My Better Pal Rocks (literally)

I have had so much fun participating in the Better Pal swap. This month was the big “reveal,” where you get to find out who has been secretly sending gifts picked especially for you. Before I tell you who, let me show you what…



The pink bag was made by my BP herself! It has cool drawstrings, and as she suggests, would be a great way to tote around knitting projects in your work bag. I can’t believe she made it! I would really like to learn how to sew, and getting this great bag is fueling my zeal. There is also some ground coffee (organic!) and a tasty organic chocolate bar with a cool retro wrapper. The nubbly item in the front is an Avocado Massage Bar, fancy and heavenly-smelling soap. And last but very cool indeed – a skein of silk/cotton/wool yarn from Farmhouse Yarns. I can mention this now that she knows who I am, but I just picked out some Farmhouse Yarns for my Better Pal! It was all I could do not to take some home for myself – but now I’ve got my own stash to try out! And in a fun “Neapolitan” colorway, no less.

It turns out my Better Pal was none other than Rock Chick! RC, you spoiled me rotten – and sent calming words and thoughts my way at a stressful time in my life. I am so grateful for your thoughtfulness.

Oh crap – I forgot to photograph the beautiful card that was also included – I just discovered it by the computer, where I was looking up the website where you can buy them! You can check them out yourself at www.photoartcards.com. They are quite beautiful and I will be ordering some for myself and for gifts. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the photographer is a knitting blogger...but I'm not 100 percent sure.

I'm out of town for the next couple of days. I don't really like travelling for work, but it must be done. And in this case, it's nice to be included, so I won't complain. See you later, everyone!

Hi-dee-ho

Hello there, everyone. It's been a while since last I wrote! (I think I've said that every time I've posted in the last two months.)

I was writing to a friend today, and I said to her that wedding planning is a marathon, rather than a sprint. Well, sometimes it feels like a sprint too, but that doesn't mean the race is over quickly. And at this point it does feel like a race. We don't have very much left to do, but I am now acutely aware that my wedding will occur in just about a month's time. Man, it seems like only yesterday it was October, and we were just picking the venue! Crazy.

Anyway, there has been a small amount of knitting in these parts. I bring knitting to work more days than not, but most of the time I don't take a lunch break so I don't get any knitting done. Today, though, I headed down to the lunchroom to get in a few stitches. I was knitting like a woman possessed - today's knitting was definitely stress relief!

I'm making this Debbie Bliss baby hoodie pattern from Special Knits. However, I did not have to buy Special Knits, because the pattern was featured in Simply Knitting, the incredibly expensive British knitting magazine I love. I finished the back and I'm working on the front, which includes the hood. As usual, DB has come up with an interesting construction for this sweater. Here's what the front looks like now:


Now that I think about it, I guess I can't say for certain how interesting this construction is, because I've never made anything with a hood. But it seems pretty cool to me.

Short post today, back to eating dinner. Hope everyone is doing fine and looking forward to springtime.

Hello out there

Long time, no post! I haven't been knitting, either. The closest I've gotten to knitting is - wearing my Lara sweater to work today! (ba-dum-bum) I have been thinking about knitting, though. I've been working on designing/locating a suitable motif for my circular yoke sweater, and now that I've decided on one, I can knit the sleeves and can get going on the pretty part!

The other thing is, I recently found out my cousin is pregnant! This will be her first child, and it's a boy. So, I am going to de-stash some Rowan All Seasons Cotton and make a cute baby hoodie from the Simply Knitting magazine. And, I still haven't forgotten about the felted fortune cookies! I'm headed to the yarn store after work.

So, all of this to say I'll be back later with pictures - of something! Not sure yet which of these items will strike my knitting fancy. Til then, have a great weekend!

New and Blue

Yesterday I got the most beautiful and thoughtful gift in the mail. My first pictures didn’t come out, so this is a close-up — but I bet you can guess what it is:

It’s a garter, but what you don’t know is that it was hand-tatted by a friend of mine. She made this from string, people! The photo does not do it justice. Somehow even though knitting involves making a fabric out of a strand of something, this thing called tatting is even more amazing and definitely more intricate. I will be so proud and happy to wear this on my wedding day. There will be no tossing or any other kind of transferring of this item as I plan to keep and treasure it forever. I never thought I would have anything that my daughter (if I ever have one) would want to wear on her wedding day – but now I do. Thanks a million, I.

My own knitting news pales in comparison, but I’ll chat about it anyway. As it turns out, I did not elect to write my own pattern for the sweater I had in mind. Why should I, when Ann Budd has figured it out already?! So, I’ve just added some waist shaping to her circular yoke pattern and I’ll insert my own yoke motif when I get to that point. Here’s the progress so far:



Whoopee, pink blob! But after knitting this much with the Cascade Cloud 9, I think I can recommend it if you want to knit with angora but don’t want a lot of fluff. Granted, this is the first angora yarn I’ve used (and actually it's 50% merino, 50% angora) – but it seems to have minimal shedding. I even knitted with it yesterday, while wearing black wool pants – and I could easily pick off the angora wisps. So there you go.

And finally - where is my Rowan 39? Where is my Interweave? They changed the subscriber password on the website, but my new issue (and thus my new password) is no where to be found. Grrr...

Anyhoo, thanks for reading. Hope you are all enjoying early February, whatever your weather. Happy knitting!

What February 1st means to me

This year, it means there are exactly two months until I am a married woman. Anticipating marriage is a total rush, and also somewhat terrifying, but I see a future of contentment and joy too. No foolin'.

I don't have much of my own knitting to talk about today, so the real purpose of this post is to tell you how cool Indigo Muse's felted fortune cookies are. I mean, can you think of a more fun use of Cascade 220 and short rows? Go check them out if you haven't seen them yet!

I'm planning to make these for my bridesmaids. I bought jewelry rolls made of beautiful fabric when I was in Chinatown in San Francisco. Now I am buying unique necklaces for each of them, and I will probably get some other little gift to go in too. But the real treat will be to finish off the gift with those cool plastic carryout containers, and knitted fortune cookies with personalized fortunes! I can't wait!!

My mother's shawl continues apace. It's the only thing I'm working on now, so the end is closer every day. I am still working out the math for my first-ever sweater design, so as soon as that's completed, I'll cast on.

I also listened to my first podcast of Cast On by Brenda Dayne. It's a cool show. It's very different from Knitcast, which I also like. It's like the difference between Garrison Keillor and Fresh Air, for you NPR lovers. Both great in their own right - just different. It's nice to have a selection of knitting podcasts to chose from! Brenda says there are a bunch - does anyone know of other good ones?

Later, y'all. Hope all is well!