Neomera Knits

I know. I’m terrible at this whole blogging thing. I’d have photos for you today, too, if I weren’t so damn lazy. Oh well, moving along.

I HAVE been thinking about blogging, though. Really. Lots of stuff! I mean, c’mon! Mar had a BABY! (And he’s the most adorable thing that it’s just not even fair.) I’m almost to the last chart on Icarus- took me long enough! I’m excited though. I’m going to knit Sahara, as soon as the yarn comes in the mail. I may get back into socks, dangerous though that may be. I’m considering a pair of nice, warm, knee socks, because my feet get so cold in the over air conditioned buildings of the DC area in summer.

Issue 1 of Spwug came out last week, and was shipped to all the pre order customers, and I am super excited and super nervous. I want feedback, but I also want it to be positive! Such dilemmas. Figuring out taxes for a business that made no money last year is kinda wierd, too. Also last week, I went to New york to do some work stuff with fewer distractions- there’s no internet at Jeff’s apartment, so no World of Warcraft to get in the way. Tuesday night he took me out to have a seder with some of his family. Just a nice, small, quiet thing at an Italian restaraunt, bring-your-own-bitter-herbs-style. It was interesting. I’d never been to one before, and they let me read and everything. Go Go Theatre Training! Annunciate! Read Fast To Eat Sooner! They seem to have liked that last part. Good stuff.

Ok, so no real photos. Sorry. I’ll do better next time. I promise.

Dang. Sidelined by freelance work and Diginin Publishing stuff. The Diginin magazine comes out in April, and I’ve been hella busy getting all that worked out. I have the proof and it looks awesome! I can’t wait!

Not as exciting as other blogs, I know. Actual content coming soon! I promise!

You know, by way of thanks.

One of my favorite artists. Katsushika Hokusai- Iris Flowers and Grasshopper, circa 1830.

For the rest of you, go check out this site to see why.

I seem to be using a whole lot of three letter words lately. So there y’are. Wow is actually a pretty good description of how much I’ve gotten done lately. For one thing, I got my Big Surprise up and running, (thank you to Jeff, and my Dad, and Jamie, and everyone else who helped so much,) which excites me NO end. (go! Look! Give me feedback! We’re still tweaking.) I’ve also been knitting like mad. Lookit all them FO’s!

I really enjoyed knitting up Monkey. It’s a fairly easy pattern to memorize, so no travelling with patterns necessary. I used Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in Green Mountain Madness, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn and this colorway. I loooooooooove these colors.

As we all know, Marietta is awaiting eagerly a wee bairn. (Sorry Mar, I don’t speak German!) Even though I know full well that the young one will not want for knitted warmth, but I couldn’t just let someone have a baby and not knit something! So I got to swing by the theatre today and give her a care package. Something for Maximilion and something for Mom. I think she was pleased.

And one swatch, also from handspun yarn thankyouverymuch!

It’s swatching up to 5 stitches and about 8 rows to an inch I’m thinking of making a cloche hat with it. When I was visiting New York a few weeks ago I had no hat and felt like a total fool. This must be changed. I’ve also picked up Icarus again, but that whole knitted lace thing… it looks kinda like a lump of amorphic dark blue pile. So no photo of that. I am almost to the edging though.

so. Now You’re caught up. I, however, am still behind. I’ve got WAY too much to do! Better get to it!

Ok, short post today, as I am suffering migraines galore. The Big Surprise is ready for beta testing and suchlike. I am still tweaking, but you can, in fact, buy things. Comments are welcome!

http://www.digininpublishing.com/zencart

I am horribly horribly ill. I will write a real post when I am no longer trying to avoid death. oog.

I have been reading the Yarn Harlot’s posts about the Great Disaster Fiasco Event over at Blue Moon, regarding their sock club. All I can really say in response to those clearly idiotic bankers is “Hey! I’m gonna rock out with my SOCK out!!”

A bit rude? Perhaps. But these people clearly need to be taught a lesson. I myself have been on a bit of a sock tear lately. I finished my Chilean Cherry Socks

Knit on busses and in hostels all over Chile. Until I left the second sock (at the heel turn, no less!) on a bus in Santiago. I had to buy a new skein, which is why they look a bit different, color-wise. I also have almost finished a pair of Monkey, from the winter Knitty.

And I’m mostly through the first sock on a pair of Pomatomus.

mmm… delicious sock yarn…

It’s possible that I need some therapy for this sock yarn addiction…

Today I was coming home from a theatre in Arlington Virgina and I caught sight of the Potomac River. It got up into the 60’s today, but hte water was still fairly cool, and it had been raining all morning, so there was a fabulous cloud of mist rising off the water. It was almost too nice to be driving past without stopping. Sadly, it seemed to be time to admit that I have caught another cold, and I just came home for some tea-and-sock-knitting therapy.

I didn’t get very far on the sock part, because I ended up in a long conversation about Mister Rogers. I am a child who very much grew up in the Neighborhood, and when he died it hit me as hard as my own grandparent’s deaths. It was even harder than when Mr. Hooper died on Sesame Street, probably because I understood it better. What I hadn’t realized when I was young was just how frighteningly smart Fred Rogers was. He wrote all the scripts, wrote (or helped to write) all the music (which was all played live, right there in the scene. Including the theme music.) and built and operated all the puppets. He also came up with things like this from King Friday XIII: “Scintillate, Scintillate diminutive stellar orb. How inexplicable to me seems this stupendous problem of your existance. Elevated at such at an imeasurable distance, in an apparently perpendicular direction from this terrestrial planet which we occupy. Resembling in thy dazzeling and unapproachable efulgance, a gem of purist carbon, set solitaire in a university of space. ”

“Efulgance”? who uses words like that on a children’s show? Mr. Rogers did, and that’s one of the reasons I have so much respect for him. So. I leave you to meditate on a few things: Every body’s
fancy. I have always wanted to have a neighbor, just like you. I like you for you. And, of course- I’ll be back, when the day is through, and I’ll have more ideas for you. And you’ll have things you’ll want to talk about. I will too.

Also, Fred Rogers’ mother knit all his sweaters. I’m guessing that she’s where he got his amazing patience from, cause woah. That’s a lot of sweaters.

ok… so it’s been a while. I’ve really just not had anything to say, I think. I’ve done a lot of sock knitting, and a lot of sitting in my room not doing much at all, and that’s about it. I think I needed time to recharge and adjust to this whole not-having-a-steady-job thing. That thing has started me thinking about other things, and what with one think leading to another… well…

I’m going to take the GRE’s, and I’m looking about at schools. We shall see, hmm? Between that and actually pursuing my language studies, my Year of 007 is pretty much sewn up. I want to knit some sweaters, of course, and I have an idea for a World of Warcraft sweater, but there again. We shall see. Anyone else have any fun plans for the new year? I hope it’s a wonderful one for everyone.

Oh, and there may be a fun and exciting announcement soon. The final and secret reason that I haven’t had much to say here lately…

I know, I know, bad blogger. I’ve got some perfectly reasonable excuses, though! And I’m going to skip over them entirely. (besides, you’ve heard them before. Show, travel, blah, blah.)

I did do some knitting in South America. I knit a lovely sock from Cherry Tree Hill yarn, and left the half-completed mate for it (and all the rest of the yarn) on the bus back to Santiago. *sigh* oh well. At least I didn’t lose Icarus, which I also took and managed a few rows on. What was really exciting was the textiles and whatnot that I got to see in Lima (and a few in Santiago, but not as many.) I saw one of the finest pieces of handweaving known- my sheets are coarser than that piece of cloth is. It’s only some 1500 years old, no big deal, right? I also saw a number of Pre-Colombian spindles, which was amazing. They’re so thin! I described them as beads stuck on those bamboo skewers you get at the supermarket for summer kebab-BQ’s. It made me itch to get back to my spinning. Unfortunately, I didn’t see much in the way of yarn OR fiber for spinning, although on one walk my buddy and I collected several handfuls of wool off of fences and bushes in sheep country.

So there you go, the short, short version of my trip for the fiber-inclined. If any of you find yourselves in Lima, I reccommend Museo Amano. They have a room full of fabrics and fiber arts type stuff- and the guide kept opening drawer after drawer of it, to show the many techniques used by the Pre-Columbian cultures of Peru. Truly impressive.