SnP III: Baseball and Monkeys
Last night was Stitch n Pitch at Dodger Stadium! I’m not a big baseball fan, but I do enjoy attending the occasional game, and the fellow knitters make it even more enjoyable.
This year I also had a couple little monkeys to keep me company.
The pattern is from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and I highly recommend their kits. I’m slightly addicted to these little guys.
Loss
I had been gathering some pictures for a knitting-heavy post about my trip to Northampton: stash enhancement at Webs, knitting at a writers’ hootenanny with three other knitters, my sock at the beginning of the Yarn Harlot talk, my sock at the end of it….
But then Monday night I had to call 911, most of the next two days were spent in two different hospitals, and Wednesday evening my dear friend Andrea passed away. I’m not ready to write about her publicly, so for now I’ll let her words speak for themselves by pointing you to her award-winning essay that was published in Glamour just one day later.
Matchy Matchy
Is that a purple and green Piddly bag (from the awesome Piddleloop Sewing Team) in my purple and green Imago bag (from Tom Bihn)?
With robots! I love it so much, I had to revive my hibernating Juno Regina scarf so I’d have a good matching project to use it for.
I started the scarf in Seattle in February, but stopped working it once I got home (I think it was Lady Eleanor’s fault). It’s a bit boring, but the Malabrigo Lace yarn I’m using is lovely enough to keep me moving. This picture was from the weekend, and I’m now almost halfway done!
It’s the only knitting project I’m bringing with me on the plane to New England tonight. Don’t worry, I’ll have three more in my checked suitcase — I just have to make sure I sleep on the red-eye tonight instead of spending too much of the flight knitting. :)
Oh, and it just so happens that I’ll be in Northampton, MA, the same day as the Yarn Harlot. Anyone else going?
Handwarmers and New Projects
This week, I finished handwarmers for a friend who suffers from cold hands in the office like I do. They were a further modified version of the modified Natalyas I’ve knit so many times and went much more quickly than I expected.
With that April goal done, the secret design prototype underway, and a 6-day trip to New England coming up, I needed some new projects! Last night I revived my hibernating Juno Regina scarf (picture soon). I’m planning a new sock to replace my now hibernating toe-up Monkey sock, just as soon as I decide which yarn of my overflowing sock yarn stash to use. I feel like I need another project though… handwarmers for myself with my leftover Lady Eleanor yarn, another gift Clapotis, a Lace Ribbon Scarf, or perhaps some more complicated lace? Hmmm….
Birthday, Baby, and a Laugh
After my lazy Saturday morning, I had quite a busy and exciting weekend! First, I celebrated my 30th birthday a couple weeks early at my “Good-Bye Twenties” party Saturday night, which had a fun 1920s theme and gave me an excuse to wear my favorite dress.
Sunday afternoon, I went to visit my best friend from college, Mary, who’s just entered the third trimester of her second pregnancy and is on bed rest. Well, kind of — she isn’t totally immobile, but she’s sticking close to home and definitely done working until after she delivers. I arrived armed with a bag of books, a pair of needles, a hank of yarn, and my ball winder (I figured that her four-year-old son would have fun helping me wind the yarn).
I expected to get her started on a garter stitch scarf, but she advanced really quickly — I only had to show her the long-tail cast on once before she got it, and the same for the knit stitch. So I taught her how to purl and how to combine knits and purls for ribbing, and now she’s working on a beautiful ribbed stitch scarf. She had knit before years ago and recently started to crochet baby bootees, but I also think (and know) she’s a smart cookie.
And a bonus for laughs, a great educational cat video found via Yarn-A-Go-Go.
Lady Eleanor
Today I’ve had my first lazy Saturday (or any weekend) morning home in over a month. Waking up late, slowly sipping a cup of coffee, and a little knitting are essential components of a lazy morning for me.
I’m lucky this morning that it’s sunny enough outside to light up even my dark apartment, so I was able to get a nice FO shot of my unblocked Lady Eleanor without strange looks from my neighbors outside.
And now, back to knitting! I don’t have much time left in my lazy morning before I switch gears into a productive afternoon (getting a few piles of clutter cleaned and organized) before a fun and fancy night out.
Two Gifts
The first gift is the Clapotis that I blogged about earlier this year:
The second gift was planned last fall on a camping trip when my friend David admired my handwarmers (one of my pairs of modified Natalyas). I decided to knit him a pair before his next camping trip… I didn’t quite manage that, but we haven’t gone on another trip together since that one, so it’s close enough. I started with the Dashing pattern, but I didn’t like the thumb so I modified it to have a gusset instead. I didn’t enjoy the cables either, so I will not be knitting this pattern again.
Though it wasn’t an enjoyable knit, I am pleased with the finished product, as is the recipient. When I showed him the first one to try for size, he exclaimed, “Smittens!” Part sleeve, part mitten. So these have been dubbed Smitten Dashing.
Gift knitting continues with another pair of handwarmers (of my own “design”), but it’s easy to spend time on gifts when I just finished up a big project for myself. Yep, Lady Eleanor is finished! I still have to take some pictures, but it’s cozy and beautiful. I’m keeping an eye out for good deals on Silk Garden so I can make another one.
March and April goals
My blogging energy/time has been low, but here’s a quick post to cover my monthly goals….
My March goals were:
- Finish those secret gifts!
- Finish Lady Eleanor.
- Start a new sweater.
1.0 - the 1-ball cozy and a to-be-blogged gift.
0.65 - I think that’s how far I was at the end of March (based on using all 10 balls, which is still uncertain).
0 - I reprioritized.
My April goals are:
- Finish Lady Eleanor.
- Knit Jerry’s handwarmers.
- Knit prototype of secret design project.
- Blog at least once a week.
1-Ball
I can’t believe I haven’t posted in three weeks! Since then, I’ve been working steadily on Lady Eleanor and a sock. I also finished up two gifts for my monthly goals, one of which I can blog….
Remember my 8-Ball Cozies? I had to make one for the person who came up with the original idea, but with a different color and number. (I also made a more substantial i-cord tie instead of the quicker crochet chain.)
February and March Goals
I can’t believe we’re already three days into March!
My February goals were:
- Finish my Chinese New Year sweater.
Score: 1.0. I love it! - Finish the semi-secret Clapotis.
Score: 1.0. But no pictures until it’s sent and received. - Knit 1 top secret gift (from January’s list) and one semi-secret gift.
Score: 0.25. One is half done. - Start Lady Eleanor stole.
Score: 1.0. Started and 1/5 done, even with the Shetland Triangle Shawl I slipped in before it.
My March goals are:
- Finish those secret gifts!
- Finish Lady Eleanor.
- Start a new sweater.