Short Squealy Post

Please excuse my giddiness, but...

Oh my goodness!!! There is a consortium of galleries in NY that are commissioning me to design and create BAGS for them!!!

The Perils of Ebay: Not your Grannie's LYS

(Cross-posted with Knit Wits)

You might be knitting along doing the mindless stocking stitch, reflecting on life, love and the pursuit of happiness and chocolate smores in the one-two, one-two of the knit stitch; or you might be half-watching the West Wing or some other show on prime time that requires your attention; or you might be catching up on your F-list in a separate window when you notice the clock on your toolbar... and then you realise, you have only FIVE MINUTES LEFT! on your Ebay auction.

You click open a new window.

Dash for your bookmarked link.

CLICK!

And there it is. The luxury yarn you've been hoping you'd get for a song.

And the message: You have been outbid by another bidder.

3 minutes and 24 seconds left.

You bid.

You're outbid again.

You bid.

And you're still outbid.

Your heart is thumping hard against your chest as if it wants to go for a walk.

Shelob's Lair from the ROTK soundtrack is creeping out from your speakers... and it's NOT helping.

You bid again...

And...

Your computer freezes.

*AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!*

No, wait, wait. There it goes...

And...

It's loading...

loading...

Quick glance at the clock. ONE MORE MINUTE!

And...

"CONGRATULATIONS! You've won this item!"

Then you sit back in your chair and try breathing at a normal pace. You have completely forgotten about whatever it was that Martin Sheen was saying on telly... something about another country having just launched nuclear warheads?

Whatever.

You smile.

You are now the proud owner of yarn... that you got for a song. (A slightly expensive song. But not nearly as much as if you'd have gotten it from a retail source.) You start dreaming about all the sweaters and scarves and hats and tea cosies you could make out of this yarn.

You feel the need for a cigarette.

And you don't even smoke.

Life... is good.


~*~

Any of you ever been through that? It's highly addictive.

I don't know if it's this infernal heat, the in-and-out of humid outside air and arctic air-conditioned office spaces or something more sinister, but I've been feeling indecisive and restless on the knitting front.

Today I've been doing a bit of reorganising in my Craft Q (TM) to see if I'll be reinspired by a work in progress...
 
And so, next on the needles is Loll, from Rowan's Calmer collection... and this is about as far as I am on the back:

 


Or (just to show you how indecisive I am) I could start (and probably finish much more quickly) this vintage cardigan from Erika Knight's book, Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. (I substituted the Dale of Norway Baby Ull for the suggested yarn; hopefully it'll work.)






An old friend of mine had a baby girl last month, and given that babies tend to grow faster than weeds, she won't be able to fit into it if I delay. So... hmm... which to work on, which to work on... I'm stumped. But pleasantly so. :)

As promised, here is a close-up of the Starlights. Variegated mohair and nylon -- bliss! 

Intro and Transatlantic Shawl

Hello! And welcome to my shiny new knitting blog! I've been searching for a test picture to upload and this one's as good as any, I suppose. This is the Transatlantic Shawl that I just finished in the wee hours of this morning.  


It's made from one hank each of Ironstone Starlights in colourways 3 and 5. 

I picked up the yarn at the beach last weekend.  Strange, I know.  The last thing anyone wants to think of knitting as you bake in the hot sun with your feet in the warm sand and facing a fabulously cool afternoon breeze is... mohair.  But I fell in love with the colours.  (I'll have to give you a close-up shot of the fabric in another post, as I haven't quite worked out how to add another one here.)

It's feather-light and warm!  Perfect for arctic weather and/or air-conditioned spaces. 

Even in July. :)