YOP: Week 18

     Its been an eventful two weeks, not in a good way either.  I'm not really ready to go into all the details but the job my husband was supposed to start fell through.  I had already given notice at my second job, but a really great opportunity dropped into my lap instead.  More on that later.  My full time job is keeping me extra busy with a ton of new tasks and projects.  I'll be starting the validation process for yet another new instrument later this week.  (That's number three if anyone is keeping score.)  

    Sadly, I've gotten a case of knitters block or executive disfunction, whatever it should probably be called.  I want to knit, I just have so many potential projects at my disposal I start none of them instead.  I did seam Killer Queen Cowl yesterday, finally.  I also washed, partially dried and blocked both Killer Queen and That Nice Stitch Bandana.  They are both still drying.  Final pictures to come later.  Last weekend hubbs and I went to pick up some supplies for a couple of his never ending house projects so while we were there we picked up some 3/4 inch PVC, Ts and end caps.  He helped me cut the pieces and I assembled my very own Niddy-Noddy.  There is quite a bit of length left over so I can cut more sizes for the center as well to make longer or shorter hanks as well.  Excuse the terrible photo but here she is:

The center is 18 inches which gives me a 62 inch hank circumference.  That's the widest my current swift can accommodate so I'll probably do a 12 inch center shaft as well and then a 4 foot one to make super long hanks for my various dying experiments.  I used this immediately to re-hank my rainbow easter yarn.  

The colors came out so bright and fun looking.  I want to find a project and knit some of this up pronto.  I want to see if it actually is self-striping like I intended.  Even if its not, I think it came out awesome and should be fun to knit. 

    My husband has been building me some boxes for raised beds.  Its been rainy and dreary here but we hope to fill the beds with soil and start planting seeds within the next couple weeks.  I also have some rhubarb plants to put in a permanent bed and my mother has some strawberry plants for me to transplant to a permanent bed.  

That's more or less it for me.  The tulips from Grandma's estate are blooming, I wound up with yellow, orange and a mauvy orange color.  I'm interesting in seeing what the other ones wind up being.  They are further behind, since I just put them in the ground a few weeks ago; they may not bloom this year.

Until later.

-Q