It's that time of year again...

It was about this time last year that I made a drastic change to my hair on a whim. Yesterday, I decided that it was probably high time for me to get it trimmed...and ended up going from this: To this: That's not glare - that's lots of blonde bits. Very light blonde, as opposed to the "caramel" colour that it was supposed to be. It seems that nothing says "Summer is approaching" like being surprised every time I look in the mirror. Why yes, that would be an iceberg behind me in the first photo - and once I get unpacked*, there will be some blog posts about the cruise. To tide you over until then, here's one of the socks that I was working on: *Yes, it's almost 1 week since the end of the cruise, and I'm not unpacked yet. This is only partially due to procrastination - there was a big medical conference that I attended from Sunday through Wednesday, I had knitting nights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then today I was back on call for the ICU... ... not to mention the THREE HOURS I ended up spending in the salon.

I am an idiot.

At 1 AM this morning (about 4 hours after blocking the Consolation vest), I was looking for some worsted weight " I don't like it enough to save for something I would knit for myself or as a gift" yarn because I need it for a short row class on the cruise. I checked in the various plastic drawers the main stash is in, as well as some of the stash overflow sites. Then, I decided to check inside the closet in our loft. There was a bag there that I recognized from the Eurotrip. It contained 7 or so skeins of Lana Grossa Colore. I probably had enough yarn to knit the Sideways Cardigan, but didn't realize it because it wasn't all stored in the same place. Sigh. I'll have to see how much I enjoy the Consolation Vest, but I have a strong suspicion that it will get frogged when I get home in a week and a half. Since I spit-spliced the ends together, it's going to make a hell of a ball of yarn! Be back on the 18th!

How did May get here so quickly?

I got alot of knitting done during my recent week off, but not much blogging. This weekend was spent at the hospital, so I've only got time for a quick knitting update before I head to bed (was up until 3 AM - need sleep). Monkey socks are now completely done - I ended up having to reknit the toe on the second one AFTER I had finished grafting it shut; turns out I knit one too few pattern repeats. Sigh. I think I ended up knitting those socks about twice over altogether. It's not noticeable, but I accidentally started to knit the second sock from the outside of the yarn cake rather than the inside - so technically one of them is upside down. I of course knit my beloved short row heels instead of the flap heel called for in the pattern. I'm thinking of using more flap heels after I take the flap heel seminars on the upcoming cruise. Speaking of cruise knitting - I am desperately trying to finish the Consolation Vest before the cruise: It doesn't help that I'm having to modify the pattern due to a) being freakishly tall long torsoed, and b) not having the same row gauge the pattern calls for. That red bead is sitting at the point I was supposed to divide for the armholes. This means much trying on to determine when to add the next increase/decrease, etc. Early in the week I whipped this up - it's a headband based on a hat designed by Melissa. It's knit out of Fibranatura Oak. The white blobs of purls will become sheep once I do some duplicate stitching. Although it's possible that might get done on the plane to Seattle - I leave Thursday afternoon, and haven't even wound my yarn, let alone started to pack!