Somethings Bad, Somethings Relly Good.

There are things about yesterday that mde the whole entire day miserable.  I cut my finger as I was ripping a seam while repairing some stuff.  Not a big cut but it is on my middle finger, which I appaently use eash and every time I do a knit two together.  Lace with a bandaid is problematic.  I haven't tried any other knitting, but it may well be socks is about all I can knit for a few days.

Then, as I was repairing the same articles, my sewing machine gave up the ghost.  Or it will very soon.  It sounds like two very large metal parts are bashing together or as if Thor's hammer is falling inside the housing.  This is a very bad sound and means my machine is out of alignment again to the point where repair would be needed.  The last time I took it in for repair because of this sound, the technician came out and talked to me and told me that that was the last repair, that it was as far as it could go to get it back to proper alingent.  I had been waiting for this day but it has held off for many years because I wasn't sweing very much.  The quandry is do I take it in and see if there is more they can do, or do I just call it and purchase a new machine.  I don't need the bells and whistles so it doesn't even have to cost very much. I don't see myself sewing tons of heavy fabrics.   

I spent my entire day trying to sort that out and ended up purchasing an inexpensive new machine and the other will go into storage till I have space and time and funds to drive into the city and see if it is repairable.  For now, I really need the clothes.

The day improved dramatically at the end.  Keith picked up my mail.  My package from Midknit Cravings has arrived.  

I am not much a lover of speckles.  It just wasn't my jam.  The entire speckle thing of the last several years along with its associated speckle gradient garments left me cold.  A 'fade' was not my thing at all.  

Don't get me wrong.  I love a good gradient where the colours flow and get softer and gentler, or richer and darker, but speckled gradients just looked too busy.  Until I saw a post from Midknit Cravings with Rum Raisin, My Two Cents and  Shriaz.   I could hardly breathe at the gorgeous richness and depth of the colours.  And the warmth of them.  I started looking at their yarn sets, dreaming of stunning shawls with such loveliness.  

I have dreamed at their website before but never really paid attention to the speckled yarns.  They have such glorious tonals.  They seem to have mastered the trick of depth and intensity to hand dying.  

but when I saw the way that Rum Rasin looked, I thought it time to look at more to see what was what.   Maybe I was a speckle with solids or tonals person.  

And when I saw Pesto, I was hooked.

Pesto is the most delicate little speckles.  Tiny spots of greens and teals and intimate tiny dots of something almost garnet.  It had something that the other speckles did not have.  Or maybe it was just the colours and I had just ordered some really lovely olive fabric for pants.  I do not know, but I neeeded it.  I needed it in a seriously goofy way.  The debate began.  Do I want a whole speckle garment or do I want a speckle and blocks of other colours ala the Run Rasin Shawl?  I played around with ideas all afternoon.  My tax refund was just returned so I had leeway. I came across several patterns and spent a day or two really thinking about things.  It has to be right for a purchase like this. 

I ended up with two designs short listed, Neotsu by Shellie Anderson and Sun Dogs buy Laura Aylor.  I kept coming back to Laura Aylor's Sun Dogs design.  I have some stash ideas for Neotsu.  

Laura is one of my favourite designers.  She has a way with the simple things that just feels good to me.  Sun Dogs had a split hem right at the center back that is unique, simple, but different than everyone else is doing.  It has that more causual shape that I am really coming to love too and could be a longer garment or a neatly cropped thing.  And as a finishing technique,  a garter stitch border bind off appeals (I may have been influenced by my pleasure working my Shetland  shawl edging that day).  So a sweater quantity it is.  My next problem is, this will need a cowl.  Something lovely and greenish with mohair.  Yum.

I had also promised myself that if I did a purchase from them, part of it would be some of May's colour of the month, Dancing Skies.  I bought two.  I may go back and buy another of this limited colourway. 

I have a plan you see and would really really hate to run out.  

I had trouble getting to sleep last night what will all the excitement of the day.  I thought it would be a good day to sleep in but at 4 a.m. I was wide awake.  With no knitting.

I am printing patterns and putting them together today.  If the day still has time, I am taking the rest of my cloth stash out and will tag it for how much is there.  If by chance the day permits, I am going  to cut out a top or two, just for fun.  I intend to be ready when the new machine arrives.