Picking up the pieces

Just when I thought life was getting back to normal, I find myself faced with roadblocks instead of mere speed bumps. So blogging, along with a lot of other things, had to be put on hold until some of the smoke cleared. Here I am, trying to make my way back into the real world... I have been knitting, mostly little things, useful things. A dishcloth to use up scrap cotton, a catnip mouse to keep Pandora occupied and out of my many project baskets. The Big Bad Baby Blanket is long since finished and I've started on the lace leaf shawl for the auction. It's proving to be a fairly easy lace pattern, especially with the help of my new magnet board from Knitpicks!

Backing up a little bit, I did go to the MI Fiber Festival in August. The basket class was fun, though I was worried at first because I've never made a basket before. (I was terrified of being the last one to finish, or ending up with a lopsided mess.) Our instructor was patient with all of us, coaching us through disasters that turned out to be only minor problems. And I ended up with a monstrous basket that I will probably use to tote around Lopi sweater projects in. Unfortunately, it was so large that I had to leave it behind in MI. It literally would not fit in the car, not with all the other stuff that was packed in it. While I was at the Fiber Festival I also picked up a yarn winder, and along with the swift I got from eBay... I've now got lots of balls. Of the lovely center-pull variety. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) The only yarn purchase I made in MI this year was some sportweight alpaca handpainted in beautiful autumn colors -- I love bargain bins.

I finally managed to get through the registration process for eVA, the state's (very difficult to use) purchasing system, and I'm now officially knitting garters for money. (And I thought the "Will Knit for Food" t-shirts were funny. Haha. Look at me now.) I guess there's a severe shortage at Jamestown, as they're ultimately looking for around 300 pairs of garters. Glad I'm not responsible for knitting all of them!! As easy and fun as the pattern is, it will still be nice to finish the auction shawl and get to work on Christmas presents. I have two items in the works and a third that I'd like to get done, but there's no guarantee at all on that one. And of course there's still oodles of stuff I want to finish for me! After all, winter is almost here and my cabled sweater isn't done. Ack. We're supposed to get nasty weather all weekend, so most likely I'll be hiding indoors and knitting for most of the time. Something is bound to get done!