Shinies!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Just a quick one to show off the beads on the swallowtail. They match SO well you almost can't see them. But they are silver lined, so when the light hits them right, they shine!
This pic shows the beads a little better, but the flash skewed the colors.
In other news, I am a moron. I mailed two destash packages to the wrong people...sigh. They are very understanding though and it's being fixed thank goodness. That's what I get for not paying attention!

So now I'm off to work on the swallowtail some more. I probably won't knit or spin anything else till it's done, I can taste the end!

Also, this one is gonna be hard to part with...lol, it's just so pretty with the beads! I'll be excited to finish though, cuz it means I can cast on Laminaria with that pretty handspun, the blue/green single. Maybe I'll find a way to add beads to that too...

Good Mail Day! (RSC Spoiler ahead)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

So today I went up to the post office after work. I knew my RSC shipment was waiting for me, and I had some destashing items to mail off. I was not expecting this most wonderful package that arrived also. It is the one for the HHHH swap! I got some great stuff, more than I ever expected, and all of it is awesome!
On the top left is a batt from Loop on etsy. Gorgeous bamboo in the colorway Mint Chocolate Chip. Below that is a knitting keychain, the yarn spun just for me (160ish yards of merino silk!), and soap in the brown wrapping. Then there is a set of knitpicks dpns in size 1, a wpi tool, and a card that has a hat pattern on it! The yellow packet and the ones to the right of it are wool wash samples, then on the left is a little notepad and chicken thingy.

It's an amazing package, and I couldn't ask for more! Thanks so much Elizabeth!

Next up is the RSC package. I had accidentally seen the yarn on someone else's blog, and I knew that I would love it when I got it in my hands. I adore pastels and I love the pattern. Well, it comes with two.
The one in the pic is the Gumdrop pattern. Oh and the yarn is called Goody Goody, and came with sweet tarts! Which also happens to be the name of the other pattern, a simple ankle sock but it's cute in the yarn!

I can't wait to knit both of these socks...I wonder if I'll have enough for both with one skein? Maybe, I have smallish feet. If not I'll do the anklets with something else, I've got some jelly bean colored cherry tree hill. I bet that would work!

Well off to knit now. I'm just about to the beaded bit of the swallowtail! I am in the home stretch now, and the beads will keep me motivated. :)

Where's the knitting?

Sunday, July 27, 2008

So it's been a bit since the last post, which wasn't really all that interesting to most of you I'm sure. I took a few pics to prove that I am still knitting amid the craziness. Not a ton, but doing what I can.

Here's the swallowtail. I know from knitting mine the first time around that it's an itty bitty shawl, and mine had been knit with thicker yarn. So when I got to the required 14 repeats I decided that Melissa might actually want to use the shawl as more than a head scarf...so I am making it bigger.
To make it bigger you have to add increments of 5 repeats. So 19 instead of 14. Here I have it up to 17 repeats, just two more to go! I can't wait to get to the beaded part. That's my favorite. Plus I really want to finish this and get it mailed off.

Here's a pic of my Juno Regina, which I haven't worked on in a few weeks, but I hadn't taken a pic of the progress since the diamond motif. I love how handspun knits up, it's so pretty. I cannot even wait to finish this.
Then yesterday I started the second Carolina sock, I had started the pair in February and knit the first to fit my sister. When she came over here I had her try it on and it was PERFECT. She was excited so I am trying to hurry and finish. She forgot a few small things here so I'd like to mail the socks with them.
She also said that it didn't matter if they matched. I had mostly been putting it off because I wasn't sure if I wanted to try and make them exactly the same. I think they'll be cute either way.

I finished spinning and plying the yarn for my hand spun swap pal. I have to bathe it tomorrow, and then get the rest of the package ready to mail. It's so pretty I don't want to give it away! I really hope she loves it.

I sent the hat and socks for my Aunt Jackie back with Meghan when she flew home. I haven't heard word yet, but I think Meg hasn't been over to see her yet since she got there. I think also she's going to hand them over to my mom to gift for me. My mom visits more often.

Well that's about it for right now. Just working on finishing stuff up, and I'm planning on starting the third bobbin of the superwash bfl for my 3 ply sock. I can't wait to see how it plies up! More pics when I've got something interesting to show.

What a busy week!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Ok so I don't know what's up with Blogger. Is mine the only one being retarded???

Anyway, haven't had much time to update. I've been so busy for the last week I've done almost no knitting or spinning at all. My dad flew in from Massachusetts on the 14th, and my sister from NY on the 17th, so we packed in all the visiting and fun while we could. My dad got in later on Monday, so Tuesday I took the kids in and we walked to the big park downtown to feed the ducks and ride the carousel they have there. On Thursday when Meg got in I took them in and they swam at the pool at the hotel. Friday Meg and I took Nick to see Wall-E. Oh man was that a cute movie! I loved it and so did he. He also ate half a tub of popcorn...by himself...(This is Meg and Nick)

Saturday was a family gathering, all the "fun" (say that in the most sarcastic voice ever) people who live here that I never see. Some of them aren't so bad, others are annoying. Either way, if the party hadn't been in a backyard with two ponds, balloons and presents the kids couldn't touch, and alcohol, it would have been nicer...(Meg and Alexis)

Sunday I worked,and then my dad, sister, and I went to breakfast. Then we went to look at a house (which I'll talk about in a min) and that night my sister and I went to dinner. We went to Olive Garden, but there was a 45 minute wait. So we went over to Nordstrom to look around and I finally found a decent pair of shoes to wear to work. (These are the ones I got, in black, SO comfy) Then we went back to eat, and I got a glass of wine with dinner. It was SO good. Some of the better wine I've tasted. Beringer White Zinfandel, a Chardonnay version or something. I need to find some...anyway it's a really dark zinfandel, but man it was good!

Monday I worked and my manager let me leave early. I went home and I got ready to go back out. My sister and I met up with my dad to go back to that house and see inside. After that we got food from Sonic, and went up to my dad's sister's house and I got a purse from her. She sells those reproduction ones. It's SO adorable. Then we went to see that new batman movie. Dark Knight something or other. It was AMAZING. A really great movie.

So that brings us to today. My sister flew home at 6am, and I vegged all day, relaxing after the last week of activity. My dad was supposed to be here till Friday but changed his flight to go home tomorrow. So when hubby got home we took the kids in for one last short visit. We walked back to the park and sat in the hotel talking for a bit before heading home.

So it was a good visit. My sister bought me an iPod shuffle, but the dock adapter won't work in my car so I'm returning it and upgrading to the Nano. My dad gave me a bit of money for whatever, so I figure I should get something I've been wanting for a while! I would have been fine with the shuffle, but if I can't use it in the car...and I don't want to bother with the fm transmitters. Why would I when we have a plug just for iPods???

Ok so I'll try to keep this bit short, this is already a long post. My dad grew up here in Spokane, and when he retires in 8 years he wants a place to stay when he visits and stuff. So he decided to buy a cheap house and let us live in it until then. We'd have to pay part of the rent, etc. But since we can't afford our own house, we could stay there, fix it up, and whatnot. The one we were looking at wasn't cooperating so we're going to keep looking. I am excited. Chad's mom, not so much. I think she wants us to stay here forever, and OMG I can't lol. I need my own place. It's been 4 years here, and while it's bearable, I can't handle it for much longer. So we will be searching and let my dad know when something good shows up.

Oh and if you are in need of any yarn...I'm destashing over on Ravelry. See it here.

Broken

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Nope, not the 12 Stones song, my dpn. See exhibit A:
Yes, that would be my size 2 Brittany Birch dpn, broken. I was finishing knitting exhibit B:
the hat for my Aunt Jackie when it broke. At least I still had 4 dpn's to knit with, and finished the hat today. I will be sending the hat off along with the nanner socks. Hopefully she will like them! I know that she is going in for chemo again this next week, and it's going to be 3x as strong as the first time, due to the severity and spreading of the cancer...

Other than that, I'm knitting on my Juno Regina a bit, the Swallowtail, which is slow going at it's current size, and spinning. I have two bobbins done for my 3 ply sock yarn. I stopped after the second to start spinning the fiber for my swap pal.
I am loving the spinning, and I hope to be done really soon! That's it for now. Oh and today is the two month mark of my yarn/fiber diet. Go figure, Crown Mountain Farms is having a sale on the superwash...one day, one day Wish You Were Here, and Born To Be Wild, you will be mine!!!