I’ve had two clients who had measured their heads at 24+ inches tell me that their hats are just a hair looser than they’d like. My math is spot on. I’ve re-knitted one and am about to re-knit the other. From now on, I’m just not going to believe anyone who tells me they have a big noggin.
Big-headed weirdos.
I had an appointment to have my hair fixed at 10am this morning, but didn’t keep the appointment. Last night I was out and saw a woman my approximate age, build, and face shape. Difference? She had FANTASTIC HAIR. I asked her who did her hair, and she raved about her stylist and gave me her card. So rather than get the same cut I’ve had for the past 20 years, I’m going to this new woman and we’ll see what happens. If I have to live with crappy hair until Wednesday, then so be it. That’s the advantage of working from home, no co-workers to impress.
In talking with the hubby about MacGyvering a yarn counter out of a fishing line counter, I also ran across this woman’s homemade ball winder. I’ve seen ball winders made from hand mixers before, but the drill-mounted one looks like it would have the advantage of letting you vary the speed. It seems like such an easy solution that you’ve got to admire the ingenuity.
Got a shipment of 150 boxes – 100 for single hats, 50 larger ones for double orders. Going back through my records I realized I was ordering 50 boxes every month or so, so I bought in greater bulk this time. I was down to six boxes left when these came. It’s not a huge crisis, because I can run up to my local office supply store and get more, but I pay literally ten times as much if I buy them singly. The hats are zipping right along, I feel like I’m starting to get back ahead of the curve again. For the first time in a while, the line is back around 35.
I’m wanting to get more involved with Dragonrealms again, now that I’m starting to make some hat headway. I had scaled back my involvement (aside from the Merelew festival) to nurture the Jayne hat biz, but I miss DR. I’m going to start picking up weddings again, and see how much I can handle at the moment without giving short shrift to either my wedding clients or my knitting clients. I also placed a couple of real gems today, which is always fun. When I was a player, I never spotted one, but I see the behind-the-scenes numbers and people really do find them! Also updated some visions, and saw that the rumor system is nice and healthy. I like to add onto the atmospheric-type systems when I can. Also, updated records on the description of a DR-specific wood, and GMs Reexa, Ilanya, and myself discussed a new fabric. Looks pretty cool, I think fluffhounds will be pleased.
Now I’m off to snag a copy of TurboTax for the Mac. Last year’s fiasco of actually doing taxes ON THE DUE DATE and discovering a form was missing has scared me straight, so to speak. Later, taters!
“Oh. My. God.
You’re my hero for life right now… The hat’s super-cunning, but the straw, and the letter from mom… Amazing! To the point that I forgot it wasn’t for me at first, then debated keeping it for me anyway. 😛 …
…Long story short, you’ve made my “Zoe” very happy, and that in turn makes this “Wash” very happy. 🙂
Keep up the great work! :D”
And THAT, my friends, is why I knit the same hat over and over.
We went out of town this weekend for the kiddo’s birthday celebrations. After last year’s disaster, we opted to keep it low-key, so it was just grandparents and us.
Finished up a couple of Jayne hats, but there’s a hitch. I’ve only got enough orange on-hand to complete a few more, and the mill won’t be winding any more gigantic cones for another week and a half. So tomorrow I canvas the state for loose skeins. This shortage won’t put anybody off schedule, since I’ve got enough to go through Jan 24th or so, but I get antsy when I can see the end of the yarn in sight. Note that the pic below shows the yarn I got in February for Jayne hats. The orange cone had 2000 yards on it.
Consider that the UK release of Serenity debuted at number one on the bestseller charts there, and the resulting uptick in UK requests over the weekend, and you can see why I am antsy about needing more yarn.
When travelling to the in-laws, I like to take a few other projects with me to work on. So
Speaking of Berroco yarns, I got to go to a Berroco trunk show premiering their new yarns for Spring. A few were nice, but many were fugly with a capital F. I also got to see, in person, some of the horrific things from the Berroco site featured in You Knit What? Talk about abuse of granny squares. Also, this poor woman apparently has moths the size of Volkswagens.
And now, I’m totally beat, and will actually turn in at a semi-reasonable hour. Mark this day in the record books!
I finally set up my Dragonrealms e-mail to forward to booboomonkey mail. This means that I don’t have to wrestle with AOL to retrieve info on new releases, upcoming events, planned player massacres, etc. I hated being out of the loop.
Turned away from the house on my walk home today and added another half mile or so to the route, which was nice. So far I’m being pretty good about doing it even when I really, really would rather be home in bed. Now if I could just be as vigilant about actually getting to sleep at a reasonable hour. The iPod helps keep me from going batty with boredom on the walks. In college, I used to walk everywhere, just enjoying the scenery and being in the moment. Now I think about how much else I have to do. The music (or sometimes audiobook) does help me be more in the moment. A couple of years ago when I was running, the real reason I started running was because a two mile brisk walk on hilly streets didn’t feel challenging anymore, but I didn’t want to add more time to my walk because it was already taking plenty long enough. Maybe if I were more awake, though, I wouldn’t be dragging like this.
Side note: I first wrote “book on tape” for “audiobook” up there, then realized that I was dating myself. Eh, I can be quaint in my old age, I reckon.
Pulled out the DVDs of The Tick last night. Chalk this up as another “why did Fox cancel this show?” series. If you haven’t seen it, you should. Freakin’ hilarious. How can you cancel a show with lines like “Gravity is a harsh mistress”?
Part of today will be spent working on Jayne hats from 1/14. There are several from that date, so that’ll stay steady for the next few days.
The bulk of today, though, will be spent looking for khaki pants for my husband. Sunday I exhausted the resources at the local mall with no luck. Apparently he’s just barely too tall for the regular section of the store, and barely too short for the big and tall section. He’s aroud 6’2″ or 6’3″, which isn’t that odd, so I don’t get the problem. In fairness, he has finally admitted that he can’t fit into his old pants anymore, so maybe the new size is just very popular. He’s overweight, but not obese, so I imagine a lot of tall guys are in the same boat.
All I know is that it’s irritating to sort through every pair of pants in a store because the clerks don’t realize that they don’t have his size. However, he needs them by tomorrow, so I’m off to examine men’s pants. But not in a fun way.
I finished the last of the pre-Christmas orders (that’s ordered before Christmas, not promised before Christmas, of course) and am on the cusp of moving into 2006. These last two were cotton, and the next one is cotton too, and those always take longer and are a little rougher on the hands, so I’m taking a break!
I started up Odessa as a cap for a friend of mine, but it’s coming out too loose on the recommended needle size. In fairness, the ball band of the yarn, Misti Alpaca suri silk, doesn’t even have a recommended needle size. But no way is this “worsted” as the label says it is. DK, maybe. On the up side? Softest. Yarn. Ever.
See the holes? I want the fabric tighter, for warmth. I’m going to scale back down from a size 6 needle to a 4 or 5. I worry a little that it’ll be too tight, but I’m still feeling good that it’ll be okay, even if it does snug up a bit. Plus my SSKs are a little sloppy; I want to even those out. Pretty easy pattern so far, and looking good. I might make myself one at some point, but with beads.
I have internet access! It seems to be intermittent, but I have it! Any is better than none!
I did learn something about myself, though. I’ve been blaming the internet for me staying up too late. However, with no internet, I actually stayed up later doing other projects. One knitting project in particular I had had in mind since a friend had a new baby enter her life, and I had even ordered the yarn for it and was figuring out the best way to do it. Well, the yarn arrived, and I charted the design, did the math, wrote up the pattern, and knitted the item last night. I won’t tell you how late I was up, as my mother reads this blog and I don’t want her death on my hands.
I’ll post a pic after it’s safely in the recipient’s hands. Or maybe over in the knitting community – the colorwork wasn’t my best, but I’m still pleased with how it turned out.
In other knitting news, I finished the mondo scarf. The hubby was out of town, so I had to make do with a secondary digital camera. No, I am not complaining about having to use the second digital camera. That’s like complaining about having to take the year-old Porsche out for a spin because the new one’s in the shop.
I took copious notes, and snapped pics of the inside and of attaching the fringe so that I can work up a tutorial or pattern should anyone else be interested. Double-knitting is good stuff. It’s on its way now to a Browncoat in Canada, and I hope its double thickness keeps her toasty warm in style.
The hubby has arrived back home from his trip out of town, and I am happy. Now we can watch the Arrested Developments I recorded on Friday. Assuming I don’t fall asleep first.
Behold! My yellow arrived a day early! I’m back in business, baby!
The big cones are about 2000 yards each, and the small ones are about 400. Woot! I’m Jayne-in’ it up!
As for last night, it was a good news/bad news kind of thing.
There was a meeting of our local knitting guild branch last night, and I reeeeeaallly wanted to go. It was a) knitting with some people I knew, including my old 8th grade English teacher, b) at a facility directly across the street from my house, and c) hosting a guest speaker – a Godiva chocolatier! With samples! It’s like the perfect storm of my interests!
Unfortunately, I forgot about it until it was nearly time, then rushed to get home just before it started. At which point, I was immediately stricken with some kind of stomach bug. ARGH! Chocolate! Knitting! Adult conversation! Right across the street! AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!!
Okay, done pouting now.
On the up side, Girl Scouts started selling cookies yesterday, and the hubby brought home two boxes of Thin Mints, which he knows are my favorites. So after my stomach settled, I did still get to knit and eat a little chocolate, and the evening wasn’t a total loss. My birthday this year is turning out like Hanukkah. In fact, let’s just call it Tvinikkah and I’ll just sit back and watch the goodies roll in.
