Burlington/Plattsburgh Music and Knitting Mania!

So we've just gotten back from our weekend in Burlington. There was much Wii playing among M et al., so I was able to get some of my homework done interspersed with lots of knitting. This is the progress I made on Saturday:

I am now working on Chart D, only E, F and a tiny chart G to go and then I'm done...after blocking of course! Guess I will have it done in time! I'll be excited to work more on my blanket and maybe finish the socks I started at O'hare when I got sick of working on this thing. I will say, the yarn was admired by several friendly non knitters this weekend.

After the knitting/homework/Wii playing mega session, we took a ferry to Plattsburgh, NY to see our friends play at a coffee shop.



It was concluded amongst each of us attending the coffee shop show that this the type of show we now prefer since we are all old farts. We got a table right in front, had delicious pastries and frozen coffee drinks and didn't have to stand the whole time. It was stellar....

The ferry ride was the first I've taken since I was a little kid. On the way there, we all got out and took pics but it was quite brisk on the way back so I hunkered down in the van. The ferry only takes 12 minutes from Burlington to Plattsburgh and runs 24 hours even in winter.

Stupid Morning!

This was one of those morning where you want to get up and just do a 'Take Two'. So I'm getting ready and happened to put my arms up for something and noticed that my sweater has a giant whole in the left armpit...I mean giant. No way I could wear it so then I had to rush back into our bedroom to find something else. Poor M was trying to sleep and I had to keep opening my squeaky closet door and rifle through clothes until I found something. Finally found something, finished getting ready. Then I decided I would put on this lip gloss I haven't worn in a really long time because it's super glue sticky. But I decided what the hell so I start squeezing it out of it's tube and suddenly felt something on my hand. Somehow it had split lengthwise down the side and all of the lip gloss was now in a huge pile on my hand. I tried to wash off as much as possible (which was very impossible because it's so damn sticky). I used scalding hot water with soap but the soap just coated it...I had to leave the house with my hands super sticky and shiny with a tint of mocha up to my wrists. I've been using alcohol on my hands ever since I got to work and that's not helping either. Oy!

Music Before Knitting

I don't think I'll have time to knit tonight. I'm going to see Okkervil River!! Finally, I had tickets the last time they toured but I was wimp and the show was too late and I had to work early the next morning. This time, I planned ahead. I have the morning off tomorrow...I'm so excited to go! So there will be no knitting because I have to go home from work and take an online quiz for one of my classes then we have to get ready to go. Good thing I made some headway last night. All the way done with Chart A on the Hanami!! Plus, we're going to VT this weekend and I'll have more then enough time in the car to knit, as long as M is willing to drive at least part of the way.

We're zeroing in on a photographer...meeting with the first one next Wednesday. Then I have to worry about finding a violinist..then all of the big stuff is taken care of.

Bright Yellow Scarf

I was at JCrew this weekend and they had a bright yellow scarf that caught my eye. I'm adding this to my list of never ending projects. It's not something I would normally wear but for some reason it intrigued and now I can't stop thinking about how awesome it will be :) I'm posting this so I remember what I want to make. For once, I will have all my ideas in one location rather than on post it notes scattered on my desk at work and throughout the house!

My the progress we've made!

Well well well, instead of reviewing for the two quizzes I have this week, I've been knitting. Surprise, surprise. As you can see, I've made some serious progress on the Hanami (or is it Hamani...Hanami, just verified it.) I have finally finished the 7th run through on the basket weave chart and am about halfway through Chart A which means I've also finished the Transition Chart. Here are my pics:

You can't see all of the shawl now because of my obsessive knitting o'er the weekend, but that's ok because it spares you from that hideous purl row I've ranted about before.

So now that I've convinced myself that I will be able to finish this shawl, I have embarked on another project! I had a hankering to make some type of throw or blanket so I'm using the stitc
h pattern below from the Vogue Stitionary vol. 1 to make it. I'm using this yarn...tried and true Caron Super Soft in Deep Plum. Hey, it's cheap and it's soft and my sweater that I made from it is comfy and not scratchy. And when you need like 8 skeins of the stuff, frugality tends to win out.

I'm trying to work here!

Oh YarnMarket, why do you tease me with your monthly mailings? The second I see one in my inbox I can't help but look. Your newsletters are so lengthy and link filled that before I know it all I've done is look at yarn for 30 minutes!

In this month's newsletter there is a link to Bargain Yarns, a sister site of Yarn Market which I've linked in the 'Yarn Yen' section. The yarns are sparse but they have quite a collection of discounted books (varying levels of damage to the books) but there are quite a few popular ones. Depending on how much the shipping charges are, you might be able to get it cheaper than Amazon...I'll have to peruse when I have more time.

Times A Tickin'

Well I'm making progress on the Hamani shawl, but can I get it all done before my friend's wedding? Then the trick will be trying to find a dress that goes with it...I initially thought the color was neutral enough to go with black or brown...but now when I hold it up to black there is a slight chance like I will look like I'm celebrating Halloween early...

Anyway, here is the progress so far....if you have a keen (or possibly not so keen) eye, you will notice the line where I purled on a knit row but seriously folks, you DO NOT want to try to unravel this yarn. It knots and this little fuzz mo thing develops and you can't see if you're coming or going. So the mistake stays and I will try not to zero in on it everytime I look at the thing.

I'm Back

I'm back...I had to fly home pretty much on a moment's notice for a death in the family. This gave me beaucoup d'heure at Chicago's lovely O'Hare airport. Here is the progress of the Hanami shawl post travel...

I started with place markers all of the place, but after starting over five times, I realized they were actually hindering my progress and adding to the confusion of the pattern because of the yarn overs going over the markers. Going much better without them...

In other news, I was given a huge stack of letters that my Dad wrote to my grandparents when he was stationed at the Hahn Airforce Base in Germany from 1969-1972 where he served as a military police man. It's interesting to hear what his goals and ambitions were at the time compared with the path his life took.

Zimmerman Sweater, Houston We Have A Problem

Here is my finished first attempt at the seamless Zimmerman sweater....as you can see there are a few issues and it's far from perfect but I'm patting myself on the back anyway. It's not horrible for my first attempt at an adult sized sweater.

This is the part I'm least happy with...you can see exactly where she calls for you to start decreasing. I know now why she suggest doing a pattern on the yoke....I wouldn't make this sweater again.

In other exciting news...

M and I booked our wedding venue site after several months of speculating and comparison shopping! Now for all of the details....