Alive!

I"m alive!  Worry not, for I exist!  Seriously tho, sorry for the serious deliquency!  I've been busy and a bit stressed and a bit sick and basically just too overwhelmed to do anything... including blogging and knitting!

But that's all changing again, as I remember that my free time is mine to do with what I wish, and that I don't have to bring work stress home with me!

So!  With that said, here are a couple new projects that have been cast on in the last little while and a bit of wool that I dyed for the window display.

First up is my version of Akimbo (ravelry link).  I decided once I cast it on that I disliked the m1L and m1R increases, so I switched to yo increases.  I did not frog tho, so there's a small section at the top neck edge that doesn't have the yo increases, but the yarn is fairly fuzzy, so you can't tell... and I didn't feel like frogging it...  The yarn is Cascade Elite Yarns Fresco in a gunmetal gray color. It's 60% wool, 30% Alpaca and 10% Angora, so it's insanely soft.  I'm pairing it with Collinette Jitterbug in Raspberry.  This shawl is going to be insanely soft and a titch expensive... but it already looks like a snuggly treat, so I'm okay with that!

Next up is a project that I've been working on for a while, but I really only knit on it on Monday nights when I get together with my knitting group.  It's my second go round at Multnomah and this time I'm knitting it in my own hand dyed Wollmeise.  It's going to take a LONG time to finish, since i'm sort of ambiguous about it, but I do like it and think it will be beautiful when it's done.

The last thing to show for the day is some very cool thick and thin 'yarn' I got and dyed.  It's from Gedifra and it's called 'Giganto' but it's not in the Ravelry database anywhere.  It was a disgusting light pink and pale yellow when I got it... I like to think I improved it somewhat.  I dyed four skeins... two turned out awesome and two turned out kind of moss like.. I'll put them in the window because there's always someone that likes a color that you don't, but I won't cry if it doesn't sell... Here's the two lovely skeins... it's a bit duller in the picture than real life...

A journey's end

I've worked on this particular project for over a year!  I started it on July 25 of last year.  I wasn't working on it straight, but it did get a lot of attention!  I finally finished the crochet border we decided it needed since the stockinette edge was rolling and today I steamed the edge flat and finally wove in all the ends.  It's been in various stages of 'done' since earlier this year but today it's officially DONE... there's nothing else I can do to it and it's perfect!

Here are a few pictures of it's progress and it's final border

Here it is without it's crochet border

And here it is with it's beautiful crochet border!  It brings the whole thing together an I love it!  Plus, true to the yarn name, its so smooshy!  I love it!

Disappointed

You know... I'm generally about as honest as they come... I do what I say I'm going to do and I'm truthful about what I think i probably can't do.... sounds reasonable right?  Well today I am finally coming to the realization that not everyone is like this.  Some people get themselves in too deep with commitments and then instead of coming clean and being honest, they lie.  And I take them for their word, because I am pretty honest.  And then I get disappointed.  But the person says no no... I'm doing what I said I would do now... minor malfunction, all back on the up... so then I take them for their word and then I get disapppointed again... and when they come back with the next excuse, I think to myself... well they wouldn't KEEP lying, that would be ridiculous, so whatever happened previous must have been a mistake, and THIS TIME they're doing as they say... otherwise, why say it... and then I'm disappointed again... this goes on for going on three months and then I realize that whether they are really going to end up doing what they say in the end or not, i've been lied to and misled and I'm now very disappointed and disillusioned.
I don't understand people who lie... I mean blatantly lie.  Yes, things come up and yes we all have things to deal with that are more important than social obligations... I'm not saying that... but to flat out lie... not nice.  And then I think well, what if they weren't lying... I would hate to slander someone like that... but perhaps if you're not actually lying, you might want to do things like return emails in a timely fashion.  Provide some sort of proof of these outrageous 'circumstances' that are causing the delay.  Communicate! Because if you're feeling lied to and misled... and then on top of that, the person doesn't email you back for weeks... it sort of stops mattering whether what they're saying is honest or not... because the story playing out in your head is your reality.  Make sense?
To sum... Give me my fucking toy!  Seriously!

In other news, my bestee and I went on a photoshoot on Tuesday and did the art for the product tags of my hand dyed roving line.  I can't decide if I want to give you a sneak peak or not.... I was going to post pics of some of the cool shots that she got, but they're not water marked and they're so flippin cool that i'm afraid people (not you my loyal readers, but untowards) will snag them... I should probably watermark the sneak peak as well... just to be safe... so I'll come back with that in a bit.... Okay I'm back... let me know what you think :)

A Fluttering Piece of Delicate Tissue Paper

So some self proclaimed 'diva' on Ravelry, who thinks he can do 'woman' better than me (an actual woman) has declared me a 'fluttering piece of delicate tissue paper'.  Not getting into the whole story, but he decided that because my shawl pattern had one error on it, that he would take a public shit all over it and then get all defensive when told he was being rude.  I understand he's not well liked on Ravelry anyway, so I'm not too concerned, but needless to say, I'm not really in the mood to publish a new at the moment... however if you want an easy peasy toque for winter, let me know and you can test knit for me.... because I just finished the first iteration of a really cute new toque.  It's done in Aslan Trends Ecolana 60% Alpaca and 40% Merino.  It took 49 grams of the 100g ball (so approximately 80meters).  It's a 4-5 stitch/inch gauge on US 7-10.  I admit, I didn't do a gauge swatch... I will do so for the next one I make, because it looks like you can get two hats out of one ball!  Score!

It doesn't photograph well, because of the mixed gray coloring, but it's basically about 10 rows of 2x2 ribbing, about 3" of stockinette, 1.5inches of a 2k1p ribbing (which looks awesome reversed) and then stockinette the rest of the way up.  I love it and I'm pretty sure I love the reverse side with the reverse stockinette and the reverse of the rib the best!  I will attempt to get better pictures when Boy gets home, but for now you get this: (please excuse that it looks bumpy... the only model was my teddy bear and he has a small head and large ears...

My second job

4oz of Superwash Merino in Blood Orange (not for sale ever!) - The photo is kinda funny, cause my camera doesn't like that sort of drastic color change, but it's really got nice smooth color joins.

4.10 oz of Mixed Breed Sliver in 'Berries and Cream'
Due to my inability to format, the following two below are 4oz Merino Corriedale Cross in Irish Landscape and 4oz of Merino Corriedale Cross in Sully.

4oz Mixed Breed in Desert Sunset