Monday evening blues || April 07, 2003 ||9:15 pm

I gaze longingly at Hank8, just pining to pick it up and spend my evening working on that. Instead, I'm switching off between two boring stockinette projects: my latest hat (striped red and camel Margrite), and that Vintage Cotton top that I ought to finish. Argh. This is why I resolved earlier this year to only work on one big and one small project at a time. I'm miserable with all these different things at once.

And worst of all, now I'm off not to knit, but to cut felt for a crafty project for my other job. Crafty is normally good, but not when there's all this knitting to be done!

Take this quiz. || April 07, 2003 ||10:57 am

Not much to report, but I just had to post this funny quiz, to see which of Henry VIII's wives you are. This is me:

I figured I'd come out Katherine of Aragon, but perhaps I'm not pious enough. I'm actually reading (on and off) a biography of Henry VIII's 6 wives. It's pretty interesting. I started it around the time I was finishing knitting Kathy A last year. So far, I'm still on Anne Bolyn, although his next wife (Jane Seymour) has come into the picture.

Anyway - the quiz is fun. I found it on Katherine's blog. She's knitting Henry VIII, too - apparently there are a bunch of French knitters all working on it. I'm in good company!

I can talk! || April 05, 2003 ||4:58 pm

My week of no talking is finally over. I went to my follow-up appointment yesterday with my doc and he said everything looked really good. So after that I went back to work at the yarn store. And I met a fellow knitting blogger - hi Ivete! Ivete stopped by School Products and we chatted a bit and eventually figured out we're both knit bloggers. Wacky! I was sorry that we didn't get to chat more before I had to get ack to work. It was a busy day my first day back.

I've been making steady progress on Hank 8. Here's a pic:

Other knitting progress: I made a pretty cool toque for my hat book, and Berta loved it. That was nice to hear. But the other 2 hats I made need some more work, and so does the curling scarf. And I took home a sweater to write the pattern for. So I have my work cut out for the week! Plus I really ought to finish the Vintage Cotton tank that I wrote the pattern for. I only made the one side. Oh yeah, and I took home yarn for two hats. Lots to do!

Still not talking || March 31, 2003 ||11:57 am

Hello! The not talking is going fine. It's a little isolating, but now I have something to look forward to: I'm going to a movie tonight with my friend Sara. I'm so glad that I'll be getting out of the house!

Have made some good progress on Hank 8:

As others have noticed, it's really a much easier pattern than it looks. I'm not so happy with my Autumn substitute, but I've decided to ignore it - I'm sure my dad (the intended recipient) won't know the difference.

Here's a photo of the scarf that goes with my adorable ring hat (sorry it's so very blurry):

I didn't put the fringe on because I'm afraid I might have to re-do the whole thing. The reason? It curls like nobody's business. It's really bad. And of course I should have known it would do that. I'm going to hold off and see what Berta thinks. I'm just trying to chock it up to learning experience. I certainly do learn a lot....

I also finished my beret - it's very cute, I think, although I'm not crazy about the color (brown) - it wasn't my choice. I'll make one for myself in purple.

Now I'm working on a toque in Aurora 8 with a fair isle leafy pattern on the sides. This one is in my favorite Aurora color - it's kind of a wine. Very pretty. The contrast color is sage green. I hope it comes out well.

Recovery begins. || March 28, 2003 ||4:09 pm

My surgery yesterday went fine. The anasthesia made me feel nauseous for a few hours, but I just went home and slept it off. My throat felt raw and sore yesterday, but today it's just sort of mucus-y. And so far I'm doing okay with the no talking part. It's a little isolating - but thanks to modern technology, I've been able to communicate with friends and family. I've gotten lots of e-mails wishing me well, which is so great!

In knitting news, I was happy to find that the bruise on my left hand from the IV didn't prevent me from working on Hank 8 for a couple hours last night. However, I didn't get very far, as I realized that I had to take out a few rows where I missed a color change Wednesday night.

Also today I started another hat for my hat book. It's a simple beret in Karabella Aurora Melange, a tweedy merino. It's easy and fun.

And last night I finished knitting a scarf to match one of the other hats. When I weave in the ends and attach fringe, I'll post a pic - probably tomorrow or the next day.

One day more... || March 26, 2003 ||11:35 am

Tomorrow is my surgery, and I have a bunch of errands to run. However, this morning I couldn't resist finishing up the corrugated ribbing for Hank 8. Here's a photo:

Perhaps since I'll be stuck at home for a week, I'll catch up with Wendy. But I sort of doubt it. She's one fast knitter! And I have some hats to work on while I'm home as well. But I hope to get a ways into Hank this coming week.

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