The Golden Iris

I started my new job today and whew, I'm pooped! But I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow, so that's a good sign. The work is reasonable and interesting, the people are pretty nice, there's fresh coffee whenever I want it, and I can go home for lunch. All in all, very good. The BF resigned today to take a new, better job and soon he will be working at home. All is well here. And with no further ado, here, please look at where I keep my socks. They make me happy. I have to go clean up the kitchen and go to bed. I hope your week is going well!

Sometimes you just have to love stockinette stitch. I have been racing along on my new v-neck pullover and I've gotten to the point of finishing the body. All I have to do now is add the collar and sleeves. Amazingly, there will be no seams whatsoever in this sweater! I'm not even going to bind off at the neck; I'm just going to keep knitting for the collar. The sleeves are all picked up and knit, so when I bind off, all there will be to do is weave in some ends and block it. While the pattern says the finished size is 39" - and when calculated, that's about what it should be - it's a little snugger than that. I think the reason is because I am knitting it out of wool and the original is in cotton. Here is a lovely headless photo of me wearing a half-finished sweater (these are always the best!) For the first time in weeks, it has been cool enough here to actually open the windows and get some fresh air in the apartment without feeling like we're goin...

No knitting today - I have other kinds of good news to share. I got the job that I've been agonizing for weeks about! All my history and museum education aside, I'm now going to be working as a technical writer for a very small firm that does research and analysis of intellectual property and patent law for investors. I'll get to write about different inventions all the time, which does kind of fit in with some of the graduate work I did on the history of technology. The business end is not so familiar, but that's okay. And the best part is I can walk to work! My former museum employers will probably be disappointed, but I've discovered I like to eat and I'm halfway decent at writing. So on to a new kind of adventure! I have two weeks until I start, so my summer vacation is getting extended just a little longer. More time to knit and make cupcakes and get new work clothes! Don't worry, this will still be a knitting blog. I have no interest in writing ...

I have joined the masses having fun over at Ravelry , and I, too, am having a great time obsessing over getting every last little detail on line. I'm "GoldenIris" over there, so if you haven't yet, look me up and say hi. Ravelry is also a fabulous way to occupy my mind and time as I wait to hear back from the possible employer. I have to get through today and probably most of tomorrow! But that is okay and I can be patient. And once I get a job I'm springing for a paid flickr account so I can really get the most use out of it as well as Ravelry. No more losing photos! Here's what I've been working on lately. And by lately, I mean the last three days. This is a very basic v-neck in-the-round raglan that I am just cruising along on. Well, now I'm cruising. Earlier I was very, very angry with my yarn. I swatched. There was a knot. So when I ripped out the swatch to start, I left the few yards in front of the knot behind. Then as I cast on and k...

I finally found some great buttons for the Baby Surprise Jacket I finished knitting a little while back, so now I can say it is officially done. Don't they look just like little M&Ms? The stats: Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket Yarn: a little over 3 balls Hobby Kids Needles: #7? Buttons: From a nice yarn shop we visited in Bethesda, Knit and Stitch Modifications: As you can tell, my buttonholes aren't even. Oh well! I think they look fine where they are. I made this on slightly larger yarn and needles, so it's a bit bigger than an ordinary BSJ. Finally, like many people have been doing these days, I did one round of single crochet around the neckline to neaten it up. Otherwise, this is very much the same friendly BSJ that we know and love! I can't wait to find a small person for this. In other news, I should be receiving my Ravelry invite this week! I have been watching the list with increasing anticipation and as of right now I...

Finally, a finished sweater! Even though it was almost 90 degrees outside, I threw on my fuzzy little sweater for photos out there. And this was the best I could do for a facial expression -- it was still better than any photo that would have been taken indoors. The stats: Pattern: Melissa Wehrle ( neoknits )'s Grannie Smith Cardigan Yarn: Crystal Palace Kid Merino, from Simply Socks Yarn Company (looks like it's no longer available here, but I found it to be a good, economical substitute for Rowan Kidsilk Haze or K1C2 Douceur et Soie - it doesn't have silk, however, but some merino and nylon along with the kid mohair.) Buttons: Some old lavender-colored shirt buttons from mom's button box Needles: #3 and #4 nylon circs Modifications: I decided I wanted more, smaller buttons, so I tried (unsuccessfully the first time) to redo the math for the button bands, screwed up the first time, got upset about ripping out buttonholes in mohair, and eventually fixed it. Othe...

So whoever told me (which was probably nobody at all and really I'm just making this up) that a 1-lb cone of fingering weight wool yarn offered me infinite possibilities was wrong. What it really offers is unlimited waffling. If you know how hard it is for me to make up my mind about anything, you know this is a bad, bad thing. Anyway, here I am with my pound of yarn in a color that is not grey or green or blue, but some intermediate, indeterminate color. I thought, hooray! Finally I can make a big pretty lacy thing and not worry about running out of yarn! Enter Exhibit A: The Print O' The Wave Stole. At first I thought I was going to make this up as a gift at the end of the school year, and guess what? Of course it didn't get finished. In the interim I'd made a few things from Victorian Lace Today and subsequently decided I didn't care for the construction of the stole. As you can see, this was after I'd begun applying the border. Well, interesting. On...

Evidently I was terribly mistaken and let the computer confuse me. I can indeed take photos off my camera, edit, and upload them. Guess I've been a fool these past weeks. But now there's no stopping me! Without further ado, let's ring in the new incarnation of the blog with a bright and sassy FO. These are my new Sidewinder socks. I'm not sure if it was the novelty of the project or what, but when I sat down to knit these they seemed to go very quickly. Even the 100+ stitches of grafting weren't that bad (but it does help if there's a movie in the background). The stats: Pattern: nonaKnits ' Sidewinders, which were put up serially in her blog starting here . Yarn: 2 skeins Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Bittersweet (see notes). Needles: #2 circulars Modifications: I couldn't get the recommended gauge on #2 needles for my size and didn't like the thinner fabric on #3s, so I made the largest size in length and fudged the width to be wider t...