Needlephile

Yes, knitting keeps me sane. In the midst of breaking up with a boyfriend, moving to a new place, school and work...  knitting is a constant.  And as busy as I am, I must find time to knit in my life.  I finished the Misty Meadow Scarf last night, and now she is blocking.     To re-cap, the pattern is the Misty Garden scarf from Scarfstyle.  I changed the name to Misty Meadow because the project was my submission for the Knit the Classics September book, The Time Traveler's Wife.  I used only one ball of Filatura di Crosa Muticolor.  Of course, the photo does no justice to the color changes, but it really is  a beautiful mix of blues and greens with a little pink, purple and yellow mixed in.  I love the pattern, too... so simple and easy to memorize. The waves in the pattern represent the ripples in time, and ripples of grass in the meadow where Clare and Henry meet so often. The colors of blue and green seem to be a constant throughout the book as well.

I already know what my next project will be... a felted laptop case, to protect my brand new Dell which I LOVE.  I wish I didn't have to spend so much time packing when I would so much rather be knitting! At least the cats like to play in the boxes.

This shrug only took me a year to make! I think I started it last July, and I just finished it yesterday. The pattern is from Crystal Palace Yarns and I used 2 skeins of Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard. I don't know why I was so lazy about finishing it. Its knit in one long rectangle, so for a long time I thought I might just keep it as a shawl, but somewhere along the way I changed my mind back to turing it into a shrug. And I like it! I will have to get pictures of me wearing it to show you all what it looks like. Right now I am rather scruffy and unshowered.
I hope you are all having a great 4th of July weekend! Tomorrow I will be at the beach in OB along with half a million other people, playing volleyball and drinking some beers.

Ok, I know I've been rather non-existent in the blogging world lately, but I've been busy! I do finally have a photo of my Diamonique, though!

I am very pleased with the way it came out, and I think I might wear it tomorrow in clinic. I used the recommended yarn, Patons Brilliant, and neeedles. It was a good pattern overall.
So that brings me to my next project... the VK tiered skirt (link in left sidebar). I cast on for it on Saturday, which turned out to be the only overcast day we had this weekend. Sunday and Monday were absolutely perfect, so of course we hit the beach both days, along with about half a million other people! But it was fun... we had some friends who set up a volleyball net, and I must have played 7 games. On Friday we went camping to our favorite spot out in the Cleveland National Forest off of I-8. We were lucky we got there early, because all of the spots were filled by nightfall. We have gone there maybe 10 times, and it is never even close to being full, its a rather secluded spot. Here is a pic of James playing the guitar by the campfire:

I hope you all had a beautiful weekend, too! I would love to blog some more to make up for my lack of posts lately, but I need to get to the gym before class. Being on the beach this weekend convinced me I need to be more serious about working out!!

I finally finished the Lace Leaf Scarf, part II! I had a near disaster while grafting the two pices together, when the yarn I was using to graft broke, and many stitches got dropped! Ack! Its really hard to pick up stitches with lace!! Somehow I made it work, though, and finished it on Sunday. I've been wearing it every day since.

Pattern:Lace Leaf Scarf from Summer '05 Vogue Knitting
Yarn: Rowan 4 ply soft, 2 balls
Needles: Size 5
Blocking method: Pin out and spritz
Recipient: ME!

So who out there is watching Americal Idol?? I know I'm not the only geek out there. My favorites are Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, and Katherine McPhee, although I really think Chris will win it all. He's just amazing. And that blonde chick is really getting on my nerves... her "innocence" just seems so fake. "A naughty little what?... Mink??" Please. So I'm having a vote... who's your favorite??

Who's your favorite American Idol??
	Chris Daughtry
	Katherine McPhee
	Tayor Hicks
	Paris Bennett
	Ace Young
	Mandisa
	Bucky Covington
	Elliot Yamin
	Stupid Blonde chick (Kellie Pickler)
Free polls from Pollhost.com

After many days of hard work and seemingly endless k1, p1... Tempting II c'est fini! Or what do would they say in Italian? è rifinito! (Thanks Google)

One thing I'm pretty bummed about is I ran out of yarn! I ordered the recommended amount of balls according to the pattern, which should be 4 balls for a size medium, and I used the recommended yarn, Rowan Calmer in peacock. It ended up being 1.5" shorter than the pattern said to go, and I was unable to do the band around the top. I had planned on omitting the band and buckle anyways, but if I had wanted to, I would have been bummed. I had ordered the yarn on Ebay, and it came all the way from the UK, not to mention the fact that that color of Calmer is discontinued, so getting more yarn was pretty much out of the question.
But anyways... I am very proud of myself for finishing, and with time to spare! I also learned a new technique... the three needle bind-off. I know that its a common technique, but I've never used a pattern that called for it before. It actually fits really well, too! Even with those extra pounds that I've been wanting to lose for so long.
This has been a great experiment for me, and I'm sure a lot of other people feel the same way. It has pushed a lot of us to go that extra mile to prove something to ourselves... that we can often do more than we think we are capable of. Its good to challenge yourself in everything you do. Thanks Yarn Harlot!

Well, another year has come and gone. I guess its time for those resolutions for next year, that nobody ever keeps, but are good goals to have anyway. Right?? Well, along with half the country, I plan on losing some weight. Actually, a lot of weight. I would like to get rid of 20 lbs. I would like to be presentable when bathing suit season rolls around again! Its funny, I lost about 10 lbs when I broke up with the BF this summer, and then when i got back together with him, I gained it all back! I MUST STOP EATING LIKE A MAN WITH A HIGH METABOLISM!! For my metabolism has gone down a few notches now that I'm 30, and I can't eat like I used to.
Another goal for the new year is to complete all of the projects I start. I really need to finish the purple shawl I was working on a while back. But more importantly, I really want to make a sweater for myself that is versatile and can be worn every day. I was thinking of the Mariah sweater, from Knitty. Maybe in a nice charcoal grey color? Or some other cardigan-type seater.
Also, a note to self for next Christmas... only knit one (or two at the max) gift! I hate the craziness of the holidays enough, nevermind driving myself nuts about finishing everyone's gifts in time to mail them back East. (I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.)
so anyway... I was sitting aound with nothing to do but knit yesterday, and I made myself a little case for my new digital camera. It seems everyone and their sister got this camera for Christmas this year... the Canon Digital Elph. My friend Melissa whipped hers out when she came to visit, and then yesterday I saw someone else with one down at the cliffs. They're everywhere! So here's the case:

I used some Manos that one of my SP's gave me, and I lined it with some nice soft flannel. I used the techno-cozy pattern from SNB. I made it in a couple hours.

If you want to see some of the cool pics I took yesterday down at the cliffs, check out my flickr page.

Me: Did you open your present yet?
Mom: Oh yes! Its beautiful! Its a camisole, right??
Me: What?
Mom: Its a camisole... like a tube top, right? It fits perfectly!
Me: Um, no mom, its a cowl... you put it around your neck. Its big enough to put up over your head, too.
Mom: (laughing) I put it on as a top!! Its sooo beautiful honey! I love it!

I bet that when Mary Burr designed the Aibhlinn cowl, she never knew it could double as a tube top! Here's proof:

My mom's pretty hot for her age, huh? Well, here's one of her after she realized what it was meant to be:

She cracks me up!
Well, I got what I wanted for christmas... a new digital camera!! I will be taking all kinds of pics now! Its so tiny, too.... a bit smaller than my cell phone. There are so many settings and functions to it that it will take me forever to figure it all out. But I have the basics for now. Here is a pic of me on the cliffs near my place:

Hope you all had a great holiday!! I did, but I'm glad its over now.

click to enlarge
I finally finished the last of my Chistmas presents, and was able to give it to my pal Lisa yesterday! This is the lace leaf pattern scarf from the summer 05 Vogue Knitting. I've wanted to do this scarf for a while. I think I might have to make another for myself! I used Lion Brand wool-ease and size 5 needles, although if I make this again, I will probably use either smaller gauge yarn or slightly larger needles. The pattern also has three repeats, but I think I would do just two to make it more narrow (and faster!).
This morning i couldn't sleep in late like I have been lately (thanks to being on school break!), so I got up and went online-yarn shopping! Lucky for me I have a little christmas money to spend, so I went over to Knitpicks and got some Shine in cream for the Picovoli for the Sexy Knitters Club KAL, as well as some needles. This brought my total to $28.32. But, of course there's free shipping if you spend $30 or more, sooo.... I had to buy more yarn! I bought a couple skeins of Merino Style in cinnamon to make the cabled newsboy cap from StitchNBitch Nation. I was very happy to get that in the mail yesterday from my Aunt Linda! I've been wanting it for a while, but its hard for me to spend money on a pattern book when i already have sooo many patterns I want to knit as it is. But now I want to make not just the hat, but also the Lucky sweater which was designed by my Secret Pal Melissa. Isn't she talented? Poor girl is in NYC right now fighting the traffic. My heart goes out to all you NYC commuters!

I do have a little bit of knitting to show you all. My mom requested that I knit a cap for her husband cuz his head gets cold at night while he's sleeping. From what I understand, its been pretty darn cold lately in Massachusetts! He he he. Anyways, I whipped up this little hat in a couple days. I hope its big enough. I love the way the colors look together. The yarn is all Lion Brand wool-ease, on size 7's. Hats are always a great stash-busting project!
And I thought I would share a funny pic of my cat Peanut while my BF was torturing her the other day. She hated the hat, but I know she loves to get her picture taken.

click on the pics for a larger image
whew! Another present done... this one is for my mom. This is the Aibhlinn (ave-leen) cowl from Knitty.com. This was a very easy pattern, and it came out beautifully. I used Plymouth Yarns SuriMerino, which is really soft and great to knit with. I think I actually have a couple skeins leftover, which I think I might eventually make into a scarf for myself.
I got an email yesterday of a pic of my cousin's daughter wearing the little pumpkin hat I made for her! Isn't she cute??And because I don't have enough things to make and do in the next couple months, I joined an ornament swap! Sign up now cuz it closes on the 5th, I think. Should be fun.