The view from up here

I finally took some picis at work this week so without further ado,

My cubical, which is actually quite huge.

View from my desk including glare.

The rest of these are from the 19th floor, which is our lunchroom & outdoor patio/smoke pit.

Our old court building which became the art gallery when this was built:

Some gargoyles on the hotel next door:

A pretty pink building I walk by everyday:

And a couple more views from up high:

And that is where I spend my weekdays now. I’m starting to get the hang of the job, I think.

Work continues on the Mr Greenjeans. I’ve got about 3 inches of the cabling on the body done new and the Cottonease looks good in the cables.

Wow, that’s really green

Why yes it is and that makes me smile a bit.  The teal shirt is probably kicking that green up a bit too as the colour isn’t quite that vibrant.

So far so good.  A couple more increase rounds and I’m ready to cable and rib.  Can’t wait.

Not much else going on around here.  I feel like I haven’t been home in weeks.  It was one of those busy weeks that slid right into a busy weekend.  I have my last spinning class this week (sad!) and that’s all I’ve planned.  I need some quiet time.

Nathan has been working on making me a spinning wheel.  He had mad a prototype a few years ago then it just quietly hid in the basement.  We brought it out on Friday and he’s been tweaking and tuning it all weekend.  It’s pretty cool and it doesn’t cost $715.  I really like the Ashford Joy and that’s about how much she runs.  I’ll get a pici of it this week and show it to you.  He’s got it in pieces right now.  Hmmm, I bet he could make me a niddy noddy too.  Sweet.

I also frogged the Monkey socks.  My purl stitches looked so nasty that no amount of blocking was going to make them nice.  Instead, I’ve cast on the Charade socks.  Really nice pattern with the added bonus of being simple so I can work on them on the train to and from work.

And this book just might be the most amazing book I’ve ever read.  Phenomenal.  It’s really made me pay much closer attention to so many details and “small” things in the world.  Amazing levels of knowledge and Oh moments and it’s really well written.

Attention span of a gnat

The new fall Knitty is up, in case you didn’t know.  I was smitten and cast on Mr. Greenjeans right away.  I’m using Cotton Ease in lime.  Here’s how it’s going so far:

Sorry the picture is a bit dark.  We’ve entered the rainy season her in southern British Columbia.

This is the first time I’ve used Cotton-Ease and so far I like it.  Also in the picture are a pair of sock blockers I found at the Salvation Army a few weeks ago.  So cool and only 50 cents each.

I got an email from Knitpicks about the new Harmony needles last week.  Has anyone used them yet?  I am having a terrible time getting gauge for my Kauni cardigan and a friend suggested I try wood needles.  She says they have more grab and stretch out the floats better in fair isle too.  I thought I might order a couple of the Harmony needles and give them a try but I was wondering what others thought of the quality and such.

Dinner time and then a maybe a movie.  Watched Ocean’s Thirteen last night.  Meh.  Should have stopped at Eleven, the last two were not just not very enjoyable.

Even with plague, progress is being made

A wicked cold is running amok through our household. Damn unwashed masses on the transit system. I’m not touching any surfaces next week when I’m on the train. I don’t care if I fall down. I’m not getting anymore cooties. I’ve been sick since Wednesday and hubby started yesterday and Vanessa today. I think we’ll all just pass it around to each other for the next week.

Finally got to the fabric store today. Took the completed Larger than Life bag with me to select the colours for the lining. I was thinking I would be all tasteful and muted. Then I realized that I was lining a Granny Square bag and that might just be a little bit 1967. So I got these:

I’m going to do a double thick inner bag, each with a different pattern. Kind of screams at you doesn’t it? Excellent, that’s what I was going for.

Here’s a pici of my transit knitting project. My So-Called Scarf in Manos. Colour is called Melilla, scroll waaaaayyyyyy down. There isn’t a colour number on the website. I love this stuff. Amazing soft. I’m also working on the Monkey socks this afternoon.

Oh! And I almost forgot. I had my first spinning lesson last Wednesday at Birkeland Bros. It was wonderful. I really liked it. I played on a Ashland Joy wheel. So nice. Next week I want to try the Louet because I’m thinking that’s the wheel I want to start out on. Not too expensive, simple, and most importantly Stella can’t get her head caught in the spokes. Here’s a pici of the wee ball of yarn I created. How cute is that? It’s about the size of an orange.

It’s 100% wool by Shades of Narnia. I couldn’t find a website, if you google you can find an email address.

Recap

Whew, that was a quick week.  The new job is great so far, the commute not so bad.  We’ll see what happens with that on Tuesday though when all the students go back to school and the volume of humans jumps up exponentially.

On the August UFO front, I sort of didn’t do fabulous but I did get some stuff done.

First up, Larger Than Life Bag.  Crochet & assembly is complete I just need to find her a nice fabric and make the lining.  I might hit the fabric store this weekend, we’ll see.  I was going to use drapery ties for handles but that would be too shiny and posh so I’m going to hit the thrift store and find and old leather purse or bag that I can cannibalize for the handles.  If that doesn’t work I’ll see if I can find two old narrow leather belts, or one wide one and make it into two.  I want it to be hippie dippy and I think old leather will be just the ticket.

I really like the striped gusset too.  Makes me happy.

Poppy didn’t quite get finished but pretty darn close.  I finished the second sleeve and really liked it so I ripped back the bad one and have re-knit 1/2 of it.  Won’t be long now.  I’m MUCH happier with it now.

The Monkey socks for Vanessa, so sad.  I’ve finished one repeat of the pattern on the first sock.  I suck!  They are next on my hit-list though so don’t despair too much ‘Ness.  Maybe for Hallowe’en? 

And, seeing as it’s September and completely acceptable to talk about hockey again, my boy got re-signed for another season!  Whoot whoot!  That almost makes up for the fact that the new uniforms are really not very good.  I was sooooooo hoping that orca crest would be gone, but no.  Oh well, at least they are back in the traditional colours.