'Cause I Know My Mom is Checking...

... I have to update my blog. I've been pretty busy, as always, but I have definitely been knitting all the while. Here's a quick photo update:

Indigo Ripples is just a whole bunch of stockinette right now. Yawn.

Inspired by the Yarn Harlot, I washed some coned yarn yesterday. Here is a before and after comparison. See how the washed yarn fluffed up? Amazing.

I've been doing some Christmas knitting. No peeking Kaylee. Avert your eyes.

More Christmas knitting.

We went wine tasting. It's beautiful up there.

We also visited Yosemite.

And tried to rock climb.

Interesting perspective.

It was a short, but sweet, visit.

I post pictures at Flickr a bit more often than I post here...

Oof. My Tummy.

Not feeling so great this morning. But I think I can handle a blog post. :) I have an FO to report... I finished the ribbed lacy bolero. It only took my 6 days to knit! It took me more time to post about it than it did to knit... Ahem.

Specs:
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Stone
Amount: 143grams
Pattern: Ribbed Lace Bolero by Kelly
Needles: US8 & US10.5
Started: Sep 2007
Finished: Sep 2007

To be honest, I wasn't too sure about it the first time I tried it on. It wasn't as fitted as I was imagining. But I wore it to work and over the course of a day, decided that I like it! I really like it. :) It was instant gratification knitting and that's exactly what I needed at the moment.

Right now, I'm knitting an Indigo Ripples skirt fast and furious. I'm onto the straight stockinette part after redoing the increases once. The first time was too big, so I ripped and restarted. Now it's fitting just fine.
I'm also starting the process of Christmas knitting. Let the gift knitting begin!

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In other real-life news, last weekend my little brother graduated from Air Force Basic Training. My family flew out to celebrate with him and we had a fun time in San Antonio. Here are some of the most fun pictures.

Many more here...

She's so CHIC!

My beautiful sister obliged me and took some in-action photos of the Swallowtail Shawl I made her.

Her kitty LeeLoo is pretty cute too. :)

Lovin' the swing coat. Kaylee can pull that stuff off easy.

Thanks Kaylee! It looks awesome! Glad you are enjoying it.

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In other knitting news: I started a Lacey Ribbed Bolero and am almost finished. This baby flew off the needles... I think it's been 5 days since I started it? It should be finished within a week... I can't wait to wear it! I love knitting with Cotton Ease.

Relaxing on the ottoman.

Also, the legwarmers are progressing... I'll be flash dancing in no time...

Truly a child of the 80's. YAY LEG WARMERS.

And. I got my hair cut. Yikes! 9" off... I feel 5 lbs lighter!

Swallowtail Shawl Too.

Hey everybody! I'm still here. I'm just really busy doing fun things like rock climbing, camping, ballet (oh and working), so I don't have much time to post to my leetle blog. Add to that the addiction beauty that is Ravelry and you have no blogging by Amanda at all.

However! I do have an FO to report. I finished another Swallowtail Shawl. This one is for my sister.

Specs:
Yarn: Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Midnight Heather
Amount: 50grams
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl IK Fall 2006
Needles: US3
Started: July 2007
Finished: August 2007

I used every last bit of yarn in the skein on this shawl. I increased the number of repeats on the budding lace to 19, but ended up having to shorten the ending because I was running out of yarn. I probably would have been just right with 18 repeats, but then I would have had to fudge the lily o the valley lace portion of the shawl.

Pretty pretty lace.

Eric obliged in taking a couple of photos of me modeling the shawl...

Wingspan.

I think I was telling him to back up. Haha.

I will be sending it off to my sister shortly and I'll have to ask her to model the shawl herself and send me the pictures.

As for current knitting I have a couple of things on the needles, including more lace and leg warmers. :) I'm also swatching for an Indigo Ripples Skirt. Fun stuff.

Oh and here are some more pics from camping. We came across a lot of critters on this trip.

Maybe pictures of climbing next time! Night night for now.

Oh Hai.

I have been busy and thusly not posting on this here blog. Ah well. Such is life.

Eric moved out to Cali. But he is 3 hours away. So we have been taking turns on the weekends to drive to each other. Last weekend, I went up to see him and we camped in Sequoia. The weather was gorgeous in the mountains. Thank goodness, because it was 107F in the valley. Sweltering!

Pretty waterfall.

I have been knitting my sister a Swallowtail Shawl. I'm halfway through the second lily o the valley lace pattern. And holy cow is it taking forever. Millions of navy blue loops. The things I do for my sister. :) Pictures of knitting eventually... I've come to realize that it is hard to take good pictures of dark lacey-ness.

OH! And my sister got married. Haha... small detail. It was beautiful and she was stunning. It was an all around good time. Here's a picture... all dolled up for the big event:

Bridal Party. Wee!

Until next time!!!

I Spy...

... finished Monki!

Official FO pics later.

Still Regrouping.

I had an awesome vacation. I'm still regrouping from the trip. I'm knitting the second Monkey (I'm past the heel) and I'm also knitting another Swallowtail for my sister. No knitting pictures today, but I do have some awesome fireworks snaps! Enjoy!

more...

Having Great Fun!

Here! Look at some pictures!

My sister's bridal shower was a success! Phew.

I finished a Monkey! In three days!!! Amazing! I LOVE SOCKS. (Even more amazing... I started the second one! There is HOPE for the sock knitter in me!)

My mom has this cool little knitting notion. Vintage. Cool.

Starting Again.

Well... I made a swatch this time to try and appease the knitting goddess.

Even though we all know that swatches lie.

This koigu told me that it wants to be Monkeys. So who am I to argue? Actually. I like "monki" as the plural to "monkey" better... You know like "octopus" is to "octopi"? So my socks will be Monki. Haha. :D

I'm leaving for an 11 day vacation tomorrow morning. I'm going to Pittsburgh for my little bro's high school grad party and my little sister's bridal shower. Sniffle... they grow up so fast. :) Then I'm off to Florida for a fun filled week with Eric and his family... his extended family. We are going to a family reunion! At Panama City! This should be interesting. See you on the flip side!

Mojo.

Hmph. I seem to have lost my knitting mojo. Nothing is working right! I am completely frustrated with all of my knitting projects. Let me explain complain:

I started a Chevron Scarf a couple weeks ago. It's not growing on me. I think the stripes of solid purple silk disrupts the pattern flow. Plus the gauge is different with the silk and it just doesn't jive. I'd also like to use a size larger needle for more drape. And I'm still considering Domesticat's version of the Chevron Scarf. Indecision!!! Ack!

I then decided I wanted to knit some lace. I cast on for the Alpine Lace Scarf in Victorian Lace Today. After knitting a few rows I was thinking I should go up a needle size. Then I really messed up the lace pattern. Sigh. Time to rip.

So I started something simple... something I couldn't mess up. How about stockinette with a delicious yarn like Kidsilk Haze. How could I go wrong?? Well... I think it's too wide. It's going to be felted... so maybe it's not too wide. I dunno. I can't decide.
Just a side note: I think this ball of yarn is cursed. I've ripped it 3+ times because I didn't like the result. I thought something simple would be foolproof... Ummm... guess not.

Then I decided to cast on for my new, shorter Thermal sleeve. I've maneuvered the tricky tubular cast-on easily, knit a few rows, and realized it is too big. My arms are skinny. The pattern is written for loose-ish sleeves. I want fitted sleeves. AHHHH! I'm going to freak.

I just. Want something. To work.

Knitting used to "just work." Why am I having such issues? I think I feel rushed. I haven't had a lot of time lately to just sit down and knit. So I feel like knitting time is precious and every second counts. When I mess up and my net progress is zero... frustration builds. Time to step away from the needles. I will re-prioritize, rip mercilessly, and report back.

Peace out. At least, that's what I'm going to try to do.

Bye Bye Sleeve. Hello Scarf.

I finished my Rippling Waters Scarf. It was a nice easy knit amidst all the packing, moving, and unpacking.

Specs:
Yarn: Malibrigo in Bobby Blue
Amount: 1 skein
Pattern: Shifting Sands by Grumperina
Needles: US11
Started: Nov 2006
Finished: 24 Jun 2007

Hi Mom... does this post satisfy?

Kissy fishy... You can see my new drapes hung in the background of this one.

Right now I'm having a fit of fickle. I can't decide what to do!!! With anything!!! So I've decided to get up close and personal with my stash. Go stash shopping, catalogue all the fun yarns I have, and start something new. Ravelry has made this task lots of fun, actually. However, Ravelry also distracts... and conspires... and convinces you to rip perfectly good sleeves in lieu of a cuter version. I have fallen for the shorter sleeve. It makes so much sense... I can't believe I didn't think of it. That Winnie... she's always coming up with the cute mods.

You say goodbye. I say hello.

I also started 2 other projects... but that's news for another day. Good night!