Another FO!

Yep. I finished another project yesterday. I think all the stress of having to plan a three-week trip to Europe while battling with a flaky Internet connection and preparing for a weekend guest is getting to me. So yesterday I finished my Gwen hat prototype. It's plain oatmeal-y wool, but it was quick and really easy, and Paul assures me that it looks fabulous on me. I'll post a picture soon.

Today, while once again without the Internet, I started another mini project -- just a fun little scarf to take with me to Delft. I think at some point I'm going to have to tackle the En Fuego shawl, too. Soon...

Ta-da!

I actually finished a project over the weekend. I was planning on posting the picture yesterday, but my friends at Comcast still haven't fixed my cable, and my Internet connection comes and goes -- and yesterday it mostly just went.

Anyway, here's one of the many baby blankets I'll be making in the near future, thanks to the fact that everyone I know is pregnant.


Finally! A finished project! 

I finished the blanket on Saturday, and then I started working on my Gwen hat, which I plan on finishing today.

We're still working on ironing out the details of our trip to Europe. As of yesterday morning, I was planning on leaving on July 16. Paul would then be working in Delft until July 30. Now it's looking like we'll be leaving on the 23rd. But that, too, could have changed by now. At some point, we're going to have to buy our tickets, and the longer it takes for them to make the decision, the more I'm going to have to pay. Hopefully, we'll know for sure by the end of the week.

Back from the Great White North

Paul and I arrived home last night after a fun yet exhausting weekend in Toronto, visiting family and friends. I didn't have nearly as much time to knit as I thought I would, though I did get more of my fuzzy tank done. My MIL also helped me finish up my Unfinished Shell of Doom, and it once again lived up to its name. After everything was finished, I was going to try it on -- but I couldn't get it over my huge head. I bound off too tightly, darnit. So it's back to the drawing board on that one. Someday, I'll finish (and by then it'll be well beyond sleeveless-top season).

I did, however, have some time to go shopping. Check out my new stash.


This should keep me busy for a while... 

In the middle is the Fresco for my En Fuego shawl. To the right, you have a pile of cotton (and someone else's UFO), which my MIL picked up for me at a garage sale on Saturday (it came with the old baby clothes pattern book -- for just $1!). Yesterday, my MIL, SIL, and I went on a pilgrimage to Romni Wools. We could have easily spent all day there, but we took off for lunch at my favorite Japanese restaurant after about an hour and a half.

I got the little navy balls, which I plan to use to make another tank, and the shimmery white stuff, which I'm going to use to make yet another shawl. A woman there had just finished crocheting one for her daughter -- it was really soft and shimmery, and it looked great tied around my waist, over my jeans -- and she and I and another lady spent some time determining how to create the knitted version (I think I'll go with my old standby shawl pattern).

I also got an afghan hook at Romni. Jay and Crystal and I spent all day on Saturday looking for one -- so they could teach me how to afghan -- but we finally gave up and went to Chapters for coffee instead (where I also bought that amazing book of baby booties). But I have the hook now -- now I just need to figure out what to do with it.

Today we should find out what our summer holds -- at least as far as our return trip to the Netherlands, where Paul will be in training for a couple of weeks. I already plan to take some Snowflake for Christmas scarves. And maybe I'll bring some stuff for booties. And a shawl or two...

All packed and ready to go

So I'm (mostly) finished packing for our long weekend with the in-laws. The hardest part -- the part I put the most thought into -- was packing my knitting bag. The blanket is almost done, and it's big and bulky, so I'm leaving that at home. But the fuzzy tank is going -- along with an extra skein. And I threw in some cotton for a quick-and-easy dishcloth or two. And I brought a skein of wool, which I plan to use for a hat (to copy the one I saw Gwen Stefani wearing in an interview on TV). I had to put that in my suitcase because my bag was full. And I brought two UFOs - a few blanket squares from a project I finished two years ago, but I forgot how my MIL had planned to sew it together, and The Unfinished Shell of Doom.

Plus I have seven skeins of Fresco for the En Fuego awaiting my arrival.

And I expect to visit at least two yarn stores while I'm there. One on Saturday with Jay and one on Monday with the Kramer girls.

Think I've packed enough for four days?

Pattern problems

Yesterday I sat down with my chart for the En Fuego Shawl, and I realized that I'd drawn it wrong. Fortunately, I caught it before I attempted to start knitting, but it was still frustrating. So Paul and I redrew the pattern last night. As I started writing out the pattern, I realized that YOs and K2togs and SSKs need to be placed in just the right place -- and I'm not exactly sure where those places are. So I dug out an old pattern for a dishcloth with a YO design -- so I can get a feel for where decrease stitches need to go. I'm halfway through the dishcloth now, so I should be able to figure most of it out by the time I leave.

I hope.

I've also decided to take the unfinished shell to Toronto this weekend so my MIL, my knitting mentor, can give me some moral support while I'm finishing it. Then I'll finish it.

Really.

Another night with the girls

Last night was another knitting night with the girls. Technically, it's supposed to be on the third Friday of the month, but I'll be in Toronto next weekend, and we couldn't skip a month, so we switched it. Everyone seemed to be busy this time (of course...it's summer), but Lisa showed up -- as usual -- and this time she brought her daughter, Alicia. Both of them were working on scarves, and I was working on the baby blanket for one of the many babies that will be arriving in my friends' households in the near future. Well, at least that's what we were supposed to be working on. Lisa did work on her scarf, but Alicia spent most of her time eating chips and salsa, and I spent most of my time trying to get the knots out of Alicia's fabulous $1 yarn. I still hate her for finding it when we went to the yarn store together and not telling me about it.

We had an excellent time, as usual. And I'm over halfway finished with the blanket.

But I still haven't finished my shell.

New and Improved... Now with Pictures!

Woohoo! My new knitting bag! 

Okay...so I figured out this picture thing. And here's the picture you've all been waiting for -- it's my too-cool new knitting bag, made especially for me by Amy. It'll even match that new shawl (tentatively called the En Fuego), which I'll be starting as soon as I get to Toronto and pick up the box of Fresco that awaits.

The Procrastination Continues

I've taken my procrastination to unhealthy levels. After another weekend, I still haven't finished my shell. I finished the arms, but the sides are still there, flapping in the breeze. Perhaps I could tie the sides together and call it a smock...

At the same time, my procrastination has caused me to work extra hard on other things -- like the baby blanket that I decided to start on Friday night instead of finishing my, um, smock.

I GOT IT!

Yesterday, I got a package from Amy--and it couldn't have come at a better time. I was on my way to the annual visit to the girl-doctor to be violated, and the knitting bag that I knew was inside that package (I forced myself to keep the box sealed until I got out of my appointment) was just what I needed to take my mind off the issue at hand. The bag is gorgeous, and I'll be sure to post a picture as soon as I figure out how.

In other knitting news, Paul had to go to Michael's to pick up some paint for my snazzy Arc de Triomphe bookends. So I hit the yarn aisle. I played with the Micro Spun for a while (boy, is that SOFT!), and then I grabbed a giant skein of Pound of Love so I could try out a new baby blanket pattern (since everyone I know is having babies, and I'm getting tired of knitting the same blanket over and over). The problem, however, was that I have to knit with two strands held together. So while Paul and I watched the end of the Flames/Lightning game last night, I measured arm-spans of yarn while Paul rolled it into a ball. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as scratchy an acrylic as I expected it to be...

Procrastination...

I spent the weekend working on anything but finishing the Cabana shell that's almost finished. On Friday, I did the shoulder seams and started the neck -- which I then realized that I was knitting backward and was forced to rip it all out and redo it. So now the shoulders and the neck are finished. All I need to do is sew up the sides and weave in the ends, and it's done. But I hate this part (which is evident by the stacks of scarves and dishcloths on my knitting cupboard that just need a few edges woven in), so I spent the weekend working on my fuzzy shell instead. As a result, I've almost finished the first half. I worked on my niece's scarf for a while, too. In fact, I tried to work on it yesterday when we went into the city to hang out in the Common -- but when I got there, I discovered that I only had one needle. Paul gallantly offered his ink pen, but I don't think it was a number 8 ink pen. I was tempted to head down to Windsor Button to pick up a new pair, but I resisted.

But I've still got this unfinished top. Maybe I'll finish it tomorrow...