Sunday, June 13, 2010

I was really disappointed not to be able to change the look of the blog but wasn't willing to spend inordinate amounts of time to play around.  Then I got up this morning and lo and behold, blogger offered different choices and made it easy for me.  I kinda like this one.  It appeals to my sense of summer whimsy.

When I say nothing much has happened this week, I really really mean it.  It was a quiet one.  I think I had a small cold and kept falling asleep at my desk at work.  I got enough sleep (or what I thought was enough) but I would find myself nodding off.  I just didn't seem to have any energy so Pk and I took a "gym vacation" for a week.  Tomorrow it's back to regular workouts.

Yesterday, I spent some time spinning.  I was spinning along on this roving that I bought quite a while ago.  I think it's merino.  I like the colors and have been playing with it for a while.  I have enough just about 4 ounces of it so it may be enough for a pair of mitts or maybe a small scarf.  It spins nicely and my singles are nice and even.  I've got about half a bobbin full.

Last year, I took part in an online swap.  It was baked goods and yarn.  How can you go wrong?  I love both of those things.   I put together my box and sent it off to a knitter in California and I got a wonderful box of goodies from a knitter in Florida.  Now, if you don't know anything about Florida, I'll tell you.  It's hot and humid most of the time.  Even in the winter, it rarely freezes (although there are years when the citrus crops are threatened by cold weather).  People tend to go for bright colors.  This was a long explanation to explain this roving.  It came in the swap box.  It's bright blue, white and some neon yellow and lots of sparkly bits.  There isn't much of it, just a few ounces but it is so much fun to spin.  It reminds me of fairies.  I think I'll use it to make a headband of some kind for my niece, Maggy.  She likes sparklie girlie things and I think this will appeal to her.

We went to Kate's for dinner and World Cup games last night.  Pk has been following the games online.  ESPN3 plays them as replays and he can see the ones he wants.  Last night was the USA vs England and Pk, Kate and Elanor all wanted to watch.  I made lasagna and Kate made desert and we went over and ......no game.  They kept saying the game would be available but it wasn't. ( Since Kate had to work, they couldn't watch it live).  We watched Nigeria vs Argentina instead.  Kinda boring if you ask me but I knitted on a plain vanilla striped sock.

I am on the last chart for the Travelling Woman and I think this is one of the fastest, easiest patterns I have ever used.  It's easy to see if you've miscounted (not that I ever miscount!) and easy to fix mistakes.  I haven't worked much on the legolas kerchief but I'm thinking I'll get to it today.

It's really humid today.  We're expecting heavy thunderstorms.  We've been expecting them all week but except for a bit on Thursday, they've all floated off overhead.  I think today may be the day.  Pk is going to play with the torch  we bought him this week.  It's an MPP gas torch and is supposed to burn  hotter than propane.  He's trying to melt some metal tool so he can reshape it.  Yep, he secretly wants to be a blacksmith.

I wrote and deleted a paragraph on the evenstar kal.  I'm not sure how much I want to talk about the kal but I have a question for those of you who have participated in a designer led kal.  Did you expect a perfect pattern and did you get one?  Or were there errata?  If there were, how much and how did you feel about it?

This was the first kal of this kind I had ever done and I had no expectations beyond the fact that we were all knitting the same thing and would all end up with something beautiful at the end.  I knew the designer was still working out the kinks and I was ok with that.  Other people had different expectations and they feel their expectations were not met.  It has been a heated discussion at times.  I don't want to make light of people's concerns/problems so I moderate as little as possible and just try to keep things civil.  I wasn't expecting this.  There were over a thousand folks in this kal and maybe some issues are to be expected in a group that large.  What do you think? 


15 comments:

Rose Red said...

I like the new blog look!


I haven't done a mystery KAL so can't comment from experience, but I guess I'd hope for the pattern to be well-thought out and designed completely in advance (and ideally tested too). But I'd never expect perfection and would not be surprised if there were an error or two - as long as they were corrected asap. Heck, Norah Gaughn patterns seem to be full of erreata but people still love her!

roxie said...

What fun your new format is!

Not only have I never done a mystery KAL, I have never moderated a forum. Which is just as well since I'm no where near as kind as you are. I would be telling people to just grow up and get over the notion that the world exists to make them happy. Then I'd have to bar them from commenting, then I'd get kicked out of the group . . . Who needs that much drama?

amy said...

I love the new look!

Was this a paid-for pattern? If I'm paying for a pattern, I would expect that it has been test-knit beforehand. I saw some of the drama. I've never participated in a mystery knit but I am the sort of person who would never dream of charging anyone money if I hadn't made sure, to the best of my ability, that they weren't going to encounter problems I could have anticipated by doing my homework. That's my take.

Louiz said...

Nice new look!

The football - I was at a football widow's party last night, and the "boys" were watching the football in another room. They burst into the room where we were, complaining bitterly that less than 3 minutes in there had been an advert break and during that time England had scored. And they'd missed it. I hope you have managed to see it now.

Sheepish Annie said...

I love the new template!!! It's so bright and cheery and makes me think of summer. Which is very nice...

Anonymous said...

love the new template!! and im not happy about world cup results this morning, so lets move on from there. i heard about the KAL, i like the idea of it being a mystery, but it shouldnt be a mystery to the designer, i think it should have been test knitted fully first. but i think if people knew that it wasnt, then they should have enjoyed that they were working it out with her, and expected things to be interesting along the way! i certainly wouldnt expect perfection, people are getting very demanding these days i think....hope you get to a bit more of nothing with your sunday too!

Bezzie said...

I love that first roving---it looks like the stormclouds! We're getting rain, but no thunder :-(

Jeanne said...

I like the new blog - very sumnmery!

I've never done a KAL, but it doesn't suprise me that people are like that - I see it on Ravelry about little things and everything is drama. Sorry - hope it hasn't been too bad for you.

TinkingBell said...

So glad you are keeping well, sane and still knitting - the Mystery KAL sounds difficult - but a sense of humour never hurts!

Loving the knitting - and adore the socks - lovely!

Anonymous said...

Love the new look!

I've followed some of the discussion about the KAL and kinda feel glad I didn't join in. When it was obvious early on that there were teething problems with the pattern, I knew I didn't want to risk undertaking something so huge only to have problems with it. I thought I'd wait til later when it was all ironed out. People who missed the fact that it was being worked out as it went were always going to be disappointed and frustrated, depending on their level of experience. Giving Susan a hard time and attacking her are not the answer.

I do think perhaps she was a little naive though to think that it might not go this way.

Amy Lane said...

Wow-- the roving looks SO seductive! no wonder you want to spin!

And from what I've seen, writing, knitting, whatever, there will ALWAYS be some people who are easily made unhappy, and VERY happy to voice their displeasure. Dealing with that can be stressful... until you remember that they're not in your home:-)

Galad said...

Get that many people together and there is likely to be some drama, but it still is disappointing. Hope it irons itself out.

Love the new blog look :-)

Alwen said...

There are drama llamas everywhere, and when their expectations are not met, they can sure bring the drama!

Anonymous said...

i just read Susan's open letter on how she's been treated. I'm really sorry for her. I do think she would have been wise to complete the pattern first, but honestly people have treated her terribly!

DPUTiger said...

I think the people with issues on the KAL are those that would find fault with a state dinner at Buckingham Palace. You get a group of 1,000 people together and it's impossible to make all of them happy. I was sorry that Susan was so hurt over the whole thing. I did not participate in the KAL (lace isn't my thing) and the abuse that came from a few very loud people was unreasonable in my opinion.

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...