Still here

Does anyone else feel less motivated to blog in the summer? I sure do! I had a very busy week last week doing lights for a camp production of Evita. It was quite an ambitious show for a bunch of teenagers to do. I generally like doing camp, but it was a looong week. It was kinda nice to be away from my usual job for a bit though!

And of course.... Harry Potter came out this weekend, so that also kept me from my blog!
Here's a little sad HP story...

My 80 year old father LOVES Harry Potter. I think he has read every book at least a half dozen times. So, needless to say, he was VERY excited about the new book. He had preordered it from Amazon. So, Saturday morning, he makes the laborious trip out to the mailbox. (Dad uses a walker, and is very slow. Going to the mailbox is a huge trek for him.) He opens the mailbox - HURRAY, Harry Potter is in the mailbox! And it is STUCK!. He couldn't get it out! The stupid mailman had wedged the book into the box and my poor Dad couldn't get it out. He even dragged himself back to the house and got a knife in the hopes that he could cut away the box and be able to get the book out, but no such luck. He was so bummed! I haven't spoken to him since Saturday, so hopefully by now he has his book!

Lots of crafty stuff to share. I finished my Embossed Leaves socks about two weeks ago.



They are ever so slightly too big, but I love them anyways. I gotta say, Tess yarn is fabulous.
I still have one skein in my stash from MDS&W. I am looking forward to knitting with it again.

After finishing the socks, I needed an easy knit to work on while I was at camp. So I restarted my Montego Bay Scarf. I don't have a recent picture of it, but here is a picture I took after I first started it:


It's now about 5 feet long. I'm just going to knit until I run out of yarn. The yarn is Seasilk, a gift from my pal Mama E. It is so gorgeous. After I finished the Seasilk scarf for my sister, I knew I wanted one too. This pattern is oh so simple, but I think the scarf is going to be really pretty. I really thought I would be done with this sometime this week, but then I realized something....

The Howard County Fair is NEXT WEEKEND. I really thought it wasn't till the END of August, not the beginning!! In other words... I thought I had more time! I really want to enter my Spring Blossoms Shawl, but I have been seriously neglecting it. So, now I am in crazed knitting mode, in hopes that I can get it finished by next Friday. I am not confident that I will be able to finish, but I'm going to try. So, the Montego Bay Scarf is on hold for the moment.

I am also planning on entering the Embossed Leaves socks and one of my knit toys. I haven't really decided which one yet. My top three choices are Trice, Pepe, and Arabelle.

I've also been doing a little sewing too. I made myself a Bias Tape Tote.


It's not perfect, but it came out pretty cute. And, it's reversible!


I wanted to make one after I saw Laura's version. So cute! The fabulous free pattern is available here. I want to add some kind of closure to the top of it, but I haven't really figured out exactly what I want to do yet.

This afternoon, I made a little patchwork pillow out of some scraps my mom gave me. I don't have a picture yet, but it's kinda pretty!

Going to bed! Wish me luck with my lace knitting!

Gift Giving

The Double Bordered Scarf has been delivered to the happy recipient. I gave it to my sister for her birthday (only two weeks late!) I am pleased to say that she totally loved it! There is nothing better than someone who completely appreciates a knitted gift. I'm so thrilled that she loves it.

I also made her one of the ever popular box bags.

She loved that too! ;)

I even got a gift too. She gave me some ebony Lantern Moon sock needles.

They are so pretty! And it seems unlikely that I will be able to snap these in two like I tend to do with wooden sock needles....

After finishing her scarf, I went back to work on some other projects. I hadn't worked on my Spring Blossoms shawl in awhile, so I managed to put several rows on that. It's definitely a "full attention" knit.

I had been knitting this on my Knitpicks Options needles, but I just switched to my Addi Lace needles. I bought the Addis at the Mannings with the intent of using them on this project. But, the only length they had in stock of the US 4's was 40". So, I used the Options until the piece was big enough to transfer to the Addis. I like the Addis, but I don't feel like they are any better or worse than the Options. They are both serving me well.

I'm also still working on my second Embossed Leaves sock. I just turned the heel on Sunday.

I've been knitting these during my shows. I'm already contemplating my next "light booth project." Of course there are several socks on the list, but I'm also thinking about re-starting a Montego Bay Scarf. I started one when the magazine first came out, but got distracted and ended up frogging it. But, I still want one!

If that isn't enough knitting, I have jumped on the Mystery Stole 3 bandwagon. (All the cool kids are doin' it!) I was finally swayed when I saw how pretty Jody's is turning out. I just started it last night, so there's only a little progress to show.



I'm using some Jaggerspun Zephyr that I bought in NYC last year. I'll be way behind the folks that started this on time, but I couldn't resist!

Despite the fact that it is almost midnight, I am sitting here thinking "now that I'm done blogging, what do I want to knit?"

Done
Double-bordered scarf with diamond borders adapted from Weldon's, 1904
Victorian Lace Today
Yarn: Handmaiden Seasilk
Needles: Knitpicks Options US7
Started: May 11, 2007
Finished: July 4, 2007

Gettin' Crafty

Hi all!
It's been a while since I've written a decent post, so I figure I'm due for an update. Lots of crafty stuff going on over here. I'll start with the knitting since, hey - this is supposed to be a knitting blog!

I finished the first Embossed Leaves sock.



Love it! I love this pattern. It's really pretty easy and looks gorgeous. And what's better than Tess Super Sock? So pretty, and I like how elastic it is. The second sock has been cast on and I'm about 3/4 through the cuff. But it's kind of on hold at the moment because I'm trying to finish up a birthday present for my sister. Um... yeah, her birthday was a week ago. Um... yeah, I'm not done yet. No pictures yet because my sister stalks my Flickr account and quite possibly my blog!

I'm also paused on the Spring Blossom Shawl until I get the birthday present finished, which hopefully will be soon. I really don't have much left to do on the present. I'm looking forward to getting back to the shawl, and the sock for that matter!

On Saturday, I had breakfast with an old friend who presented me with this:



It's a big bag o' pencil roving! And there's a chance for more where that came from. My friend's step-grandfather has all of his grandmother's knitting and spinning supplies (she is deceased) and is wanting to get rid of it all. So there may be more fibery goodness coming my way.

It has been a while since I tried my drop spindle, so I got it out and used some of that roving to make some yarn.


It's SO EASY to spin pencil roving! Who knew?? I'm not so good with spinning regular roving. I get frustrated very easily, but this was a piece of cake. My friend saw a picture of Pepe the Cow and wants me to make him one, so perhaps I will make a cow out of this handspun!

In other craftyness... I have been sewing - something else for me to obsess about! The ever talented Sarah and Jody helped me make my first box bag last week. (No picture because it's probably going to my sister with the knitted gift!) So of course I had to go make another one.



My seams are all kinds of wonky, but if you don't look at it too closely, it's not too bad! The fabric was a gift from Jody. (Thanks friend!) I want to make MORE!

I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day. I haven't quite decided what my plans are for the day. I have a few options. I won't be going to DC this year. I haven't recovered from last year!