Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Bye-bye to the Bye-Bye Socks!


Nobody would believe the marathon session of knitting that went into finishing these things!! I have knit at least 8 hours two days in a row.... Finished just in time, too. It is 7:30 and I have my last doctor's appointment with the recipient at 9AM! Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

Now I have to go put ice on my hand!!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Maggie's Day Out.


Maggie got to go on a field trip yesterday! I think we may have been more excited than she.... She went to Petsmart for a bath and nail clipping. And because it is true, I am a dork, here is a pictorial record of my dog's field trip.


Here is the disloyal little bitch pining desperately for The Mom when she left us in the car for five minutes. You would have thought she had been left to fend for herself with the dog catcher the way she whined and stared at the door, just waiting for the person she REALLY likes to come out!!


This is her trying to go with the groomer the minute that we walked in. She is so friendly it is hard to hold her back. This photo, by the way, got me a what-the-hell-is-that-nut-taking-pictures-of stare from the groomer...


And that terrible, blurry snapshot is the best I could do for an after shot. She was SO wound up that she didn't hold still for a second..... Nothing to see really, since she didn't LOOK stinky. Doggie love!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

All the Knitting News that's fit to print.

1. Gave away the Swallowtail Shawl. It was for my friend Julie's wedding. I hope that she liked it.... I have the terrible feeling that it wasn't enough for a wedding present now that it has gone to its forever home. I sincerely hope that is silly talk, since I know it was very beautiful! I am probably just sad to have to send it away.... Like a puppy fostered and now in its new home. Happy and sad at the same time!

2. Blocked Haruni.
Monday on my day off... I had worried that this wasn't going to be big enough, but now that I have stretched the CRAP out of it on the blocking wires, I think it is beautiful! I renew my vow of love for the yarn, and am glad for having ripped it out to prevent the hard line. Now it is nearly perfect. I left out some of the last chart as my only intentional modification, because I think that the cherry blossoms get to be too grid like towards the end. I wish it was a tiny bit longer, but over all, I think editing helped more than hurting! Now I just need a new outfit to wear it with!!

3. Made steady progress on Aeolian. This may take the rest of my life. There are approximately 4549 stitches in every row now. That is just a guess, but it has GOT to be close to that!! No pictures, because on the needles it still looks like an amorphous purple blob.

4. Plugging away at sock number two.
To get in the spirit, I have painted my toenails the same color. :-)

P.S.
I published this on 5-23-10. I think that since I started the post on 5-19, it is going to show that as the date....

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Really terrible yarn pictures.

Or, multiple reasons that I should be glad that I am not going to drive to Kentucky for the Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend. (Not seeing Courtney= sad.)Reason number 1: Emerald Green Louet Euroflax. Got this one at Charlotte Yarn when we went on the previously unblogged-about trip to see Wendy of Wendy Knits. Fun was had by all! In reality, it is neither blurry nor dark as night. I am going to make the Lace Saddle Tee from the new Interweave Knits out of this one. It feels like kitchen twine right now, but I am hopeful that it will turn out like my very favorite linen sweater, all flow-y and drape-y. Fingers crossed!Reason number 2: (No particular order to the show and tell, btw.) Here is a Mini Mochi rainbow that I just got for me, for fun. I am picturing some seriously funky rainbow socks, toe-up Jaywalkers or something. Everyone deserves rainbow socks, right?
Reason number 3: Expensive and irresistible, bought on complete impulse on the same trip to Charlotte Yarn. I have no earthly idea what I will do with 900 yards of teal laceweight, but MAN should you feel this stuff! Soft like bunnies. Dreamy and even. Sigh. Complete yarn lust!
Reason number 4: Pile of pink prettiness.... Berroco Weekend. Pink as a baby's butt. Got THIS one a couple of weeks ago at Island Knits to make Romi from one of their leaflets from this season. As much as I hate to do the predictable, Kingscot taught me that I should listen when the designer recommends a yarn. Especially a Berroco yarn! I am always iffy about working with cotton for the usual reasons, lack of elasticity, heaviness, etc., but this one has quite a bit of acrylic content which seems to lighten it up. We shall see, I guess.
And last but CERTAINLY not least, reason number 5: Cue the angels singing. Bring on the beams of celestial light. I present to you, dear readers, the most sublimely perfect-for-me yarn ever manufactured- Ta-duh! Dream in Color Starry in (wait for it!) Flamingo Pie!! I picked it up before I knew that this beautiful skein was made just for me.... Serendipity!

Anyway, for those of you doing mental math, you have probably figured out that the enormous amount of money I have spent on yarn recently makes a trip from SC to KY financially foolish right now. And lets face it, do I REALLY need more yarn this summer???

Yarn love.

The dog and the shawl, a story in pictures.


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Bye-bye socks....


Not bye-bye like I won't be making any more socks, but bye-bye like they are going to be a going away present. (Note to self- must find picture of the brother in the bye-bye hat!) I was very sad to learn that my doctor, the only doctor I have ever had who took the time to listen to me and didn't make me feel like I had done something wrong to end up needing a doctor, is quitting her practice. She is a year younger than me, which makes me feel old, and I told her that I hope now we can become buddies since she won't be my doctor. And thereby I officially became a weird stalker patient, I am sure. Nevertheless, above you see the Catnip Sock by Wendy of Wendy Knits. I love this pattern and this yarn (Lisa Souza Sock!) that I will surely be making more for me....

I took the picture as an homage to the Yarn Harlot, who does that to show her sock in the context of something or someone interesting. Yep, that is the view from the chair where I am knitting them. Exciting, I know. I don't know how you will stand it.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Ode to my Mommy.


Day late, hopefully not a dollar short..... It really isn't that I forgot Mother's Day. Ask her, she will tell you! It is that words fail me when I try to talk about how important she is to me, how important our relationship is.

Remember the mnemonic poem about red skies in the morning meaning bad weather? You know, "Red skies at morning, sailors take warning....?" I used to think my mom came up with that all on her own. I thought she was a genius! (Now, I know she really is.) She is my hero, the person that taught me that it is never too late to try to get what you want. Not too long ago, I found myself lamenting the lack of "best friend" status in my life, but I realized that we both have that. She was my Mommy when I was a child, but she is my best friend as an adult.

I do reserve the right, however, for occasional access to my Mommy.

So, how did we celebrate Mother's Day? Talked the Mom into seeing Pulp Fiction for the first time. We are all so sentimental. (She loved it. We knew she would!)