Thursday, June 29, 2006

An SP package!

I found a box on my doorstep on Monday. It was from my Cheap Ass Secret Pal 2. I had her figured out already, so Ali didn't bother trying to keep it secret. Ali outdid herself, and I wonder if Ali understood the Cheap Ass part of Cheap Ass Secret Pal.

Alright, what you see there is: Banzai Spicy Mix Crackers, Flower Kiss Candy, a Crash video game (for the little one), Stretchy frogs/lizards/snakes (also for the little one), tropical tattoos, a fortune cookie book, 3 pens/markers, Hello Kitty Biscuits, postits, a heart shape box, fruit roll ups, 2 photo clip frames, 3 packages of tissue paper with hearts, macadamia nuts, a flower candle, a soap dish (candle holder?), raspberry jam, a crunchie bar and 2 flake bars. Whew. I'm a spoiled girl.

No knitting pics today. I'm working steadily on the tea shawl, and am 1/2 way thru the horseshoe lace pattern. Which means that I should be approaching the section where I stopped and frogged sometime in the next few days. And the frogging? I had made mistakes and though I was content to live with them, once I started frogging, I couldn't really stop and thought it was just easier to rip out the entire thing and start fresh. Amazingly, it didn't hurt as much as you would think.

The family went to a wedding last weekend. Both hubby and the little one were in the wedding party. I can't help but share pics of my little guy. He's such a ham, and the pics make me happy.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Socks! And other things.

First, I had a bad day yesterday. I was snappy but the second I saw the mail, my bad mood disappeared. My sockapaloooza socks had arrived! Sandy in Sweden sent me two great pairs of socks. See?



Thanks Sandy!!!

Next, another mail delivery for me. When I got into work earlier this week, there was a package waiting for me on my desk. Royal Mail. I couldn't remember what I ordered, and eagerly opened it up. This is what I found:


Twas a thank you giftie from the wonderful Wendy. I <3 Wendy.

WIP's? Cozy, in Blue Sky Cotton.

This needs to be tinked back to where I joined the second ball. I layed it out last night to look at it, and hubby said, oh, it doesn't look right here, and here, and here. Yeah, when hubby can see the mistakes, it ain't good.

Knitting portion of this is done, I just need to do the lining: another Roxy bag, this one for the little guy's kindergarten teacher. It's upside down, as it's blocking.



And lastly, I was discussing with Valerie this morning what I should take with me for this weekends wedding festivities. She suggested working on the tea shawl again. I pulled it out tonight, and it looked like this:

I decided to frog it, but took this pic just after I pulled the needles out:

It's a bit blurry, but it gave me the motivation I needed to work on it again. It measured 29 inches across (unblocked obviously), and I was 1/4 of the way thru the diamond pattern. This is what it looks like now:


Now, lets see how far into the shawl I get before I banish it to the bottom of the basket again....

Watch this space

Watch this space for pics of Sockapaloooza Savior socks! They came yesterday (from SWEDEN!!) and tonight will get to do a post with pics.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

New family member, knitting, and the letter K

I'd like to introduce everyone to the newest family member, Crush:

I think Crush was a dog in a former life. He sits on that rock all the time, and the way he lays there reminds me of a dog. He's cute. :)

Knitting. I had a bit of startitis on Wednesday morning. So I grabbed some Knit Picks Palette, and started the Knit Picks Northern Lights Mittens. I finished the first one today during a lovely few hours at the playground with the little guy. Click to see the palmside:


A close up of the star:


Now, for the letter K. I couldn't figure out something with K. It would have been cute to show you a picture of me as a kid, wearing K overalls, but that would have meant digging thru pictures, and I'm lazy. And then it hit me this morning. King. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I have read almost everything by him, except the Dark Tower series, which I just can't seem to get thru. So, I go to take a pic of the bookshelf, and sitting next to King is Koontz! Another favorite author, and another K! It's only a small selection of the books, but a K nonetheless.


And just because, K is also for me. :)

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Who's productive?

This knitter! I got a finishing bug over the last few days and I finished up some WIPs. First, the tentacles on Nautie went on, only due to the little guy begging for it to be finished so he could take it to show and tell.



Next up is the Trellis Scarf from Interweave. I've only captured a portion of the scarf, but imagine this portion repeated for a little over 6 feet. I like my scarves long.


Next, I started and finished the knitting portion of another Roxy bag. This one is for the little guy's kindergarten teacher. I did only 3 repeats of the pattern instead of 4.


Today, the little guy and I headed out to Central Park for World Wide Knitting in Public Day. We met up with Bean and her kids and Amy. We claimed a spot on the grass across from the playground and all the kids had fun while the adults knit. There was a larger group of knitters a little further down, but we wanted to stay close to the playground for the kids, and the larger group sort of intimidated all of us adults. We had a good time just by ourselves and hope to do it again soon, but this time a little closer to home: Prospect Park. Pics from today:
Bean was a little cold...
Amy!
Silliness!
First sock finished today!

And nothing to do with knitting, just being a proud mama....


Next up, the Flower Basket Shawl in the Glitter Alpaca I posted about in the last entry.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Some goodies and almost a sock

I went to get the mail yesterday and found a package on my doorstep. Oh, I knew it was coming, but I forgot. I sent one of the gals on the Knittyboard something and as a thank you, she sent me this:



Left to right: A bit of Axelle De Sauveterre cashmere to uhm, fondle; Apple Laine fingering weight yarn in Arizona, 2 skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Glitter Alpaca in Foxy Lady, and a skein of CTH Suri Lace in Spanish moss. You want close ups, don't you?
(This is truer to the real color....)




I'm beginning to think that I either knit really fast, or that I really do neglect other things in my life/have too much time on my hands. The over the knee sock? You remember where that was last post only a few days ago? This is where it's at now:


How long is that, you ask?


I love knitting this sock. I'm almost hoping that it doesn't fit my friend so I can have them. :)

And because so many of you were intrigued on bachelorette party cupcakes...they're here because they not be appropriate for those of you viewing this at work. I also made these, especially for hubby, as I didn't think he'd eat the other ones.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Convertible

Almost two weeks without a post. I'm a bad blogger. But I have an excuse. I have been using every spare moment to knit. Knitting is better than blogging, right? I started the Convertible shawl/shrug last Tuesday. I swatched before getting on the train at 6am to go to the gym. And it hasn't left my hands since. It was finished Wed. afternoon. Well, finished minus the buttons. I have to go buy them and then make them. That will take me til the wedding at the end of the month. Wanna see it? It's a fuzzy picture, but you get the idea.



And this is the close up of the pattern:


Next up, the Over the Knee socks from Holiday Handknits. I'm using Rowan Cashsoft DK. They're for my best friend. I've already gotten 2 of the lace pattern repeats done, and there are 15 in total before doing the heel.



A closer look at the ribbing:


I'm also going to do another Roxy bag, for the little one's teacher. I'll have more pics later this week. Maybe I'll post the cupcakes I made for a batchelorette party....