Time for Cat Photos

I just realized I don't have nearly enough cat photos for a knitting blog! Also, I need to update so I don't get yelled at by Cecily, my SP8 hostess.

And, to be honest, I just don't have much going on knitting-wise at the moment, at least not anything that would be interesting to display. I have one small project I am making for my Secret Pal, a prezzie for someone in real life, a couple of warshrags. I need to get cast on for my second Koigu Jaywalker, and that damn Icarus shawl.

I did, however, sign up for Sock Wars, even though I am not entirely sure I understand it. That's why I made Sue sign up for it too. She can explain it to me. We also need to learn how to do the Magic Loop so we don't get killed in the first round!

That would suck. Although I guess we would end up with our pair of hand-knitted socks all the sooner. If this is not correct someone please let me know. I told you I don't fully understand how this works.

I'll throw a doggie pic in there too--she's so cute, how could I resist?

Finished Object--Knitty's Cozy

Aha! Totally done. This was a huge (for me!) lace project, and it took a couple of months, although I did keep putting it aside for other things. But I was knitting this for my mother who kept complaining about how cold it was at work, so she really provided an incentive to hurry up and finish!

It's still blocking, but I think it looks pretty good. It's amazing to me how I could create something so delicate and intricate looking. And yet the pattern is not really difficult at all!

Project Specs:

Pattern: Cozy from Knitty
Yarn: Andean Silk from Knitpicks, Cream
Needle: Addi Turbo, size 8


Such a fun project, and the stitch pattern was pretty easy, even for me, being a lace novice. I'm sure there are some mistakes in there (Mom'll find 'em!), but it turned out beautifully.

Nothing New

Not much to report here. It's just so hot outside, it's hard to work up any enthusiasm for much of anything. I seem to recall that the last two summers here were fairly mild, and I think we got spoiled. This is a more typicals ummer for us, but I just can't wait for it to be over!

I have been working on Cozy, just a few more inches to go, and it will be done. It seems like it's going to be really long, but my mom wanted it for a lap blanket, wrap, whatever, so at least it will be versatile.

I did finish one Koigu Jaywalker with picot edge. You can still see how cute it is, even though I took a totally lazy photo. Ah, the classic sitting-in-front-of-the-computer shot. Gotta love it.

And, just for reference's sake, this is the same sock that I was working on while on vacation. Some of you may remember seeing it in this photo:

I found this website called Lost Tulsa, and I read about some tunnels that connect the buildings downtown. The tunnels apparently were built in the 20's by the wealthy building owners who wanted to be able to travel between the buildings without worrying about being kidnapped, which was happening to wealthy businessmen in Chicago at the time. The tunnels were also possibly used to transport contraband during Prohibition.

Supposedly there are tours of the tunnels available . I'm trying to find out more information about that. I think that would be really interesting.

Hee! Edited to add: I had to rip out what little I had done on Icarus, which is, I guess, why I forgot to even mention it. I don't think reading charts is for me. That, or I need to come up with a new system.

Oh, My Good Fortune; Thank Goodness For Vodka!

Ok, before anyone gets excited, this post is not about alcohol. I was at a loss for a post title, so I scrolled through the drop-down menu of things previously typed in various places.

I have no idea where this one came from, but it cracked me up, so I am going with it.

Sue and I went to Oklahoma City last night to see The Yarn Harlot. We had a perfectly lovely time, although my camera seems to have gone a bit haywire, resulting in photos like this:

And this:

I do realize that one is exceptionally bad. I may need a new camera.

The pictures from the signing came out marginally better. Sue made Stephanie one of her beautiful tiara creations, which seemed to go over well.

We got to stand in line with The Prairie Knitter and other talented Oklahoma knitters, which made it lots of fun.

Please do check out The Yarn Harlot's charming account of her trip to Oklahoma.

In knitting news, I remain intimidated by Icarus. Want to see what I have done so far?

Yep, that's it. Nice, eh?

I'm Hooked--A Story in Pictures

I got a parcel from Amazon on Thursday from my Secret Pal. I opened it to find this (thanks so much for this, SP. I really love this book. I almost bought it while I was on vacation too; you must have been reading my mind!):

And was immediately intrigued by this (well, the lovely photos in the book combined with the plethora of warshrags I've been seeing in blogland):

Which resulted in a trip to Hobby Lobby for these:

With which I produced these (so far!):

And then, in this morning's paper, in the Michael's circular, I spot this (Sugar 'n Cream on sale for $1 per ball):

And so, of course, I went and bought these:

So I guess everyone's getting these for Christmas this year. And birthdays too. They're so fun and quick to make, and the color combinations are dizzying. How can you not love something to cheap and quick to produce, I ask you?

Thanks to my One Skein Secret Pal for this:

I tried and tried to get a good picture of it, but I couldn't manage to get a non-fuzzy one. I think this is because the yarn itself is so soft and squishy, it kind of transforms the matter around it and blurs everything. That's the only thing I can think of. I really wish I had been able to get a photo that did the colors justice!

Oh! And Sue and I are going to Oklahoma City Tuesday evening to see the Yarn Harlot. That should be good fun.

Home Again

For those of you keeping track, I'm home from vacation. As always, we had a really good time relaxing in the sun, swimming in the ocean. Seems like this year we did less than usual, but ended up more exhausted at the end of the day. Maybe it's just that everyone's getting older.

I didn't get a whole lot of knitting done, although I did make it up to the gusset decreases on the first Koigu Jaywalker. Knitting on the beach is just all kinds of fun.

The house we stay in is right next to a protected dune area, so our stretch of the beach is practically deserted. There are only a few houses nearby, and our beach chairs were on the end, so it was very peaceful and private.

Last year, our vacation was cut short a few days because of a hurricane. I think a few of us were worried about the prospect of it happening again, but we needn't have been concerned. There was absolutely no rain the entire week, although the skies did cloud up threateningly a couple of times. We definitely lucked out, weather-wise!

We didn't spend all our time on the beach, however. We had dinner one night at Cafe 30-A, which is turning into a tradition, and for good reason. We made the trip into Seaside for some shopping and browsing. It's a very quaint little sea resort, full of pastel houses and overpriced shops. Seaside's always good for a quick walkthrough though.

And we took a ocean voyage on the Seablaster, a.k.a. The Beer Boat, another tradition. I did bring my knitting along for this excursion.

But first, look and see how amazingly green and clear the water was. It went on like this for miles and miles.

And I'll leave you with a knitting-related photo from the I-Swear-I-Thought-I-Got-His-Face-In-The-Picture file. One of the deckhands on the Seablaster was kind enough to pose with my Koigu Jaywalker. Just wanted to share it with my readers:

Countdown to Vacation

Just trying to fit in one last post before I leave for vacation on Saturday. In case anyone's curious, my husband's parents take the whole family to Seagrove Beach on the Florida Panhandle every year. The past two years, we've stayed here:
It's a fabulous house--private swimming pool and elevator included! It's always very hard to leave at the end of the week.

So my Koigu socks are ready for their beach vacation.

And our iPods are snuggled into their brand new cozies for the trip, stacked up with the board games we're taking along for the trip. For mine, I used the sock yarn I dyed with Kool-Aid. I kind of just made up the pattern as I went along, but I think it turned out pretty well. For Paul's I used Koigu leftover from the wedding socks in a mini-Jaywalker pattern. The cozies only took a couple of hours each to complete, and are perfect!

I ordered some Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks to make the Icarus shawl with. It arrived today, and it's beautiful. The pale blue has darker blues and purples mixed in; I think it will make a fantastic Icarus. I have everything required to get started, but I just feel kind of intimidated by the pattern.

So I won't be back until the 18th, and I'm going to miss reading everyone's blogs, seeing photos of works in progress and works completed. Hopefully I'll have lots of good beach pics to share when I get home, although with this stupid camera of mine, I'm not too sure!

Oh! I just want to say that I am sooo excited about the return of Rock Star on CBS. Although this year's concept is a bit cringe-inducing, the first performance show was promising, and I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead!

And if anyone knows any yarn shops along the Panhandle, be sure to let me know!