Happy Holidays!

Sienna Cardi

C'est Fini!

Pattern: Sienna Cardi, Interweave Fall 2006

Yarn: Araucania's Nature Wool Chunky in Lime, 109

Time: started at the beach in Sept. Finished this past weekend. Made several things in between

Notes: First seamed sweater!! Thank you Stewart & Melanie!!

Oh, and I just found this pix from last night at Anne's - Of course, I'm wearing my new sweater! It was Project Runway night and I had to wear it!

New Obsession

My latest project is close to being finished! (thank god!) Today I will take advantage of the good natured Yarn Lounge folks to help me seam up my first seamed sweater! Once seamed, I'll post some photos of my copy rather than the Interweave photo.



Although I have tons of knitting projects half started or waiting in the wings, I've been temporarily enticed by a new obsession. The hubby just bought Rock Bank II for the Xbox. Typically, I could care less about gaming; I think it's a huge waste of valuable knitting and reading time. However, this game is awesome for anyone who is not musically inclined, but always wanted to be in a band. I have a really cool punk avatar (and anyone who knows me will laugh since I'm the furthest thing away from punk) with red hair in pigtails, a tattoo, jean miniskirt with studded belt and punk t shirt. I love it - the hubby and I have a band called the Mookies and the Pookies. I'm the lead singer and he plays guitar. We go on tour, and with each venue earn points, fans, buses and planes. Why am I so obsessed? I don't know but it's taking up valuable knitting time! Any advice for the addiction is most appreciated :)

I'm still here

Last week I visited my aunt and uncle in Nashville. My cousins flew in from Brooklyn. Although it was great to see everyone and catch up, the event was overshadowed by the fact that my aunt has been in the hospital for close to 2 months. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, she started chemotherapy. Unfortunately, her body reacted horribly to the chemo and she is now fighting like mad to heal. Seeing her in that state made me terribly angry, not to mention sad. My aunt is one of the sweetest souls I've ever met. She doesn't deserve the hell she's going through. It's so frustrating. After seeing her like that, I decided to knit her a new cap. The hospital is often cold, so I'm thinking alpaca might be a good blend for a hat. If anyone has a favorite pattern please forward. Please also pray for her and all other women experiencing this dreadful disease.

No Knitting. Just Kitten Fun.

A friend of mine just forwarded me this video. It totally describes our life with Bloo (except for maybe the bat to the head). We especially love when he "makes biscuits" on our face in the middle of the night! Ahh pure torture...

Apple Harvest Festival

I didn't get a chance to post these photos before I left for Milwaukee. The Apple Harvest Festival is held each year in Syria Virginia at the Graves Mountain lodge in western Virginia. We went to the festival Sunday the 14th of October and had a fabulous time - hayrides, apple picking, pig watching and Brunswick stew were just a few of our activities. We brought home a bushel of apples that we are still trying to figure out how to use!
The beehive:

My obsession with pigs:

Apples!

And more apples:

Entry to the park:

Did You Know?

The conference is good although I'm a bit "socialized-out" at this point. Conferences are difficult for introverts! I have met some really awesome people. It seems like the Northeast chapter of ASIST is very active. Too bad I don't live closer as they're a great group of people! SIG-Knit meets tonight which I'm expecting to be a blast. I'm also going to take a lunch and go to the Milwaukee museum .

In yesterday's plenary session, the following video was shown. I'm not sure who originally created the slides and/or the validity of the stats; however, it is very thought provoking. Enjoy,

Mixing Work and Knitting

Will Fall ever arrive? It's 80 degrees outside! I had hopes that my upcoming trip to Wisconsin would bring me some nice cold temperatures; however, as I looked up the Milwaukee weather today, I was surprised to find that it doesn't differ much from Richmond! Ok so it's a little cooler there, but I was expecting some hardcore 30 degree snow-filled days. Alas.

I am really excited about the trip despite no hopes of snow :). Although I'm thrilled to be traveling to a new city (have not been to Milwaukee yet) and attending ASIST for the first time, I am even more ecstatic about finding out that fellow knitters will be there. Last night I checked the conference wiki for Social Events, as there are quite a few SIGs (Special Interest Groups) that I want to investigate. The most curious is the SIG-KNIT group. Of course it's not an "official" SIG, but I was delighted to discover that I'm not the only person who wants to knit during conferences/meetings/events, etc.!

Milwaukee looks to be a great town all around so I'll be sure to post photos during the week. Hopefully, I can find a knitting shop in walking distance of the hotel!

Thank you, Swallowtail & new WIPs

Thank you for all of your comments about buying a new camera! Following Stewart's logic, I can spend $399 since I have had my current camera (Canon Powershot S30) since 2002 :) I think we paid an arm and a leg for it as digital cameras with a lot of memory were very expensive at that time. I can't wait to get a new one so I can stop griping about the old one!

I finally coaxed the old Canon into downloading pictures this morning before work. Before going to the beach the last week of September, I made a stop at TYL to buy yarn for the Evelyn Clark Swallowtail Shawl. Stewart and Melanie helped me out and I finally decided on O'Wool Classic 2-Ply in a gorgeous teal that I hope comes across in the picture. It's 100% certified organic merino. I *love* this yarn.



The Outer Banks is quite beautiful in September and thankfully devoid of tourists. We had the beach to ourselves many mornings.


I was a really productive knitter at the beach. I finished up the Swallowtail while we were there and blocked it when we returned home.






I also started 2 new projects. I had a bit of Nature Spun in my stash that I brought on vacation; I used it to start this cabled sweater from a Paton's pattern book:


I also toted quite a few skeins of Nature Wool Chunky in lime green with me to start the Sienna Cardigan from last fall's Interweave. I'm much further along now and will post about that soon. The yarn is a little disappointing. Much like Manos, you need to use more than one skein at a time as the colors vary greatly. I do like the feel of the wool though.



Last, but not least, I have one more shot of the beach. Isn't it magnificent? I can't wait to go back.

I am going to buy a new camera!

I have all these things to show you but can't get the damn camera to work right. So ladies and gents, I'm going to buy a new camera and need your help. Any suggestions? I really like the digital SLR's but they're so expensive. Any ideas would be appreciated!