And I bought stuff, obviously

Yesterday was pretty fun. Emma spent the day with the grandparents and I went with Hubbo to Lake Orion for his volleyball tournament (he did well, but not as well as he wanted) and to sneak out to Heritage for a bit of yarn shopping. I bought some manly sock yarn and Sensational Knitted Socks, which I'm surprised I didn't have already, and also the Spring issue of Knit.1. I wasn't planning on buying that particular item, but I picked it up when I walked in the store, opened it to a random page, and there was a nice ad for Nashua Handknits with my two tops in the largest photo! Of course then I had to have it. During the tournament I nearly finished the SWTC sweater, and since the weather is supposed to be a bit nasty today I think I can get it done- yay!

Fruits of my labor

Still waiting for Hubbo to return from a business trip, and thought I'd share what I've gotten done this week (actually the past 3 days, once I started feeling a bit better):





First, I actually crocheted something. Seriously, I haven't crocheted anything since Emma was crawling, I think! It's Chanson en Crochet from Wrap Style, done in SWTC Karaoke (4 balls Mermaid Mix). I got in the mood after I finished tech editing a crochet pattern for SWTC last week, and needed something to work on when I needed a break from the other big endeavor, a design for SWTC in their new Inspiration yarn (Soysilk/alpaca) that has a lot of ribbing. I'm nearly done with that one, hoping to finish by Sunday. I need to buy some buttons, one for this capelet and a few for the other sweater.



On top of that, I edited a few more patterns for SWTC, ran various errands, and went out to lunch with mom. Tomorrow I'm going to check out Heritage Spinning and Weaving, a store I haven't been to before. Hopefully I'll come back with the buttons.

Oh the horror!

By request, the fug. This is the first sweater I ever made (about 13 years ago, for then-boyfriend now Hubbo) and yes it's crocheted. Out of acrylic. It's true. I was really taking my chances with the sweater curse, no? Avert your eyes, I'm telling you.

In other news, we're just about well over here. I'm getting back on track with knitting- should have the latest sweater done in a day or two (good thing since more yarn for new designs is coming soon!) I'd like to crank out a few new submissions as well before I head back to work Monday.

Crash and burn

And now I'm sick (started last night). So much for the knitting frenzy-- back to bed.

Till my fingers bleed

At present, I'm trying to finish a sweater for SWTC in a very short period of time-- not sure if I'm going to make it, but I digress. I'm sure after the snow day Wednesday you don't want to hear that now I have a week off, but it's true. Yesterday I knitted all day while Hubbo did housework (yes, I said housework) and paraded around in the only sweater I ever made him, in like 1994, in crochet (yes, it can stand under its own power), in Wool-Ease, and it's stripey too! It's also the first sweater I EVER made, so it's pretty lumpy and crooked as well. He found this alarming wad of acrylic in the basement (I don't think he ever actually wore it, but I can't blame him!) If I can muster to courage to actually photograph this monstrosity, I will.

Snow Day

Oh yeah.

Done (well, almost)

The sweater for Kerrie Allman's book is done, minus a few (actually a lot, a necessary evil of Fair Isle) ends to be woven in. Next: do that, make messy pattern notes look pretty, and on to the other project I'm working on (plus about a billion things to do for work, and maybe I'll even tidy up the kitchen, but don't hold your breath!)
Edited to add: It's all done now, even the pattern. And Sonya just put up some pictures of us having fun at Knitter's Night Out on Friday- the sweater is in my hands- I really got a lot done this weekend since I was only 2" into the yoke in the picture!

Yay for me! Yay for the UPS man!

The UPS man left me some treats today- first the spring/summer 2007 pattern books (yes, they send all of them, how generous!) from Nashua Handknits, including this one, Seashore, that has TWO of my designs in it! I knit them up last August- seeing them makes me wish even more for warm weather!

The other treat was some ebony sock needles from Lantern Moon, in a very cute little bag. They are only 5" long, which should be perfect for me, since sometimes I find the 6" Crystal Palace ones I usually use a bit too long. 

Disturbingly 80's, but I did it myself

Behold the self-patterning sock yarn I dyed (my first time) at Knit Michigan this past Saturday. I was going for a "watermelon" feel (pink and green, with black Fair Isle "seeds") but in actuality the colors turned out VERY neon, and the Fair Isle patches are a bit longer than they should be, resulting in a diagonal stripes thing in that section. The pink and green parts, though, did work out into surprisingly even stripes- I can get around 1, 2, or 3 times (depending) with little to no stitches left over at the end. Giving their blinding appearance, they'll be Emma socks- nothing's too wild for her.

OH, speaking of socks, if you got the new Patternworks catalog, check out pg. 13. The ankle socks pattern they are offering for SWTC Tofutsies is one of mine! 

Hubbo's Superbowl Cake II, Knit Michigan, and other stuff

Actually, they're brownies, but it doesn't really matter. It was a big weekend! Saturday was Knit Michigan- it was so fun! I knit a lot on the Koigu sweater, shopped, watched a variety of good and really really bad knitting videos, ate lots of tastiness, saw friends, saw some of my students (who came to learn/improve in the kid's classes), acted like a freak in the fashion show, ACTUALLY DYED SELF-PATTERNING SOCK YARN (more on that later when I get it wound up), and participated in some silly (blindfolded, one-handed, etc.) knitting contests. It was really cool- I can't wait until next year!
Sunday was the Knitting Bowl party at Angela's with a number of our Tuesday SnB girls, including Sonya, Beth, and Tracy. We watched the big Knitty Gritty marathon, knit, and ate more tastiness, including the above brownies (the football is a ball of yarn, in case you can't tell). This is the second time Hubbo has made such a cake- see last year's if you want. 

$350 (winners too)

Okay, so not so earth-shattering, but my final fundraising count (thanks to a few generous co-workers for the last bits) for Knit Michigan.
And now the important stuff, as promised: the prizes! By the random choosing of names from hat, the succulent bag o' SWTC Pure goes to:
Jae!
The bag o' Classic Elite mystery goodies goes to:
Janette!
And the 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon go to:
Tara!
Congratulations to the winners and a big THANK YOU to all who donated!

Belated Birthday

Here's Emma last Saturday at her birthday party-- she had a great time. Still no knitting I can show you, but hopefully that will change soon. See you Saturday at Knit Michigan!