I'm back in the groove

Yeah, I know.

Shocked, aren't you?

I'm actually blogging again.  I'm actually sitting down and putting my thoughts to....well, not paper, but on something.

Anyway, here's a status update:

New Crafty Interest

In the past six months, I've spent a considerable amount of time at home.  It was past due; I had not spent any appreciable time at my parent's home since I can't remember when last year.  So, I spent about 6 weeks at my parents in May and June before heading home for a while.  Then, I spent almost all of August in Georgia.

So why do I mention this?

Well, Mom doesn't knit.  She sews.  So when I run out of yarn and my fingers start itching for a project, I take a side-eye to her fabric stash.  During August, after finishing my two Ravellenic projects, I needed a project. I needed something to knit....but with only Michael's and Joann's at my disposal, sewing was looking good.  For the past few months, I'd spent a lot of time contemplating sewing again.  Mostly, this interest was sparked by necessity; I needed to recover 3 ottomans in my house.  Well, I've finished 2 ottomans; one was recovered in white duck cloth, with a blue and white navy stripe cording offsetting the ottoman and the ruffle at the bottom.  It took all of my rusty skills (thank you, internets!) to remember how to make a bias strip for the cording, how to insert a zipper, how to accurately cut the fabric (lol.....I still goofed quite a few times) and how to work my iron (no seriously.  I don't iron.).

Once I was done, I cast my eye toward a long-time, back-of-the-brain project that I've wanted to do:  An update on my knitting bag.

Project Bag from Coffee and Chocolate Swap

I received this from the Coffee and Chocolate swap 3 years ago and I've used it constantly ever since.  It has logged as many miles back and forth as I have.  However the longer I used it, the more I realized I needed to update it.

You see, when I travel I never check bags.  So when I step to security I have a 22" upright carry-on, a Swiss Guard Book bag, and my knitting bag.  After a while I realized that to make life easy, I could tuck my cell phone, keys, ID, credit cards and Plane tickets into that knitting bag and go right through security.  No digging through my book bag; no having to stuff my purse into my upright right at the ID check. After a while, TSA stopped checking the knitting bag.  But placing my ID, credit cards, keys, etc, inside the bag meant it got tangled quite often, especially if there were more than one project.  What I wanted was an outside pocket or two for those items.  So, that's what I did, I made one!

Ha!  Just what I needed.  And it matches my DPN Needle roll...

So, I've been bitten by the sewing bug yet again....Next up

:)  I can't wait.

Fall Hope

Right now, I'm suffering through an overcast day in NYC.  It's wet but not rainy, cool but not cold, and grey but not dreary.

It's matching my mood.

I'm back at the site of my very first consulting client, the place I was thrilled to leave 2 years ago and the place I'm thrilled to be back at 2 years later.  I've had some difficult clients since then and I never realized how much I missed this place. 

Planned Insanity

So, I know it's been a while.  There's a reason: I can't stop knitting socks.  In nearly 5 months I've knit 16 pairs of socks....well, perhaps 18, depending on how long it takes me to finish Maeva and knit the second sock of Skew (Nevermind.  Finished sock two while writing this installment).  I've learned that my limit (for sanity's sake) is 3 pairs of socks a month.  That's all I can really handle.  Besides, at the moment, I haven't been able to cast on anything else.

Which is why, for the month of June, I signed up on Sock Knitter's Anonymous to knit 4 socks. Actually 5, but I removed one because it didn't qualify for the time limit.

Yes, 4.

And I volunteered to test knit a pattern.  Thankfully, she only needs one sock complete (here's looking at you, Skew2!)

Six socks in one month.  And I won't be home until mid-month.

No, I'm not losing my mind.

It's already vacated the premises.

Frustration and Accomplishment

**This is a photo heavy post**

I'm getting really desperate to cast on Semele.  The yarn has been ready for months now and my fingers are itching for a pattern that doesn't involve turning a heel (more on that after the jump).  This is what's on my project page in Ravelry:


Originally queued: July 25, 2011
Project created: January 28, 2012
Hibernating: May 14, 2012

See, this has been waiting a very long time.  I was hoping to get started this month, but it might not happen.  Damn.