Excited!

I received my monthly newsletter from the fabulous ThreadBear this morning and was jolted awake when I saw this: "Announcing Workshops with the Fabulous CookieA"! Fabulous indeed! I quickly skimmed the newsletter for the relevant information: 2 workshops, one on top-down sock design and the other on toe-up design, $35 fee... 16 person limit!

I hurriedly dialed the store & they still had spaces (I think my excitement greatly amused the lady on the phone)! So, this September I will be taking a 3hr design workshop with Cookie A.

Oh! And Trek received her socks!

There is is much Squeeage going on today. :)

Note: Please excuse the excessive use of the word "Fabulous" in this post. Apparently I need a thesaurus. :)

Trek's Socks

I've finished Trek's socks!


Overall I'm very pleased. They are drying now and should be on their way to her on Tuesday. :)

I've cast-on another pair of socks (surprise) for another swap I joined. It's a Discworld themed swap called "Music With Socks In" that's being held through Ravelry. The idea is that you make your partner a pair of socks (or send them the necessary items to make their own) and include a cd or 2 in the package. Since there is a possibility that my partner might read my blog (it's not a secret swap) I won't be posting any project details until I've shipped. I'm very excited about this swap. I wasn't able to go with my first idea for the socks, but I think she will love what I'm doing. And the music aspect is great, I'm having a lot of fun going through my collection for ideas!

Edit: Oh! I almost forgot to tell you a bit of exciting news! There's a yahoo group that is dedicated to translating knitting patterns into foreign languages and they've requested permission to translate my MJs pattern! I'm so geeked!

Weekend in Vermont

This past weekend I went with Honey to Vermont for a couple of Circus shows. There really isn't much to relay about the trip. The weather was lovely and I got to actually spend time with a few people that I've met at the shows. Of course, the only pictures I took ended up being far too dark and I've been unable to successfully clean them up so far.

I was able to sneak in a little yarn shopping. There was a gift shop in the tiny town we were at and at the very back there was a small yarn shop, which was stocked with some pretty nice stuff. I couldn't resist picking up this:

2 skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton in sage green. It is incredibly soft! I haven't seen the yarn locally, so that was all the incentive I needed to buy it. I've no idea what I'm going to make with it yet. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about dye-lot if I end up needing more. It's all hand-dyed, so there will be variation no matter what! :)

And the 28hr round-trip drive gave me time to knit this...

Trek's Sock

I've finished the first sock and have started the second. I'm just past the cuff now, but hopefully I finish it up this weekend.

The yarn is really lovely to work with, although it is pooling something awful. Even so, the sock is still quite pretty. I was originally going to do a fancy rib pattern, but the darkness of the yarn hid the pattern. Instead I went with a simple 2x2 rib for the cuff and stockinette for the leg & foot. I did a slip stitch heel for a little oompf.

Now I just hope they fit! :)

Coming Along

I've been a knitting fiend the last few days. I was home sick with a stomach bug on Thursday & Friday and was able to get quite a bit done on my Highland Shawl.

Not a great image, I know. The color is a bit washed out and you can't really see the lace, but that gives you an idea of how much is done. I've finished the body and started knitting the lace edging last night. I really can't wait to finish this, it's going to be so soft & warm! Yippie!

I'm going to wind up the Shibui Sock yarn for Trek's socks today and try to finish my pattern search. My initial thought was to do the Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark (Interweave Knits, Fall 2004):


However, on further thought I think these might be a bit too patterned for her. She said she prefers simple stockingette or ribbed socks. Opinions?

Cast On

This weekend I finally decided to knit something, other than socks, for myself. I finally frogged the Lift & Separate Wrap that I started knitting in September 2006. I had finished the sleeves, but never got around to knitting the body of the sweater and after almost 2 years I figured it was time to reclaim the yarn, which is yummy Alpaca With A Twist Baby Alpaca in fawn.

This is it's current incarnation...

The Highland Triangle Shawl from Folk Shawls. This is the center portion of the shawl and that beautiful trim will be knit on after the body is complete. The lace pattern is fairly easy to memorize and it's moving along rather quickly since it's knit on whopping Size 8 needles! ;)

Lets just hope I don't get too distracted by this...
Shibui Knits Sock yarn in Midnight. Isn't it gorgeous? The color was a bit of a surprise because the website's image showed it as being much darker, but I love it. This is for Trek's socks, although I may have a hard time parting with it. The yarn is super soft & springy! I can't wait to get knitting with it.

All Sewn Up

The weekend before last I went out to my folks and my mother very obviously hinted that she would like a lap blanket for when she is in her wheelchair. She even showed me a knitting pattern, which was absolutely hideous.

Now, I love my mum, but there is no way I was going to spend the time and energy knitting a blanket only to have it destroyed the first time she uses it. Because of her medical conditions, she is uncoordinated and she often falls asleep in mid-sentence... this combined with a full cup of juice or food and a hand knit blanket spells disaster.

Instead I decided to sew her a blanket. This would fulfill her wish, would make life easier on my sister & father because it would be machine washer/dryer friendly, and save me a lot of time, money & sanity.

So Saturday afternoon I spent a few hours whipping this up while watching Jane Austen movies. I got a baseline for the size from the pattern she showed me. The pattern also had a strap that fastened around the waist to keep it from falling off. It used buttons, but I figured velcro would work much better. :)

Materials: 2 1/4 yds cotton fabric (45" width),
45x60 cotton batting & sew-on velcro

The finished blanket is about 34"x43". Unfortunately I made the fastening straps a bit too long and will have to trim & resew them. Still, I'm happy with it and honey thinks my mom will love it and that's all that matters. :)

Hubby Meme

Mary tagged me with this great meme that is all about hubby! :)

Where did you meet? I was in a play, fancied this guy and he dragged me to a party at his friends' house. Honey was the friend. I know it sounds awful, but we didn't actually start dating until 6 months after I broke up with the guy who introduced us. Still, said guy was none too pleased about the whole thing. :)

How long did you date? About 6 weeks & then he proposed. However, we waited a year & a half to get married.

How old is he? 4 years older (he'll be 40 this year).

Who eats more? We eat about the same. Sometimes he eats more, sometimes I do.

Who said “I love you” first? Hubby. Immediately after he got a nasty phone message from my ex.

Who is taller? Hubby. He's 6'2", I'm only 5'5"

Who sings better? Him, without a doubt. He is a fantastic musician and singer. He writes great songs too, even wrote one for me. :) He used to perform a lot in his twenties, but now me, the dog & cats are pretty much his audience. I always wanted to sing well, but as my sister will tell you, I can't. I can carry a tune but that's it.

Who is smarter? We both have higher than average IQs and I believe we are of equal intelligence, although he may be a bit more cunning than I.

Whose temper is worse? Mine. Hands down. I have a pretty short fuse and get snippy quite easily. Kris is pretty unflappable. I think I've only really seen him mad twice in 12 years.

Who does the laundry? Pretty much me. He does the odd load, but that is usually his own clothes. He's a bit leery about doing mine after a few disasters early in our relationship

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

Who pays the bills? He does.

Who cooks dinner? We both do. It's about 25/25/50 (him/me/take-out). :)

Who drives when you are together? Usually me. I'm a driving control freak. Unless we are taking a road trip, then he does all the driving.

Who is more stubborn? I think we are both pretty flexible, I don't think either of us is particularly stubborn.

Who kissed whom first? He kissed me. It was so cute. He asked if I minded if he kissed me.

Who is the first to admit to being wrong? I think we are both pretty good at recognizing when we are being irrational. No one is always apologizing first.

Whose parents do you see the most? I'd say it's about 50/50. But he talks to his mom way more than I talk to my parents, like almost every day.

Who proposed? He did. It was our first Valentine's Day together and we were at a Chinese restaurant. He got down on his knees and proposed after reading his fortune cookie. Since then I have to screen all his fortune cookies. :)

What’s his best physical attribute? I love his eyes and his giant nose! :)

Who has more friends? Him. He is a people person and gets along with everyone. I sooo do not.

What are you most proud of him for? For having the courage to follow his passion, even though it means I'm spending most weekends alone.

Who has more siblings? we each have a sibling.

Who wears the pants in the family? Well, since his salary is 3x mine, I guess that would be him. However, he is not my "lord & master" and doesn't have veto power. We are partners.

Ok. So, who to tag? How about Devin (you're engaged so you're qualified), Christy, Claudia & Ruinwen.