I keep running out of time to blog! (Actually doing work at work, for a change!) Before I forget: some pictures from last week's Durham Bulls Stich & Pitch...


It poured and poured before the game started, but then there was a rainbow. Despite my obsessive hat-wearing this year, look at all those freckles!


Isn't that cool? She modified the chart so it would felt round. If you're on Ravelry, the pattern is here. As I have mentioned here many times, I stink at intarsia, but felting does erase many sins...

I finally pushed through and finished Sandra's Jaywalkers.

I made the smallest size, since she's petite and has narrow feet. I didn't realize how inelastic the pattern would be--I can barely get them on! You can see how the pattern is getting warped. Anyway, I do hope she likes them. She wears a lot of warm colors and green, so I think these will work (they're very brown and green and yellow in real life--not nearly so pink as they look in the photo). And since I can't seem to go cold turkey on socks, I'm making the Hourglass Eyelet socks from MagKnits for myself, out of the lilac Araucania sock yarn I bought at The Point in Greenwich Village last year. They are really flying. (Here's a link to someone else's photo.) Also, I seem to have developed a serious thing for lace knitting. Practically as soon as I finished the Swallowtail I needed to cast on for something else. Something rectangular. I love all the triangular shawl patterns out there, but I just don't wear that style--I need stoles, I guess. So I clicked around on Ravelry, and found the most lovely pattern. Here's what I have so far:


I'm using the alpaca-silk blend Mark bought me for Christmas. I will need to pick up another skein, but it'll take me a while to get that far.

In other craft news, I worked my tail off on the FrouFrou--and it sucked. The pattern is just very badly written. Basically it wouldn't fit me unless I were six feet tall and had no hips. (Neither of which describes me at all.) I was so disgusted, I don't even have the heart to frog it yet. The yarn will definitely be a cardigan--I have a few things in mind, but probably won't get to it for a little while. And speaking of failure, I'm going to frog my black Drops cardigan, too. I'll save the sleeves and basically make a new body, in one piece and according to my measurements. It fits well from the bust up, so I can at least use that part of the pattern--but I'll throw out the rest. It will be fitted. If it kills me. But again, it will take some fortitude to rip out a MONTH of work (and boring work at that--a humongous sea of black stockinette). It will be a good project come September.

Can you believe it's the middle of July already? I feel like I've been frittering my time away. I haven't, of course, but I've been in a real trial-and-error stage with repertoire, which isn't exactly wasting time but has that effect. I'm planning to record within the next month--with a new, lovely but hard French aria thrown in the mix--and I may be coaching Santuzza with the AD-to-remain-nameless in August as well. Plus I'm supposed to be learning Mercedes, but switching parts in the female lines in ensembles is so common in Carmen, and I haven't gotten full confirmation of what part I'm supposed to sing at a given time. So that's sort of on hold for now. (I guess it leaves me more time for the hard French aria.)

Update on my back: I have an appointment with an orthopedist on Friday, which will hopefully lead to a referral for physical therapy. I've been feeling better the last few days, but I still have some shooting down my right arm. Yuck.

Oh, and in super-exciting news, Mark is auditioning for Jeopardy! in less than two weeks. Being in DC on a Monday afternoon is not exactly convenient, but we're going to make a weekend out of it (IKEA! W00t!). I will try not to be jealous if he gets on the show and wins lots of money. Hell, my second-place prize was the down payment on our car, which he drives 80% of the time--so if he wins fifty grand I should get a car for myself. Only fair, right? 8)