Lucky 7

A month and a half. Yikes. I could claim holiday madness, or the fact that I got a cold over the holidays that I'm only just now getting over, or that I've been so busy learning how to do my new (yet alomst-over) three-week job while interviewing for other ones, or that I hurt my back last weekend and couldn't sit up long enough to blog.

And all of that would be true. But the real reason I haven't blogged is because there haven't been any FO's. Not only have there not been any FO's recently, but if I think about it, the "newest" of my WIPs was cast on in June. All the rest are more than a year old, and it's just sad. I was so excited that I was going to finish Samus and cast on for Autumn Rose, but the ribbon placket for Samus has been the bane of my existence. One side went in fine, but I am currently re-sewing the second one for the third time, since I can never seem to get it to be the same length as the other one, no matter how carefully I measure. I am nowhere near being ready to install the zipper itself.

Finally, on Wednesday, just before I went to Late Night at my LYS, I cracked. The hat I was wearing totally did not match my scarf, and it wasn't handknit either! This is because before the holidays, I very sadly lost a lovely hat that my future sister-in-law knit for me last year. And the other hat I had knit for myself two years before has not been seen since we moved. I was desperately in need of a new hat! At least, that's what I told myself. But what I really needed was a new project, that I could finish quickly and use right away. Enter Knitgirl and the rest of the Late Night gang. KG recommended some Malabrigo worsted, and while everyone was helping me pick a color, she went onto Ravelry and quickly found me a perfect pattern: the Lucky 7 Hat by Knittywhipped.


"Lucky 7" hat in Malabrigo worsted (Damask Rose colorway), using magic loop on US #8 42" Addi Turbos

This hat was a dream come true. I cast on at the shop on Wednesday night, knit a bit on the bus ride home, a bit on my morning commute Thursday, and both my commutes on Friday. After another couple hours in front of Law and Order and the Australian Open women's final, I had my wonderful, perfect hat. There were no errors in the pattern, and it was very easy to follow. The only problem I encountered is that Knittywhipped definitely has a smaller head than me, so I wasn't able to don my new hat as soon as I wove in the last end. However, a good blocking seems to have taken care of any size issues, and I feel like a million bucks for finally having finished something. Who knows? Maybe this was the boost of confidence I needed to finally (dare I say it?) finish Samus. I am feeling pretty lucky!

Reasons to be happy

Top ten reasons I am happy today:

10. The headache I woke up with this morning, although still with me, is not a migraine.
9. The snow that fell yesterday has not completely melted yet.
8. Because our intern at work has her last day tomorrow (sad), we took her out for coffee this afternoon (happy) and congratulated her on her new, paying job (happy).
7. Even though every single one of my WIPs seems to be plotting my demise, at least I have yarn. And I do still love the WIPs and can't wait to finish them, even if they are misbehaving right now (more on them in the next post).
6. I am at work at all today. (My last day was supposed to be Nov. 30th, but I was given a stay of execution an extension until the end of the year).
5. There is a happy hour after work today, and I plan on attending, headache or not. After all, yesterday was Repeal Day.
4. I just got my 15th "bingo" in the Facebook version of Scrabulous. It was SCHEMERS fo 82 points, thank you very much. Who, me, addicted?
3. We're going to put up the holiday decorations this weekend. There will also be baking, and possibly singing. The only thing that could make it better would be snow and a fireplace.
2. I get to see my husband tomorrow.
1. I'm alive, employed (for now), healthy, and loved. And I have yarn and books.

Sweetness is...

...my husband. Look at the birthday surprise that was waiting on the doorstep when I got home last night! This gorgeous bouquet topped off a day full of birthday wishes by email, Facebook, card, and even international long distance phone calls. I feel so loved!

Sorry for being MIA with the blog for so long. I promise I'll have time next week for some much-needed catching up!

Won't you be my neighbor?

Yummy! The sumptuous buffet of Neighborhood Yarns that we dined upon tonight at Knit Happens. Being bad never felt so...soft. Aaah!

Sleepy time

Ivy is sooo happy to have a nice comfy shoebox to snooze in.

Unbloggable

I think Samus is afraid of me. This is as far as he's peeked out of his bag all week. How, you ask, can I be sooo close to the end of a project and yet seem unable to finish it? I scared him off, that's the only possible explanation. Hopefully I'll coax him out of his bag and onto the blocking board by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, with Samus cowering in his bag, I've been plenty busy: the VA Fall Fiber Festival with Sangeeta, finally getting on Facebook and rediscovering old friends, a 7 mile hike with Taz, several dinners and lunches with friends, a TON of work at my "real" (paid) job, and an unblogable surprise project that I didn't take pictures of and can't tell you about until next week.

So, USB cable gods willing, I should have some good knitting and stash growth pics for you then. Until then, I'm taking suggestions on how to sweet talk an almost-finished cardigan into taking a bath.

Free Burma!

"May we be free of torture, may there be peace in hearts and minds as our kindness spreads around the world."

You may have heard about the peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in Burma in recent weeks, in which monasteries were raided, many people were shot, and many more arrested. When the people of Burma last staged mass pro-democracy protests back in 1988, the military junta murdered thousands.



Today is the International Bloggers' Day for Burma. You can learn more about it by clicking on the image above. They have a petition you can sign, and links to more information and online actions. Please note that clicking on the image above will take you to an "entry" page for the site with just one image on it. If you click on this image, it will take you inside the site.