(That sound you hear is me, crashing upon re-entry to the real world.)
Today was my first day back to work after my wonderful fiber-filled weekend. All the issues and problems I was dealing with at the office did not magically disappear while I was gone. Imagine that. Reality bites. But, such is life. And it is actually not all that bad. Nothing too dire occurred while I was away. And hey! Friday is a federal holiday, so this is a three-day week.
But still. I had trouble concentrating at work this morning because I kept looking out my window to see if the body lying on the median strip was a homeless person sleeping or a dead body. I swear, the guy didn’t budge an inch for at least six hours. I finally saw him move in the late afternoon.
Ah, life in Washington.
So. Anyhow.
Last night I cast on for a Mermaid sleeve, so I’d have something a bit more portable to take for commuter knitting. Here it is:
I’ll not give you a progress pic of the body of Mermaid, because it’s not too far advanced beyond what you saw yesterday. Why? Because fired up with enthusiasm from the weekend, I actually did a little spinning yesterday.
This is a mixture of all sorts of stuff — several different wools, angora, silk — that I bought on eBay ages ago. I brought it and another pile of roving of similar composition (but in purple and brown) to the retreat for L-B and me to spin with. We spun only Black Welsh Mountain roving, though. Funny, because we both brought some fun colorful stuff with us.
We split up the rovings we brought between us, so I decided to spin up the pink stuff I brought home. I’m pretty proud of it, because the composition made it hard for me to spin. I think I did a fairly even job of it, though I did leave some slubs in it.
I am extraordinarily proud of it because it’s the best balanced yarn I’ve spun so far.
It does this beginner spinner’s heart proud. Okay — one more picture. Humor me, please!
More Knitting
I did start another project, even though I’m less than halfway through Mermaid — the Frostrosen Mittens.
One mitten is just barely started, as you can see.
I started it on Sunday morning at the retreat. The Sunday morning session was called “New Beginnings” and the idea was to cast on something new and make it something for yourself. So I figured the Frostrosen mittens would be the perfect project.
So during this session Clara suggested that as we start our new projects, it might be fun to ask invite other knitters at the retreat to knit a stitch or a few in your project. This mitten was perfect for that, as the cuff starts with garter stitch ridges — nothing too complicated as I took it around the room asking people to put in a stitch or two.
So this little mitten has the work of at least 30 amazing, talented, wonderful women in its cuff. I’m going to make this the left mitten because I am left-handed. And that way I’ll remember that this is the mitten that has all the good retreat vibes in it!
The Liam Sweater
Lelah said:
WOW- now LB is a *really* great friend. 
Was it a “just because” present, or for an occasion?
L-B knitted my Liam sweater for me as a gift to commemorate my book, so I could possibly wear it on a book tour. How cool is that?!
The First Rule of Knit Club
You don’t talk about knit club.
L-B and I were both very much amused by Karma’s comment:
As for this LB person, I’m beginning to think that she is your own alter-ego, sort of a Fight Club sort of thing. You two seem to be knitting the same projects quite often, and you are always sharing progress photos for “her”.
Heh! There are over 60 people who saw us both last weekend who can attest to the fact that we are two different people.
Or are we?
Lucy can tell her Momma and her Auntie L-B apart!
