Hats and socks galore

Today I started and finished a chemo cap for a friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She has already had a successful lumpectomy, but her doctor wants her to finish a chemo course to make certain that no additional cancer is lurking. I am going to try to make one a night this week, or at least work on one each night. Here's tonight's hat:



Yesterday afternoon I started a sock on two circulars - my first sock on 2 circs and only my second project on 2 circs. I'm putting it on hold until after I finish at least two mroe chemo caps, but I already like the looks of it:

Photo Ops

Check this photo from Berroco -- those two heads down in the corner belong to my LYS owner and one of the ladies who also frequents the shop.

Imagine our surprise to read the latest KnitBits from Berroco and see people we knew! Judging from the gorgeous sweaters on display, I think they'll be bringing some excellent yarns back from market, though... *drool* :)

Busy week!

I can't believe that it is Thursday already - there are simply too many things going on. Work has been a blast but rather stressful -- my knitting time at night has helped keep me sane.

So far I've gotten a few more rows done on both my wrist warmers and on Baby Olé. I need to get some work done on PF! ...and speaking of work... :D

Happy Bloggiversary

Yup, June 24 is the official date that I kicked off this blog -- it is really one year old! That amazes me... I can't believe I've been blogging this long. The flip side of that is, I've been knitting for just over a year now!

...and no, I never did finish that top that I was planning for my high school reunion... :D

Learning new things

What in the world am I doing up at 2 in the morning? Learning a new technique, that's what!



I wasn't able to sleep tonight, so I dug out my Cat Bordi book on the 2-circular technique and started a part of wrist warmers from some worsted weight stash yarn. The initial cast on and join isn't really all that tricky -- the fun part is that first round, making sure it isn't twisted. It took me 3 full rounds to be satisfied that I knew what I was doing (and that it wasn't twisted) but it is starting to look pretty good now. The pattern is a simple 2x2 rib, similar to a sock cuff. I'm adapting it as I go from Bonne Marie's pattern in the Winter '02 Knitty.

Harry Potter rocks

Wow. And...wow. 2:30 in the morning and I just finished reading the latest in the Harry Potter installation.

I would just like to say that J.K. Rowling has done an amazing job with this book. The plot twists and turns (and sometimes doesn't) and leaves you begging for more. Every time I thought I had a grasp on what would happen next, it didn't -- and the story kept me transfixed from beginning to end.

Well, almost transfixed - unfortunately real life intrudes occasionally. Interruptions aside, it was 900+ pages of pure captivating - even spellbinding - pleasure. Just...wow.

P.S. If you came here looking for spoilers, sorry to muss up your fun, but I bet there will be a lot of spoiler sites elsewhere on the internet. If you came looking for a review, I hope this helped without giving too much away - I wouldn't want to deprive you of anything! :)

Happy International Sock Knitting Day!!

Yes, today is, in fact, International Sock Knitting Day. No, I don't know who made up the holiday, but isn't it a fun one? I spent the afternoon at my LYS knitting with friends - at least half of us were working on socks (or with sock yarn, anyway).

I confess, I wasn't knitting socks today, but I was working with Baby Olé in that Opal yarn on size 4s, so that should certainly count! I've gotten to almost the midway point - I am halfway through the front part and then I'll go back to finish the back, join them and work on the second sleeve. You can finally see that it is supposed to be a sweater at the end.

In boohoo news today, my Harry Potter book was delivered. Boohoo, because they delivered it to the office instead of leaving it in one of the package boxes, and the office was closed by the time I got home. I'll have to wait until Monday to read it. :( Ah well, I might actually get some housework done tonight. ...or maybe that sock that is half-finished... :D

UPDATE: They had copies of HP V at HEB, and my mother wanted one so I picked up a copy. Guess I can console myself by reading her copy tonight! *cat-ate-the-birdie grin*

Long week

My apologies for being so quiet for a few days! It has been one heck of a busy week at work, so I haven't gotten a lot of knitting time in.

I did manage to get yet a few more rows done on both PF and Olé, though, to salve my pride. :D I need to work more on PF so I can actually wear it this summer, although the weight of it is starting to feel like I might want to save it for autumn anyway. The Cinema is a cotton ribbon yarn, very slinky, but when worked up it is getting a little heavy, and I am still working on the straight body section.

I am heading off to the knitting circle in a couple hours - we'll see how much more work I actually get done!

¡Olé!

Well, I managed to get a few more rows done on Baby Olé last night before the Vicodin kicked in. Here's a hint: don't take strong painkillers when you had half a cup of soup and a little jello for dinner. Good stuff.

I found out yesterday that I have a partially dry socket (don't want to gross anyone out by explaining further) but the oral surgeon put a dressing in it and it feels a lot better today. Still feels like my mouth is full of prickly cotton, though.

Good thing about going in for an appointment: I got to spend the waiting room time on Pink Flutterby, so now I have a couple more rows on that done as well. I need to measure it -- I know that I don't have 15 inches yet, but it has to be at least around 12. I hope.

Truism for the day: I have too many works in progress. :)

Google me...

It is always interesting to find out what searches on Google (or other search engines) brings people to your site. Some of the most common for my site lately have been:

• HP scarf
• Patons Katrina
• Anny Blatt yarn

But a couple will just throw you for a loop, like:
- a day in the life of a construction worker

There was another goodie in there but I can't go back that far in the site referral history. Wild, huh? Maybe I need to start tossing random phrases in my blog...

Go, Spurs, go!!!!

YES! The San Antonio Spurs have won the 2003 NBA championships! While the first three quarters left something to be desired, they really pulled it out in the last quarter to kick some serious tail. I'm so happy!!!

And check it out - I even managed to get some knitting done:



Baby Olé is coming right along. The body is finally starting to take shape - about an inch and a half more and I can start dividing for the collar. The color scheme coming from this Opal yarn is quite wild - not exactly what I expected at all. I do like it though -- and I think I'll get a different colorway to make a second set once this one is done. I'm just having too much fun with sock yarn. :)

Look Ma, no hands!

Ok, no body either -- 'cause it's a sleeve! Yes, this afternoon I finished the first sleeve of the Baby Olé sweater I am knitting for my friend M's baby-on-the-way. I know, I know, I have way too many works in progress, but this one is important. M is the first one of the three of us to have a baby. E was the first one to get married. Me, I am the youngest (by a few months) and both single and childless. Ah well, at least I have lots of nieces and nephews to go around. :D

This little sleeve is part of the Mexicali Baby Olé sweater and hat pattern from the latest Knitter's, and I am working in in Opal 3-134 on size 4 needles. This one may take a while, but I have until mid-October to finish!

Mail call

There was a note on my door from UPS yesterday that I had a package -- so today (now that I'm not groggy from anaesthesia :) I dropped by to pick it up, and found the two balls of Eros winking at me! The blue one is not the colors I had wanted, but I'll keep it because it is pretty. The multi is the exact same color as another ball I used for a scarf, and will make a matching one for the person who bought that first scarf.

The Lion Brand Jiffy is in a color called Country Evening and was dropped off by a friend who knew I was homebound today, so that I would have something to do. :D I guess the first Stash Reduction Exercise will begin today, with a shawl made from this -- it is a beautiful colorway and will go with quite a few things I own.

As far as the oral surgery went -- my face is a bit swollen, but after sleeping a lot yesterday and rather late today, I feel a lot better. Still a little sore, but that is to be expected. Now, back to my yarn... :)

Blicky.

Well, I'll probably be off-line for a couple days -- I have oral surgery scheduled this afternoon. Hopefully I can at least get some knitting and crocheting done this weekend, because I won't be doing much of anything else.

Prayer and healing

I just finished the prayer shawl for my friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.



It is my deepest wish that this small token can serve as a source of comfort on her road to recovery. For others who feel the need to express themselves through prayer for a friend or family member in a similar situation, the pattern is simple and consists of knitting every row, except on the even rows with YOs as the second and second to last stitch and around the center stitch. The YOs serve as an increase every other row - and yes, it does look curvy until you take it off the needles and find that what you thought was the bottom is actually the center top. This version was done using a single skein of Lion Brand Homespun (in Colonial) on size 17 US circulars.

Back in the saddle again

I want to know whoever thought that two days was enough for a weekend. Heh. I got back in last night from a weekend playing at SanCon (a gaming convention, for the curious) and visiting friends. We had a really good time, and I got a bit of knitting done while I was waiting in the downtime between games.

I've almost gotten through one skein of Homespun on the prayer shawl I am making -- it is pretty large and almost to the minimum size I wanted it, so I think another half-skein might do it. The recipient is having surgery today, so please keep her in your prayers.

Prayer Shawl

I did start on that prayer shawl for L last night - I am using LB Homespun in a deep blue colorway, on size 17 needles. It seems to be going pretty quickly, and if I am lucky I may be able to finish it this weekend. I am only taking that and PF with me to the convention...

Prayers needed

Yesterday was full of goods and bads. Bad - found out that a lady from church has breast cancer and will be undergoing a lumpectomy on Monday. (Good - it is only a lumpectomy because they caught it fast enough.) Good - found out from M that her baby is a boy and now I can get to knitting boy things. Bad - passed a fatal motorcycle accident on the highway going home. Good - happened to pass a friend of mine at a street corner - I thought he'd left Austin after graduation. There are some other work related things in there that were considerations as well, but much less important.

Keep 'em all in your prayers, would you? :)

Another OMG moment

Augh. And you can quote me on that. This afternoon I had a dentist appointment, so I took Pink Flutterby with me for waiting room KIPping.

One of the other ladies in the waiting room waited until precisely the wrong moment to ask me a question - which startled me slightly and caused me to drop about 10 stitches off the working needle. Ack ack ack. Unfortunately at least two of them dropped down a couple rows rather quickly and I wasn't able to pick them back up and had no other tools with me to save the stitches, except for a ball point pen, which is bigger than the needles I was knitting with. So I grabbed the stitches that I could with the pen cap, and carefully put the whole thing back in its bag -- tomorrow I am taking it with me to the LYS to see if she can help me fix the problem. I'd certainly hate to have to frog and start over once I'd gotten to almost the halfway point.

Sigh. Tonight, I think I will take out my frustrations on the wonky sock (froggin' spectaular!), and then start again - this time I'll try the 12" Addi needle.

Sockotta it to me

Look Ma, it's a heel!

Huzzah - I've managed to turn my first heel! Look quick, 'cause this beauty is taking a trip to the frog pond tomorrow. I was going to frog it before this because I decided that I needed to redo the ribbing. Then I was going to frog it because I slipped 4 too many stitches to the heel. Still, I kept going, believing that even if it was a wonky sock, it was a good learning tool. Well, in turning the heel I managed to somehow get 2 stitches off center, and so I declared it a croaker. But now I understand how to turn the heel. :D

Chorus Austin kicks tail...

Woohoo - I just got this great email from the Chorus Austin head office:

At last night's 11th annual Austin Critics Table Award ceremony, Chorus Austin won the choral concert award for its Boris Godunov performance. The critics also gave several special, (i.e., there were no announced nominations) awards. Kristian Klefstad, the pianist in the Gospel Mass, got a special award to turning "water into wine", Vicki Buterbaugh, Chorus Austin Executive Director, made the acceptance speeches for these two awards.

The Boris Godunov performance resulted in two other awards: symphonic concert (Austin Symphony Orchestra) and classical music male singer (Nikita Storejev).

Wow!

Way to go, Kenny, for preparing us so well.

Special kudos to Bob Horick, who drilled us in Russian pronunciation.

And a tremendous thank you to all singers who participated in Boris.

Thanks so much to Vicki and Kenny and all the other CA members for a stupendous job - it was certainly fun for me!!!! :D

Wenches have more fun

Scarborough Faire is such a great treat...even in the heat of summer! After all, no matter what time of year, Faire is Funne!

I got pictures taken of me in my new faire outfit - they were done on a disposable camera so I am not sure how well they'll turn out, but if I get a good one I *may* post it here. I still don't think I'm very photogenic. :)

Not much to report on the knitting front -- got several more rows done on PF on Friday night, but that is about all. I need to get started on another little purse for one of my nieces who will be visiting next month.