Step Into My Thimble

I have no swift or ball-winder, so I have spent considerable time in the last few days balling up the yarn I bought from the Fiber Fest. I love this yarn and wish I would have bought about 40 skeins instead of just five, especially the brown I’ve started knitting into, yes, another hat. It’s from Tintagel Farms in Pennsylvania, which I think doesn’t sell via the Internet at all. And this photo does not do the colors justice.

In other news, this is how the idle chatter with my hairstylist (a replacement for my regular who is on maternity leave) started yesterday:

Her: So, do you live here in town?
Me: Yes.
Her: What kind of work do you do?
Me: I’m an archivist.
Her: Okay, umm…
Me: It’s like library work, except with historical materials.
Her: Oh, I would have expected a person to say “I do research in the library” or something.
Me: [thinking only] Jesus, I get so sick of “dumbing down” my profession! Is it really that hard to understand? Everyone’s at least been to the National Archives in DC to see the Magna Carta, it can’t be that foreign of a concept! Blah.

After that we both shut up. At least she gave me a good haircut.

The kitchen curtains I started in June are now 2/3 done. Only one more window to go!

The boys are on their way to Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin for a 30-mile hike. Don’t they look tough?

Me, I’m going to take Hilda (my bike, formerly of Mackinac Island rental fame) down to the gas station and air up her tires. Then we’re going downtown! I’m getting a haircut. After that, who knows what??

Rodney’s going away this weekend on a hike.

After I finished that loopy scarf, I haven’t started anything else. I can’t decide what to do. I need to make one more mitten to complete a pair…and find a pattern for a cardigan to make for myself this fall. I’ll have some time to work on this over the weekend, but no car to get to the yarn store. Probably a good thing.

I like this pattern but I am not sure if I have the knitting chops to do it right. I guess it can’t hurt to try! Steeks, oh my! I plan on making it in a nice dark brown, though the mixed-up yarn in these pictures is pretty. And the picot edging is a really nice touch. If it works, I could make two!

I present to you my first experimental yarn object! It didn’t turn out quite as long as I’d hoped before I ran out of yarn, but I still think it will be great for fall. I have another “lone skein” of a really nice green alpaca that I might do the same thing with…

For the first time in ages, we actually stayed in town this weekend. Sometimes Rodney and I realize we’ve been here nearly a year and there’s still so much we haven’t done in the city of Chicago. So we went downtown and wandered along the lake, ate some lunch, went to Belmont street and felt old in the punk rock stores, and then came home to watch “Volunteers” and “Adaptation.” The second movie was an interesting choice after having just finished that Theroux book…sort of a similar fictional/biographical approach.

We also stopped in to the Taste of Greece in Greektown. It was hot so instead of getting a piece of street-meat, we went in one of the restaurants and let their ever-so-abrasive middle aged waiters take care of us. I like Greek food a lot!

I’ve made miles of progress on the below loopy scarf. Now all I can think of is, what the heck will I wear it with?