Gotta work on my stress level

As my last post will demonstrate, I've been a bit stressed lately.  Today was a total insane day at work.  I couldn't decide if I was in the middle of a mental ward or daycare center.  Oh well, I'm home now sipping a glass of wine.  Much better than an hour and a half ago.

To help with my stress management, I bought a hot tub.  It took us several weeks to get it all connected, but it is operational now.  The weather so far this summer has been cool enough to make the evening dips enjoyable.  Last night I spent over 20 minutes in it.  It was heaven!  We have it on our deck.  Here's a photo where it can be seen through the slats of the deck.  Ed took this picture to show an electrician when we were trying to decide how the power line for the spa needed to be placed.

Last week I went to Knitter's Connection here in Columbus.  I only took one class this year:  Introduction to Strickmuster by Candice Eisner Strick.  It was a fantastic class!  I fell in love with twisted stitches.  I came home and designed a pair of socks to make using the technique from class.  Maybe I'll post it someday.

Anyone who has gone to Knitter's Connection knows that they give out some fantastic goodies.  Included in this years bag were 3 skeins of yumminess.  I don't know yet how I'm going to use them.  I'll have to look for ideas on Ravelry.

While at the market, I splurged a little.  Not quite as much as I could have.  The qiviut was very, very tempting but I didn't have $175 on me to buy a skein.  I will own some qiviut someday.  As God is my witness, I will!  What I did get is this:

A skein of bison to make a hat for Ed.  Our anniversary is in September.  Hope to have it done by then.

Here is a skein of Footnotes from Fiber Optic.  I'm going to make the socks I designed with this.  Stay tuned!

Even though I resisted the siren song of the qiviut, I couldn't pass up the baby alpaca roving.  I bought a total of 8 ounces.  It is going to get shipped to my sister Patty who spins.  I'd like her to make it into laceweight.  To bribe her for this little favor, I'm sending along some Chocolate Kisses.  Not the kind from Hershey, but rather another skein of FootNotes from Fiber Optic.

Among all this shopping therapy, I have been doing some knitting.  The girls asked me to make them each a tank top.  I started with Kristin's.  I'm up to the bodice area on hers.  I took some liberties with the fourth section.  I figured any lacey pattern will do as long as it matches the stitch count.  I'll probably vary Trisha's also.

Round and Round He Goes

Patty came into to town to go to Knitter's Connection with me.  We took Cookie A's Sock Innovation class.  It was fantastic!!  She brought a lot of the sock's that are included in her book.  They are even more fabulous in person.  I have my sock on the needles.  I'll post a picture when I have a few more repeats of the pattern done.

Another highlight of Knitters Connection was discovering Fiber Optic.  These ladies make absolutely beautiful yarn.  The yarn I'm using for the Cookie A socks are from their booth.  I also bought two other skeins.  Yummy!  Yummy!

Friday night and Saturday were spent learning to spin.  Patty brought her wheel and a bag for of wool.  Some of the wool was left its natural color and others were dyed with left-over Easter egg dyes.  Those color were fun to play with.  Below is a picture of Blake getting a lesson from his Aunt Patty.  He chose orange and blue for his first spin.

I spun the natural on Friday night and took up the multi-colored fun after Blake gave up.   I found myself getting so focused on what my hands were doing I would forget about my feet and I'd start pedaling too fast. 

Here is the natural after it took a bath this morning.

Here is the multi-colored after its bath.

Now I need to figure out what to do with them.  I think a little cowl of some sort might just be in order.

No Time to Waste

It's strawberry season in central Ohio.  Actually, it is coming to a close soon.  Last year I made freezer jam, which Blake loved.  He requested more after consuming my entire batch.  This morning I went up to a local pick-your-own farm and brought home 4 quarts.  I made freezer jam with half.  The remaining strawberries are going to become a pie.  My mom gave me her strawberry pie recipe.  It is a family favorite.  Unlike some recipes, it does not use gelatin.   I'll have to think of a good meal to go with that special dessert.

I'm back to making progress on the Taize shawl. It goes to work with me everyday. About 3 days a week I'm able to get a few rows in over lunch. It is approaching the 1/3 done mark. I'd like to get this done by the fall and then keep it at the office. It will be nice to wrap myself in, especially later this year when the project I'm working one reaches its deadline. The move-to-production date is October 1. That weekend will be a long, exhausting one. I don't anticipate being home much between September 13 to mid-November. Having this shawl with me will help.

  

Of course I can't just work on one project.  I'm also trying to make progress on Decimal.  I've finished the body up to the armholes.  I'm now working on the left sleeve.  This is my 'sitting in front of the television' project.  Below are a couple photos of it.  The color in the first photo is closest to reality.  The second photo is a close-up of the sleeve.

Next Thursday my sister Patty is coming into town.  We will be attending Knitters Connection.  We are taking a class from Cookie A on Friday.  I can't wait.  Also, Patty is going to bring her spinning wheel and some roving. She is going to attempt to teach me how to spin.  We'll see how that goes.