May 27, 2005
It's Raining Yarn
It's finally Friday and I'm really glad. Not only Friday, but the Friday before a holiday weekend. WooHoo! I'm shaping the armholes on the Zip Cardi, the back should be done tonight, and the yarn for the Tivoli T-shirt should be here today - swatching this weekend. Jenn tells me the yarn for the Ombre Blanket has arrived and she's shipping my portion next week. I'm going to have yarn coming out my ears, but it will be heaven!
I got a lovely package from Jenn with some great sock yarn - a thank you for finding her a pattern to match the Irish Hiking Scarf she's making - she's very nice to send such a lovely thank you gift. I took a picture, but it was horribly blurry - I must have been jumping around when I took the picture :) so I'll have to try again tomorrow. I'm going to have to cast on for another pair of socks now - my list just grows daily.
Here's a picture of Mom's house (it's kind of hard to see with the trees, but it's really cute):
In other picture news, here are a couple of shots from the birthday dinner:
My Mom, Her SO, and his son. Aren't they cute?
Have a great holiday weekend.
Posted by Stephanie at 10:00 AMMay 23, 2005
Where Did The Weekend Go?
Another weekend has passed us by. I'm not sure what I did all weekend, but it was gone before I knew what happened. On Friday my mom found out that she got her house - thanks for all of your thoughts. She's just over the moon, and she should be because it's a really cute house and I know she'll be happy there. I treated myself Friday after work and got a pedicure. It was long over due and now my feet look (and feel) great.
I finished blocking the SSS and I'm quite happy with it. Now if only it fits the recipient. Keep your fingers crossed.
I couldn't resist and cast on for the Zip Cardi over the weekend. I really like the licorne and the teal color is good - something different for me, but I really like it. The licorne is so soft and silky and I'm doing better with my gauge with this yarn. I'm excited about this cardigan because I think I'll be able to wear it a lot this summer (if I ever get it finished). Ronnie is still coming along. I worked on it on Saturday at the eye doctor and on our drive to pick up trees. I'm almost to the armhole shaping on the back. I think I'll try to finish the back and then dedicate myself to the Zip Cardi until it's finished. I just don't do well with more than one project (not counting a sock in progress) - I'm too easily distracted and need to be able to just focus on one thing at a time.
I finally found something for the center of my dining room table. I really struggled with this because I didn't want anything too impractical and silk flowers aren't really my thing, but anyway, here's what I settled on.
The runner is from Target and the sugar mold is from a little specialty store in town. What do you think?
Have a good Monday.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:19 AMMay 19, 2005
Blocking
The SSS has been completed and is now blocking. Here it is in its pre-blocking state:
Sorry for the bad picture, but I'll hopefully have a better one for you in a day or so. I decided to block it by laying a damp tea towel over it and then lightly steaming it with the iron. It looks like it worked, but I left the towels on today. I'll see how it looks when I get home tonight. I had to be careful when I did the crochet for the armholes because the first one I did turned out too tight. Since this isn't for me, I thought I ought to err on the side of caution and redo the armhole so the crochet was a bit looser. It seemed to work because the second time I tried it on, the armhole was much more comfortable.
After the SSS was completed, I picked Ronnie back up and am working on the back again, and I'm using my fabulous new Lantern Moon needles - love them. I think I'll cast on for the Zip Cardi this weekend because the endless miles of stockinette stitch on Ronnie is going to get really old. I think I'll definitely need a little something to break up the monotony.
I went for my second run last night, and it was harder than the first. Maybe because my legs were sore (still are by the way) or maybe it was just because I'm a wimp. Who knows?
Last night was a full night of tv watching for me too - Lost and then 2 hours of Alias. It was like tv heaven. I'm sad that both shows are ending their seasons next week, but I guess that's the cycle of things.
Have a great day - it's Thursday.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:37 AMMay 18, 2005
I'm A Whimp
I was so happy that I could run 1 1/2 miles, but I'm paying for it now. Now, I could have made the soreness worse by riding for the length of time I did, but I thought it would make it better - keep the muscles from getting tight. Let me tell you, I was wrong. And last night at karate proved just how wrong I was. There's just nothing quite like having sore thighs and having your karate instructor kick you in the legs. We're not talking about light kicks either, and the more I whimpered the harder he kicked. Why? He's twisted. That's the only explanation I can come up with. He tried to sell me a load of crap about it building character and being good for me, but I'm not buying that. He just likes to torture me. So, I'm supposed to run another 1 1/2 miles tonight and I'm hoping that it will alleviate some of the soreness, but I may just have to stay home from work tomorrow because I won't be able to walk. That's the silver lining.
In knitting news, I seamed the SSS and I'm quite pleased with it. I also finished the crochet on the neck, and still have the armholes to do. The pattern doesn't call for any finishing on the bottom, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't do the same as for the neck. What do you all think? I'll get the SSS finished this evening and block it. What's the best way to block a cotton blend? Soak and spin it or spray it or since it's cotton should it take a quick tumble in the dryer? Advise please!! :)
Next up will be to finish the back of Ronnie, but I may not be able to stop myself from casting on for the zip cardi with the new Licorne. What to do???
Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:20 AMMay 17, 2005
Ramblings
I'm shaping the neck on the front of the SSS. I should be able to finish it over lunch today and maybe even start seaming. I received my package from Knit Happens with the 2 extra balls of Jo Sharp SoHo Summer I need for Ronnie and some lovely rosewood Lantern Moon size 5 needles. I also went last night and picked up some pearl gray silk/merino lace weight yarn for my fist attempt at a shawl (from the lady that I met that sells yarn out of her house - nice stuff and great prices). I meant to take some pictures last night, but ran out of time. Why you ask? Well because I had my first run in my 5K training program (1 1/2 miles, which I ran all of) and then I went to help Travis with the new roping steers. So, I really got my exercise last night - running and then riding for about 2 1/2 hours. We didn't get into the house until almost 9:00. By the time we ate dinner and I knit a bit, there was no time for pictures and fighting with my computer.
Now I have to shamelessly plug a new cd. This is a county music cd, so if you don't like country music, just skip ahead to the last paragraph. If you do, you might want to check out The Great Divide. The guys in this band are friends of a friend (actually my college roommate) and can mostly be heard in Texas and Oklahoma. They have a good sound and some of their songs are great (at least in my opinion). Check it out and let me know what you think. And if you live down that direction, you should go see them live, I hear they put on a great show.
Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:28 AMMay 16, 2005
Weekend Update
Well, this weekend was productive, but not in the ways I imagined. My pain in the ass dear, sweet husband decided that since our weather was nice on Saturday (actually all weekend) that instead of painting the kitchen we needed to work in the yard. There definitely was yard work to be done and the weather was quite nice - no wind and in the high 60's, but darn it, I wanted to paint the kitchen. Oh well, there's always next weekend. I may just have to take a mental health day and just do it, but we'll have to see how it goes.
I managed to finish the back of SSS and I'm about 10" into the front.
I did run into a few problems as I worked on this project over the weekend.
These knots were in 2 separate balls of yarn. Grrr. I hate knots! Especially in expensive yarn.
Otherwise, I baked some honey wheat bread, chocolate chip cookies, and banana bread and had my mom and her SO over for dinner last night. We had a great time reminiscing about growing up on a ranch and the good childhood I had. I rounded out the weekend with Grey's Anatomy. All in all a good weekend, but not what I had planned. Have a great day and keep your fingers crossed that my package comes from Knit Happens (it's been over a week!).
Posted by Stephanie at 8:47 AMMay 13, 2005
Cruisin'
Although I have no pictures (it basically looks just like yesterday's picture with some shaping and about 12" of seed stitch), I'm really moving along on the SSS. I'm just about to start the armhole shaping, so I'll definitely have the back done this weekend, and maybe a good start on the front. I like the shaping on this tank - the waist looks like it will be very fitted and cute for summer. I love the soft, squishiness of the Goa in the seed stitch and it's a really quick knit on the 10 1/2 needles, which I realize I desperately needed. :)
Still no package from Knit Happens, but I think it's my fault. I recently changed my address and I think I forgot to make sure they sent it to the new address. The package is probably stuck in the pile of mail to be forwarded. I hate it when I do stupid stuff like that. Oh well, maybe it will come today. If not, I'm going to stop into the post office in the morning and see if they have it.
It appears that the alpaca for the ombre blanket is a bit back-ordered, which is ok with me, but it's driving Jenn nuts because she's anxious to start. Don't you just hate it when you're all excited about a project and you can't get the materials?
I'm painting my kitchen tomorrow and I'm excited - mostly because I'm tired of thinking and talking about it, but also because I really like the color. After the paint comes new hardware for the cupboards, which will cost me an arm and a leg. My ideas are much bigger than my wallet. Oh well, keeps me out of trouble.
Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:53 AMMay 12, 2005
Yarn!!
I got 2 packages yesterday. It was yarn heaven, I tell ya. The Goa arrived and I immediately went to work on it! I just couldn't resist its yummy softness.
This yarn is a nice change from the DK Jo Sharp - thicker and the seed stitch is a nice break from the endless stockinette stitch. It's soft and worked on size 10 1/2 needles. The seed stitch is going quite quickly - must be because I knit continental. :)
Also in the mail was my package from Knit N Tyme. The lovely Phildar Licorne for take 2 of the zip cardi.
It's soft and has a lovely sheen. This is a color that I haven't really worn before, but I like it and think it will make a nice cardi. This project is on hold until I finish the SSS and probably the back of Ronnie. That's ok though because it's still too cold here to wear cotton - it snowed about 4 inches last night. Snow ... May ... Spring ... Problem. But what are you gonna do, but go with it and be glad that you have a little extra time to wear your wool sweaters and socks. I keep thinking that one of these days the weather has to get better, but so far that has not been the case.
I'm painting my kitchen on Saturday - and can hopefully get it all done in one day. My mom's coming to help me because she owes me some painting help and she has plans to use my services more in future months. She's in the process of closing on a house and she's already making plans for painting and fixing up. Sounds like it's going to be a busy summer, but I enjoy it and I'll have lots of before and after pictures. Have a great day and I hope you're weather is better than mine.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:37 AM
