Oh geez it has been a while since my last post.¬† So much for the frequent updates eh?¬† Alot has happened since my last update that we’ll just hit on the bullet points.
What I thought was allergies bringing me down wasn’t really.¬† Felt like them but Wednesday morning (um 2 weeks ago now) I woke up with a fever and body aches that kept me down for the remainder of the work week.¬† Looked more like the flu then.¬† I started with my spring allergy meds of once daily claritin and flonase/nasonex so I’m better now.
I’ve been knitting.¬† I even made it to the sleeve on the Boatneck BlueOrangebell.¬† I took this picture on the ferry yesterday.
Sadly, the fate of Orangebell is a sad one.¬† I tried it on last night to check sleeve length and my fears were confirmed.¬† The peeps at MY SnB can corroborate, but I suspected that the decorative elements around the waist would not be so friendly with my post twin pregnancy body.¬† This fear became a reality when I tried this sucker on.¬† Ew.¬† It is a gorgeous sweater and a great knit, but just not for me.¬† I know if I have to wear a girdle or kin below a sweater, it just ain’t going to be worn.¬†¬†¬†I started frogging it immediately.¬† I liked the yarn too much.
This morning on the train it was officially re-purposed into a sweater I’ve been dying to knit since I first saw Kim’s.¬† It is a Knitting Pure & Simple top down v-neck cardigan.¬† I’ll definitely get some serious usage out of this sucker.
Monday was one of those EXCELLENT mail days.¬† My first fleece of the year arrived.¬† Let’s backtrack a tad.¬† For a few years now, I’ve been buying CVM¬†fleece from White Barn Farm.¬† Well last year, a lamb was named for me.¬† Here’s her picture…
Aint’ she a cutie?!¬† Anyway, it is spring and beyond new lambs, it means shearing season!¬† ‘Natch I had her lamb fleece reserved since early fall 
  It arrived Monday. 
My favorite, a black variegated fleece!¬† I might be feeling a little over ambitious, but I’d really love to use this particular fleece to make my first adult sized sweater from handspun.
The other arrival on Monday was this…
Yay.  A box full of bubble wrap and styrofoam!!!  My favorites   Unwrapped and assembled, it became this..
Anyone who didn’t see this coming doesn’t know me very well 
¬† And no, I don’t have three of these suckers.¬† I shipped the no-name eBay purchse off to New Zealand as a trade-in credit towards the NZAK.¬† Also, the Canadian AK is up for sale (email or comment for details).¬† It needs a new home.¬† Soon.
Deborah served as a key supporter on this purchase.¬† We had an excellent email discussion after my post regarding Jessica’s NZAK wherein she gave me the same advice I would have given someone else.¬†
If you REALLY want that one then you should definitely sell the two you have and
get that baby.  Everyone should be totally happy with what they got and if that one is what will do it for ya, then why not?
Amen Deborah and thank you! 
One last thing, Deborah is fundraising for a worthy cause. 
 Craft on!
11 responses so far ↓
1 Sarah // Apr 2, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I might be interested in the spare machine – email me?
2 Kim // Apr 2, 2008 at 3:05 pm
You will love the new cardi! I wear mine all the time. The moss stitch detailing will look so pretty in the orange tweedy yarn. That is a great mail day! New CSM woo hoo (your town & Jessica’s does have to uphold its reputation as CSM Capital of NJ). The Risa fleece looks nice!
3 --Deb // Apr 2, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I’m glad you’re feeling better. And no, I’m not particularly surprised at the new CSM. But I AM surprised that you–who’ve been spinning longer than I have–haven’t finished a handspun, adult sweater yet and I’ve done two and am about to start my third!
4 Deborah // Apr 2, 2008 at 6:26 pm
First, so sorry about Orangebell. She was gorgeous, but at least the beautiful yarn will be made into something you’ll be able to wear without Spanx. Second, I was wondering when that baby was gonna arrive in the mail! Woo Hoo! So excited for ya and thanks for your kind words of my support. I’ll have fun watching what ya make. Thanks for the fundraising support too.
5 Kris // Apr 2, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Hoo boy, I see what you mean about that pattern. That panel draws attention to just the wrong place for us post-partum people out there. I still have a couple of patterns I want to knit from this book but must admit that as much as I loved the way it looked on Jessica, this one won’t be on the list. Can’t wait to see the cardigan in that beautiful yarn, though, and glad to hear you are on the mend. I was wondering what happened to you when you mentioned you weren’t feeling well in your last post…
6 Jessica // Apr 3, 2008 at 8:38 am
Total bummer about Orangebell, but I’m glad you found a good way to repurpose the yarn. Risa is too cute!!
The fleece definitely looks yummy. And I love that we are CSM twins now (and Kim’s comment above made me giggle uncontrollably! Can we get a sign to put on the town border or something that we are the CSM capital of NJ?!?)
7 Ina // Apr 3, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Glad you’re feeling better! Too bad about Orangebell. Risa the lamb is adorable! Can you tell from the fleece which is the forequarters and which the hindquarters?
8 Carol // Apr 4, 2008 at 11:03 am
Too bad about the sweater. The nice thing about knitting is that you can re-purpose the raw materials. Hope the next one is a better one!
The fleece looks lovely. what a great yarn that is gonna make.
9 Lea // Apr 4, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Too cool Risa! You and E are blur, I am green. Who else has a NZAK? What color?
10 Lea // Apr 4, 2008 at 1:48 pm
That was supposed to be blue, not blur.
11 JessaLu // Apr 8, 2008 at 10:48 pm
*jealous*