Work Ethic

It's actually kind of funny - when I'm at work now, I get irritated when the phone rings because it takes away from my knitting or spinning time (yes, I've been spinning at work). Nobody has a problem with it, and if anything, people are very interested in whatever I'm doing.

Anyone remember me mentioning a certain Noro hat?

I've already finished up all the colorwork. I was working happily along until one of my needles just...snapped, and now I'm kind of stuck, because I need to knit the inside of the hat, but there's no way I'm doing it all on DPN's - the stitches keep trying to slide off the end. I've got to get a new circular in order to finish this thing. I really want to finish it (and give it a good hard blocking) because it looks super cool.

(roll of duct tape included for scale, it was just one of the things on the table at the time).

I'm going to need to be really aggressive when I block it, because I've got quite a few lumpy bumpy spots where I pulled my yarn too tight. I have a tendency to do that I when I knit fair isle because my right hand (the one I throw with) I get all paranoid about, and so I pull the yarn tighter than I need to. See?

I can't wait to wear this once the weather gets cool again - there are two options for wear: one being with the brim out, so the hat is extra long (a tassel is supposed to go at the tip, too):

Or with the brim folded under, for extra ear-warmth.

I just need to go out and get a new circular needle so I can finish things up!

On the spinning front: I finished up a teeny batch of some wool that had been on my spindle for quite a while yesterday at work. I navajo plied it so I could use it with another batch of navajo plied stuff I spun up a few months ago. I think I've got about 100 yards total of navajo plied yarn that I'm trying to think of something to do with.

This little bit is only about 40 yards, but the other piece is about 66 yards, if I remember correctly. I've predrafted half of the remaining roving I've got lying around, and I'm planning on doing a 2-ply - kind of going for that twisty barberpole look. I think it looks gorgeous. The navajo plying (seen here) really makes the colors vivid, but I'm jonesing for some really neat looking two ply.

On a semi-unrelated note, I've been thinking about what a terrible progress blogger I am (I don't really take photos of my projects in their infant states) so I've decided to expand the focus of the blog a bit. While I'm still going to keep this mainly a knitting blog, I'd like to include a bit of stuff that isn't necessarily related to knitting (for example: sleepwalking stories, stupid customer phone calls, generally hilarious antics, etc.). That way I can keep updating on a regular basis, because lately I haven't had a shortage of things I'd like to talk about - I just tend to want to focus on knitting when I'm here. I hope nobody minds. I promise I won't be posting things like: today I brushed my hair and it was pretty. Don't worry. I just want to update a lot more often with what (I hope) will be entertaining stories about my shenanigans.

Also: the program I've been using for quite some time now to upload my files and photos to summer-wind.net has just informed me that it will no longer be free. Because I am currently existing in a state of voluntary poverty (read: college student) I'd rather not pay for something I'm sure I can get for free somewhere else. Can anyone recommend a good (free) FTP program? All suggestions appreciated!