Very Bad Day

The title says it all, I had a very bad day. In the beginning my day had been going really well. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the 60's. My boss was out for the rest of the week at a conference, and things were a bit more laid back. I didn't even have any of the surprise assignments that have been popping up lately. Justin (my fiance) however, did not have good day from the beginning. First his alarm didn't go off and he woke up two hours late. Then he locked The Fefers in the TV cabinet (by accident, I found him a few hours later) and it took him over two hours to get to work (such is D.C. traffic at rush hour). To top it all off, two blocks from work someone ran into his car...then didn't even stop. Lovely. Luckily the damage is minimal, just the corner of the front panel popped out and some paint was left on the bumper. Did I mention his car isn't even 6 months old yet? Once this happened Justin called me at work, but I was still having a good day personally... until I got home. I put a load of laundry in, then went to check on my lizards Monster and Darwin. They are leopard geckos I've had since middle school. I was Darwin's third owner. My cousins had rescued her before when her former, former owner went away to college. When they moved to England they couldn't take her so she became my lizard. Well sometime between last night and this afternoon she passed away. She must have been nearly 15 years old. She was my first real pet as I am deathly (and I mean can't breathe deathly) allergic to dogs, and my parents are allergic to cats so basicly I grew up with pet fish. I'm going to miss her. I was going to post good news today because something exciting has happened in my little knitting universe...I turned the heel on my very first sock.


Here's Felix trying to help with the photoshoot. (I told you he is a nosy little critter.)



But more about that later when I am having a good day. Tomorrow is Friday, and this means I will have more free time to knit this weekend, and hopefully a chance to finish my very first sock...

Meet The Fefers

This is Felix, aka Fefers (pronounced fee-furs). He is one crazy kittle. He loves, loooovvveeees, yarn. Don't all cats love yarn? you may ask. Well, no, not really. Our other two cats, Magnus (black and white) and Delaney (all black) don't really care for yarn that much.

Sure if you drag some across the floor they will pounce on it once, and then promptly get bored. Fefers, however, could play with yarn for hours. This means when I want to relax in front of the TV and knit, the little snot is all over me jumping, clawing, and trying to eat my yarn. Case in point:




But hey, you can't fault the little guy for knowing what is truly good in life.

Field Trip!

While I would love to be able to knit full time (and who wouldn't) it doesn't pay the bills, so for my day job I am an architectural historian. I am currently working on a very large scale restoration project (think a former president's mansion). One of the perks of this career choice is being able to study (aka go on field trips) different types of buildings to better understand the one you are working on, and to expand your architectural vocabulary. Hence my field trip yesterday to this lovely home:



That's Bremo, a private residence in Fluvanna County, VA. We were invited to spend the whole day exploring, researching, and measuring architectural features. It was great, and the estate is truly, wonderfully beautiful. In one bedroom I even spotted this little treasure:



An antique spinning wheel. It looks like it hasn't been used in years (or decades) but it really was beautiful and a great example of quality craftmanship.


You might be asking yourself what this has to do with knitting, well it was over an hour drive each way, so what is a knitter to do than...



Start her very first sock ever! It's Monkey from Knitty, and I think I am in love. I'm using Knit Picks Memories in "Geramium." I put a little kit together using a tin that I think was meant to be a pencil case. The sock, 7 inch size 2US dpns, a pencil, pattern, and row counter all fit inside snuggly. It is a great way to protect myself from the pointy dpns. So far so good. The pattern is quite easy and well written, and I am well on my way to handknit socks!

What I'm Knitting, aka The Blanket From HELL

So here is just a sampling of my works in progress at this point. I am knitting the Courthouse Steps Afghan from Mason Dixon Knitting. It is a wedding gift for a friend who is getting married in, oh, TWO WEEKS! I am a very, very slow knitter. It's okay, I've come to terms with it. I have shoulder problems which means I can't knit for long periods of time (two hours max. without breaks). So why I picked this project is beyond me because it is going to take FOREVER! I've basically given up on the deadline. The happy couple will be getting a lovely sheet set instead, and this much, much later, for their one year anniversary maybe?

Mission Statement

Well, I am making the leap into blogging. I had a blog in the past, but grew bored with it and quit posting within a month. I hope to not repeat that with this one. I even went as far as purchasing a domain name, even though I know no html, I am learning as I go. First, a little bit about me. I am a architectual historian by profession, but an artist at heart. I have always been into the visual arts, and have fond childhood memories of creating. Whether it is beaded jewelry, paintings, or ceramics I love creating things, and that is what keeps me going. I love books, and music as well, and have extensive collections of both. I also have a deep desire for interior design and am pondering a graduate degree in the arts. I have only been knitting for about a year now, after teaching myself how from a book last winter. I am completely enthralled with the craft however, and have been devoting more and more of my free time to it. This year I hope to grow as a knitter and branch out into more complicated and diverse knitting. While this blog will heavily involve knitting, it will also represent my creativity in other areas as I am not a monogomous crafter, and knitting is not my only love. From time to time you will see other sides of my crafting persona, and I hope you will join me as I embark on this new and thrilling journey into blogging.

Coming Soon...