Chickenlips Knitting

Last Wednesday, I was leaving a spinning get-together and was carrying 2 bins of fiber stacked one on top of the other. The entry to the meeting place is somewhat dicey, especially for someone like me who is rather lumpy, misshapen and unsteady on her feet at best. There's a ramp on the inside, the door is partway propped open and just outside the door, on the left, there's a concrete curb-like thing. Well, not being able to see my feet and forgetting the curb thing was there, I tripped right over it and went ass over teakettle and splat! Landed hard on my left shoulder, had the wind knocked out of me, and a few scrapes as I landed on gravel. I was able to get up by myself, but I knew something was wrong with my left shoulder as I could barely move my arm without considerable pain.

I went home and had Michelle drive me to urgent care. It turns out I messed up my shoulder bursa. The doc gave me an anti-inflammatory and painkillers, and told me to take it easy, that in five days I'd be feeling better. Oh no, I thought, a big shipment of yarn and fiber is due any day, and I'm out of commission for dyeing! Actually, I'm not out of commission--about the only thing I can't do is carry basins full of water and yarn to the sink. Michelle's been doing that for me. And the shipment I was supposed to have received quite some time ago? The Postal Service got it from its originating point in Virginia to the sort center in Federal Way, WA, on July 3rd. Only three hours from here. But then what did they do? They sent it to another sort center, in Jacksonville, Florida! Hmmm. Somebody dropped the ball, obviously. According to their tracking thingy, my shipment is still "in transit" so all I can do is continue to wait. By the time it gets here, I should be pretty well healed up. I'm feeling a lot better than I did when it happened, but I still get a sharp twinge if I move the arm the wrong way. Lesson learned: from now on I'll watch my footing!

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A light dyeing schedule has left me quite a bit of extra time for knitting, so I am on the homestretch with the Svale top. Can't wait to finish this baby. A size 3x in DK-weight yarn on US 5 needles makes for a lot of knitting! My plan for it is to get the best photographs of it that I can; I may have to ask a friend to help with that--then write up the pattern and offer it for sale on Ravelry. I'll need to figure out how to size it down, I guess. That will be challenging for me, but not impossible. Stay tuned.

I had a wild hair inspiration this afternoon, while pondering the future of my nearly completed design. There are a lot of books out there for plus size patterns, which is awesome, but how about a website, blog, or online mag devoted exclusively to BBW knitting patterns? I don't think one exists--yet--and I'm intrigued. Dear readers, what do you think? I'd be gung ho for something like this!

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Late Nite Yarn Pr0n

About all I have left to dye, until more gets here, is Titanium Sock. I've been adventurous of late and have created some new colorways. Here's one called "Dance The Night Away". So designed and named because the Van Halen fans have spoken. You may be hearing that song in your head now; you're welcome.

I also played around with veil dyeing, which is what "Salmon Dave" is before I knew about veil dyeing. Here's Salmon Dave, a colorway that's been around for about a year.

Then I tried to do a similar thing in green. I like the results, but may have been over-reaching or getting too cute with the name. Be that as it may, this is called "Tempest in a Dyepot".

I have always loved naming things, so my line of veil-dyed colorways is called "Shock Treatment". There will be a couple more for Sock Summit.

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Feet Don't Fail Me Now!

Bobbie of Tiggywinkle Knits told me of this awesome place called Portland Store Fixtures where I could get mannequin feet to show off handknit socks in Stitchjones yarns. Went there last Tuesday with Mr. Stitchjones, and we got two mannequin feet for a very reasonable price. The only glitch is that they are men's sizes; that's all the store had in stock that day. This Vinnland sock from The Anticraft, which was sent to me by the lovely Andrea in New Mexico, is stretched out a little bit but I think it looks good, you can really see the pattern. I saw lots of cool stuff that I want to go back for, not only for the Stitchjones booth but also for me! If I'm going to design, I need a torso. They have zaftig ones, and I also learned that putting a bra on a man-torso will work great for displaying plus size fashions. So go crazy and cross-dress those mannequins!

Last Tuesday turned out to be a lovely day for me and the spousal unit. He took the day off, and after we went shopping for mannequin parts, we went to Chinatown for a dim sum lunch. Fong Chong Teahouse rocks! I could eat pork shumai and shrimp-spinach dumplings until they come out my ears.

That's about it, my doves. I'll be back when my Svale top is a shiny new FO.

# posted by Sharon @ 1:00 AM