Rain Rain Go Away (No, really don't!)

You know, for a depressive, moody type such as myself (well, particularly during a few days per month), I shouldn't like rain as much as I do. I love the way it sounds on the roof, I love the way it makes everything look faded and yet reflective, and I love the smell.

It's raining again today. We're supposed to have lots more in the next few days.

The only thing I find hard to deal with regarding rain is the fact that I don't easily have homemade potato soup accessible. One needs potato soup on a day like today. Potato soup and knitting. And CSI.

Speaking of knitting, I'm progressing like mad on my shrug:

Noel is worried I won't like it once I get it done, because I tend to hate things that make me look puffy and/or like the Michelin Man. This sweater is a little bit roomy thus far (those are the sleeves and back of it) and the sleeves in particular are a little big. However. I usually have the opposite problem, that the sleeves are too tight! So I'm going to reserve judgment til later. If all else fails, I can make the sleeves smaller.

I'm pleased with how fast it's coming along though. Maybe if it turns out nicely, I'll make another one. (Ha. Who am I kidding? I love making new stuff with new patterns, and already printed out 3 patterns today that I like).

It looks like this weekend will involve a trip up to NC to visit my mom. It was her birthday a few weeks ago and I wasn't able to go, so this will be a belated birthday trip. I'd love to get some real bbq while up there. YUM.

Kilts and kittens and knitting, Oh My!

Hello, all! Long time, no post. But I will more than make up for that here, with the copious numbers of photos I'm about to post!

So, just to get us all started with Photo Extravaganza 2009, let's discuss work.

My job has descended upon me like an avalanche of paperwork lately. I somehow end up taking on not only my work, but also the drudgery of paperwork that no one else wants to do either. So! Fun stuff. Here's my desk:

Note that there seems to be a bit of clear space on the front corner, but that's only because the stuff that's supposed to be there has been temporarily relocated into a box on the floor. Insanity! I'm trying to clean it off, but really? It's hard to care sometimes, especially when people keep coming by and dropping off more and more stuff. Awesome. So. There's that.

Moving on!

Now that my Mom's birthday/Mother's Day has gone by, I can show you the shawl/wrap that I knitted for her:

I was very pleased with how it turned out, and I love the delicate leaf pattern on it. It ended up being around 6 feet long and the yarn is a bamboo blend, so it's super-soft and cuddly. MMMmmm...soft yarn!

Since my niece's birthday hasn't come yet, but she's not likely to go onto this here blog and search around for pics of her gift, I'll show you her birthday sweater as well:

This is a crocheted pattern and is super fast. I completed this really quickly, and I just loved the button so much I wanted to make it a focal point. My niece loves her some pink fluffiness, so I figured this yarn would be a good choice. It's also probably going to be a bit big, so she can wear it for a while I hope.

Since I got that done so early, I started on the shrug (see previous post) and am making out like a bandit on it. Here I am so far, done with the back and most of 1 sleeve:

I love this yarn. Too bad I don't have this done today though, because it's cold and rainy out.

Now onto other things! I know that some of you must be wondering what the title is all about, with the kilts and all. Well, if you read my last post you'd know about the Scottish festival. We had a great time. Irn Bru was drunk in large quantities. We watched caber tossing, which is impressive any way you look at it. These guys take this telephone pole and try to throw it to go end over end. To prove that Shorties Are Capable Too, the smallest guy out there was one of the only guy able to actually get it to go over! (This isn't him, but it gives you some perspective on how huge those cabers are.)

Throw it, buddy!

And I was able to finish Noel's kilt in time! Isn't this fetching? I love this picture.

He loved the kilt so much, he wore it a few days later when we went to Charleston to visit the aquarium. Here he is in the swamp room:

He did get some "What's up with the skirt?" comments, but also quite a few "cool kilt!" and "what tartan is that?" and "man, that thing looks comfortable!" comments too. He was very proud to wear it and that made me feel good. I was pleased with it too. Next up, one made out of a khaki fabric, like a utility kilt. Fun stuff! :)

I have to say though, the moray eel didn't seem impressed with it.

Ah well. Everyone's a critic.

I suppose that's enough for today. Have a lovely week!

Will Miracles Never Cease?

I don't believe it. Hell must have frozen over. I actually finished a birthday present ahead of time. Unreal. And even more unbelievable? I finished TWO birthday presents ahead of time. What's happening to me? I'm suddenly able to plan my time? WTF?



I finished my mom's present (I do have pictures but I can't post them until she gets the gift this weekend) and also my niece's birthday present. And I found out that the pregnant woman in my knitting group has registered at Target & Babies-R-Us, so therefore I'm off the hook for handknitting anything for that party on Monday. She probably needs fewer handknit hats and more wipes anyway, right?

So for those of you keeping track (all 0 of you), that mitigates 2 of the issues I had with knitting the shrug on the Lion Brand knit-along that starts tomorrow. The third issue was that of yarn, and needing to buy some and Oh The Horror of having to buy new yarn! Whatever shall I do? Gasp!

Then I went digging in my stash. And guess what I found? Some gorgeous Italian yarn, enough to make the shrug (I hope) and it's lovely - turquoise, with glints of shiny metallic pieces in it in all different colors. I'll take a picture for you. I tried to find a picture of it online, but this yarn must be discontinued because no one seems to have any for sale. Glad I bought out the store when they were going out of business! :)

So obstacle #3 is gone now too. So! Guess what I'm starting on?

Very exciting.

What's also exciting - our plans for this weekend! The Scottish festival will be in town, and I do love some telephone-pole-throwing Scottish people. The festival isn't huge, but it's still fun - vendors, dancing, heavy athletics (see aforementioned telephone pole) and of course, Scottish food! YUM. The Scots are southerners at heart, really (or maybe southerners are Scottish at heart?) because these folks can deep fry anything. Including candy bars. It's good stuff, their meat pies and such. I'm excited. They also sell this:

I don't know how to describe Irn-Bru to you if you've never had it. It's...kinda like orange soda, but with more battery acid. But it's good! Scotland is supposedly the only soda-drinking country on earth where Coke isn't the soft drink of choice - Irn-Bru is. It's a particularly Scottish soda and I do plan on having at least one for old time's sake. Ah, St. Andrews, how I miss thee!

It's supposed to be HOT this weekend though. They're saying Saturday will be up to NINETY degrees. Wow. Better bring some sunscreen. I also hope they think to shear the sheep before the herding competition, or we might be having some broiled mutton at some point in the day. Sorry sheep! That was mean! I do hope someone thought of that though....poor little sweaty sheep.

Do sheep sweat? And if so, wouldn't their wool shrink? Huh.

On that mind-bending note, time to get to it. Ta ta!

Warning: Knitting Ahead!

Hi everyone! Happy May Day!

Because of spring and warmth and such, I decided to change the look of the blog. Also? The dark color was REALLY dark. Sometimes the words didn't show up right. So! New colors. La la lovely fun!

I'm excited today because they're having a knit along on Lionbrand.com with my favorite knitwear designer, Stefanie Japel! (Check out her stuff at http://www.glampyre.com/ - fabulous). They're making a shrug that I've been eyeing for a while - most shrugs make me look like a linebacker, but this one is fitted, lean, and lovely. Here's the link to it:

http://blog.lionbrand.com/

Of course, there are a few reasons why I shouldn't participate in this knit along: (1) I need to buy more yarn for this project (oh the tragedy), and (2) I have 3 other projects waiting to be finished: my Mom's birthday present (will be done probably tonight for shipping tomorrow), my niece's present for her birthday in May, and an emergency baby gift for a woman in my knitting group. Apparently I'm unaware of how long babies gestate, because for some reason I was thinking that I had still 3 or so months before the baby arrives. Um, no, 6 weeks. Oops. So our knitting group decided on Monday to have a shower for her on the 11th, which doesn't leave much time for dawdling! I think I can crank something out pretty fast though.

Anyway, I've been wanting a shrug to wear over my sleeveless dresses but not a bulky one that makes me look like a refrigerator. This one fits the bill I think. I'm thinking a turquiose color would be nice. :)

This brings me to a point I wanted to discuss, of being stuck in clothing ruts. I realize that I've been stuck in one for a long time, primarily because of my former figure (pre-surgery), and now that I'm smaller and more fit, I could be wearing more fitted things, sleeveless and (gasp!) even strapless stuff! But I haven't been, for the most part. I've slowly branched into fitted things, and occasionally will wear a sleeveless dress, and I even bought 2 strapless maxi dresses recently, but then sewed straps on them. I find I'm not very comfortable showing my shoulders yet, probably because of years of always covering up.

The shrug is, in that sense, a security blanket - I can take it off, or leave it on, but that way I can decide my comfort level with a sleeveless dress or whatever. If I feel too uncovered, I can put it on and not feel like I'm wearing shoulder pads or a poncho or something. I love little summer dresses and have fabric to make 3 more of them. Now I need to sit down and make those too (Now that the weather is regularly in the mid 80s!).

Ok, enough about knitting. No, wait. More: One of the women in my knitting group is opening a yarn shop, and the big grand opening is tonight. Should be fun. Noel is going with me - poor guy, exposed to so much alpaca. :) She has said that she needs people to teach classes and bring in samples to hang up, but I don't really have any samples of anything, except another sweater designed by Stefanie Japel that I made out of cotton (big mistake - it droops and sags and is just a little sad). Maybe I could donate that to the cause. Hmmm....

Anyway.

It's a beautiful day outside - the kind of day when it's hard to stay in your seat! I'll have some finished object photos to post soon, so stay tuned!