Happy Days

Hello everyone! Thank you SO very much for all the good wishes regarding my engagement. I feel surrounded by and infused with the positive energy from everyone and I am very, very happy.

I have so much to share! (and it’s about time, LOL!) First, one of my favorite local yarn stores Stitch DC had a sale to celebrate its first anniversary. They offered 25% off of everything in the store, for one hour on Sunday. Not surprisingly, it was a mad house! Okay, a polite, knitterly mad house – but still. I snapped a few shots of my fellow DC-area knitters going at it:







Everyone was chatting, and admiring everyone else’s selections, eating cupcakes, and just generally having fun. There were even drawings – someone won a Lantern Moon needle case! Lucky woman…

And of course, I picked up a few items:


I wanted to make a silver, sparkly scarf for a friend, and the Rowan R2 Sparkle was just the thing. I’ve also wanted to try Rowan Calmer – I’ve heard such nice things about it, but the stretch makes me worry I’d have gauge troubles…so I picked up a ball to try out before going whole hog. I also got the *coolest* t-shirt with the new Stitch DC logo! The design is based on the DC flag (yes, though we are not a state, we DO have a flag), but the lines at the bottom are knitting needles! And kudos to owner Marie for getting the t-shirts from American Apparel, a sweatshop-free, socially responsible company which makes its products in the U.S. A great choice!

Well, I should go soon. I’ll leave you with what I think is my first ever bathroom mirror picture!



This scarf went to my friend R. It is made with the afore-mentioned R2 Sparkle, using the free Opera Scarf pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas on US 13s.

Next post: Yarn Crawl ’05!

My Big News

I promised you some big news, and here it is:

I GOT ENGAGED!

My sweetheart and I have been together for a little over four years, long distance. He came to DC on Thursday and surprised me with his visit and with a ring (which is incredibly beautiful, by the way). He’s a little blog-shy, so I will not be posting any pictures – but I wanted to share my happy, happy news with you all.

Next, big news part deux:



I will be relocating to Chicago with my fiancé, who has a job lined up there. This is very exciting since it will be the first time in a looooong time that he and I will be together in the same city. It is also cool because I graduated from high school in Chicago (but only lived there for two years) and I am really looking forward to exploring the city again. It's also somewhat scary, since as yet I have no job. But this detail certainly pales in comparison to the other awesome news.

There has been knitting, and there will be more knitting (and visits to distant LYS this weekend!) but I think I'm going to end on a high note (the highest note!) and check in with y'all later.

Happy knitting!

Sun and Soleil

We have been having some *hot* weather in Washington, DC! Poor air quality, hazy, humid, gross days. Perfect for staying indoors and knitting! I am working on a new project, Soleil from Knitty. After I practiced the lace pattern on a small swatch, I had no trouble with the actual pattern. Here’s my progress so far:



I am using Dale of Norway Svale, of which Lolly spoke so highly. She’s right that it is somewhat splitty, but it makes such a smooth fabric you can forgive that. Actually, the reason for the splittiness (multiple parallel strands) is the same reason, I think, that it evens out your stitches and creates this great fabric.

In other knitting news, I have been commissioned (okay, nudged) by a close friend to knit a sweater for her sister’s next baby. I sent M. a few sweater ideas to choose from, and miraculously, she picked the one I a) liked the best and b) already had the yarn and the pattern for! I will be making the Matinee Coat from the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino collection. Here’s a pic:

I’m not using Baby Cashmerino though – I will be using some Louet Opal I got at Purl last month. Apparently, it is machine-washable and dryable - great for babies!

I also have some big news to share with you all…but I need a little more time to write a post about it. Til then – happy knitting!

The perfect weekend

...In which I ate famous food.
Friends J. and P. and I went to Frontera Grill, one of the chef Rick Bayless’ two restaurants. A party in my mouth, from margarita to mole. Can’t wait to go back!

...In which I gave a gift.
I went to Chicago for my friend E.’s baby shower. It was a great group of family and friends from near and far. We ate well, played games, enjoyed each other’s company, and gave gifts. Here was mine:







...In which I celebrated Knit in Public Day

A swatch of Soleil:




burp.

New and Improved

So, I left the digital camera at home, or else I would be posting new and improved photos of the surprise item…but it was not to be. For those of you who looked, it looks very similar to the previous photo, just not off-kilter and with no stray strands peeking out.

I’m off to Chicago this afternoon, just for a quick overnight trip. My friend E. is having a baby, and I am going to her shower. There may be a little time for a yarn store trip before I head back tomorrow, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. I think the only one I’ll be anywhere near is Arcadia Knitting.

Do any of you get the Berrocco Knit Bits newsletter? I am subscribed, and today’s issue introduced a number of their fall yarns. The newsletter also has a feature called “Scarf Central,” which gives you ideas for combinations of yarns that make great scarves. Normally they don’t really interest me – they’re often a little too va-va-voom for my daily life. But when I saw this one, I thought – I have to have this!






This is Air, a fall yarn knit together with Jewel FX. If you click here, you can see the other, possibly even more wonderful color combinations.

Am I the same person who couldn’t stop griping about our rainy, cold spring, and now that summer has finally begun, I’m already excited for cold-weather accessories? Crazy.

Happy knitting, everyone! And don’t forget Knitting in Public Day, June 11! Everybody’s doin’ it…

The Start of Summer

Well hello there! Hope you all are enjoying summer. For me, last weekend felt like the first of the summer in DC – it finally got HOT! (and rainy, but that’s another story) On Friday I went to a bridal shower for my dear friend M. We had so much fun celebrating her, and there was much good conversation (and wine). I also went to the spa on Sat. with my friend A. – so relaxing! I felt very pampered and not a little decadent, but hey – I’m worth it! We then met A.’s friend E. for dinner (tapas) and a movie (Ladies in Lavender). I love Judi Dench (I even watch the re-runs of As Time Goes By on PBS!), so I had to see this. Please don’t let the movie’s title deter you; it doesn't convey very much about the movie at all. It’s a beautiful story, set in a beautiful place (the British Isles, I assume) and provides some food for thought, which is more than I can say about most of the movies that will be out in the next few months. Go see it!

In knitting news, I have part of one sleeve and the trim left to knit on Lucky. The rest of her is blocked and ready for seaming. Oh, how I wish I had tried the seam-as-you-go method…it seems so daunting now.

I’m also working on another small project. Last night I was zipping along on it, and even stayed up late to cast off. This morning, when I attempted to ‘pose’ the item for pictures for you, dear reader, I noticed a definite wonky-ness that could not be ignored. And so – I rrrriiippped! For all of you EXCEPT the person who is going to receive this item (on Saturday, you know who you are!!), you can look here to see what it looked like. So imagine it like this only, you know - not lopsided.

That’s it for me. Once the surprise item is finished, I am looking forward to a new project. Beginning soon on a Southwest flight near you…stay tuned!

Happy knitting, all!