So Cute!

One of my co-workers is having a baby in a few weeks, and her shower is tomorrow night, so I made a little baby sweater for the occasion. I used the patter for a Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater from Carole's Baby Knits. I still need to get buttons, but I think it turned out really well.

It's hard to see in this picture, but there's a cute stitch detail at the yoke, hem and cuffs.

Details:

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK - Eggplant - 2.5 sk.

Needles: #5 - Denise

Started: Nov.15

Finished: Nov. 24

This was a great subway knitting project, and I was able to knit it almost exclusively while on my way to and from work. I think I'm going to knock out a quick Umbilical Cord Hat tonight, since I've got plenty of the yarn left.

In other news, Thanksgiving was awesome, as was the whole past weekend.

Here is a picture of the wonderful meal we had over at my friends Kristen and Matthew's apartment. There were 12 of us crammed around the table, and it was a lot of fun. As you can see above, we had delicious turkey (roasted by Matthew), mashed potatoes with gravy, cornbread stuffing (both vegetarian and non), roast veggies, macaroni & cheese (both vegetarian and non), green bean casserole, butternut squash and spinach gratin and cranberry sauce. I took the cranberries and the squash/spinach gratin. Everyone seemed to like the gratin, though I thought it was quite flat. And I do think the cranberries were the highlight of the meal!

WTF, Eunny?

Have you seen the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits yet? This looks to be Eunny's first entirely solo issue, as Pam Allen had already planned through the Fall issue prior to her departure, and I have to say I'm not pleased. I grudgingly accepted the re-design in the fall issue that made Interweave look more like Vogue Knitting, but then Winter's issue hits and I'm smacked with a whole batch of ugly! HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW MODELS? Where did they find these women? What I have always liked so much about IK is they used young, fresh faces. They looked natural and wholesome. And they were diverse, and ATTRACTIVE. The women in the Winter issue are nothing like the models I have come to expect in an IK publication. The cover model isn't terrible, but strikes me a bit as a poor man's Jennifer Garner. But the others? Yuck. I know they have hair stylists at these photo shoots, so what the hell happened to the blond chick? She looks like she should be modeling for the Sag Harbor line at JCPenney. And the chick in the Selva Skirt and Henley Perfected? Well, I just have nothing good to say. She's all forehead and sneer. Add to that the locations/settings of the pictures are all bad, and it just makes me sad. I really thought Eunny, considering her age, would keep IK on a youthful path. But this issue suggests otherwise. I look forward to seeing if this new look continues in the future. Because it may influence whether I renew my subscription.

Doo Doo Doo...

Lots and not much happening around these parts. Just when I thought I was showing some interest in finally finishing Sunrise Circles, I started on The Minimalist Cardigan from IK Fall 07. It's going swimmingly, I must say. I'm using Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al in Burgundy. It's nice. Cast on last Thursday night, finished the back on Wednesday, cast on the right front yesterday morning on the way to work, and its nearly done. I should have it finished on the commute home tonight, and probably do most of the left front tonight while catching up on television. I'm shooting to finish the sleeves this weekend as well. Who knows? I could have a finished sweater this time next week, which would be awesome. But I guess I shouldn't count my chickens, huh? I've taken a couple of progress shots, but left my camera at home.

I think I'm going to place an order from Webs, though I'm trying to talk myself out of it. I've got my eye on some Ella Rae Classic, and I'm thinking of picking up some more Classic Al while it's at the rock bottom price. Oh, temptation!

Hey, Me. Welcome back!

Phew! What a summer. Can you believe it's nearly gone already? Tomorrow brings the last half-day Friday of the season at my office, and let me just say they'll be sorely missed come September. *Sigh!*

But on the bright side, what this really means is the weather is starting to cool off, and I'm actually interested in knitting again. Woohoo!!! I picked up Sunrise Circles Wednesday night, and knit about 15 rows on the back, and another dozen last night. When was the last time I worked on Sunrise Circles you might ask? Oh, maybe February? March? Regardless, it's been a while. I'm working it up in Dale of Norway Sisik. Nice yarn to the touch, but a little shed-y. I'm not sure I'm going to like the finished product, but I feel like I need to see it through to the end. Or at least to the piecing-it-together stage, when I can decide if I like the fit enough to seam it. My finishing skills are, shall we say, underdeveloped. So the closer I come to the end of the knitting, the more dread I feel. Which just causes me to have start-itis. And a gaggle of projects in various stages of un-completion. What can I say? People taught me knitting, not finishing. And not knowing an other knitters to ask for help doesn't help.

Anyway, on to other topics. I had a great summer. I hope you all did too. Shall we re-cap the highlights? OK!
- Lonely, Dear and The Sea & Cake at Sound Fix. Loved Lonely, Dear. Bought his album Lonely, Noir, and you should too. It's truly amazing!
- Built to Spill at McCarren Pool. Good show. Haven't seen them in years. Hoped they would play Cortez the Killer, my fave song of theirs, but alas they did not. And Cat Power? Sober or not, I still think she sucks.
- Got to see Frost/Nixon and Grey Gardens before they closed. Both great, but my seat for Grey Gardens was way up in the rafters and kinda ruined it for me because the sound sucked.
- Band of Horses at McCarren Pool. Good show, but spoiled a little because the friends I was with kept talking.
- Trail of Dead at Luna Lounge. F'ing awesome!! I can't get enough of those guys. They could have played 4 hours and it still wouldn't have been enough for me. :) And when was the last time you saw a band for $5. Nice gesture guys, thanks!
- I'm from Barcelona and Blonde Redhead at McCarren Pool. Both good, but I had to listen to I'm from Barcelona from outside the pool as the line to get in was impossibly long. And again the friend I was with talked through the entire show.
- Beastie Boys at McCarren Pool. Who would have thought I'd finally get the chance to see them somewhere besides a huge arena? And in Brooklyn no less? They were great. Their set was great. The mobile/stabile on stage was really cool. Brought back fond memories of being 10 and hearing "Brass Monkey" and "You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party" at the roller rink.
- The hottest 10 days of the summer spent in Missouri, with my family who don't believe in air conditioning. Can you say ouch? I love my parents, and always love being home, but 100+ degrees and high humidity does not a relaxing vacation make.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I actually put off reading this for a few weeks after I got it because I wasn't ready for the Harry Potter world to come to a close. But it was a fitting end to a truly wonderful series that I'm already ready to re-read.
- Superbad. The best movie I saw this summer. Hilarious. Almost unspeakably so. Followed by The Simpsons Movie. I was greatly relieved that it was good. And not just good, but GOOD.

So what's up for the fall, you ask? Well, not much. I've started saving for a trip to Japan in the spring, so I'm supposed to be on a really tight budget. So it looks like a lot of knitting to pass the time. And trust me, I've got a lot to do. Just this week, even on my new budget, I bought yarn for 2 projects. First, I got some Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al for The Minimalist Cardigan in the Fall issue of Interweave Knits. It was on sale at Webs for $3.49, so how could I resist? Then I got some Filature di Crosa Zara from Elann for $3.98. It's for the Cabled Spiral Pullover from Knitting Nature. The pattern called for Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK, but they're the same yarn, and the Zara was cheaper than the Jaeger at Webs, and there was a better color selection. So that brings my gut wrenching total of sweaters in queue to 19!! And that doesn't even include other projects, like gift knitting, scarves, hats, bags, etc. I should probably un-subscribe to Interweave so I stop seeing nice projects and stop feeling tempted, but the web is such an enabler!!

A lot more of the same old same old

So it's the last day of May. An old friend from college is visiting the city and sleeping on my couch for the next few days. It's really great to see him, it really has been years, but I hate having house guests. It's terrible to say that, I think, but I'm such a homebody, and I love living alone, and suddenly having another body in your space is a little annoying. I did lots of cleaning in anticipation of his visit, but it's still not as clean as I would like. I should have mopped. But ugh, I hate mopping. And I was thinking about painting my bedroom this weekend, but now I can't, because I have to play host. On the bright side, check out what I bought for my bedroom once it gets a new coat of paint. I'm so excited!

In knitting news, I'm still kind of ignoring the Purple Cabled Cardigan. It's looking like we may be broken up for a few more weeks. I'm nearly finished with a Kittyville hat, but need to make the pompoms and attach the ears. I wanted a quick project, and this one was. I think I had the hat and the i-cords done in about 3 hours. Pics of finished stuff next time.

I'm thinking I might start the Garden Path Shawl next. I'm planning on giving it to my Mom for christmas, and it would be nice to finish it really early. And I'm planning to make a Clapotis for my Aunt, and assorted gifts for friends, so I feel like I need to get cracking.

I hate it when...

People clip their nails in public. Something about that sound just drives me nuts.

Anyhoot, I haven't been up to much these last few weeks. The cold I contracted over Easter weekend morphed into tonsillitis and a weak flu, and it took me forever to get over. I'm just finally feeling like my old self again. I had to mostly put the knitting on hold, because by the time I would get home from work, I would be too tired to be able to concentrate on anything. So I slowly finished the My So-Called Scarf, and worked up a Republic Hat out of some KnitPicks Panache I had in my stash. I'll post pictures soon. And I got to make a trip to M & J Trimmings to find a button for the hat. Yay! The woman in front of me at the register bought $241 worth of ribbon. Yikes. Must have been some f'ing awesome ribbon.

By the way, did I mention what I got to see the other day?

Holy tea cakes was it fun. They stick really closely to the plot of the movie, and Laura Bell Bundy could almost be a double for Reese Witherspoon. I definitely give it a "See It".

Such a long day...

So I come back from a long weekend visiting my family, and what do I get but a nasty cold/flu/tonsillitis thingy. Stupid airplanes! I was out from work yesterday with a fever and awful muscle/joint aches, but I'm feeling well enough to at least be at work today. Ugh, I made it all winter with nary a sneeze, and once spring hits I'm completely leveled. At least I'll have the weekend to rest.

In knitting news, things go not well at all. Much to my shame and embarrassment, the picture I posted of my progress on the Vogue Cabled Cardi contains an unsightly error. I'm disheartened that I didn't notice it earlier, and it means I'm going to have to rip back another EIGHT INCHES!!! Again! For the FOURTH TIME!!!! I am so tired of making mistakes on this sweater. And it pains me even more, because I thought I was being so diligent. So I set it aside for my trip, and took along a little travel project.



I had some Debbie Bliss Soho in my stash, and finally started on the My So-Called Scarf I've been meaning to make for, oh, 2 years? It's a fun, easily memorized pattern. Perfect for airports and airplanes. I like the end results, and it's going to be one awfully warm scarf. I think I'm also going to make a matching hat from the My Herringbone Hat pattern, since I've got 2 more skeins of the Soho. These might end up as a gift, but considering it's now mid-April, I've got plenty of time to decide, right?