Saturday, September 29, 2007

by the skin of my chinny chin chin

so the good ladies over at the bag lady and the pro are having a dishcloth contest. being a recently converted dishcloth knitter i thought i would give it a whirl so here goes...

1. the dishcloth:
2. i used bryspun straight needles, size 8, knitting english style.

6. though it was hard for me to see the pattern with the colorway i chose, and it did not seem to match the cloth posted, when finished it was fine. and not only did i like it but my sweet friend thought it was really nice too.

it reminds me of stacked blocks that mirror each other so my naming suggestion is the mirrored blocks cloth.

thanks, ladies. this was fun!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

yes, it is geeky

so we took big guy to college today. some dear friends lent us their humongous suv which fit all of his belongings being taken plus the family of four. though i am not an suv lover, i appreciated being able to fit everything into their one car instead of us having to drive our two cars.

the big guy's room isn't bad. and his roommate seems like a really nice guy. the boys were able to configure all of their room furniture and their belongings into an acceptable to them floor plan. the roommate brought a refrigerator and the big guy brought a rice cooker and gobs of rice, each being excited about what the other brought. plus they like the same bands and music. so hopefully it will all work. i mean, how can you miss when school is nestled on the side of a mountain among redwoods trees, yet overlooks the ocean? not a bad setting. and things seem off to a positive start.

but it is already quieter around the house. i don't think it will really sink in until mid-week when i realize we are not being two ships passing in the night, but he truly doesn't live here anymore. it's a challenge to let go. but a joy to see him take wing. all a mother can do is offer some pac man cloths. and i am such a geek, they are in the school colors.

Monday, September 17, 2007

it's been a bit

if someone had told me 24 years ago that i would be married to a wonderful man, have two amazing children, two cars, a mortgage and a big, smelly dog i would have laughed, gob smacked by the thought of being in such a relationship.

but here i sit, a lot older, wiser and thicker around the middle, but amazed at the adventure the last 24 years have given me.

and though it caught me by surprise, i wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

Friday, September 14, 2007

so i went a bit overboard

this is what i have collected since the beginning of the month.

both joann's fabrics and michael's crafts had sales on sugar and cream and i just couldn't help myself. some of these were $1 a ball. how could i pass that up?! the "twist" pattern balls are for christmas gifts. i am trying to arc a connection between a washcloth/bath basket and a 1 skein chunky misti alpaca scarf. but haven't quite gotten them connected yet.

the darker solids were for a christmas gift for the big guy. about a year ago knitty.com had this great set of back to school washcloths that had 6 cloths/days of study and 1 cloth/day of party. i thought this would be a great thing for the big guy since he is off to college in 8 days (yes, part of me is in denial and part of me is sobbing). but that was before tea and cakes posted the pac man washcloth. how cool is that?! so i have some decisions to make. but by the size of this loot, i could make them all...for everybody!


Saturday, September 08, 2007

i just got back!

from toronto! boy was it nice!

came home friday evening to find i had received my vvs package from secret swap buddy, andrea! what a treat. the first thing i spied was the box of maple leaf maple sugar candies which are my absolute favorite. and which i can only find during the holidays! then there is the sweet little canadian moose and toronto postcards. and then two absolutely beautiful hanks of canadian yarn!

one is a hank of fleece artist, basic merino sock yarn in this beautiful bluepurplebrown and everything in between colorway; really nice. this is the first sock yarn for me and i am very excited. plus it came from nova scotia!

the second is a lace weight, hand dyed hank of hand maiden sea silk yarn. this is a 70% silk and 30% seacell which is from sea weed (my sweet friend refused to touch it after that; lucky for me!). and it is this amazing colorway! i can't wait to use it! i am already hunting for shawl, shawlette patterns.

the pictures really don't do these two beautiful hanks of yarn justice.

thanks for a great trip to toronto, andrea! hope to see you soon!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

i bit...

i am #30,332 with 18,844 ahead of me. i guess time will tell.

Monday, September 03, 2007

some quick pics

my cute husband was unable to get some pics of the sorcerer's stone cloth, though rumor has it our monk friend really liked it.

but the computer is cooperating enough for some pictures of oceane. i wore it to last night's gathering and discovered it to be very long. and not as wide as i had hoped. but since it is long, i can wrap it around creatively which sort of takes care of both of the above mentioned challenges. and it got ooohed and ahhhed over by female and male alike! what more could a knitter ask for!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

whoosh...and it's the weekend

it has been quite the heat wave in the bay area this past week. i am not fond of the heat. i get sort of cranky. this heat wave has sort of worn out it's welcome. i am thinking of lighting some candles and having fog calling ceremonies on the back patio.

but it is good for sitting by the fan or going to the air conditioned LYS to knit.

so after finishing the sari ribbon scarf, i started knitting my first dish cloth. i knitted insanknitty's sorcerer's stone cloth for my monk friend who is quite the harry potter aficionado. i knit it out of some solid blue sugar and cream i had in the stash box. unfortunately i did not take a picture of it before it needed to be delivered, but it came out pretty well. if my cute husband remembers to take pictures and if our continually crashing computer cooperates, i will post a pic.

but i now understand the fascination with knitting dish cloths, they are instant gratification. they are like the breath mints of knitting. need a fresher perspective on your WIP's? knit a dish cloth! they are so quick, it is almost like they are not taking time from the WIP's that are clamoring to be completed. the sister's over at the bag lady and the pro are having a dish cloth contest (scroll down) which i am willing to cast on for. plus joann's fabrics is having a sale on sugar and cream this weekend which gives ample opportunity for re-stashing!

the big reason i am willing to start a new dishcloth is because oceane is finished! wahoo! a sunday supper invite gave me the impetus to finish it since between the invite and the heat wave an evening gathering would be the perfect occasion to wear it.

i used rowan's linen print which the pattern called for, but i used size 17's needles instead of the 19's the pattern recommended. i also used 7 balls of linen print instead of the 5 the pattern specified. it wasn't quite long enough at 5 balls but would have been if i were also using it as a head and hip wrap like the pattern suggests. but since i will only be using it as a shoulder wrap, i added some length. the size 17's made it a little less "airy" which i wanted but also proved to be helpful since the last 16 rows of the pattern proved elusive to me and were unknit as much as they were knit. on the whole, the pattern is easy, fast and fun. and it looks great when it is done. i just got stuck on the last 16 rows!

and, i sent out my vvs package! i am real excited. it will get there a couple of days late; tying up the loose ends took more time than i anticipated, but hopefully my recipient will like it.

so it has been a busy week as well as being hot. hope it is cool where you are!
(since our computer is being challenged, there are no pics. will post some soonest.)