Summer Slump

It's been weeks since my last post. I wish I could say that is because I am living this incredibly exciting life and we are having more fun than we know what to do with, but alas, our activities have been a bit more... well, boring. Here's a list:

• House hunting
• House cleaning
• Sorting out clothes I haven't worn in years and donating them to goodwill or selling them on eBay
• Getting stains out of the carpet all over the house (well, Mr. Batty did most of the work on that one)
• Setting up an appointment with a painter so we can get difficult-to-paint parts of the house fixed up. A fresh coat of paint will help us sell this place -- or at least that's what we're hoping.

So, as you can see, lots of work. Relatively little knitting, which is why I'm posting about the other thing librarians like to talk about: What I'm reading.
I always have several books going, but the one I'm reading right now is Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. It's a murder mystery in which a herd of sheep are trying to find out who murdered their shepherd. Yes, you heard me, a murder mystery with sheep detectives!
I'm not very far in yet, but I love the author's sense of humor. Very tongue in cheek yet utterly charming. And not to mention... sheep.
I guess one could say it's somewhat knitting related.
But, knitting or no, how can one not like a book that starts with a list of characters appropriately captioned Dramatis Oves?

Caturday

Happy early Caturday! Technically, it's Friday, but I wanted to share pictures of my cats in their favorite flop spots.

Morgana loves the printer. Mr. Batty and I have a suspicion that she was some kind of computer engineering type in a former life.


Merlin flops on the upper part of the computer desk. He is more of a taking things apart kitty, and we're guessing former mechanical engineer.


That's it in cat-related news. I got back from my trip to New Jersey and have taken today off for some rest and sanity-restoration. I know I've been really, really bad about reading people's blogs and intend to get caught up over the weekend. In the meantime...
Flopping, cuddling, cooking, and some sweater surgery. I hope the procedure goes well and the patient doesn't have to be frogged!

Block Party

Berroco Ultra Alpaca grows. I have heard knitters comment on it, I have read posts about the amazing expandability of this yarn, and still I ignored the advice. Did I wash my swatch? No, of course not! Why not spend hours knitting a sweater with a 50" bust, only to wash it and experience the growing miracle yarn myself?

Here it is.


There is a little extra fabric -- about 1" more in length, and possibly 1/2-1" in width. But the sleeves... instead of 23", they're a good... 24, maybe 25" long, and the top of each sleeve is 23" wide instead of 21"...
Not too bad, and when it gets dry, it'll probably pull back together a little bit. Still, I've learned my lesson: wash your swatch. It's worth it. I know swatches lie, but you'll learn valuable things about your yarn.

Also a long time coming was the blocking of Tangerine Twist. You may remember my first seaming attempt, which failed because the sleeves didn't quite fit into their holes and I had to rip them back out. Now, I'm blocking the holes and hoping the sleeves will fit somehow. We'll see how things go.


I'm headed on another business trip next week, this time to New Jersey. I'm taking the train because it gives me extra time to work. It also gives me extra knitting time. I like extra knitting time.

Help me pick a pattern

I have a ton of work to finish before I take off to Halifax. I'm hoping to get some done before I leave and some more on the train to the airport. And with any luck, I won't come back with tons of yarn. Wish me strength!

In the meantime, I would like some help picking a pattern for this wonderfully bright orange sock yarn. Toe up, cuff down, it doesn't matter. I have 310 yards of this stuff, my ankles are pretty skinny, and my feet are rather small (about a US size 6.5). So there should be plenty of yarn for regular-length socks.


What would you make out of bright orange sock yarn like this?