(thanks, google maps!)
Nate and I both have 40+ hour a week full-time jobs. Because we’re both also really busy outside of work (he’s a painter and I have this little knitting hobby of mine) we usually see the weekends as time to devote to the *other* stuff that we do.
We each have our own studios in the house and hole up all weekend and get into our individual projects and don’t really see each other. THIS weekend, we decided to break that habit and go on a long drive together. We sort of randomly chose Cloudcroft, NM as our destination. It’s not too far away, and is up in the mountains so the scenery is really different than what we have here in the Mesilla Valley. They have TREES. They have SNOW!
Just before we got in the car to go on the drive, I checked the mail…and LOOK was in the mailbox:
A hank of Spin Cycle handspun silk in a rich golden red called dragon’s breath. So even though I (as per the “getting out of the house agreement”) didn’t work on any knitting the whole trip…I still got to play with yarn! Spin Cycle is run by Kate and Rachel, who have an unbelievable sense of color and texture and make really beautiful yarns.
Those of you lucky enough to live in Bellingham can just go see them any time at the farmers’ market or stop by the shop…the rest of us can antsily oogle online. I even spotted a modified boobholder in the gallery!
So when we got up the hill we ate at the Texas Pit BBQ place. Nate had a Sliced beef BBQ sandwich (sauce ON it, not on the side) and I had potato soup. Even though the place to eat was my choice…I got the only non-BBQ thing.
We figured it’d be cooler up there, so we brought jackets. Nate brought some thin windbreaker and I brought the jacket to the suit I wore in Aaron and Margi’s wedding (WITH red wine stain down the front, I noticed on the ride home). We were really not prepared.
It was nice to get away for a real day off. Even a few hours.
I came home and finished two knit garments and started a third.
I’ve got a deadline coming up: 8 possibilities for the cover of Glam Knits. I’ve finished a few, and the rest are just waiting for trim. Sometimes I have the hardest time figuring out how to trim something. Plain 2×2 ribbing? Fisherman’s Rib? Some fancy rib with yarnovers or cables in it? So I plop them onto the mannequin and sit here and stare at them. Sometimes I even have 3 or 4 with varying hem lengths on it at a time.
This mannequin backup got to me Friday. I had 3 sweaters on the mannequin and my eyes were having trouble delineating what was what. So I ordered TWO more mannequins. The one I have is (roughly) my size.
Most of the time when knitting samples, whether for the books or magazines or yarn company work…I have to knit to a 34″ bust measurement. So I ordered a 34 (W8). I’ve also decided to use a plus-sized model in the photography for the new book, so I bought a size W16. I know that a 16 isn’t even really PLUS…but that’s what my model is.
They have really cheap ones here. They don’t have every size, but they have quite a few. They’re nice because they’re pinnable. (and cheap.)
