Remember me?

I have been bad about updating yet again. What else is new? Above is a terribly belated picture of me in Maine, on a "pinky schooner," wearing my gorgeous wool/cashmere sweater from Knitman. (There's a link to his blog in my sidebar.) The picture cannot do full justice to this garment, especially since I am not exactly sitting pretty, and the dratted "fanny pack" kind of interferes with the drape of the garment around my middle. [sigh] Anyway, it was cold, drizzly, foggy day, and I was very glad to have that sweater, plus my Noro watch cap and my Fair Isle fingerless gloves. (The gloves came home with me from Unst last summer, purchased in Margaret Peterson's shop, NorNova Knits. I loved that shop, and I loved Margaret. It was so hard to say goodbye, and I cried when it was time to go.)

In this photo, the sweater and I are in the schooner's galley, endeavouring to warm up a bit. Not easy, as the woodstove had gone out, but at least I was out of the wind for a few minutes.
My first-born borrowed this real sombrero from a friend of hers, and since she left it sitting on the dining room table, I couldn't resist trying it on. Wow, these things are HEAVY! I would not want to have to wear one of these as a regular part of my wardrobe. (N.B. -- No margaritas were consumed at any time during the day when I posed for this pic. I was just feeling naturally goofy.)

Beyond all that, I have been power-knitting to finish my Rogue hoodie in time for my trip to Ireland. I managed to finish it this weekend, but my wrists sure aren't happy with me. The sweater is wonderful, though. Big and warm and will accommodate many layers of clothing. It was worth the achey wrists and tingling fingers. (Nothing a bit of Ibuprofen and a few nights in wrist braces won't cure...) I'll post pics sometime soon, when I can coerce one of my loving family to take them.

Also coming soon will be pics of my new stash/inventory room. It is finished enough for me to start stuffing it from floor to ceiling, and so I have been doing since yesterday afternoon. Suffice it to say, I have pretty much reclaimed much of my living room space and can actually access two of my spinning wheels. Since I am in project withdrawal after finishing the Rogue, I might reacquaint myself with my Merlin Tree wheel. It has been waiting for me patiently for months now, while I played with drop spindles. ;-)

I don't intend to give up the spindles. I like them too much. But I like my wheels, too, and was just to lazy to move stuff to get to them. I think I hear some Ashland Bay roving screaming my name...