So I haven’t had a lot time to post this week – it’s been alternately super crazy & super slow at work, which is exhausting – even during the slow times I wasn’t able to post or I didn’t have photos. I’ve been going to bed pretty much an hour or so after getting home, so no time there either. But things have been good – I do love my job, I haven’t been in this happy at a job in a long time, I’m excited by what I do, I love the people I work with & I’m very excited to go to Houston to see it all through. I leave on February 9th – the day that Amanda is coming to MA so I’m missing meeting her AGAIN – and come back late on the 15th and it’s going to be a busy busy week. And missing Valentines Day, which to be honest, we don’t do much for but still – I spent like 20 years perpetually single on VDay and it’s a bit annoying that I finally have someone & I’m going to be halfway across the country. Ah well, we’ll survive.

This week I got myself out & met my fellow Lowell Knitters! It was very fun, it was wonderful finally meeting Marianne & Amanda after coresponding with them for months now, not to mention the other lovely ladies there. Got to have some wonderful conversations and some good beer & I managed not to mess up too much on my commuter sock, even after the second beer. It’s defintly going to be my regular Thursday stop.

And I came home to this:

New Harmony needles! They got them in last week so I immediately ordered my set. And then I had to get my order up to $50 so I threw in the new Felici sock yarn and a hank of bare Gloss – I will start dying my yarn someday! Total cost $50.16. Hee! And the funny thing is I got my KP orders so much more quickly here – it was here in exactly 1 week, even with the MLK holiday, while in Portland it was always at least 2 weeks. I just find it funny because KP is located in Vancouver WA – literally right over the river from PDX. Okay, I know they ship from OH but still. Anyway, I love love love my needles. Because I now have multiple sets of sock needles that I like, I had to cast on.

These will not be my commuter socks – hence it is not on the Monday Socks post – I want to do a more complicated pattern than I can do on the train. The yarn is the gorgeous hank of Blue Moon Silkie I bought last year – Fire On the Mountain colourway (the only non mill end I bought at Black Sheep Gathering). I’m still deciding on the pattern I want to use – either it’ll be Knitty’s Slippery Socks or Fern Clog Socks that I’ve seen in a couple of places. I think the reason I had to grab this hank out of my stash is because, while I like my neutrals, both my major projects (Cozy and the current commuter socks) are browns & blacks and the weather is so grey…I need these bright colours right now!

Cozy update: Nearly done with the first sleeve.

I tried it on after finishing the body – it fits nice, although I should have known that, since it’s from a book called Fitted Knits, it was going to be fitted on my not so flat stomach. But I do like it, I think it’ll be a good piece to have. I just want to finish it before it’s too warm to wear it!  I think I’ll have the first sleeve done today – it’s snowing & I am in no mood to go anywhere anyway – and at least start the second.  I’m doing the sleeves in the round – I’m not sure why she has them knitted flat but why have any seaming unless I have to?  And I WILL have enough yarn – I have 2 full skeins for the second arm, plus nearly a full one for the neckline – huzzah!

Marianne choose me as a Made My Day blogger…which in turn made my day…so I want to put my choices up. But this post is long enough already, so I’ll hold off until later this week.

Time to take more drugs (my back is killing me, I love being a girl) and knit on Cozy some more.