Today I started a new travelling project as I'm about to start my workweek and doing a whole lot of flying around.
I settled on some socks and chose the Charade pattern to compliment the camoflauge colorway of Spirit Trail Fiberworks that I wanted to use. Hopefully I'll be able to work on the socks with a bit of regularity as my friend (the recipient) is having a birthday next weekend.
Well onward and upward with the camo socks.
Lace on Silvia's blog? I know what you're all thinking - that bitch couldn't knit lace to save her dyed head!
You're right. I can't, but Cookie can.
Indeed, I sent her some gorgeous yarn languishing in my stash and she knit me a shawl. (See Carolyn - you may be the master of getting the knitting love, but I learned a few tricks too.) I know! Why would she do that? Maybe she's insane, or maybe I have something on her that she doesn't want known. I won't tell - for now.
This yummy shawl is knit by Cookie with Sundara Silk Lacein a tomato red somewhat solid (can't remember) colorway. Cookie used the Shetland Triangle pattern (ravelry link) by Evelyn A. Clark published in Wrap Style. She used US 3 lace Addi circs and knit 20 repeats of the main chart before doing the edging chart.
I love it! I feel like a rockstar in it. Thanks Cookie!
On this very somber day in 2003 I started this blog.
I work in the airline industry and had just got laid off and figured I had the time. (I did.) Five years later I'm still at the blogging and back at work.
Today I'll reflect on that time while on my flight to work across the country. And no, I'm not scared, before you wonder. Never have been. So today I'll make a point to reflect, be still and be thankful for all wonderful people who've come into my life via this blog. I shall take my cue from the beautiful 9/11 Pentagon Memorial opening today. Take a look.
Be still, reflect and be grateful.
The second week with a FO! Don't get used to this will ya, I can't keep up the pace. Please note that today's shot has the alien abduction stare cropped out.
February Lady Sweater is officially complete. I even tossed it in the washer and DRYER to soften up the Cotton Ease. Turns out that Cotton Ease loves the washer and dryer and it's now soft and comfy.
I'd thought a trip to the store was necessary for the buttons, but I found some workable ones in the stash. I used the wrong side of the buttons, which was really much more interesting than the "right" side. Excellent.
So to sum up, the yarn is Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 4.5 skeins purchased on sale for $4/skein. February Lady pattern is gratis from Pamela Wynne and is based on one of Elizabeth Zimmermann's baby sweater patterns. The buttons were in the stash and 0 dollars. Holy crap.
I love it and I'm wearing it tonight. How's that wearable?
I worked on February Lady Sweater all weekend and finished one sleeve. I know! Of course I worked this weekend too, so that interfered substantially with the knitting. I started the second sleeve yesterday afternoon and finished it before the 49ers lost. Clearly I'm a dork.
In the spirit of proving my dorkdom, I'm posting the only shot of the sleeve progress mirror picture that didn't come out totally blurry. Unfortunately I look like I'm staring into the eyes of an alien or something. I also had the camera at a 38 degree angle (thanks photoshop measuring tool) which can't be a recommended technique. I guess I should crop my head out, but it's a seriously hilarious picture. Maybe I'll make it my xmas card this year...I mean Carolyn has hers picked out already too!
Oh yes, the sweater is coming out well and I think it'll be extremely wearable. Back to the spaceship with me.
Thanks for all the love for the alpaca Hannah. She's a sweet sweater, but it's freaking hot. I'm also back at work after 2.5 weeks off so it's uniform time on top of the heat. Yay. Oh did I mention that my uni is tight after all the cheese chomping? Yeah, good times.
Since I've got no new knitting to show, I can share some fabulous links to recipes I came across. I came across a copy of Whole Living Magazine on the plane and found a couple of easy dip recipes that sounded super good. One is the Sun-Dried Tomato Artichoke Dip and the other is Coriander-Chili Pinto Bean Dip from the Healthy Dips article.
I made the pinto bean dip as written and it's really delish. It's rather like a hummus, and I used it on bread and as a dip. The Tomato Artichoke dip is awesome too. I changed the quantities because I wanted to use all the artichokes and tomatoes in the packages. I don't really use leftovers, so in it all goes. I also processed the whole thing in the food processor to make it smoother. I'm currently munching on sandwiches made from this spread. Yum!
So that's my 2 cents on dips at the start of the football season. Squeal! Go Niners! (I suspect my dip recipes are better performing than my football team though.)
What's a heatwave without a new sweater? That's my motto anyway.
I finished my Hanna sweater so quickly I didn't even have time to blog about it. I started this luscious number right before going on my vacation. I thought February Lady would be too big and heavy to bring with me (I had to optimize suitcase room for Swiss chocolate transportation).
I'd had my eye on Hanna for quite a while and decided it was time to pull the trigger and get some acceptable yarn. There are several yarns mentioned in the pattern as working with this pattern. All are mohair except the Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Brushed Alpaca. I think mohair is pretty, but it feels like wearing a sweater made of live ants so that was definitely out. The Brushed Alpaca is fluffy but is really soft and doesn't make my skin crawl. That's a recommendation if you ever hear one isn't it?
Another plus is that this pattern is knit up on rather large needles (5.5 mm in my case) so it's quick and knit mostly in the round so seaming is minimal. I used four balls of the Brushed Alpaca with almost none left over to make the size medium. My yarn came from Royal Yarns and is the Autumn Red colorway. The pattern is Hanna from Cocoknits. The only mod I made was to make the sleeves 4.25" longer than the pattern calls for. Now I must wait for cooler weather to snuggle in my alpaca yummster.
I managed to upload some of the non crappy pix from my little camera onto flickr and made a pretty mosaic of some of my Switzerland trip highlights.
I had a good trip to Europe. I'd not been to Switzerland in many years and my mom's entire family is there. I was teased a bit about being so remiss about visiting, but I shall be certain to return soon. It's a beautiful place, awesome food and so much cheese I wanted to die. Oh yeah, and my family is really great too...
I'd worried a bit about getting a standby flight of of SFO, but it turned out to be fine and we got business class to Europe. That really helps take the sting out of a long flight. That is perhaps the best perk of my job. Domesticly first class is never available, but internationally it is much easier to snag. Of course I pay for this perk with my labor, I mean I was puked on TWICE last month by ADULTS! No joke people. Don't fly when you're sick please...
More later on actual knitting content. I've got a travel project underway you've never even heard about.
I'm still on vacation and am such a bum I extended my trip by one more day to make up for a rainy day at the start of the trip. We're in Switzerland and I'm enjoying a nonstop parade of cheese and chocolate. I do mean nonstop. I'll be on a cleansing fast next week just to possibly fit into my clothes again.
Today's excursion is to Grindelwald and that's certainly worth playing hookey one more day for. I always figure I can make it up later in the month. Gotta love the freedom of my job! I'll put up my crappy pix when I finally make it home, but for now enjoy this one off the tourist bureau website. Ciao!
Despite flying for the last 10 out of 11 days, I managed to knit a few rows here and there. February Lady sweater is progressing well with this desultory treatment, rather like the self knitting sweater. Minimal effort, maximum result.
What is there to say about this pattern that isn't already all over the net. It's easy, and the Zimmermann bones are super-model good. I'm using some cheap yarn (sale priced Lion Brand Cotton Ease) that is working well in the taupe/brown colorway oddly called Hazelnut. It's not at all hazelnutty, but more like Ovaltine. Whatev.
I got bored with the body this a.m. while watching my Netflix Last Detective series 4 dvd and started a sleeve. I know! I'm a Berkeley rebel - still. That's another good point about this project, good TV knitting.
Not much else today, I'm hugely jetlagged and planning to attempt to get on a plane tomorrow. It's for vacation, not work, so that's good. The bad is that the flight is full and I'm flying standby. Even if I don't make it on the flight, I'll enjoy being off for the next 11 days. Good times.
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