Catching Up

First of all, check this out - I got this link a while ago but was so overwhelmed by Susanna and the Bohus that I forgot about it (Sorry Diane!!). I LOVE this picture - full circle, sheep to sock! Go, buy yarn, support local farmers! Diane will be at Fiber Twist on October 27th and 28th (I will be teaching). Look, the sheep are begging you. How can you turn down those faces? I love the colorway with no name, and may have to invest in some shortly. I also love I Shall Wear Purple, in part because I fully intend to. And I have been starting now.
Now some catching up - I can't respond to comments any other way than through the blog itself. This is a huge failing of blogger in my opinion, and one that could be remedied in some way if they chose to, I just know it!! (personal rant over.) SO - I thought I'd take a minute toady to respond to some of the comments left over the last two posts, and update you on the how's of the Bohus that is, even as we speak, jetting itself to my door in kit form. This is only my second kit purchase ever by the way - the other one was for a certain fair isle bag. Back then I had no respect for gauge. I was so novice and so unaware - but I loved the bag and eventually gave it to one very deserving friend (Hi Sharon!!). After much turmoil and debate I settled on The Wild Apple. Although green is not a great color for me, I love the pattern entirely too much to settle for anything else on my first shot (I plan to own more than one.). I also tacked on a pair of Green Meadow mittens, just because. The how is quite simple - I actually EARNED money to buy my Bohus kits and still pay the (miserable, money grubbing) government my self-employment tax. The whole tax thing causes me pain. The amount they sucked out of my advance was scandalous. I still cannot talk about it without feeling a little dizzy and nauseous. The result of my actually earning money, however, is that Mr. Wonderful did not have to sacrifice his bikes. My money, my choice. Lovely way to resolve the issue. We did agree in future to establish some sort of savings account for our various hobbies. I, of course, feel that mine should be weighted more heavily since yarn is, to some extent, work-related. But we'll negotiate that later. Maybe it should be two seperate savings - work yarn and fun yarn? In the midst of the excitement regarding the Bohus windfall, I got an email asking me if I was still interested in the Hitchhiker wheel. Of COURSE I am!! I collect wheels, the way some people collect key chains. It's like yarn. You can never have too many. I managed to work a delightful trade entirely thanks to Mary-Alice - one roving carder (I have two) for one spinning wheel. I am excited to report that by next Friday you'll find my perched on my deck, spinning whatever I can lay hands on. Now I have a REASON to take time to spin - new wheel - must practice!! I'd like to spin up my Black Welsh fleeces that are all in roving and waiting for me. Big deal for me, being of Welsh descent and all. These are even sheep I would own. I love dual purpose animals, whether chickens or sheep.

Tina said: Well I don't mind telling you that I actually gasped. Out loud. Only the dogs heard me of course so it was okay...but still! Whatever that knitted frippery is, I want to knit it.
That knitted frippery is a close up of The Wild Apple Bohus sweater. The garments have a wonderful history which you can read about in Poems of Color. The kits are available from Solveig Gustafsson. You should know that the sweaters are knitted at a gauge some might call "insane". I look at it in terms of socks, since the gauge is the same. Knitting a garment like this at any other gauge would be true insanity. The detail, the drape, everything here is determined by that small gauge. I figure if it takes me a day to knit one sock in a complicated pattern, then after the yoke is done this thing should fly (relatively speaking of course) off my needles. I plan on allowing full and complete surrender to the Bohus when it arrives. I've got my ball-winding Girl in reserve to ball it all up for me. I am planning modifications; I may or may not knit it in the round - this is undecided. I will most assuredly remove any and all ribbing, substituting a turned hem which is my general favorite and add waist shaping to compensate for my short waist and bigger than average hips and chest, which result in most garments making me look like a small tomato of varying color. Knowledge of one's figure peculiarities is POWER.

Blogless LizzyJaine (who needs to remedy that) said: Awesome!! I'm going to turn the wristlets into cuffs for a pair of socks. I now have a goal for Rhinebeck.

And I wanna SEE 'EM!! Find me! I'll be traveling in a varying pack of knitters plus Girl, with a bottle of 2-at-a-Time Sock pins in my red Lexie bag, possibly wearing a Ravelry t-shirt, and more than likely a cowgirl hat (not that I'm planning or anything).

OtherMelissa (also blogless. Let's get on this, shall we!?) said: Haha! You win!

Now, Grasshopper, we do not say that I won. Rather we say that Mr. Wonderful wanted, deep in his soul, for me to have the Bohus but knew better than I (who just do not have a head for these petty things) it was not budgetarily possible. When I received my little windfall, he was more than willing to acquiesce and really should be given a badge of honor for putting up with me in the first place. He married a full-time student, single mother, becoming a registered nurse who decided five years after graduation that she didn't like the nursing game, encouraged me to quit in spite of my saying I had no clue what I wanted to do next except it needed to involve wool, and continues to support me unfailingly while I play around with "...now I wanna be a designer/author/teacher cause it makes me feel good!" Not many other men would do that, and support two kids biologically not his own at the same time. So really, Mr. W. is and always shall remain totally and utterly my hero, right after Number One who spends much time shaking his head at the antics of his youngest progeny, I am certain. I know if I was my own father or husband I'd do nothing but shake my head, smile wryly, and shrug. Really, there's not much else to do with me.

Lastly, Soren (I do not know how to do that with the O, sorry) said: hi Melissa! Do you think that your book will be out in time for Christmas? My mother is already asking me what I want because she's going away in December! :)
The answer is YES, especially if you're in Western Massachusetts, your best chance for getting the book by Christmas is Webs, in person or ordering online or through the mail, hands down. There's a rumor that they are promising delivery by Christmas, and a free pattern AND a signed copy, but don't quote me on the delivery part. Amazon is lovely and cheap. But EVERY pre-order I have placed in the last two years has been delayed, from Brad Paisley's latest to Jamie Cullum's. Always, at least a week or two off from the anticipated ship date, books or music, makes no never-mind, always-always late. There will be a AWESOME, FUN, dare I say kick-a$$ launch party at Webs on December 16th. There will be raffles, prizes, food and holiday cheer for all! I will be signing books, and just generally having a great time, and you're all invited to come!! And may I say that those Anemoi mittens are lovely? And I love the Smile Bird. Very much a smile maker!!

So now that I have talked your heads off, and shown you basically not a heck of a lot - - that's it for me, as I await the arrival of my sauna (yippee!!) and consider what to have for lunch in a home where life revolves much more around what mamma's knitting or writing than what mamma's cookin' or buyin'!!