Last night I sat here and spent almost an hour typing a very long, detailed post. Then my computer threw up and I lost the entire thing.

So I’ll try again.

First of all I thanked Jody from the FiberRAOK list for sending me 2 books. She’d posted some to give away, and I got 2 by Mary Higgins Clark. I was so excited to receive the package yesterday! These books and the rock crystal I received are the only RAOKs I’ve gotten, not counting well wishes and stuff. I know it’s mostly my own fault, other than 2 magazines I sent out and 2 elann.com gift certificates, I haven’t sent anything else out in the 4 months or so I’ve been a member. I guess I was kinda holding back to see if anyone would send me anything. Maybe it’s ‘cus I don’t leave comments on other people’s blogs, so they don’t get to know me unless they come here to my blog. I keep wondering if I should leave the RAOK group to make room for another blogger. This is not a plea for people to send me stuff. I just can’t help but wonder sometimes, am I only going to receive something after people see other people thanking me for sending them stuff a bunch of times? Is there some kind of protocol no one says publicly, that you have to gift, I dunno, 5 times before you’re gifted yourself? I’m just kidding here, I know it doesn’t work that way. I guess the people who are more vocal in the group emails are the ones who get noticed more, and then people start following their blogs and they all end up exchanging RAOKs. But with 300+ members, it’s hard to follow everyone. That’s why I’m looking forwards to the Secret Pal 5 to start. I’ll only have to worry about 1 person, lol. Anyways, I debated posting these thoughts ‘cus I know RAOKers read my blog, and I’m really not trying to solicit people to send me stuff. I’m just wondering…how many other members of the list feel the same way?

Ok, now that I’ve probably pissed off a bunch of people, back to knitting! I did a lot on the tester sweater I’m making to explore machine knitting. I’m calling it my Kosher sweater ‘cus it’s MK (machine knit). 🙂 (MK is also one of the symbols they put on food products to mark it as kosher.)

I won’t finish the “diary of a sweater” analogy ‘cus I’m too annoyed at having to retype, but (yay!) the knitting is all done! I won’t say that I enjoyed the process of knitting the thing, but I do like the results. Check this out:
Monday: finished the front (except 1/2 the v-neck)
Tuesday: finished the front and back
Wednesday: finished the sleeves
Thursday: blocked the sucker

I was so proud to have it blocking before work yesterday. I know I’ve knit sweaters before, both dog and human, but this was the first one for me. And it’s bigger than the others. Over 700 rows of knitting done in 4 nights. It’s amazing to me, but I still don’t enjoy the process. It’s not so bad when I push the carriage to the right, but when I need to go left it fights me and the knitting actually becomes a workout. Plus, it’s stressful. I’ve dropped a few stitches without realizing it. Luckily I know how to fix it, and did so, but still, it’s not “fun” yet. I did figure out increases and decreases like a pro though. :]

Last night I seamed the shoulders and inserted the set-in sleeves. Today I hope to finish the side and underarm seams so I can spend Sunday doing some kind of border treatment, and wear it to my class on Monday.
“What did you do this week Jennifer?”
“Well, see this shirt I’m wearing…”

One week, one sweater. Amazing.

To Jewel from the comments: Other than the Wool Shop out here, these are the other LYSs I’ve heard about. I’ve never been to any, but would like to visit them sometime. Have you been to any of these? Know of any others?
Boutique Jenni-Mar 142 Saint-Charles Avenue, Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC J7V2K8 (450) 424-4110
Brick Point Needlework Shop 318 Victoria Avenue, Westmount, QC H3Z2M8 (514) 489-0993
Knitwits 6900 Décarie Boulevard, Côte-Saint-Luc, QC H3X2T8 (514) 342-9332
Lainerie Lépine (A la) 3884 Jean-Talon Rue East, Montréal, QC H2A1Y7 (514) 721-2440
Magasin Fibres LB 2270 Du Mont-Royal Avenue East, Montréal, QC H2H1K6 (514) 521-9000
Tricoteuse (A La) 779 Rachel Rue East, Montréal, QC H2J2H4 (514) 527-2451

I’ve also heard there’s a place where the guy spins your yarn for you, even custom colors and blends, and it’s sold by the pound so for sweaters it’s super cheap. I forget which store he is though. I need to do a road trip. I don’t work Mondays, I should really plan to leave the West Island one of these weeks.

To Carrie from Southern-Fried Knitting from the comments: Thanks for coming by! I really hope you enjoy the FiberRAOK ring. I know I grumbled up there, but it’s morning, I’m cranky, and my auto-censors haven’t kicked in yet. The people are super friendly, and always there to lend a hand if you need it. P.S. Fiona and Bubbles are adorable!