Very Nearly...One

The above title refers not only to a classic Monty Python sketch, but to the almost finished scarf you see on the Boy-O at right. Just needs the ends worked in and it's done.
It took the whole of our vacation and several more nights of TV watching, but he is pleased with the result and therefore I am as well. (Especially since this one has gained me some time with the more complex Jo Sharp hat & scarf set I plan to create for him.)
And considering the crazy weather we are currently having, he may actually get to use it in the next month!
Seriously - it was 73 degrees on Sunday, and more like 43 today.

Now, what to work on next? I think the Eriskay cardi's going on the back burner until fall - it's a bit much for spring.
I'm seriously hearing the call of Calla - I want something girlish and soft. Or perhaps Julia's lovely Honeymoon cami - I've got the perfect yarn just waiting in the closet. (Which I purchased on *my* honeymoon, so nice symmetry there.)
And then there's the lovely stuff I just got from ArtFibers ... I still don't know what I want to do with that.
So many choices, so little time...

Home Again

Whew! We are back from our whirlwind tour of everything kid friendly in the San Francisco Bay Area. And goodness, do we need a vacation from our vacation.

Boy-O with N & T at the GG Bridge Memorial Point. I think this is my favorite picture from the trip.


Pier 39. All that is tacky and touristy can be found here. Of course the kids loved it.


Penguin exhibit @ the Monteray Bay Aquarium. They play Carribean music and the penguins totally bop along to the beat.

Don't think I mentioned this before, but these adorable folks are my brother's youngest two, ages 5 & 7 (who currently live w/my mom). N was on spring break, so we planned the trip to coincide with that.
(Needless to say, Grandma enjoyed the break, too!)

I also got to meet the rest of Boy-O's family on the paternal side (Grandpa and the aunts). Coming from an incredibly huge family (between them, my parents have 26 siblings), I am constantly surprised at how few relatives he has. It's a completely different world.

Knittingwise, I came to my senses and only took the Boy-O's scarf. It was the perfect thing, since I could practically knit this in my sleep. I think I was, at some points - travelling with the little people was very busy and we frequently found ourselves going to bed just after they did(!). Still, no major errors and there was actually a tiny bit of progress.

And of course, there was souvenir yarn: I was very restrained in my trip to ArtFibers (difficult though that was!) as I only had about 30 minutes to visit. I picked out a skein of the Golden Chai for the Mom-O (J, they do offer online ordering if you want more), one skein of the cotton/stainless steel Tesla to play with:


(I blame Claudia's lovely sweater for this purchase.)

and a bag of Kurasawa:

It is 50% merino, 50% silk and 100% Mine. Whee!

I have no idea what I will do with it, but I Could Not Put It Down, and therefore it is now mine.
(The swatching area is just brilliant. I love being able to sit down and play with the yarn before I take it home.)
This stuff feels like butter and has gorgeous, subtle variegation - my absolute favorite things in a yarn.)

Normally, if you buy a bag of yarn, they'll create a custom pattern for you, but I didn't have enough time on this visit, so I'll have to come up with something myself. It will be a real pleasure.

Geese Is The Word

Well, this is it - Boy-O & I are tidying the apt., packing like mad persons and running off to the visit the various friends & relations in Illinois & the Bay Area.


But before I run off to the Yarn Capital of My Heart, if not the World, I thought I'd share a few pics of the huge, beautiful and fiesty denizens of Minneapolis' historic Main Street.


Back soon!

Goin' Back to Cali

I am all attwitter -- yes, literally! -- because it is finally, finally April and we leave for Artfibers, er, California in a matter of days (six days, people! Whoo!).
[I haven't been there in four years, and I need some of their yarn.]

In my obsession with working my way through the all of the Discworld novels, I have become a slacker blogger (and even worse knitter), and there are a few things I need to clear up:

1) The amazingly talented NeedleTart (seriously - her Map of the World Sweater will make you green with envy!) asked about my Olympic project (Jean Moss' Eriskay cardi).
Sad to say, Eriskay has been neglected of late. Here's the latest progress:


This blurry shot (of the upper left front) is the best I could do with the amazing lack of sunshine outside here and the Family Photographer still abed.
It is much crisper and more attractive in person. You can see a bit more from the shot I took with the flash on, though it washes out the color:


Photography is impossible for me with rain of Biblical proportions expected here.
[Aside: Ironically, the forecast for our vacation is exactly the same. Warmer, but just as wet. Do I care? No! I'm going to Artfibers! In mere days! Rain, schmain!]

Eriskay will likely end up being my vacation knitting. I hope to finish the second front by the time we return.
We shall not even speak of poor baby Max, undoubtedly cold and handknit sweater-less, though I finished the knitting of his sweater pieces long ago. Sigh. I would normally hand these off to my dear MIL, who is all about the finishing, but I still would have to make the collar and our gauges just wouldn't match. (Sigh.) I shall have to pull this out from under the wreck that is our office and get serious about it.

And Crystal & Cookie both commented on me a while back (I do apologize, but life seems to be giving me more than I can juggle right now) asking about the Delphine along. As far as hosting a knit along, I stunk.
The knitter who finished (no, not I) was the lovely Dani of Knit Stitch Click, whose brilliant Princess De is a sight to behold (see the February 26 entry).
My attention span has become far too irregular of late. I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get back to my Delphine-inspired project in the next six months, but who knows? As long as it's this year, I'll be happy.

Not to mention the Vittadini-nspired sweater I started in Malabrigo. I am still in love iwth that project, but just dont' have the brain cells left to concentrate on it at the moment. And now I'm lusting after Sauniell's cabled tank top, Calla, as well as one or two of the spring VK sweaters.
Dang - what's a girl gotta do to become independently wealthy 'round here? I need more time to knit!

So what am I actually knitting? Once again (blush, blush) I've gone back to scarves:

I had planned to add this to the gift stash, but the Boy-O has claimed it for his own (the Jo Sharp scarf & hat are on hold til my brains are more functional).
It is again, a lovely and simple thing that I can knit while reading blogs. See?



That's just Moss Stitch (K2, P2 for two rows, then P2, K2 for two rows) done with a strand of whatever black yarns I can find in the stash* combined with a strand of Blue Heron chenille (seriously, y'all, this stuff is ancient. This stuff is so old, they were only selling on eBay at the time. The color is Old Gold.)



The scarf has a ways to go yet, but I think I can get it done before we leave.

*I started with Tencel Wool, and have now moved on to Al*Pa*Ka (both, sadly, discontinued).