Summer Knitting Goals

Ali, over at Skeins Her Way, is having a contest. You could win some yummy Blue Sky Alpaca cotton and a really cute pattern for a summer top. Go here to read all about it.

Here is my hopeful list of things to complete this summer:

Already on the needles:

Poppy Sweater
Chicknits Ribby Cardi
Sockapalooza socks (nevermind hope, this will happen!)
Noro mitred blanket

Not on the needles:

Trekking socks

I know, it isn't much, but that blanket is gonna be big and I'm trying to set reasonable goals, blah blah blah. :)

I love it when it all works out

Here is my sweater and I am deeply in love. I was going to do a reverse crochet around the neck but I think I might just leave it as is.

Nerves

I start my new job tomorrow afternoon and I'm feeling just a touch nervous. Actually, when I stop and fully think about it I kind of almost throw up a little bit. I'm sure that's perfectly normal. Oh well, at least I finally took the leap and moved out of that comfort circle.

On Friday there was cake at work and then Lisa and Vanessa had a wee song prepared. They revamped the So Long, Farewell song from The Sound of Music to be all about where we work. It was awesome! Then some time in the pub where some shooters were shot. It's been so long since I did tequila shots that I forgot the order one is supposed to do the salt/lime/tequila in. How sad is that!

Yesterday Vanessa and I went to Macleod's Books. WOW! It was fantastic. When you walk in there is that old old old book smell. Inside the front cover of a collection of Thomas Moore's poems was a gift inscription from 1902. It was wonderful. We wandered around and drooled for two hours and didn't even feel like any time had passed. We didn't even make it to the basement! Next time. We also hid Grand & Toy and bought blank notebooks. It was brilliant to go with someone who gets that same look in there eye for pens, paper, and books.

After our shopping foray we had grilled panini sandwiches in a little cafe and drooled over our books some more. It was an awesome day.

I washed and blocked my Glampyre raglan and I should be sewing up the hem today. If I do I'll post a pici later on. It washed up so soft, I'm sure it will be one of my staple sweaters come next winter. Actually, the way the clouds are rolling in maybe I'll get to wear it today before I fold it up and store it away for winter.

And finally, I'm very sad to report that my Canucks have lost two straight. Both of them shutouts. They have to win tomorrow night or they are eliminated from the playoffs. Soooooo, if everyone out there could send a wee happy hockey thought to Vancouver at about seven pm pacific time, that would be great! Thanks. :)

Done and done

Yep, there it is in all it's glory. The first pici is lighter than true life but lets you see the details a bit better.


This pici is a bit too dark, but you have the rare honour of seeing Mo Cuirdh, our older cat.

My friends call her my invisible cat because she is never seen when they come over. To be honest, she's not seen much when it's just hubby and I at home. She's lived with us for 13 years and is still a bit skittish. When it's all nice and quiet late in the evening she comes out for some lovin'. I'm not really sure what brought her out on a Sunday afternoon but there she is. :)

In honour of finishing an old UFO I'm going to cast on a new project tonight. I want a nice spring pullover and I'm gonna make one darn it, from stash yarn! I want to give the new 5mm Knitpicks needle a good run for it's money and be sure that a whole set of them is a good idea. Look at me, showing restraint and all! Boo ya!

Wow, is there a class for this?

Man, I have got to get better at taking picis of myself and others. Pictures of yarn and nonmoving objects, not so bad. Anything with a pulse, forget it.

There is the giggle and jiggle

The flashbulb in the mirror.

Tottally off centre

The one where I look like I have a stick up my butt.

The one where I have 7 chins and a weird facial expression.

'Nessa looks good though, such a pretty smile! Needless to say, these are my fruitless attempts so show you my new cardigan. It needs some form of closure in the V-neck area, I'm thinking a length of thin leather to tie if I want it to stay closed.

I really like the sweater, very comfy and the yarn is great after being machine washed and dried flat. Not sure I if I would use the dryer, maybe one day when I'm feeling brave.

In other much more productive notes, Ann is knitting like a mad woman. I think it is the new swift and the ballwinder driving her on. Take a look at this little sweater she made last week. So cute! I've made this pattern for a friend at work and it is a winner. Actually, the cardi above in the incredibly sad photos is from the same designer. I love her patterns. I'm lazy, I don't sew, what can I tell you.

I found a new home for the Denise needles set. Hi Darlene! They are heading east as we speak and I hope she will be very happy with them. I'm going to order my Knitpicks set this weekend and then stalk the mailman for a week or so. He likes that. I still have not found the box with the book prize, but I will, I promise. Some time this week.

I also finished a couple of Flap Caps this week during my odd moments of free time between work and home. One two strand model of sock yarn and DK weight wool like Pat did and one in Patons SWS.

I'm off to do some more work on my long in the works crocheted afghan. I think I should be able to finish it this weekend. Finally. It's only been ongoing for about two years. Sheesh!

Ta Da!

Mock cable socks, off the needles and on my feet! Yay! Knee socks, here I come.

fe fi FO fum

Yeah baby! The pirate hat is done and hubby seems very please with it. Here's a couple of picis of him in it. Sorry for the blurry but we were both laughing too hard to get them in proper focus.
I made him hold the dog in this one.
This is the little scabby dog who adopted us last spring. Seriously, she just showed up and our big dog Jane called her down the driveway. She weighed about 5 pounds, was missing so much fur, hence we called her Wee Scabby Dog for weeks. Once we finally realized we were going to be keeping her we changed her name to Abbie. She was starting to respond to Scabbie and that seemed just too cruel. We got her spayed, she now weighs about 13 pounds, and last weekend we got her groomed to fix all the weird lengths of fur that were growing in and matting up and being nasty. She turned out really cute afterall. We're pretty sure she's Jack Russell/Poodle. A Jackapoo if you will. She's utterly spastic very terrier like. I can't believe how much she has changed since she came to us.

And No-Blog-Rachel had an excellent thought. Trading yarn = not buying yarn! Yes! You cunning little minx. I would totally love to trade yarn with you. Send me a pici of the sock yarn and tell me some of your favourite colours and I will shop the stash for you. I'll zip off an email to you right away and we can begin the yarn extravaganza. Thank you so much for offering this. By the way, what will we call No Blog Rachel when (not I didn't say if) she gets a blog? The blogger formerly known as No Blog Rachel? Bit of a mouthful that!

Okay, back to the UFO's. Next is the mock cable sock. I only have 1/2 a sock to go so that should be no problem. Must not knit tonight during Rome. That didn't work out so good last Sunday. Tension issues and just plain stupid errors abounded.