swatch world

I've been busy this week. First, I had to dig through the piles of laundry, mail and other dirt that accumulated in our lives while I was away. Ahh, fun. Then, back when I was less busy, I committed to knitting swatches for TNNA, a huge needlework convention in June to which I'm not even going. They apparently have this gigantic Wall of Yarn with swatches, and I thought, fun, I'll try a few new yarns. Well, let me pass on my learning experience. Pink acrylic fuzzy yarn that smells is not for me. It reminds me of a pink sleeper I had when I was in elementary school, complete with pilly bits...but at least the sleeper didn't smell floral. I'm not showing the other samples I got, I'm not sure if this is strictly confidential or anything, but my one hearty recommendation is that you try out Dalegarn Free Style if you get a chance. It holds a textured pattern in a lovely way and is sort of crunchy, probably as a result of the fact that it is a machine washable yarn. Good stuff. They sent it to me in this rich red color--heck, they had to know I would like that, right?

I practiced swatches before leaving home (I figured, gee, I might have forgotten how or something) so here's a fun photo for you. This is some cotton yarn from Portugal that I bought in Toronto once, some Red Knit Picks Twist and Blue Classic Elite Star. All scraps sitting by my computer. Yes, I had to clear off that bare spot for the photo. Desk is pretty much covered by paper and yarn at this point. This swatch is for me.

Other big news: I have signed with a really cool big time knitting literary agent. She represents many other famous knitters! I am so wowed by this that I am having a hard time concentrating on, uhh, the swatches and things. I also signed another couple of contracts with Knit Picks and I'm beginning to wonder, when will I find time to do all this and manage other stuff, like going to the bathroom? (sorry to be potty mouthed, here, but it did occur to me. I'm sure it is a relief to hear that I don't bring my knitting designs to the bathroom.)

My lovely husband didn't really have any calming words to say. He is proud of me, but my spasms of anxious excitement are only dwarfed by his. He is trying to finish up teaching this semester--final exam today and graduation tomorrow does not leave a lot of time for grading. Then, he leaves to go to research in the field for a week in May. In June, (are you sitting down?) He travels to Cincinnatti overnight (no biggee) and then in a 9 day period, he will go to Pittsburgh with me for a wedding, but he'll miss the actual wedding because he's flying to Manchester, England to give a big talk to some of his colleagues, and then he's flying from there to Gainesville, Florida, to go to another conference, give a talk, and take all his research students out to do more field research. He comes home the day before his birthday. We've heard rumors that my parents may visit right around then. Oh, and did I mention I was invited to a party in Manchester, New Hampshire in the same time period? I may be a party pooper this year, because unless time travel technology has gotten a lot better, I think I might have to stay home and knit on the couch just to keep up with everything. Whew!

I leave you with another sheep photo, of course.
This is a Leicester Longwool from the Old Gjerpen Farm. When I'm feeling hyper, it always helps to see some sheep. On Monday, I'm going to visit a local farm with Icelandic sheep. Can't see too many farm animals when you feel anxious. Those domestic animals have an ancient calming effect. Ommmm. I'm going to go buy some flour now so I can bake challah for dinner. Baking bread always seems to ground me...sounds like I'm some sort of crunchy granola hippy gyrrl, right?