Going on Vacay!

We're going on a weeklong vacation (well, we're taking the kids, so it's more like a getaway). Work has been a nightmare the past few days so I haven't knitted anything since the weekend. Therefore, another FO this week didn't pan out. Still, I'm finishing up everything before we go out of town because I'm not doing any work on my vacation.

I don't know what our Internet connection is supposed to be like, so I may be able to catch up with my blogrolling while away, I might not. (I hope I can because the thought of a weeklong neglected blogroll frightens me.)

Yarn, WIPs: check
Needles: check
I think that's all I need.

I'll be back the 1st of July!

Does this look familiar, Dipsy? ;-)

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And then there were 4

Current WIP count, now that the Summertime Tunic is complete: 4

Yarn: Cotton Fleece in color "Peridot"
Pattern: Summertime Tunic, Interweave Knits Summer '07
Needles: US size 6

Interweave made a point of saying how easy this pattern is. It's knit almost entirely in the round (bonus points from me for that). If you can knit & purl, you can make this top. I needed a bit of mindless knitting & this top fits the bill for that. I was a little hesitant when I picked up this yarn in my LYS because it's 80% cotton, 20% wool. I was concerned that the wool would make it too warm for the summer heat, but my LYS owner assured me that the wool would help the top hold its shape better instead of eventually drooping like all-cotton tops can do. So far, it's very comfortable to wear & I'll take her word that the wool will hold its shape.

Is that the UPS guy with more yarn for me?

I had the hardest time finding this chocolate brown ribbon. Once I decided I wanted brown, it had to be brown & nothing fancy. Just a plain brown ribbon. One store I went in didn't have any brown at all! Or it was too wide or suede or whatever. I finally found it, plus these cool wooden beads. I can get kind of picky about small details like this. But I think it's all worth it.

I like the versatility of this top; I wore it with denim & with linen. I also have a white summery skirt that it'll go well with. As you can see, I'm pretty happy with it.

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Weekends are for...finishing

If all goes according to plan, I'll have 2 (!) FO's to show you next week. That is, if I can thwart the family's plan to thwart my plan. My plan: knit & read to my heart's content while ignoring my vegetable garden's weeds (when it's really quiet at night, I can almost hear the weeds abusing my tomatoes). Their plan, which I've never seen on paper, but have observed in fiendish operation: do whatever it takes (cry, mope, bleed) to mess up Mom's plan.

I may have to go underground.

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Love is...

...the Arctic Diamonds Stole in progress.

Arctic Diamonds Stole, IK, Winter '06

For such a beautiful pattern, it's very easy. The yarn combined with the lace make this project so enjoyable, I know I'm going to be sad to see it end. Since I've only just finished my first rows 11-74 repeat, this won't end anytime soon. I have 4 more repeats to do. Do you know how many rows that is? I'm unwilling to do the math as I'm sure if I ever saw that number on paper, I'd run screaming from the room. Instead, I'm focusing on the number 4. Just 4 more repeats. I'm knitting with all the speed of a turtle with carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as not having as much time to work on this as other projects (easy though it is, it requires concentration I can't muster during the day when the kids are working in unison to chip away at vague concepts such as "Peace" and "Tranquility."). This is a nighttime project, when I can stay awake.

By the way, in case you were wondering, this will be mine. No gifting this baby. No way.

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Ebbs & Tides

Back in April, when I "shut down" this blog, I thought I was done with knit-blogging for good. Life was crazy & I didn't much feel like knitting in the little free time I had. I considered taking a hiatus, but I really thought the hiatus would last at least a couple of months, instead of a few weeks. So I figured, what's the point?

Now I see how rash my decision was. I'm not a machine, knitting isn't my job (neither is blogging) & instead of getting stressed about when I can't do it, I'll focus on enjoying it when I can. It took me ridiculously long to get to this point. When I look at my 5 WIPs and see that 3 are mostly stockinette (plain & simple), I decided that I'm going to enjoy the knitting for knitting's sake. I can do more complex projects, but I don't have to. I can just coast on stockinette & still end up with something splendid, something I love & it's OK.

Likewise with blogging. Why was I so hard on myself when I didn't post regularly, but wasn't bothered when other people did it? Because I know knitters have lives outside of knitting, but I didn't allow myself that same perspective. Again, I've matured. There may well be times when I don't post for a week or two or maybe even a month, but the blog will remain. I do have a life outside of knitting, but when I'm ready to come back to it, it's always there, ever faithful, ever beautiful.

Happy weekend, all!

Summertime Tunic-in-progress, IK Summer '07

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The Lost DPN, part 2

Some friendly advice from one knitter to another: Confine discussions about DPN properties inside the LYS instead of halfway in & halfway out when the LYS owner walks you to the door. When passerby pick up pieces of conversation like "I like the 6 inch ones better"; "I like the 8 inches"; "I always feel like I'm working harder with 8 inches"; "It might take longer, but that's what I'm used to," they (Muggles) tend to look at you strangely. Good thing we didn't get on smoothness & pointiness.

I bought Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs & these are some of the nicest bamboo needles I've used. They're very smooth & the yarn glides easily.

Anyway, after returning from my LYS, I did clean out the minivan. And I found the missing DPN! I wouldn't be at all surprised to one day find missing persons underneath all the junk--they could subsist on all the food the kids drop.

Sock-in-progress with the Crystal Palace DPNs--an enjoyable experience

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The Lost DPN, part 1

I misplaced/lost a DPN the other day & I wanted to find it because I was working on a sock. I could've put the working stitches on 3 needles instead of 4, but I like working over 4 stitches with the 5th needle free, so I really wanted to find this needle. I assumed it was in my minivan because I'd carried the sock along, so I searched the van. I didn't find it right away because the van is my kids' personal carnival grounds after the carnival's been in town for a week. I then had 2 options:

Option A: Thoroughly clean the van, which would've taken half a day (you know that saying "Nature abhors a vacuum"? Well, so do I)

Option B: Go to the LYS & buy a new set

VROOOOOOOM!

I found some needles, but I also found this:

Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn in "Bronze"

I had honest intentions of only buying needles (I did!). But this yarn is so beautiful. It's going to make the Montego Bay Scarf in the current Interweave Knits. I think this is the first time I'm using the same yarn used in a magazine pattern; I normally try to find a cheaper alternative. This will also be my first time knitting with silk. I'm whittling down my WIPs because I'm not starting another project until I get my list down to 2 (mm hmm, she's so optimistic). I think this scarf will be perfect vacation knitting since we go on vacation later this month.

Q: Where do Floridians go on vacation?

A: Somewhere in Florida other than where they live.

Just kidding! Floridians do go other places just like normal people, but we like this place called Sanibel Island. And it's in Florida, but 6 hours away.

6 hours in the van + 1 man + 3 children = 10 more gray hairs.

Don't worry, I'm going to take my knitting.

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