We had a great time at SAFF

We left for SAFF from Steve's house at 6 AM and got there a little after 9 AM. It was after midnight by the time I got home. Not many things I would spend 20 hours of my day devoted to. We had a really good time and it was so much fun seeing all of the other fiber fiends roaming and buying and trading stories of found treasures. I finished Michael's sweater in the car about a half an hour before we got there.
Here's a pic of Steve, myself, Brett and Lou in the alpaca barn.



I had already explained to Michael that I had to wear his sweater first for SAFF and he was very gracious and understanding. It was very comfortable and perfect for the cool weather while we were there.

After spending the whole day at SAFF, Claudia and her husband invited us to stay for dinner at the cabin they had rented for the week and treated us to a wonderful home cooked meal along with a wonderful sunset view from the back porch before heading back to Atlanta.

Michael wore his sweater to church this morning and it looks great on him. He told the class while I was out of the room it was his own special portable 'hug' to keep. He wanted the class to know I made it for him, but knows how I get embarrassed easily and didn't want me to feel too self conscious. Several people came up and gave me compliments afterward which was really nice. I felt so proud that he liked the sweater and it felt so good that he liked it so much that he wanted to do a little bragging about it.


Once I get all the pictures downloaded and rest a little more, I'll post more from the trip. I'll also take pics of the treasures I came home with too.

SAFF...it's almost here!

I'm so looking forward to going to SAFF this weekend, frolicking in all the yarn, spending time with my friends and getting away from work! I've been working furiously on getting Michael's sweater done so I can wear it on Saturday. The traveling rib hat is on hold and all my knitting time has been delegated to the sweater. I have this Thursday off and that will be the day of 'the steek'. Weaving in all the ends has to be done too.

I also want to start Brooklyn Tweeds Rem Koolhaas hat from IK Holiday Gifts issue to work on during the trip. I'm going to make it with Cascade 220 first before I splurge on some of the good stuff. I'll have a ton of leftover 220 from Michael's sweater so it may be multicolored as well.

I haven't been taking many photos lately and as soon as the push for the sweater is over, I'll get some taken and on here for progress results. I still haven't tried to take stash pics for Ravelry again yet either.

I've been contemplating finding a new job and it seems to compound itself with each passing day at work. Major frustration. I have no energy and this job is just sucking all the joy out of life. I dread coming in and don't look forward to the task of job hunting either. bleh! Shouldn't there be an ejection button for the co-workers who make your life hell on earth?! Sounds like a job for Dr. Evil to me. Muaah-ha-ha-ha

I'm Sunrise...

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

What Time Of Day Are You?

Saw this on a blitheringknitiot's blog.

I have to wonder about this 'diagnosis' of sunrise... I'm definitely NOT a morning person and usually need at least a half an hour of non-communicative alone time before I can be expected to answer without a grunt or snarl. Poor Micheal, he is a morning person and usually bears the brunt of my bad morning moods.

I finished the traveling rib hat last Sunday, but didn't like the way the top finished, so I ripped out the top and started with fewer stitches. It had too many stitches and didn't lay as flat as I would like it to. Pics soon.

It's coming to crunch time with the newsletter, Michael's sweater that I'm trying to finish by next Friday for SAFF, and work, which is fast approaching unbearable. (long story)

Michael and I went to Clayton, Georgia this past weekend for a retreat with our Sunday school class. We had about 30 people and had a great time. The weather was just beautiful and I even got to wear sweaters! I took my camera, but only took a few pictures the whole weekend. A couple from the class have a cabin on top of Screamer mountain and we had dinner there on Saturday night and I took some shots of the sunset. The weather was so clear that night we could even see the Milky Way. It's so wonderful to get away from the light polution of the big city and actually see the stars! The moon was just a sliver right on the horizon at sunset.

harumpf!

I spent 2 hours last night taking pictures of all my stash to upload to Ravelry... I discovered this morning when I downloaded all the photos that the lighting I was using (Reveal bulbs) were not enough light and all the pictures (74 of them) came out too dark to tell what color they truly are. Some of the dark blues and purples just look black. I should have just taken a few and then downloaded them to check them out. I was too excited and wanted to get them all in my stash list now!

I've been wanting to buy a professional light box for taking photos of finished items and this is just one more reason to now start looking seriously at really purchasing one. It would have saved me a lot of work and a few curse words too.

I'll probably give it another shot by using the flash on a few shots and see if that will work. I'm afraid it will be too much and make the colors flat and too flooded with light... only a few experiment shots will tell.

I've been having so much fun with ravelry the past few days. How am I supposed to get anything done when it's beckoning, 'just one quick look'. It's a great way to line up all the stuff you would like to knit too, surfing all the patterns... now where to find the time and the money to buy all that yarn!

I've gotten about a third the way done on the band of the Traveling Rib Hat. The color hasn't changed a lot yet, but there is a drastic change to cobalt coming soon thanks to a knot in the yarn.
I can't believe I was actually the first person to enter this pattern as a project in Ravelry. I got to enter the pattern! Hopefully that will get more people to go to Danny's website too and buy his patterns. (No, I wasn't paid for this endorsement) ;)

I've been entering my books today. I've entered all the ones I can remember off the top off my head, but there will be many more that I've missed showing up later.

We are getting lessons in german knitting terms from Claudia this month... just waiting for the day Umschlag shows up.. it will echo from the hills as it did at the mountain... UMSCHLAG!!

RAVELRY!!!!

OMG - I got the invite today... let the madness begin.

When I've finished organizing my books, stash, projects, taken pics of all the stash... you may not see me for weeks!

It's been hard trying not to go and "browse" while I'm here at work.

I started the Traveling Rib Hat by Danny Ouellette this past weekend and I've gotten about 6 inches done on the headband so far. It's not the fastest thing to knit, but I can't wait to have it done to wear.