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See...I'm still alive.

Lately, I've just been knitting and reading like crazy. I'm reading the Harry Potter books for the first time. Yesterday I was out sick, and I ended up reading for 90% of the day. I finished off the last 200 pages of the 5th book, and started on the 6th. I did take a small break to work on my Spring Shawl Surprise swatch, but I will get to that in a minute.

It's been so long since I posted, I guess I should fill you in on my knitting. My Honeybee Stole is coming along slowly but surely. It amazes me how quickly some knitters can knit really complicated lace shawls, and the truly amazing thing about it is that they usually also have other projects they are working on at the same time. I've finished my Orchid Lace Mitts, and am halfway through my Snow on Cedars Mitts. I don't have any pictures yet of my completed Orchid Mitts, but they are gorgeous. I love them, in fact I've already worn them a few times on chilly mornings and once at our local hockey team's game. I'm having second mitt syndrome with my Snow on Cedars, but I'm determined to finish. It's nothing to do with the pattern or yarn, its me. I think it's because I went on a bit of a yarn shopping rampage, and now I want to start working with my new yarn. I just have to ignore the Siren's call of my new yarn. Ok, so maybe I did end up using some of the new yarn to work on my Spring Shawl Surprise Swatch, but that doesn't count, because the pattern clues don't start until January. To be completely honest, I was dying to knit something yesterday, but I was feeling so bad that I was concerned I would mess up anything I worked on. It seemed like the perfect time to work on a swatch....after all it's just a swatch. Plus, it gave me the perfect excuse to use my brand new Malabrigo Lace yarn (the Siren I couldn't ignore). I've never knit with Malabrigo yarn before, and now that I have, I have no idea how I existed without it. It's so soft, and the colors are gorgeous. I bought 4 skeins each of two different colors (Vaa and Taureg) because I couldn't decide which one I wanted to use for my Spring Shawl.

Vaa:


Taureg:


I'm worried that Vaa will end up being too dark, so that's the one I'm swatching with right now.
Next I will probably do a swatch with Taureg so I can compare and decide which one I like more.

Sorry about the long absence.

Japanese Feather Scarf

My Japanese Feather Scarf is officially done

knitting...with pictures

Ooo....look....I finally posted a few pictures!

I finished my Japanese Feather scarf...well...I still need to block it. Hopefully I can do that today. I really loved that pattern. I was a little sad when I finished it. I knit it with Fearless Fiber's Laceweight Merino, which is awesome. It's my favorite yarn. I used the Hendrix colorway. Here's a picture unblocked.



Last Sunday I started working on my Orchid Lace Mitts with Fearless Fiber's Laceweight Merino in Rubicund. They are coming along great. I can't believe how fast they are knitting up, I'm nearly done with the first mitt. I'm really enjoying this pattern, I can already tell that I'm going to be sad when I'm done with them.



I've put my Honeybee stole to the side for a little bit. I'm not enjoying my Addi Lace Turbos very much. It's my first time working with them, and I just don't like it. There really isn't anything wrong with them, I'm just not enjoying them. I really prefer wood over metal, and I think that's the whole problem. I ordered a set of #5 circulars from Jenkins Woodworking, and I plan to move my Honeybee onto them as soon as I get them. I'm sure once I have needles I enjoy, I will work on it a lot more.



Speaking of bees....

Elizabeth

Last night we saw Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It was great, I highly suggest you see it.

Quickie

Sorry I've been quiet for awhile. I promise a longer post soon.

Guess what....I received my Ravelry invite!!

travelling and knitting

I spent Tuesday night through Friday morning in Ft. Worth. Despite living in Dallas for several years, I had never been to Ft. Worth. I keep hearing how wonderful Ft. Worth is from everyone I work with (we have an office there), but I have to admit, I just don't get it. Downtown was neat, but not neat enough to move there for. I think the things I really liked the most about it were JenningStreet Yarn, Kalamata Restaurant (in our hotel), and Reata Restaurant. The yarn store was the best. To me it's just another city. I've never understood how people get all enamored with a city, it's just a city. You will get bored there too. Eventually the newness wears off, and you end up enamored with another city. Anyway, I still like Dallas more. We visited with my Dad, and then we visited with Mike's sister in Arlington. I liked that area, it was a nice suburb. But, it wasn't really anything extraordinary. It had most of the same types of stores we have. It did have more restaurants, but that's to be expected. It just seemed like a nice place to live. I would be happy living there, well, except that I hear they have tornadoes, and tornadoes freak me out. All in all, we had a really nice trip, but we were ready to get home. We really missed all of our animals.
I'm still plugging away on my Japanese Feather Scarf. It's coming along great, and I'm really enjoying it. My kit arrived for the Honeybee Stole last Saturday, and I can't wait to start on it, however, I am forcing myself to wait until I finish either my Math Whiz socks or Japanese Feather Scarf. I hate to admit this, but my poor Math Whiz socks have been very neglected since I started on my scarf. But I will finish them. I came home from Ft. Worth to find my Fall Interweave Knits waiting for me. I absolutely fell in love with the sweater on the cover. So, I ordered the yarn, and I will start working on that soon as well. I ordered the Berroco Peruvia that the pattern called for, but I ordered the Sea Turtle color instead. Wow, my to knit list is getting huge! Once I finish off what I am working on, I think I will work on Honeybee and the sweater at the same time. Of course I also want to knit the Delicato Mitts. Hmmm...maybe I can have three projects going at once (I usually set myself a limit of 2).

Anyway, that's all.....time to go water the plants.

Boozing and knitting

I am so happy it's the weekend. Although I really need to work on our banking (balancing the accounts, entering and filing receipts, general yucky stuff), I'm glad I can do it at home in my pjs and sleep as late as I want.

It seems to be cooling off outside; there is actually a cool breeze in the mornings. When I say cooling off, I mean it's getting semi bearable outside. It's in the low 90s instead of the high 90s or low 100s.

Our company had a party Thursday night. It was a ton of fun, however I learned a very important lesson...drinking yourself stupid on a week night is NOT a good idea. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but it seems like a horrible idea when your alarm clock goes off the next morning. It's okay though, pretty much everyone was trashed, so we all got to be miserable together yesterday. Consequently, last night I fell asleep on the couch at 9pm, and stumbled to bed around 10. I haven't been to bed that early in a looong time (since maybe middle school). Midnight has been my normal bedtime for years.
I got a new betta fish. They were table arrangements at the party, and I took one home with me. I was pretty impressed with myself, even though I was drunk, I was able to pick one of the prettiest ones (of course that was all before the after party, which is where my drinking really picked up). So, that brings me back up to two betta fish again.
I've been trying to find myself a new signature drink lately. I used to drink dirty martinis (Bombay sapphire only), but last New Years Eve I had a wee accident with about 7 of them (that's according to the people I went out with because I thought I only had 5), and now I can't stomach gin. So, I am on the hunt for a new drink. I've pretty much fallen in love with Patron, which is kind of strange because I had a wee accident with tequila (my first drinking accident) when I was 17. I guess I'm over it. I would like to add a disclaimer, when I say wee drinking accident, I don't mean I had to go to the hospital or anything serious like that, I just mean that I ended up sick. So, lately I've been drinking Top shelf margaritas. I wish I would have fallen in love with a cheaper alcohol, because drinks involving Patron are not cheap. I only drink margaritas when I'm out and about (which is not that often...I prefer to stay home and knit). If I even drink when I'm at home, I have a glass of red wine. I've really enjoyed Bohemian Highway Cabernet Sauvignon lately. It's a cheap wine, I got it at World Market for $5 or $6, but it's really good. Mike even loves it, and he's pretty particular about his wine. And it's from California, we don't usually do American wines. Our tastes are usually European....Spain or France. Anyway...it's good. If you are looking for a good cheap wine, try Bohemian Highway. They also have a Merlot and Chardonnay which we have not tried yet.

Ok...on to knitting. I'm still working on the Math Whiz Socks and Japanese Feather Scarf. Anne has a new kit she is working on with Wooley Wonka Fibers for October that I'm probably going to purchase. It's a pair of mits that have a tree and snow lace theme. Kind of a Christmas type theme. She wrote a couple of blogs about them that included in progress photos here and here. My Honey Bee kit should be arriving today! I'm really excited about it. I ordered the Tupelo Gold colorway, and in pictures it looks gorgeous. I hope the mail man gets here soon!

The new Knitty is up! So far I love Roam, Urchin, Totally Autumn, and Woodins.

I think that's about all. Sorry there aren't any pictures today. I'll try to post some soon.