Dad comes through!

As I knew he would. What a guy! He made me this wonderful little drop spindle. I can't wait to try it out. There is a great tutorial on YouTube by a woman named Abby Franquemont - she seems to explain the whole process rather clearly, so I need to watch it a few more times, and then give it a whirl (ha!).

So does buying roving break my yarn diet?

FOs, yarn, and Dulcinea

Woo hoo! I actually completed something! Take a look-see.

You probably recognize this as My So Called Scarf. I used two skeins of Araucania Nature Wool that I bought on sale about a year ago at A.C. Moore. The color is really lovely, muted, not too loud. This scarf also turned out to be softer than I thought it would be - what a plus! I like this stitch a lot, but my edges looked like crapola, which is why I edged it with one round of single crochet. I finished this at Stitch n Bitch last night. Can I tell you how good it was to see all of my friends? I missed them so these last 4 months.

Here we have the Tiramisu Baby Blanket, pattern by Alicia Paulson. This took a little over 3 skeins of Red Heart Soft Yarn in Off White. This truly is soft yarn. It's nice and squishy. I really enjoyed this pattern - it's mindless crocheting, but the result doesn't look mindless at all.

Here's how I broke my yarn diet. This is the Classic Elite Four Seasons Cotton to make Cathy Carron's Cabana Tee.
And here is the Casco Bay Sport from Halcyon Yarns. Can I tell you how dang nice the ladies are at this place? I had to call them up, and they were just as pleasant as could be. I will definitely be shopping from them again. I will be using this yarn to make Regina Rioux Gonazalez's Singular Tee.

Yum. Hempathy. I'll combine this with some Cool Blue Hempathy in my stash to make Edna Hart's Marly Boatneck. Can't wait! I think the blue and green will look really nice together.

Who can resist this face?

I know some of you probably think I've gone off the deep end, but there is something about playing with dolls that I guess I just never got out of my system when I was a kid. And I can knit clothes for Dulcinea too. And crochet them. It's all good. ;o)

I met Doris Chan!

Oh, today was so much darn fun. I went to Loop, one of my favorite stores of all time, and I got to meet crochet guru Doris Chan! Look! There we are together!

She is a totally cool lady, and I bought her latest book, Everyday Crochet, and she autographed it for me. I also met and talked to three really neat ladies, Yvette, Kate, and Mary, and I saw Craig, the owner of Loop, and Elizabeth, one of his esteemed employees who also happens to dye some gorgeous yarn. Doris showed me how to do foundation single crochet, which is when you create your foundation chain and your first row of single crochet at the same time. It is efficient, easy, and it pretty much ensures that your inital chain isn't too tight. I also discovered (or rather, Doris discovered), that I wrap my yarn differently than everyone else. Who knew?

Here's Doris's magic hands showing Craig how to do something (I think it had to do with joining motifs). You can see Craig's Babette there on the table, and yes, it is made out of Kersti. These pictures don't do the colors justice, it is gorgeous.

This here would be Koigu. Lots and lots of Koigu. Be still, my beating heart.

I love Loop, and I love the fiber arts community in our area, and I love Philadelphia, unlike some people I know (Sahfi!).

***

After my fabulous afternoon at Loop, my friend Sahfi met me there and we went and had lunch, then went to a French meet-up. I spent some time in Paris about 10 years ago, and Sahfi lived in Montreal for several years, and we are trying to improve our rusty French. I think it would really help if we had our French meet-up in a bar. My French improves drastically when I'm drunk (at least I think it does). The group is organized by this nice guy named Pascal. He is Quebecois, and I'll be damned if I can understand half of what he says. But he is patient with all of us, and it's a great opportunity to get together with like-minded people and just have a lovely time downtown.

***

So what are you all doing for Halloween? I'm playing hooky from my night classes and taking the Banana trick-or-treating with a friend we met at the pool this summer. It will be fun. She is going to be, in her words, a 'pretty pink princess'. I swear, I don't know where this child came from. When I was a kid, for Halloween, I was (in no particular order) a clown, a firefighter, Wonder Woman (one of those horrid plastic costumes with a mask that didn't allow you to breathe that cost $5 at Woolworth's [remember Woolworth's?]) a ladybug, a black cat, a witch, a fairy, and a Catholic school girl (that last one was post-college when I lived downtown and was single). I haven't dressed up in quite some time. Probably because I generally feel pretty freakish most of the time these days.

***

Have a good week!

Lots o' goodies!

Hey happy people! Long time no... blog. Or something. Anyhoo, here's part of what I've been up to, because I know you've been dying to know.

Here's a sensationally fantabulous crocheted afghan square. The pattern is, yet again, based on one of the squares in Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks. Since I can't be bothered with silly details like gauge, this pattern worked really well for me - I crocheted until one edge (or leg, since we are looking at a right triangle here [don't make me break out the Pythagorean Theorem. I'll do it. Go ahead. Dare me.]) was 10" long, then I made it smaller. Jesus, am I clever or what?

Here is the beginning of a super-archi-uber secret Christmas project. I bet that not one single person can guess what this is. Ha! You have to wait until December 26th to find out. I won't torture you all with any more tempting pictures.
I participated in the Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap, and my pal was Aline from jolly France! She sent me some awesome goodies, and now I miss France and want to go back right now. Above, we have some lovely toiletries that smell heavenly: blackberry bath gel and lotion, and a purifying lemon mask. Yum!

Here are some delectable edibles: confiture de lait (which translates to milk jelly; trust me, it tastes better than it sounds), strawberry jam, and almond nougat. YUM.

And last, but most certainly not least, we have the yarn, which she ordered specially from La Droguerie (I know I spelled that incorrectly). On the left, you've got the teal bamboo. I'm loving it. In the middle, we have the brick colored linen. Oh my. And finally, I present to you the beige cotton, which is squishy and soft. Thank you Aline! Je te remercie mille fois!!

And naturally, the Eiffel Tower keychain goes with me everywhere these days. ;o)

My baby started kindergarten this week. WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Doesn't she look cute in her uniform though? The week went fairly well, with only the lunch bag disappearing forever. Oh well. She is learning about endangered species this year, and her teacher friggin' ROCKS. Maybe I shouldn't say friggin'. It is a Catholic school. I'm always afraid I'm going to get struck by lightning when I go to pick her up. Maybe God is giving me a break because I'm educating my progeny in the Catholic tradition. Although she does refer to Jesus as Cheezin, so I'm not sure how well the education is going so far. Hm.

Oh my God (maybe I shouldn't say that), how cute are these two? I'm a lucky woman.

Stash enhancement and Stitch 'n' Pitch

Thanks to the generosity of the parents of the student I work with, I was able to purchase some yarn for specific projects. Usually I just buy whatever tickles my fancy, but this time I was on a mission - a project-specific stash enhancement expedition:

Here's some fabulous Hemp for Knitting Allhemp #6 in the Brick colorway. This is going to be Orangina. The yarn is kind of stiff right now, but I hear that washing it makes it much softer, and that it has wonderful drape. Even if it's still kind of rough, I'll be wearing a tank under the Orangina, so I ain't worried none.

Here we have some lurvely Koigu KPPPM for the ever popular Chevron Scarf. This project is a bandwagon, and I am happy to jump on, simply for the fact that it allows me to buy Koigu. What the hell else can I afford to make? The Babette? Mwah hahahahahaha. I think not.

My neighbor Regina is muy generosa (yeah, I made that up, deal with it) and for watching her cats she gave a whole freakin' box of yarn!! Yay!! I'll be rippling til the cows come home with this Rainbow Classic. It's soft and fuzzy and perfect for an afghan.

Haven't decided what this TLC Amore is going to be yet; perhaps a layette? I'll think of something. I love this yarn too, so soft.

This Red Heart Kids is going to be a baby sweater, hat, and afghan for a pregnant friend of mine. The colors are perfect because she's not finding out if it's a boy or girl, so this will work either way. And hello, can you say machine washable and dryable?

Now this - this is something special. I love Twinkle's Big City Knits, but I don't like the price of her yarns. This here is Misti Alpaca Chunky, and can I just tell you how lofty and soft and dreamy this yarn is? Oh my God, I love it. I can't wait to make the Best Friend Cardigan with this stuff. The pattern also calls for size 19 needles, and guess what? I got some bamboo Clover 19s in my Stitch 'n' Pitch goodie bag last night! Woo hoo! I was meant to make this sweater.

This is Tahki Cotton Classic, and I'll be making the Lotus Blossom Tank from last summer's Interweave Knits. I have a brown velvet blazer that will look great over the tank, so if I don't finish it by the end of the summer (which I won't, given the projects I have on deck already), I can still wear it come fall.

I am in the home stretch with the Crochet Crop Cardigan. Another few rows on the bottom, a few rows on each sleeve, and then it's just a matter of a few finishing touches such as snaps and buttons. Can't wait to post pictures!

Last night was Stitch 'n' Pitch in Philadelphia! It was really a lot of fun, despite heavy traffic and 95 degree weather. That's WT in the pictures above (tank top and cap), and Liz all the way on the right with her cool pink tote bag.

My knitting buddies from MontCo Sit 'n' Knit! From left to right, we have Aileen, Liz, Debbie (hiding behind Liz), MJ in the red top, and Robin in the sunglasses! These people are friggin' awesome.
Here we have Maria in the sunglasses and purple shirt, and her friend Carol from work. Thanks for coming out Carol!

Here's me looking like I haven't slept in 3 weeks with my darling husband WT. Who's such a good sport? WT is!

Here's the Phillie Phanatic looking at a Phillies' butt. The Phillie Phanatic never ceases to amuse me.
Here is the one gajillionth reproduction of the Liberty Bell. It swings back and forth and lights up when the Phillies hit a homer. It was lighting up a lot last night!

Ah, the chokingingly beautiful haze that signifies the arrival of summer in the tri-state area. Gotta love it. Actually, it was nice last night, because if there hadn't been any haze, the sun would have been shining directly into our eyeballs, and that just would have been really unpleasant.
Yay for the Phillies! Yay for knitting!

Whoever came up with the idea to combine baseball and knitting deserves a pat on the back. A good time was had by all, even though not much knitting was done due to the ungodly temperatures. I cooled down with my $6.50 beer and my $4.50 ice cream, and we sang and talked and laughed and took pictures, and dammit, we had a rockin' good time.

If only the Schuylkill and 95 weren't under construction and it hadn't taken more than an hour to get home...

Knitting goodness

Last night was our second Sip n Knit of the season, and let me tell you, it was great. We had a small group, but we had a new chica come out and join us, and Banana got to play with Liz's kids, and the food was sensational, and a good time was had by all. We sat outside as it got dark, knitting, crocheting, sipping, watching the kiddies catch lightning bugs, and making each other laugh. It was lovely.

I got to go to the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute on Tuesday with my dad, his friend JoAnn, and my good friend Heather. We had a really good time. My only disappointment? You know the famous death mask that is the epitome of King Tut? THE DEATH MASK, in gold and lapis lazuli and carnelian? Yeah, it wasn't there. There's pictures of it all over the place, but no death mask. There was a miniature of it, a coffinette (really, that's what they called it) to hold Tut's liver. But no death mask. *Sigh*

Afterwards, we went to the Nodding Head and pigged out on burgers and French dips and beer and fries with spicy mayo. YUM. We then went to Anthropologie, where I purchased a cute little bird decoration thingy and a mug with my initial on it for a mere $6. For some reason, their clothes are positively outrageously priced, but their housewares are quite reasonable.

Heather and I then went to Loop, where I purchased some Hemp for Knitting to make the Orangina, and two skeins of Koigu KPPPM for a Chevron Scarf. Yay! We also got to meet Craig, the owner of Loop, who told us that about 1100 seats have been sold for next week's Stitch n Pitch Phillies game! It's going to be a good time, I just know it. Craig is a super duper nice guy, and his employees are friendly and oh-so-knowledgeable. I love that store.

Today, WT is in Newark, DE, interviewing for a job, and Banana is at school playing on the Slip n Slide with her little friends. I will be going to either Yarnings in Skippack or The Knitting Basket in Phoenixville to find some stuff to spend the rest of my gift certificate on. Yippee! Pictures to come, I was too damn lazy to post any today.

Talk to youse guys soon!

Lotsa pictures n stuff

Can you tell I have a master's degree from that title I just typed? I bet you can, cuz my English is so good. Anyhoo, here is a massively long post about stuff in my life. Aren't you glad you visited?

Ah, Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride Worsted in colorway Blue Magic. To become a sweater at some point this year. Purchased at Twist Knitting and Spinning in New Hope, PA. Thank you Regina, for this lovely yarn - I purchased it with the gift certificate you gave me!

Next up we have some Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in the Cool Blue colorway, which very shortly will become the Summertime Tunic from the Summer 2007 IK. Can't wait to cast on for this one. This yarn is nice and shimmery and pretty and I like it.

Et la piece de resistance, Artyarns Supermerino in colorway Irises, produced exclusively for Yarnmarket. Thanks Dad, for the gift certificate! Yay, I love birthdays! This is going to be a short-sleeved top-down cardigan.

Progress on the Green Gable is being made. One more inch, and I'll be able to do the ribbing at the bottom, finish the sleeves, et voila! ca sera fini. I love the way this yarn smells. It's all, like, sheepy and stuff. In a good way. Not a barnyard way. That would be gross.

Here is the yoke of the Crop Crocheted Cardigan I'm making for Monica. How stinkin' cute is that? I have only 2 more rows, then I can start the body. Her instructions are perfect. I'm using Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece for this. It's kind of splitty, but it's easy on the hands and it's so pretty, who cares?

Here we have some pictures of paradise. This would be a Memorial Day barbecue at John and Regina's house, with our neighbors and family. Our neighbors and family rock.

Here's Anne Marie, Marilyn, Jack, and Todd talking it up.

Total barbecue carnage. Not for the faint of heart.

What barbecue would be complete without cheese curls and knitting?

Warning: Gratuitous cute kitten photos

Carlos sleeping upside down

Joey all stretched out

My pre-birthday present - one index fingered slashed to ribbons

The goddamn utensil that caused the mayhem

So I told you my baby brother graduated from Rutgers, right? With a degree in meteorology? And he already has a rockin' job? How proud am I? Very. I'm very proud. So here we are: me, Glennjamin, and Daddy-kins. I love my family.

Here's a picture of me with the hair I wish I had all the time.

*sigh*

And now for some random flower pictures, courtesy of Regina and John's back yard.

Siberian iris

Peony (my favorite)

And gorgeous red poppies. Who's up for some opium?

Here's the Banana at her 'graduation'. I got pretty darn choked up, I must say. She's known some of these kids for more than half her life. Time to move on though, to the big, bad-ass world of kindergarten.

And here's why I get up every morning, and smile.

Me, Banana, and WT