Time...

Summer is melting away faster than an ice-cream cone in Bubba's hands. It started out so slow and wonderful and now I don't have a free moment of time. We're off on vacation for a few days at the end of this week, we're camping at the seaside. It will be Bubba's first camping trip...keep your fingers crossed for me.

I've been knitting off and on this summer. I'm still working on my white v-back sweater...it's a lot of stockinette on size 5 needles. I'm down to the sleeves (two at a time) and let me tell you, it's boring. Very boring. But the sweater will be beautiful in all white linen-drape (Rowan yarn my mom found on eBay for me...it's what the pattern called for and it's discontinued. Thank you and much love to you, Mum.) A good Mum will let you take your time in a yarn store. A great Mum will spend hours on the internet to find a yarn that's been discontinued for 3 years so that you can have the ideal sweater for summer. A great Mum will also understand and encourage your little fiber addiction. I like to call her the enabler. Her stash is still bigger than mine. I just finished a little sweater for a friend's new baby girl. Big sister will get a coordinating hat in the leftover yarn. I can' t very well not bring something for her (she got hand-knit socks for her last birthday...I know her Mom appreciated those little beauties.) Started another Rowan pattern in a hand painted rayon boucle yarn I got at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival. Not my usual colors (shades of peach-pink and olive-army-forest green) but I thought it was too pretty to pass up. It will end up a simple cap sleeve shell with a banded bottom (what's on the size 3 needles.) The band is about 30" of k1p1 ribbing on size 3's. Ugh. It's the kind of thing I take along on long car trips 'cause it's mindless and boring. I also got some 4-ply 100% cashmere in ivory that is destined to be these gloves. Aren't they delicious? I saw this book (Knitting New Mittens and Gloves) when it first came out and didn't buy it, how many gloves and mittens can one person actually knit? Then I found that yarn and I figured it had to be fate...the gauge was "close enough" according to my memory of the pattern and thankfully I was correct. Sent man out with Borders coupon to fetch said book. Great man, like Mum will go out of his way to enable my little habit. Bubba has also found a pair of "elfin" mittens that she wants and there's another pair that make me think of hot cocoa that I will most likely make.

I also just finished knitting this. The pattern is, what else, Rowan's Alpine Shrug. I couldn't afford the Big Wool, so I used Blizzard (extra bonus-my local yarn store had a 20% off coupon in the paper!)

When I have the patience required to seam it, it will hopefully look like this:
On the non-knitting front, I've got more lettuce in my garden than I can eat. Lots of peas, carrots are coming along nicely, tomatoes are on their way, and I'll have more pumpkins this fall than Linus. My kitchen now has drawers to put things in, my porch ceiling is sky blue, and the old bathroom has been ripped off the house. The new bathroom will be framed out by tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to afford to put the fixtures in next spring...we'll see won't we?
The woman I was hoping to get "my dog", Irish Wolfhound for those not in the know, from didn't get the litter she was planning on, and she put me in touch with another woman who just bred. Keep your fingers crossed for me...I find out mid-August if there will be a puppy for my birthday this year. Visit here, Shanachie, to see her beautiful dogs.

Finished Objects

This is the "Ballet Top" from Loop-d-Loop. My mom just finished this as a store sample using Fibre Company "Savannah". It's a blend of merino, cotton, linen and soy. This top took 4 skeins, single strand on a size 15 needle. Too expensive for my tastes. Yes, I'm like a crack whore when it comes to Rowan. KSH, "Ballerina", Rowan magazine #31, "Breeze"
"Monica" top from summer Knitty. The one and only Bubba Lou modelling. I used Rowan (shut up, I get a discount) hand-knit cotton. Two skeins for the front and back, less than a skein for the ruffle, and a small amount of white. All in all, the top cost less than $15. And I modified the straps to tie, so next summer I just have to let them down (I knit everything too long and wide for her so I get 2 seasons out of it!)
I promise there will be photos of the Rowan "Cloud" and cami from IWK soon. They were worn in a fashion show this weekend and need to be laundered before I will put them on again.

I just got the book Knitting Lingerie Style and have a long, long to do list. I will try to post more later with some photos. My microwave is beeping at me.

Am I Out Of My Mind?

This is what I'm thinking of starting. I have the yarn on hold so I can decide if I'm completely crazy or just a little mad. The photo doesn't do it justice. The bottom 2/3rds of this top is LACE. Beautiful, colorful lace. I've been doing miles upon miles of stockinette stitch these last few months and it's killing me. Please, give me some yarn overs. Yet another Rowan project. I can't help it. It's like crack, I just can't get enough and I'll go broke buying yarn and magazines. Thank goodness I work for a yarn store...I think.

I do love this top, though. It makes me think of the ocean. The lace pattern has such a pretty wave, almost like seashells. The color doesn't hurt either, but I'm having a hard time deciding between the blue in the photo and a pink/red/white combo that the yarn comes in. Damn. I wish all decisions were this hard. And that I didn't just get my credit card bill with the nasty balance from Home Depot I just transferred. I think I will be dead before it's paid off, and before this house is done. I wonder what will kill me first, the interest I'm paying or the remodel?

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home....


Bull. Give me a nice hotel.

Bubba Lou's Hoodie

I did it. I took out the trim around the hood and re-did it. Huge sigh of relief. It looks so much better now, and didn't take me as long as I thought.

Went to Lowe's today with my Dad. He very nicely bought me 2 azaleas and a bunch of different annuals. It's nice to have some color in my yard! The apple blossoms are gone now, but the lilacs are perfuming the whole yard! I wish someone could figure out how to bottle that scent and not screw it up.

Still inserting the sleeves into the rowan sweater. Hopefully I can finish the damn thing tomorrow and move on. Now that it's gotten too hot to wear it, I really don't care when I finish it, but I have to have it done by next Tuesday for display in the shop. For a better discount, I promised to have it done in 1 month and on display for 2-3 weeks a month while we're busiest (june-october.) At least I got the yarn at a good price!

Speaking of a good price, I just scored a bag of Rowan Cotton Rope in cyclamen for $2.99 a ball! With free shipping! That's cheaper than wholesale in the US! Yes, I did the happy dance in my kitchen when it arrived. Still haven't decided what it will become....suggestions?

Aaahhh, Spring!

It is 80+ outside today and sunny! When I step outside I can smell the apple blossoms (we have 4 very old apple trees). Next week I'll get to smell the lilacs. Our wild strawberries are flowering, I have wild violets everywere, and Sy found forget-me-nots yesterday. The rhubarb patch is growing like crazy, too bad I don't care for it. Last summer when we moved into the house, it rained so much that almost nothing bloomed or had already gone by. It's nice getting these pretty surprises this year!

My Rowan summer tweed sweater is almost done, I just have to set in the sleeves. My Noro daria bag is almost done, I just have to sew up the lining and put it in. Bubba's hoodie is done, unless I decide to rip out the trim around the hood. Ugh. A lot of "almost". I think that's worse than having miles to go..
...
This is the sweater front, and the trim before seaming. The seaming I did on this sweater is AMAZING! My mom couldn't find the seam at first glance, and even then she had to feel for it. Hooray for me!! I can't wait to wear this!



This is the bag. Noro Daria is a rayon wrapped cotton cord. Very stiff and slippery. A challenge to work with on a good day, but so pretty when it's knit up. Very shiny and slick. The photos don't do it justice. The color way I picked is pale pink, aqua, and several shades of green. Instead of seaming the sides, I'm lacing them with aqua ribbon. Very girly, especially with the lucite handles!

Makes me want to cast on something new. Right Now. Socks? White sweater? I should do Abbie's little baby kimono, but that won't take me but a couple of days to do. Hmmmm, I think I could go for a little instant gratification right now.

Did I mention I work in a yarn shop? Yep, like an alcoholic working in a brewery, taste-testing. At least I can buy a few skeins and still drive home! It's crazy, I now have home projects and work projects and they never (read:hardly ever) get knit up in the other.

Okay, I'm off to knit in the sunshine and bugs.