I am:

• SO far behind on my Ravelry forum reads
• currently working on a redesign for the site, which might switch the behind-the-scenes platform a bit; don’t worry, you won’t notice that part
• felting something!

What are y’all doing?

I’m so busy with this new job–well, no more than anyone with a full-time job, but I haven’t had one of those in two years, so it feels like a serious restraint on my time! But the job is good. I love working for Six Apart, and working from home is awesome, as are my coworkers.

My coworkers, especially, are something I can feel thankful for. They were very supportive when C. and I were dealing with a sick Remix the first couple weeks of my new job. They were even more supportive when C. and I had to make that decision that no one wants to make about/for their animals.

We said a final goodbye to Remix on the 22nd of May, which both feels like a lifetime ago and just this morning. *sigh* What are we to do but move forward? It’s hard when we think we see him in one of his usual napping spots. The mind playing tricks, surely, and we haven’t really forgotten that he’s gone, but sometimes our hearts clutch and our breath leaves us, then we’re reminded all over again that he didn’t come home with us, and we won’t be seeing him again.

Remix
(late 2007, on C’s brothers bed)

I’ve crocheted a bit, but nothing specific. I won some yarn from a Giveaway, some lovely handspun in colors that remind me of rainbow sherbert. It’s kind of scratchy–ok, totally scratchy–so I’m going to felt it and, hopefully, turn it into a little bag. I love the colors a lot, so it should be a good little summer handbag.

The podcast has been on my mind a lot, as have the video tutorials. My schedule with work, up until starting tomorrow, hasn’t been formally set, but once I get into the groove of the new schedule (3pm-12pm EST/EDT), I should be able to start figuring out when it’ll be best to record and shoot. I hope soon. I’m feeling kind of lost without talking to you. Pathetic of me, right? I might need to scale back to once a month until I get my footing again.

Hope you’re all well, enjoying the weather wherever you are, and are having a great time crocheting something fun.

Stash Eater Blanket - Complete, originally uploaded by the crochet side.

Stash Eater Blanket - pattern, “The Wool Eater Blanket“, by Sarah London

I wanted to de-stash a lot of acrylic yarn, so I grabbed all of the baby colors and made a crib blanket. For who, I don’t know. Maybe a pregnant cousin of mine.

I’ve been super busy with work, but the lack of time to do much else is a combination of not really having a defined schedule, but also because one of my cats, Remix, is a very sick boy. (I’m going to add a TON of backstory in the form of a copy and paste from the girlfriend’s journal–you can find it in the “Read more” section at the end.)

Anyway, this time now seems to be just a huge adjustment phase, along with scary bits and a lot of debt (I think we’re closing in on $700, with $90 in our checking account–eek!). I’m trying to keep up with things, keep myself sane and relaxed, but that’s always difficult. I don’t really have the time for recording a podcast, but I’ll try to get something in the next week or two. Crochet-wise, I’m just picking stuff up here and there. I had to stop working on the Stash Eater blanket because I ran out of Red Heart SS (Light Blue/#0381) before I could finish the last round. I’m going to look at it later to see if I can come up with anything creative. I’m not going to buy any to finish it off, because that negates the whole getting rish of old stash, you know?

In the meantime, Marly sent me supplies to test her design that was accepted into Interweave Crochet Fall ‘08. I’m really excited! The only thing that makes me grumpy is that I can’t find a steel hook smaller than a size 10 anywhere near me. Money being as tight as it is, with the Vet bills, and not getting my first check yet, well, I can’t rationalize driving a half hour away (gas is $3.71 here, unless it increased since last night) just to find a hook that may or may not be stocked. So, since I can’t find one, and am not going to drive aimlessly looking for one, I decided to crochet her pattern without the element that requires the Teeniest Hook in the World EVER. ;)

Now, to get off-topic from crochet, I thought I’d share that bit about Remix. It’s a lot of “bit”, which is why it’s cut behind the “Read More” link. You’ll appreciate that in a minute if you decide to read. This copy&paste of what Caryn (the girlfriend) wrote in her journal is from the beginning of our Remix-being-sick troubles to almost current, so…

Read the rest

Roving Braid - Merino/Bamboo - 1st time dyeing, originally uploaded by the crochet side.

This photo has a little mood lighting, so I’ll take proper photos on a white background later, but doesn’t it look nice? This is the same roving as before, but now it’s dry and braided!

Unfortunately, I was trying to reduce some of the crunchy parts that I’m told happens when roving is part bamboo. When tugging to pull those sections apart, I tugged too hard and about a foot and a half broke off. There’s a mini braid, just like this one, but that’s okay. I know now for future.

I think next time I’m going to dye actual yarn.

To quote my livejournal post last night:

I dyed my first bit of roving tonight. It’s the 2oz of merino/bamboo that I bought a week or two back. It’s so lovely and soft, and when it was soaking, pre-dye, it poofed and was like a pretty fiber halo in the water-vinegar solution. I tried three colors: a sort of neon/lime green, mixed with a little prime green to tone it down; a prime blue, but soft enough that it wasn’t too dark; and a mix of neon purple, pink and a drop or two of red, which came out a dark reddish-purple, though red’s tend to wash out a bit, so I’m hoping that it comes out lighter. I ended up using too much dye, so I think the colors bled a bit, but what was pretty was when the runoff merged and the blue and green made this gorgeous deep turquoise/teal (i can never remember which is which). I’m hoping that the dye didn’t run together too much.

This is going to be a bit of a mystery to me, once it’s done. I’ve never dyed before, with the exception of tie-dye and easter eggs when I was a kid. But this is the first time I’ve done this process, and my hands are colorful because I refused to wear gloves, and I have no idea what the roving is going to come out as, especially as bamboo dyes differently than wool, an tends to come out heathered rather than solid or semi-solid.

It’s currently steaming in order to set the dye. Once that’s done, I’ll let it cool, and then rinse the roving out, squeeze it in a towel, then hang it to dry. I cannot wait. There will be photos, for sure, even if it’s a total blunder.

This is all about testing the waters to see if I like dyeing. If I do, then I’ll purchase more roving of different types, possibly some yarn, and get some acid dyes. There are lots of things I’d change if I kept with this, but it’s fun, and I like color, and I want to have something else to do to take my mind off of things that aren’t pretty.

Roving - Merino/Bamboo - 1st time dyeing, originally uploaded by the crochet side.

Look what I did last night! I wasn’t able to rinse it out and hang it to dry until earlier today. I’m about to go fluff it a bit before it’s completely dry, but I’m not upset with my first foray into dyeing.

Caryn came in, as I was rinsing it, and said, “what’s up, hippie?” It might have been a comment on the color scheme.