Saturday, May 31, 2008

Kinda sorta promoted, knitting with string to truss chickens

Thanks to everyone who commented over the last few days - it's nice to know that some people still visit after my long hiatus. I was thinking a bit about that this morning and I think that almost anyone who was just trying to get through this winter with their sanity intact probably got a bit blah too. This winter was a serious bummer.

Knit With It: allhemp6

Let’s say you took my Berrocco Ultra Alpaca and decided to make “yarn” that was exactly OPPOSITE to it? Or you were watching Bridget Jones and decided that the blue string she used to tie up the leeks in her failed cooking attempt at the end of the movie would be good to knit with?

And then you decided that not only would you knit with it but you would allow yourself to be lured into buying two skeins at $11 apiece to make Amy Singer’s Everlasting Bagstopper because the $.99 cent environmental shopping bags available at EVERY SINGLE GROCERY STORE IN TOWN are just not good enough for you? (they are not knit so this should be self-evident)

If so, then you would be knitting with Hemp for Knitting’s allhemp6 (bought here: seriously great yarn store) and you might be wondering why the hell you were doing this to yourself. At least I am. At least besides feeling the righteousness of using politically correct fibre and making a bag that will not sit in a landfill for 2 billion years.

Conclusion: hard on the hands. If you want to knit with this I recommend slippery metal and pointy pointy needles and knit loosely. My main frustration is that the fibre is so stiff that it doesn’t bunch up on the left needle so you can’t cue up stitches beforehand. If you knit loosely the stitches slide up more easily so it is only half as annoying. I also wrap my yarn around my finger and when the hemp comes off it doesn’t slide off…it leaps away. The stuff is stiffer than Euroflax linen by a long shot – and I suspect it won’t improve with repeated washing either.

So...try, don't try...YMMV as always!

Pictures from my stash
Number of skeins: 10
Reason for purchase: Damn sale at KnitKnackers against which I was powerless

I'm knittin' it now...


Pattern: Susie Hoodie from More Big Girl Knits
Colour: Oceanic Mix
The knitting so far: I love cabling so this is a fun knit for me. The yarn is terrific and slides so nicely over my needles (KnitPicks Options). I am a bit concerned about gauge - swatch was 17 per inch (as called for) - washed it came in at 16.75 which would have given me an extra 3 inches of width...but now my gauge is around 18. I am hoping this means that once it is blocked it will be closer to the 17 called for.
Spinning/Spun/Dyed

This is a new spindle I bought from Gemini Fibres at Knitter's Frolic last month. The wood is black cherry and the whorl is Corian. The roving is from Karaoke from SWTC. I don't like the spindle as much as the wheel but it is nice to have something portable . I will probably spin the next length on the wheel and ply off the wheel and spindle.
News that's fit to print

Meeting with boss: good and okay outcome. Interest in having me act in position higher than I am now: Good. Chance to have own clients and finally have big picture: Good. Client I already partly support now and often "troublesome": Okay. No longer having safety net of reporting to a manager: Scary.

So basically I said yes because these opportunities do not present themselves very often and it is a good chance to try something and I can come back to my job if I don't like it. But it is a big change and it is not guaranteed I will get it. They have to open it up to others - if anyone else is interested then they have to do informal interviews etc. So we'll see what happens. Please cross your fingers for me that no one else wants it because the idea of competing for an informal position kind of irritates me although I wouldn't want the position if I knew others thought it had been unfairly given to me without considering others.

Today: Car shopping...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the sortof promotion - always scary to take the next step but always good too! Gorgeous yarn - are you in a blue phase? Good luck with car shopping...

Anonymous said...

as soon as you started mentioning the blue string.. all I could think about was Colin Firth (sa-woon!)

Leanne said...

Congrats on the kinda, sorta promotion. I'm sure you'll be great at it!

Nice to see you blogging regularly again. I'm working on a post now, so maybe someday I'll start doing that again too! This post is taking forever to write (doesn't help that I'm weak as a kitten)

Unknown said...

I'm crossing my fingers for you Lisa. Makes knitting kinda difficult though.

Second Betseydoodle's sa-woon on Colin Firth.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the job, again!

How did the car shopping go? I don't think I've told you yet but we bought a new car on Friday. Bye bye Focus-piece-of-cr@p-not-my -problem-anymore!

T

Anonymous said...

Congrats on going up in letters or numbers (I keep thinking of james bond designations when you tell me about levels and promotions!). Will this leave any more or less time or money for spinning and knitting?! At what level can you knit while you have people come into your office for meetings? :)
Love the blues, too. Thanks for trying out the hemp before I made that my first project LOL.

froggiemeanie said...

I tried knitting with that same hemp about a year ago and my hands couldn't take it and I had to quit. That being said, a lot of people I've taught at the yarn store have made things with it and apparently it really does soften up with washing. I touched a little purse one woman made out of it and it wasn't cashmere but wasn't like straw anymore either.

Five Ferns Fibreholic said...

It's easy to succumb to weakness at Knit Knackers. First there was the Malabrigo....soon afterwards...cotton for a summer top.

I'm so weak....