Little Bundle of Joy

I have a child.

Well, actually its not a child in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, its an entity with its own unique personality, moods, and thoughts irrespective of my own. It occasionally throws a fit, has problems in the middle of the night, does something rude to a customer, etc,etc.

I didn't actually "give birth" either. I inherited it, or was saddled with it depending upon which day you ask me. So I guess in some regards, I'm the nanny to our little bundle of joy: website.

Website and I are in the middle of "redesigning", a process similar to preparing for entry into a Manhattan prep-school. The process includes rephotographing yarns, transforming them from mug shots to glamor shots:










It also means my new office mate, "3M", is coding fast and furious trying to keep ahead of the random tantrums Website throws. He's like the child psychologist in this whole adventure.

Fyberduck and I are also developing promotional elements for the web as well. This would be the "dump-little-two-year-old-Maddison-into-music-and-dance-classes-so-we-can show-our-development-range" type of activities anxious parents succum to. So far the promotion includes our Sock club and Gratis Knits. However, I'd like to introduce our loyal readers (both of you) to our latest idea: a SKIF knit-a-long (KAL).

I've been a fan of the design line from SKIF since I first saw "The Matrix". As I watched the movie, I imagined a fashionable world filled with ankle-length black coats, form-fitting pleather, and heeled boots. Of course that really doesn't make the best post-apocolyptic "lounge about the ship" wear, so simple yet stylish knits are a must as well. Something with visual interest yet simple construction. Not too simple mind you. Something that evokes an image of a world traveler: designs that seem familiar but not like anything you've seen before. Designs like those from SKIF. Check out some of the pretty from SKIF's website:














Now, I tend to be a Burgerville kind of knitter. Good quality, relatively inexpensive fast-food (but in this case knitting). Socks, baby wear, hats, and scarves are the bulk of my knitting projects. I've knit my share of sweaters too, but the stash-beast is mostly made up of sock-weight yarns and knitting a sweater on a size one needle is more like a six-course meal knitting job.

The lovely thing about the SKIF patterns are they use multiple fine-guage yarns held together in construction. The effect creates a customized tweed fabric. Very yummy.

I am giddy with the thought of using the remnants of skeins left to languish in the stash-beast. The yarns are probably less than 30 yards each, but the yardage was just enough to keep me believing I would use them in a color-work project. Now they have a definate home.










I love the idea of unisex designs too. My Secret Gay Husband is trying to decide which design to knit.


















The official date for the KAL to begin is Tuesday, July 1st. Progress postings will commence thoughout the month in Blogland and we'll end Thursday, July 31st... maybe with a cat-walk at Sip and Stitch? (Sick, but that's the kind of disease we spread here.)