Knit, knit, knit! Simply knittastic!
Episode 10 of the Pointy Sticks podcast is live! Tell your family, tell your friends, and make sure you listen to the show because there is a CONTEST! You have to listen to get all the details so you can enter. Be sure to check it out!
The amusing thing for me about Saturday was the parade of handknits that I saw. I spotted a lady wearing a nice lace shawl that I could tell was handknit. I asked her if she made it, and she said no – her daughter-in-law did. It was a nice conversation opener, and we discussed that it was a cotton/linen blend because she doesn’t like wool – it is too “scratchy.”
I really should have made her feel my Mountain Colors 4/8ths wool scarf that I was wearing, because it is not scratchy at all. But we must be careful in converting the non-knitters over to the wooly side.
The one that amused me the most was the man that I spotted at the end of the row of booths walking towards us. I knew, even from far away, that his sweater was not possibly machine made. Those cables were a thing of beauty that no machine could produce. Ok, maybe a machine could, but I just knew.
Turns out that he was wearing his grandfather’s sweater from Austria. He was from Munich (woot! Munich!) and his sweater is a part of the “traditional” German attire. Think lederhosen and things like that. It was wool – that I will admit had a little scratch to it when I dared to cautiously touch his arm, because again, we don’t want to scare the non-knitters. It was a lovely khaki/beige color, and it was beautiful. I really wish I had asked him to pose for a photograph, but I was in such awe of the sweater I really wasn’t thinking clearly. It actually reminded me a lot of the sweater which Victor made and posted about back in September.
Now I can’t focus on my Trig, because I want to knit a sweater. Right away. One that will keep me warm in the cold when I go north for the holidays. Must knit a sweater. NOW.
The hand is getting better by the day; typing today isn’t bad at all. I’m sure it is the knitting that is helping. (Ok, not really, but at least I can knit!) The red socks are done, and I’m moving on to Christmas gifts later today.
Today also marks the start of the countdown to our first show at the Yale Street Market! It is this Saturday, December 2nd, and if you are in Houston I hope you can come out and see our prints. We will have lots of 5x7s, 8x10s, and even some larger and smaller prints. I’m so psyched – I can’t wait!
First note – since I can’t get the photo off of my phone yet, and I can’t hold the heavy camera – the red socks are done! I finished the toe last night, did the Kitchner stitch and finished off all the ends. Yeah! I’m wearing them as I type this. (Post photo, I haven’t managed to get them off yet. It takes effort with just one hand.)
Last night I unwrapped the ace bandage to give the plastic tape underneath some room to air out. It itched along the top of my hand – not anywhere close to the stitches are, but rather where the plastic tape is right on my skin. It was then that I noticed the red, irritated skin on the inside of my wrist. I thought maybe I had just pushed myself a bit too much by finishing the socks, so I put ice on it, took some ibuprofin and went to bed.
This morning, it was still red. So I called the doctor’s office, because it is better to be safe than sorry. The decision was that I should take off the ace wrap, take off the plastic tape and set my hand free. Free! This was a bit scary for me, as I knew in my head that there are stitches and steri-strips and stuff, but I still felt like I was going to fall apart as soon as the bandage came off. But I did it anyways, and all went well. No hand parts falling out of a gaping wound or anything. I am soooooo happy to be rid of the scratchy tape. Now we will wait until this evening to see if this makes the redness on my wrist go away.
I also successfully managed to avoid looking at the stitches. I could never ever be a doctor, because I don’t do things like that well at all. When they did my surgery, they asked for permission to photograph it, and I said only if I could have photos to post here on my blog. I take it all back. It was the “we’re going to give you this drug to help you relax” meds talking, I swear. No hand photos. Ew.
Other than that, all is quite well. Typing with the left hand is still a bit off – my pinkie finger doesn’t want to type much. So I do a hand dance thing across the keyboard when I type – I am sure that will be fine in a day or two. Meanwhile, there is always the knitting. Oh, and Trig homework, since I have a test on Tuesday.
We fought Black Friday and we were victorious! Saving $80 at Wal-mart on things that were not discounted otherwise, and we were about the third people in line. (Mike drove *and* got the good spot in the line.) We also went to CompUSA on Thanksgiving night for their 9pm – midnight sale, and while we were in this loooooong line, they split the line and had some people go to customer service to pay – I had gone out to the car to get my cell phone and I left Mike in the line, and when I came in he was 4 people away from that register. I think he has much better luck than I do with these things, and I will have to make him go out for the good sales more often! I have the major gifts taken care of now, and it is a good feeling. Heck, maybe I’ll even wrap them before December 24th! So? How did everyone else do?
I am still going through photos for the upcoming Yale Street Market. I want to get my order in tonight, because tomorrow there will be no hands on the computer. I have a rather long list of things I want to get done tonight, and I’m starting to accept that there is no way possible that it can all happen. But anyways, back to the knitter story.
SXSW Interactive, 2005. I went to the conference at the last minute, thanks to Jenn letting me go on the ScriptyGoddess discount ticket. I was still writing posts for Scripty, so I was still an author, and since the site was up for a Bloggie, I went to represent. w00t!
The last day of the conference, I was talking with PhotoMatt between sessions about the WordPress community, where things were going, etc. I had already spoken with Anil Dash about Six Apart and the knitters love of Typepad. I was telling Matt that there is a HUGE community of knitters online, and the crafty bloggers? That is where it is at.
We started to walk to a panel on accessibility, and I spotted it. A Clapotis. In the wild. Right there in front of me. I actually gasped, out loud. I think I even stammered a bit, “That! That is a Clapotis!”
Turns out Julia had just finished it. We immediately started talking (I think I all but ditched Matt – sorry Matt!) and a new knitter friendship was born. Turns out she knew who I was thanks to my geek blogging, but I didn’t know her. I do now though, and I’m quite grateful for that. Oh, and she shared the source for the yarn – it was a really, really beautiful Clapotis – and I ordered mine that very day. I still have to knit it, but I will soon. (Julia’s Clapotis has since ran away from home, and someone in Austin now has a very nice Clapotis, but it isn’t Julia.)
I have met many knitters since then, but this? This was the beginning of many good things. This was the first knitter I met outside of my immediate circle, outside of my LYS – outside of the norm. All thanks to a Clapotis in the wild.