Not so whiny post

Well, apparently the intarwebs decided that my last post, which was full of whining and angst, does not need to see the light of day. It felt good to write it, and I wish I had a copy, but suffice it to say that I'm still struggling and wish I had more physical, people around me, type support. At least the sun is out. :)

So, here are some pictures for you.

My nephew (not by blood, but I have two nephews and a niece by love). I made him that hat, and I think that might be the blanket I made behind him. His mama said that his sunshine socks fit pretty well too. Which means I really should get started on another pair for his first birthday. heh. He looks pretty happy with the hat, though he generally looks pretty happy I am gathering. I am really looking forward to seeing that precious face in person and pinching those cheeks!! EDIT: His dad was happy with the blanket. Apparently, it is the only blanket they got that looks "manly". :)

Finished the surf socks. I really need to get them into the mail, though since the recipient lives in Phoenix and it is almost June (tomorrow!! What??), there probably really isn't a rush. I just want her to know that someone loves her while she is having some real life issues. Ah, another reason for the web to delete my whiny post!!

I did not make this particular scarf, but, as you will see, I am working on one like it. I wanted to make it for another friend who has been having  a hard time. Dark Mark Scarf using Illusion knitting. I will admit I didn't think this would work...but it totally does!!!

This is the one I am making:

I am obviously using a darker green, which I thought would ruin the illusion, but it totally makes it more spooky!! I swear! The sides roll in and I kind of love that it looks like a snake pre blocking. Appropriate, don't you think? I am not doing just as the pattern says though. I have this thing about non reversible scarves and, since I don't do anything fancy like double knitting or reversible knitting, I have knit two scarves and I am planning on crocheting them together. This should take care of the rolling, and make it a nice thick warm scarf with FOUR dark marks on it!! The recipient lives in Seattle and loves to go to Canada, so I doubt he will find that it is too warm. :)

My ever present "helper". We have finally come to the understanding that yarn is not for chewing, which is fabulous. Circular needle cables are still up for debate, but we are working on it. :)

Finally, a present to me. My first date a few weeks ago with the spinner also ended up leading me to these lovely stitch markers that she made. She gave me several the day we spun. I kept meaning to get a picture and finally managed it. I don't use stitch markers often, but this will be better than safety pins when I do. :)

As an update for the future me, or anyone who might be reading. The first first date, J, was really great, then life ate her up. We still keep in touch and I still have her wheel, so hopefully, once life lets go a bit, we'll hang out again. The second first date, A, and I have been out about once a week since (so 3-4 times now). I am enjoying the time, but I don't really see big sparks there, or even little ones, on either side. We'll see how it goes. It will be nice to have another crafty friend though!! The third first date from that busy week, M, and I haven't been out again. It was a nice date, but nothing to write home about I guess. She did have lovely eyes.

I kind of hate dating. Well, I like meeting people usually, but I really want to reconnect with longer term friends and not necessarily get to know a bunch of new people. However, getting to know new people is where I am right now, so I'm trying to suck it up and go with it.

After all that, know what I just did? Look at Match.com again and sent a few emails. I even got one back already. That kind of helped my mood too. That's nice, so this post can end on a happy note. :)

Woof

Not much knitting to post. Still working on the Stole-that-never-ends. I'm also working on some socks for a friend. I was already working on them, then found out she ended up in the ICU, so, suddenly, these socks seem so much more important...even though she lives in Phoenix and probably won't need socks for about 6 months, if then. :) Deborah Norville Serenity sock yarn in Surf.

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I managed to mail off the baby blanket, hat, and socks to the growing boy, as well as the socks for another good friend. Those were supposed to be birthday socks, but since they are about two months late, we are going with lovely surprise socks. :)

Here is a peek at the Stole-t-n-e. You can also see my helper. What is is with knitters and cats? Or lesbians and cats? I got a cat before I ever was either!

I had another date tonight with one of the ladies I've been seeing, but she isn't feeling well so we rescheduled to Saturday. It is a good sign that she felt bad and requested a rescheduling right? :) We get along really well, this one and I, and I enjoy talking to her. This is not the one who spins, but she does knit. I have been communicating with a fourth lady, but she is being slow on the uptake and her opportunities to meet me are diminishing rapidly, both because other people are filling my time, and because I don't like it when people feel flaky.

That is all for now. Still reading Yarnagogo. It is fun, but it does make me wish I was in a LTR again. Oh well, she will arrive whenever she needs to. Until then, I've got a business to plan and stuff to do, right??

For now, I'll enjoy my weekly quality time with this new lady:

I know, I'd be jealous too. :)

Spinning

So, I spent this past Saturday at the house of my first date from last week, J. She and I had yummy food, knitted, and she taught me to spin! She is also letting me borrow one of her wheels, plus she brought roving too, so I can spin on my own. It is really fun and driving me completely crazy, but that is part of the learning process huh?

Here is my first skein (on top of the lace stole I am knitting - which is taking Forevah!!) It is Alpaca and is Navajo plied. So pretty huh?? No clue what I'll do with it, but I'll figure something out, or maybe I'll just keep it and hold it sometimes. :)

Here is a shot she got of me actually spinning. I generally dislike shots of myself, but this one is mostly about the spinning, so it is all good. I have to admit that I'm pretty good at spinning. Even when it is screwing up, which seems to be happening a bunch now that J isn't there to tell me what I'm doing wrong, I can get fairly even thickness and that thickness is generally thin, which means when it is plied it will not be quite so big. I tend to like sock weight or DK weight, so I really want to be consistently spinning very thin singles so they can even out to a lighter weight yarn. J spins like THREAD weight singles....they are so gorgeous. That is my goal.

What I've been working on the past couple of days. I still can't quite imagine actually knitting it up and having it look good. I sometimes forget that I've already spun and knit an entire project! I wonder how much yarn this will make if I Navajo ply it, which I plan on doing, mostly because I have only two bobbins and don't feel like balling it all up to double ply.

So, second dates for two of the three women I met last week. Go me. Not sure about the third. She seems cool, but is pretty busy. I'll probably text her today to say hi. I am really looking forward to my second date with A tomorrow actually. It is at one of my favorite places with a big outdoor patio. I hope it isn't packed! 

If I can just get the rest of my life to start following my home life (which is amazing right now) and my dating life (so far!) then I would be super excited. Mostly, I just need to get money coming in the door. 

And just to add some adorableness....I just can't get over how cute Sam is! She slays me.

Dating

Date number two went really well. She has the same birthday as I do, though two years later, and she is geeky in all the right ways. It is likely I will have a date with a third person this weekend (if I can figure out the time). I'm not a player, I swear, I just also don't want to end up settling for anyone (or them for me) and it takes me some time to get to know people. The first lady will be making me some food on Saturday and that sounds like a great time. Maybe she will help me spin as beautifully as she does!!

I have been in contact with my first love for a while now and recently had a dream where we were in a submarine and all this crazy stuff happened. I told him about the dream, but I refrained from mentioning all of the making out we did in said dream. I don't want to tell him, but I wanted to tell someone I guess, so hi world, here ya go! Not that anyone is reading this, so I'm fairly safe. Anyway, he had a dream about me, no details beyond I was in it and I had his back. Part of me wants him to have romantic dreams about me, but in reality, I don't want romance with him anymore, but I miss the closeness we once had. Oh well. Being in some communication with him is good. Unfortunately, his partner seems to be rather jealous of me...not that she needs to be, and I find that frustrating. I am so not a threat to her!!

Anyway, maybe I just miss kissing people. I wonder if any of these ladies are good kissers and would be willing to make out a little, but not have it be a binding sort of relationship thing right now? Probably not. Oh well.

I got a phone call, so I got distracted. I forgot what else I was going to talk about. Gonna log off now and head to bed soon! Toodles.