January project pictures and more
I started this as a place to track projects, but haven't been good about that for a while. Here's to making more of an effort.
First we have my first swatch for my Swallowtail Shawl knit-a-long. I am attempting to spend no money this month on anything but essentials (ie: bills, food and gas), and I joined this knit-a-long which officially starts 2-8-09, so I had to plan the project using only what I had on hand. The yarn is Knit Picks Bare 100% merino laceweight. I planned on making the yarn sort of purple, which didn't work because I had run out of purple dye. I experimented with mixing Jaquard Fushia and Sky Blue to make a puple dyebath, then dumped the yarn in. Unfortunately the Fushia didn't take nearly as well as the blue. The resulting color is a cornflower blue that is quite nice, even though it isn't what I had planned. I knitted the swatch on size 3 needles and added 5 different color beads. If I used only one color, the only beads I could use would be the pink ones. I do like the 1st, 4th and 5th rows and will probably use them together. The 4th row is a clear, slightly irridescent bead which looks nice and sparkly IRL but didn't photograph well.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3223901133_56a5d60743_o.jpg
Next we have the Scarf Shrug that I have been working on this month. I got Araucania Aysen for Christmas and started this on Jan 1. I love the colors, but will never get this yarn again. It was somewhat felted in the skein, making it hard to wind into a ball for knitting. It is also pilling just from getting pulled out of the ball. I can only imagine how bad it will pill when it's worn. Right now it looks like a partially completed pair of pants. The photo is of the right sleeve with the long part being the scarf that will wrap around my neck. I will start the left sleeve today and work to the middle back and graft the two pieces together in back. It will also have a narrow lace edging around the edges except for the cuffs.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/3224728116_ebced0749d_o.jpg
I've been working hard on the TxoLAN alpaca spin off. I have had a much better time of it this year than last. I got all the light classes and most of the dark classes, someone else got all the fawn, grey and suri. I am so glad I don't have the suri!!!
I am almost done but the website is down today. I hope they finish whatever they're doing in time for me to finish today. I have other things I need to move on to.
Last but not least, our billings are down almost 50% from this time last year. My group exists mainly to support Texas Instruments and they are making major cutbacks. The axe is going to fall Tuesday when they announce their layoffs, which (well-informed) rumors say are going to be enormous. All of the folks in our group are terrified of losing their jobs. I will be the 1st one to go in my group so I am tightening my budget, cutting out non-essential expenses and updating my resume. For now I probably won't take a job unless it is comparable to (or better than) my current income and travel distance, but I am going to start looking. If I get layed off I will be less picky.
I am also firing up the dyepots to get ready for Wildflower and other possible sales opportunities.
First we have my first swatch for my Swallowtail Shawl knit-a-long. I am attempting to spend no money this month on anything but essentials (ie: bills, food and gas), and I joined this knit-a-long which officially starts 2-8-09, so I had to plan the project using only what I had on hand. The yarn is Knit Picks Bare 100% merino laceweight. I planned on making the yarn sort of purple, which didn't work because I had run out of purple dye. I experimented with mixing Jaquard Fushia and Sky Blue to make a puple dyebath, then dumped the yarn in. Unfortunately the Fushia didn't take nearly as well as the blue. The resulting color is a cornflower blue that is quite nice, even though it isn't what I had planned. I knitted the swatch on size 3 needles and added 5 different color beads. If I used only one color, the only beads I could use would be the pink ones. I do like the 1st, 4th and 5th rows and will probably use them together. The 4th row is a clear, slightly irridescent bead which looks nice and sparkly IRL but didn't photograph well.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3223901133_56a5d60743_o.jpg
Next we have the Scarf Shrug that I have been working on this month. I got Araucania Aysen for Christmas and started this on Jan 1. I love the colors, but will never get this yarn again. It was somewhat felted in the skein, making it hard to wind into a ball for knitting. It is also pilling just from getting pulled out of the ball. I can only imagine how bad it will pill when it's worn. Right now it looks like a partially completed pair of pants. The photo is of the right sleeve with the long part being the scarf that will wrap around my neck. I will start the left sleeve today and work to the middle back and graft the two pieces together in back. It will also have a narrow lace edging around the edges except for the cuffs.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/3224728116_ebced0749d_o.jpg
I've been working hard on the TxoLAN alpaca spin off. I have had a much better time of it this year than last. I got all the light classes and most of the dark classes, someone else got all the fawn, grey and suri. I am so glad I don't have the suri!!!
I am almost done but the website is down today. I hope they finish whatever they're doing in time for me to finish today. I have other things I need to move on to.
Last but not least, our billings are down almost 50% from this time last year. My group exists mainly to support Texas Instruments and they are making major cutbacks. The axe is going to fall Tuesday when they announce their layoffs, which (well-informed) rumors say are going to be enormous. All of the folks in our group are terrified of losing their jobs. I will be the 1st one to go in my group so I am tightening my budget, cutting out non-essential expenses and updating my resume. For now I probably won't take a job unless it is comparable to (or better than) my current income and travel distance, but I am going to start looking. If I get layed off I will be less picky.
I am also firing up the dyepots to get ready for Wildflower and other possible sales opportunities.