Coming (almost) Clean

Right now, as I look at the calendar, the past year seems simultaneously one of the longest and shortest of my life. I can't believe it's a day away from December, and I know I owe you all an explanation for disappearing off the face of the Earth.

I came into the shiny new year of 2011 with the best of intentions, planning hard work and efficiency. Life kind of derailed me, I have to admit, but I am so not here to complain. So many people are going through so much, and I am so freakin' lucky that I am knocking on wood every minute or so as I write this.

A very few of you know about the health issues in my family that have been ongoing, but that's all I can really say. It isn't my story to tell. What I can say is that sometimes the cure prescribed turns out to be just as bad – or worse - than the ailment was in the first place, and once you start down that track it is difficult to stop and get bearings. This past year was one filled with little niggling issues, like a trail of dominos. Things that could turn out to be as bad as they could possibly be, or innocuous in and of themselves. Wake-up calls. One after another, and difficult to ignore. So, instead of spending that extra hour working on my pattern or my pins or my knitting, I put it down. Because the one thing that I finally realized was that I have it really really great right now. These are the Good Old Days. And I am going to enjoy each and every moment that I can with the people I love.

I am so lucky to be able to say that, although things have been unpleasant and long lasting, they are livable. And probably not even chronic in the end. :knockonwood: Everything just takes longer, if you know what I mean. It's one of those years – we had one about 5 years ago too – when we joke about having our own wing at the emergency room. And right now, I am in the happy position of looking back on it and believing that we are moving into a calmer period of time.

Looking back on those problems also makes me realize just how utterly behind I am in everything at this point, all of my plans having gone by the wayside. Although I have my muses designed and sketched up, most likely I will not make my deadline of having them all knitted by the end of the year. I can't even begin to tell you how upsetting that is to me. The sad thing is, I was stressing so terribly about it that I wasn't even enjoying the knitting of them. As soon as I accepted it and began mentally writing this tome of a blog post, though, I felt a sense of relief and started enjoying the process again. As Mr. Romi says, I was too "wrapped around the axle." Now it's time for me to move on and concentrate on finishing them. But you all know...they have to be perfect. :) I hope you can all bear with me, and I thank you for your patience.

Speaking of the muses - I have finished another one. Would you like to see a few little pictures to tease you?

This one is knit from Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Sundown Orchid (I could only find some here; others seem to be sold out). I love the cable that runs down the back. It's a little asymmetrical, but not too much.

There's a little bit of shoulder shaping using a mock cable in the upper stockinette portion, and it moves straight into the border.

There's some twist to the edging, and a little eyelet.

But I mostly love the border.

It ruffles a little.

And I just want to touch that rich texture every time I see it. I am thoroughly enjoying passing this one by on the mannequin every time I walk into my studio.

Remember when I told you that I had a secret project I am working on? I had planned to have that one all ready for you too, to knit for the holidays. But I am terribly behind, so instead of getting the whole thing out as planned, I am working on getting one of the projects to you for some fun holiday knitting.

The secret? I'm putting together an eBook called "Doily Heads" and filled with lacy hats. (There's a Ravelry group by the name of "Doilie Heads" btw, and I made sure they were ok with the title first).

I'm going to be releasing a tam, and hopefully some wrist warmers and perhaps a cowl to go with, but really? I have been sort of over (under?)-shooting the mark lately, so I will just say the tam for sure. One of the versions is in this lovely black alpaca from Misti.

I decided to line it with some magenta Silk Cloud from Shibui.

It keeps your head warm if you happen to live in Canada and not California. This is the inside.

And the top. I showed everyone in my knitting group and they were wearing it inside out. :)

But I also have an unlined version. Don't you think the pattern looks like a Poinsettia? I do. So I dug out some gorgeous red Sunna in Garnet from Spirit Trail Fiberworks.

I love the stitch definition.

And the color is perfect!

It's a nice light hat for a day with a little chill in the air. Or for someone with a hot head. Hee.

I love the way they turned out!

The pattern is in testing and will be available soon.

I feel like my post is so long already, but I can't leave this out. Jürgen in Germany sent me some beautiful hand spun silk!

Try as I might, I couldn't capture the luster of the yarn. It positively glows. And look at how incredibly even it is! He did this on a drop spindle!

So gorgeous....

Thank you Jürgen!

Oops! One more thing...Monika asked about the black background in the photos of Melpomene and Cåliz. In order to get a black background, I photographed outside in direct sunlight, with the shawl in full light, but against a background that was in shadow, and I metered on my subject. The shadow area in my photos is not actually all that dark in real life. There's a grey stone wall and trees back there (but most importantly, they were in shadow). I also positioned the mannequin rather far away from the background - about 8 feet. I shot with a macro lens at f2.8. I Googled around, aNd Step 4 on this page is a nice and simple explanation. It's really fun to do with flowers. :)

Well. Off to bed with me. I'm feeling too energetic right now!