progress

Yesterday I was totally grumpy all day. You may recall that as a consolation prize I decided to give myself the evening off from the business and anything else of any seriousness and instead do a swatch to send off for a baby afghan design. And right around 4:30, I was ready for just that--a long, relaxing evening at home, and preferably an early bedtime. Yet, fast forward to 8:00, and there I was still in my office! Somehow PhotoShop sucked me back in and I spent the whole evening on logos. I did get one that I really liked, and I was so excited, but then when you shrink it down small enough to be part of, say, a Ravelry ad, you can't even tell what it is. Argh!!!


Even at this size, some of the detail is lost. Smaller, forget it. I did use a different version of this lizard to come up with a first draft ad that's not too bad, though. I think I could create an ad that I actually liked in another two to three evenings (to the rest of my life--estimates vary).
After that, I regained consciousness, realized it was getting dark out and what the heck was I still doing at work, and got really angry with myself. Why is it suddenly so urgent to have a logo when I don't even have any products yet?!?!
After some dinner and a tiny bit of chilling time, I decided I couldn't stand not working on the cape, so that's what I did.


I continue to love the yarn. Again it was a race to the finish, but I had enough, though not much to spare. Still not sure what to do about the larger sizes.


These yarns really look cool next to each other--the gold rayon is so drapey and shiny and rich, and the next yarn is also shiny but so textural and cool-toned. I'm thinking that instead of doing two rows of this last yarn in a row, maybe I should have done one row of it, a row or two of the next yarn, a second row of this yarn in a shorter stitch, and then finish the next yarn. Next time I'll swatch first. (Flash back from childhood: "how many times have I told you...?!?!" I'm behaving just like my old programming students. No matter how many times I'd tell them to design the program and then build it, they insisted on trying to build it first. Just like I did as an undergrad. Maybe I'll finally learn.)
Anyway, I'm absolutely loving this cape, and it feels good to be within an evening or two of finishing it. Meanwhile, I'm really excited about The Ole Timey Crafts and Bluegrass Festival, which I just found out about. They're going to have demonstrations including blacksmithing, beekeeping, quilting, and tatting, and they want me to demonstrate spinning! It just sounds like an all-around blast. It's in September. It's about an hour's drive from here. Any other area folks want to go? Knitters? Spinners? Weavers? Crocheters? It would be awesome to have more than just me representing the yarn thing. They're also looking for people to demonstrate any other old-time craft. It sounds like a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, I accomplished a tiny thing on the dyeing side. I wound my first skeins for dyeing (and measured them to make sure they're the right weight and a reasonable yardage). Dudes, this yarn is so fabulous! I know I say that about a lot of things, but seriously. It's awesome.


It's 40% bamboo, 40% superwash wool, and 20% nylon. That means it's got everything: drape, easy care, breathability, and durability. That's it, I've got to learn enough knitting to try socks. Meanwhile, I'm drooling at the thought of what a gorgeous shawl this stuff would make. See, the problem with the workplace in America is that yarn emergencies aren't considered a good enough reason to leave work for the day. That needs to change!