It was so beautiful this weekend! I had lots of schoolwork to finish up, but that didn't stop us from doing some gardening. People, I love to plant things. When Jacob mentioned going to shop for some stuff for the yard, I almost didn't go with him because I immediately thought, BO-RING. But hello! So. not. boring! and now I can't stop researching flowers to put in flower boxes and thinking of new thing we can plant in our yard. ohboyohboy.

I'll spare you the pictures of our newly planted flower boxes (although I'll probably post some once they're blooming.) I actually have pictures of a finished Morehouse Merino shawl...

It's about time I took at picture of this.

and here's the wingspan shot:

I actually already have another Morehouse kit on the needles - it's just knitknitknit, which is just the kind of project I like to carry around in my purse. Knitknitknit.

And here's what else I've got on the needles...

Trellis for the BigHeadSchmoo.

My nephew is about to turn one - can you believe it? For his first birthday, Aunt Scary is knitting him his very own fabulous cabled sweater. I hope it fits! One sleeve and two fronts to go.

And I couldn't resist the call of the chevron:

Chevron Scarf in Socks That Rock.

I was inspired by Ashley's first Chevron scarf, and then I happened to win some mediumweight Socks That Rock in Ashley's blog contest, and then I saw this lovely version on Domesticat. Non-curling edges? I'm sold.

I'm using Socks that Rock in Nodding Violet and Rare Gems. These colors are working so beautifully together - I want to turn all of my variegated sock yarn into yummy delicious scarves.

Yes, I know that's three different projects. I can't make up my mind sometimes. I have two sweaters I really want to finish too (my Kim Hargreaves kit and my Must-Have) but I just can't handle sweater knitting when it's getting hot like this. My KH sweater is a cotton blend, so I might just work on that after this Trellis is done. So many choices...

This weekend: family reunion and silent auction. Good times.

Posted by Carrieoke at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

So I spent last weekend in Denver, CO with Jacob and our favorite teamies Drew and JoAnna. You may remember them from my New Year's trip two years ago or maybe from their fabulous wedding last year. They rock.

TEAMIES!

And also, Denver rocks. We had lots of fun times. We played bocce ball ...

Well, Drew and Jacob did.

We played cornhole. Cornhole is fun, although some people (me) may make weird faces when they throw the beanbag. Some other people (JoAnna) may beat the pants off every person there, including all the boys who secretly thought they were the best at cornhole. Go, JoAnna!

This is not good cornhole form.

We also played shuffleboard (the bar version, which is played on a table instead of the ground.) Shuffleboard is fun because even people with no athletic ability can be good at it. Me likey that kind of game.

JoAnna also kicked major ass at shuffleboard.

We also went to the Denver Zoo, which was quite lovely and seemed more open than Zoo Atlanta. (It has been a LONG time since I visited Zoo Atlanta.) One of my favorite animals with this ferocious looking bear who was munching on a rawhide.

Schmoo got a treat.

Somehow, he's not scary anymore with the rawhide.

This guy kept staring at me.

It was an excellent trip. It was supposed to snow a foot on Friday, but instead we had 60-70 degree weather all weekend. For once, Black Cloud did not bring crappy weather with her. Hooray! I miss my teamies though. TEAMIES MOVE HOME. Ahem.

I knitted my little hands off during our trip. I finished TWO projects - first, a Morehouse Merino triangle shawl that I've had in my knitting bag since my New York trip. I finished it up while in Denver and wore it quite a bit as a scarf with it got chillier at night. It hasn't been blocked yet, so
I have no picture, but you can imagine : triangle shawl in blue-gree Morehouse colorway.

Second finished project? A super quick Calorimetry. Dude, that pattern kicks ass. I followed Mrs. Frick's example and used some delicious sock yarn (my Koigu from Purl) . I doubled it, and cast on 84 sts instead of the required number. Perfect! I started this the night before we left for Denver, and I had it finished by the time we boarded our plane. (We *did* miss our originally booked 6:20am flight and had to catch the 9:30 plane, but still. Pretty quick knit.) I see more of these in my future...

Picture taken today at the Botanical Gardens.
Jacob had to test some lenses.

I may have also spotted two HEJs and an HEB while we were at the Botanical Gardens...

SCHMOOS.

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)

Forecast is done.

Sorry for the dorky pictures.

Yeah, I could've cropped this, but then you wouldn't get to see
my awesome back porch. YAYAY porch.

Here's what I don't like about my version: The collar doesn't really stand up the way it should. My cables are a bit wonky in places, and it WON'T BUTTON. Remember the pretty black vintage buttons? Not happening. I sewed them on, and the thing wouldn't stay buttoned. My Forecast is destined to be an open sweater. Maybe I can do one toggle thingy at the waistline...

Oh, Forecast. Don't be so difficult.

The Pants thinks it's totally weird. I think his exact words were, "It looks like a roman column." Ha! I can see that. The truth is this: I didn't really have gauge, which explains why the thing won't shut. (I also know this is a recurring theme on my blog. Stop looking at me like that!)

I do like it! I'm just not, like, TOTALLY overwhelmed with love for this sweater. It probably doesn't help that it's knit with a cashmere-wool blend and I've got the AC cranked in my house. It's supposed to get colder this weekend -- not that I want the cold back -- but maybe I'll get another chance to wear it. It has served me well so far as the sweater that I throw on when my shoulders are cold. I had just imagined as a fabulous fitted sweater that would MAKE an outfit, ya know?

So, my advice to future Forecasters: GET GAUGE. Like you need me to tell you that. or at least, get gauge if you want a sweater that you can close.

Okay, I guess I love it. Mostly.

Posted by Carrieoke at 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (66)