Blogging Revisited

Okay, so I've been away from the blogging world for a while now. There are a couple of reasons for that, but I'm not going to bore any potential readers with minutiae. Suffice it to say, I'm back!

What's going on in my life right now? Well, I'm unemployed, again. They really should tell you before you go to law school that you're not guaranteed to get a job when you graduate. I'm giving it until the unemployment money runs out, and then I'll have to find something non-law related to pay the bills. On a more positive note, I'm engaged! So, I've got lots to do in the wedding planning department. The most stressful thing right now is trying to find a venue. I've got a fairly low budget for this area, and it's been a bit of a pain because I'm expecting less than 100 people, and most of the reception venues don't even want to deal with you at that amount. Plus, I'm rather picky in that I'd like it to have a Colonial New York or English countryside feel. Basically, I don't want mirrors all over the walls and disco balls.

I've been doing a lot of knitting, since I have all of this time on my hands. I'm participating in the Mystery Stole 3 knit along, and so far I'm loving the design. I'm planning on using this stole as a wedding accessory, even though the designer says it may not be an appropriate theme for a bride. I think it's beautiful, especially with the beads, although those don't show up all that well in the photos. I've just completed Clue 4 (out of a total of 7), and I decided to shorten it as per the designer's instructions. I wouldn't normally shorten, since I'm not petite at all, but I ran into a bit of a yarn dilemma. When I ordered from Elann
(Peruvian Baby Lace Merino), I stupidly only ordered one ball. I don't know why, because I knew the stole called for 800 yards and each ball has 600 yards. There's really no excuse, but I didn't notice until my package arrived and there was only one ball of yarn in it. I immediately fired up the Internet to order a second ball only to find that the "Parchment" color was sold out! Must be all those MS3ers. As of today, they still hadn't gotten any new supply in, so I went ahead with the shortening. I think it will work out okay, because I just let stoles hang from my arms rather than draping them completely around my shoulders.

I am very curious about what is happening with Clue 5. Melanie (the designer) had us put a lifeline in a very specific row, but hasn't said why. There was a cryptic message encouraging us to "trust her" and just follow the instructions when we get to Clue 5. So, it seems like there will be something a little different going on. In the last picture here, you can just barely make out my lifeline. It's followed by a few very interesting rows that seem to be a deviation from the previous patterning. Honestly, I have no clue what is going to happen, but I'm sure it will look lovely. If nothing else, this project has made me want to put beads on all of my knitting!

I've got a few other projects on the needles at the moment, since the MS3 can't keep me busy for an entire week between clues. I'm working on a felted tote (which may not be quite tote size because I may run out of yarn). This is only my second foray into felting, but I picked up the special Interweave issue on felting, and it has a lot of great info on how to work up swatches and such, so I decided to give it another go. The only problem is that it's a bit too humid to work on knitting bulky wool at this time of year. I'm also making a pair of socks for my fiance, mostly to shut him up about the stash that has overtaken my closet. And, my most ambitious project to date is my first foray into designing. But I'll go into that in detail in a later post.