Computer Blowout and Knit Updates

The morning after a thunderstorm, I turned on my computer to a blank screen, and then the smell of burning plastic. Either a stroke of lightning sizzled up the phone lines, or by coincidence, my power supply decided to destroy my motherboard the same night. With the help of a friend in computer repair and $350 later, I'm smoking with an AMD-64 Athalon processor, a K8 Triton motherboard, 1 GB of RAM, and a 450 watt power supply.

On the knitty front, I'm steadily working on Twisty Turns - the first part is the equivalent of knitting a 10-feet long ribbed scarf, and she's about halfway finished now. I'm almost done with the Kool-Aid socks, and the lacy red Hayden top is taking a hiatus until I figure out what I want to do with the bust area.

I'm also working on 1 Fiber Trends felted slipper, while my co-worker is knitting the other one for another co-worker's 21'st birthday. We thought we could knit them at the last minute over a few beers, and luckily Nicol survived, but I had to rip back a few rows. Though the pattern is a short-row nightmare, it's relatively quick to knit, and the coolest clog slipper ever, so I'll probably make several more in the future, sans beer.


I finshed the thick wool slipper socks (beige Eternity in previous photos) with what I thought was my revolutionary toe up cast on, until I read an old Vogue Knitting and found a Meg Swanson article detailing the same cast-on. Basically, the yarn is wrapped around both needles half the number of times of total stitches, then you knit around into those loops, dropping the slip knot, and voila - a seamless cast on. I forgot to snap a photo of those socks before I gave them to a dear old friend on her way to surgery this week to remove some tumors from her liver. While I pray for her, I've also been teaching her two young daughters how to knit.


Over Thanksgiving weekend, I taught my Taiwanese cousin how to knit. It was about the same time last year when I fell in love with yarn. Nowadays, I've been doing more teaching than knitting. I wrapped up my class a few weeks ago, and I miss them, but a January class is around the corner. At work, I'm constantly sharing tips and tricks, from fringing to fair isle. Last month, I taught magic loop toe-up socks to a couple of eager knitters. Last week, I helped a lady change the way she's been twisting her knit stitches for years. Today, I taught a lady how to crochet. I'm sure tomorrow will be another exciting day of improv knitting instruction.


The shop is a mess with new Nashua, Jade Sapphiare, and ArtYarns. Nevertheless, customers seem to enjoy the fiber chaos. Nowadays, the store is constantly changing, as I arrange, stack, stuff, rewind, and of course, admire, all the glorius yarn balls that grace our shelves. I love my job.