Knitting This Week

Woot! I've got two more finished objects!

Fingerless gloves for Missouri

Another gifty-item. Yes, it was made
from the leftover yarn above.

(For now, that's all you get, since it's a present for someone who might be reading this.)

 Originally, I was going to crochet the gloves so that they would get done faster, but that plan failed. It's been so long since I crocheted with any regularity that I was not even remotely happy with the results. The fit was wrong, the fabric was too dense, and my gauge changed from one to the next so while one mitt was almost too tight, the other was far too big. So I tore them out and put them on a circular needle. Anymore, if I have to make two of something I always make it two at a time on a circular needle, just to make sure they're identical.

Now that I've got those off of the needles, it's time to get back to the samples I'm making for CENSORED. I picked up some great yarn a couple of weeks ago when there was a Nano write in held just a few doors down from my favorite yarn shop, but once I got home I realized that it was far too thin. Once I have the funds, I'll go back and grab a second skein of each color so that I can hold it double.

Since most of the CENSORED projects aren't great for taking to and from work, I also pulled some socks out of hibernation. These have been languishing for a couple of weeks while I tried to knock out a few other small projects:

These are made from the toe up, using Serenity Garden--it's actually the same yarn as the fingerless gloves, but a different colorway. I've also got this yarn in pinks and browns; I love working with it.

I made these as a tube, then marked where I wanted the heel to be. Using DPNs, I tore out the provisional stitches and put in an afterthought heel. Now I'm just going to keep knitting until I run out of yarn, and I should have some nice high socks--I'm hoping for knee high, but we'll see.

The downside to all of this productivity is that I had to put the London Calling cardigan back on hold, and after I finally got the new circular needles that I needed for it! Very frustrating. But, it'll still be there after the holidays when I hope to get back to it. Since it's mostly small pieces left now, those will become my knitting to-go once the socks are done.

Just a heads up: after fighting with Blogger for the past two weeks, I've made the decision to change my host. Sometime either this week or next, I'll be moving the whole thing over to Wordpress. URLs will change, and things will look a bit different. I'm not sure how or if the archives will be effected, but I'll let you know so that you can update your bookmarks. Please be patient with me and cross your fingers that I don't accidentally bring the whole thing crashing down!

Body Work

I finally cast off the body of the London Calling cardigan!

Now I just have the sleeves...and the collar...and the button band...and the finnishing...

I might be at this a while yet.

It's That Time of Year Again

Remember this?

It's the sweater that never ends: London Calling.

For those keeping track, this would be my fourth year of working on it.

Last year, if you recall, I discovered that the cables on the decreases of the shoulders did not line up, so I started over and decided to make the entire thing seamless (or nearly seamless. There will still be seams at the shoulders and on the armholes). Most of this work was done last winter. I've got maybe 3 more inches to go before I split for the armholes. Since I'm almost done with a ball of yarn, I figure I will just knit until I run out, and then join new yarn to make the right front, back, and left front. I think that once the body of this sweater is done, the sleeves and the finishing will go a lot faster. One thing I need to do, though, it sit down with the pattern and microsoft word and rewrite the decreases. Since it came from a magazine, space was limited. Full directions for one of the fronts is listed, but for the other, it just says "do the reverse." Um...okay. Very detailed. I'm also going to make a copy  of the directions for the decreases on the back. The stitch pattern is very easy to remember, but the shoulder shaping? Not so much.

I have no ambitions of finishing this sweater this year. Sure, I would love to. But I'm only working on it to kill time until I hear back from my publisher. Once I get the yarn for the samples for the book, I'm not going to have time to knit on anything else--particularly since I'm also making a couple of baby gifts for someone at work.

Clearly, I need at least one extra set of hands.

It was knitting week, with a side of TV.

It has been a long day. An incredibly long day, filled with crazy, angry people, including one guy who thought it was totally cool to use my workspace in an associates only section of the store as a changing table for his 2.5 year old.

Yeah, it was that kind of crazy.

On the bright side, though, my tax return finally came through this week, so while I've done a bit of knitting, most of my attention has been on this:

With the decal Missouri got my for Christmas. It's not my
laptop unless it has stickers on it!

 I finally have my own laptop again, which is wonderful. I miss my Mac, but I'm adjusting since my check from Uncle Sam wasn't quite enough to cover the repairs the Macbook Pro needed, and get caught up from the mess that was January. I'm starting to make peace with the fact that it's a lost cause at this point, so next week I'll probably take a box full of tech in to be recycled.

Now that the computer issue has been sorted out, it makes it a lot easier for me to work on Censored. My first test knitter got back with me in January about the next pattern, so I'm working on revising the pattern and finishing my sample. I've got a whole lot of TV lined up for while i"m working: Marple, Teen Wolf, and Supernatural, plus I am woefully behind on New Girl and The Big Bang Theory, and then there's the Never Ending Neflix Queue. I know a lot of people (knitters in particular) have been watching Downton Abey lately. I watched the first 3 or 4 episodes and I must say that aside formt he cast, i really don't see the appeal. But that does remind me that I'm at least a seaon behind on both Dr. Who and Torchwood.

We won't talk about the travisty that became Torchwood. And I haven't enjoyed Dr. Who since David Tennant left. I'm trying to get back into it, but I really just don't like Matt Smith or the Ponds. I know I'll probably get flamed for saying that, but it's true. I used to marathon Dr. Who and now I have trouble sitting through a single episode.

But! I did get caught up on Castle, Once Upon a Time, The Murdoch Mysteries, Glee, Lost Girl, and Criminal Minds last week, and was surprisingly productive while doing so, even if it doesn't show. The afghan I've been working on  is so large that unless I actually measure it, 6 or 8 or even 12 rows aren't all that noticeable:

 I've also put in a few rows on the London Calling Cabled Cardigan, about one pattern repeat or so? Something like that:

There's actually more of it now, but that's the most recent photo. I know it's an older picture because my cable needle is in it, and this week I learned how to cable without one! It's very exciting. I'd been wanting to learn but just never looked up the instructions. Then someone posted a link to a video on Twitter, and about thirty seconds into it I figured it out and felt really dumb for not figuring it out sooner. If you're intimidated by the technique, you should try it out. It's super easy, and it's great because I'm always losing my cable needles. I actually have avoided doing cables in the past because I like my knitting to be self-contained. The less extra "stuff" I need to carry with me the better, and now that I can do this you'll probably see more cable patterns around here. (Who's up for a Fuck You fisherman's gansey?)

My last knitterly enterprise for the week was that I ventured out and actually socialized--I tried out a new knitting/craft group in the Short North called "Hey, Ho, Let's Sew." Any group that names themselves after  Ramones song is definitely one I want to be a part of. The people were nice, the conversation was fun, and there were some great projects getting made by people of all skill levels and interests. Knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, and cross stitch were all represented.

We're thinking about starting our own craft meetup here, but we need to get the basement sorted first. We have a great work space, but no tables or chairs to put in it. It's a problem. Maybe the next time someone decides to hand me a grand I'll be able to buy a table!

If you haven't been following my Twitter this week, then you might be wondering why I missed Monday's post on both of my blogs, and also pretty much vanished from Raverly.

Remember that old, old laptop that I managed to resurrect just in time for NaNoWriMo? The one that really just needed some TLC and a new battery?

It died. I'm officially calling it. The software is so outdated that it keeps freezing, especially when I try to get online, and that three month old battery is no longer taking a charge. Since it's a Mac, it's too expensive to fix, and at eight years old, it's not really worth it, anyway.

My "good" laptop? The newer one? No change there. Still broken, and probably too expensive to fix.

The desktop? My wireless card is fried. It died on me this week. Even moving the computer closer to the router couldn't get me a decent connection. Since it is not practical to move my entire desk or even my computer out to the living room, I'm calling it a loss. At some point in the future I will look into getting a USB wireless receiver, but that's not happening this month. We're at the point where we are taking food where we can get it, wondering if we're going to have water and electricity next month, and pretty much collapsing into a glibbering heap at the thought of another $600 fuel oil bill. We are trying to think of things we can sell. Sadly, those computers and my car are the sum total of things I own worth anything, and I need the car to get to and from work. I'm thinking about posting knitting, crochet, sewing, and embroidery classes on Craigslist, but am generally distrustful the people who use that site (myself included). Oh, and if anyone needs a 119 gallon water heater, we've got one for sale.

I am trying to be optimistic. Other than the wireless issue, the rest of my desktop still works. This is good, because it means that it doesn't really inhibbit my writing or designing, I just need to move my chair over to my television and type in my lap. No big deal.

I've also put several more rows in on the London Calling Cabled Cardigan, since a good deal of the last two days has been sitting around waiting to see if the internet is working on the computer, or if the substitute computer (borrowed from Missouri; that's another story in itself) will boot, or waiting for various software patches and updates to download and install. Basically, I've been sitting in front of the computer and not doing much else.

But, I was able to join the pockets on the cardigan last night. And I keep telling myself that I was spending too much time on the internet, anyway. Yes, I've been trying to promote my writing and patterns through social media, but really, there was a lot more time spent looking at cat pictures.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the only thing that's going to improve this month is Googling "kittens." Repeatedly.

Like right now.

Works in Progress

A day late, I know. Friday I came home from work exhausted and ill (still), and considering it was dark I decided that rest was in order and project photos could wait for daylight.

I've only got a couple this time. I'm trying to  limit myself.

Since I've been sick, I cast on for a  neckwarmer to help with my cough. This is Fibranatura Exquisite Bamboo in "Niagra." It's 77% bamboo and 23% superwash merino, and it's quite soft. I love the flow of colors.

I'm using my new KnitLites that I got for Yule, even though I don't really need the extra light most of the time. My other pair of KnitLites is quite long and prone to shorting out; that problem doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with these shorter needles. I will say that I wish they were pointier, especially with a yarn as loosely plied as this one. Will there be a pattern available for this one? Maybe, but probably not for a couple of weeks at least, particularly since what you see there? It has to be ripped out. Completely. I realized I was going to run out of yarn around the halfway point, so I need to scale it back just a  little.  If it looks a little odd in the photos, it's because the center portion is entrelac, and that tends to look a little strange and lumpy until it's blocked.


No, your eyes don't deceive you. I've pulled not one, but two projects out of hibernation. The first one is the London Calling Cabled Cardigan from 2010. I hope to finish it this year (fingers crossed). I haven't worked on it much since I got sick because I've been so low on bandwidth. My eyes have been really tired, so it's hard for me to do all of those little tiny cables in the honeycomb stitch. I have about half a pattern repeat left before I can add the pockets. Again.

The other project I've been working on is the living room afghan, which, happily enough still matches our living room, even though we moved. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it, and this has been my primary knitting project of late, since it's 99% stockinette stitch and I can pretty much do it in my sleep. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've sleep-knit on it at least once. I'm thinking I'll need 2-3 more of the giant balls of yarn I've been buying for this one before it's done.


I do have one other WIP, but I'll be talking about that one next week, so you'll just have to wait and see.

Knitting Status and the Manicure of the Week

It seems that I've spent the bulk of the past two months waiting on people to get back with me about various things, mostly job related, which has lead to a lot of anxiety knitting. Mostly, this has been on the livingroom afghan, which has had several rows added this week as Missouri and I work our way through season two of The Murdoch Mysteries. Of course, being that it is a massive project done almost entirely in stockinette, you can't really tell.

I've also been attempting to finish the Christmas socks, but have hit that point of knitting purgatory where they don't seem to be getting any longer, no matter how much I knit on them. I've decided that they have until April 1 to reach the desired length, and then regardless I'm doing the cuff, casting off, and then going back for the afterthought heel. Really, four months for a single pair of socks is far, far too long.

Since I've been concentrating on the socks, I haven't been working as much on the cardigan as I would like. I did start over, and have finished the three-ish inches of ribbing around the hem (I actually don't remember how much ribbing the pattern calls for, but it was in that neighborhood) as well as the first cable repeat. I'm staring at it right now, fighting the desire to work on it some more before I have to leave for my day job.

The Mario nails seem to have gotten me hooked. I've been giving myself decorative manicures every couple of days. Currently, it's a deck of cards inspired by watching Missouri play Alice: The Madness Returns. I did these a couple of days ago, so they're not as fresh and clean as they could be (my sock needles rubbed off part of the thumb). I also discovered that my clear coat seems to cause the other colors to bleed. It's not as noticeable on a darker base color, but you can really tell on the white. I do have a typewriter themed manicure planned in the future, but I'm sure I can do lettering with my left hand. I might try a stencil of some kind. Maybe contact paper would work.

____
Anyone know anything about Photoshop? I keep getting an error message every time I try to save, and it's the only software I have that will let me resize images.

Life Keeps Getting in the way of My Life

I have things I want to make, do, and see. Places I would like to visit, chores that need done, books that should be written (more that need read), groceries that need bought and bills that need paid. But as of late, it seems I mostly have knits that need designed.

This is the current work-in-progress pile, or the PhD pile (Projects Half Done). I am ashamed to admit how long most of these items have been on the needles, though in my defense I have lost two of the last six months to tendonitis, and then there were the holidays, too. So it's not all my fault.

Though come to think of it, maybe having a little focus in my work would be beneficial...

Let's examine the damage, shall we?

In excavating the layers of my knitting basket, the first striation we come across is a basic stockinette afghan, cast on at the start of the winter months as much for variety of knitting material (i.e. size of needle; see tendonitis above) as for warmth, since the moron who built our apartment complex obviously did not know what insulation, double pane windows, or general weather sealing are. What could be better than a blanket that keeps you warm as you knit it?

I don't remember the name of the yarn for this, but it's a generic aran weight I picked up at Michael's for $9.

Progress: 20%

The next level is The Socks. I started these around December 7, having had to wait for funds to clear before I could order the supplies, and then as soon as I cast on the brand new needle I'd ordered for the project broke. When the replacement came in, I discovered that the join between the needle and the cable was sub-par, and ended up switching to one I already had. These were supposed to be done for Christmas. Right now, I'd be pleased to finish by Easter. (When is that again?) These are toe-up knee highs knit on one long circular needle, with an afterthought heel (to be added) out of KnitPicks Comfy.

(note: these look a little funny because when I'm knitting from the toe up, I keep the yarn inside the foot of the sock. Keeps it clean, neat, and out of the kitten's mouth.)

Progress: 40%

As we dig deeper into the project bin, we find the Evie shell, so named because it is based on the main character of my novel Threadbare, which is currently making the rounds to various potential publishers. Also made of KnitPicks Comfy, this is the project that brought my knitting to a halt last fall.

This is my first time delving into the world of actual lace, rather than the Cheater's Lace I usually do, which mostly involves using really big needles and doing yarn over, knit 2 together over and over again with no real pattern in mind.

This project has been on hold since Christmas, because I can't seem to work on two major projects on size one or two needles at the same time without risking my limbs, and really, those socks are more important at this point. Though it's disappointing, because I found a magazine that this pattern would be perfect for submission. Too bad there's no way I'm finishing before the deadline.

Progress: 10%

We have now reached the point were it becomes embarrassing to look at things.

For example: This is not a pair of socks. This is just a sock. Just one. One sock, which has been in roughly this same state since...uh...September? What's worse, the pair was supposed to be finished in time for Missouri's book release. With photos. And completed pattern.

Part of the problem with this sock is that I'm bored of the pattern. The prototypes were knit, ripped, and re-knit about five times. Then I had to make a second pair because I discovered an extra set of ribs in one of the socks, and the sizing wasn't quite right. I corrected that problem in the pattern, but simply can't get up the motivation to finish this pair.

Other reasons/excuses why it isn't finished: I'm not over fond of the yarn. It's okay, it's just...meh. Really nothing exciting. I would tell you what it is, but again, can't find the ball band (I swear they are all around here somewhere). I do know it was el cheapo sock yarn from Michaels, which kind of explains the problem right there. I'm a yarn snob when it comes to socks. I should have remembered that when buying this.

Additionally, this is one of those smaller-gauge projects that risks mobility and limb for me, so it's been on hold while I try to finish other things.

Progress: 25%

When I pulled out my TKGA binder for this photo, I thought I had three or four of my Master Handknitting swatches complete. Turns out, it's just two. I'm also behind on my questions.

When I got my packet back in July, I thought, "Knitting! Tiny swatches! Writing about Knitting! I'll be done by Christmas!" In this case, life happened. Other projects took precedence, and once again, I had to put this on hold because of physical challenges. See, I knit...weird. Not like a lot of other knitters. It's a side effect of being mostly self taught.

Then there's the carpel tunnel/tendonitis issue. I normally knit much looser than most instructions call for. Doesn't really bother me, but to meet the standards of the program, my stitches have to look a certain way. So instead of using a size 8 needle as the yarn recommends, I have to use a size 5 and knit as tightly as humanly possible.

But I still don't think that's a good excuse. I should be further with this. Especially since my 1 year deadline is in July.

Progress: 15%

Forming the bedrock of our dig site, we have the London Calling Cabled Cardigan, from Vogue Knitting...Fall 2010. Yes, this sweater has been on the needles for about a year and a half now.

When I pulled out this piece (which is only one of the fronts; there is more done), I had a brief moment of panic because the panel that was actually in progress was missing. I didn't panic because I'd lost all that work. I paniced because I thought briefly, "Oh, I'll just start over. I've been thinking it would be better seamless." Yes, you read that correctly. I considered ripping the whole thing out and starting over again, even though at about 50%, this project is the furthest along of them all.

I've kind of been avoiding this project. I like the pattern. I like the sweater. I even kind of like the yarn (even if it is just some basic Red Heart). My problem is that I am concerned about the shoulders and the sleeves. I'm afraid they won't fit. Part of the temptation to start over is not just to create a seamless body (knitting the fronts and backs together as one long flat piece, then separating at the underarm to finish the rest) but also because I'm considering going up a size. My stitch count is for the small, though my measurements actually match the large (like I said, loose knitter). When I whip stitched the completed pieces together to give it a test thought, it just didn't have the ease I'm looking for, especially in the bust and shoulders.

I think I just talked myself into starting over. ¬_¬

See, this is what happens when I try to get things done.

ETA: I was going to finish the last few inches on the cardigan. I started knitting, and working on the decreases, and realized that for some reason, it didn't look like the other front. And then I held all three pieces up together, and realized that somewhere along the lines, I'd made an error in the cable pattern and none of those cables lined up. If I were to finish it as is and wear it, I would look lopsided because the fronts are offset by half a repeat.

So. Starting over it is.

Knit Knit Knit

In the DVD Player: Burlesque
Currently Reading: Blood Rites

The socks are going well. I'm about an inch away from starting the gusset increases for the heel, which is great because I haven't read the little math section for figuring out the number of increases to do yet. Will work on that tonight or tomorrow morning most likely. Once I'm done with these I'm going to use the top-down two at a time method to re-do the test knit for the Wedding Ring Socks. They must be identical, dammit! I can't believe I screwed them up like that...

Yesterday I went to teach Missouri how to cable, and for demonstration purposes I brought the London Calling sweater with me, since it has an example of pretty much every type of cable out there on it. When I measured the side I'm working on against what has already been done, I discovered that I still have at least six inches before I have to fiddle with the decreases for the shoulder, so I really don't remember why this project ended up in the bin for so long. Since I managed to do a repeat and a half yesterday, I'm hoping to have the right front done in the next week or two, so that I can start the sleeves. In the mean time, I need to take out that horrible seam connecting the left front and the back. Mostly, I was trying to make sure that all of my cables lined up and that I didn't have massive gauge failure or something, but that's a pretty ugly seam. Question: how do you seam two pieces in reverse stockinette? I have directions for regular stockinette, which I could conceivably use, but they all say to keep the work right side up, and since the knit side is actually the wrong side in this case, I'm not sure what to do with it.

Well, it can wait. I believe the directions actually call for seaming the shoulders and the sleeves first, and I think those will be a bit easier since I won't have to worry about mimicking stitches.

I might even get this baby done in time for cooler weather.

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P.S. I updated the blog list on the left hand column to reflect all of the new blogs I've started reading in the last few weeks. We've got knitting, we've got typewriters; sewing/steampunk/design, and some that are just plain funny. So if you're looking for something interesting to discover, or just something to read, check out that list.

Dipping My Toes In

Edited for clarity
Currently Reading: Blood Rites
Currently Watching: Charmed, Season 3

I've decided to learn a new skill: two-at-a-time socks. I've seen these books around and they've always intrigued me. Silly me, though, I always thought they were the same volume. I guess the local Michaels only carries the toe-up version, while the library only has the top down book, hence the confusion.

I did a bit of a practice run, but got bored around the gusset, primarily because it was practice. This is not my first time knitting toe up socks, and the construction seems to be about the same, except that there are two socks on the needle and I normally use DPNs. Also, I hate swatching. I know, I know, a thousand lashes with a limp circular needle, but I do. Especially in this case, since I was using a different color for each sock--that meant I'd be doing one "pair" for the test run, and then I'd have to do another set to get mates for them (and since I was using leftover balls, there really wasn't enough. Not to mention the fact that I don't have any use for child-sized socks and most of my donation items go to nursing homes rather than NICUs). Thus, I made the decision to dive right in.

The yarn is a Bernat Baby Jacquards in the color berries and cream. I don't know about you, but if I pulled cream that shade of yellow (lemon yellow) out of the fridge, I'd be tossing it right in the garbage. It looks really good in yarn, though. To save myself some hassle, I'm knitting one sock from one end of the ball and the other from the opposite, and I'll cast off when I run out of yarn. I believe the needles are a size 1 or 2, maybe a 2.5.

The patterns in this book don't really light my fire. Sure, there are two or three that I might one day knit, but I don't HAVE to knit them RIGHT NOW. I bought the book primarily for technique anyway. Thus, the socks I am working on are plain vanilla, which for me means 1x1 or 2x2 ribbing up the foot and leg (haven't decided which it will be yet).

For the last few weeks (since the first tournament of Nerd Wars ended) I've had a bad case of knitting enui, to quote Jasmine Knitmore. But since I now have a 40 minute drive each way to work, I've had a lot of time to catch up on my podcasts and that has gotten me in the mood to knit more (by the way, are there any typewriter podcasts out there?). The combination of socks, podcasts, and a new way of doing things has jogged the mojo a bit. It even has me thinking abou the London Calling sweater that has been languishing in my PHD (Projects Half Done; again, see the KnitMore Girls, episode 150ish I think) bin for the last few months. I'm at the "hard part" as I keep calling it. Basically, the instructions say for the right front that you should do everything you did for the left front, but in reverse. Which for me, requires math and drawing a diagram, both of which I've been too lazy to do. I also need to rip out the seam I put in to test the left front and the back together; it looks awful. Finishing is not my forté, but I do have this book by Vogue knitting that has several really good instructions on methods of doing seams, so I might refer to that once I'm actually ready to construct the sweater. I've read several of the history essays and regularly use the instructions on kitchner stitch/grafting; it's a bit bulky but very handy to have around.

Anyone else tried this technique? What do you think of it? Do you prefer top down or toe up?

T.V. and Knitting

A couple of days ago I pulled the London Calling cardigan out of hibernation and managed to finish the first half of the front and cast on for the second. I've got about an inch of ribbing to go before I can start the pattern work. I have a feeling this side will take me even longer to finish, because the directions for it pretty much start and end with "do the opposite of everything you did on the other side." Which might just make my brain explode unless I make a chart for it. And I really don't want to have to chart an entire eighteen inches of sweater.

Another thing I finished recently was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I never watched it when it was on tv, but I kept trying and was never able to get into it (usually because I was picking it up in the middle of a season). I finally understand why this show was so damn popular.

Now that my queue on Netflix has a little empty space on it, I've been watching Veronica Mars. I never heard much about this show when it was on (I was surprised that there's more than half a season, I heard so little about it) but it is excellent. If you like a good mystery, go check it out.


Don't forget to submit your opinion (if you have one. Hell, even if you DON'T have one) on the possible move to Wordpress.

October Update

How can it already be the 11th? Really? I swear I just started school a few days ago.

The London Calling sweater continues to progress nicely. I have two more pattern repeats left (well, one and a half) and then I can start the armhole shaping. I've also started on my washcloth stash for Christmas presents, and I have a little portable knitting project out of some handspun that may or may not stay with me and may or may not be a scarf. We'll see how well I do with a superwash wool blend around my neck, and go from there. It might end up on Etsy if I decided that's just too sensitive of an area for me to wear wool (curse you, allergies!).

I did manage to find my camera and snap those pictures of the sweater, but my battery died before I could take a picture of the scarf. Which is a shame, because I'm really enjoying it. It's an entrelac pattern I downloaded from somewhere a few years ago, and I have to say, I love entrelac. It's easy, it's fun, and it provides just enough interest without being distracting. I was able to knit on it all through French with no problems.

I did manage to post a new yarn to the Etsy site this week. Red Brick Tavern is actually inspired by a place where I used to work, so it's kind of close to my heart in a way. It's superwash merino (undyed) mixed with some rose and navy bamboo.

In other news, I'm plugging away at the research for my column in the next issue of the CFM, which will be all about the spiritualism movement. I've found some interesting books, but looking at their so-called "spirit photography" it is so obvious that it was double exposures and some cotton fiber. It really is too bad that there were so many fakes during that time (and also now).

Well, my day job is calling and my paycheck won't earn itself (but how I wish it would!).