Christmas in July

Finally, my mom's Christmas ('04) gift! Remember what happened to the first one?



It's the Sleek Ribs Tank from this summer's IK. It was knit from the chained ribbon from Blue Heron Yarns, made from Lempur, in the flax colorway. Clearly, Mom is very happy about it. It fits her perfectly and I am so glad I cast it on 4 times total to get it perfect. Also glad I made the smallest size. Here's a shot of the back:



Merry Christmas Mom!

Lots of knitting with nothing to show for it!

After much searching, I have found a replacement for my mom's unfortunate Christmas gift. I've cast it on 3 times, all 200 stitches of it, and worked 3-4" of it before discovering a misplaced yo 3 times - maddening! So far, all is moving along, but I should be much farther along than I am. As soon as Mom sees it, I'll post pics.

This weekend, I am going to a knitting retreat with friends from my LYS. I am driving 4 hours away to a remote island, where no cars are allowed, to stay in a house with 17 other knitters where we will make meals for each other and relax. The co-owner of the house, Christa, spins alpaca fleece and produces exquisite yarn. Apparently there is a herd of alpaca on the property. This is the first night I will spend away from Marty, not counting his two overnights at my parents, ever. I can't believe I am going and I couldn't be more excited - three days dedicated to knitting, with no dirty diapers and noone else to take care of! Pics and updates after my return. For now I have to decide what projects to work on!

Finally!

My first trimester is over, which means I am no longer constantly exhausted and sick to my stomache. 'Too sick to knit' are words I never thought I'd say, but I said them alot these past few months.

I am finally feeling better and finished baby Gavin's sweater. Welcome to the neighborhood little one!

Ta Da!

Many thanks to Rob for getting the pictures up and running again. The thought of re-locating them all, and editing all the entries' links... well, it was discouraging enough to put me off blogging, that's for sure. Now that the pictures are back, I have some responsibility to photograph a few recent yarn purchases. I hadn't been to knitting class for several weeks, and last night's purchase may have been a bit over the top. That is, if you judge by the weight of the bag (well it did have a book in it).



First we have two more skeins of Peruvian Tweed, 100% superfine alpaca, grown in the Andees about 13,000 feet. Does altitude affect fiber? Referred to on their label as "The Heavenly Fiber," this yarn is so soft and lovely. There are 600 yards in each skein, and I already had 2, but knew I needed the other 2 from the same dye lot before they were lost to me forever. A warm sweater and several hats, perhaps some mittens, are definitely in the future for this yarn. I have a total now of 2400 yards. Here's how the whole big pile of it looks, with a Coke can for comparison:


Next is the prettiest yarn I have seen in awhile. It's chained ribbon from Blue Heron Yarns, made from Lempur. It is soft and silky and came in such beautiful colorways that I had a difficult time choosing, but finally settled on the flax, a name which does not do this blend of colors justice at all:


Finally, I got the coolest birthday present - a full set of Brittany DPN's. Thanks Mom!

Dale is 1/3 done

My Dale of Norway cardigan is moving along. I have finished the front! The back has about 7" to go, and then I get to do the color work pattern again for the sleeves. I really enjoyed that for the body and think the sleeves will move along pretty quickly.

I recently found out I am pregnant with our second baby, so this cardi will actually be a maternity sweater. Since it is designed to just close at the top, via cute little ties that go throu an eyelet, it can hang farther and farther open as my belly grows. The little bean is due in January, so the timing is perfect for a nice wooly sweater. But I have to finish it quickly, as there is so much new baby stuff to knit now - sweater and hats, longies and soakers - in all the sizes! It's so great to knit something in a newborn size, so quick and tiny-sweet.

No word yet on the picture front, but I believe secret progress is being made my Rob in the dark of the night.

Blogging without pictures is boring

Still no pictures, but lots of knitting is going on!

I have finished two sweet baby sweaters for two sweet babies. One was finished just before delivering (the sweater, not the baby), for a neighbor, so I didn't have time to get a picture. That is, I didn't find the camera in time to take the picture. Later, I caught Rob using his own camera (the nerve!), so I know it isn't lost. I'm also making good progress on my own sweater (the nerve!) and can't wait to share pics of that.

In other news, I met the Yarn Harlot and am still utterly in love. And, I am famous (in blogland)! Here's a picture of me at the book signing (with my booga bag, the only thing I've knit for myself, how sad is that?): Snooze's blog

You have to scroll all the way down almost to the bottom, but I am in there in the May 7th post.

Yet another Booga Bag enters the Internet

I have made good progress on my sock, and can't wait to get to the other one so I can wear them. I've also started a shawl, and am right now finishing a booga bag in Noro #95. How many of these are out there? Whenever I was trying to decide what to do, a google produced more than enough results. This must be one of the most popular patterns out there!

Here I was not blogging because I hadn't taken the time to get any pictures, but I see my pictures are not loading anyway. I'll get on that and get some pics up soon.