green things and a Stitches report

Lots going on around here. Work has been intense, and as much as my job is not my dream job, it does occupy my time and my mind. I have nothing lined up for next year yet, and it's starting to grind on me, although my common sense side reminds me that I have NEVER, EVER gotten a job for the next school year before July, and so I'd better strap on my waiting shoes and stop bellyaching about this little blip in my employment life. While arguably happy not to think about repeating this year's job again, I do appreciate the paycheck and the freedom that part time employment brings. meh. Onward and upward.

I have been working faithfully on the NRN Central Park Hoodie, and am done with the back and nearly one front. This is an easy, soothing knit. The Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed is a joy, soft, rustic and the greyish yellow (grellow?) is pretty. I'm hoping that I chose the right size to make; I've heard all kinds of things about how this pattern runs small, but I do know this yarn grows a little bit, and I am so gun shy after knitting up Ariann and having it grow into such gigantic proportions. Ariann is frogged, by the way. My sister came down for Stitches South and graciously frogged it and skeined it up. It's been packed off to our friend Niki, as a gift. Niki is a pink fiend, and a relatively new knitter. I will not be defeated by this pattern, and have some yarn in stash that is slated for Ariann Redux, but it's not gonna happen right now. But CPH WAS the perfect antidote for being burned by a tricksy pattern, I gotta say. Here's an older pic of the progress:
It's full-on spring here, with our woods gone green, and more pollen than you can shake a stick at. Every day, something new is blooming and changing, and the weather swings wildly from mid 80's to low 60's. I felt a mosquito the other day, but they aren't back in force yet. Lots of new green things in my house, these days, too.
I took advantage of the Webs spring sale to stash some pretty green Berocco Ultra Alpaca. I have never used this yarn, and am not so knowledgeable about the ways of alpaca, but I love the peaty green color and am pretty dazzled by its softness, too.

A new plant we've acquired, as well; a kind of sword fern. Note the new little baby fiddleheads down in the center of the cluster.

So, as I said, my sis flew down so we could go to Stitches South here in Atlanta. We had a great time. I took a class, "Complete from the Top Down" taught by Barry Klein, the owner of Trendsetter Yarns, and who is one of the top ten men in knitting according to Knitty. He was a great teacher, and the class was terrific. We worked on a little top down sweater. I didn't get very far, but I learned a lot about increasing, decreasing and raglan shaping, which are things that have confused me, in the past, as I've blindly followed patterns without much understanding. Stitches was generally a joy, though my wallet is considerably lighter, after a lot of shopping for spinning fiber. The fiber purchases will be blogged later, as they deserve their own attention. It was fun to see the "faces" of knitbloglandia at Stitches. I finally met and chatted with the lovely Rachael and bought her book. I also spoke with Carrieoke and saw her adorable baby, though it was really just the top of his head, as he was snugly wrapped and sound asleep. Team Ravelry was out and about and handing out Ravelry buttons. I bought a few notions; Kollage square dpns, stitch markers, needle tips and a skein of Euroflax linen that was priced so low that I couldn't walk away from it, especially seeing the Ilene bag my sis was making.

Today is my last day off from an unusual 4 day weekend. Sorry to see it end.