There once was a sweater Nantucket.
I fought hard the urge to say fuck it.
But I frogged it all back, and started from scratch,
And now I can say that I love it!

I’ve been plugging away on my Nantucket Jacket. It was a struggle, trying to figure out my gauge, but I was finally able to find a needle size that worked (I’m down to a 7 from the called-for 9, if you were curious). It was frustrating, because I didn’t realize I had gauge issues at all until I had already knit several substantial inches of the back. Of course, I had to rip it all out. But I dug in again, and plugged away at it until I found something that worked, and now I’m nearly half-way done with the back. It’s surprising that I’m having as much fun with it as I am, since I don’t usually enjoy cable work. But I can’t put it down. It’s hypnotic!

Nantucket Jacket, by Norah Gaughn (WIP) - click for a closer view

I’ve also been spinning, though not as much as I was before Christmas. That’s due, in part I’m sure, to the fact that I’m not nearly as enamored with the fiber I’m spinning up at the moment. It’s Louet Northern Lights, in colorway Thunderstorm. I was less than in love with it when it arrived - the colors weren’t the same as I had imagined them to be. Or maybe I ordered the wrong color. I don’t know. But I started spinning it up, and I have to tell you, I like it a lot better spun up than I thought I would.

A 2.5 oz. single-ply bobbin of Louet Northern Lights in colorway Thunderstorm

That’s about 2.5 oz. worth of singles, and I’ve got another bobbin near full of the same. The plan is to spin up a total of three bobbins and then ply them all together. I’m actually rather eager to see how it turns out - more than I ever imagined I would be!

So, that’s all that’s new in my fiber life, but I have to admit, I haven’t had much time for fiber-related indulgences lately. We’re down to three people on my team at work, not counting my boss, and we’re entering a very, very busy time of the year, so things have been pushing chaotic around the office in recent weeks.

Speaking of work, though, I have such a funny story to share! The other day, after I arrived home from the meeting in Texas, we were gathered for our weekly MarCom meeting. My boss comes in and says, “I’ve got the funniest story to share with you guys.” Then he looks at me and says, “You’re gonna hate this.” I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what embarassing story from the past week in Texas he was going to share, but I didn’t think there were any. Or at least none that were that funny - none that I wouldn’t want him to share. So he goes on. He tells us that his mother called that morning and kept saying, “You’re never going to believe this!” over and over again. She finally tells him that she was at her spinning class (yes, apparently my boss’s mother spins), and a friend gave her the URL to a knitting and spinning blog that she might like. So she visits the blog, and starts reading about how this girl is in Texas at a business meeting. “Funny,” she says to herself, “my son’s at a business meeting in Texas. Small world.” Then she scrolls down, and lo and behold, there’s a picture of her son! (Did you see the comment she left in the last entry?) It really is a small world, isn’t it? That story made my week.

Aside from work, things are pretty quiet around here. I went out for a gluttonous Southern breakfast with friends T and E this morning. We headed downtown to try out Big Ed’s City Market Restaurant. I was in the mood for exploring the city I’ve lived in for 4 1/2 years and have seen relatively little of, and I’d been craving pancakes for 3 weeks, besides. The restaurant was great - everything you’d expect from a place called Big Ed’s. Yes, there was even a jackalope mounted on the wall. Breakfast was an artery-clogging array of massive pancakes (literally 12″ diameter, at least), biscuits and gravy, eggs over easy, bacon, coffee, and orange juice. Needless to say, I haven’t eaten since. There was even a Dixieland band playing outside. And the weather today was beautiful - Carolina blue sky, sunny, high of 68°. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect day. And this afternoon, I even managed to be really, really productive, something that doesn’t usually happen on Saturdays.

So tonight I’m going to work some more on my sweater, and perhaps start figuring out if I can afford a trip to the Pacific Northwest this summer. I’ve got so many friends who live around Portland and Tacoma, and I’ve always wanted to visit up there. This is my year of the “you want it, go get it” mentality, so I’m really hoping I can make it happen.