And… I’m back.

I went AWOL from the blog world for several weeks – sorry!  I’ve been going through a period of self reflection and I haven’t felt inclined to blog – knitting is much more relaxing!  For months now, I’ve had some very specific goals in my head (buying a home in the next year or so, for example), and I became disheartened by my lack of progress.  Paying down debt quickly by not saving made me feel stagnant, although readjusting my budget has certainly improved my morale.  I’ve also been feeling a need for change in my life, although I’m not really sure in what way.  (Get an apartment? a dog?)  My mother suggested I take some time to get away, an idea that intrigued me.  So, I booked a cruise to Alaska.  And I’m going alone.

I’m really excited about it, even though it is still quite a few months away.  This is a really big deal for me; I’ve never done something this big by myself before.  I see it as an opportunity to mentally recharge, and reflect on my life and where I want it to go.  I also can’t wait to see the glaciers and whales, of course.

As for my knitting…  lots lots lots of FOs and WIPs to talk about!

First up, I knit another pair of Bella Mittens – for me!

I love love love them!  So soft and warm.  I only wish I had more time to wear them, since it has been warming up lately.

I knit my dad another hat.

This was to replace his Christmas hat when it disappeared, and then showed up again a couple sizes too big.  I’m really happy with the fit of this one and he seems to really like it.

I finally finished my Jaywalker socks.

These things were on the needles for a year.  An interesting pattern, although I’m not really happy with how they turned out.  They are a bit big and my tension changed while knitting the second one, so one is slightly bigger than the other.  I knit them on wooden Brittany needles, which I really did not enjoy, to say the least.  I greatly prefer Bryspun or metal needles.  So, I’m afraid these will be relegated to bedroom socks only.

The final two are WIPs and I’m really excited about them.  I’m knitting another pair of socks, although this time I’m using Bryspun needles, some gorgeous hand-dyed yarn and actual foot measurements instead of a pattern.

The yarn is named Dexter, and was dyed by the lovely Dharmafey.  This is my first try at making socks of my own design and specific measurements and I’m very happy with them.  I knit up the first in just over a week, so I think I’ll be finished very soon.  The first one fits perfectly!

The final WIP – my sock yarn blanket.

This is so much fun to work on.  I cast on in February and haven’t been able to put it down since.  Each individual mitered square is 41 stitches, and by the time I’m bored with a colour, the square is done!  The yarn is fingering weight (sock yarn), which I’ve been getting from various Ravelry swaps and an amazing Canadian online store called Robyn’s Nest.  She stocks the best mini skein kits that are specifically geared toward this pattern/project.  In the end, it will fit a double sized bed.  This will probably take more than a few months to complete, but I’m okay with that.  Knitting this makes me happy, even if weaving in the ends can be a pain in the butt.

Next up – I’m going to tackle lace!

A note on censorship.

I know I haven’t posted in awhile, (and there is a new post coming to explain why) but first I want to unload about something that has the Internet buzzing.  I’m sure by now most people have heard about Amazon and their search engine/ranking problem.  Over the last few days, Amazon users have noticed that the rankings of certain books have disappeared, making those titles difficult to find during a search.  These books overwhelming fall into the category of LGBTQ literature, and although some of it is of an erotic nature, many are not, such as the children’s picture book Heather Has Two Mommies, and non-fiction titles such as The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students and Challenging Homophobia: Teaching About Sexual Diversity.  When Mark R. Probst (author of gay YA fiction) emailed Amazon to ask about the delisting of his novel, he was told that company policy dictates that adult material be hidden from some searches and best seller lists.  Fair enough, except his novel doesn’t fall into that category.  His blog further explains.  The National Post has a good article about it too.  Amazon has since released a statement, claiming the ranking issue is a glitch that they intend to rectify.  Too little, too late, in my opinion.

Even though I haven’t read the books being delisted, and as a heterosexual woman this doesn’t directly affect me, I am still offended by the blatant censorship Amazon appears to have embraced or possibly fallen victim to.  Claims regarding a ‘glitch’ seem weak, and smack of frantic PR damage control.  I’m not impressed Amazon, you really should know better.  If this truly is a ‘glitch’, then Amazon needs to seriously re-evaluate their current practices regarding reporting/ranking questionable content.  Even if this is a direct result of user generated negative input and reporting, Amazon should still be held accountable for final evaluation of content prior to the removal of sales ranking.  Again, I’m not impressed.