Tuesday Tens: Ten Things My Readers Should Know About the Last Ten Months (more or less)

It's been a while, and I'm not quite sure what to say. So I decided to say it in a list. A Tuesday Tens list.

1. I haven't gone anywhere, I just haven't been myself for a while. Last summer was tough. I was starting to get back in the blogging habit in October, then I got the the Swine Flu and everything came to a grinding halt. (Yes, this right before the vaccines became available to the general public.) Between that and all the other things I'm about to talk about, I just fell out of circulation. It's not just the blogging. It's the knitting, crochet, spinning, yarn sales, knitting groups, local yarn shops, Ravelry and everything else that goes with it. Some of my knitting friends probably think I fell off the face of the earth. I feel so embarrassed. I didn't know that Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe closed, and I'm only vaguely aware that The Knitting Nest moved. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I just needed a break. Maybe I'll be back even bigger and better than before.

So if you've messaged me on Ravelry, left a comment, e-mailed me, etc and I haven't responded, I'm sorry. But now I'm back. Feel free to contact me again. You'll probably get an answer.

2. Jules and I are no longer together. We haven't been since last October. I'm not going in to details except to say we didn't get along while we were living together. He moved into his own place in October, and then back to California in January. We still talk on the phone every now and then.

3. I'm unemployed again. Not many people can say they've been laid off by the same employer twice. But this time there was no rehire. It happened February 12, and it was the exact opposite of the other lay off. I didn't see it coming, and I was the only one (on that particular morning) that was let go.

I was having a good Friday morning when it happened. Mid-morning my pen ran out of ink and I needed a new notepad. I was finishing up entering stuff into the computer, and I was going to find the office manager to get more supplies when they called me in. They cleaned out my desk for me, and I tried to get to my car as quickly as possible before I saw anyone I know.

But don't feel sorry for me. Between collecting unemployment and a little help from The Bank of Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine and looking forward to a fresh start.


4. I'm cleaning my apartment. Seriously. After lots of false starts over the past few years, I'm really, honestly, truly making progress. The picture above is my "Wall O' Yarn." (It's all cataloged on Ravelry, except for a couple of specific categories.) You can see more pictures of my apartment on Flickr. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to post the "before" pictures.

5. I have contacts now, but the headaches are back. Last summer I talked about my new glasses hurting. It was awful. The pain around my nose traveled to the back of my head and down my neck. It went on for months, until I finally gave in and got contacts for my birthday in December. For a while, all the pain went away. But then in March I developed a headache in the left side of my forehead (the same side as the pain from the glasses.) The pain also started traveling down my neck, so I know they must be related to the pain I had with the glasses. It's been a problem since March. I'll probably blog more about it later, but there are medications, doctors and a chiropractor involved now.

(The good news is that my contacts are awesome!)

6. I may blog about non-yarn things more often. I've had the urge to write more about other topics than what will fit in a Facebook status update. So you'll probably see more non-knitting stuff here.

7. I have all sorts of unfinished business to blog about. There's an FO that's never been seen on this blog, a follow up to the Potholder Swap and all kinds of pictures to post.


8. This is my most recent WIP. I'm calling it the "Back in the Saddle Scarf," for obvious reasons. It's the Easy Drop Stitch Scarf, only wider. I'm planning to add some fringe as well. I'm using Noro Lily from Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe.

9. I feel incredibly guilty about crapping out on the Gauge Scarf Circle. I really owe a big apology to Gauge and all it's customers, especially those in my scarf circle. I never finished the scarves, and a couple have been lingering in my house. I was late, then I was ashamed, so I avoided going, and that made me later and more ashamed and guilty, and then I really avoided dropping them off, and it went on and on like that for months. I'm probably the reason the scarves in my circle weren't finished. And now that I've blogged it, I'm think I'm brave enough to return the scarves in my possession.

10. Guilt has been a huge factor in my absence. It's irrational, but every time something knitting, blogging or fiber related came up in the past few months, I couldn't enjoy it because I felt guilty. Guilty for not keeping up, for being out of the loop, for having big plans and not following up and, in a few areas, guilty for not following through on my promises. So I avoided it. I know this doesn't make sense, so I'm going to push myself back into it until it feels right again.

Scarf Circle Time

I hadn't been to Gauge in ages, so it was especially nice to spend some time there on Saturday.

I came in because I got an e-mail about the store's scarf circle (aka the traveling scarves.) Everyone in the circle starts their own scarf. They knit five inches, put their knitting on a stitch holder (or scrap yarn) and pass it on to the next person. The next person uses their own yarn and knits five more inches. The scarves rotate around until everyone has knit 5 inches on each scarf, and you end up with a scarf that everyone has knit on.

The interesting thing is that I actually don't remember signing up for the scarf circle, but my name was on the list. I'm glad though, because I do want to participate.


I decided to use the yarn leftover from Katie's Beret for my scarf. (I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Amy's Vintage Office.) Unfortunately, the leftover ball had been bouncing around my knitting bag since I finished the beret, leaving me with a tangled mess. I tried using the ball winder, but winding by hand ended up being a better choice.


Ta da!


I considered more complicated stitch patterns, but the seed stitch looked so good on Katie's beret, I decided it would look good on my scarf. I used US size 7 needles, the same ones I used on the beret. I left it at the store for the next person, along with a note with all the pertinent information. On the 27th, I'll be able to pick up the next scarf to work on.


I had some time to hang out while I was there and talk to the other knitters. This pile of mohair locks was in the background the entire time. No one knew why it was there, including the staff. I had to get a picture of the mystery mohair.

Are you ready for OPP? (Other People's Projects)


Alexandra had two Simple Yet Effective Shawls that I fell in love with. She is knitting this one out of Be Sweet Bamboo.


Here's the first one she knit out of Noro sock yarn. (I don't remember if it's Kuyeron Sock or Silk Garden Sock.)

I definitely want to make one of these shawls.


I'll leave you with the swirlies. Forgive me, but I forgot who was knitting this (if it was you, let me know), what pattern it was and what specific yarn it was. I do know this is a JoJoLand pattern, and I think it uses their yarn as well.