No, I haven’t fallen off the planet, at least not yet. Between life, life, and lots more life, well, life has just gotten in the way. Oh, and don’t forget chaos. There has been lots of that as well. Add to that my handy-dandy new WordPress site on which I haven’t yet really blogged (hubby transferred the first one), and well, it was just more trouble that it was worth.

I tried diligently on Wednesday to move an old post from the old site to the new, and spent over 2 hours trying to make WP understand a paragraph break. I would put them in there, look at the preview, realize I’d missed one, and go back, only to find that it had deleted all of the breaks I had just put in there. Multiply times 6, carry the 1, get the square root and multiply by pi, and you’ll understand why I nearly ripped my hair out, and finally gave up in frustration. Last night I tried again, for at least an hour, before calling in Mark to look at it. He tried, got the same results (I could say I told him but I’ll refrain), and eventually decided it was a Safari problem, and we should try again in Firefox. Which we did, and which worked, but after all of this time, I finished up the one post (picture-intense, of course) and gave up for the night. Eventually I’ll move all of the old posts over, but for now they are just dandy where they are.

So, as previously mentioned, there has been a lot of crap this month. You don’t want to hear about it, I promise. But there has been good as well, so I shall share. We had a visit from Mama E to our LYS for a dyeing workshop. I was graciously invited to dinner Friday night with Mama E, Jo (LYS owner), Kim, and Laura, and we had loads of food, fun, and drinks. I presented Erin with the super-secret socks I had made for her (size 11 – I deserve a prize!), and she was kind enough to get a pic for me.

Saturday was the workshop, and 5 of us learned several different dyeing techniques. Here’s Kim painting one of my favorites.

I was on a pink and brown kick, since I’ve been unable to get different intensities of those colors before, so I dyed one sock yarn in 2 pinks, 2 browns, 2 whites, one sock yarn in 4 pinks, and one skein of laceweight in various browns. I love them all, though the brown does remind me a bit of hair.

We of course had to gather outside (and man was it cold!) for class photos afterward. L to R – Carl, me, Ann, Keri, Erin, and Kim. Then of course there’s the gratuitous “me and Mama E” photo – I had to have one. Of course, she looks great, and I just look like I have no eyes and 3 chins.

We had so much fun. Jo has promised a bus up to MD Sheep and Wool next year so we can visit Erin, who has promised to host us in her studio – I can’t wait!

Other knitting going on – I finally finished the shawl for the school auction (with 2 weeks to spare – yay me!). It’s blocked (the new wires were great, thanks Mom!), the ends are woven in, pictures are taken, and it’s awesome, even if it’s not my colors. Some fair-skinned, blue-eyed blonde is going to look fabulous in it!

L to R – Unblocked, blocking, blocked

The purple and green yarn has been named Grape Ape, and the socks are finished (I couldn’t resist). The base is Knitpicks Merino/Silk Bare, and they feel so good. I wore them 2 days in a row and they didn’t even get baggy.

Good news – the Artfibers Golden Chai has finally decided that it wants to be Artisokka Rose (you can see it on Ravelry). Her site, however, seems to be permanently down, so I emailed her, and she graciously sent me the pattern. It’s the same top as Soleil, but with sleeves (I need sleeves – you do not want to see these upper arms, believe me), and it’s started here.

I’m also working on Mark’s Big BrownSocks, which are finally showing progress. This pic is from yesterday – I’ve done probably 2 more inches since then.

The mitts are stalled for now – I finished up the fingers on #1, but they are too tight. Besides, we’re in the 70′s most days now. The other project currently OTN is the “Mardi Gras” sock yarn that I dyed – it striped up in a very cool manner, and I’m really enjoying watching it develop.

OK, I’m off to shower and enjoy the last day of Spring Break by having lunch with a friend. Have a great week!

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