What a great weekend!

It was one of those weekends when I seemed to have all the time in the world. I not only got lots of work done on my v-neck sweater, but also read a book and gave a small dinner party Saturday night! Here's how the sleeve turned out. I used the "to dye for" sleeve for inspiration and made my increases every 4 rows rather than 8 and it turned out just what I wanted! I wish I had a different color of mohair. I ended up mixing the one that I bought in Paris with a navy that I had sitting around. The result is almost a denim color, which makes it very casual. That's fine though because it is rather an oversized sweater and wouldn't lend itself to anything but jeans. As you can see I also got the waist done and, as you can't see, I have picked up stitches around the neck so that it's not quite so revealing. Three more rows to go on the neck and then one more sleeve and I'm done. It will have only used 7 skeins of the 10 I purchased. Since I wasn't sure if I was going to have enough I bought four more skeins of plain green. That means that I'll have enough yarn to make this again. But I think what I'll do is make it smaller, and make it a one-piece cardigan. If I stripe it with the colorway ... well, it could look cute. The thing about chunky knits though - they are not that flattering if you're looking for a body skimming fabric. So I think it's best to knit oversized garments with chunky yarn.

I started the latest Martha Grimes book "The Old Wineshades" Friday evening and got caught up in it, read more after my guests left Saturday night and finished it up Sunday night. I was a bit disappointed with this book though. There seemed to be gaping holes in the plot and the ending was very unsatisfactory. Usually I love her stuff. Sarah Dunant has a new book out as well that was reviewed this Sunday in the Times. I think I'll get it since I enjoyed her last one (The Birth of Venus) so much.

I was in the mood for comfort food and garlic. I had just a small dinner Saturday and made a turkey meat loaf as the main dish. I know .. it sounds weird, but I've got this great recipe that even my Dad likes and if I told him it was turkey and not ground beef he wouldn't eat it. So if Dad likes it, well it's got to be good!! Garlic mashed potatoes, garlic bread and the last bottle of Oregon red - a 2003 pinot that was really really nice. I only have two bottles left of the wine I got last June down there. I should go again - it's such a fun time! I bought 3 bottles of wine back from France and one of them, a Cremont, I used for Kir Royale. Unfortunately, it had lost it's fizz! It still tasted good but I was disappointed in that and I am wondering if the champagne I also brought back also lost it's fizz. I didn't carry it in the plane with me but wrapped it up in my suitcase. Do you think the lack of pressure killed it??

I just don't know what to do with the sleeves

Here's my sweater so far. I might do another inch on the bottom before I do the finish -- maybe a ribbing, maybe not. And I realize yes, that it's a bit deep, neckline-wise. I will be putting trim around it so it'll bring it up to something a little less bare. But right now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the sleeves. I know what I want - a "normal" sleeve in that it would taper slightly and then flare out at the wrist. I have purchased tops with sleeves like that but never made one. My Knitware software doesn't have a flared sleeve pattern. The bell sleeve I think would be too big. I guess I'll look through my patterns and see if I can figure out how to do it. I know what I want - it's the sleeve from the Stitch 'n Bitch --"to dye for". Oooo! I just looked at it and actually it's the same gauge I'm working at. Great. Sorted. I can just copy that sleeve.

It's still cold and there are little patches of snow on the ground. But the birdsong is different. I hear more birds in the morning. And I noticed lots of crocuses bloming while Tink and I were on our walk. So, despite the cold Spring is just aorund the corner!!

Just when I got to thinking we were having an early Spring ....

it got cold last night and the rain turned to snow. It was so cold this morning when I got up and I opened to the door to let Tinkerbell out and then saw why I was so cold. The roads were treacherous. Normally in this situation I would just walk to work rather than ride my bike or drive, but since I am still healing I didn't think it would be prudent to walk 6 miles, so I drove. Slowly, carefully. Watching people slipping and sliding their way across the streets and down the sidewalks. It is supposed to get warmer today - it has crept up to freezing now -- and the ice should melt. I sure hope it does, because I have promised Dad I'd come over and cook him dinner and I'm not going to be too keen on that idea if it freezes up again.

I got some good work done on my sweater last night. Probably one more good evening and I should have the body done. I've got exactly half of the yarn left. I have nearly a full ball that I'm knitting from that I expect will finish the body so it looks like I'll be good for the sleeves. I am going to use my sweater making software to design the sleeves. I haven't really used the newer version much but now that it has working in the round versions I can plug in all of the variables and have a pattern designed but just use the sleeves, since I've already calculated the body. Oddly, this software doesn't have the capacity to do top-down v-necks or cardigans, which is just plain silly. It's an easy calculation. If you want the software to help you design one of those you have to do it bottom up and then make the sleeves separately and then hook them all together and knit up the rest of it. I don't like doing it that way. I like doing the sleeves on the sweater. It's easier to make adjustments that way.

My hostess for this Secret Pal, along with Nonnahs, has really gotten me all fired up to do socks. I want to use that recycled cashmere I have just sitting around but first I want to straighten it out. That means I'm going to have to make skeins and then re-wind it. It's going to be labor intensive but the cashmere is so much nicer straight and with a little bloom.

A knitless night

No knitting last night. I read a knitting catalogue -- some lovely kits in there and I do have to find a final gift for my Secret Pal in March. Would she like a sock kit? Hard to say. She's not much of a blogger, that's for sure. AAaaaanyway ... then I read the newspaper and then I made a martini and read the entire Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair! It took all evening but it was just a great indulgence. I need to keep up with my reading. I have two new books just sitting there beckoning and another one on the way from Amazon. If only I could knit and read at the same time! Oh dear ... that's a geeky thing to wish.

A finished Blue Raglan

Have I mentioned before how pleased I am with the way this sweater turned out? Besides choosing the right yarn (Elann's Peruvian Highland Chunky) I had enough experience to do everything right. In other words, this is the culmination of learning from my mistakes! I was able to try it on the person it is meant for and so the body length and sleeve length are just right. I finally remembered to bind off loosely so the ribbed cuffs and waist are stretchy like they're supposed to be. You can see the little strings - I do have those cuff, waist, neck and armpit ends to weave in, but I felted all of the other ends as I was going along so instead of 27 ends to weave in I have 7. The pattern I used for this particular sweater is from Knitting Pure and Simple but it's just a top down raglan and it's exactly the same as The Incredible, Custom-fit Raglan. And using that I cast on for a v-necked raglan for myself using the new handpainted yarn in colorway lettuce violet. Here's a picture of where I am so far. Unfortunately, even though I took this picture with my camera and not my phone, the light was not good and the colors don't really show up very well. It's really gorgeous yarn. You can see I've got the v-neck done and the sleeves on holders and I'm working on the body - I have got about six inches done. I just might have enough yarn to do the whole thing without having to resort to using a plain lettuce to give the sleeves more length. I do think I'll have to use it for rubbing around the neck and waist - I'd like to make bell sleeves. But we'll just have to see. I'm not very good at estimating how much yarn I'm going to need. This far I've used 3 and 3/4 skeins out of 10. 65 yards to a skein.

You've got to love super bulky yarn!

Yesterday was a holiday but I had to come into work for a little while anyway, after picking up Tink from the doggie babysitter. She was SOOOOO dirty! And exhausted! According to the people there she had a great time after she got over being shy. The girl predicted that she'd just come home and pass out and that's pretty much what she did. I knit all afternoon while she snoozed and finally gave her a bath around 5. She is now my pretty white dog again.

Since my big blue sweater is finished I was just chomping at the bit to try out that handpainted super bulky thick and thin yarn I got from Handpainted Yarns. I had swatched it Sunday night and, using The Incredible Custom-fit Raglan Sweater pattern, went to work. Since I only got 10 skeins, which is about 650 yards, I thought I should make it a v-neck. I did go online yesterday to try to buy a few more skeins but that colorway was gone! I bought four skeins of a green which will work with it. I am still undecided about the mohair trim. But anyway I got the whole front and raglan done, sleeves on holders and a few body rows! That is super fast! The gauge is 2.5/inch on size 15 needles. I am going to have to buy size 15 dpns. I hope I can find them at my LYS and not have to send away. I am going to try to get some extra cables from Denise Needles too. I hear that they made another size cord so that you can make a 16" round, or is it 11"? Anyway, you need round and/or dpns for the sleeves. It's a fantastic pattern by the way. I love the simplicity of raglan sweaters and I love doing it top down and picking up the sleeves. No seams! No grafting! And I have only a very few ends to weave in on the blue sweater and it will be the same with this one, because I have been felting the ends of the skeins together rather than leaving tails and weaving in later. 100% wool is so easy to felt. I just split the ends, intertwine them a bit and then using moisture and friction (or, saliva and my knee)just put them together. It's tidy and boy, that's how I like to do a sweater. Finish knitting and put it on!!

Thanks Secret Pal!

This is a poor picture, taken with my camera phone, but I just HAD to post it right away! From my Secret Pal a really REALLY cool cable knit purse. It's just adorable and I hope she'll tell me where to get the pattern. I love it! And also some beaded stitch holders that I have been coveting for ages. And ... bonus ... some chocolate candies inside the purse. Very nice touch. Thanks so much, Secret Pal!

Blogging on my back

Yesterday I had a little surgical procedure done in the afternoon and am going to be in bed for a couple days. I thought I would work on my blue sweater last night but the pain pills had me a little loopy --- I didn't think I would be very accurate counting rows, even with a row counter to help me. Oh, and the handpainted yarn came yesterday too!! I can't WAIT to get started with that. It is gorgeous! I'll post a picture. I sure hope I bought enough of it though. I'm pretty sure it'll be enough for a low v-necked, raglan cardigan. And as I said, I bought some mohair for trim so the sleeves don't have to be too long because I will be making cuffs with it. So anyway, no knitting today either - but I think I will be back in form tomorrow and Sunday for sure, so this project will be done.

And now I think I'll watch "The Producers"!!

Big Blue Sweater

I am very pleased with this raglan sweater. I did lots of work on it in Europe, finished the waist ribbing Monday and am almost done with the cuff on the left sleeve. I didn't do any work on it last night. It wasn't until almost 8 o'clock that my mouth was back to normal. My dentist gave me an extra shot near the end of the two hours I was in the chair because the feeling was coming back and that kept me numb until 8! I didn't feel like knitting or doing much of anything. I HATE being numb. Anyway, I will finish up that cuff tonight and get started on the other sleeve. They go quickly. I'm going to be laid up for a few days so I will most surely be able to finish this by the end of the weekend. Then what? I am going to make a little flower skirt and top for my friend's little girl. I am expecting some great handpainted thick and thin yarn that I am thinking of using for a cardigan with mohair detail. I will modify a pattern from the same Vogue magazine that I used for that disastrous peplum sweater. And I have that lovely pink yarn from Nonnahs that I am using for a lace leaf scarf. Plenty to keep me busy for a few days on my back, I'd say.

I seem to have brought the cold weather back with me from Europe. Oh, and I got a terrible cold, from being on the plane all those hours I would imagine. Not fun. Monday night we had thunder and lightening and a hale storm with HUGE hale stones. Tuesday morning there was some snow but it was gone by mid-morning. Today it is freezing or below, but very clear, which is what it was like the first week of my vacation. I hear it's supposed to cloud up tonight so we may have more snow on the way. Just one more reason to stay inside and keep warm with a nice sweater on your lap.

Monday morning post vacation bluuuuues

Well, it's not so bad really. I came back to a clean office. I had forgotten that I had asked to have my floors cleaned while I was gone, so that was a nice surprise. And there aren't a bazillion things on my desk, so that's nice as well.

Oddly, my last post from Paris didn't make it so this is the picture I sent. It was a sunny and almost warm day there Thursday. My goal that day was to find the perfect pair of shoes. Everything is on sale so I didn't have trouble finding the pair, but finding my size ... that was another problem. I wear 37 in French sizes and it happens to be the most popular size so a couple good ones got away. Still I managed to get a lovely pair of black suede pumps and a cute pair of low heeled green ones. So I was satisfied.

My trip back was not too bad, considering. I packed the sweater I was working on in my backpack, intending to knit on the plane, but once I got seated I realized that it was just too cramped a space for that sweater. Doing it in the round at that stage I was working on the waste ribbing and it's just too much bulk. So I read and watched movies and tried to nap. Thank goodness the jet lag coming back is not so bad as going.

I got the ribbing done on that sweater yesterday and now I'm working on the sleeve ribbing. Then one more sleeve and the collar and I'm done. I am VERY satisfied with this project. It's just lovely, letting the beautiful yarn really show itself off. I'll take pictures tomorrow. Right now I've got to do some work!

Thursday in Paris

With my trip off to Amsterdam I have been doing lots of walking which is what I do best here -- besides eating. I bought a couple skeins of gorgeous mohair for trim and I have gotten the largest part of the blue sweater done. My hotel was without lights Tuesday evening when I was in the mood to knit so I did not.

Yesterday I visited the Monets and today it is off to the great deli Fauchon and then Rodin. I only have today and tomorrow so I am off!

Paris is cloudy

My trip to Amsterdam is off so I stay in Paris for the rest of the week. I walked blisters onto the soles of my feet and t and

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Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

Sunday dinner

I swear- Chinese karaoke.

True confessions

I got totally wasted @ the Quiet Man last night. The bartender had her boyfriend walk me home! This is a guy attempting a bar trick. Tonight I dine witg friends so should be a bit less chance for trouble. Don't drink on an empty stomach!

Friday morning in Luxembourg

This is the view out my hotel windows @ 9AM. Yesterday it was too foggy to see across the road.

At first I thought they were torturing cats

ahhh but then I realized it was Thai karaoke. In Luxembourg yet. It is cloudy and cold here as well And it was snowing just teensie little flakes as I was walking up to my friends house. I am using an odd keyboard and cannot find the apostrophe but it is better than the French keyboard.

I managed to sleep a little better last night but not all the way through yet. Perhaps because I was out so very late my first night in Paris I still am not acclimated. Nevermind I am on vacation after all.

I got more work done on the sweater this morning while waiting for Emma and Fred to get up. Only a few more inches on the body then I will put it on holders until PMcK can try it on for length. I wrote some cards last night and hope to get them in the mail today and maybe some sightseeing around town. Since it is after one and Emma is STILL sleeping there will not be much more done today. It is cloudy aned daylight will not last long.

My Secret Pal really liked the package aand mostly the kettle dyed cashmere. Well who would not like that?

Look at the faces

Pont Neuf - last time I was here they were working on the faces to clean them.

Today I am going to Luxembourg for a couple days then back to Paris Friday night. I got lots of work done on my sweater last night. I stayed in and watched French TV and today I feel great! No jet lag.

It is still cold but clear. Great day for a train ride.

From a French keyboard

The Internet place next to my hotel doesnnn not have English keyboards so I must use this. It is just enough different to keep my speed down.

It is very cold here in Paris but the past two days have been clear anyway. I fried my telephone charger Saturday night and could not find a new one until yesterday. I felt so out of touch!

I have been seeing lots of old friends and it has been very nice. Also eating cheese. But I have not been sleeping! I started to get kind of upset about it this morning. I went to bed around & am and slept only until 4:30. I finally gave up at 9. Next time I will just knit rather than try to sleep. It does not matter after all __ I am on vacation. My friend Emma made it down on Sunday and her boyfriend came last night. She took him on a little midnight tour and they are still sleeping so that is why I am unsure if we are staying or going but I will be back here Friday anyway.

I tried to send email with my phone and it does not seem to work but texting is okay.

Aarggh!

It is 7:45 AM. I slept for maybe 3 hours & I have been lying here 3 more. This jet lag is awful!

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Wheeeee

I'm almost off! I will be leaving work for the airport at 3:15 today and my plane takes off at 6:30 tonight. I stayed up until after 1 am last night to get that sweater to the point where I could put the sleeves on waste yarn. So now I have a totally portable project and I don't have to take my sewing kit on board, just the needles. I didn't want to hassle with the sewing scissors - maybe losing them to the security guys - and my needle, heaven knows what a weapon THAT could be.

I am going to miss my dog a lot!! Otherwise I'm anxious to get out of here. I will be able to blog from Europe with my camera phone if I don't get to an internet cafe. I am anxious to visit the yarn shops - I've looked on the internet and see that there's on in my old neighborhood. I think it's new though, because I sure don't remember it being there when I lived there. Of course, I wasn't into knitting then so I could have missed it.

Guess I should go get some lunch.

The good and the bad

So, I am wearing the asymmetrical v-neck sweater. I washed it to see if I couldn't get the new side to look a little more like the frogged side, and indeed it does. But unfortunately I seem to have a problem with alpaca yarn. I thought before that the reason I felt so itchy when I was trying it on was because the sleeves on that other sweater were tight and the garment hadn't been washed. No such luck. It is itchy and I even have a cami under it. Also, the neckline keeps stretching and even though I have a little clip holding the right side to the camisole, now the left is slipping off. Not comfortable. Oh, it looks okay I guess. But it's only 9:30 and I have a looooong day of twitching around here. I guess I could change into my running t-shirt if it gets unbearable. And I just can't understand it! The alpaca yarn is so soft!

The good part is that the sky is blue! And it's sunny! I was wearing sunglasses on the way to work this morning. It's cold of course, because it is clear, but I don't care as long as it's not pissing down rain for a change.

I worked a little more on the raglan sweater. I really really really want to have the sleeve portion on waste yarn before I get on that plane so I've got to knit like the wind tonight. I also have to shop for my dad and do laundry because tomorrow I've got a late hair appointment. If I don't get a bunch of stuff done tonight I'll be up all night Wednesday packing. I guess that's a good way to assure I sleep on the plane, eh?

I'm sending off my first package to my Secret Pal today. I hope she likes it.

Wow wow WOW!!

The Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl! I can hardly believe it! They played such a great game yesterday against the Panthers. Totally dominated them from the jump. I kind of wish we hadn't sold our tickets, but I don't know if I could have stood the excitment live. ;-) I got a good bit done on the raglan pull-over. Knitting in the round is perfect for watching TV because it's so mindless and you don't even have to look at it much either. I've got about 15 more rows to go before I put the sleeves on holders and just work on the body. Perfect. It's going to be just the thing for taking with me. And if I need something to wrap my mind around, I'll have the lace leaf scarf.

I've got tons of little picky things to handle before I leave. Details details .... it's always such a relief to finally close the suitcase and get out of the house. I think I may be a little obsessive about not forgetting anything. Can't help it. It's how I am.

Let's get realistic

I have six days before I leave on vacation. I have three projects I'm working on and I originally assumed I'd have two of the projects done and the third at least 1/3 finished. But I think I'm being a bit over optimistic. After last evening .. which was a short evening for knitting because I went out to dinner to celebrate a birthday .. I worked on the Madison scarf and I am now just about 1/2 finished. I haven't touched the lace leaf scarf after doing two repeats to get it started again. That scarf is done in two parts and grafted together at the neck, so it's 2 out of 10 repeats of 16 rows, and then another 10 repeats on a separate set of needles. I don't have a chance of getting that one done so perhaps I'll let it go and if I have room, take it along in case I get tired of the top down raglan sweater, which is done in the round with st st and can get boring. On the plus side, it's something you can do while multi-tasking, or tired or buzzed. The Madison scarf is lace-ish but it's only a four row repeat and I have it memorized now, plus it's done on size 11 needles so it moves right along when I can get an hour or so to just sit and do it. I am going to finish that up tonight and tomorrow and block it so it'll be dry when I pack and that will be Emma's present. Then Sunday while watching the Seahawks game and the rest of the following week when I can squeeze in some time, I can work on the raglan sweater. I really want to have the sleeves on holders and be working on the body by the time I leave. And I don't want to be hauling around 10+ skeins of yarn either. I am motivated.

I am getting so excited about the game this weekend. It's going to be hard to watch if they don't pull out in front quickly and control the game.

One week from today ....

I will be taking off! Yay!! But for now .... time to slog through another day. I have to go to the dentist at 11:30 and then take my Dad to the podiatrist again. This is the third day in a row I've had to drive.

I started PMcK's pullover last night after I washed and blocked the asymmetrical v-neck (pictures when it's dry). I got a nice little start on it. This is the end of the first skein. I am using Highland Chunky from Elann. It's a lovely color - what I used to call midnight blue. And here's a picture of the Lace Leaf scarf, doing the yo's correctly. It made a big difference. It didn't make as much difference with the other scarf, the one I'm making out of the Knit Picks Alpaca Silk so I won't post a picture here until it's blocked. I mean, it made a difference, but my picture doesn't show it off that much.

I did it again!

What is it with my teeth and vacations? I was innocently chewing on a melba cracker last night when my molar cracked and a piece fell right off. Less then four months ago I was eating a garlic fry at the football game and another tooth broke. Right before I was due for a long weekend. So, tomorrow another emergency trip to the dentist to see what they can do to patch me up to last until mid-February. What luck. And I was having SUCH a great day yesterday! But I got very bummed at the very idea that I'd have to go have yet another cap that I just sought solace in a fine bottle of Oregon pinot noir and listened to music and drooled over two new yarn catalogues. The wine dulled the ache of the tooth and the catalogues ... well, you know what they do.

I believe I'll wash that asymmetrical v-neck tonight and hopefully it'll be dry in a couple days and I can take a picture of it. Then I think I'll frog the cabled shrug [still haven't re-charted it -- maybe today] and THEN I'm going to cast on for PMcK's raglan pullover. I realized that I have to get a right good start on that if I don't want to be toting around tons of yarn all through Europe. It'd be better to not finish the scarves since that's just a matter of a skein or two. At the least I want to have that finished to the point that the sleeves are on holders and I'm just working on the body. Then I can do the final fitting when I'm over there.

Sunshine!!

Oh yeah! It's NOT raining!! It's sunny ... well partly sunny but I still wore sunglasses. Unfortunately I had to drive today because I had a few appointments in the morning. You watch, next time I bike (I've got an appointment tomorrow as well so I have to drive) it'll be raining.

I had Monday off but didn't get all that much knitting done. I had a massage appointment which cut into the day, plus I had to go visit Dad and fix him dinner. What I did do, though, is finish sewing up the asymmetrical v-neck. I tried it on and it's definitely wearable, although I will wear a cami under it because you can see through it a bit, it falls off the shoulder some times as well, and the alpaca is still a bit itchy. I did put the neckline up where the pattern suggested - a 4 inch drop - and that makes it comfortable but I can see that it will slip from time to time. It's way more flattering that the lace peplum deal, that's for sure.

Vacation count down - 9 days! Things are coming together. My friend Emma telephoned and she wants to come stay the first weekend in Paris with me and then her boyfriend will come down and drive us up to Luxembourg Monday or Tuesday. My friend Joan telephoned Monday to say that Deidre wants to make a party for me the following Friday or Saturday night, and then after that I'll have the Super Bowl to look forward to and then .... then another whole week doing who knows what! Can you tell I can just barely contain myself?

What a day!!

Yesterday was a good good day. The Seahawks finally won a playoff game after 22 years! And we were there - Ruth, Amie and I. It was so loud and so exciting! Thankfully our seats are under cover because we are now day 27 of rain and of course it rained during the game. And then to keep up with the wonderfulness of the day, when I got home I had a cute little card in the mail from my Secret Pal! Thanks!! Just frosting on the cake.

Knitting-wise, I know I was going to put the v-neck together last night but the night before I had a realization that the reason my scarves weren't looking like the pictures was NOT that they needed to be blocked but that I hadn't been taking the yo's off the needle correctly. A problem I had in the past but forgot about. So .... I frogged them both [sigh] and started the maroon one over again, doing it correctly this time. Oh, it looks ever so much better and gee, guess what ... just like the picture! Duh.

Tink is in total barky-dog mode again today. I don't know what's up with her! I'm going to shower and get the day going, starting with a looooong walk for her, then to the mall for a couple things for my upcoming trip, then home to sew that sweater together. For sure. I have made myself promise that I wouldn't tough anything else until that is done. But oh ... I did swatch for the top-down raglan sweater I'm making for PMcK. I got the yarn Friday (Boy, Elann is very fast!) and it's lovely. I ordered some of their bulky Andean Highland wool in a beautiful deep blue. It's even nicer than I had hoped. It's going to make a very nice, super simple but elegant pullover.

Internet outage

Well I guess we can tell it's Friday the 13th, eh? While I was putting together this blog entry earlier this morning the internet just stopped working here. It's back up now (duh). It was probably some virus or something like that. I hate hackers!!!

Yesterday I finished up the second part of the asymmetrical v-neck and wove in all the ends. Tonight I'll sew it up. I think, though, that before I sew the two sides together I'll baste them and try it on. I may need to make some adjustments so that the left side doesn't keep falling off my shoulder. That can get a little annoying.

I got a good start on the scarf from the Knit Picks yarn. It's sooooo soft! It'll look more lacy when it's blocked but here's a picture with it stretched out a bit. I think I'll give this one to my friend Joan. And Emma can have the lace leaf one. I might not block this one. I kind of like the wave thing going on. It makes the leaves stand out, don't you think? Or perhaps just block it a bit, not stretch it out all the way flat. I'll see.

I got my flight booked for my vacation on Wednesday and today I've booked a hotel for the first three nights. After that I'm up in the air. I'll just figure it out as I go. I like traveling that way.

I think it's going to work

I pinned the asymmetrical v-neck together last night and slipped it over my head. It's hard to tell for sure, but I am pretty sure that it's a wearable sweater! Yay! I have 18 more rows to do on the sleeve - about 4 more inches. Then I will sew it up and give it a little wash and hope that the crinkled side smoothes out and the smooooooth sides stops looking quite so bright and shiny. My only reservation is that the left side kept slipping off my shoulder. Granted, the left sleeve was weighted with a needle but still ... I will probably have to wear a cami under it or a bra with fancy straps. It's a warm garment. And I find that the alpaca doesn't itch at all in a sweater that is not a close fit. This one is not exactly baggy, but the other one was meant to be worn close.

I'm working from home today and took a minute or 12 at my lunchtime to nip down to my LYS to get another couple row counters and some 8" size 11 needles. My Secret Pal 6, "Nonnahs" sent me some beautiful Kid Classic in a pretty pink and I've started a lace leaf patterned scarf with that, and she also sent me some KnitPicks Andean Silk and a lace scarf pattern so I'm going to start that tonight. Hopefully I can finish them before I leave so they can be gifts. My only row counter is on the "On Hold" cabled shrug ... on hold until I can re-chart the cables so they're not on a reverse stockinette stitch background. Both of these projects are counting projects and I don't like using paper and pencil -- too easy to get lost.

Still raining. I hear that we (Seattle) made the national news last night. 24 days of rain, mud slides now starting, etc. etc.

Vacation count down -- two weeks.

I saw some blue sky again!

Honest ... I really saw some blue sky. And, in fact, I saw the moon last night and some stars as well. Tink decided she needed a potty break at 12:30 am. I was having trouble sleeping anyway so I stepped out on the porch since it wasn't pouring rain and saw the moon! I was startled at first because it has been weeks since I've actually seen the night sky.

I finished the body of the larger of the two parts of the asymmetrical v-neck and started on the left sleeve - the last part. I was putting the pieces side-by-side to check out how they'll look when sewn together and noticed that the left armpit is about 3 inches lower than the right one! I looked at the schematic and it is indeed how it is designed. She does mention in the directions that one might want to make the left sleeve a little shorter overall than the right since it will be hanging lower. I think I'll pin the thing together and try it on before I finalize the sleeve length. I am really bothered by the differences in yarn - the new from the recycled. I will most probably wash it before I wear it in hopes the difference won't be as obvious. Let's just hope that I have chosen a pattern that not only is good looking but looks good on me! Because I'm NOT frogging this alpaca again. I'll have to give the finished project away.

A genuine blustery day

Wow! Is it ever blowing out there today! I almost got blown over twice on the way in. Thankfully it wasn't raining, although I expect it to start up anytime now. Not that I don't have anything to talk about but the weather, but we truly are having unusual weather. I know everyone thinks that it rains all the time in Seattle but the fact is that NYC gets more inches per year than we do. What we have is a lot of cloud cover, that's for sure. Anyway, the record for consecutive days of measurable precipitation is 30 days and we're somewhere in the early 20's now and counting with no end in sight. It was coming down so hard last night that it was splatting down the chimney! But, as I said, no rain this morning and in fact the wind had blown holes in the cloud cover so I actually caught a glimpse of blue. It's comforting to know it's still there.

We got our Secret Pals yesterday and mine posted here a little 'hello'. I am looking forward to getting to know her. And I checked out my Secret Pal and she's a bit of an enigma right now to me. Her blog is all about print making and there is not one mention of knitting at all! Hopefully she will answer her questionnaire soon and I'll get a better idea of what she would like, knitting-wise.

No knitting for me last night. Monday is pick-up-the-nephew night so by the time I got him dropped off at home, made something to eat, read the paper, played with the dog .... well, I just felt like reading a bit and going to bed. I am quite sure I can finish the v-neck this week. I want to do a couple of fancy scarves for gifts to take to Europe with me later and I want to start a sweater for another friend that I can work on while I'm there so I am motivated.

Difference between new and frogged yarn ....

is HUGE! What a dope I am! On one hand I think it's wonderful that I learn something new about knitting so often. On the other hand, here I have one part of a sweater that looks all shiny and new and tidy and the other half that looks .... well, used. In retrospect I shouldn't have been in such a hurry to get on with the second part of the new sweater but I should have unraveled the old sweater into hanks and washed them to get the kinks out BEFORE I balled them and started knitting. Now I am 80% finished with this asymmetrical v-neck [which is a bonus about this pattern -- it goes very fast] and I am not about to re-frog and wash the yarn and start over at this point. I am hoping that once I get it put together I can wash it and it will straighten out. That is the experience I had when I used recycled cashmere for a little cardigan. After washing it looked practically normal.

I have definitely decided to re-write (chart) the cabled shrug so that it's NOT reverse stockinette. It will be a much less daunting project if I don't have to do all that counting on the reverse trip.

It was a good weekend. I watched football and knitted and walked the dog and took Omie out for lunch before it heads to Alaska for 3 months ... not that's going to be a grueling winter, don't you think? All I can think about though is that in 18 days I will be getting on a plane and finally having a vacation! Yay me!!

Am I the worst dog mom in the world??

That is the question of the day. I know, really, that I'm not the worst of course. But a couple nights ago I knocked poor little Tink off the bed. Yes, it was an accident!! I rolled over in my sleep - actually did the old double roll over to the whole other side of the bed. I just wasn't thinking and she was at the foot of the bed and it just knocked her off! Poor little Tinkerbell. I felt really bad! She didn't seem too phased though. I just plopped her back up on the bed and she fell right back asleep. Last night I went to my Dad's to fix him some dinner. I made sure I was home early enough to give her a nice long walk, then I put her in the car and took her with me. That seems to help, rather than leaving her all alone. She is usually not too hyper after a few hours in the car because it probably seems to her that she is with me. Anyway, when we got home it was still early and I wanted to start on the second half of the asymmetrical v-neck and she, of course, wanted to play ball. So I took a bone out of the freezer and she just left me alone for two hours and gnawed on it. That's like putting a child down in front of the TV or putting a pacifier into the mouth of a crying baby!! Thank goodness she's just a dog. A cute dog. But a dog nonetheless. And I got quite a bit done on that sweater. It doesn't look quite so nice as the first part because of the recycled yarn. It's kinked and so doesn't make a smooth fabric. But I think after washing it should be okay. I hope. Because this is going to be killer!!

Biking in Seattle & what I know for sure

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be a bicycle commuter in Seattle? What with all that rain, and the darkness from October to March, and the hills. Well let me assure you, it's about 10 times as yucky as you can imagine. Especially on a day like today when it was coming down steady. Big, fat, wet raindrops. Rain gear notwithstanding, my clothes are damp, my socks downright sopping. My work clothes I carry in panniers and even they got wet today. The only saving grace is that it wasn't blowing as well. I got my bike back from the shop yesterday. It was tune up time and I got a new chain and cassette and brakes so I really wanted to try it out. It's always so nice after getting a tune up. It seems so easy to ride when everything is clean, the tires hard and the gears nice and tight. Plus which I've been driving so much this last month having been sick, then having vacation. So it wasn't all bad -- except for the rain drops dripping down inside of my goggles. Should have worn a scuba mask.

What I know for sure ------ No sweater that I make is ever ever ever going to come unraveled of its own accord. I spent all last evening (from about 6 to 9) frogging that lace peplum sweater. Finding the free ends took the most time. I mean ... I am serious when I put those things together! I gave up with only one small piece left. I have five large balls so I am pretty sure that should be enough for the asymmetrical v-neck. And if not, I have this one other piece I can use. But if I don't need it, I'm going to toss it because it's a bloody battle to find that end.

It's not as easy as it looks!

I started frogging the lace peplum sweater last night. I thought once I got the seams undone -- which in itself was no easy matter -- that it would be smooth going. It was anything but. It wasn't until I was laying in bed that I realized what the problem was. What kept happening is that I would frog the bottom lace part easily but when I got up to the stockinette band I couldn't get an end free. Duh. That's because the bottom lace part was knit down from the provisional cast-on edge of the stockinette part. Dang! I am therefore going to have to frog the bottom up to the smooth part, then start from the top cast-off edge and work down. I just hope that can be done. Well ... I'm sure it can, just how easy it's going to be is another thing. The pattern calls for a crocheted edge around the neck for finishing and I am so dedicated to hiding yarn ends that I may just have to try to snip it off without compromising the whole neck. But the first part of the asymmetrical v-neck was finished and looks so very lovely in that alpaca yarn. It's almost glossy. I still love that yarn. I am hoping that since this sweater will fit looser that it won't be as itchy. Anyway, I can wear a cami under it.

All of those vacation days took their toll in an unexpected way. Tinkerbell was so used to me being home and playing with her, or her having stimulus from other people, that she just plain wouldn't stop last night! Our typical routine is that I get home, give her a nice walk, play ball for a few minutes and then she'll generally amuse herself while I read the paper and cook and then again later in the evening she'll have another go at "chase the squirrel" or "where's the ball" and she's ready to go to bed around 10:30. Granted, our walk was a little shorter than usual due to the pouring rain and frigid temperature, but she still got plenty of ball playing. But my idea of plenty and her idea of plenty were about 2 hours apart. When she wasn't wanting me to throw the ball she was wanting tummy scratches or just a little wrestling around. I know it must be dead boring for her after more than a week of constant attention, but round about 9:30 I was getting a little frustrated. She got interested in her bone, thank goodness, and had a good gnaw while I heightened my level of frustration trying to unravel that sweater. By now she was totally into the bone so while I was getting ready for bed, she took the bone outside in the front. I couldn't part her from it so I let her take it on the bed just so I could turn out the light and try to sleep. I had to get up and let her out when she was ready to sleep about an hour later - after a good chew she always needs a drink of water and a little go around the front yard. But she was restless and got me up once more in the night. Little dickens!! I assume she'll get back into the old routine sooner or later. Let's hope it's sooner, eh?

And now for some knitting stuff

This blog hasn't been much about knitting lately but I think I'd better get back on the subject for a bit, especially since SP7 is about to start.

First of all let me say that I am about finished and then some with crochet. For Christmas I made some ruffle scarfs, two ear flap hats and a sweater/shrug thingie. They all turned out nice but crochet is just so BOOOOORING! And in my opinion, very few things look nice crocheted. The ruffled scarfs yes, because they don't really look crocheted. The felted hats because, again, they don't show the definition of stitches. I also like the fact that things work up about twice as fast as knit versions but .... I'm done at least for a while with that.

So -- after company finally got out of my hair I had almost four whole days and nights to clean up, relax and knit. The first thing I started was the cabled shrug from IK. What I did not realize is that it is all set on a background of reverse stockinette stitch. I spent the better part of two days working on this -- I got through 30 rows of a 36 row repeat. Oh .. and I frogged 10 rows and started over. You do the math .... I was averaging 30 minutes a row! I am sure it'll get faster but the real slow down is that on the return when you would just mostly purl every stitch except for the one before and after each motif, this one you have to count each stitch because of the reverse SST. It is tedious beyond words and you can't let your mind wander a bit, so it's very tiring. And slow. Did I say slow? I estimate it would take months to complete.

I put it down for a day. I knew I would have to find another project to work on when I didn't want to concentrate so hard - like when watching football or a movie. After having my sister try on that lace peplum sweater I have decided that rather than try to re-design it I would just frog the whole thing. I thought the alpaca would lend itself well to the Loop-d-loop corrugated asymmetrical v-neck. With the left over yarn from the other sweater I swatched for it and it worked with a size larger needle. I cast on yesterday afternoon and pretty much finished one side of it already. It's going to be nice - nicer than that other thing for sure. And by "nice" I mean wearable. It's a very interesting pattern - one piece is worked as a "T" shape and the other knit diagonally with the stitches for the sleeve left on a holder and finished after the body.

I kept looking at that complicated shrug sitting there in the basket wondering if I had the staying power to finish it. And being honest, I didn't think it was looking that pretty - the reverse stockinette just grated on me. As I was laying in bed I thought -- why not just re-design it with a real right side and forget about the reverse stuff. I think it would look nicer. Then I could forget about all that extra counting on the return trip. I need to do a little more study of cable patterns - I may have to get rid of the zig-zag pattern to keep it simple but we'll see. That does mean frogging it and restarting once more but hey -- it's the process, right?

Just a little rant

My ex-boyfriend sent me not one, but two emails with pictures of his wedding! Can you imagine?!?? Is that not the most astonishing breach of good taste in the world?? I am practically at a loss for words. Good heavens.

The lilies are blooming.

My Christmas flowers are so beautiful! They arrived on Christmas Eve and here it is Wednesday and they are still perfect. The lilies are opening now and I could smell them last night while I was sitting in my chaise. Very nice. I love the smell of Stargazer lilies.

It is a nasty, cold and blustery day. My sister went back to California yesterday after arriving Saturday night with my nephew. He's still here. I wish the weather was a little better, but at least it's not freezing cold. I've got the rest of the week off. Don't have to be back to work until Tuesday. I plan on doing a little more reading. And knitting. I started a new project. Oh! And I got speakers for my iPod for Christmas so I can now listen to all of my good music through awesome speakers!

Hoorah!

Finally! All my gifts are done. I am celebrating with an entire evening reading and listening to music, a glass of wine and no ch no ch

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Insomnia

I am a total zombie this morning. I went to bed about 10 or 10:30 last night - normal. But I woke up at 2:30 and I couldn't get back to sleep! That is so totally NOT normal. I tossed and turned until 3:30 and finally gave it up and turned on the light and read for a while. That got Tink awake and she wanted to eat and go outside. She must have figured it was morning. At about 4:30 I put the book down and gave sleep another try but no go. Couldn't shut off my brain ... there's just too much stuff going on right now. I have so much to do. The last time I looked at the clock it was 6 and I dozed for about 30 minutes until the alarm went off. I feel awful. I have to give an exam here at 9 am, then as soon as she's done I'm going to go shopping ONE LAST TIME - I swear!! - and then go home and take a nap. I hope.

What is that I hear??

It's the sound of panic is what it is. Because I was sick for so long I am way behind in all my holiday preparations. But .... but did I work on any projects this weekend? Hmmm?? Did I do any knitting? A bit of crochet on that scarf that needs to be done in a couple days? Nooooooooo, I did not. I guess I'm waiting for the panic to really get a grip on me. Then I'll be working like a crazy person.

It was a busy weekend in some ways ... I did get the tree after work on Friday and got it decorated. Minimalist. I like it. Then Saturday I got a manicure and ummm ... took a nap. Well, I was tired!! You can see it in this picture of Tinkerbell and me in front of the tree as I was getting ready for the party Saturday night. I still don't look 100% -- plus which the hair hanging in front of my face make me look cross eyed.

I had every intention of working on my projects Sunday. However, I had to take my nephew .... one of the grown-up (kinda) ones Christmas shopping. I was up early, picked him up by 10 am. He was rather hung over and needed to eat so we didn't get to the real business of shopping until nearly noon. I didn't get back home until 3:30. Nearly as exhausted as I was when I took PJ shopping. And I still had laundry to do, so I watched football and did laundry and assured myself that I would have plenty of time to finish things up.

The Seahawks won again. The Colts lost!! Colts 13-1, Seahawks 12-2 and still people don't take them as a serious threat. Ah well. It's just football. (joke)

It is really cold!!

I cannot believe how cold it still is! And with the inversion the air quality is very bad and I can't have fires in my fireplace until it gets better. I see that it is supposed to be clouding up, getting warmer and should be raining for Christmas week. Just in time for all the visitors.

Today I decided I would walk into work. I turned off my alarm at 5:30 this morning. It was just so cold in the house and Tinkerbell was all snuggly with me and I realized I didn't have anything pressing to attend to at work, so I slept in. I awoke at 7:45 and the sun was almost all the way up and I decided to walk. I just couldn't bear to get into my car again, having driven in every day so far this week. And, frankly, I didn't think it was safe to get on my bike. Now ... wait a minute ... those of you who know me, quit looking out of the window for those telltale flying pigs! I can be sensible sometimes!! After that bike accident this summer, I just didn't think it was prudent to risk it again, riding on the ice. Especially since I am still a bit congested and coughing. It was only about 28 degrees. I put all my stuff into my backpack, made myself a yummy eggnog latte, bundled up, plugged into my iPod and off I went. It was so nice!! I love to walk anyway, but there it was all sparkly with ice, nice music playing (don't you just LOVE the iPod whole collection shuffle??), cold and crisp. It was really really wonderful. My little Seattle winter wonderland.

Christmas shopping with a 10 year old

What was I thinking?!? Oh, I know ... I thought it would be lovely and fun and a little bit of Christmas magic to take my nephew downtown, take in the scene, look at the lights, do a little shopping and really get into the season. Okay, when you get done laughing .... I can wait .....

First he didn't want to go downtown after all but please could we go to the mall because there is a Toys 'R Us there and he needed to buy a present for his little friend. No, I explained, we were going to buy presents for his mom. Period. And he didn't want to look at the lights and okay he'd buy his mom something then with the rest of the money we'd go toy shopping. Pretty soon I just quit responding and parked the car and off we went in search of Christmas spirit. But not before a quick trip to the bathroom where, he tells me, there are televisions mounted above the urinals!! And we should go to the ladies room so that I can look and see if there are televisions for the ladies as well. Okay. I had to go anyway so we trooped upstairs in Macy's to visit the ladies room and no, there were no televisions.

Out we went into the cold night air, me looking for a little bit of that old Christmas magic and he looking for a jewelry store to buy something for his mother. But first ... let's eat. Key decision. Never shop on an empty stomach, especially if you're dragging a 10 year old behind you. He was a little more reasonable after eating even though we had to go one more round on why we weren't going to shop for toys. Somewhere lately I had read or seen something on TV about active listening so I gave it a go and it worked! Got him calmed down and reassured that he would indeed have time to get a present for his friend. Off we went then to Nordstrom to buy a few things, then back to Macy's for another, a bit of gift wrapping and I dropped him off by 7:30.

By the time I arrived at my house it was not yet 8 pm and I was so completely and utterly exhausted that I seriously considered going to bed. Tinkerbell had somehow managed to grab two skeins of yarn off the coffee table and got their labels off but didn't seem to have mangled the yarn much. I was sure that I had pushed them back far enough but she had been alone since noon - eight whole hours - and I guess the urge to make mischief was great. I had to stay up if there was going to be any chance of her sleeping through the night so I changed into jammies and just read. No knitting. No music. Just reading. What a luxury!! Before I started knitting I read all the time. Now I have 3 months worth of magazines sitting untouched, new books waiting to be read. I made myself a promise this morning that when I finish up these last three (or 4?) gifts I am going to do nothing but read for days and days. It was just so nice and peaceful there reading that I stayed up past 10. My exhaustion giving way to relaxed contentment.

Finally a good night's sleep!

Wow! I had a great sleep last night, finally. Which means I guess that I'm 100% at last. I did have some dreams, but not strange ones like I have been having, or very complicated ones. I only dreamed that I was running. In my dream I wanted to work out, to go for a run. That's obviously because I haven't been able to run or work out for nearly two weeks. So I just kept running everywhere I was going, in whatever shoes or clothes I was wearing. It was fun.

I spent my morning taking my Dad to the doctor. Got to work about 12:30 and I'll be leaving here in a few more hours to pick up PJ and head downtown to go Christmas shopping for his mother. It's very pretty downtown with all the lights. Since I essentially skipped Christmas last year it's going to be a real treat for me as well. Maybe I'll try to snap a picture with my camera phone.

A few pictures

I finally stopped being so lazy and took a few pictures with my camera. First here is a picture of the Peter Pan & Captain Hook Sericel I bought at the auction on the 2nd. Isn't it cool? I tried not to get too much glare on it, that's why it's taken a little to the side rather than straight on. I hung it over the fireplace downstairs. I just love it. Of course, it would have been better if Tinkerbell were in there as well, but I imagine those are very rare indeed.

This is a picture of a felted hat I made for one of my nephews for Christmas. I crocheted it and it went very quickly. I am very pleased with the way it turned out, although I wouldn't have chosen those colors. He specifically said he wanted red if I were going to make him a hat, so that's what we ended up with. I have some pretty teal colors to make another one for one of the other children and I think it'll be nicer.

And finally, I finished up the hat and scarf set I was making for the exchange here at work today. These things go very quickly. I just made up the pattern for the hat. It didn't turn out exactly as I wanted - it more beret-ish than cloche-like but it looks okay on. And then I added a little ruffle flower to tie it in with the scarf.

I have to finish Ruth's little sweater first and then a couple more little things to make before Christmas and then I can start on some fun things for myself. I got the yarn for that complicated cabled shrug from Autumn IK and I am just itching to start on that but don't dare until I get a few things finished up. Plus I've still got to rip out that bottom of that UGLY peplum sweater and try to remake that into something I can wear. It would be a shame to waste all that lovely alpaca.

It lives!!

Wow! I can't believe a whole week went by. Here it is the 12th and I'm finally finally feeling normal! I guess I had the flu, huh? After I quit trying to come to work and just gave up and admitted that I was indeed sick I just rested. No knitting. No reading. No watching TV. Just sleeping. I can't believe how much I slept! I got out of the house on Saturday because I needed to get my sister's birthday present. I got up and got going early be cause I knew the traffic was going to be awful and it was, but I was home by 1 having purchased, wrapped and sent her gift! I didn't do much of anything else that day but work on a ruffled scarf and hat for the gift exchange at work for tomorrow. I had to finally give up on finishing that blankie for work. I may pick it up again or I may just chuck the whole thing. I also managed to make the cutest felted ear flap hat for one of my little nephews! I crocheted it up when I was getting sick - must have been last Tuesday or Wednesday. It went quickly and it looks awesome! I should take pictures. Maybe tonight if I'm not too exhausted from a real day at work. Nope - I wasn't that crazy - I didn't ride my bike. I'm still coughing.

I hate to rub it in to my Eagles fan .... especially after that butt kicking last Monday night - but I went to the Seahawks game on Sunday and they totally dominated the 49ers. In fact the 49ers only ONCE in the whole game got past the 50 yard line. One time. It was incredible. I am SO looking forward to the play offs. Maybe this year the Seahawks will actually win one!

I got a last gift from the BEST Secret Pal in the whole world! And now I know her name since it's the end of Secret Pal six. So thank you for being just the very very nicest secret pal, Shannon! She blogs at alittleloopy.blogspot.com as 'Nonnahs'. I am very happy to have gotten to know such an awesome knitter/football lover/ AND greeting card designer. They are very cute - I've gotten a few.

That's it for today. I must remember to take a picture of the Peter Pan Sericel that I bought at the auction last Friday as well as my few FOs of late. My digital camera is such a dinosaur. I bought it right before I moved to Paris - so that was December of 1999!! And it was THE thing then. Now it's just a huge, clunky piece of junk that it a hassle to download picture from. Oh well -- it works and that's the important thing. Plus of course, there is always the trusty picture phone.

Will it ever end?

Oh now, I don't want to sound like a whiney baby but here it is Wednesday and I had to make myself come to work. I stayed home yesterday after bailing early on Monday. Man, this thing is kicking my behind!! I guess it's been so long since I've had a proper cold that I've forgotten how debilitating they can be. I didn't do much of anything yesterday but sleep and read. I did a bit of perfuctory knitting - these deadlines are looming, I know. Had a lovely telephone conversation which perked up my spirits, even though I was told that I "sound awful!!". Ah well ... that's the way it goes sometimes. As long as I am not awful, I can stand sounding awful.

I thought right

I did get a cold. A bad one. And here it is Monday and I'm still sniffly but I'm up and about anyway. Friday evening I had a social commitment - one that I look forward to annually. I stayed in bed all day Friday and got up a few hours before I was due to go out and got myself cleaned up and ready. Took a stiff dose of cold medicine, called a cab and headed out. All in all it was a successful evening. I liberally dosed myself with Manhattans throughout the evening to keep that "I'm not really sick" feeling alive. I managed to acquire a wonderful piece of art at the auction - a "sericel" from the Disney animated Peter Pan of Peter and Captain Hook fighting. It's very cool.

But I paid a price for going out Friday - I was just down for the count on Saturday. Fever and all. I couldn't even knit or read - I just wallowed in my misery. Thankfully I had a great chef come over to cook curry for me. That was marvelous. Yesterday again I was very low energy but made myself work on that darned blanket. I only have a week and a few days to get it done. I also started a little bit of lace scarf with the pink yarn my Secret Pal sent. I'm not 100% committed to it yet - I think it will be pretty but the thing about knitting a pattern is that there is a right side and a wrong side which I don't like with a scarf. I don't know .... it's not that big of a deal but anyway ... I'll figure it out.

Well well

It snows.

I think I'm getting a cold

I have a massive sore throat. I dragged myself into work today since I had worked at home yesterday. I drove though, didn't bike. It's only 37 degrees now and again they're predicting snow. yeah yeah

I finished "The Lighthouse" yesterday evening. Good book. I made it last as long as I could. And I worked on the Booga Bag-ish thing. I love Kureyon. You never know what you're going to get but it's always beautiful. It reminds me a bit of that candy when I was a kid. Just a round piece of sugar - stupid really - but all different colors. So every minute or so you were taking it out of your mouth to see what color it had turned. The Kureyon is like that - knit just one more round, what color is going to come up next?

The fares to France are fluctuating nearly every day. I am going to wait until January to book. I still need to hear from a certain someone (ahem) about schedules in January. My friend Emma is living in Luxembourg now and she is available those two weeks to get together. I am also trying to convince my sister to come along, at least for one of the two weeks I have planned to take off. She hasn't been to Europe for years and years - like 20 or more. It all depends on if her gallery gets sold in time. Fingers crossed.

It's a dark and cold day

NOT raining ... no, not snowing either. Just dark and cloudy and dreary. I'm working from home today. Last night I didn't work on that blanket, like I had promised myself. Instead I started a modified Booda Bag with the leftover Noro Kureyon from the tea cozy and the full skein that my Secret Pal sent me. If I find that it's not enough I'll just get a third skein. But the pattern seems like it would make a larger bag and I only want a small one so I'm figuring it should work out just right. Yeah ... well .. there ya go.

So what do you think happened?

On Monday evenings I pick up my nephew from school and take him for an hour or so, letting his mother work. He was very excited yesterday about the news that there was a 90% chance of snow. Oh boy!! The guy on the radio was saying that in his opinion, if the meteorologists were predicting a 90% chance of snow you could bet that we wouldn't get any. And he was right on. I awoke to the sound of pouring rain in the middle of the night and this morning it was blowing and a little rainy. Thankfully also, a bit warmer. While I had to wrap my face yesterday for protection, I didn't need it this morning. It is very dark and I can see that it is going to most likely rain again soon, (hopefully while I am at the gym and not en route) I am quite sure it's too warm for snow. Probably up north they got some, and in the higher elevations. But not here. All those poor children waking this morning, running to the windows expecting a winter wonderland and just getting good ol' soggy Seattle.

I have got to kick myself into gear and get that mohair blanket done. I have two weeks to finish it. It's not difficult. In fact, it's mindless. It's boring, quite frankly. But I always like to have a project like that sitting around - something that I can knit on while I watch a movie or the game. But I'm right in the middle of a purl stripe and it's getting big and I don't like to purl. Oh well, I just have to make myself tackle it. Perhaps if I just assign myself so many rows an evening and then have another fun project to work on. I haven't started frogging that sweater yet. I want to wait for the weekend so I can do it at the dining table in good light. It's not going to be easy. I am just hoping it's going to be worth it.

Snow!?

The weather report is for a 9O% chance tonight and in the morning. Guess I am walking to work tomorrow.

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A very nice, long weekend

Wow! What a great weekend!! I cooked on Thursday, but I was very well organized and it was an early dinner so I had my house back to myself and all cleaned up by 6 o'clock. Nice. Friday it *poured* rain and I didn't leave the house except to walk the dog and send my Noro Felted Bag to someone in New York. Somebody bought something from my Etsy Shop again! I put up a couple more scarves - cashmere and mohair ruffled ones. Anyway, it was fabulous to just laze around the rest of the day!! I got a good bit done on Ruth's sweater and watched a movie and got a little more done on the mohair blanket. Saturday was a gorgeous day - all clear and crisp. Tink got a longer walk and I got to finish up Ruth's sweater body and get a whole sleeve done! Now I've only got to make one more sleeve and it's finished. The latest P.D. James novel arrived from Amazon on Saturday - "The Lighthouse" - so I put down the sweater and started that book. At 10:30 I made myself put it down so that I could make it last. I love her stuff and I could have easily just kept reading into the night and finished it up. I will now just read a little bit before bed for a few night to make it last. Oh, and yesterday. W-O-W! It was a incredible football game. I must say probably the best game I've ever been to. The Seahawks won it in overtime after the Giants kicker (who, incidentally, used to be a Seahawk) missed not one but two attempts to end it. Our kicker came on and we won, 24 to 21. I can barely talk this morning. It was just almost too exciting.

I'm going to put the alpaca lace peplum sweater back on the projects list, since I'm going to be frogging the peplum part of it and re-doing the body. Good thing for me I didn't use up those two and a half skeins I have left over. I was thinking last night that maybe I'll (obviously) extend the plain body part down to the waist and then put about an inch or just one repeat of the lace pattern instead of a band. I think that might look good and it would kind of bring it all together. We'll see. I am NOT looking forward to frogging that lace. I think it's going to be tough. Plus which, to add to it, it's been sewn together and blocked so the seams are going to be awfully hard to get undone. It'll be a challenge.

Th UGLIEST picture of me in the UGLIEST sweater

I don't usually let ugly pictures of me out in the public domain but since I've been talking about this sweater for so long and I am going to rip the bottom part of it off and make it into a NOT ugly sweater, I'm going to put it up. Well ... hmmm, that's weird. It won't upload the picture. Maybe because it's so freakin' UGLY!!! I guess we'll just have to wait until Monday when I can do it from work. I've had this problem before where it wouldn't let me upload a picture. Oh .. .I could put in a link. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a87/sgolard/uglysweater.jpg Just a warning -- I look like I weight about 200 pounds. When in fact, I wear a size 4. I swear. Plus which it makes me look like I've got a double chin. The sweater is the single most unflattering garment I have ever owned Bar none. I am going to frog the bottom lace part and just knit a regular bottom and I think that will make it into a wearable garment. Now I'm going to bake pies.

A lesson learned

The lesson: Just because you like the sweater in the magazine does NOT mean that it's going to be suitable for you.

The sweater in question is the alpaca lace peplum from Vogue Knits. I had decided to wear it this morning with a certain skirt and take pictures. Okay - I got into the skirt, boots, tank top -- nice looking outfit. On goes the sweater. YUK. The skirt is slim fitting with a flippy, tulip like bottom. It did not look good with the sweater. What it needs is a slim fitting, plain short black skirt, which I don't have. Fine. So I got out of that and put on a pair of black jeans. It looked OK. Just OK. Not the most flattering fit, actually. And if I had tried this on in the store, I wouldn't have purchased it. That's what I must get into my head!! Although frankly it's a bit hard to know if a certain style is going to look good on you until you try it on and when you're knitting a garment ... well, you can't try it on until you've put all the work into it! Is that paradoxical? Anyway - so I set up my digital camera and took a few pictures and to add insult to injury, the sweater makes me look fat!!! I promised to post pictures so I will probably Friday. I need to download them onto my computer. But seriously -- I just wasn't comfortable with it so after 15 minutes of fussing and taking pictures I tore it off, tossed it on a chair and threw on a cardigan. Now I must decide if I should give it to someone or frog the damned thing and knit something else. You know ... it just occurred to me ... I could frog away the peplum bottom, which is mostly the problem, and just continue knitting in SSt, put a band on it and that might work. Hmmmm ....

Anyway - I'm getting all amped up about Thanksgiving. I'm baking pies tonight. Short day at work.

What a GREAT Secret Pal I have!!

Not only is she a football fan, but she sends me the best goodies!! Here's a (bad) picture I snapped this morning on the way out the door. A cute little book called "Kniticisms", some lovely pink Rowan Kid Classic, a skein of some Rowan Cotton in a great loden color, some sweeeeeet smelly stuff, lip balm, chocolates, a handmade card AND a beautiful pink latte bowl, which I will use Thursday morning for the first eggnog latte of the season!! Thanks SO MUCH, Secret Pal. You are the BEST!

She sent me before a skein of Noro Kuryeon and I am going to use that and these great ones as well for things for ME. I tend to knit mostly for others these days, but I am saving these for something nice for me.

Speaking of knitting for others -- I have a gift list that keeps on growing so I am very glad that I finished the alpaca sweater because it's going to be weeks and weeks before I can start on anything else for me. The weekend I spent using up some recycled cashmere and I made two more of those ruffled scarves. They turn out so lovely in cashmere (well, really, what doesn't?). The recycled stuff is tricky. It's all curly when you use it and doesn't look or feel much like what you'd expect. But as soon as you wash it, it straightens out, blooms and it's just fabulous! I had been working with some orange stuff - I got a lot of it and it is 3-ply where they are usually only 1 or 2 - trying out making a raglan little sweater out of it. But I realized that I really didn't care for the color and I surely wouldn't wear it if I did finish it, so I used three strands, making it 9-ply, and crocheted one of the ruffled scarves and it is warm and really really nice. I shall certainly use that for a gift as well as a smaller pink one I made with 3-ply. I have lots of the pink left as well as some yellow. I don't think I'm up to socks, but maybe some mittens. I'll have to think about it. But first I have to finish that blankie. Shouldn't take too much longer. It's mindless knitting and I just need to make myself have it in my lap at all times, except when eating.

Poscasts!

I love podcasts!! And there are tons and tons of them! I found some sport ones and, of course, a knitting.. I listened to the knitting show last night while I was sewing the last of the buttons on the tea cozy. I didn't put as many on it as the picture on the book cover, but plenty and it looks very cute. I'm happy with it. I just hope that Kate likes it as well. So that's finished. And my alpaca sweater? Oh it is beautiful! It washed up so nice, and blocked out to look just like the picture! I'm going to wear it Wednesday so maybe I can get it together to take a picture. I tried it on and it doesn't feel quite so itchy. Only time will tell. I am figuring that it's still going to itch a bit, but it's so pretty. If it bothers me too much I can always gift it, but I don't know to whom.

The Huskies lost the Apple Cup but they played well. The Seahawks beat the 49ers, but everyone thought they would. Actually, it was a closer game than I thought it would be. They are now 8 and 2, best record in their division.

Tea Cozy In Progress

I have to put more buttons on, but here are pictures of both sides of the tea cozy as it looks now. Isn't it cute? I thought that was enough with the buttons, but when I stepped back away from it I could see that we need more. Other than that, I am very very pleased with the way it turned out. Very close to the way it looks in the book, which is always a bonus. And I did wash my alpaca sweater in delicate washing soap two nights ago and laid it out to dry. As of yesterday evening it was still damp but I must say, it looks a lot better now that it's been blocked. I think it's going to fit like it is supposed to. I am so lazy when it comes to blocking though and some sweaters I have made really didn't need it. But this one has benefited mightily. Now let's just hope it's not so itchy!!

I spent yesterday in bed with a muscle spasm in my back. I'm better today but no running, just to be on the safe side. Makes me crabby. To not be able to run, I mean. Oh well. I guess there's a good side and a bad side to living alone. At least I can just be crabby and not have to deal with trying to be nice. Tink won't notice. Oh, I'm never crabby with her anyway!!

Why oh why

didn't I take a picture of you at Lake Louise?

--

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The best of intentions

Okay, I really intended to wash that sweater and block it last night but I didn't. Nope. I walked the dog, poured myself a glass of Pinot Grigio and sat my little tushie down in my chaise lounge and read the newspaper and magazines and listened to music. I got through the newspaper, two Sunday supplements and 3 magazines. I'm just going to have to make myself do the sweater first thing tonight after walking Tinkerbell. I just HATE to hand wash things. My new washing machine has a great hand washing cycle that is great for delicates but not sweaters, obviously. So I'm just going to have to make myself do it. Funny thing about this alpaca (that had I known it beforehand I wouldn't have used it) is that it cannot be dry cleaned. I wonder why.

It was cloudy last night, obscuring the full moon. Good thing. Full moons make me sad. I wonder why.

Brr brr brrrr!!

Wow! Only 37 degrees this morning. Cold and clear. The skies were clear last night as well -- full moon. It's supposed to cloud up and rain the next couple of days, but it certainly is beautiful today. And I've got the blues big time. If I don't make some plans soon to get out of here I am going to go crazy!! I realized that with the exception of my little jaunt to Lake Louise, I haven't been anywhere since my vacation last winter -- February. No wonder I'm so antsy. I have kicked myself black and blue for agreeing -- no, volunteering -- to cook Thanksgiving. I could be flying to Paris for $316 rt! Instead I'll be chained to the kitchen. damndamndamndamn!!!

I put a few buttons on the tea cozy yesterday afternoon before I went to pick up my little nephew and then when I got home I had to watch the Eagles get beaten by the Cowboys. Boy, what a game! And what a devastating loss for the Eagles. The Cowboys must be feeling pretty good though. Anyway, putting the buttons on that cozy is going to be a hassle, but it sure will look cute. I am sure Kate's sister will like it. For tonight though, I'm taking a break from knitting. I've got to catch up on my reading, or at least make a dent in it. I'm getting way behind on my periodicals. I bought special soap to wash the alpaca sweater, so that's about all I'm going to do tonight. I would like to be able to wear that thing, considering all the work I put into it. Hopefully the special sweater wash will take the itch out of it.

I am having trouble thinking of a final gift for my Secret Pal. I've got to get on it pretty quick. Well, I'm sure something will come to me.

I llllove long weekends

And I hate coming back to work after them. It was a nice weekend. Although my massage was not what I had hoped. My back had been a bit tweak-y and I had hoped the massage would relax me. But I was carrying so much tension in my shoulders that when she got to my upper back and shoulders she really worked on them to get the knots out and it hurt! That usually doesn't happen but oh well, it sure did this time.

The weather cooperated Saturday morning and I was able to rake and pick up the leaves in the back yard before the rains came again. And then my nephew Omar came over and we hung out, had nachos for dinner and watched a football movie and then spent all Sunday watching football. The Seahawks were brilliant! They beat the Rams yet again, which was very satisfying. I wish I had been at that game. Next one I have is the Giants.

Knitting news -- well I got the whole of the tea cozy knitted while watching football on Sunday. And I felted it as well. It took about 3 cycles to get it felted and I thought it was still too big, so I tossed it in the dryer for a few minutes. Problem is I don't know how big Kate's sister's tea pot is. Mine is rather small but I used it to get an idea of size. It's dry now so this evening I shall start putting the buttons and ribbons on it. Oh! And I sold something from my Etsy store!! I was so amazed to get that email. Someone bought the cashmerino arm warmers. Of course, the price I had on them doesn't even cover the cost of the yarn ... but oh well.

Lazy Friday

This is me waiting for my massage.

What a lovely day for a bitch-a-thon

So hooray, today is the day that we get to meet with the students and listen to them tell us how to "improve" the learning experience. This is totally a rant -- I have such a hard time with these students who not only expect but demand to be spoon fed the information. What happened to learning? To exploring? To finding out the answer on your own, for crying out loud??!!! Here's the deal in a nutshell -- I have made a very large quiz bank for these students to use as a learning tool. With a total of over 1,200 questions, mind you, served up in 20 to 30 question chunks. They are further divided by subject to correspond with their lab sessions and syllabus chapters. After a student completes a quiz they can go back and review their answers and after it is submitted the tool will show the score and also show the question and the answer they chose and whether the answer is right or wrong. Every day or so someone of them emails to complain that they don't get the correct answers! Could we please have an answer key or could you just show us the correct answers when we're done. And what do I say? No. Sorry, no. This is a learning tool. If you don't know the answer, what about looking in your book? What about searching it out in the syllabus? What about asking your professor?? I mean!!! It might seem a small thing but it absolutely drives me crazy because how lazy is that? I could go on and on but I'm starting to get dizzy.

So - on to the knitting news. I had a lovely evening - had a glass or two (okay, 2) of wine, read the paper, listened to music [simultaneously - wow, what a multi-tasker] and then started on Kate's tea cozy. It's a strange pattern - Vogue is always weird though - worked in repeats of short row shaping. I had never done it before but it's easy. I got one 30 row repeat done and a couple rows on the second. The Kureyon I got for it is very bright - pinks, oranges, greens, purples - and I am excited to see how it turns out. It should be pretty cute. I hope to get some more done on it tonight, but I'm planning on going down to my neighborhood pub for Taco Thursday --- wheeeee ----- (Oh I DO live such an exciting life!! ) so it's going to depend on the company. If any of my pals are there I might not feel like knitting when I get home. If it's dead - no problem.

And tomorrow is a holiday. I need to get more leaves raked up and I'd like to plant some bulbs as well because I think it's going to freeze soon. My back has been getting kind of tweaky lately though. I don't know if it's because I've extended my running time to 45 minutes or if I over did it at the gym Tuesday or what, but it is going to be difficult to garden with a tweaky back. Luckily I've got a few massage gift certificates so I'm going to get a massage tomorrow at noon. That always helps. Plus I just like it.

It itches!!

I cannot believe it. I spent another two whole hours seaming that sweater and finishing the neck. Gorgeous. Although, in retrospect I should have blocked it but be honest, how many of you actually DO block every garment?? So I ran upstairs, put on the black tank I was planning to wear under it and slipped it over my head. Oh yeah ... well I could see how it would have been better if I had blocked it .... the sleeves were a little short, so I tugged a bit, the hem was a bit uneven, so I fussed with it, the waist was a teensie bit too high, so I shifted it around it some. Then decided to try it on with a cute new black flippy skirt I have. This all took ohhhh maybe 5 minutes, right? By the time I had the skirt on I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. My arms were a bit itchy. Another few minutes after I had tried on a couple pairs of shoes and boots with the skirt and got around to trying pants on with it, it was really starting to bother me. Arrghghghg!! That alpaca is soooooo soft! I kept marveling how it was almost as soft as cashmere. But oh lord - it itches something awful. I finally just couldn't stand it any more and took it off and tossed it over a chair. No pictures. I think I'll get some special hand washing stuff this weekend and give it a wash, do a little blocking and then try it again. Maybe washing it will make it less itchy. I am bummed though! I kept thinking as I was knitting it that I would get some more alpaca and make a different, cozy sweater. Well ... perhaps not.

I did a little bit on Ruth's sweater (Colorwaves Topper) and then it was time for bed. I found out from Kate yesterday that she's leaving a few days after Thanksgiving so I must start her tea cozy this weekend. This is a picture of what it's supposed to look like. It's done in Noro Kureyon, one of my favorites. It's somewhat precious, I know. But it's what she wants for her sister. Hopefully I can do it justice.

I have a funny feeling .....

that Seattle is going to get a REAL winter this year. We essentially had no winter at all last year. I don't even think it snowed once -- or maybe just a teensie bit. And it wasn't below freezing much, if at all. But this year .... already the ski season has started. And my friendly backyard squirrel has been building the most exotic and comfy nest in the big tree. There was an old pillow I had on the deck - Tinkerbell would lay on it in the sunshine after a bath sometimes. I just left it out there because it got rained on and I was going to toss it, but the squirrel started ripping the batting out of it and making the fluffy nest. It's very obvious in the crook of the tree. I am going to take pictures of it this weekend with my real camera (as opposed to the camera phone) ... IF it ever stops raining.

Well it certainly was a good football game last night. The Colts put a licking on the Patriots, AT HOME! So I didn't get my sweater put together. Tonight I should be able to get it done if I don't get too caught up in rearranging things. I am feeling domestic. Must be the weather. ;-) BUT I am so very keen to get going on Ruth's sweater because I know that will go quickly. And then I have to make two things for Kate - I think I will probably have to put them at the front of the line since she wants to give them as gifts and she's taking off for Australia at the beginning of December. And then ...? Well I don't have to decide right now, do I? I have plenty of time.

It's getting colder

Wow! It was a chilly ride in this morning. I kept wishing I had put on an additional sweat shirt. At least it wasn't raining. The rain woke me last night, but I don't mind. I love the sound of the rain.

I finished my lace peplum sweater this weekend and now I'm putting it together. It just amazes me how much time it takes to put these things together! I always get so excited when I finish all the pieces and then I start weaving in the ends and sewing seams and that's always like another two days! I got the ends woven in, the shoulders seamed and one of the sleeves set it. I think this pattern could have easily been done in the round but I'm always too lazy to do all the math and figure it out. So anyway, I pinned the second sleeve in and tonight, if the Monday night game isn't too exciting [and actually it could be a real exciting game - Patriots and Colts, with the Colts undefeated] I may be able to get it all done. I can't wait to wear it. And I'll take pictures. I think you might actually want to make this one, Sylv. Didn't you say you were looking at it? It actually goes quite quickly. Only four pieces and mostly lace and very little shaping. It didn't take nearly what it called for. I have two whole skeins of the Alpaca left over and most of another one. It is so soft -- I think I'm going to use it to make a nice cuddly scarf for my friend Pat. She broke her coffee pot so doesn't need a cozy any longer, which is what she asked me to make her. She had admired that green curly scarf.

Are you getting this?

My horoscope says true love will prevail. What are you waiting for?

--

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I did it!

Wow! I can't believe it but it's been one whole week since I've been on my bike. Dang! Well I rode in today and it was a lovely ride, if a bit cold. At least it wasn't pouring rain like it was yesterday. I must say I feel 100% today, finally. I'm even going to run. Woohoo!! And everywhere as I was coming into the building this morning people were buzzing about the local ski areas. On the front page of the morning paper it announced that two of the local areas are opening this weekend. That is really early, but considering that we didn't even have a ski season last year, to speak of, I would imagine that people are pretty happy about it up in the mountains. It will be two years since I've skied! The year before I didn't go because .... well, a whole lot of reasons I won't go into. And last year I didn't go because on Thanksgiving I torn up my ankle. So this year - man, I don't care if I have to live on Ramen, I am going skiing!! I have a whole brand new outfit that I've never even worn!! The tags are still on the pants and everything! Now if I can just find a ski buddy ...... [quick, count up how many exclamation marks]

I received the yarn for Ruth's wrap yesterday, so I started it last night, even though Tinkerbell insisted on playing fetch. It was rather annoying because this particular sweater is crocheted and even though the instructions say "Easy", the yarn is this yucky Lion Brand acrylic crap that's kind of a fake boucle so seeing the stitches is anything BUT easy. The pattern is rather nifty though - it's the crocheted version of a top-down cardigan. Here's a picture of four rows so far. I had to finally quit at that point because I was yelling at Tinkerbell and it isn't really her fault that she wants to play. And it was getting aggravating as well, not knowing if I was putting that silly hook into the right space. I figured out what to do this morning - I will put a marker into the increase space when I make it so that when I come to it, I will be able to see right where I should be. If that makes any sense ...... So even though the yarn is acrylic, it was still ridiculously expensive. On the other hand, the colors are lush and it is machine washable, so all in all I think she'll like it. I wanted to make that very complicated cabled shrug from the spring IK but she preferred this. That's fine, I'll make that thing for myself. When though, I don't know, since I have committed to making two projects for my friend Kate to give as gifts, and a coffee pot cozy for my friend Pat. Oh! And so after I got Tink all calmed down and the dinner cooking I cast on for the sleeves of the lace sweater I'm making myself and got a good bit done on them. I always do the sleeves at the same time and it goes pretty quickly. Hopefully I can put that thing away this weekend. I'd love to be able to wear it soon.

Yuk!

Oh my, this weather! It has been pouring rain for the last 12 hours, I swear! You can see from the picture below that my work on Sunday didn't last long. Since it rained all night Sunday, and was blowing as well, the yard is now covered with leaves again. It's hard to get a sense of size if you haven't been there in person. The cement on the left of the picture is a driveway, the hedge is ... oh gosh, maybe 12 feet high and the width of the grass (moss, I should say) part is probably 20 feet. Anyway, it's pretty large and now completely covered in wet leaves, since it's been raining, as I said, all night long. Discretion being the better part of valor, I decided I should drive in to work today rather than ride my bike since I have been so sick. This is the time of year that I envy those California dwellers. But only momentarily, because when the sun comes out and the sky is so blue and the air so sweet smelling, you can't beat it here. But if I hadn't been sick I would have biked in this morning and arrived all sopping wet, rain gear notwithstanding, hair dripping, makeup washed away. And that's when I hate living in Seattle.

I went home at 2:30 yesterday and slept for a couple of hours, got up to watch the football and was back in bed by 10. I am feeling pretty good today, though. Oh! And I got the front of the lace sweater done last night. I think this is going to be a really fabulous sweater! Definitely very different. And since it's lace on top, everything underneath will show, so I can change the look of the sweater from dressy to casual with the choice of undergarments. Sweeeeet.

Yeah, I am definitely feeling better.