Hoo boy, I’m tired. It’s been a loooooong couple of weeks. It’s life in the fast-lane at work, and we’re all busy busy busy trying to get everything ready for our next tradeshow, which starts on Sunday. Yours truly flies out to Anaheim on Thursday to join those who will already be out there working on setup. But there’s little time for rest between now and then - there are press kits to create, presentations to tweak, and much, much more. Actually, “life in the fast lane” is the perfect way to describe how I feel right now. I rushed around this morning doing what seemed like ten bazillion things, and by the time I got home, I was still jittery and wired from all the hurried multi-tasking. I felt like you do when you first step out of a car you’ve been speeding along the highway in for many hours. You know how it is - your body hasn’t yet adjusted to the lack of movement, and you feel like you’re still speeding along at 70 mph. That’s precisely how I feel right now. I can’t make my mind or body slow down. I’m thinking all the espresso I’ve had today might have something to do with it, after an entirely caffeine-free weekend…

I wish I had more knitting to share, but I really don’t. I’m plugging away on the Nantucket Jacket, but there’s not really much to show. The front sections look prettymuch like the back, only half as wide, as it’s a cardigan. I have been spinning, though. If you look back to my post from February 9th, you’ll see a pretty bobbin of a single-ply from some Louet Northern Lights fiber I bought last summer. It wasn’t my favorite colorway, so I was kind of slow on spinning it up, but I did finally finish all three bobbins worth of singles, and I’ve now started the plying process. I honestly wasn’t all that crazy about it, even when it was spun up, but I’m almost in love with it now that it’s in a beautiful hank of 3-ply yarn. I can’t believe how nicely the colors all melded together!

I apologize for the blurriness of the second photo. I thought about re-taking the picture after I found that none of the ones I took were all that great, but it’s dark out now, and I probably couldn’t get much better with my shaky hands at the moment anyway (damn you, Starbucks espresso!)

There hasn’t been much time for knitting, spinning, or anything lately. I had wanted to dye this weekend, but I just ran out of time and energy - this tradeshow stuff is draining it all from me. Once we reach a lull in the schedule, though, I guarantee I will get back on the ball. I’ve been itching to dye for weeks now, and I’ve got all these fabulous colorways dancing around in my head. The skeins are all wound up and ready to go - I just need to find a day where I can set aside a bulk of hours and get down to it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Meanwhile, I’ve been indulging my ever-growing love of audiobooks. I finished Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver while I was in Atlantic City at the last tradeshow, and in the week since I’ve finished The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (which I’d read before, but the audiobook was recommended to me by mom). Fabulous. Now I’m even more eager for the movie to come out this December! I started The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (read by Frank Muller) a few days ago, but it’s really bringing me down. I’ve not read the book before, though I do love Conroy, and I’d heard fabulous things about Frank Muller’s narration skills. I’ve only just started it, but so far it’s terribly depressing, and with all the stress and chaos at work, what with the upcoming tradeshow, I’m not sure I can handle such a serious and depressing novel at the moment. I did, however, just pick up audiobook versions of two of my favorite books at the library: Beach Music by Pat Conroy (also read by Frank Muller - a depressing novel, but at least one I know and absolutely adore) and American Gods by Neil Gaiman (read by Guidall George). My goal is to get those converted over to digital versions and pop them onto my iPod before I leave for Anaheim later this week. It’s a long flight to California, and I’ve got a lot of knitting and audio-reading to catch up on!

In other news, I received an email this morning from a publisher who’s putting together a book of sock patterns, and they’d like me to submit something. I won’t say too much more about it now, but I have to say, that was one of the better ways to start off a hectic Monday morning that I’ve experienced. I never really even thought about publishing any of my patterns… How cool would it be if I could? I tell ya, it’d certainly motivate me to design more! So, once more, keep your fingers crossed for me!

And on that note, it’s probably time for me to get back to work. I’ve tried to do the “rest and relaxation” thing this evening when I got home from work, and I failed miserably at it. So, I might as well get back to all those hundreds of little things that still need to get done! Life in the fast lane never really ends, I guess. :)