Progress, progress. I'm almost done with the first sleeve on my top down raglan sweater. It's not as quick moving as you would think, because it's knit in situ. Moving the whole garment around and around slows the progress a bit. Now that it has a sleeve, it is an identifiable shape. Excellent. The conductor on my regular train home even wished me good luck with the sweater when I detrained this evening.
It will be gratifying to have this one finished. Which brings the inevitable question, what next? I've got loads of things in my stash, and a few UFOs that could stand a bit of attention. None of them are warm weather garments, so the satisfaction of wearing them upon completion would have to be deferred. School Products finally has their redesigned website up. Now, it is possible to see and purchase their designer bargain coned yarn, "from factories in Italy". A savvy shopper could easily identify most of these yarns, I'd say, if viewing them in person. I bought about a pound of mercerized cotton yarn, which is totally unlabelled Karabella Zodiac yarn, for summer garments. I have a few cones' worth of other colors hidden away, but I am unsure of the yardage. That can be a disadvantage when trying to choose a project. This could be solved by a simple science class project-like task. I could spool off all of the yarn from one of the cones and weigh the cone itself. Then, I would be able to weigh all subsequent orders and accurately measure the weight of the yarn (rather than the yarn and cone, since I can't knit the cone into anything). My engineer grandfather would be so proud of me for figuring that out. I wonder if he has a good kitchen scale.... Maybe I'll do that in my copious free time.
I got on the Skype bandwagon today, after disgust at my last cell phone bill. When your phone company sends you a notice about exciting new rates, be assured that they're only exciting for them. I never go over my minutes, but when I want to make international calls, I end up paying through the nose. No more. I spent a few pennies and now have everything set up so that my cousin in London can call me as a local call, and I can call him for about two cents a minute. This appeals greatly to my AV nerd side. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, since my mic input level is kinda low. I don't want it to sound like an old-school transatlantic call, so a trip to Radio Shack (ugh) is in order. I need an adapter for my microphone, so that I can have a little more control over my input levels. Because you know I've got to have an SM58 and a set of cans instead of some sort of lightweight headset for all my calls.