Honest to god, what is up with these Old Spice commercials? This probably the funniest and most amazing ad campaign I’ve seen in a while. It really makes me wish I got more American television because I think I’m missing out on some doozies here in the land of CTV and Global. Holy, moly!
Anyway, back to work people! Enough dilly dally!
Holy smokes. Would you be surprised if I said I’ve been sitting in the kitchen on the computer for so long that I had no idea it was getting dark outside until now? This is a pretty big jump (or slump) compared to the last ten days that have been filled to the brim with errands, tasks, projects and other little things that have not allowed me to dillydally as long as I have today. I’ve been messing around on the internet, organizing photos in iPhoto and searching tirelessly for a new WordPress theme. I’ve settled on “ThreatToCreativity” because it’s just punchy and different enough to keep me entertained for now. The worst thing about preset themes like these is they are incredibly boring. They all look the same – main body with a sidebar menu and title at the top. Whoop-de-doo. At least this little theme has a bit of a personality!
Once a upon a time I would have just built something myself but my HTML-ing past is long behind me now. And there is something to be said for convenience.
Anyway, let me show you what I’ve been doing recently:
The big thing is that I’ve finally finished the yokes for the nine-headed sweater. I don’t know why I procrastinated on this so much because in the big scheme of things it didn’t take all that long to do. Each yoke took about 4-ish hours to complete, maybe less if the pattern wasn’t too complicated. Once I arranged them in a pleasing way, I began the task of attaching them all together. Initially, I planned to graft everything together so the entire thing would appear seamless but I gave up that optimism pretty quickly. For future reference, unspun 5-ply wool is not that strong or suitable for threading through darning needles. And don’t even think about untangling any knots that occur because you’re better off with a pair of scissors. Anyway, I settled on a three-needle bind-off (video at the very bottom of the page) because it would be quicker than doing a million hours of kitchener stitch. The three-needle bind-off is a great way to quickly attach two pieces of fabric, however there will be a noticeable seam once you’re done. I’ve sometimes used this technique in place of kitchener stitch on sock toes, a great alternative to the gathered bind-off I usually do.
Anyway, this whole procedure went pretty quickly. I sewed each of the yokes into three strips which will then be sewn together at the end. Right now I’m almost finished the first side of the sweater and despite a couple of false starts, it’s going fast. I’m approaching the construction of this monster the same way most top-down sweaters are built, meaning I put all the shoulders on scrap yarn, cast on a few extra stitches for the armpit and then knit the body. Once the body is knit and sewn together, I’ll attack the sleeves. It’s so much work. So. So. So. So. Much. Work. Honestly, I’m terrified I won’t get the damned thing done in time for the exhibition. UGH!!
And that’s a little bit why I feel like a massive bum sitting at home today even though I know it is important to have a day of rest. I’ve been having problems with my hands this week because of the heaviness of the knitting I’m doing so I guess it’s important I take an entire day to physically rest. But also, I’m taking a break today because yesterday it was my birthday and I figure I’m allowed to stay in my pjs the day after I turn 28. 
While I didn’t take many photos of the party I hosted last night, I did capture the aftermath this morning. There was something pretty lovely about it, the evidence of friends.
