Wow - it's been quite a while since I posted. Sorry about that. I've just been knitting my fingers to the bone, teaching knitting and jewelry classes, and making jewelry for an upcoming holiday bazaar. Lots to do before Nov. 9 - but I'm still making time to do fun things.
Yesterday, I attended a workshop sponsored by the Dallas Hand Knitters Guild, presented by Candace Eisner Strick. She's got to be the most fun ever. Her workshop was 25 Tips and Tricks for knitting. She has the most amazing one-row button hole. She showed us how to do bind off, then cast back on - all in the same row - and not have either end of the buttonhole have an overly tight or one end looser than the other. She also showed us another variation on the kitchner stitch (I've always HATED having to do the ends of socks), and I GET IT! There were tons of other things she included, and it was an absolute blast. The workshop coordinator for the guild was talking about having her come back for a lace seminar either after the first of the year or next guild year. Whenever she comes back, I can't wait for it. I picked up two of her kits - one is a shawl, and the other is a bolero jacket. They're in her Merging Colors yarns, and they're just too fabulous for words. The shawl is in purples, and the bolero is in greens flowing into blues. I'll have to try and get pictures tomorrow - the camera isn't liking me again (sigh).
I finished a baby blanket I was crocheting, and made some good progress on my "spare time socks" - the ones I take with me for sitting and waiting on appointments, etc. They're coming along well - I'm about half-way done with the foot on the first sock.
Tonight, I picked up a project I'm making for one of our knit shops. It's done on size 17 needles with absolutely wonderful fluffy wool yarn. It's got 3 cables, and we decided not to work the cable tassles on the ends. It looks too weird with them. Honest - I did try them out, but they were ... well ... weird. They didn't look at all right because they twisted around so much that you couldn't recognize the cables for what they are.
We got the first cold front of the season in North Texas last night, and it was cool and rainy all day today. It's supposed to keep dropping in temperature, but the rain is (hopefully) gone for now. Winter is different in Texas, and the Dallas area seems to be most unpredictible of all. But I'm glad it's getting here - we've definitely had more than our share of heat this year.
I'm off to knit more on the strange cable scarf.