Saving Jane......

Well, let’s see. Life in general has been really great the last couple of weeks. Hubby and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary on Oct. 20th; we went for a weekend away to Hot Springs, NC. I can’t say I was too impressed with the little (tiny) town of Hot Springs, but our cabin was nice and private and had its own hot tub, which we enjoyed immensely! It was so weird getting there after running around so much that week, then we where like “OK, now what?” It was just nice to reconnect with that man I married.

Then, my parents came down from Philadelphia for a week long visit. Sydney and I got to spend a lot of time with them doing all sorts of different things, including a gorgeous fall ride up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I dragged my mom to SAFF on Friday, and it was wonderful! I am definitely getting a wheel as soon as I can. OH yeah, that was my other news, I MADE YARN! It was awesome. The instructor, BJ, at my Earth Guild class was great. At SAFF, I got to try out some different wheels, including a beautiful antique one I decided to pass on. It took me the longest time to buy any yarn; I was just sort of overwhelmed by all the beautiful fibers/yarns/wheels/stuff to buy there. I eventually decided on a few skeins, two handspun and two commercially spun from a merino farm in TX called Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co., really lovely stuff.

The bummer for me about SAFF was that I was REALLY looking forward to seeing the animals, and I can only guess that most people don’t bring them on Friday, since there were only a few alpacas there. If my parents weren’t in town, I would have gone back on Sat. or Sunday. BUT, it was fun and I highly recommend going if you can get here.

It was kind of good that they left on Halloween, since I had to work, then run home and take the kiddo out that night. It kept me from being too depressed that they left! Sydney was a Candy Fairy for Halloween, the only costume she liked in the costume store, and she’s been wearing it every day since then.

On to the Jane saga…..knitting has seemed to suck lately, here’s why. I worked hard to finish up the Jane Crossover sweater by Fleece Artist to have it in time for SAFF. (Was too warm for a sweater anyway!! I saw someone wearing the Lotus tank from IK!) It’s good to have goals anyway. I finished it, and I’m not happy with it. The neck is too high and tight, and it will be a pain in the butt to rip out the seams for it. The other issue is gaping at the armpit area, which you really need to see the pattern to understand this one; it’s quite an unusual construction. The other thing that irks me is the rolling stockinette!! Why, oh why, do designers insist on these designs where half of your knitting is rolled under. That’s one of those things I’ll never understand. Bleh, bleh bleh. I can sew up those underarm areas easy enough. I CAN undo the seams, I’m sure. I just think I’m not that happy overall with the design, for me. I think the yarn could be something more beautiful. Ugh, not a trip to the frog pond!! All that work! I’ll give it a couple weeks and see what I think then.

On top of that, the two-toned Shedir has been having its own issues. The top came out way pointy, like to fit a giant-headed gnome, maybe. Rip, rip rip, I re-worked the top last night and made up my own (shorter) ending. Then onto the cast-on edge, which is too loose. I couldn’t figure out how to take this out other than cutting it off to where I needed it. Now I have a million little pieces and I’m trying to find the loops that aren’t cut to get back OTN. Argh! It’s the week of the lousy knitter. Live and learn, right? At least I got him to try it on last night and he really loves it, says it feels great on his head.

I’m going to make a huge batch of cabbage soup today, for the Cabbage Soup Diet, and oldie but goodie that was revamped in Good Housekeeping magazine recently. This one seems a little easier to follow, since you can have regular (small) meals in between. Wish me luck! I’m hoping to drop a few before Thanksgiving.