Fabulous Feather

Presenting my first finished sock!

Voila!  Here she is in all of her glory - my first completely finished sock!!! She fits!!  Here's another shot.    I love it.  It is very comfortable.  The yarn is from Knit Picks.  The yarn has a bit of bounce to it.  I like the ribbing because it hugs my feet.  Beth is right, this basic rib pattern does make my feet look big - rather wide.  It doesn't help that I am not quite 5' 4" (5' 3 3/4" for those that are truly curious) but my feet are long and narrow - I wear shoes that are size 8 or 8 1/2. Ohh well ,the socks are comfy and there is an order into Knit Picks to make more!!

Last night I started on a hat from the Yarn Girls Guide to Knitting.  The pattern calls for Koigu (sp??!) but I'm using Knit Picks sock yarn.  The pattern also calls for knitting it on straight needles & then seaming it up.  I'm knitting it in the round on a circular needle.  We'll see how I make out!     Here is another shot of the yarn.  The skein in the front is Helen's Lace in Black Purl.  Someday that will become either a scarf or a lacy wrap.  I am not sure which yet.  :)

Also, here is proof that I really do own a spinning wheel.  Look at the pretty box Beth!  See, it really exists!  And this is where it will be assembled once the area is clean up a bit.    The big thing in the corner is a cat bed that my FF built.  Alas the cats are still getting settled in and are not real crazy about it.

I get to start on sock number two this evening.  Wahooo! 

Happy Fourth of July!

Nesting time

All of my stuff in moved into my FF's.  We got that done on 6/17.  6/20 I had my old place professionally cleaned & turned the keys.  We're officially living together.  The cats are here, the FF's son is with us half the week and we are doing pretty good.  New routines are being established and everyone is pitching in to make it work!  There is a lot to get settled yet but the main two floors are in the home stretch.  Today I even walked 9 holes on the golf course!!  I didn't play every hole but had enough decent shots to actually make me want to go to the driving range after work!

On the knitting front, I am in the home stretch on my first sock!  Check it out!!    I owe a HUGE thank you to Beth for walking me through picking up the gusset stitches.  I couldn't get the directions to make sense to me, but with her help,I over came the hump and am now cruising toward my toe!  Beth also sent me a awesome gift!  Check it out!!!     There is a bag that she knit herself, gorgeous, ohh-so-soft roving from Shadyside Farm, two tablets made by her company and a card.  The gift arrived Friday & the FF surprised me with it in the car as we were racing off to check out a house for decorating ideas.  Thank you Beth!!!

Off to knit!!

Huge News!!!

I am offically engaged!! Wahoo!! My fantastic fiance (FF) surprised twice in one day!!!

Here's the story. I had invited my BF to join me in CA for some much needed R&R. The plan was for him to arrive on Saturday, play golf while I worked & then enjoy some R&R together on Sunday and Monday. On Thursday the future FF had told me that he was taking Friday off to get ready for the BIG MOVE. I had even suggested that he then try to fly out on Friday. He replied that his flights were locked in & could not be changed. Friday morning made the other rough days at this event seem like a walk in the park. Few things went well or easily. I kept trying to call him to get a little pick-me-up. When he didn't answer, I assumed he was using manlt power tools to build up couple of things in preparation for my arrival. Midday Friday, while walking from one meeting to another, he appeared at the resort. I was on Cloud 9. It was sooo good to see him. He has the ability to relax me just by holding me close. Later that he evening we went to a reception that I had planned. Afterwords he suggested that we go for a walk. The evening was gorgoeus. My feet were beat up though from trucking around for four days on tile so at some point we decided to head back to our room. En route he stopped and handed me an envelope and said that it was a souvenier for this trip. The envelope contained the most goregous engagement ring!! Trully lovely. He picked it out entirely on his own. We had gotten my fingeer sized so it fits perfectly. When we went to contract on our home, we made a commitment that are going to be together forever. He did tell me though that when he did the ring he planned to do it "right". I thought that it wouldn't happen until this Fall - little did I know that he been working on it for a solid month!!!! The surprise was terrific. I am still floating!! The conference delegates have been great. I've known many of them for years. The men made a point of sizing my FF up at the Friday night reception and were estatic with my news on Saturday. The ladies spent Saturday checking out the ring. It was fun to be with friends during this exciting time!

All for now. I have a little more work to do & then the hotel is treating us to a couples spa treatment in honor of our engagement.

Wahooooo!!!!

Quick Post

Hello from sunny CA!  The sock yarn arrived & thus far I knit a 6 inch cuff (or whatever you call the part that goes around your ankle) & I started the heel flap at 5 a.m. today!  Wahoo!  Thanks for all of the kind comments.  The meeting is off to a rough start so knitting encouragement is great!  I love knitting socks - they are VERY portable!

Yes Beth, the dark spot circling the over CA is me.  REALLY rough start to this one.  Must reward self with more yarn!!!

Moving Progress

Right off the bat, I owe Aubree an apology.  Aubree was the Secret Pal that sent me presents.  I knew her only as my SP4 when sent me the gorgeous bag.    Aubree, thanks for nice comment about the tank top.  I am sorry that it took me so long to identify you here!!!

The rest of this update is for my BF.  I am have been busting my fanny all day, with exception of a break for great walk & to finish up the tank.  Here the results of my labors. More is getting done as I download the images.

We start with fridge & freezer - down to my bare necessities.  I have the fixings for popcorn w/ Parmesan cheese, virgin bloody Marys, wine, bottled water, O'Douls & one Sam Adams.  Next we have empty kitchen cabinets, again except for the main minimum to get me through to the end.    Second bedroom, aka the storage room: The bedroom: And finally stuff that is ready to move out.  Wahoo!!! 

Finished Object Alert!!

Wahoo!  I did it.  The Rebbecca tank is finished!  The straps have been knit and grafted, the seams sewn up, ends woven in AND as an added bonus, she fits!!! Here is a body shot.  I've been up since 5:30 packing, and I got a great 2 hour walk in so I'm not looking particularly lovely.  The top will be worn with khakis or white slacks.  Jeans don't work well with it.   

I am particularly pleased that I set a goal for a finish date with this project & met it.  I am now officially free to work a on a few projects simultaneously (odd reward eigh?!!)!!

Yesterday, while waiting for the tank to dry, I started work on the yarn girls sweatshirt.  I cast on & banged out six rows in seed stitch for the back.  This puppy to proving to be WAY TOOO big.  I knit a small swatch in stockinette & I am on gauge so I've decided to modify the pattern & recast on with six less stitches & we'll see how that works out.  Here is a shot of the first 6 rows.  Look at the width!!! 

Here is the swatch.  I love the way the colors pop with the stockinette.  I think that is going to a pretty top.  The colors look better than I expected. 

Last night my BF told me that the Knit Picks order has arrived.  I get to start playing with socks tomorrow!!

On the moving front, I am in the home stretch before the big furniture move out.  The bedrooms is 98% empty of all accessories - I think that I'm down to my alarm clock & nighttime necessities.  I am gathering up the small stuff & getting it  into boxes today.  I doubt that there has been any progress on our lot.  When the BF & I talk about the future its mainly focused on tasks associated with getting my stuff to his place so I don't have an up to the minute report.  Last week nothing had changed.

I am outta here for a least a couple of weeks.  Work is insane.  My next post may well be from my new home!

Happy knitting!!!

Block Party

Check it out, I have finished the back of the second version of the tank & I am blocking the sucker within a centimeter of its life!    This is a picture of the front and the back laying on top of each other.  I have had a devil of a time blocking them to the width in the sketch.  As a result the tank will be about 5 centimeters shorter.  I plan to compensate for this with the straps and hope that I won't end up with a top that is too revealing.  If all goes well, I'll stitch it up tomorrow and I already enlisted the help of a neighbor for measuring the straps.

On the new project front, this evening I am winding balls for this: It is the sweatshirt in the Yarn Girls Guide to Knitting.  I am making it in Manos autumn.  The yarn has a dark background with streaks of bright red, orange and purple.  Here is a close up of the yarn.  Kel at Knit Happens helped me pick it out.  Thanks again Kel!!

I am also eagerly awaiting a package from Knit Picks.  Enabler Beth coaxed me into purchasing Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. I also ordered two hanks of sock yarn from the garden collection in Geranium and two hanks from the landscape collection in Rocky Mountain.  I have been studying the patterns in the Knit Socks book & can't wait to give a small portable project a whirl.  Hopefully the package will arrive tomorrow.  Beth is making terrific progress with hers & raves about knitting the socks on the circulars.

  Beth is also doing her best to get me to buy white yarn and start playing with dying it with Kool Aid.  I am this close: /    / to doing it.  It is such a slippery slope though.  After one weekend of playing with Kool Aid, Beth is already making noises about learning how to make her own dye from plants .  Keep in mind that her outside shots prove that she has a green thumb AND she already has a spinning wheel.  I think that she is just a few heart beats away from a garden dedicated to plants that she can use for dye and a herd of alpacas.  My BF already warned me that at our new place, our yard will not be large enough for alpacas & I don't think that they can be house trained so I am treading down this new slope with a little bit of caution.

Continuing on the animal bent, check out Anne's site.  Scroll back to see the birth of the foal.  The mother-daughter shots are gorgeous!!

It is late.  Hopefully I'll be able to add shots of a completed tank on my body by Sunday.  If not, I'll be back after 6/15.  6/17 is the big furniture move.  Wahooo.  The count down is offically on!  :) 

Happy knitting!!!

Quick Update

Here is a quick progress report: I was able to bang out 14 rows on the tank top last night & hope to get 16 done this evening!  Wahoo!!!