misc.

I finished my first sock. But we had company (my mother-in-law) in town, sleeping in the room with the computer, so I haven't had a chance to upload a photo yet. I'm half-way through the second one, and have my final sock class on Thursday night. We'll turn the heel one more time, and hopefully it will stick! In retrospect, I understand what we did on the first one, but I'm not entirely sure I could do it again on my own. I'm glad to have the chance to do it with guidance one more time. I will post pictures, I promise. I absolutely LOVE the yarn that I have used. It's an Opal cotton yarn, and not only do I love the colorway, but I think the patterning is really nice as well. You have to see it. Pics soon!

I haven't blogged much in the past week or two, but I've been up to all kinds of knitting mischief. I bought several books from the KnitPicks summer book sale: Mason Dixon Knitting; Last Minute Knitted Gifts ; More Sensational Knitted Socks; and When Bad Things Happen to Good Knitters. I'm really excited to receive all of them. the sock book looks great because it has instructions/patterns for 2 circs and dpn's. I have had a hard time finding a collection of sock patterns written for 2 circs. And call me stupid, but I don't know how to translate dpn patterns to 2 circs.

Otherwise, I've been planning my next project. My dear friend Purl is going to help me do a Christmas stocking for my kiddos. My Nana knit stockings for my brother and I when we were very young, and I still use mine. It means the world to me. I would love to make them for my kids to have for their lifetimes. I was actually going to take a class at my LYS. But the owner, who I have come to know, called to tell me that she really doesn't think I need the class since I'm taking the sock class. I was really impressed with that phone call. It just goes to show you what an amazing place the Hen House is-- Stephanie really takes care of her customers. I appreciate that she doesn't just want to take my money! And I really appreciate my friend Purl for offering to help me through color changes and a stocking pattern.

SP 11 gets underway soon. I'm looking forward to participating again. I hope my spoilee doesn't end up quitting this time though!

What a guy!!!

I love my husband. We've been married for almost 15 years, dated for 3 years before that, and met 3 years before we started dating. He has been SO supportive of my knitting craze, admiring even my most horrendous work, trying to understand the constant skeins of yarn that enter the h0use, and generally being happy that knitting makes me so happy. This was my first birthday since I began knitting. As one of my gifts, my wonderful husband gave me some sock yarn. He went to one of the LYS's and sought help, and selected one. I am so incredibly touched that he did that. And more than a little dumbfounded. He told me that he wanted me to knit some socks for myself, as everything I knit is for others, and he knows how much I love socks. He is the best. I am so very, very, very lucky to have him!!! So, here is the lovely yarn he picked out all by himself! Imagine, a Texas man in a yarn store all by himself!!!!! This skein does have my favorite colors, for sure!-- orange and bright, lime green!!

It's done-- a F.O.!!!

I have a finished object. Maybe Friday the 13th isn't so bad after all! I finsihed up the dress for my daughter. It was a real leraning experience. My first garment ever and first real dealing with increases. There are some definite things I wish I could fix, but my daughter is so excited about the dress that it's hard to be too hard on myself. I've already bought yarn to make another one-- hopefully that one will yield a better finished product because I'll know more what I need to be doing. Here are a couple of pictures of my daughter in her dress. She'll probably wear it with a tank top under it, but right now I can't get her to take it off to put a tank top on!

Stop me before I shop again!

I finally got a chance to break free from the office early and make the trek to my side of town in time to hit the LYS that carries the yarn I need for my daugher's dress. My son's day camp ended at 3pm today, and I had to pick him up. I've had one of those horrible, moody, grumpy days where nothing goes right, so I decided that I would just do some work from home after picking him up, rather than hauling him to my office. I have about one inch to go on the dress, and just needed one skein, and they had ONE skein left. That was truly the first break that I have gotten today. Here it is:

But could I stop there, with just one skein? Oh no. Of course not. I also bought two skeins of Art Yarns Super Merino, in bright greens and aquas, and two skeins of Clown sock yarn, in orange and red. Then I got to the register, and there was a Yarn Harlot book that I don't have... so I picked that up, too. In skimming through it, I noticed there is a list of "5 ways to leave the yarn shop without buying anything"... I OBVIOUSLY need to do some serious studying of that list!

Knitting... what else?

I have knitting on the brain today. I do 15 minutes of work, then turn back to knitting issues. So far today, I've signed up for 2 more classes (one on how to fix mistakes, the other a Christmas stocking class), tried to buy the final skein of yarn that I wasn't supposed to need but DO need to finish my daughter's sundress, talked about going to the Stitch and Pitch event at a Houston Astros game in August and bought three books from the Interweave Press "Hurt Book" sale ,... Thanks to my great friend Purl for turning me on to the book sale and for sharing my obsession with all things "knit"!!!

I'm almost done with the sundress. I only have about an inch to go, but I am out of yarn. How does that happen? The pattern called for just over 2 skeins of the yarn that I am using. I bought three, just to have some breathing room. I STILL RAN OUT! Does this ever happen to you? I truly can't figure out why and/or how I ran out. Oy vey. Unfortunately, the only mortar and bricks yarn store that I know of that carries the Queensland Soft Wave yarn that I am using is on the other side of town and closes too early for me to get there during the week. So I have to wait for the weekend to get the last bit of yarn I need and finish up the dress. Woe is me.

The Yarn Harlot is coming to Houston in September, and one of my local yarn stores is hosting her visit. That should be fun, and I will definitely look forward to it!! Okay, my 15 minutes of talking about knitting are up! Better go do more work... [sigh]

SP 10 package to end all packages!

I am speechless. Those who know me can tell you what a rarity that is! I recieved my final SP 10 package today. My pal Helen http://helenknits.blogspot.com/ really, really, really spoiled me. In the package she included not only beautiful, thoughtful, handmade things for me, but also treats for my two children. My daughter got to open her present, and is sitting here next to me reading the wonderful book Helen sent her as I type.

My son is at a sleep-over at a friend's house, and thus isn't here to unwrap his. But boy will he be surprised to have been included.

Helen has a company that makes toys. She made me a wooden needle box. It is beautiful, and even has my name on it. How special is that?! Isn't it wonderful? Look at the needles on the top!

Helen also sent me some of hand-dyed yarn. It came from the Knittery, http://theknittery.com.au/

Also in the package were some lovely stitch markers, yummy chocolates, and my absolute favorite scent on earth-- LAVENDER! I recieved some lavender soap and lotion from Australian lavender fields. It smells heavenly.

I am positively giddy with excitement over this package. I simply cannot believe that someone (Helen), that I didn't previously know, and who lives literally on the other side of the world (in Australia) made these things for me. How lucky am I!?

I couldn't get my crummy camera and/or my lame picture-taking skills to get a photo of the yarn that does it justice. I will try again soon when I don't have a big dinner to cook and company on the way. I will certainly be making my second pair of socks out of this equisite yarn.

A million thank yous to Helen. I've had a lot of fun with this exchange!!!

It IS a small world (after all)

I belong to a Yahoo group for knitters in Houston. A week or so ago, I saw a message from someone that caught my attention. I thought maybe the poster was an attorney (like me) and so I sent an email introducing myself. Turns out, she is. We got to exchanging info, and we seem to have far more in common than just knitting and being attorneys. Our offices are on the same tiny street (which is well off the typical law office path), our husbands have the same name, we both had different careers before lawschool and all kinds of other weird things. (Insert warm fuzzies here) It's really neat to have such a serendipitous thing happen. So, thank you, vast knitting world, for hooking us up! I'm not sure our husbands will thank you though, when we hit the LYS together. Oops. We just won't tell, will we, L? :-)