Hey, y'all. Nope, there won't be any divine fish jokes, but I have to admit that even I didn't realize until now exactly how long it's been since I posted.

Whew!

Things are beginning to look somewhat civilized here at Chez ThreadBear, and if you hadn't figured it out, I've just had to take some (if I do say so myself) well-deserved downtime from this particular responsibility. As many of you already know, we had some significant networking and e-mail troubles along with the phenomenal business traffic that keeps us on our toes day and night. There are now two fully functional, fully networked, and fully Internet-active computers in the house, and I again have full access to my e-mail. That means that all of my backlogged color consultations are now underway. If you had a color consultation underway when all of this havoc started, I sincerely apologize for the massive delay. I'm working through the backlog now, and I'm hoping to get caught up within the next seven days. Is that really reasonable? I don't know, honestly. There's a huge amount of work to be done here, and not all of it is Internet-based. What I can promise you, though, is that I'm on it, and that if you haven't heard from me in a while, you can expect to do so in the very near future.

That said, how has everyone been? I've missed you guys terribly! I really didn't get how much it meant to me to be involved in the lives of everyone around the multiple rings that I belong to. I feel horribly out of touch. I have been doing a little bit of knitting, though.

I'm currently working on a pair of Fuzzyfeet for my Mom in Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals Mountain Majesty. I knit a pair for myself out of Lamb's Pride Worsted for a workshop that I was directing before Christmas and realized that despite the fact that I've helped myriad people through the pattern, I'd never sat down and actually knit a pair from beginning to end myself. Who knew?

When I was in Georgia, my neice also requested a pair of socks out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Jungle Stripe. I've never knit Shepherd Sock before (my Aslan socks are made of Shepherd Sport), and I'm really enjoying knitting with it, but as you see, I've been converted to two circulars. At this guage, my double point skill just falls apart. It sucks, because I really like my double points, but that's the way it goes. At least the yarn slips over these Inox nickel-plated needles a lot faster than it does over bamboo. *sigh* I give. Two circs is better. Happy Rob? Happy Helen? *sheesh*

Oh, in case you're wondering (or even remotely care) my nifty sock tin arrived courtesy of our friend Deb (the Koigu-slash-Noro-slash-any-really-cool-yarn-that-she-can-get-her-hands-on junky) full of her own homemade (not ho-made as so often is the case at our house) peanut butter fudge! Yum-yum! Needless to say the fudge didn't last long, but when we decided to go to a movie with our friends Lana and Josh on Christmas day, I shoved the project into the tin to keep it safely untangled for pre-darkness knitting. Turns out, we sat right behind a young lady who spun around after Rob, Lana, and I started knitting and said, "I thought that was knitting needles I heard. I knit, too. Whatcha makin'?" What fun.

Also amidst all of the turmoil of the last several weeks, we had a finished goods show in Indy. Our merchandise was featured in the booth of the Basile Gallery Gift Shop (located inside the Indianapolis Arts Center) at the 'Tis the Season sale that was held at the NCAA facility in Indianapolis the first weekend of December. We sold tons, and I walked around knitting on a Crystal Palace Tingle and Deco-Ribbon scarf all weekend. Unfortunately, I modified the pattern somewhat by doing what seemed logical instead of following the pattern and ran out of one of my Deco-Ribbons last night as I was finishing it up while visiting with our friends Anne and Martha. They'd invited us to have a little post-Christmas evening of knitting and decompression at Anne's place, and it was very nice. I'd forgotten what a nice, quiet evening of mulled wine and conversation can do for a feller. Go figure. Anyway, the scarf is pretty, but I'm going to have to back up and redo the last bit of edging.

Also currently on the needles, is a Kur-Azy, Man purse from Cheaper Than Therapy. It's a sublime little envelope purse that's both fun and quick to knit. Basically, it's a big mitered block of Noro Kureyon folded over, stitched up, filled in, strapped, and felted. Watching it come together is a real treat.

That one's mine. Eva Aldrich, the designer, was kind enough to lend us a shop model, too.

We love her! Eva also designed the Sari, Charlie hat/mitten set knit from one skein of Mango Moon Recycled Sari Silk and two skeins of Classic Elite Waterspun.

Finally, I'm also knitting another Multi-Directional Scarf from the pattern by Karen Baumer. This time, though, I'm making it in Noro Shinano. I really love the more subtle tones. This colorway is actually one of the most vividly colorful.

Aside from knitting, I've also recently learned to tat. Low Helen, currently down and out during recuperation from severe tendonitis in her left elbow has been restricted from knitting. Ok. I'm going to say that again for those who didn't get it the first time. Low Helen can't knit. That's kind of like saying that Rob can't knit. Ah! Now, you understand. Yeah. Kind of tragic. But she's been teaching everyone who'll sit still long enough to knit, tat, whatever. It's productive, and she appears to be getting a lot out of it.

Oh! Giftwise, I'm tatting a cross for my sister and her husband. I hope they like red. Hmm... maybe more Fuzzyfeet would be in order.

Much love, folks.
Matt.