ArtFire fires away!

Hi friends, long time no post! I got on a photography tear today - probably inspired by watching my friend's son so she could do some photography work - and re-photographed and listed a bunch of items on my ArtFire site. Check it out here... linky-link-link!

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...









I am blazing away on my Jaywalkers. I'm about 30 rows into the second one, but I have to keep moving quickly since these are technically my May socks - so I have 2.5 socks to go before the end of June!

I bought some beautiful Malabrigo yarn this weekend: Ravelry Red in their wonderful sock yarn. I can't decide what to do - socks, or shawl? shawl, or socks?? Hmmm!

2011 and still no flying cars.

What is UP with that?? I am very disappointed in science.

What have I been doing lately? LIVING. Not blogging about it, but LIVING.

Bradley and I in October...



Captain Jack & I at the same shoot...



Now, for knitting...

I FINALLY finished Branching Out for my mother. FINALLY. Blocked it using my wire set, and love the wire set.

I finished those red Austrian Socks, which felted in our new washer & dryer to the point that I can't wear them. Thankfully, my friend Jen has smaller feet than I, and she knits, so she is among The Knitworthy and will be receiving them as soon as I get them blocked [soon, Jen, I PROMISE!!].

Here they are, pre-felting:



For Christmas this year, we visited B's aunts & uncle who live in the Midwest. They live in a very small, quiet town, and I was able to knit to my heart's content! I finished the Waving Lace socks in KnitPicks Turtle Multi, and cast on the Padded Footlets for my brother.



I have a couple of other socks ready to go, but they are gifties, so I will post pictures after they are all blocked and in the mail to the recipients. No worries on the surprise factor; they know what they are getting, but I want to post nice pictures!

Summer rushing

OK. I owe y'all some pictures but they are not coming just yet. The month of May has been a little bit chaotic, it feels like, but the next five weeks or so should be a little calmer. Hopefully, I'll get some pictures taken and posted.

Work has been up and down, but no complaints as I still have a job.

I participated in Boobquake by wearing a pretty shirt to work that was cut a wee bit lower than I'm usually comfortable wearing in the office. I was amused to later read the "clarification" from the cleric regarding the relationship of women's clothing to seismic events. He should have said, "I am afraid of women and do not want them to be equal to men!" I was also completely amused to hear the justification that Mr. Rekers offered for his employment of a gay escort while traveling overseas. Instead of trying to have people believe that he was actually hiring the kid to carry his bags, he could have just said, "Okay, I've realized I can't deny it, I like other dudes. And excuse me while I figure out how to reconcile that with my ENTIRE LIFE SO FAR." Why have we not heard anything about a raging atheist such as Christopher Hitchens secretly attending prayer meetings? Oh, because he actually believes what he professes. I would be much more forgiving of someone who said, "Women and their power and their gender scare me. Help me understand and accept them." Someone who tries to blame my bikini-wearing for earthquakes is going to be mocked into oblivion. Same thing goes for a person who can't figure out their sexual identity. "I think I like guys and it freaks me out because that goes against everything I was taught," is a much better response than "HE WAS JUST CARRYING MY BAGS AND MASSAGING ME IN LONG STROKES OVER MY BUTTOCKS." REALLY? You expect ANYONE with half a brain to believe that??!!

It boils down to integrity. If you have the guts to say, "Hey, I knew hardly anyone who wasn't white growing up. Teach me about your culture and show me that you're like me under the brown skin..." that's all it takes. Just be true to yourself. Have the 'nads to admit who you are. Don't keep acting like it was an accident you've slept with three different dudes in two weeks... OWN IT. I really don't care what your number is, but if YOU bring it up, and if YOU act like it needs justifying... well then it sounds like YOU have a problem with your own actions. NOT ME.

Wow - I have NO IDEA what ketchup bottle just exploded there. Ahem. This was supposed to be a nice post about how excited I am to be working on the Austrian Socks from the 25 Favorite Socks from Interweave... how I love the red yarn - it's AslanTrends Santa Fe in a gorgeous red colorway. The stitch pattern is complicated and keeping me on my toes. I am reluctantly learning how to read charts. The leg pattern is over 36 stitches; the total number of stitches on the leg is 72, spread over 3 dpns. Having the leg pattern repeat twice over 3 needles is REALLY confusing to me as a new chart reader. I've ordered fixed Harmony circulars from KnitPicks in sizes 1 and 0; when they arrive, I can transfer the sock over to the 1s and magic loop the thing until I become more comfortable with the chart.

The funny thing about the yarn is the dye is rubbing off on my needles. I'm using the Clover Takumi bamboo needles, and the tips of them are turning pink! A friend of mine had this happen with BLACK yarn - her fingers looked sooty after a knitting session on the sweater she was making. The dye isn't showing up on my fingers, but I would wear it as a badge of honor if it did! This yarn was a gift from my friend KD; she traded me 3 skeins of this yarn for preparing her taxes this year.

Well - I have a few more chores to do and hopefully some knitting to get in before crashing tonight.

OH here's another ketchup bottle to stomp on and explode: WHAT IS UP IN THE GULF. I am adding BP to my list of companies not to patronize. My heart breaks for all the beaches that are going to be ruined - all the fishermen and locals around the Gulf Coast who are going to lose their livelihoods... what that's going to do to the local economies. I am working so much harder to get to bed at a decent hour so I can get up in time to ride my bike to work. I don't care if it's Florida heat... it takes just a few minutes to clean up at work and if that means just a little less gas used, I am totally okay with being a little bit rumpled at the office. That's part of my personal journal towards integrity: living the values that I say I hold.

K's socks are almost done! I'm down to the start of the toe on the second one. I should have pictures soon. K has always had excellent taste; his care packages in college were the BEST. Godiva truffles + useful things = heaven to a broke college student. I still have (and wear on one of the three cold days a year we have here in Florida) a periwinkle blue sweater he gave me one year. The colors he picked out for these socks continues his trend of good taste: the main color is Snowshoe and the contrast color is Jacquard, in KnitPick's City Tweed (heavy worsted).

I have some sooper-sekrit baby projects to work on as soon as I'm finished with his socks. A coworker in my department is due in August, and I have some really fun ideas for gifts. She sent me a link to the nursery set she & her husband picked out, and it's simple and gorgeous. I've been mentally listing yarn possibilities that will be excellent matches for the colors.

Since busy season is over, the house has become cleaner and cleaner. The grout in the kitchen floor is almost back to its intended color, and I scrubbed away some serious frustration in our bathroom tonight. For now, the husb needs to get onto his computer, so I am signing off for now.

march madness

...but not the basketball kind. I survived the 3/15 deadline in style! Now it's the time for the 1040 clients. A coworker's wife is nearly due with their first child, and I knit a cute pair of booties and a matching headband with interchangeable crocheted flowers. Thankfully, I'm almost done with J's pillow cover - I picked up the invisible zipper and some perfect wooden buttons to finish it up.

The yarn for my brother's socks has arrived, so it's sitting on the kitchen counter being an inspiration every morning and evening. I'm tempted to knit up a pair of socks for myself between J's pillow cover and my brother's socks, but... yeah. He's been waiting a few months for these, so I will start on his as soon as I get J's cover finished.

I've learned I am definitely not a dog person. Captain Jack is a cute bundle of energy, but I just don't have the patience for this stage. I really miss being able to sit quietly with the cats, petting them in between rounds on a project... the constant watching and frequent calls to the dog are wearing on me. I am so comfortable with our decision not to have children - if I'm having this hard of a time with a dog that I can crate when he's out of control, I can't imagine how difficult of a time I would have with a kid!!! [since you can't crate them and leave without getting Child Services called on you (with good reason, of course)] Especially a kid that could TALK. UGH. Definitely not my cup of tea.

With the dog now crated for the evening (he was in that frenzy that children get into - too tired and strung out so completely hyper and out of his head), I can finally sit and enjoy a glass of wine and some knitting. Maybe even some cuddle time with Skye without a ball of fur coming and jumping on top of her... poor kitties.

Knitters vs. Non-knitters

A friend commented to me on Monday that I shouldn't take my knitting into a work CPE because it would look really bad. I was rather confused about what she meant, but I realized she must think that knitting means I'm not paying attention to the speaker. Something that a lot of non-knitters must assume is that knitting takes a person's whole focus. Of course, something complicated - whether due to the pattern (like a lace pattern) or the yarn itself (I'm glaring at you, FunFur) - would need a knitter's focus... but for a simple, repeating pattern or stockinette in the round, knitting is as mindless as doodling. For me, having needles in my hands means I am happy to sit beside my husband while he enjoys his favorite tv shows. We will laugh and talk... he said the other day, "You don't actually watch tv, you listen to it!" I do watch, again depending on the pattern. If I'm turning a heel or shaping a gusset? Not so much with the watching. But the listening? Oh yes. I retain an incredibly greater amount if I have something to fidget with... I'm not fighting to stay awake! I can watch my hands and listen with my ears and everything is just fine. One day, I'll gather the courage to knit in the back row.

So, I've finished shaping the gussets in the second Diagonal Cross-Rib Sock and am on to the foot!! I'm very excited. Also, the yarn for my friend's pillow cover arrived. I'm a little concerned as the yarn is much finer than I was expecting. A gauge swatch will tell me what I need to do, though. It's the LB Collection Cotton Bamboo. I'm really looking forward to finally working with bamboo - although now that I type that, I think my friend J.I.'s hat that I finished was with bamboo yarn... Hm.

My friend B.S. in Pennsylvania sent me a huge box of acrylic yarn! I am not sure what I'll do with it; it all looks very old from the ball bands. I think it's from her fiance's mother's stash; the FMIL doesn't knit anymore and probably needs to clear out her old stash. Regardless, I love free yarn! I will find some uses for it, and I hope to get the story out of my friend about the source of the yarn.

OK - for now, I'm off to watch some more Castle and knit on my sock!

Organization

This weekend, I sorted through my stash and organized it all! Now, none of it's been put away, but I sorted it by fiber, mostly. Wools, cottons, and blends. Then I photographed it and worked on updating Ravelry (I'm amour over there, too), but I still have some work to do over there. Here are some of my favorites...


Any readers out there also on Twitter? I'm @siren_amour. Some of my favorite knitters & fiber-ers are... @blairqualls, @hipmountainmama, @islandjen, @simplytwisted, @siren_gardener, and @yarnharlot.

Well - I'm off to do some more knitting on my Diagonal Rib socks!!

Insanity in ... 10... 9... 8...

I have the smelliest dog next to me! He had his flea medicine dose tonight and MAN the stuff smells. Of course, he loves his mumma and papa; Bradley's already managed to get the stuff all over his hands, but (touch wood) I've managed to stay clear of the stuff. It's doing a number on my sinuses - if the dang dog stays close to me for much longer, I am going to be high as a kite from the smell.

Oh, the insanity? That would be Busy Season 2010 looming over me. Bradley has already mentioned how he's not ready for it; he appreciates so much how I come home and we tag-team puppy patrol, and he is going to miss that during the crazy work hours. I will miss puppy time, Bradley time, knitting time, exercise time... but this too shall pass.

I got through the first 3.5 inches of the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks and dropped a needle size as instructed, only to realize that my gauge was off. At knit night last night, my friend R.S. reminded me that I didn't use a size 3 needle; I used a size 2 because I borrowed hers until mine arrived in an order from KnitPicks. DOH. I had to frog about 4 inches, but I chatted with the other knitters while doing so, which made it not so painful. I restarted on my size 2s and resolved to hunt for my size 1s... which I cannot find in circulars. I think I may just have never switched down a size but continued with 2s through the entire sock. I will measure my gauge after making this post and figure out what the hell is going on.

Oh, and puppy just zonked out on my leg. How sweet. (But still horribly smelly.)

In the course of digging through all my various knitting bags, I did find a scarf-ly thing that I need to finish; I will be working on that after I finish this sock if I have time before the yarn for my brother's socks becomes available.

What else... I will probably go to posting once a week during busy season, and they will likely be short, annoyed posts. Just a warning ;-)

new beginnings

I am zooming along on the second sock of the Diagonal Cross-Ribs. At my day job, some seating rearrangements were made, and I have two new officemates. Out of deference to them, I ate my lunch in the break room today - and after I finished eating, knit a couple of rounds on the socks. I foresee many more knitting lunch breaks over the course of Busy Season 2010.

The weather is unseasonably cold - it's been in the 30s for several nights in a row, and the forecast calls for a few more cold nights. I am glad I have warm wool socks to keep my toes toasty!

Off to do some chores; just wanted to make a quick update and add a new tag to my list!

welcome to the new decade!

I finished Dad's last sock today. I turned the heel last night as 2009 turned into 2010. Nasty weather today made it easy to sit on the couch and finish the foot.

My friend J.S. and I are in the process of ironing out a commission. She'd like a pillow cover; she found one she liked at Pottery Barn but didn't particularly like their price. We've been able to improve on their design, and currently she's deciding on a yarn.

While I wait for her to decide, I dug out the yarn to work on the second sock of my Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks. Took me a little while to remember where the first sock was after I found the yarn, but I found it. Can't find the remaining yarn of the first skein, but I'm sure it will show up eventually.

So, off to wind the skein into a ball and cast on... fresh start for a new year!

ArtFire

Tonight marks my first sale on my ArtFire shop!! My friend J.I. commissioned a pair of baby booties in green and white for a friend/relative's baby (can't remember right now which she said). I tried to find matching green buttons but was not able to find the right shade of green. Here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure.
I hope the recipients like them! I am sure they will...

The puppy is being a holy terror. Saturday, he nipped my upper arm, on the back where it's sensitive and delicate, and I have a nice bluey-purple bruise there. He got the outer edge of my right hand tonight; that will be fun tomorrow when I'm typing and writing all day at work.

This past Saturday, I ran in the OUC Half-Marathon and 5k. I have been training for the half-marathon for a couple of months, but the longest run I'd managed had been 8.7 miles. My knees ache and hurt a lot when I run, but I had hoped that lifting weights in addition to the running would help. Wellllll... it didn't. By mile 9, I was dying. Of course, mile 9 is where the hills started - bricked hills, at that. Did I mention that it was cold (relatively speaking) and raining? Yeah, it was. About 60 degrees (hey, I did say relatively speaking) and misting, at a minimum. EWWWWW. Not fun. Bradley brought Jack and they were waiting for me at the finish line - that was one of the best things I've ever seen :D For now, I'm done with running. I'm taking a break this week from exercising (other than chasing around the steeenkeeeng dog) and am allowing myself to have 'bad' foods if I want.

OK. I think that's all I have to say--- oh wait, regarding the socks for my dad: I'm working on shaping the gusset on the second sock. I am quietly and unobtrusively enforcing Papa-Puppy time so that they can bond and I can get some knitting time ;-)

Next week I should have the pictures of my dad's finished socks. I can't wait to show them off!

BRAAAAAIIIINNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSS

.... I do not has them. A puppy has eaten them!!!



He's gone from a tiny little lapful to a total lapful. His name is Captain Jack and he is a total boob pirate.


Oh wait, did I say that out loud??


Definitely not a dog person. Definitely not a kid person. My temper is too hot, and it's just ... I'm not ready for the 24/7/365 commitment.

And I hate the time suck away from my knitting!

I knit three washcloths for my mother for Christmas and packaged them up with some wonderful Burt's Bees soaps and hand salve. I made a neato flowered shirt for my oldest niece, based on a Martha Stewart wedding pattern...
She's a minor, so I've hidden her pretty young face from all the internet creeps! I made hair ties for the two younger nieces in pretty purples ----

WHOA something else I'm not used to is the MALODOROUS STENCH that emits from this dog's rump!!! I think I am going to VOMIT. ARGH!!!! He's worse than Bradley!

Anyways. So, all the knitting for Christmas gifts is done; now I can get back to knitting on my daddio's socks. I've finished the second sock's star chart, so now I get to zip through the rest of the sock. YAY!

Man, I've been bad with the posting. Life has been busy!

Bradley is bricking up the old windows in the living room. The living room was originally a porch but was enclosed at some point. The windows that originally looked out of the bathrooms and master bedroom were blocked on the bathroom and bedroom side, but were left open on the living room side. We want to cover the wall with corrugated steel, so he's bricking them up to provide sound insulation. It's a relief not to worry about noise anymore!

My Sonnet is finnnnnallllllly finished! We visited some of my family this last weekend, and getting it finished was my #1 goal for the trip. I need to run it through the dryer to get all the cat hair off of it - Pax found it and made a bed on it, so it's been accented with pretty white hair >.<

Next project is a commission that's still being detailed out, but I'm still chugging away on the socks for my father. Dad used to do IT work at a sock manufacturer, so when he tried on the completed first sock, he tried to suggest ways to tighten up the foot. I got some giggles out of the conversation because knitting socks on a machine at, oh, probably a billion stitches a second is completely different than hand-knitting socks. He can be grateful that someone is *hand-knitting* socks for him! :-D I know he is glad to be getting them and was just trying to be helpful so I'm not offended at all - just amused :D

Well - it's time to go do some more chores around the house, so I'm out. HOPEFULLY I will be able to post on Monday with fun updates from the weekend!

sock obsession

I love socks. LOVE. I love the speed, the portability, the tempest in a teacup-ness of socks. I can learn new knitting techniques on a small scale; try outrageous patterns or colors -- or BOTH! -- in one little item. One of my favorite designers is Hunter Hammersen, and you can find her sock designs at http://www.violentlydomestic.com/. I am drooling over several of her patterns while I work on the socks for my father... I really like the Bines pattern, although I'd probably make them a little taller than her pictures. I have some lovely green variegated sock yarn that would be perfect for those. The Popped socks totally catch my eye - the sinuous curves of the pattern make me want to use a green yarn, something close to a Slytherin color. The Propitiate socks actually remind me of the beach, and I have a lovely blue cotton yarn that would be good for those. My next dilemma is finding a pair of brown work shoes that I can wear socks with; my dress shoes are too snug to wear socks with - only hose.

As far as the socks for my father - I've turned the heel and am working on the foot. I think I've gotten the foot long enough to start the toe decreases, but I am hoping to get Bradley to try it on so I can be sure. His foot is wider than my father's but about the same length. Hopefully I can take some pictures while he has it on (as long as he doesn't run as soon as I pull out my camera).

A coworker has commissioned two baby headbands; they are going to be adorable. I have to learn how to crochet for the flowers that will be attached to them, but no worries; crochet can't steal me away from my true love of knitting.

Pattern Problems

So, I have to confess to spewing a lot of bad words over the weekend while working on the Eesti Hiking socks for my dad. The pattern isn't right in the book, so I found the corrections on Interweave's errata pages -- but THOSE were wrong, too!!! I was quite unhappy that I had to keep searching online and on Ravelry for what other people did to correct the problems.

Turns out, what you have to do is increase and decrease 10, not 8, stitches on rows 4 and 19. THEN you repeat the entire star pattern, just like it is marked in my version of the book - but NOT like it's indicated on the "corrected" chart on the website, which has you repeating only 2/3 of the pattern, not the full star band.

Once I figured out the problems, I was able to sail right along. My knitting style is Continental, and I grew up knitting English, so I was able to do the colorwork relatively easily. Slowly - but easily. I tried to use Continental for both colors, but I couldn't get it to work very well. I need to do some more reading/you-tubing to find out what I was doing incorrectly. I finished the colorwork last night, so now it's onward with the rest of the sock.

I'm still in love with the yarn, thankfully, even though the chart has a lot of loathing now. At least I have it figured out now, so the next sock and the other 2 pairs I'll be doing of this pattern will be MUCH easier.

quick update from real job

WHOA SLACKER. That's all I have to say!

The 9/15 deadline passed us this week, and now we're focusing on the 10/15 deadline. Yay. Except not really. Whatever. Can't get into work stuff on a public blog... am too paranoid about all the people who get fired for decisions/posts about their jobs.

Uh, house stuff: the door frame to the garage is finally finished. Just needs to be painted and then that little project will be done. Then we can move on to painting the office area. I think we might be working on the corrugated steel wall in the living room first; once we get that up and see how it works with the floor, we'll have a better idea of what colors will be most appealing. We've also been looking for a kitchen table. I've hit my limit for not having one so it's time. We measured the room and hopefully will hit Ikea for some inspiration this weekend. The kitchen and eating area have such dark wood that we're pretty firmly set on a glass/metal table. Adding more wood would probably make it far too dark in the room.

Knitting: finished a set of garterlac dishcloths: 2 red and 2 yellow. Next set will be lime green and brown. Also started on the Eesti Hiking Socks for my father. The City Tweed heavy worsted yarn is delightful! I love the way it feels and knits up. Doing colorwork is interesting - stripes aren't that hard, and I'm about to begin the star pattern tonight.

Well - gotta get back to the real job. Booooo!!!!

Summer's end

Summer in Florida doesn't end at Labor Day. No, the hot weather and afternoon thundershowers continue well into September; maybe in October, we'll see some lower temperatures. It's not time for me to pull out long sleeves or sweaters yet, and definitely not time to pull out the wool yarn -- unless it's for a Christmas gift or something special!

This past long weekend was a lot of fun. Laughing, playing, story-telling and story-making with friends! A small group of us went out Friday evening for some social time; Saturday, Bradley went diving for lobster with some friends down in West Palm Beach. Saturday night I ate lasagna with my friend LB - she makes delicious food! Sunday was cooking out by the pool, cannonball contests with friends, and then general silliness as the night progressed. Yesterday, we lounged around - I knit, and Bradley snored away while Anthony Bourdain showed us some great places to eat in Chile, the Rust Belt, and Sri Lanka.

I finished the first of the Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks, and I'm not sure what I think of the way the toe looks. My office-mate really liked it this morning when I showed her, but I'm not convinced yet. These socks are for me, so it's entirely up to my mood whether I rip out the toe and re-do it. I am thinking right now I'll wait until I'm finished with the second sock to decide on the first toe.

Then, I cast on Criminy Jicket's Garterlac Dishcloths in a pretty buttery yellow cotton yarn. Definitely a learning experience - I have a new cast-on method in my arsenal now, along with learning how to entrelac. The yarn calls for size 7 needles, but I didn't like how open the stitches were, so I frogged the whole thing and started over with size 5s. In my recent KnitPicks order, I bought a pair of the new Zephyr tips - in size 5 - so I decided to try them out with this pattern. I really like the needles, although I'm convinced I'm going to break them. They are a little more flexible than I'm used to; the Clover bamboo DPNs I use are flexible but I know that bamboo bends quite a bit before it breaks. Plastic/acrylic? Not so sure where the line is between bending and breaking.

Well - time to leave the computer and get back to reality. See you Thursday!

Labor day labors

This time of year at work gets busy. Many people are surprised - "I thought accounting was busy only in the spring!" I wish! The returns that were extended the spring are due in September and October. I'm in good shape with the returns assigned to me; almost all of the CIRA entities are out. CIRA = Common Interest Realty Associations. Homeowners' associations, timeshare associations, condominiums, etc. The rules for them are weird(er) than normal, so all of the ones the firm prepares come to me. I was even able to handle a surprise addition of 15 entities a month away from the deadline with grace.

The knitting is going well. I'm almost to the toe decreases on my first Diagonal Cross-Rib Sock. Then that one will go into hiding while I start on my father's socks. The Fox shows I watch are starting this month, which means a lot of time planted in front of the boob tube, which means a lot of time to knit.

Balancing the time to knit for the Sirens and myself is going to be a challenge. I need to be sure I can produce and meet my commitment to them, but I also have projects promised to my family members (like the socks) and things I'd like to make for myself. One way to juggle everything is to have a day dedicated to each part of my life, with certain things fitted in every day. Say, do 30 min of chores every day, gym on M/T/R/F, and then fit in a personal knit night, a Sirens knit night, a sooper-sekrit project #2 night, a bum around night, and a night to be flexible or do things with my honey. Then that leaves the weekends wide open for house projects or catching up from the week.

Tonight and last night, my honey has been finishing the door frame for the door to the garage. He is also going to put in the baseboards, and then it will be time to PAINT. I can't wait! The walls are a bland tan with an interesting set of horizontal stripes around the room, which I'd like to leave. So we need to find a blue that we like... he's nixed green since there's a lot of it in the slate floor and he's concerned it would be overwhelming. I am looking forward to getting some sample tubs of paint and having fun patching the wall with colors.

Busy-ness

My Sonnet is nearly done! I remembered to toss it in the laundry that my wonderful B does, and I was able to lay it out flat for drying. The sleeves evened up and the material feels wonderful. I need to brush up on seaming, and then I'll be ready to get it together.

I've learned how to Magic Loop! My friend RS at the nearby knitting group showed me the technique on a hat, and I tried it out a few weeks later on a sock. I'm working on the Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave in KnitPicks Essential Tweed in Ash. I LOVE IT. I love this pattern, I love magic looping, I love this yarn... SO PLEASED.

The yarn for my next project is here. I'm going to be working on two pair of Eesti Hiking Socks for my father. Same book, also a KnitPicks yarn, but this yarn is City Tweed HW. I have picked out some great colors to use, and the yarn is so soft. I'm finishing the first sock above before I start on these... so it's a good thing we have a lot of TV to watch ;)

Summer's nearly over

Summer's nearly over and I'm back from my big vacation for the year. A girlfriend and I went to New Orleans to visit another friend for a long weekend. We had a good time and saw lots of beautiful scenery. When going through security, I didn't have any trouble with my knitting needles - I just had to chug about 16 ounces of water as fast as I could because I'd forgotten my Sigg bottle was half-full. I dind't get much knitting done other than the flight - we were going going going the whole time.

Now that I'm back, it's time to settle down and start working on some super-sekrit projects I have going on! I'll have to find time to work on the socks for my family. For now - I'm off to work on my Sonnet and get it out of the way.