Too funny.

So. I have started taking spin classes 2 times a week. I used to go to spinning classes everyday way back when (like 5 years ago), and I remember now why I got so addicted to them. I love biking, but the loud music and fun atmosphere makes it a great way to exercise. Anyway. These classes are at 5:45 in the morning on Tuesday and Friday. I usually blog in the morning before work. I don't think I need to tell you guys that as much as I love the blog, I'm not getting up before 5 AM to do this!

I did finish the Owl Sweater yesterday.... but neglected to take pictures. Aaron is working from home today, so I asked if he could take a couple shots for me, and I think these will make you guys laugh. First, the full sweater:

Like his cropping? Too funny. And then, I asked for close-ups on the owls:
And closer:



Project Details:
Pattern: Baby Owl, by Penny Straker
Yarn: Elann Sonata, cotton yarn, discontinued color
Needles: Size 1
Started July 31st, Finished Sept 14th

My quilting friends turned me on to this pattern, and the way the owls are constructed are just too cool to pass up. Aaron is a bit nervous that our future baby is going to be totally clothed in knitwear featuring animals. Well, they are cute, and that is what matters.

I made one major mistake on this, on the front, you start with 50 stitches on each side, and are supposed to decrease to 45 after the ribbing. I forgot that part, and didn't notice until I started the SECOND front... so the front is about 2 inches bigger than the back. I was all stressed out about it when I noticed, and then decided - it's for a baby! It's FINE. And I left it as is. Once it's on a wiggly baby, you'll never notice.

I haven't knit with cotton in a while, and I really wouldn't recommend doing this pattern in cotton. The gauge on this sweater is pretty small (I was getting 6 sts to the inch, but I think it may have even called for more sts to the inch, I don't have the pattern in front of me) so the cabling with the cotton and the tight gauge was rough. I do like the finished product...although I had a little button crisis. You can see that you need to use tiny tiny buttons to make the eyes for the owls. I thought I have gotten matching larger buttons for the closures... but nope. The color is totally off - more of an olive green.

So I'll need to go do some button searching. The good thing is that I'm volunteering at the Boston Knit Out on the weekend of the 23rd - I'm hoping Windsor Button is open on Sunday (nope, they aren't. Just checked. Heavy Sigh) so I can get these buttons and buttons for the other little baby sweater I've made this summer.

TGIF!

Ridiculously close...

I've been knitting off and on with this Owl Baby sweater for a while. Yesterday, I decided it was time to just FINISH the thing! I finished all of the pieces, and am one row from binding off the collar. I just couldn't stay up any later last night!



There also is a bunch of finishing to do - I need to put tiny buttons for the owl's eyes, along with the normal buttons for the sweater.

Hopefully, I'll have an FO Friday!

Klaralund progress

I've mostly been working on Klaralund (with a few sewing projects thrown in for good measure, but those aren't ready to show yet). I am very secure about my decision on the sleeve width and length.... so that is what I started with:


I'm still wavering on the amount of ease for the body. Especially with the work I'm doing on dieting. I think I will go with 3 inches, but I still have a bit of time to decide. I have almost read all of the Klaralund along posts on the yahoo group - and it seems that most people were happy with between 2 - 4 inches of ease, and others had even more, and loved the baggy feel. So, still deciding!

While I was taking this picture outside, I turned around, and Abby was just staring at me. I figured she was posing for a blog picture!


Mom. Give me a treat.

Fuzzy Cuteness

Lookie what I made this weekend!



Super cute baby booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Not only are they cute, but a VERY quick knit - I made this pair in just about an hour.

We had a fun weekend - getting some little projects done around the house, going out to dinner, watching Aaron's soccer team's game, helping some friends do work on their house... a great weekend all around.

I guess I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow. Maybe. ; )


**Edited to add** Annie points out that the hands holding the booties are 'working hands'. That is just what I was going for in the picture. Sweet little angora booties, held by Aaron... whose hands having been working on a brick walkway, painting rooms and furniture, and helping install flooring all weekend! My hands are also covered in paint, but not big enough to fit two booties!

Some pictures... and proof that I am weak.

I had a little photo shoot last night with my rollneck sweater. Here it is (with a little help from the dogs!)



And this one is a bit blurry, but you can see how comfortably it fits:



If you remember back, I decided that I needed a sweater like this after making the baby version for a friend. Here are the details:

Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple, Neckdown Pullover for Woman #9724
Yarn: Bartlett Yarns, in Mountain Blue (discontinued color)
Needles: Size 7 and 5
Comments: The pattern was awesome. I would even knit ANOTHER of these. I actually may have to, if after washing the sweater, the yarn doesn't soften up. The yarn, as I stated before is very 'rustic' and I found at LEAST one knot in every skein. In one, there were 4! I don't know if this is because it's the last batch made of this color, and they wanted to stretch it, but that was very frustrating. To make matters worse, the yarn still has a significant amount of spinning oil on it, so when I would hit a knot, I could just spit splice - but it tasted NASTY. So I had a little glass of water sitting next to me at all times while knitting. I'll report back after washing to let you know how it softens up, but now, you couldn't wear this sweater without a turtleneck, it's that rough.

I do have high hopes for it's appearance after washing - because I have a friend how uses this yarn often. I will say that for a XL woman's sized sweater, I was able to get this yarn for under $60.... which does make some of the troubles worth it.

In other news, I'm weak. I sat down yesterday, and figured out how long it takes me to do a row of the Figure 8 shawl (15 minutes) and how many rows I have left (lots) and learned that I have almost 40 hours of knitting to go. So, I've decided that I'm going to need to split that up between now and Rhinebeck! If I promise to knit 7 hours a week on the Figure 8 shawl, I decided it was ok to start playing with the yarn I got myself for my birthday. And knitting for 7 hours a week should be easy, as I'm traveling for work a bunch in the next month or so.

Therefore, I have started Klaralund! I've gotten a lot of great advice, but decided to start with a swatch *cough* sleeve - and got gauge with the first try... so I'm knitting on:



Notice that these colors are not my normal BRIGHT picks. I grudgingly admit that I wear the brown camel sweater more than anything else I have knit. So - if I'm going to spend mucho dinaro on yarn (I got 2 bags of Noro Silk Garden to be sure I'd have enough with my modifications) I'm going to be a bit more sedate. And there are splashes of color in this... which you'll see as the knitting progress!

TGIF!

An FO!

But no picture. I'll have a modeling 'session' when Aaron get home from work tonight so I can show you guys - but I finished the rollneck sweater! I love how it fits - like a nice big sweatshirt.

I was feeling like I was getting nowhere with the Figure 8 shawl... I'm on the side panels, and each row is 432 stitches. Ouch! So, I finished up the sleeves on the rollneck sweater to have a sense of accomplishment. But I do want the shawl done for Rhinebeck (there is my Rhinebeck project, Ruth!), so I'll get back to work on it today.

I have a question for you all. When I was at Webs, I bought some Noro Silk Garden for a Klaralund. I was convinced that I would be able to figure out how to upsize it for me. I think I'd like to get it to 50' across... has anyone upsized that pattern? And is 2 inches of ease correct? It seems like it's just 4 rectangles that you sew together, but I'm nervous about where the body gets joined to the sleeves. The picture in the book is not giving any help - the model is sans boobs, and I got plenty! Where should the seam from joining the sleeves to the body hit? Any help would be awesome.

Going over to the dark side?

So. I was over at my Aunt's house on Sunday, and she asked me if I would like her grandmother's spinning wheel. Um. Let me think about that.

YES!

I've often thought of trying out spinning, but the cost of my own wheel was a little to much allow me to consider yet ANOTHER hobby. But - now I have an opportunity to learn something new, with something that my great-Grandmother (Della) used to spin her own yarn.

I've taken a few pictures - hoping that you spinny folks out there can tell me if this is even usable. This is a side view - my Uncle says there is a metal piece that attaches the wheel to the treadle to make it spin: Top looking down:
Close up of other side:
Far view of other side:
Random extra bits:

I'd really love it if some of you experienced spinners - Cate? Carole? Could take a look and tell me what they see. Is this even worth getting excited about? I am going to Rhinebeck, and Cate mentioned that there was someone that will refurbish wheels there.

Reporting back!

Well, I've just returned from my long weekend. And since Aaron really wants to go to the movies, I'll put this into bullet point form (with a few pictures).

• Had a fun lunch with Cate. No pictures. Der. But great to spend some time with her catching up!
• Did a LOT of shopping. Got yarn at Webs, a new book at Northampton Wools that finally allowed me to make Aaron the perfect hat (! I've only been trying to do that for 5 years!), MORE yarn at Colorful stitches, fun fabric from Valley Fabrics... and assorted clothes from the Lee Outlet Shops. What? It's my birthday in a few weeks. I needed it ALL. I swear.
• We had lunch at the Red Lion Inn:
• We went to the Mount. What a cool place. I protested at first ($16 a person!!!), but the history of Edith Wharton is pretty interesting, and the gardens were gorgeous. Here I am showing the progress on Aaron's hat:
  
• Aaron arrived on Saturday, and tried on the hat. It fits, isn't to big, isn't too small.... in fact it's JUST right.

I'll give more details on everything later - but I would recommend the new book from Northampton Wools - they have a bunch of great patterns in there!

Cece Day!

Well... my long awaited vacation is finally here. This time, it can't be ruined by work, because I'm going to my family's CABIN in the Berkshires. And it lives up to the name.... we just got a 'normal' telephone there a few year ago. Before that, we had a 'party line'. You share it with other families?! No cable TV, cell phones don't get reception, no high speed internet... some go stir crazy at a place like that (like Aaron. He isn't coming until Saturday, and we are leaving Sunday). But for my Mom and I (who is coming up tonight to join me), we love just relaxing in the woods.

So today I'm on my way to Northampton... first for lunch with Cate, and then onto Northampton Wools, Webs and Valley Fabrics!

You won't be hearing from me until Monday! Yipppeeeeee!

Figure 8ing...

Yesterday, I made great progress on my Figure 8 shawl. I was trapped on conference calls at work the whole day, and I knit when I could!



There are the 2 finished center motifs blocking. I was nervous that I wasn't going to be able to get them to the 24 X 14 inch size the pattern calls for, but once wet - they blocked to that size no problem.

Do you see my fun new gadget in the picture? It's a "chart keeper", a magnetic board to put your pattern on, from Knitpicks. I saw it on someone's blog, and knew I had to have it. My sticky note method often backfires (when the note ceases being sticky, usually). It's awesome, and folds up to the perfect size to fit in my purse.

On a final note, I yet AGAIN blew by my Blogiversey without mentioning anything! As of August 23rd, I've been doing this for 2 years. This blog has been with me through a move, from very stressful times at work, getting a new puppy, and too many to count knitting and sewing projects. And, I've met some pretty wonderful people! Here's to many more blog years to come.

Amazing designer support

Remember yesterday, when I made a random comment in the middle of my post about misplacing my Figure 8 Shawl pattern? Well, Kristin, the designer, noticed that and e-mailed me another copy of the pattern! How amazing is that? Needless to say, I'm back knitting on the shawl:



As happens with lace, you can't really see the progress... but at this point I'm halfway through 2 out of the 3 center motifs.

Crafty weekend!

This weekend was pretty much perfect. I didn't have any big plans... so I spent it finishing up things I needed to get done around the house. Some things weren't super fun, like doing the laundry, cleaning up a few rooms, and grocery shopping... but the rest was!

I started off Saturday by finishing up the baby blanket I'm making for my friends who are expecting in October. Yep, it's done 2 MONTHS EARLY. I rock. Plus, this is the first quilt that I did the quilting all by myself (machine quilting, don't get too excited), I also didn't the binding and put on a cute little label. Here is a little taste of how ridiculously cute this quilt is:


I was all excited about finishing, and was thinking about bringing it to them tomorrow, when Aaron suggested that I wait until the baby is born. It will give us a reason to drive over and meet the little guy (or girl, but they feel pretty stongly that it is a boy)!

Then, I moved onto finishing the sweater for Lainey. This should have been a hell of a lot easier than it actually was, but that is how it goes sometimes. You see - the pattern for this sweater goes from a 1-2 year old size all of the way up to a 11-12 year old size. I was making the 5-6 year old size, and when making the sleeves, I made them the next size up. When will I ever learn to just circle the size I am making on the pattern!? Grrr. So - the sleeves were 2 inches too long, so I cut off the ribbing, and ripped back, and then re-did the ribbing. I've never done anything like that before - and I'm pretty impressed as to how well it turned out:

I'm sending that off tomorrow - so it should arrive in time for her birthday on August 31st!

So then, I wanted to pick up and get back to that very awesome shawl that I haven't worked on in a bit. But I seem to have misplaced the pattern. Which sucks. But, did afford me some time to play around with making some dishclothes! First, I made a simple one from the book Cozy Crochet:


It basically involved making a square of single crochet, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? But then, today, I went to yoga with Amanda, and then we went to her place for lunch (and blueberry ice cream!) and a bit of knitting. Since Amanda is both left handed and good at crochet, I felt a little adventurous, and made another dishcloth, this time the Granny Square dishcloth from the Sugar and Cream ballband. That one also turned out pretty well:


I even used it to clean up the counter after dinner tonight.... and it works! Who would have thunk it?

Ah.... Chunky child sized sweaters..

When did I start this? Like a week ago? Here is my progress so far (sorry for the crappy pictures - it's raining here today!)



This week has been very busy - a bunch of doctors appointments, work, and getting back into working out (I had taken a couple weeks off after the Breast Cancer Three day - need to get back into it!) - so not much knitting got done. But this sweater makes it look like I was knitting for hours every day!

Too bad chunky yarn makes such freaking hot sweaters - or I would make one of these for me!

TGIF!!!

Someone get my jaw off the floor.

So. I come home today from work, and I pull into the driveway. I see a package waiting for me, and I'm wondering what it is. I'm not really expecting anything - I just got my Summer Sock Party stuff yesterday - so I wander over to pick it up, figuring it's some sort of computer part for Aaron.

Not so.

It is actually the most wonderful, well thought out, perfect swap package I have ever gotten. Look at what Caroline (who I think is blogless?) sent me:

Where to start? Caroline did a 'sea' theme. She explained in her great letter, that she was inspired to do an ocean theme thanks to 3 things - first, the pattern that she was sending, my mention of my bike ride from Boston to Provincetown, and my name (Cece said out loud - Sea Sea)!

Why don't I start with the 'standard' things. First, the pattern she chose to spend me is beautiful, Hazel Carter's stole "The Legends of the Shetland Seas". She made some beautiful stitch markers (I don't think you can see them in the picture, you may have to trust me on this) that look like little sea shells. But then, I dig deeper in the package, and I find a book 'Gift From the Sea' by Anne Morrow Lindbergh! And soap! Handmade by Caroline! (Note to Caroline, I ONLY use handmade soaps that I buy from friends and fairs and the like - and no - I'm not allergic!) Next, I find a gorgeous sea shell (which is going with my tomorrow to the office, to help remind of me of the better things in life). And finally, something called a Japanese fish float. To read what Caroline writes.... her father collected them during a short period after the American invasion of Japan, and she continued to collect them for a bit. She tells me that the fishermen would use these glass balls to hold the nets open.... and I can just picture how beautiful the sea would look with these shimmering on the surface.

Now, let me talk of the WONDERFUL yarn she included. It's called Lamoramere, which Caroline actually helped the people at Running Wild Farm name - because it's a blend of angora, cashmere and cormo. I wish I could post the actual yarn for you to touch. It is beyond description just how wonderful this yarn is.

Caroline, I can't begin to thank you enough for this wonderful package. I am taking a mini-vacation at the end of this month, and I think I will just pack up this yarn, pattern, stitch markers and book, and have a ready made bliss out knitting vacation!

Summer Sock Party!

My package arrived from my summer sock party pal!



unfortunately, the cast off edge is too tight, and I can't get it over my heel. I need to do some work to fix that - but didn't she pick the perfect color! HOT PINK. I love it. And these are toe up socks, which I haven't done in a while.. so it'll be a fun challenge. Plus - toe up means an easy fix for the cast off edge issue.

Looks like Kate is going though a hard time... go over and say hi.

Socks again!

After a little bit of a sock knitting break, I realized that I'd better get to work on my sock for the Summer Sock Party! My pal recently had a baby, so I figured that there were I a couple of factors to use in helping me decide what type of sock to knit - namely that her feet are probably still getting back to 'normal' after pregnancy, and she also may not have a lot of time to knit (because she'll need to make the second sock).

So, I went back to my tried and true Heatwave sock pattern designed by Kristi. It's made out of Cascade Fixation (a nice cotton yarn with elastic in it for some give) and is knit up on 'bigger' (size 2 needles) AND is an anklet! Hope she likes it! I still have to go pick up a few more things to add into her package, but the sock is done!

Top view:


Side view:


Hope she likes it. I just love this pattern, makes a fun lacey sock and knits up quickly. One of the only patterns (socks or otherwise) that I have knit more than once.

My life is like a beer commercial

Ever see those new Red Stripe beer ads (It's beer. Hooray Beer!)? They crack me up. So, last night, when I finished the back of the sweater for Lainey, I jokingly help it up and said:

Hooray Chunky Yarn!



But then, I see....

BOO cabling mistake.



I'll be dropping down a bunch of stitches to fix that. Sigh.

Yarn P0rn (and yet another new project)

It's time for a little show and tell... as a bunch of new yarn has entered the house that I haven't admitted to! But, a few have been gifts...

First, Laurie started my birthday off a little early with this awesome kit:



I love the colors... and that shawl looks fun, but not too complicated!

Susan saw this sock yarn, and she said it just screamed 'CECE!' so she brought it home for me:



And, while I was ordering fleece from Harrisville, I saw this Cashmere yarn that needed to be included in the order:



I'm thinking of making the Austrian Stitch sweater with it.

In other news, I started yet ANOTHER project last night. My husband's brother just moved in with his girlfriend of many years... and she has an almost 5 year old (her birthday is this month) daughter. Lainey is starting kindergarten soon, and I've never knit her a sweater... so thought it would be a nice 'welcome to the family, new school, birthday sweater). And since Lainey likes to dress up as a princess, it had to be hot pink! But she is also living on Nantucket, so I felt that it needed to have a 'fisherman's sweater' feel to it:



I'm using Encore Chunky, and the pattern is 4070 from Sirdar - should be a fast knit!

Cabling with cotton....

Sucks! Why do I always forget that? I've been making good progress on the Owl Sweater - now I'm done with both arms, the back and one front:



I wanted to stop on the way home last night and see if I could find little buttons for the Owl eyes... but I got trapped at work until 11 PM last night. That totally sucked also.

I just got a message from my Summer Sock Party Pal... did I ever even mention I joined this swap? Anyway - it's a fun idea. You only have to knit one sock, and then send the wool for the second. And include fun summer treats! I haven't even started my sock yet - but I know just what I'm going to make. I'll start on that tonight.

If I get to leave work at a normal time.

Where have I been!?

I know I rarely go for so many days without posting, but this past week has been very busy. On Weds morning, I headed to Nantucket for a 3 day basketweaving class - and I made some pretty cool things. First, this bread tray:



And then, after watching someone else in class make a similar style, I knew it would be a perfect yarn basket:


I was so impressed by how 'professional' mine turned out. The teacher was wonderful! She obviously helped me a lot in making these - I could never make one on my own. The other fun thing was that she is a doula. And she does hypnosis and relaxation technique's for people who are having difficulty getting pregnant. She actually lives close to me, so when she gets off island, we are going to get together. I'm excited for that.

I didn't do as much knitting as I usually get done on vacation, as any time that wasn't taken up with the basketweaving class, and teaching my own felted ball class, I was working. It was very frustrating to be on Nantucket, with beautiful weather, and be trapped inside on my laptop. Let's just say, I'm not taking vacation days!

But - I do get one picture worthy thing done. I finished the body on the rollneck sweater!


It fits perfectly! I love it. I also knitted a bit on the Owl Baby Sweater... finished one sleeve, and am working on the second. Techincally the third sleeve, because I thought I had the pattern memorized, and took it with me to the beach (to see the Boston Pops! Great show!) for a bit of knitting, and did K2P2 rib instead of K1P1.. and need to rip out almost 5 inches of work. Grrrrrr.

So, now I'm back in my office, and I need to get back to work. : (

Tomorrow, we'll return to the knitting

Today, I just want to wrap up my Breast Cancer Walk, while it's all fresh in my head.

First, when I signed up for this, I was mostly doing it because my friend, who is a survivor, asked me to. I thought it would be a nice way to get in shape, and a good goal to work towards. Plus - the money I would be raising would go to a great cause. I have to admit, that I didn't really think it was going to be a 'big deal'... I have done numerous long distance events, ranging from a 10 mile ocean swim, riding my bike (in one day) from Boston to Provincetown, MA (135 miles), an Ironman triathlon and the AIDS Ride, which was a 350 mile bike ride over 4 days.

This event was different. I don't know if it was the 8 - 11 hours we spent each day on our feet, or the mental toughness to not call out to the van to pick you up when your feet were SCREAMING.... but this was the hardest physical thing I've done. Getting up each morning and knowing that you already had blisters on your feet, and that the pain would just be worse by the end of the day, that was hard.

I expected a bit of pain. But I didn't expect how heart wrenching the experience would be. Walking by woman who had hats that said 'survivor' on the back. Or the shirts with pictures of people who lost their battle with breast cancer. Or group of 6 teenagers who were walking because one of their mothers was sick with breast cancer. Or the woman who waited for us at one of the cheering stations with a sign that said "My heart beats because you walk".

I am fortunate enough to not have any family members to have been affected by cancer. And by the end of the weekend, that was why I was walking. Because my family is lucky enough to be healthy. And I'll keep on supporting events like this to keep it that way.

Thanks to everyone for all your kind words during this walk!

Stick a fork in me....

I'm DONE!

No pictures. Today was more about finishing than documenting it.

17.9 miles today. 60 in total..... and I walked every single one of them. I'd have to say it was the hardest thing I've ever done, and that is saying a lot. Full report tomorrow - victory dinner is calling my name.

Breast Cancer Walk, Day 2, 19.3 miles!

First - thank you so much for your words of encouragement from yesterday. They mean a lot, trust me!

Day 2 is over! And it was a MUCH better day than the first. My feet are pretty soar, but my spirits were much higher all day. I think it's because the weather was beautiful! We also spent the first 7.5 miles walking through a park (the shade was nice, but the rocks you had to navigate around SUCKED.)

I'm ready for some shut eye to rest up for tomorrow (only 16 miles to go), but thought I would share with you some of the fun people I see along the way...

First, our favorite support gal - she sings us disco tunes!



And her very cool 'nipple car':



A gal in a fun outfit - there was a whole team of people dressed like this, but I never thought to try and get a picture of them all together:



I saw this bumper sticker and couldn't stop laughing? Think I was getting heat stroke?



And finally, my wildlife sighting for the day! Penguins!!

Breast Cancer Walk, Day 1, 22 miles!

Well gang - I had to admit, today was a hell of a lot harder than I expected. My longest walk before this weekend was 18 miles, and that is about where I hit a wall today. But - I'm very proud of myself - I made it to the finish line! I think the biggest problem was that we stopped about every 2 or 3 miles for a pit stop - that was welcome at the time, but the standing around was tough on the feet! I have some wicked blisters on the balls of my feet - but I think I'll feel fine in the morning... for day 2 - and 20 miles of fun.

Here are a few pictures of the day, before I go to sleep.

At the start - Paula, me and Steph. Paula (on the left) is a breast cancer survivor, and the person who got me into this mess!



Here is the huge crowd of walkers as we were starting:



And these fun guys were cheering us on the whole way - what fun guys. Great sports:



And finally, cause you know who I love to see nature when I'm walking.... we had stopped to stretch at one point, and this turkey was totally wondering what was going on. He would peek his head over the fence, and then quickly hide when you looked at him... too funny. Not sure if you can see him in the picture.

Train rides and Tornados

So, when I took the picture below, I had thoughts of a chirpy little post where I talked about my trip to NYC on the train, and how I did so much knitting, blah blah blah. Here is my view as we sped down the tracks:



I actually got a lot of knitting done. This pattern has you knitting the 3 center motifs separately, and then the 2 panels that attach to the center, and at the end, you sew it all together. I finished one center motif, and made good progress on the 2nd. I decided to stop knitting and pack up, because they called my station stop.

Then. The train stops.

The announcer says that a very bad storm had passed through the region, and there were a lot of trees on the tracks. So we are crawling along, and then we come across another tree that was on fire! And then, we lost power. I was on the Acela (which runs on electricity). Since it was an Amtrak train we were on, the Commuter rail people wouldn't come 'rescue' us with a diesel train. So we had to wait HOURS until another Amtrak train could make it to us. They couldn't get us to the 128 Station on the train, so we had to take a bus. I didn't get to my car until 10:30 - and I was supposed to arrive at 6:17 PM! I missed my banjo lesson and everything.

Heavy Sigh. Turns out an actual tornado passed through the area - the whole town was a mess. Our bus even got detoured 2 times on the 5 mile drive to the train station due to trees blocking the roads.

Good news is that the heat wave is breaking today, and the weather should be awesome for the Three Day Walk.

Stop the presses!

Yesterday, I had dinner with my knitting gals - including Laurie (of lobster nose fame) who is visiting from CA. She brought us all a present of Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace and the pattern for the Figure-8 Fantasy Shawl. First. The yarn is WONDERFUL. I don't know how I never knew this stuff existed... I would have had it in every color! But - since I don't - look at the fun color that Laurie got me:



The color is called Sugar Maple, but I choose to call it Flame! Love the color. But the shawl itself is WICKED cool. Go check it out. I'll wait. It's got this neat figure 8 pattern, but then it's framed with Feather and Fan lace (one of my favorites).

This is now THE project I'm working on (until it makes me mad or I get bored with it, der). I'm kind of loving this summer for knitting. Since it's hot - I have no pressure to actually finish anything! I can start up projects with abandon. I understand this may come back to bite me in the ass in a month, but for now, I love it.

In non-knitting news, let me show you the beginnings of our front walk:

Helping with the measurements is Aaron's father, Bernie. Our front walk right now is a mess, so you guys can't really understand what an improvement this is going to be. Thing is, Aaron needs to make it 55 ft long! This isn't a short term project... but all the work will totally be worth it. I'll show pictures from time to time.

Let's see, what else was I going to show you guys? Oh yes, more cute baby things. Well here is the back and one front of the Baby Owl (a Penny Straker pattern you can find here) :



The yarn is Elann Sonata, a cotton yarn I swapped for at the Team Boston get together back in February. Can you see the little owls? I have a close up picture that blogger won't let me load. Sigh. Anyway - you put little buttons on for the eyes. Super cute.

That's all for today - more new yarn pictures tomorrow!