Progress

Sorry for the big gap between posts. I've been working on a sleep deficit almost as large as my student loan debt and, well, blogging hasn't been a priority. Now that I've gotten a solid eight hours' sleep for the first time this month, I'm up to an update.

I've got a new job! I love it! It's the attainment of a small dream (no, I didn't dream of working as a cosmetics rep when I was a small girl, but it's something that I've wanted to do for the past few years), which is very satisfying. The job in question is with a company of which I was a loyal customer and big fan. They have a great corporate culture and liberal sample and employee discount policies. Yay. They also had two days of training at 7 am this past week, also known as that time of day when Kirstin is asleep. This endeavor has also required the purchase of new clothes, since it's got the typical retail dress code. All the shop windows feature lovely, floaty, fun pastel colors now when all I want is black and white. Sigh. I'll just have to keep an eye out for good pieces and maybe knit a few things.

Now that I am working two jobs, I have a bit less leisure time. So, less knitting progress has been made than you might think. The second Jemima has become my current sweater. I'm wearing like it's going out of style, since spring may return at any moment. My weather widget says that the high today will be 62, but the low 32. How exactly do you dress for that? Also, the temp in the office is always Goldilock's adventure: too warm or too cold.

I've made a lot of progress on my other projects, but haven't finished either. You may recognize that black and white pic above from a previous post. It's the little shrug that caught my eye on Knitonthenet.com. I substituted Malabrigo two-ply bulky yarn, which is unbelievably soft but less pilly than their single worsted weight yarn. The pattern called for three balls of Rowan Little Big Wool, which has very short yardage, so I figured that I'd be safe with two balls of the Malabrigo. Ha. I had just enough to knit the piece and will have to scrounge for something to sew it up.

Here's an in-progress shot of my silky wool cropped cardigan. This is a prime example of making decisions as a knitter. I really just used the pattern as a departure point. I substituted the yarn, played with the size and armholes, and decided to omit the twiddly ties. You can see, in the pic, the hem of the sweater, which took me a good hour to sew. Might as well do it right the first time, eh? And, no, my hair is not that color.

Hmm... what else? I got my patterns in the mail from Lettuce Knit in Toronto, which include hand written corrections. Adorable!

Despite the staggering sleep debt, I went out on Saturday night. It turned out to be a good choice. Brina and I met for dinner, then went to see Blood Diamond at Lookingglass. It was excellent. Amazingly well done. Kind of made me sorry that I gave their telemarketer the brush off about the season. Hee. Well, not really. Still, I highly recommend going to see Lookingglass shows, which is rare praise.

Well, I must go slather myself in free products and pick out an outfit with colors in it for a retail-free afternoon. It reminds me of a remark one of my mom's friends once made to me, "Oh, I didn't recognize you in colors". I did not appreciate that at the time.