24 December 2006

Dear Kristen,

I'm in England! It's lovely and cool here with a light cloud cover. Perfect weather if you ask me. ;) On the flight over I started a scarf for my dad in camel coloured Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran. It's not knitting up quite as soft as I thought it might, but the sheen from the added silk content is lovely. I'm hoping to have it finished by the 31st so that I can give it to him as an early birthday present before he leaves the country... Yes, you did hear correctly, the entire family - both sides - will be together this Christmas. It's pure insanity!

I'm also still working away on Si's Christmas sweater. In a moment of inspiration I decided to buy him a leather jacket for Christmas so I'm not quite so pressed to get the sweater done before tomorrow. Good thing since I still have half the right front panel and two sleeves to complete. I'm very pleased with the Cambridge Jacket pattern. It's been a clear and easy knit!

I'm sure there's more to say, but since I'm without a way to upload photos I'll save it for later.

Have a happy holiday! :)

love,
Kate

03 December 2006

Soooo Behind!

Oh Kate,
I am NEVER going to finish even half of my knitted presents! Good grief. I guess planning a heavy knitting load during a move to a new city and a job search is a bad idea. Who would have thought? ;) I'll finish the shawl for my aunt Pat and the socks for Dan's mom, but that's probably it. I have some pics of those things and stuff I've been working on, but of course I forgot my camera at home. *sigh* Soon there will be pics. Really. I swear. ;)

Your stuff looks fantastic! You've been knitting up a storm and I'm totally impressed with everything. :) I hope your sister likes those socks... It's hard to imagine someone not liking handknit socks, but they probably exist. I just bought some yarn to make Dan some boyfriend socks (months from now, of course, when I have all the rest of the knitting done!) - some lorna's laces (yum!) in baltic sea. I <3 sock knitting. Your piratey argyle ones are so cute! And I can't wait to see your holly shawl all finished - I bet it'll be gorgeous! What yarn are you using?

Ok, back to the job search. Wish me luck! I'm going to check out local churches now and see if anyone needs a secretary. Woo!

I miss you!

*big hugs and love*
kristen

02 December 2006

Deal!

Dear Kristen,

I went down to my LYS seeking a few more skeins of the yarn I'm using for the Holly wrap when I came across a brand new copy of the 1996 ed. of Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting. It looks just like the one pictured below. Perfect condition and everything. The incredible deal is that they charged me cover price. $34.95 baby! There are copies on e-bay going for $85-$100!



I am so psyched. I never thought I'd be able to afford this book. It's a classic, full of wonderful information on the construction of Fair Isle knits. I know I will love having it in my collection and I can't believe I found a copy being sold at it's original price!

Now it's back to the salt mines and the holly wrap for me....

xo,
Kate

01 December 2006

Hey K,

I started working on the shawl again last night and quickly decided that I didn't like what I had been planning. The color changes I envisioned are too symmetrical and I think I'm too far along to change anything. Bugger! I also only completed one row and quickly got bored. Not sure where that came from, it's been ages since a project bored me but I guess part of it was realizing that I am 8 skeins into a 14 skein project and it's only halfway done according to my measurements (I'm 104 cm into a 200cm project). After about 2 years of working on this on and off I can't even imagine ever finishing it. I suspect that it has at least another 2 years before it's done.

I also "finished" the spinning I was working on. After plying I was left with a VERY bulky 2 ply that was barely long enough to turn into a gauge swatch. It's going to take lOTS of practice if I ever expect to really get good at producing yarn. Luckily I have what has turned out to be a ton of fiber (Australian Top - super soft) to practice with. I'm thinking I need to join a spinning guild and get some expert training.

Hope your knitting (and your recent move) are both shaping up well.

xo
~Kate