LOL... ain't it pretty though? :)
Koi self-striping


I hope these strike your fancy! More sneak-ups to come at the beginning of next week! :)

XO-
Dana