March 10, 2007
Halfway There...
I'm halfway to my goal - I finished the Anemois!
And then there were two.
Closer.
A pair!
And now they're blocking.
They turned out so well - I can't wait to make another pair! There's a few mistakes, but I'm very happy with how they look. Yayayay colorwork!
Now, on to Forecast! Goal: Finished and blocked by Wednesday. My plane for NY leaves on Thursday! Thanks for all your good thoughts. Things are getting slightly better. I can't be grumpy with a trip on the horizon, right?
February 2, 2007
Snow Day!
That's right - I got a day off yesterday! I woke up from a lovely dream where the University was closed due to inclement weather, got on my laptop, checked the university website, and found that the University WAS closed due to "deteriorating weather conditions." Now. I know there are a lot of Northerners out there who are snickering at us behind their hands, and that's okay. Because I had the day off, and so did Jacob. yayayayayayayayayay! (Admittedly, everything was melted by 8:30, but who am I to question the University's authority? SNOW. DAY.)
I slept until 11:30, had a lovely breakfast, and then settled into the couch for a long day of knitting. I finished this:
One Anemoi Down. One to Go.
I love, love my mitten. The top isn't as crisp as I wanted it to be -- my three needle bind off leaves a little to be desired -- and there are definitely some iffy areas in terms of gauge consistency. But it looks good, and it's warm. These are intended for a gift, but I'm still deciding if I should finish this first pair as practice and then gift the second pair because they will probably look better. What do you think?
After I finished that, I decided to work for a while on this lovely sweater. Oh, how I love to knit with Rowan Wool Cotton. It's so soft and squishy and yummy delicious. I finished one sleeve (gauge swatch), and then I immediately cast on for the back:
Picot edging + garter stitch = cute.
I'm loving this pattern. I think, once finished, it will be my most wearable knit to date (that I've kept for myself.) My most wearable finished knit currently would definitely be my Central Park Hoodie, but it went to my sister. This one is all for me!
I also ventured into the stash yesterday to try and match up stash yarn with future projects. I know, I know -- it sounds insane. But, I think I succeeded! I have plans to knit Stefanie Japel's Simple Knitted Bodice next (long sleeved), and so I dove into the stash to find a suitable yarn. I came up with two options: some worsted weight organic cotton that I bought at Rhinebeck (in a creamy natural color, it's super soft), or this Elann Baby Silk (with two strands held together) in Salmon. I'm leaning towards the Baby Silk, but I'm not sure. I guess I COULD knit up a swatch in each and see which one I like better...but that's more crazy talk.
The second Anemoi will be on hold for just a bit -- I'd like to make some headway with my Maggie. But I can't wait for too long -- the colorwork is addictive. I WANT MORE.
January 22, 2007
Housekeeping.
I'm trying out a new look for the blog -- let me know what you think. Unless you hate it, and then you don't have to tell me. :) Also let me know if you see any pages that aren't working -- I'm trying to change everything over, but I'm sure I'll miss something. I just decided wanted a new color to look at, and I also wanted to play with these Photoshop brushes (link via Dooce). Yay for nerding out with the blog.
This weekend, I went to Atlanta with my friend Cheryl to see Cathy and Wes and go salsa dancing. (The Pants stayed home to nurse a stomach virus and watch horror movies.) Loca Luna was so crowded that we didn't really get to dance much, but we did eat good food and drink yummy drinks, including some tequila shots. Hee. Guess what happened while we were at the bar? A blog reader said hi! I've never had that happen in Atlanta before -- So. Exciting. This is me and Raquel (hi Raquel! I hope that's how you spell it):
Sorry for the blurry camera phone pic.
Raquel was wearing a beautiful Hourglass sweater out of Cotton Fleece that she knit herself, (um, what a good yarn for the Hourglass! why didn't I think of that?) and she was so. nice. How fun is that? Yay for the knitblog world -- even in the most crowded bars, we knitters can spot each other.
Cathy and Wes were nice to enough to get up on Sunday morning and get some coffee:
That's Whitney behind them.
Aren't they just like a Christmas card? Good times were had by all, although we missed Jacob.
I knit on my new favorite project...Anemoi Mittens! I knit all the way past the thumb on my first mitten, and it looked so pretty, and I was happy, but they looked...big. Then, I checked my gauge and my needles. I thought I was knitting with 2s, and I was knitting with 3s. D'oh. Yes, I know I should've checked my gauge WAY before the thumb and checked my needle size BEFORE I started the mitten. Lesson learned.
Here's the first mitten, second try:
Here's the back.
Here's the palm.
Y'all. I'm loving the colorwork. I didn't even mind ripping, because I got to knit it AGAIN. Yay.
So it was a good weekend. I've been running FAIRLY regularly - I did a six miler a week ago - and I think I'm going to be ready for my half marathon in March. I hopehopehope.