Moving Day!

Actually, moving day was yesterday, or the day beforethat . . . I can't remember.

I've relocated to a new blog site, if anyone happens upon this little site. You can find me at www.flowercityknits.wordpress.com.

Hope you can make it!

Shhh . . . . he's almost asleep . . .

Drive-by post to show you my Ollie, falling asleep after enjoying a happy day in the bright fall sunlight.

Knitting Update and a Meme

It's a very inventive title, I know. Whatever, it's Friday and I'm fresh out of creative writing mojo.

In the spirit of stash-busting and non-commercialism, I'm endeavoring to make Christmas gifts this year from my stash as much as possible. Now, I haven't told anyone whether or not they're getting a hand-made gift, just in case I fail miserably to finish these projects, small as they may be. I'm already making good progress though. I'm almost finished with a pair of hats for my sister and brother in law, a basic hat in Noro Silk Garden #88 and a London Beanie in Paton's Classic Merino Wool in Black with stripes in Dark Grey Mix and Leaf. I've cast on and finished the first 30 rows of the my mother's potential Christmas gift, the Flower Basket Shawl, which I'm doing in Frog Tree Alpaca Sport in a Wine color. My plan is to make a cabled hat in, you guessed it, Paton's Classic Merino Wool in Natural Mix for my other sister, a baby hat and sweater for my sweet niece from Joann Sensations Dolcetto in cream (very soft, superwash, perfect for a babe) and an Irish Hiking Scarf for my dad in Karabella Aurora 8 (which I will have to buy--but I don't have any soft dark green yarn in my stash, ohdamnIhavetogotovillageyarnshoppe).

I haven't taken any pictures, which makes for a boring post, but no one's reading this but me right now, so everything's o.k. Right? Right!

I still haven't blocked the Flower Petal Shawl or the Ropes and Cables Scarf, and I still haven't seamed and felted the Noro clutch. It would appear that finishing is not my thing. Shocking, I know.

Place Meme

As I mentioned before, I don't think anyone's reading this (note the silent but hopeful yet). So I've decided to tag myself with a meme from A Strikke's blog. I love reading other people's meme's and I love doing them myself. See, I'm both voyeuristic and narcissistic. A tasty and interesting combination. Here goes:

All the places I've lived before:
Upstate New York (Batavia and Rochester, respectively), Velbert, Germany, Washington, D.C.,Arlington, Va.

All the pleaces I'd like to live (all practical constraints being ignored):
Chicago, Ill., Portland, Ore., Portland, Me. or anywhere in New England, Charleston, S.C., New Zealand, anywhere in Italy, London, Holland,

Places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there:
France, Hawaii, Romania, Czech Republic, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Peru, Caribbean Islands, Cape Verde, Kenya, Israel, Switzerland/Austria/Germany, Alaska, San Francisco, New York, N.Y., Wyoming, New Mexico

My next vacation will be to:
Chicago in November

My best fantasy vacation is to:
New Zealand or France

The strangest place I've ever been:
One of those weird little towns in West Virginia - family vacation, the conversion van broke down, searing heat, all kinds of strange things going on around us.

The strangest place I'd ever like to be:
I'm copping out on this one - depends on your definition of strange.

A place I'd like to avoid:
Northern Virginia during rush hour.

That's it---hopefully I'll get some finishing done and take some pictures this weekend in between cleaning and bringing my sweaters down from the attic. Enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

New Inspirations

I keep a fairly extensive list of the next projects I'm interested in knitting. It's in an Excel spreadsheet, it notes whether I already have the appropriate yarn in my stash or not. If I don't have the yarn, it states the yarn sub, the number of skeins needed, and the total price. So, in other words, I really plan out a project before I dive in, and I'm pretty obsessive about the details. With all this obsessing, I usually stick to my plans.

However, I noticed today that several Magknits have come out that I somehow missed! I keep forgetting that they come out monthly, since most other knitting publications (e.g., Knitty, Interweave) are quarterly.

The Minimalist Funnel Neck looks fantastic. I'd love to make it in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran it calls for, in this beautiful plum color . It is expensive though, even at the closeout price it's more than $10 a skein. Beyond my budget, unfortunately. Maybe in the new Knitpicks Shamrock?

I'm also into the Inner Truth Cashmere and Seaside fingerless gloves.

The latest Knitty had some great patterns to tempt me away from my list also, namely Ivy and Serrano. Ivy is knit in Elann Quechua, which I'm sure I'd like as I loved the Pure Alpaca, but I'd rather wait until they refresh their color selection. Cosmicpluto, who designed Serrano, has suggested Knitpicks Gloss a substitution for the Schaefer Anne, which while lovely, is completely beyond my budget, and difficult to find in multiple skeins. Cosmicpluto also has plenty other lovely patterns, including the Lucy in the Sky Cardigan, which is on deck in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.

Why am I looking out for all these new patterns? Because I wrapped up the Flower Petal Shawl and Ropes and Ladders Scarf earlier this week, and I'm almost done with my sister and brother-in-law's Christmas hats. I'm actually finishing things - I almost feel like a real knitter!

I'll post about these exciting FOs as soon as I get around to blocking them!