Ravelympics

Yes, I joined on the bandwagon for this one.  I don’t do well knitting under pressure, but really enjoy participating in things.  So I am attempting to finish the Celtic Tote by the time the torch is out.  I am off to a good start.  The back side is complete and the front side is well under way.  Don’t mind my grade school photography skills.  I don’t do well under normal circumstances and photgraphing black was beyond my skill level.

And I will say that it has kept me actively following the Olympics.  I usually prefer the winter games and just catch snippets of the summer games.  But I have discovered I truly love to watch swimming.  It might be because I would love to be a better swimmer (read: do something beyond the dog paddle) or just because the race is long enough for me to get engaged without being so long it loses my attention.  I have always loved to watch women’s gymnastics (again I wanted to do that so badly when I was a kid), but find the whole scoring thing confusing and way to subjective.  And then there is sand volleyball!  That is awesome!  I played volleyball in high school and sand volleyball on a coed team for many years, and let me tell you we didn’t look anything like these teams, but it is something I can relate to.

So in my quest to finish my project before the end of the Olympics I have discovered that the knitting will probably not be the problem.  It will be the finishing.  I have a little bit of trouble staying focused on the putzy details!!

BTW, the badly worn deck that is the background of most of my pictures got powerwashed today!  It still looks like a speckled mess, but hopefully it will be stained next week and be ever so beautiful!

Iowa State Fair

Instead of seeing Fields of Dreams as I was driving down to Iowa I saw fields of these (not a bad photo since I took it out of my side window as I was driving down I-35)

Growing up in western Iowa the big state rivalry was Nebtraska and Iowa.

Why does all of the corn in Iowa lean to the West…..Nebraska sucks.

You get the idea.

Since I have lived in MN, I realize that Minnesota feels about Iowa the way my part of Iowa felt about Nebraska.  When asked where I grew up, I know that I will start hearing the Iowa jokes.  Upon first moving up here my parents and I were visiting a local church and had met the minister prior to the service.  Yep, he then cracked an Iowa joke from the pulpit.  I never went back (though that had more to do with other parts of the service…healing people with a touch….that were a little out of my comfort zone).

So when asked what I did for the weekend I am leery of admitting I went to the Iowa State Fair.  The competitive spirit is immediately kindled.

“Is it as fun as the MN State Fair?”  “Is it as big as the MN State Fair?”  “Is the food as good as the MN State Fair?”

Honestly, makes me laugh!  For me personally I love the Iowa State Fair and do prefer it over the MN State Fair.  It is more agriculturally based and has a different feel than the MN State Fair (hard to put into words.  maybe more rural rather than urban?).  I also have personal connections at the Iowa State Fair.  My college roommate’s family is actively involved. 

They camp (her family, her sister’s family, and her parents) all 10 days at the campgrounds and enter all kinds of entries in the competitions.  A large part of my visit at the Fair is spent visiting the different buildings to see if I can find their entries and see what ribbons they won.  I then follow up through the remainder of the Fair keeping up with what the family ribbon count is.  My college roommate’s youngest boy got 3 blue ribbons and 2 rosettes this year.  He thinks he is pretty cool (as do I), and that slew of ribbons is not too bad for a 5 year old!  Her parents met at the Fair and have a sincere love for the activities and traditions they have established for their family.  I keep threatening to enter my own entries to “give them some competition”.  And maybe next year I will actually stay organized and send in my entry requests.  But I am kind of afraid the competition in the knitting category might be a little stiff for me. 

I got so busy looking at everything, picking up free stuff (lots of reusable grocery bags this year), and eating that I didn’t take one picture at the Fair.  But trust me the weather was gorgeous, the people were friendly, and I went home bone-weary….another successful year at the Fair!

Since I don’t have any other visual aids in this post, I will post the pictures of my Pie Wedge Shawl that I finally got around to taking.  i don’t think it came out too bad if I do say so myself!!

And this one kind of looks like I’m trying to fly

Lusting

Several blogs I read pointed me to the Twist Collective Premiere Issue.  I really like having another online publication to peruse in my down time.  And it has given me another alternative for this.

Will it be the Central Park Hoodie or Bonnie?????  I have admired the Central Park Hoodie for quite a while, but I can’t seem to get the asymmetrical pattern of Bonnie out of my head……

Project Review

Where to start?  It has been a while since the last post and there’s been a bit going on.  In addition to the LYS closing in my last post, there is another one leaving the Twin Cities.  This one has always been cozier and the staff has been extremely friendly, and I will miss it.  I found out about it last weekend, which was about 2 weeks into their closing sale.  So selection was very limited, but the Yarn Cafe still came through with some treasures for me!

When I saw Saffron Cables in IK I knew I wanted to make it.  But, seriously, it is huge and takes a ton of yarn!  Well at a little over $2/hank and the 40″ circulars that I need to make it on ringing up at $2.50, it became extremely affordable and isn’t that yellow gorgeous?  It will go beautifully with the new colors I am working into my bedroom.

I don’t think of myself as a greedy person.  But when it comes to yarn my self control is a bit lacking.  In addition to the wool for the blanket I also picked this up for a sweater.

My original intent for this was the sweater in the latest Vogue Knitting that I had previewed on Ravelry.  The cabling on the back of the sweater is beautiful.  For some reason I had it in my mind that it was a cardigan.  So when I got my issue of the magazine this week and ripped it open to find the pattern, I was disappointed when I saw the front, I was not as in love with it.  So now I am thinking I may do the Central Park Hoodie instead.  I have drooled over it many times on Ravelry and really had my heart set on this yarn being a cabled hoodie.  But since casting on for this is taking a backseat to all of my other projects right now, I have some time to think about it.

 But before you think that all I do is plan projects…..I do actually finish things once in a while!

Cinxia is officially done!!  (OK, I am going to add a button to it, but the knitting and blocking, etc is done!!)  Since this picture I have tacked the cuffs up so they are even, are a smidge shorter than shown, and won’t uncuff on me.  When I started this I didn’t realize from the pictures online that the decreases were going to create this textural striping effect on the yolk. 

I must say I really do like it!  I am debating on whether I should sew some kind of ribbon along the front inside edge of the opening.  The darn stockinette wants to curl even after blocking.  I thought a little polka dot ribbon would give it some support and be an interesting detail if it flips open.

The Mirasol T’ika yarn was really nice to work with.  It’s 100% cotton, but it has a nice sheen that works well to show off the reverse stockinette stitch pattern.  I used 13 hanks of yarn (which included my frantic run for 1 extra to finish the collar), which is only 1 more than the pattern prescribed.  And I am assuming that is due to the fact that I lengthened it a couple of inches in the body and the sleeves.  Since it is Pima Cotton it is really soft and I plan to get a lot of good out of it.

Finally a finished project!  Now if the humidity would just drop so I can wear it!

Celtic Project

I found out that Knit Wits in Chanhassen is going out of business.  So in my quest for more yarn (since I just don’t have enough), I went over at lunch (since their closing hours are only until 4 PM) and found myself some fibery goodness…on SALE!

When perusing my IK I saw the Celtic Tote Project which caught my fancy.  Even with my love of handbags, I have never had the urge to own a knitted bag.  I did, however, really like the knot design on this one.

So I purchased some Tahki Donegal Tweed to make it.  I did forget to pick up the contrasting yarn, so I may have to head back over today to take another peek!

However, in the excitement of 30-40% off I did have to make a couple of impulse buys.

It was Tilli Tomas silk on SALE!  Yeah, I couldn’t resist.  The feel of silk sucks me in every time.

But the cream Ultra Alpaca was very practical!  :)  Won’t it make a gorgeous sweater!

Souvenir Stitch Markers

A little over a year ago one of my girlfriend’s and I started picking up little souvenir license plate key rings/zipper pulls whenever we went somewhere.  It reminded us of when we were kids and we had the license plates on the back of our bikes with our names on them.  It was also a good solution for me because I was getting way too many t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, etc.  I couldn’t stick with one kind of souvenir to “collect” and honestly don’t need many things with a state or city emblazoned across them.  This was the perfect solution! Small, under $5, and fun.

After a few trips my key ring started to resemble a gawdy, heavy, noisy, and annoying thing that was too big for some of my small bags.  So how do you repurpose such cute little memories??  Stitch markers of course!  It gives me something to hunt for on vacation (because I really do love a good shopping hunt), and makes me smile everytime I use them.

As you can see, I don’t have all that many (it’s only been about 18 months).  And I can’t always find my name.   But they are fun.  And as I do with anything that I really like, I get excited and tell all of my friends of my new excitement (most of the fun is in the sharing!).

I go to lunch almost every day with one of my coworkers.  He is one of those unusual guys that can listen to me chatter about just about anything and still goes to lunch with me every day!  He and his wife just went on an Alaska Cruise with her family last week and they had a blast.  When he came in today I jokingly asked what he had brought me….and what does he come up with…

I was so happy!  He actually does listen when I ramble about crazy inane things!  It was a small surprise that makes me very happy to have good friends that encourage and support my odd little habits.

On the knitting front I have taken my first steps toward blocking.  OK, I actually attempted it, but I have been afraid to unpin it yet to see if it worked.

I finished the Pie Wedge Shawl back in April, but have been putting off blocking it, because I had no idea what I was doing.  Finally on Sunday I just got the whole thing wet and laid it out and started pinning it.  When I started one side (the side I had cast on) was much longer than my cast off side.  I was assuming this was because my cast off was not as loose as my cast on.

I had no idea blocking would fix this!  It was crazy!  In pulling the thing so that each pie wedge edge (say that 3 times fast) was straight it became symmetrical again!  Sometimes the whole knitting process is just a wonder to me.  So it is now dry and I will probably unpin it later tonight, and see if I can do some self photos with the finished product. 

Have I mentioned recently how much I love silk?  This thing feels like a dream and I can’t wait to work on another silk project.

So close and yet…

I have been faithfully working on Cinxia.  Then, horror of horrors, I ran out of yarn!  Yes, I am 3-4″ from finishing her up and there is no more green cotton left! 

Now remember this is the yarn I purchased on my great yarn adventure in Pennsylvania so I can’t just run over and pick some more up.  I call several of my LYS, and they have never even heard of Mirasol cotton.  I then e-mail the store that I purchased it from in PA, explain my predicament, and ask if they have 1 or 2 hanks left that I can purchase long distance.  In 2 days they still had not responded and I figure my odds are low that they will still have any left anyway.  I check on Ebay and find someone selling some of my green gold, it is from a different dyelot, but I am almost ready to risk it at this point.  Finally yesterday morning I figure out what I should have done in the 1st place.  I checked the Mirasol website and found the list of shops that carry their yarn here in MN.

The 1st store on the list was 3 Kittens Needle Arts.  I call, they carry the cotton yarn, and the lady very nicely puts me on hold to see if they have it in green.  They do!  I don’t even ask what dyelot it is, I am so excited!  I head off to South St Paul to check it out!

These 2 fine hanks of yarn came home with me and I will have Cinxia finished soon!!  Can you even believe that they were the same dyelot as what I bought in April!  I was beyond thrilled and it was totally worth the 1/2 hour drive!  The store itself was very nice.  They are getting ready to relocate soon, but not too far from where they are located now.  The ladies were friendly and obviously helpful (people calling in with requests can be a hassle).  I will definitely check out their new store because they had some really nice silk/merino wool blends that I would like to try.

In my last post I was all a twitter about my tomatoes.  You would think by now I would be picking and eating some of my 14 gifts from nature.  Uh, no.  Nature (namely squirrels I have decided) has been taking her gifts back!!  Of the 14 tomatoes that were on my plant 10 days ago I have 1 left on the vine and this one which my scavengers dropped.

As excited as I was on my yarn find above….I was about that far the other direction in my disappointment of losing my crop of vegetables!  In the meantime my beefy tomatoes have started coming on, but the romas seems to be the only thing my backyard critters are interested in so far.  I have sprayed them all with Invisible Fence, but that doesn’t seem to bother them.  They have knocked over 2 of my pots…..I assume while they are trying to climb them to steal their dinner.  If anyone has any ideas about discouraging them I would love to know!

Quick Updates

Remember the tomatoes?

I have 14 on 1 plant!!  The other 8 are starting out a little slower with about 4 each.  I love having produce!

Remember Cinxia (there’s a hint of her in my header picture these days)?

Good heavens, can you believe it’s starting to look like a sweater??  She clashes horribly with the couch, but look….she has sleeves!!

And finally, I think my favorite item of clothing in the entire world is pajamas.  And as a treat to myself, I got me some pink flamingos.

There is something about pink flamingos that is gorgeously tacky.  I will, someday, be the ultimate in tacky and have a couple in my flower bed.  In the meantime, so as not to devalue the neighborhood, I will just wear them in the house….but with a big ol’ smile on my face!

Happy Independence Day!

 

It is a gorgeous day here and I will spend most of it on my deck with Katherine Hepburn.  Her book is written like she is sitting next to you telling stories.  I am truly enjoying it!

Have a safe holiday!

Nice Ride

With gas hanging at right around $4.00/gallon I have started to see fewer huge SUV’s on the road, and a large increase in all kinds of different transportation this summer.  In addition to smaller cars (including the very cute MINI cooper and Smart cars) there have been a larger # of people on bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters.

But I must say that there is probably only one of these on the road….

I am thinking that it is not particulary eco-friendly, but I don’t think green is the goal with a ride like this.  It is not often you see such a pimped out ride in midwestern suburbia!