Let's see.....on the head cold front [clearing throat], I'm feeling much better, and most of the nose blowing and sniffing is DONE. I've been rewarded for my immune dysfunction with another delightful coldsore [reads... sh*t, bugger!!@@#].
As if my virus wasn't enough! Somehow a virus infected my computer. It was the mega-mother-fukton of all viruses. Can't remember the exact name of the evil trojan, but let's just call it The Evil Replicating Drive-killer (TERD).
Nick's a computer genius, but as fast as he was killing it, it was replicating itself and moving through my C drive faster. It was like a computer game!! Phenomenal. Nick went into DOS and thought he finally had it, but it was always a step ahead. Finally, it lodged itself firmly in the operating program turning off all permission to C drive and declaring with a smirk that C drive no longer existed!
Windows could not be reinstalled. Boots disks were useless. Restore and Backup......useless.
The bloody thing won. TERD = 1: Isa=0. Options??
FORMAT C drive.
And even that failed twice. I was seriously considering buying a new computer.
Finally the computer was restored. By the time I re-installed all my software, entered a gazillion passwords and ids, it was three days of being "off air".
---------------
The only conducive thing to not having a computer, and not being able to work, was that I could KNIT! Yeah!
So I started a bunch of projects and continued with other WIPS.
First off, I'm knitting a pair of red socks for the Ruby Red Sock Competition being run by Shall We Knit. The sock contest is to celebrate the New Hamburg Community Players production of "The Wizard of Oz". I have until the end of April to finish them. The socks are a mish mash of things - the overall pattern is from Koi Fingerless Gloves, by Terry L. Ross, and the heel from More Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Sturch. I'm using some beautiful Chinese Red Shubui sock yarn, and have called my socks "Shibui Reds".
This is where I'm at with them.
When I was at Shall We Knit last month for their annual sale, I picked up some Louet Corriedale Top Roving 1/2lb. In between WIPs I have been practising my drop spindling with my new Asage OrangeTurkish Drop Spindle from Jenkins Woodworking. I'm about two-thirs of the way through the roving now. I will ply the yarn, but before I do it, I want to dye it.
Here's what I have so far.
I dyed some Cascade 220 to start the second of my Ayla backpacks for my niece, Karlia. She loves blue, especially turquoise, so I dyed two skeins semi solid turquoise and two skeins in a bottle green/teal semi solid. The colours reminded me so much of the sea, so I called this project "Cerulean Blue Ayla".
This is the dyed yarn.
Since the colours of this backpack are so sea-like, I thought I should chart a new stranded motif for the bag [instead of the flower]. And so, after some hours, my beautiful seahorse graph was born.
Seahorse graph for Cerulean Blue Ayla.
When I was at the opening for the Little Red Mitten on 15th February, I bought a fantastic book entitled "The Sweater Workshop", by Jacqueline Fee. I've been avidly reading it, and knitting a sampler along the way! The sampler is designed to teach the techniques needed to knit a perfectly constructed well-fitting sweater in-the-round from the top down.
I'm going to blog when I finish the book....I've learned so much - it's awesome!
Here's my sampler so far.
-----------------
My brilliantly talented friend, Kata, made me an amazing stamp that I love, love, LOVE! It all began when I asked her if I could commission her to make me a frog stamp for work. Within hours [cross my heart!] she emailed me with a photo of it! And then she got me some awesome lime coloured ink for stamping! Go check out her Etsy Shop and her blog! You won't be disappointed!
Frog stamp from Kata.
And then there's work! We are open for business again......1st March until 24th December.....seven days a week! BIG SIGH! I've been working flat out on two powerpoint presentations I have to deliver this month. One is to the Forest City Pond Club, and the other is to the London/Fanshawe Horticultural Society.
Next week I will be writing a newsletter, updating the catalogue, hiring staff and all the other usual business stuff.
Righto...off to knit!
No comments:
Post a Comment