Thank God June Is Almost Over

Good evening, friends...I must say that while I am a big fan of my three on, three off schedule, this month has exposed just how exhausting an extra day can be.  I'm tired.  And I've done nothing of personal value.  Even things like grocery shopping have gone by the wayside.  Sheesh.

But it's pretty much over...I can look forward to July and my vacation during the week of my birthday, among other things.  Right now, the husband is out of town and the dogs, cat, and I are preparing important secret documents which will be used to rule the world.

Okay...so back to knitting.  The one sock I've knitted is about 90% done, and it's large.  Very large.  I made it to the biggest pattern size on the ball band, figuring there was enough yarn for it and I could just decide who gets the pair if they turn out okay.  I have the correct gauge and yet I still think this particular sock will be too large for...say...me.  And that there will not be enough yarn left over for the second sock.  But then I had this ridiculous brainstorm.

I have a friend named Michael...after his third motorcycle accident left him struggling to save his leg a year later, he has found God, found happiness and peace, and has this ridiculously large piece of hardware on his left leg.  I, believe it or not, will have a spare sock to donate.  He wears a flipflop every day, but my guess is that there are occasions...even when it's ninety degrees outside...where one sock is necessary.  So as I finish this sock, I am doing it with him in mind, and with the hope that he will feel the love that went into every stitch.  There is even personal love in the toe part, since that's what I have left!  Win.


July's scarf is complete, the pattern is almost complete (I don't know why I have let the business of work spill THAT much into everything, but whatever), and next month's pattern is already started.  Still ahead!  That is a victory!


With my vacation in July, I'm hoping to get so far ahead that I will be able to start a project I've had in my mind for about eight months now...if I can do it correctly, I could really open a door of opportunity with this whole knitting thing.  It would be a sort of perfect combo of the three things I adore the most:  yarn, living beings, and math.


For now, though, here is the pattern from June, finally made public today:


https://www.etsy.com/listing/103269229/the-draw-rugby-scarf-knitting-pattern


It's kind of a schizophrenic rugby scarf.  I'm a fan of it...ooh!  And it uses sport-weight yarn!  This is the time of year that sport weight goes on sale because LYSs are making room for the gushy fall stuff.  It's a very easy pattern, it comes with a chart AND written instructions, and the yarn gives it a bit of sheen.  Personally, I think if you're a knit-and-purl knitter and you have a spouse who owns a trenchcoat, this would be a great gift because it's the perfect trenchcoat accessory.  Just my humble opinion.


I used Cascade Venezia Sport.  Heavenly.  My boss smelled it (yes, she smells fibers...her passion is sewing and designing, so she's all about the fabric) and gave me her version of a thumbs-up.


Well, it's time for bed.  Thank you for reading...my column will be back in full force in July.  I think I only wrote four or five articles this month, but that will change now that the big work thing is behind me.

Must Be Monday

So here I am, sitting on my kitchen counter while the fridge guy gropes all of the electronics that supposedly keep my food cold.  The weather is too nice for this crap...all it means is that I have to ride my bike to my old house later, instead of taking the car, which was the original plan.

Seriously.  Seventy degrees and sunny.

Anyway, next week is World Wide Knit In Public Day (yes...I said "week" and "day" like they are the same), so this week's article is a summary of all of the events in the Chicago area.  Tell your friends!  Or...you know...just tell one friend, and hopefully they will tell another one:

http://www.examiner.com/article/world-wide-knit-public-day-events-the-chicago-area

And in my advanced, proactive fashion, I learned how to schedule email deliveries in Febraury so I have been using my mad skillz to send out the Scarf Pattern of the Month on the first day of the month if I'm working that day.  Well, I did it twice.  And it worked once.  And then yesterday morning, I got a "cannot be delivered" message from Google.  So yeah...I was late this month, all because I didn't bother to verify that the email had been sent.

The good news...if you were looking for some...is that this month, I have two patterns written and I am trying to decide which one to use for July.  Not a bad problem to have!  I may just knit both samples and see which one I like better.  The problem, of course, is that if both of them turn out to be badly mangled balls of yarn, I have now lost the month and will also have to go back to the drawing board.  But seriously...I'm feeling lucky!  One  of them (and these are the two that are FULLY written...there is another one on the burner that's partially written) is lacy and mossy, and the other one is lacy and holey but not in a lace-hole way.  So we'll see.

In other news, I am watching my life flash before my very eyes.  I certainly don't think I am about to die, but I look back at the last few years and think, "What the f$%k just happened?"  And it's everything...not one event in particular, but there has been way too much change.  I don't know why this sort of thing hits me every few months, but when it does, I just want to cry and run around like a little kid.

Then, I watch the fridge guy struggle with yanking my refrigerator out of its teeny weeny space, and I remember that my problems can be way larger than worrying about what pattern I should knit next.  This guy gets paid to...you know...yank my refrigerator out of its teeny weeny space.  Through no fault of his own, he is unable to do it.  He is unable to do the very job he is here to do.  I just tried helping him roll the sucker...of course completely full of both food and ice...onto this plastic sheet.  No such luck or skill.

I think I'm going to knit the lacy and mossy one first.