I Heart SP8

My secret pal, who isn't so secret anymore, is great! Look at the spoils in my final package: two luscious balls of Habu silk/mohair (I definitely am a silk/mohair ho!), the cutest, most functional tape measure ever, and sweet, sweet stitch markers. If you want to know more about the fabulous Bee who sent this to me, visit her blog. Thank you!!!! 

See this sweater? It's a prize winner. Even as I write, there's a first place ribbon hanging on it at the Western Idaho Fair. 

Knitting On

First, what I've been working on. Yes, that's another dishcloth you see. I never thought myself a warshcloth kind of gal, but there's something soothing about this eensy project, and something gratifying in being done in under a day. Plus, warshcloths go so well with all the lotion and soap I have stashed away in my gift box. This bricked beauty is going to a friend I'm meeting this morning who just finished her thesis (hooray for Amy!).

The cabled footie, from One Skein, is intended for someone else. But that's a secret.

Now that you've seen what I've been knitting, I have to tell you about what I want to knit. This last week, the fall knitting bug finally bit hard enough for me to pull out my posties and my "To Knit" notebook and get to work dreaming. Oh, my. I've got a list of scarves a mile long, plus sweaters, plus those beautiful sock patterns sent to me by my secret pal with the equally beautiful yarn (really, secret pal, I'll get to those socks soon!).

I've got projects in the new Knits (and this), Knitscene (like Verde, Matador and Links), One Skein, Alterknits and Handknit Holidays (triangle scarf and those cozy socks). And I saw a picture at a blog (I think it might be my pal's) that I really, really want to knit and that, amazingly, I already have the yarn for.

I haven't posted much about knitting all summer, in part because my enthusiasm for the sport always wanes a bit as the thermometer reaches 100 (not to mention all that camping; you can't really haul the cashmere or fine wool/silk blends to the woods). But it's back, baby, and I feel a spate of productivity coming on.

But first, the second cabled footie, followed by more work on Jaynesey, and possibly, if I'm feeling really ambitious, a wrapping up of the intarsia tube top I started last spring.

Weeeeeee! It feels so good to have my full-blown knitting compulsion back!
 

All's Fair

Last night I had this little fantasy about getting work discussing Victorian literature in a minor way (as opposed to the major way required if you get a PhD in the stuff). You know, I'd draw in little bits from the culture museum I went to in York and the costume museum in Bath and even some bona fide academic jargon from a class I took 10 years ago in grad school.

Then I shook myself out of my daydream (nobody would pay me to pretend to know more about the Victorians than I do) and went on to prepare my entry to the Western Idaho State Fair.

Today was the big day. I stuffed my holy pink! sweater, my Clapotis, a pair of socks, a pair of mittens and some lace work into a big Banana Republic sack and headed to the fair grounds. I'm not really sure it's my best work, but it's the work that I finished this year and haven't given away or sold. Next year I vow to be more prepared. I didn't even look at the categories until I filled out my form today standing beside my stack o' knitted goods.

I'm certainly not expecting any glory, but I can tell you I'm so excited to go a'Fairing (either Friday or Saturday) and sneak peaks at my work on display in between eating corndogs, fried Twinkies, extra-greasy fries, corn on the cob slathered with butter, a big fat side of grilled onions and some fresh-squeezed limeade to wash it all down.

I love, LOVE the State Fair. I can't believe I'm actually going to be part of it! 

Balance

There's a balance to my life that I just can't seem to shake. When I try to be frugal and thrifty in one area, the spending/consuming demon comes out in another. For example, awhile ago, I vowed to quit added yarn pellmell to the stash. Instead of yarn, I bought clothes (that were on sale, of course). Then I decided, enough clothes! So I bought enough lotion and bath products to clean and lubricate a small nation. When lavender-scented bags started spilling out from my storage closet, I put a halt on that, too. Now I've turned to eat extreme amounts of cereal and taking really long really hot (second) showers. I just can't be all good. A little bad always manages to squeeze out.

I wouldn't say that I'm Wicked (random allusion to "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire which I just finished reading). I'm just not all good.

What's this photo got to do with all of that, you ask? This is an example of the mostly-good coming out. In a fit of stash-busting frugality, I cast on for Jamesey/Jaynesey (since I'll be wearing it) a fur piece back and look at what's become of those humble cast on stitches! It's going to be a really, really close finish (and a really, really long and narrow sweater on me), but the journey has been so worth it so far.

And tomorrow? Any goodness tomorrow? Well, it's the day I finally fulfill my end of the bargain for joining the Fair Along (that I've hardly blogged about at all). At one point, I'd plan to enter this sweater. At another, Lucky. Since neither is finished, it will probably be the Clapotis. 

Fashioning

I've got a new project in mind for the blog, this time dealing with fashion. It all begin last Fall when I purchased these Born beauties for $12 on super-duper Clearance at Dillards.

Well, maybe that's not the exact point that I became a mallie obsessed with all those beautiful 75 percent off sale signs. But sometime in the last year, it happened. I suddenly acquired a wardrobe with which I can put together infinite combinations (well, maybe not infinite).

I'd like to chronicle these combinations because I'm a firm believer that we are what we wear (just as much as what we eat). I'm no artist (and no photographer for the matter), but I love, love, love to think about how to combine colors and textures and shoes and shirts and jackets and vintage pins into ensembles. Really, it's a good 50 percent or more of the reason I get up each day to go to work.

All I'm doing now is taking pictures and giving the brief history of each outfit. At a minimum, it should fill the blog in between my slow-to-progress knitting projects.

And since its nearly fall and fashion season, there's no time better to begin.
 

And so it begins: My chronicling of my own personal fashion. At the end of this project, maybe I'll have some conclusions. Maybe I'll decide I'm an overpriveleged American with too many clothes. Or maybe I'll just decide to go shopping.

Here's the details on this outfit (as near as I can recall). Jacket: GAP on clearance fore $13 last fall (it's a Spring 05 product). Shirt: GAP on clearance last fall for $2.50. Necklace: Gift from Susanna (my jewelry supplier). Earring: Christmas gift from the hubby from several years ago. Not pictured: The pants: Imagine green Target khakis hitting just below the knee with darker green embroidery on the side. These were a gift from my mom, and I think they were on sale for about $12.
 

Remember how this is a knitting blog? Me neither. Here's proof that I really do still knit. I've been on a washcloth mission all weekend. Here's three, all from Maison Dixon and all soon to be tucked into a wedding gift with dish soap and a kitchen candle from Williams-Sonoma (on sale, of course). The next thing I've got to take care of: My entry for the State Fair. That's coming up in two weeks. I signed up for a State Fair Along, and I don't even think I've blogged about it once (which, along with the lack of knitting content, goes to show you just what a slacker I've been this summer). Hopefully, you'll be reading/seeing more about that later this week....