Let the panic begin!

T minus 9hrs 25min until take off... It's gusting up to 60 mph here in good old El Segundo, and I get to climb into a metal tube and the thrust up into the churning, surging air later. Oh goody! Will I keep my cool? I'm almost certain. Will I be quietly sh***ing myself? Well, yes, yes I will. But I'll also be kn***ing myself. (See what I did there?) If we get stuck in an airport for 4 days, I will not run out of knitting. If we get snowed in for the duration of our 5 days in Oklahoma, I will not run out of knitting. Of course, I'll probably get next to no knitting done once we get there, but carrying so many projects with me is a risk I'm willing to take. I will begin my trip knitting with the gloves I started, 'cause something tells me that I'm gonna need 'em. Forecast for tomorrow is highs in the 30s. I know to some of you that is nothing. I know it's just what winter is supposed to be like, but I'm sitting here in California in the 60s with some wind and I'm freezing my ass off.

I also have two pair of socks, my capelet, which is getting very closed to finished, and an unstarted hat, again, 'cause I'll need it. What do you think about Malabrigo in Apricot on size 8s? Quick, easy, and it'll look great with my hair!!

So the bags are packed, the last panic before the panic will of course be this: Getting to the airport and through the lines in time. Senor's anticipated arrival home is at about 3:30. 10 min ride to airport. We will be arriving, if all goes smoothly, less than 2hrs ahead of time. There's nothing for it. We'll just have to hold our breath, be extra sweet and kind to the airport staff and hope for some sympathy and cooperation. At least we are not flying Southwest.

If all goes well and the plane stays up, I'll try to drop a note from OK sometime tomorrow.

Take care, y'all. (I'm practicing)

Christmas Spirit: I Almost Has it.

While generally a Grinch this time of year, though not a total Scrooge, I have found a few moments that have helped me get it up for Christmas... my spirit, I mean.

- Seeing Senor's Big Boss doing the splits with her V.P.s at the department Christmas party last night... Oh, booze, you are a beautiful thing! Especially when you are free.

- The annual parade of scented candles and candy from my dance students began last night. I'll be chubby with acne, but at least my house will smell!

- New winter coat for early Christmas. Watch out Oklahoma Ice Storm, I'm comin' to melt you 'cause I'm looking so hot (and so warm).

- Lox and Bagels and hot Ham/Cheese/Croissant sandwiches on the same day?! Yes please!!!

- Christmas shopping is officially finished. Phew! Now begins the thumb sucking, rocking and face twitching that comes along with recovering from having been "out there."

- One more dance class to teach and then two weeks off from "Bailey, stop falling down on purpose! Kelli, no hanging on Audrey! Girls, stop tapping while I'm talking!!" Sweet Sweet silence and rubber soled shoes for two whole weeks!!!

- Waitin' on the Countdown. Nuff said for now.

- Rain.

- An article about Sock Wars ran in the Wall Street Journal this week. Front page. I didn't participate this year, but knice knews coverage, Knitties!!

- www.icanhascheezburger.com When you need a pick-me-up.



I think that pretty much sums it up.

When I can't do it...

... I feel like a stupid person. I know that I'm not. So why can't I do it?

I discovered some chronic stitch pattern errors in my Print o' the Wave stole. That was the deciding moment. I cut it from the ball without hesitation. I was looking for a sign, and I discovered it in the moment of clarity where I could finally see my mistakes. I knew they were there, but I didn't see them until now. They were riddled through it like lace cancer and the only way to fix it would have been to frog back all the way anyway. So it's done.

But I've got an itch for lace, so I found another pattern to attempt, the Lilly of the Valley stole from Lace Style. I cast on last night, no problem and got to work.

So why is it that an intelligent person such as myself cannot count properly? I've already got stitch pattern issues that I can't explain and I'm only an inch and a half into it. I looked, I found one, I ticked back and redid that row. Guess what, still not right!!!! I'm really pissed off! Sure, I make mistakes often in my life, and I'm okay with that because no one is perfect... but WHY CAN'T I FRICKIN' FIND THE MISTAKES?!!!! RAAAAAUURRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

It's over. I'm breaking up with the Lilly of the Valley Stole. Whatever.

Does anyone know of a pattern that's so easy even a smart person can't mess it up?

Why are we out of wine?!

Revisiting

Hi, Amembah me?

I haven't touched my Print O' the Wave stole since last November... at least, that's the last I remember touching it, the weekend of my Father in Law's wedding, which was also Thanksgiving weekend. If I've touched it since then, I guess it wasn't very memorable.

At this point, I have no idea what row I am on, and I know there are at least a mistake or two somewhere in there. I am hesitant to continue where I left off, knowing that I am a much better knitter now than I was a year ago and could possibly do it perfectly if I were to start over. I am also hesitant to frog inches and inches of work...

So here is the deal I am striking with myself: I will investigate in hopes of uncovering which row I was on. I will finish that pattern repeat and knit another. If I am unsatisfied with the overall look of the thing, or if there is a significant guage change due to experience, or if the thing is just too tainted with my frustration to be enjoyable... I will frog and start over. After careful consideration, I have decided I still do want a Print o' the Wave stole of my very own... but I'm not sure about this particular incarnation of it.

I have brought it to work with me. We shall see, oh yes, we shall see...

Back to Knitting

The knitting resumes with a vengeance, and as I am sure all my knitting friends would agree, December is a time for quick finishes. Do it now, get it done, have it on hand. So that is what I've been up to.


These bitty baby socks flew off the needles. I'm not crazy about the pointy toes as I don't think I know any people having elf children... so if I make them again, I'll try a little something different.



This loopy alpaca scarf, while not exactly flying off the needles, is progressing fairly quickly and will only be a shortie. In real life it's a much better chocolatey green color than the photo indicates. It's for when you need a little ruffle in your day.


A few hours and a few fewer increases and you have Calorimetry Lite, same great taste, less filling.


A glove. Though it hath not fingers now, it shall in the offing. White ones. Its mate is being knit presently. Ask not the source of the bizzaro language. I Wassail... Heedless of the Wind and Weather!!

And one last thing, just 'cause it's wee...

I did it!

I'm a winner!!!! I wrote 50,076 words in one month!!!!

I need a drink and some knitting...

3 More Days

Nanowrimo ends on Friday at midnight. I will get this thing finished, but I have not made it easy on myself. First, I started over on the 10th, abandonning 10,000 words worth. Then I got the stomach flu last week and laid on the floor for 3 days straight. Never knit a stitch. Never turned on the computer. That's really sick. Then we left for Palm Dessert for Thanksgiving which was much too fun/stressful to lock myself in a bedroom and miss any part of... So now, I'm stuck with 18,000+ words to write in 3 days. Oh it's gonna get done, but I am not going to like it.

I'm aiming for 5,000 today, 5,000 tomorrow and 8,000 on Friday. I only wrote 1,000 yesterday, but I didn't finish teaching until 8pm and then Biggest Loser was on... yes, I know, I'm a big loser... not in the weight department (though being sick helped), but in the finger-L on the forehead department.

I will be back with you shortly with great quantities of knitting. It is getting done despite other obligations. When you need to knit your first glove, you just effing need it! You know what I'm saying?

Thank you for your patience. I miss blogging, honestly, but the typing typing typing is enough to make me wish I could type by banging my head on the keyboard instead...

IT'S BACK! IT'S BACK!!!!

Project Runway Season 4-- Woop!!!
Last night's winner in my opinion(though this is a dreadful photo of it):

Close second:


And the winner for strangest choice of model:


If Linda Hamilton and the Beast had had a kid...? Anyone else seeing that?

On the novel:
I got to about 10,000 words and started over. I'm back up over 8,000 words but with much less time on my hands. It's moving along smoothly now, but if I don't write much in the next two weeks, that's why. I'll have to squeeze out 2800 bloody words a day to make it... Eesh!

Saving Words

Finished.

Started.

Started.


As for the novel... I am behind, but I fight on!!

NaNoSweWho?

Many in the knitting/blogging world have today commenced with NaKniSweMo, or National Knit a Sweater Month. The idea, inspired by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), is to knit a sweater consisting of roughly 50,000 stitches in the month of November. The number 50K is based on the 50K word novel the NaNoWriMos are doing...

Am I going to do it? Depends which "it" you are thinking... I am not signing up for NaKniSweMo. I have signed up for NaNoWriMo, though. 50,000 words. 30 days. If your math is fast, you already know that's 1666.666666666666666 words/day. It doesn't have to be good; it doesn't have to be published; it just has to be done.

Today I have written 1824 words. Starting out ahead of the game. Nice.

Do I have a sweater to work on in November? Of course I do. Will I try to finish it ALSO? You betcha. The pressure of NaKniSweMo might distract me from writing though, so I have not signed up officially. The writing is the more difficult to motivate, so that is the current plan.

Yeah baby!

"Well, since the machine is out...

... I'll just put a seam on every piece of fabric I can find."

This weekend, my brother and his maties threw a pirate party. I felt the pressure to do the sexy pirate wench thing, but I couldn't get it together (not to mention all the other girls at the party are about 6 years my junior and half my size). So I bucked the system and went as unsexy as possible. I went as the sleepy pirate who got woken up by the loud pirate party.

While many females believe that Halloween is for dressing like a hooker without getting paid for it, I have often taken the path less travelled and gone for Festively Ugly. I made the hats and eye patches for both myself and my pirate bear buddy. The jammies are from Marshall's. The slippers and gold earrings are from Rite Aid. The robe is actually my wool coat minus the belt. The beard is Smashbox eyeshadow (only the best!) in Smoke.



Senor went as the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride.

The Dread Pirate Roberts is coming for your SOOOOUUUUULLLLLS!!!

We bought him gloves, but forgot all about them. I made the head covering and sash.

And since the sewing machine was out, I began crafting. One of my projects I can't show yet, as I'd like it to be a surprise for a certain British contest winner...

The second, is a bottle gift bag. I taught myself to make button holes on the machine for the ribbon to thread through.




And the last project, though not quite finished is a Christmas inspired baby quilt. Why a baby quilt you ask? No reason, except that they don't take as long as grown-up quilts. Gotta work up the stamina, you see...


When it will get finished is completely up for grabs, as I have now put the sewing machine away...

Voila!!

Let's see if it blocks out big enough to be cozy instead of cramped...

Come on Down!!

ANNE-MARIE is the winner of the "What's Your Favorite Age" contest!! Congratulations Anne-Marie, you are going to be the recipient of three skeins of Cascade 220 in Pistachio, plus a few other little goodies, I reckon. E-mail me with your address whirleymarge AT hotmail DOT com and I will get the treats out as soon as I can, since they'll have a bit of a journey to make.

In other news, the car has a name. Beet. For several reasons. It started with this precious little story (ironically from a post titled "We Have a Winner")... ever since I got the sound in my head of a little boy's voice saying "Ah Beet?" it's never gone away. We say it around the house sometimes. It's become a bit of a pet name and a pet saying (Thank you, John, whom I've never met). Well, what a perfect name for a car that I love, that's the color of a beet, and who's horn says, "Beet!" every time I lock it?

With all the ash and soot falling from the sky from the fires in Malibu and surrounding areas, Beet is looking a bit beat. We'll have to give a bath ah Beet. Not until the fires are out which, God willing, will be soon.

Mommy, I Made a Downpayment!!

Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaaa!! My first brand new car! She's so cute, and so fast, and so bright red! I am very proud of us for getting to a place where we can do this. We are working on a name for her, but she's 112 miles old, and she's just the most precious thing ever... With 4 doors!!!! Woop! Somewhere to put other people!


And because I am no knitting tease... here's the new sock:


Not sure how I feel about the way the colors match up. I'm afraid G-Rocks might have been prettier in the skein. And yet I knit on...

No Really, I Don't Have Enough!

Jaywalkers, that is. Yes, yes, I admit it, I cast on for Jaywalker 4.0. This week has been on the chilly side, at least for us Angelenos, and I work 4 days a week but only have 3 pairs of Jaywalkers. How can I keep my tootsies warm without wearing these all out too fast?!

So I did it. I wound a skein of Socks That Rock (my first time!) into a center-pull ball and cast on. Oh you lovely G-Rocks!!


I'll post a photo of the sock once I have a few more rows to show.

Yes, I have two other single socks on the needles. But you do, too. "Sticks and Stones, Kate Monster..."

A Woman Who Knits Too Much

Because I'm excited, and because I know they'll appreciate it, and because you'll probably be jealous, and because my boss doesn't like it when I use his stamps:

Thank you Monte and Barbara for a most appropriate and appreciated birthday gift!!!

I am not able to upload photos, so the link will have to do for now. I'm really excited about this book, as it represents a growing bravery amongst my loved ones, the bravery to enable my knitting addiction in the name of gift-giving holidays. The guts to walk into a yarn store and proclaim, "I will buy knitting goods today, but I have no idea what my daughter/friend/sister/wife/in-law would like, and I know nothing about yarn, someone help me!"

Of course Barbara is a knitter, so she knows stuff, but my mom and dad also braved the overwhelmingness of a yarn store, and a Canadian Yarn Store at that (you know their selection is WAY bigger and better than ours), to make my birthday special (again, photos to come).

I feel the love, people! I feel it!!

It Has a Certain Ring to It.

Twenty-Nine Years Old.
Twenty-Nine, walkin' the line.
Twenty-Nine, feelin' fine.
Twenty-Nine, drinkin' wine... not this second, but I bet I had you fooled for a minute.

I think 29 is gonna be a BIG YEAR!! As my brother and I used to say when we were kids, A Biggy Biggy Good One.

In honor of the big 2-9, and of this my 200th post, let's have a contest. Yarnies, you shall be entered to win 3 skeins of Cascade 220 in Pistachio, the lovely mossy green that I am using for my Ariann sweater (I ordered too much). Non-knitters, you'll have to wait to find out what you might win because, though I hadn't thought of it as such, the prize I was going to offer is not quite legal. Stupid pirates taking all the fun out of life...

Now, the contest... something everyone can play... Leave me a comment telling me which was your favorite age and why. Senor will draw your name out of a hat to determine the winner.

The deadline is this Friday, October 19th, at high noon! Ready-set-go!

Your Patience Has Been Appreciated

Knitties!! Weeeeeee!


First and foremost in my heart at the moment is the Best Friend Purse from Knitty, a sudden and compulsive cast on from this weekend. I bought some brilliant white silk yarn on Saturday, and I was defenseless. You can't really tell in this photo, but it is totally lustrous. Lovely!

And since I had the cable needle out, I did a little of this:
A baby hat, 'cause they're quick, and if your personal design skills just don't work out, the frogging doesn't hurt as much. Fortunately, I think this one worked alright.

I started this over the summer, but I thought I ought to dig it back out and at least let is sit around guilt tripping me.

Now that the Classic "Cashmere" Sweater is complete, I need some car knitting. The pink neckerchief will do nicely thank you.



And may I just say that, while getting older is kinda for the birds, birthdays are freakin' sweet! For those that have already made my birthday bright, thank you. And for those who are yet to do so (it's not until tomorrow), you rock too!

And wait until I show you the Handmaiden yarn my mom and dad gave me, woohooo!!

Here's the Deal

No, I didn't lose 7 pounds since Tuesday. But. But. At home, where I've been weighing in, I have a digital scale, and I don't trust it. I never have, but I figured if it's inaccurate, at least it will be consistently inaccurate. I still believe that is true. I weighed in in a towel at 187.4 on Tuesday. Okay, nude, but wouldn't you?

But. Last night I discovered that they have a scale at my gym, which I hadn't seen before, and it is the kind with the spinny needle. Still not the most accurate, which I figure are the kind where you slide the weights over yourself, but more accurate than the digital kind. Would you agree?

Well. The scale at the gym said that I weigh 180lbs. In my clothes. With my shoes on. That's a much better vision of the world for me, so though my starting weight is probably also incorrect, I am going to leave it there as the scary potential reality, to remind myself how freaked out I was when I thought that was the case. I'm still heading for 160 and I still have an intimidating 20 pounds to go, but at least it's not as grim as I once thought.

Phew.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Yes, friends, I've joined the world of Etsy.com. Check out my new shop!! Though it is not fully stocked yet, I am going to be adding items as quickly as I can. Keep an eye out for any items you might like to give someone for Christmas or Hanukkah (even if that someone is YOU!).

I love the smell of commerce in the morning!

Do This

Go get this book. Read it.


I'm on page 23, but I've been hooked since the first. You don't have to be knitting obsessed to love it. You just have to understand heartbreak.

And we all do.

On a different but slightly coincidentally linked topic, my weight jumped back up to 187.4, but that's still a 2 pound loss over 2 weeks, which makes a lot more sense based on my effort level than my original 3.4lb loss from last week. So I am at peace with it. Onward and downward.

Learning from the Best

So I've been having some difficulty working the raglan decreases on my Ariann. The problem was, I was doing decrease after decrease and not decreasing anything. My front panels were staying the same width, decrease though I might.



Sensing my error but not being able to explain it, I cautiously set Ariann down in the time-out basket and sat down at my computer. First I searched Ravelry to see if there were any discussions concerning pattern errors or frustrations... Nope. It's just me, I guess. I searched the ChicKnits website. No errata posted. Really, just me. Okay then. What to do...

... So I did the only thing I could think of: e-mail the designer.

After a day of working stockinette stitch on my Classic "Cashmere" Sweater, I sat down at my e-mail to check for any kind of solution to the Ariann problem.

And I had one. Bonne Marie Burns herself e-mailed me back to explain that when pairing raglan shaping and lace patterns, you have to remove a YO for every decrease you lose in the shaping and vice versa. That was my problem. I was never leaving the YO out, so I always needed the lace decrease, which I was simply replacing with the raglan decrease. Instead, I need to knit a stitch where the YO should be, then when I do the raglan decrease, I'll ACTUALLY decrease. Genius.

I learned a new basic knitting skill today, and I learned it from the designer. That's like learning to play four-square from Michael Jordan or learning to stir from Betty Crocker.

And I LIKE IT!!

One Year Ago Today (Roughly)

I was running my first 10K, and I was thrilled to have run the entire race. 6 months ago (rougly) I ran my second 10K (Superbowl 10K, no blog post, what is wrong with me?!) and smoked my time by 4+ minutes.

Today, beyond all expectations, I beat my time yet again. I ran my second Hometown 10K this morning in 1:12:44, which beats the last one by 51 seconds. It's not a lot, but IT'S A LOT!!!! Yay me!!

Lost.

Look what I did! --------->
See it? I lost 3.4 pounds. Yay! Wait, what?! How did I lose more weight than a couple of the official Biggest Losers combined? They workout 8 hours a day! Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have a new number to look at, but I am the slightest bit concerned that it is not a true reflection of my effort level. I weighed myself twice and came up with the same number, so I'm fairly confident that it's not a digital scale anomaly, but it still doesn't seem possible.

So I need to take my effort level of last week, which I'd say was about a 3, and bump it up to a 5 or 6 so that I don't get a disappointment next week when 3 doesn't cut it.

I knit two rows of Ariann last night. And none the day before. Hmmm...

Coming Along

We're getting there. Ariann's sleeves are on and the neck decreases are under way. Each row takes forever, and I wasn't feeling great yesterday so I didn't get much done... :( But I'm hoping to be done by my birthday.

Gosh, I've been saying that a lot. You may have noticed that my running has slowed to a standstill. After running nearly every day last week, my legs were really aching, and not in a sore muscle kind of way. I went to the running store to ask the dude if I needed new shoes. In a gallant act of honesty, he told me that I didn't need new shoes, but that I was just overdoing it. And that I should rest and that I should ice my legs after runs until they get used to it. Nice. That saved me some money, which is good, but it didn't do much for my motivation, and since then I haven't run at all, in the name of rest. Now I have to run 2.55 miles per day to get through it by my birthday... Hmmm... the 10K this weekend will help, but if my legs were unhappy with 2 miles per day, I'm not looking forward to how they will feel now.

Also, I stole a moment on the scale to see how I was doing. And since my cup is half full, I have this to say: I haven't gained anything. Official weigh in is tomorrow night. I'm going to try not to gain anything in the next 36 hours. And maybe I'll actually make a step in the right direction.

Or maybe I'll just sit on my butt and work on Ariann.

What I'll wear...

This weekend, while I was busy recovering from one run and gearing up for another, I also made this camisole for myself sans pattern.



It's made of some unidentified shiny satiny material that I got at the fabric-by-the-pound store with plans of hemming the edges and making a big big handkercheif. But how much better is a cami?! I'm quite proud of it. It has its problems, like an uneven hem in the back and a warpy edge across the top of the front, but I did make it out of thin air using myself as my own dress form. I must have tried that thing on about 100 times.

I think this top is going to look rockin' on me about 5 pounds from now. ;)

A BIG Loser?

I want to be a big loser. In addition to running 50 miles by my birthday, I have a goal of losing weight. Don't we all. I've been enjoying watching The Biggest Loser, and I decided to give myself a weigh in. Let's end the mystery.

189.4 pounds.

Yikes.

See you next week.

Yes. I Admit it. It's Cute.

Sewing it up and putting buttons on it does solve a lot of the troubles I had with it. This is my Baby Surprise Jacket, knit in Patons Canadiana acrylic. I'll tell you why I decided to do that... Everyone made this project sound so super quick that I thought, "I'll try it out with something cheap, and then if I like it, which I'm certain to, I'll make a slightly bigger investment and knit up something a bit more luxurious."

The trouble was that the yarn was so ill-suited that the project took me FOREVER. I just didn't want to work on it. Because it was just that: work. Now that it's done, I do like it better, but I still may give this some time before I attempt another. Besides, there are so many cute baby sweaters out there that I haven't made yet, like the Classic Cashmere Sweater from Little Knits for Cherished Babies.



Oh wait, I've made that one before too... But this new one will look like a sock monkey. Take that, Last Year Me!

And Knowing is Half the Battle

I lay in bed at night (not every night, but more than some), listening for crackling, sniffing for smoke. I worry about fire. I've never been in one, though I have been near a few (stupid flammable neighbors), so I don't know quite where my fear came from. I only half-jokingly blame it on A Very Special Webster episode in which the precocious little tyke burns down Ma'am and George's apartment with his chemistry set. I have lived with the guilt and fear of that fire as though it were my own.

Being one who lies in bed at night (lay or lie? That Snow Patrol song taught me nothing) devising various escape plans for our second story apartment (throw pillows and bedding out window to cushion fall), you'd think I'd know what to do when an ACTUAL FIRE breaks out.

Not so.

Today at work, the fish tank light was out and one of the dental chairs would not lift up and down. A fuse had blown over the weekend. Where to? The circuit breaker, of course. We flipped it back on and moments later we smelled the smell of fireworks and smoke started to emanate from the cabinet next to the fish tank.



Inside the cupboard a small fire had started. I didn't feel panicked, but I also had no idea what to do. "Should I get a bucket of water?" I asked, wanting to definitely stop the fire before it did make me panic. "NO!" Everyone shouted. Krissy ran for the extinguisher. Christy ran for towels.

I did nothing.

Now I know. And as G.I. Joe says, "Pork Chop Sandwiches!"

*Viewer Discretion Advised-- if you're at work, turn down your speakers... like WAY down.

Like my new ticker?

I don't know why the little title didn't show up underneathe it, but that little running girl on the right of your screen? That's me. I'm going to run 50 miles by my 29th birthday, which is on the 16th. I made this decision on the 21st, and I am only 0.8 miles behind the 2 miles/day necessary to get there. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT going to run 2 miles EVERYDAY, I am going to do some longer runs too so that I can have a day off once in a while. There is also a 10k coming up in a week or two, which I do anticipate will kill me, but it's a good way to get 2 days off. ;) Plus, I want the t-shirt.

Run, Senora, Run!!

PS. I got my Ravelry invitation on Friday as well. I've barely dipped my toe in the pool, but the water is lovely! I think I'll take a swim this week.

When We Were Fancy

This weekend we attended the Palos Verdes Concourse d'Elegance at Trump National Golf Club. For those who know about cars, this event is "An exhibition of Automotive Excellence featuring Shelby Cobras, plus 200 American and European classic, exotic, and specialty automobiles" (according to the official website). For the rest of us it was "millions of dollars worth of fancy cars parked on millions of dollars worth of fancy grass for the taking of millions of photos and watching husbands' eyes water in appreciation" (according to me).

My mom and dad went with us (see here Senor and his father-in-law peering into one of the fancies).


The amazing thing about the really beautiful examples are that even the details are poster-worthy. This is written on the engine of one of the Best of Shows, and it reminds me of vintage french liquer posters.


Reflections can be a problem when photographing immaculately shined automobiles...but sometimes the reflection's the Thing.




The above won Senor's heart. He used the phrase "hands down", which, for Senor, means business. Hands down the best thing here. Or something much more dramatic and interesting than that, but you get the idea.


I loved up some grills.



Overall, I think Senor was most satisfied with the outting. We all got our Fancy on and appreciated the automobile-as-lawn-jewelry, had a delicious lunch, and then napped uncontrollably. It was a good day.



I do wish all of the other people had gotten their Fancy on... These are Cobras and Ferraris and Jaguars, people. We dress up for them, and of course, for Mr. Trump.

Okay Okay, Uncle.

I'll blog. Fine. (Do you like how I'm pretending that people have been begging me to come back? It makes me feel good, what?)

Here is the knitting that was done on my vacation:

It's the Dream In Color Lace Shrug knit in Berroco Touche. (In honor of the new season of America's Next Top Model starting Wednesday, I'm trying to smile with my eyes... it makes me look a bit mad, I think.)




Overall, I think the yarn doesn't have enough stretch to make this pattern work. Can you see how it's a little bit loose under each arm in the back? I made it exactly as the One-Size-Fits-All pattern instructs, but being generally on the One-Size-Usually-Barely-Fits-Me end of the spectrum, I wouldn't expect this to be too big. Another case of KDD? Possibly. Or maybe just an unharmonious yarn:pattern ratio. Anyway, it tends to fall off my shoulders and generally feel sloppy, which is not the way it looks in the photo on their website.

Options? Undoing the around-the-edge ribbing is almost certainly going to be necessary. Once that is done, I can either frog back one end and decrease by one pattern repeat, or I can unseam the sleeves and make them longer, thus hopefully making the body opening smaller, or I can try simply decreasing the needle size and/or the number of stitches picked up for the body ribbing to try to draw the piece in toward the body...

... a few too many "un-this or un-thats" for my knitting comfort level.

The other option is to leave it too big and not wear it. That's not a super good option either.

Darn it. I guess there's some un-future in my future.

________

In other news, I completed a Baby Surprise Jacket... and Surprise! I don't like it. Could it be the cheap acrylic yarn? Yes. Could it be that it just needs buttons? Yes. Could it be that it would look cuter with a baby in it? Yes.

I'll put up some photos as soon as I put the buttons on and weave in the ends. But seriously, you probably won't be any more impressed than I am. Oh well.

________

In the meantime, I've started Ariann in Cascade 220 Pistachio. So far so good, but will this one turn out to be too big too? I hope not.