California Cool.

California is one of the few places I've been where you can go from this...

to this in a day...

There were some beautiful views along the way...

And some knitting...

It was a fun weekend!

Pink Bangle Bag!

I finished the Pink Bangle Bag!

Specs:
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire in 13 Light Pink
Amount: 200grams
Pattern: self-made (inspired by margaret nicole bags)
Needles: US9
Started: September 2006
Finished: March 2007

The knitting for this bag was finished long ago. It was the finishing that took me so long to get around to. Attaching the handles was an experiment in patience. I had to rip out my first couple attempts and I am soooo not handy with a crochet hook. But I managed. I even had Elaine photograph the process of attaching the handle. Maybe I'll make a tutorial??

Sewing in the lining took awhile too. But I really like how it finishes the look of the bag. It turned out to be a super cute little purse. I can't wait to use it... Unfortunately, I just bought another purse at Tarzhey that I'm currently in love with, so Miss Pink Bangle Bag will have to wait it's turn in the purse lineup.

In other knitty news, my mom recently finished a Caftan Pullover from Interweave Knits.

A beautiful sweater on my beautiful Mom.

Didn't she do a fabulous job!?!?!

Weekend.

A weekend review in pictures:

I worked on finishing a lingering WIP.


Went back to the farmer's market in Santa Monica.


Took pictures of the pony ride this time.


Had a delicious crepe and a yummy tamale. Mmmm.


Bought some gorgeous yarn to make a fun scarf. Yay for yarn sales!

For more photos of what I've been up to, check out my picture.a.day album: 365/2007.

Reminisce.

A couple nights ago, I was looking through some of the oldest digital pictures in my iPhoto library. My dad was always interested in the newest technology so I have digital pictures from 1996. (More on those later...) While browsing, I found a couple of gems from a bit more recently: 2002.

So beautiful. LOL

This was the first yarny adventure I had. I was stuck in Omaha, NE working at an AFB hospital. I didn't have a car and so I had limited choices for entertainment. One of my fellow airmen decided that she was going to knit an afghan to fill the copious down time and I begged her to teach me how to crochet. I didn't quite grasp the idea of crochet at first and was decreasing unintentionally, giving the scarf a wonderful flared end. Hahaha. I ended up finishing the striped scarf and gifting it to my sister for Christmas. I even figured out how to increase on the other end to match the accidental flare. Around this time I also discovered knit blogs at the internet station down the hall. I decided that I really, really wanted to learn to knit so I asked my mom to get me a 'learn to knit' book and yarn for Christmas.

I was SO EXCITED.

So on my winter break, before going back to school after a semester off, I taught myself how to knit. The yarn in that picture became my first scarf that I still wear often.

Camping in Big Sur 2006.

And I've been knitting ever since...

Oh, and here are a couple of funny digital photos from so long ago...

I think I was 14 in this picture... I was learning how to scuba dive and my family was going to watch my first dive in a freezing cold quarry.

So funny! Hi Kaylee... don't hate me for putting this picture on here. :)

Sleevies!

Hi! Guess what? I finished the sleeves of Urban Aran. :) Yay.

La la la... sleeves are compleeeete.

Now I need to do the fronts (I'm cardiganizing it like so very many others), the turtle neck, seaming, and then a zipper. Practically done, right? Wait... what's that in the background?

Pile o' knitting paraphernalia.

So somehow, I started Thermal. I couldn't help it. The yarn was sitting there. The Knitter's Handbook was propped open to the tubular cast-on. The needles looked so empty... So I cast-on and knit 3 rows of the twisted rib.
I'm totally going to cast-on for the Urban Aran fronts tonight instead of knitting more on Thermal. Really.
Oh and you can see the Swallowtail Shawl in that picture too. See the crumpled pink thing? Swallowtail has been my take-along knitting so it has been seeing some action too. I'm 12.5 repeats into the budding lace pattern. A couple more and I'm on to the next lace chart. Lace is so fun! Always changing and ever delicate.