Little Blue June 29, 2009

So, today, 10 business days having passed since I brought in my camera for service, I called Best Buy to see what the heck-butt was up. After 3 phone transfers and 12 minutes on hold, I finally got my answer… it was unfixable. They’d known this for a week. They never called me.

I went in and got a new one, and filled out a rather angry comment card. It probably won’t do any good, but hey, I feel better. Plus the new camera came with all the accoutrements that the old one did, but I had kept the old ones, so it’s like a bunch of free stuff as compensation for my long wait.

The new camera, she has a name! It struck me as I was uploading the photos. The camera is small, sleek, blue, and above all… has no internal memory storage. It only has a memory card slot. It’s obvious; my camera is Dory, from Finding Nemo.

And now Dory and I will share with you everything you’ve missed since the old li’l blue died a premature death.

First, the FOs:

The Rincewind Baby Robe, the bane of my existence for several months. I love how it turned out. We’re still not totally sure whether we’re going to mail it or bring it with us when (if?) we go out there in August.

For the swap: The freakin’ adorable, I need one for myself now Elephant tea cozy. I love this thing so much. Doesn’t it work perfectly on my elephant teapot?

And the owl mitts, which I think I’m going to add button eyes onto. I loooove this yarn, it’s Dream in Color Classy, leftovers that Nicole gave me. Amazing wonderful stuff.

Here is the new WIP, my Deep in the Forest mittens. Isn’t that edging cool?

I hate to say it but I might have to rip back to the braid. I think my floats are too tight. 😦 But oh, that edge… I love it so.

I’m so happy to have a nice camera again! I feel like I can get back into the swing of blogging- and it’s just in time, since WWM starts Wednesday and Tour de Fleece starts Saturday. Exciting!

Weekend in Reverse June 28, 2009

I had sort of a strange weekend, in that yesterday felt very much like Sunday and today I could’ve sworn it was Saturday. It was a little disconcerting, and really sort of unpleasant since I have to go to work tomorrow… but hey, four day week. I get Friday off since the 4th is on a Saturday this year. We’re pet-sitting/house-sitting for my sister and her husband from Wednesday to Sunday, but we don’t have any big plans for the fourth. Considering that normally, we’d be up in Brainerd doing professional fireworks shows… it’s sort of a welcome break (honestly? I’m sort of hoping we never do that again).

I’m up to the start of the thumb gusset on my Deep in the Forest Mittens. The braided cuff was really fun, and looks awesome. Hopefully I’ll get my camera back soon (it’s been 10 business days- I’m calling them tomorrow) and I can show you guys. Other than that I really spent the weekend watching TV and playing the Sims 3 with Janelle. The mitten pattern is just complex enough that, while I can watch TV and knit them, I can’t really bring them with me anywhere, so I was glad to see a good number of programs were on this weekend that I actually enjoy watching. I’m really picky about television.

Continental Blues June 27, 2009

So, last night, I cast on for my Deep in the Forest Mittens. As you can see by the pattern, this is a heavy colorwork pattern- at some points it switches colors nearly every stitch. Now, I could have chosen to go with what I did on the mittens I made for my friend Autumn, and hold one color in each hand… but my darling husband got me this  knitting thimble in my Christmas stocking last year, and I wanted an excuse to use it! However, it has to be used on your left hand- you have to knit solely Continental to use it. While I technically can knit Continental, I’m an English style knitter and have been since day one. This has been… an issue.

Since my tension changes when I knit Continental, I decided that I should probably knit the whole mittens that way. My hands aren’t used to the position and movements, so they’re getting very sore- especially the tip of my left middle finger, which the right needle rubs on every stitch. It gets sore and then numb and then I have to stop knitting. I’ve also been going very slowly, but the biggest issue… purling. Purling Continental is, to put it nicely, a big freaking hassle. Supposedly once you’re used to it, it’s much faster than English, but as yet… a single purl row is taking me upwards of 10 minutes. I feel like I’m just learning to knit again. Talk about frustrating.

Today, I may knit on those, but I may decide to spin or play the Sims 3. I should probably start spinning that silk, but the patch for the Sims that I’ve been waiting for, that makes it so you really can turn off “story progression” (the function that allows the families you aren’t playing to keep living and making choices and moving and things, all on their own) just came out, I’ve been wanting to play that again. Then again, I suppose I could do multiple things. What an idea, right? Shocking.