I never intended to leave those pictures for so long as the first thing blog visitors would see ... the more I looked at them, the more disturbing they got. But I've gotten very busy in the last week, and had no time to post anything new. Barely any time to knit.
To backtrack, last weekend my bother, sister-in-law, and nieces came to visit, which was awesome. My niece had been to London for New Year's Eve, and she brought me a very cool present - mead from the Globe Theater.
Now, I don't generally care much for mead, and have rarely tasted any I really liked. But I have to tell you what ... this was good mead. I really liked it! Thanks, Ashley - you rock! Internationally, even.
Meanwhile, other distractions. I'm going to be recording a CD this year. Yeah, I don't talk much about it, but I have been playing guitar and piano and singing for most of my life. I've been in a couple bands, which never lasted long because I hate - absolutely detest - performing live. Last year we discovered that technology has advanced to the point where, with minimal equipment, one can have a very functional recording studio in their own home. If you have a decent computer and other equipment (microphones, a good mixer helps) and you download the free Audacity - a totally awesome program I thoroughly recommend! - you can do a lot in your own home.
Initially that's what I was planning to do. But I'm not very technically proficient, and it took more tweaking and fiddling than I was happy with. Of course, I'm an excessive perfectionist, which doesn't help. I have a friend who has a recording studio - a real one, he does this for a living - and I've opted to pay him to do the mechanical tweaking for me. So I'm going to be recording the CD at his studio over the next - oh, probably year or so. I'm slow, and since it's pay by the hour and money's tight, it will take awhile. But that's okay ... it'll be worth it, and when it's done, it'll be phenomenal.
Anyway - now that my boyfriend's back to work and there is some cash flow again, it got to be time to start scheduling the recording sessions ... and with that came the panic of "I'm not ready!" I began to practice a lot, which is what has taken up much of the week.
But the home recording still serves a useful purpose. I found that recording practice versions of songs, even if they're not the final CD version, is a very helpful thing ... to be able to listen analytically to what I'm doing, how different things sounds, what works and what needs work, is a great thing. So I've spent much of the week in my erstwhile home recording studio.
Yeah, it's pretty trashed. Again. I had it all cleaned up once, but as soon as I start working up there, it just goes to hell. I guess that's the curse of creativity - mess. I can either play, or clean. Guess which I usually choose?
But there is some knitting news. Sock progress:
I don't think it's going to be done by the end of March, unless I get a lot of work done on it today and tomorrow. But that's okay - it's almost done.
Then I have this to start on!
Sorry for the blurry picture. I don't know what was wrong with me. This is that simple yet compelling shawl I got obsessed with, so I ordered the pattern and the exact yarn shown in the picture (because I love that shade of purple), and it's all here ready for me to start.
This will be interesting. I've never worked with lace-weight yarn, and I've never knit a lace pattern out of yarn this tiny. The only other shawl I made was with sport weight yarn. I'm looking forward to this.
Although all of this has completely halted work on both Celtic Icon and the pirate coat. And the pirate coat is due for its debut at the end of May. Hmmm. Balancing all this out is going to be interesting.
Last, but not least, I had to share this ... have you ever seen a more comfortable dog?
To backtrack, last weekend my bother, sister-in-law, and nieces came to visit, which was awesome. My niece had been to London for New Year's Eve, and she brought me a very cool present - mead from the Globe Theater.
Now, I don't generally care much for mead, and have rarely tasted any I really liked. But I have to tell you what ... this was good mead. I really liked it! Thanks, Ashley - you rock! Internationally, even.
Meanwhile, other distractions. I'm going to be recording a CD this year. Yeah, I don't talk much about it, but I have been playing guitar and piano and singing for most of my life. I've been in a couple bands, which never lasted long because I hate - absolutely detest - performing live. Last year we discovered that technology has advanced to the point where, with minimal equipment, one can have a very functional recording studio in their own home. If you have a decent computer and other equipment (microphones, a good mixer helps) and you download the free Audacity - a totally awesome program I thoroughly recommend! - you can do a lot in your own home.
Initially that's what I was planning to do. But I'm not very technically proficient, and it took more tweaking and fiddling than I was happy with. Of course, I'm an excessive perfectionist, which doesn't help. I have a friend who has a recording studio - a real one, he does this for a living - and I've opted to pay him to do the mechanical tweaking for me. So I'm going to be recording the CD at his studio over the next - oh, probably year or so. I'm slow, and since it's pay by the hour and money's tight, it will take awhile. But that's okay ... it'll be worth it, and when it's done, it'll be phenomenal.
Anyway - now that my boyfriend's back to work and there is some cash flow again, it got to be time to start scheduling the recording sessions ... and with that came the panic of "I'm not ready!" I began to practice a lot, which is what has taken up much of the week.
But the home recording still serves a useful purpose. I found that recording practice versions of songs, even if they're not the final CD version, is a very helpful thing ... to be able to listen analytically to what I'm doing, how different things sounds, what works and what needs work, is a great thing. So I've spent much of the week in my erstwhile home recording studio.
Yeah, it's pretty trashed. Again. I had it all cleaned up once, but as soon as I start working up there, it just goes to hell. I guess that's the curse of creativity - mess. I can either play, or clean. Guess which I usually choose?
But there is some knitting news. Sock progress:
I don't think it's going to be done by the end of March, unless I get a lot of work done on it today and tomorrow. But that's okay - it's almost done.
Then I have this to start on!
Sorry for the blurry picture. I don't know what was wrong with me. This is that simple yet compelling shawl I got obsessed with, so I ordered the pattern and the exact yarn shown in the picture (because I love that shade of purple), and it's all here ready for me to start.
This will be interesting. I've never worked with lace-weight yarn, and I've never knit a lace pattern out of yarn this tiny. The only other shawl I made was with sport weight yarn. I'm looking forward to this.
Although all of this has completely halted work on both Celtic Icon and the pirate coat. And the pirate coat is due for its debut at the end of May. Hmmm. Balancing all this out is going to be interesting.
Last, but not least, I had to share this ... have you ever seen a more comfortable dog?
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