Just writing to say I have finally caught up on all the blog posts I didn't get the chance to read last week. Maybe I'll even leave some comments tomorrow.

(p.s., Heather, your short story is still freaking me out...)

When it snows in North Carolina, the place shuts down. And that is a good thing, considering how lousy everybody drives around here in the first place--plus there are too few plows and too little rock salt to really be anything but a Band-Aid. My office was closed on Monday for MLK Day, then again on Tuesday and Wednesday because of poor management of a lousy six inches of snow. I wish it had seemed like a five-day weekend, but I had a conference call on Tuesday and was planning to stay home to watch umpteen hours of inauguration coverage (woohoooo!!!) anchored by my TV boyfriend and my TV BFF anyway so I had the work laptop with me. The day job is beginning to consume waaay too much time and energy; even now, it looks like I'll miss the chance to apply for a competition in the spring because I have to be in Salt Lake City for work that weekend. Five days sitting behind a table in a convention center. Whoopee. Maybe I should live-blog. Anyway, it's making private teaching look increasingly more attractive. I was supposed to get specifics by email earlier this week (ought to follow up)...but we'll see if I really like teaching for hours at a time, versus sitting at a computer. I guess ideally I'd only sing and/or sit on my ass all day, but until I have regular major gigs that would get pretty boring after a while. How much HGTV can one person watch?! Also, it might seem a bit selfish, while Mark works all day. You think?

Oh, I finally got a picture of Mark's socks the other day:



Paraphernalia, available on Ravelry, etc., etc. It's such a striking pattern, and pretty simple (it's mainly 3x1 ribbing).

Since it's Friday, here's a (bad) picture of my pencil pouch project for HELPSudan:


(Will I ever develop photography skills? Stay tuned.) I have a few repeats left, and should be done very soon. Also, I'm almost done with my cabled cardigan. Finally! I had to unravel and change the yoke construction, since it was coming out way too large, but I'm now half done with the final collar band. After I block it and pick out closures, I'll be DONE! This is a five-month project--it'll be so good to be finished.

Speaking of long-term projects, check this out. I'm in love! And Mark really likes Frank Lloyd Wright, so it's perfect. But I'll make it for our bed. A queen-sized bed. It would be 7x7 squares, and come out approximately 94" square. I may have lost my mind. But can you imagine how irritating it would be to make a queen-sized afghan out of granny squares?! Not me, not ever. Forty-nine squares is more than enough, thank you. At least it'll keep me out of trouble...

One last knitted item: I got started on Versatility the other day. I may well run out of yarn before the end, but I've been holding onto two skeins of now-discontinued Noro Big Kureyon for more than three years. I'll figure something out. I mean, hell, it's NORO.



The colors are more muted in real life. It's glorious, and it really does create a pretty soft fabric. I've left off the bobbles, by the way--otherwise Niki would kick my butt... Truthfully, I'm not a huge fan of bobbles, plus I wanted to conserve more yarn (I'm already leaving off a pattern repeat). I've substituted single purl stitches instead, which can be interesting with the Noro color changes. I have to say, the pattern is marked "piquant", but it's really not that hard. Or maybe I'm just too used to the cabled jacket to have any sort of perspective.

Audition tomorrow--and we're going to stay with a friend of ours we haven't seen for over a year. Should be a blast!

(p.s. top picture = the mittens in action)

I want this. If anyone wants to buy it for me, my birthday's in April. But can you imagine? I'd never get out of bed. I'd just keep hitting the snooze so I could hear Stephen Fry again.

On Saturday we went to the inauguration of the new governor (the first female governor in state history) and other state officials. The weather was actually quite nice, and we sat in the sun so we weren't really even cold. It offered an excuse to get a picture of Mark's fakey Noro scarf.


It was absolutely hellish to work with (did I mention before? Debbie Mumm Traditions, looks pretty but it's just awful!), but look! He's actually wearing the scarf! And it looks good on him and everything.


Behold my second Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret. Mark takes better pictures of me than I take of myself. This should not surprise anyone.

Last week was kind of crappy for me, but this week is looking up. I have an audition in two weeks (for someone I've been trying to get a coaching with for a year), and it looks like I'm going to start teaching soon. My day job has been getting on my nerves lately--way more commitment than I signed up for!--and it might be nice to teach instead. It is definitely more lucrative, but I can't exactly, say, blog while I'm giving a voice lesson. Ahem. Anyway, I should have more details in a few days about that.

Oh, also, I finished my mittens! I'll have Mark take pictures for me this time.

This is going around today, so if you're lurking, de-lurk!

There were also some minor stash acquisitions while I was away. I generally avoid the New Jersey Turnpike at all costs, so I planned a route through Lancaster, Pennsylvania to stop at an LYS. It was a store in an old house, crammed to the rafters with yarn (which is how I like my yarn stores), and I bought this:


More sock yarn, yes, I know, but it's kettle-dyed! And I don't actually have pink socks. I was quite tempted by some possum-blend laceweight (New Zealand possum, though not from the linked company--somebody based out of New England, I don't remember now), but with the allergies I decided against it. Very soft and fluffy, though.

Also, that same day I went Olbermann-watching and froze my butt off, I stopped at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio downtown. I don't know what I was expecting, but...eh. Kind of underwhelming. The store looks great, at least. I bought some Sock-Ease, since you can't buy it around here in stores.


Does that look grey or lavender to you? I think it's supposed to be grey, but I definitely see purple there. I swear, though, every single damn colorway has chartreuse in it! Who are these people clamoring for neon green stripes in their socks?! Nobody I know.

Still no photos of Mark's completed socks, or his fake Noro scarf, or my remade beret--I'll make him do it this weekend if it kills me. But in the meantime, a PSA. There's a Darfur awareness group on Ravelry, and they're knitting pencil cases for donation and/or sale. I'll be making Wendy's as soon as I finish the damn stranded mittens. I'm not big into the charity knitting, but this seems like important and useful charity knitting. Read more below...

______________________________________________________
Sudan is an extremely war-torn country, and that for a long time. The current genocide in Darfur, before that the Second Sudanese Civil War, in which over 2 million people were killed have made it difficult for the Sudanese people to go on living normally, like sending their children to school.

HELPSudan was formed by the Lost Boys of Sudan to establish learning facilities, recruit teachers and provide school supplies as well as provide health resources and clean water especially in Southern Sudan. HELPSudan is raising funds for the purpose of starting more schools in Southern Sudan; ”providing pencils and notebooks for hands that might have taken up arms, and an education for minds that once only understood war.”

The Ravelry Darfur group thought the knitting and crocheting community could help raising funds, and at the same time making something useful for the Sudanese children.

The object to be made is a pencil case, because they’re easy, quick, inexpensive and light, and because they can be both sold to benefit HELPSudan financially as well as given to the Sudanese school children along with pens and notebooks.

Some other generous designers have made patterns for the project, too, and are publishing them in their own blogs and Ravelry. You will find the current link list of available patterns at www.worsted-knitt.net.

Once the knitting gets going, there’ll be a voting on the most beautiful pencil case on Flickr with lovely prizes!

The challenge is here: HELPSudan’s next Annual Fund Raiser is just few weeks away. They say some pencil cases would be a great addition to their Silent Auction of arts and crafts… however, HELPSudan have said that they will have need for pencil cases after the event, too, so this KAL/CAL will be active for at least until the end of March. Updates will be published at www.worsted-knitt.net as well as Ravelry Darfur group.

The finished pencil cases can be sent directly to HELPSudan at

HELPSudan
5255 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60640 USA

What happens when you don't take pictures for a month? This post. And this isn't even everything...

First off: my Estonian lace shawl is ready to block.


I am over the moon about it. I don't seem to be allergic to it (as I was to the last project I made from alpaca, though this is an alpaca-silk blend), and I think I finally have the hang of nupps--there were a hell of a lot of them, and the video at the above link was extremely helpful.

Another project--I made Mark a Tychus when I first started knitting, and it is quite pointy on top. The man doesn't need any help to look like an elf. So I made him a new hat last week.


He wasn't so keen on modeling (what else is new). I really didn't use the pattern much--I knit it from the top down, and of course my gauge was completely different--but the concept is the same. The yarn is the star here--handspun by Michelle, and a wool-mohair blend that feels very light and is wonderful to work with. (The black stripe is leftover Patons--big melons call for big hats, and I ran out with five rows to spare.) Mark actually had the nerve to say it wasn't very warm when he tried it on. There is no possible way this hat wouldn't keep you warm! He must've been reacting to the smooshiness...

I was expecting some KnitPicks action for Christmas, but Mark got me Spafinder gift certificates instead. That will subsidize two hot stone massages. I think he made the right choice. Anyway... I did get one yarny gift, from my (knitter) sister-in-law:


Portable swift! No longer will I need to use the lampshade when I have to wind yarn! It's a neat setup (purchased on etsy, nice), and the wood is quite pretty. The first thing I wound was (of course) some sock yarn. I decided I need to work through my sock yarn stash from the rear. I bought this (SHEEPaints BambooLaine) from a girl at my SnB in March, I think. I was cautious, since the projects on Ravelry in this colorway have been, honestly, kind of gross-looking. Nothing really the users' fault--lots of pooling and general misbehavior. So you can imagine my surprise when it looked so pretty in the ball. And check it out in action:


No pooling at all! I love that the colors are so complex--there's rust, burgundy, light blue and a gorgeous inky blue along with the jacquard. The pattern is Elfine's Socks, which seemed to work well with other handpainted yarns on Ravelry--I was not disappointed.

You know what does disappoint me? Having ginormous man hands. I'm gearing up to make Tatiana--Matryoskhas rock my world--so I decided to make some worsted-weight stranded mittens first to hone my (meager) skills. I picked out a cool pattern--The Green Hand, which sounds ominous but totally isn't--and I got cracking. I have like, a ton of leftover Patons from my frogged Drops jacket, and I had some great Kool-Aid dyed wool from a trade for the contrast color (two different batches, so I overdyed them with more Cherry). Here's how far I let myself get before I acknowledged that there was a problem:




And it's too small across the palm. Way too small for blocking to correct. Of course I tried it on every two rows to admire my handiwork. Of course I noticed that it was pulling across the palm. But for some reason I thought I could make up for it with the thumb. Seriously?! Ugh. So I ripped the whole damn thing out, down to the cuff, and started again up a needle size. It's still snug, but it's not pulling anymore, and I'm sure this will relax when I block it. Bah. Hubris strikes again! I am finally starting to get the hang of colorwork, though...

Still no pictures! Mark is dragging his butt. I will get on him tonight about it. So, without further ado, crazy New York items:

*Two really good auditions! One of which I think could even be promising! I may never hear anything, but I'm happy to have done my best.

*I waited for Mark, my brother and his fiancee for nearly an hour at Rockefeller Center, right across the street from the tree. It was twenty degrees, so I was not happy. It was too cold to knit. I spent the time scoping out the crowd for a tall, handsome man dressed like a capofamiglia, but no dice. (He was off that week.) I also would've been quite happy to see Tina Fey.

*I had to shovel. I hate shoveling.

*I lost my cute beret on my first trip into Manhattan (I made another this weekend), so the next day I wore my crazy hood-scarf thing. Okay, not only do I now feel it looks foolish, but it did not keep me warm at ALL. Compared to the beret and little neckwarmer the day before. The secret is wool. Acrylic does a half-assed job keeping you warm!! I never really believed this before, but now I know. Case in point: when I took off the orange hood and wrapped myself in my flimsy pashmina, I was instantly warmer! Still not warm, but it was pretty windy that day. Anyway, I am now a total wool convert. Natural fibers only for me, from now on!

*My husband's nephews are antisocial and weird. Okay, the two-year-old is in a biting, "mine mine mine" phase, which is to be expected, but the five-year-old is cutting girls' hair in school, barely acknowledges his brother's existence except to steal whatever toy he has, is kind of a terror in general... I do hope he grows out of this. And that our children don't act like this. I will leave them at the orphanage, I swear. My brothers and I were NOT like this. We definitely fought--and I'm sure our parents wanted to drop us off on the side of the highway on several occasions--but we also played together all the time. And nobody ever cut anybody's hair, ever.

*Speaking of child development, my only first cousin is now a senior in high school, and possibly a Unabomber-in-training himself. Got interested in girls less than a year ago, has NO interest in college--wouldn't a normal 17-year-old be itching to go out on his own? My uncle is basically filling out applications for him. I will be interested to see how this turns out.

*In happier family news, Jeff's fiancee L. has invited me to be an attendant. I'll get to match other people and everything! :) And she has good (usually expensive) taste, so prospects are good that I won't look like an enormous eggplant.

*Oh, hey, and I got to see my friend Michele from college, who I hadn't seen in more than nine years, I think. We had a great time--took up right where we left off. Facebook comes through in the end...

Happy New Year! I had very intermittent internet access while I was away, and now I'm getting over a cold, so I've been rather slow to update. Plus I have to take a bunch of FO photos. But here's one from a while ago: my gift to Cathy.


Funniest picture ever? Remember that pattern I translated from French while watching a Doctor Who marathon on my day off? This is it. Don't I look like one of the Fatima sisters, or that my head is covered for some religious reason? It looks pretty as a neckwarmer, anyway.

More pictures--more updates later.