A Bad Day with A Good Ending

Long Post Warning:  

So I'm writing this under the influence of a rather unhappy stomach.  It's better then it was last night, but, well, let me tell the tale from the beginning.


I had work this morning, then a whole bunch of errands to downtown in afternoon.  Already, I knew this was going to be a long day.

Lets just say I fell on my behind and ended up in a lot of pain, didn't do half the errands I was planning, the place I wanted to go for lunch/dinner was closed (this involved quite a walk), and the place I did go for food. . . well, it disagreed with me.  Violently.

So by the time I got to Knit Night at the Purple Purl, I was nausious, thirsty, and hurty.   Not the best mindset to be knitting in, but actually, it mostly worked out.  Oh, I didn't feel great, but once I had the chance to sit down, sip a mug of tea, and actually re-compose myself, I felt a lot more human.

Thank you!

Ok, so I was actually going to the Purple Purl in search of yarn.  I've been looking for the right yarn for a friend's Christmas gift.  It has to be grey superwash, fingering-weight, wool.

My first choice was the Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in Charcoal, which is a colourway that Eat.Sleep.Knit doesn't stock.  Of course, unfortunately, the Purple Purl didn't have it either.

However, they did find me yarn that will suit perfectly.

I now have two skeins of Spud and Chloe Fine that will become a Caffinate! Coffee Press cover. 

The pattern calls for worsted weight, but my giftee has a mini-coffee press, and the idea of a mini-dalek made her giggle with delight over the phone, so I'm planning to just scale down the pattern in stitches per inch, work it with fingering-weight yarn, and call it done. I got dimensions out of her, so I should be good to go.

(Also, happily, I discovered in uploading this this morning, that Ravelry will keep stash entries separate if they have separate dye lots.  Well done!)

After getting my yarn, I then settled into work on my knitting at the knit night. I got the index finger done on the Birthday Gloves, (no new pic yet, I haven't had the energy), and started the thumb.

Holy crap, an afterthought thumb in fair-isle is hard!  A lot of the others there were saying that it wouldn't be easy, and they were right.   The bottom nine stitches came together just fine.  The top stitches. . . well, after a lot of cursing everything's on the needles, but it looks a little deformed.

I don't want to do this again in fair-isle.  I'd be a lot happier casting off and picking up.  I might, however, try it again on the left glove and see, however, if part of my frustration and inability was just simply the day I'd had.

So, after that long day, my stomach still lurching somewhat on the streetcar ride home, yes, I have new yarn, but I'm still not feeling that great. . . 

I come home to two boxes sitting in my living room.  One is small, the other big.  My roommate tells me that the post came for me.  No customs fees, no problem, the boxes just simply got dropped off.

So, another order came in from Eat.Sleep.Knit, for starters, and, as well, my Yarn Swift arrived!

I put it to work as a trial immediately, and I -love- this thing!  I'm actually really impressed by the Hornshaw Wood Works.  Their stuff is awesome, shipping was quick, and it was really well packed.

I needed 1 contrast skein for my plans with the Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Aran, and "Hush" seemed like a good contrast colourway.

I also got two skiens of Sweet Georgia Superwash Worsted.  This is me planning ahead -- this is for my Father's Birthday next year (no knitting 3 hours before the deadline again, I hope!)  I usually wouldn't have bothered, except the Superwash Worsted is a Power Boost Yarn, so I might as well buy it now while I get a bonus for it.

So coming home to yarn and a swift really helped perk up my day.

I crawled into bed somewhat soon after that. 

I'm feeling somewhat better now, though breakfast is still a question mark.  But I'll distract myself with knitting, for the moment.

Somewhat Belated Birthday Present

Short post right now, but I wanted to update people. :)

I finally got around to taking my birthday money, and ordering a Yarn Swift, like I said I was going to.

Like I said before, I've heard very good things about Hornshaw Wood Works, and so I decided to get a swift from there.  It's a bit more expensive, but an umbrella swift just isn't an option, and I've always like supporting local crafters.  Besides, I'd rather shell out more now then just have something that will break in a few years.

As usual, despite the Canadian and US dollars being almost at par, the exchange rate doesn't actually reflect that, but I've just come to a grudging acceptance of that.

It should arrive relatively soon, and I'll put it to work winding sock yarn from Stoddart Family Farms. (I got some of their yarn at the Toronto Knitter's Frolic, and I intend to get more at next years Frolic if they're there again.) 

Otherwise, It's been a much less hectic knitting schedule now, so I'm just going to take some fun projects and wander out to knit night tonight after dinner.

Birthday Wishes . .

So, tomorrow is my Birthday.

I know what I'm getting with my Birthday Money.

I'm going to get a yarn swift.

I've been eyeing the swifts from the Hornshaw Wood Works for a while now -- I love the fact that they're hand-crafted; and I'm hearing really good things about them.  I also need something that will compact for my small apartment.  I also like them because they don't need to be clamped to a table (I have very few surfaces that can take a clamp).  The shipping costs for shipping to Canada for aren't great, but they're not -horrible-, either.

So, I'll take my birthday money and splurge on a swift, -before- I pull out the 1000-yard skeins of lace weight yarn that are hiding around in my stash cupboard. :D