TWO WEEKS

It was two long weeks without a babysitter and without any knit-togethers with my friends. Now I've had two nights in a row and I'm feeling nicely sassified. After getting together with my friends last night, I felt it had done me as much good as taking a nice long deep breath. Just feel yourself doing it. Ahhhhh.... I felt reconnected and good. It was so nice to see everyone and share a drink and a tink (I had to make it rhyme!). I come home refreshed and ready to be a better mom and a better me. I'm easily pleased.

SLACKER

While no one could ever acuse me of being a slacker knitter, I certainly have been a slacker blogger. But that's because I've been busy knitting. Too busy to write about it. And here's the proof:

I finally finished Annie Modisett's Circular Cocoon Jacket from the Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting. I didn't do all the twisted stitches and just used a varigated yarn, recycled from an ugly silk and cashmere sweater. I knew it could be something pretty if I freed it from the ugly sweater. And because my friend, Cathy, pictured below, says I never wear anything I make, I actually wore it last night to her birthday dinner.

And this is the Isolde sweater from Twisted Sisters, which I called Strip Tease, since it is made up of strips and then set on the bias, then picked up and gusseted and skirted and....Actually, it's easy and fun and different. However, the sleeves ended up looking a little Victorian the way I blocked it, so I'm going to try to reblock it, and if that doesn't work, I'll try to take them in a bit. I've been working out, but my guns are not that big yet!

Ah, the first day of spring and we're snowed in. Well, not exactly. It's a choice. I love it when it gets so snowy that you have to stay home. We were expecting 6-8 inches but only got about 3 or so, but we're having a stay in day anyway.

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted, but I've been quite busy knitting. I'm finishing up lots of projects, such as the circular sweater from the previous Vogue Knitting magazine which I got done last week, and now am finishing up on the Twisted Sisters Isolde sweater. When that is done, I'll have yarn I can return and exchange in time for the big sale at my LYS later this week. This buying hiatus is killing me, but it is forcing me to use up stash, which is always a good thing. Photos to follow....

Vacation

What I Did on My Not-So-Summer Vacation
There are my sons having a blast on the beach. The weather was glorious, and it was so nice to be together as a family. I was able to do lots of knitting, too.

I worked on the Am Kamin, which is coming along nicely. I have since started the first sleeve, and plan to join it all together at the raglan decreases. We shall see......

I also knitted up a cute tank top, modeled here by my friend, Cathy. I thought it fit me great till my two twig friends tried it on and it fit them. Let's just say I have a little more frontal real estate than they do. Maybe this will turn into a gift. Speaking of bust, on the stash-busting front, I actually bought the materials for this as my second project of my knitting career, back in March of 2004. Two years later, I finally got it out of my stash and made it. I based it on a pattern found at Spun Magazine . I used Crystal Palace Mikado Ribbon and Berrocco Candy FX held together. I added garter stitch edges at the bottom and around the armholes, as the holes were quite large and would not cover my bra. I think it turned out nicely.

Today was finishing day. I finally finished the few inches of sleeve I had to do on my son's Tomten Jacket, by Elizabeth Zimmermann. The Malabrigo yarn I used is SO soft, and the color, Azul Lindo, is appropriately named (pretty blue).

These boots are made for lounging. The UGG boots are finally done. I based it on this pattern, seen on Knitty Gritty, "Das Boot." I used moccassin bottoms instead of high-heeled shoes, and the moccassin bottoms I picked up at Hobby Lobby already had the holes in them, so I didn't have to drill anything. I used GGH Velour, which looks and feels like suede. The fluffy white stuff at the top is Gedifra Chapello. They're not pretty, but they're done, and at this point, that's all I'm shooting for!