on the needles

Not exactly, at least not yet.  What I do have, however, are two skeins of yummy Manos de Uruguay yarn in Adobe already wound and ready to go. 

This yarn is simply gorgeous.  The silk and merino blend is so soft to the touch.  It's going to make for a warm and pretty Eleanor cowl from the Knitty Deep Fall 2010 issue for my sweet mom.  She and my dad are coming for their second visit this year (mostly to raid my persimmon tree).  Soon.  Like in a couple of weeks.  And that means I have a quick deadline.  I told you my November was going to be crazy!

Did I mention that this yarn is just gorgeous?  I'm almost tempted to keep it for myself when I'm done.  Of course I would never do that.  I'll just have to knit one for myself in another colorway, perhaps Moss.

I'm hoping to cast on before the end of the week and post and update this time next week!

abalone sweater update

After knitting two baby blankets last year practically back to back, I wanted to knit something for me.  It was spring, so I decided on Abalone, a cute short sleeved sweater that I could easily use through summer.  I excitedly cast-on and mindlessly, but happily knit a stockinette pattern during my commute on BART.  Eventually, as with all my projects it seems, the sweater was set aside for another project, Clara (which deserves a whole separate post).

Fast forward to a couple months ago.  I thought I'd take another stab at knitting Abalone, after all, it was spring again.  As I re-acquainted myself with the pattern I soon discovered that I had knit more rows that needed.  Way.  More.  Rows.  

I've been slowly tinking back to get it to the right length so I can actually knit and possibly finish.  I know I really should just insert a lifeline to the correct length, but my last attempt at inserting a lifeline was less than successful.   So patiently I continue.

friday faves | weekend inpsiration

Happy July! Made even happier with a three-day weekend! And if today is any indication it promises to be amazingly beautiful.

Love me a long weekend and of course it wouldn't be complete without some kind of crafty plans.  (I always seem to have crafty plans for the weekend, but this time I'm really going to get something done.)  On the list: scrapping, tinking back my Abalone sweater, and sewing Sparky's pillow cover. One of my must-do projects is blocking my Sugar Maple Shawl.

It has been sitting in my knitting bin since I sort of finished it a couple months ago.  And I've been going back and forth in my mind about what to do with it.  I say that I sort of finished it because I may have not knit enough pattern repeats.  And because I may not have knit enough pattern repeats I also may not be able to pick up enough stitches for the edging which is the sole reason I wanted to make this shawl in the first place. Que sera sera! 

And as if I didn't have enough to occupy myself, here's even more cute inspiration:

• Love her stuff: quilt bunting
• I just discovered her blog: paint chip banner

I wish I could say that my weekend will be all fun and games.  J will require my presence in the backyard as we start to clear away the ill designed pond that came with the house when we bought it to make way for a patio. I'll try to squeeze some fun in! Enjoy! xo

get your knit on

I haven't picked up my knitting needles in a couple months and my fingers are itching to start new project (never mind that I already have a couple of unfinished objects demanding some attention). So I was really excited when I came across this post yesterday at Through the Loops.

The talented Kirsten Kapur is hosting a summer long shawl knit-along at Ravelry. I'm always cold in the office and a shawl is perfect to keep me warm. I'm going to knit Andrea's shawl. I don't know just yet which yarn I'm going to use. This means a trip to one of my many local yarn stores or even a bit of surfing at Knit Picks.

Hope you can join in on the fun!

done and done

With all this time on I my hands, I no longer have an excuse not to finish Miss H's baby blanket. Hopefully she (and her mama) will like it and make good use of it this winter.

I finally weaved in the ends over the weekend, but the blocking-the more difficult part of finishing-still needed to be done. I was apprehensive about blocking since I didn't block the first baby blanket I made. I found a awesome blocking tutorial at The Purl Bee which put me at ease. It was perfect because it didn't require soaking in water which meant quicker drying time. It also helped that the day I blocked it it was quite hot. I also blocked a scarf I finished earlier this year in March.

The blanket is a bit larger on one side than the other, but it's still rectangular-ish, besides I'm still just a newbie. Not too shabby for my second baby blanket especially given the pattern! So happy about how it turned out!

perfection

In a nutshell, this is my idea of a perfect day. A girl could really get used to this kind of daily routine. I have to remind myself though not to get too comfortable. Off to enjoy the rest of today!

still hanging around

I'm finally tackling the beast I've been avoiding for months: weaving in the ends of the baby blanket for Miss H. I'm not allowing myself to cast-on for this, which is also for her, until I finish this blanket.  So if I want to have the jumper done in time for Christmas (crossing my fingers and toes) I need to start, like yesterday.

Truth be told, I finished knitting the blanket about a month after she was born, but I felt like I needed a break. From the monster that it became in my life. I should have know that it was trouble when it initially took me three attempts to cast-on.  Of course, my problems didn't end there. Early on in I knit a row twice instead of going on to the next row and flipped the pattern. Although it set me back timewise, I ripped back to the problem area and started again. Then I also managed to knit the rows wrong, not once, but several times. As if I couldn't make matters worse, I left my pattern in the plane pocket (luckily it was easily re-printable).

It truly was a huge undertaking for a second project. And as you can see, it was a long and arduous road. However, despite the challenges I came out of if a much better one, though quite tortured.

cooling down

The fog has finally rolled back in. I never thought I would be happy to see overcast skies, but I am. I am appreciating the cooler temps after the heatwave of the past couple days. The heat can be so paralyzing. J and I spent the last three nights in front of the TV because our office, which is upstairs, was too hot. (Although, sitting on the couch isn't exactly pleasant or productive either.)

Still, the mild weather has made for an unusual summer overall. And I'm less than thrilled that there may be some sprinkles early next week. The cool weather, though, has been quite conducive to knitting.

I've been making great progress on my Abalone cardigan. I wish I had started earlier instead of procrastinating. I had planned on finishing it in time for this summer, but its looking more like next spring (*crossing fingers*).

I'm quietly hoping for an Indian summer to kick in soon so we can enjoy a least a small transition into fall, but I have a feeling we're not going to be so lucky.

Happy Thursday! xo

right now

I finally get to start a new project and it's all for me! I'm planning on making Abalone, a short sleeved cardigan. The yarn is Mirasol Cotatani which I got at a great discount. 

I saw this list on Amy Tan's blog and thought it was a lot of fun! Here's my take on it!

listening: GLEE Showstoppers

eating: salad, rosemary fries & beer

drinking: beer (duh!)

wearing: shorts & a t-shirt

feeling: like I accomplished a lot today

weather: clear, cold with a little bit of wind

wanting: something sweet, anything with chocolate

needing: a massage & facial

thinking: I should probably hit the scrapping table while I have chance

enjoying: all the cooking I've done this weekend

wondering: what is coming week will have to offer

Now it's your turn!

Have great week!

in the beginning

As a child my mom desparately tried to teach me how to crochet. Sadly, she had a penchant for doilies and nothing else, and my only reaction was to run for my life in the other direction.

Etsy played a big role in getting me interested in fiber related crafts. I would ooh and aah over all the wonderful (but expensive) hand-knits. And I thought, "Hey, I can do that!" So off to Jo-Anne's I went for the basic knitting class. I learned how to throw, but after a month practicing (and finding Ravelry) I knew wanted to learn the continental method. I turned to the web and found more resources than I could handle.

I am a mere a novice at knitting and have completed only two projects (with a third one hopefully in a couple weeks), but someday I aspire to knit brooklyntweed's beautiful Girasole. I am not a lace type of gal (see me running in opposite direction of doilies), but after I saw this I became on convert!

no mas!

I've been struggling with the Bunny Hop baby blanket since I discovered that I had somehow reversed the pattern.

Not wanting to leave it as a "design element", I decided to frog back to before the mistake. And here is where all my frustration begins. Rather than heed the suggestion of a wise knitter, I did so without a lifeline or stopping point, mostly because I just don't know how.

I have now frogged my project two times and will more than likely frog it a third time since I'm having a difficult time inserting the circular needle below the mistake.

I refuse to be deterred. This will be done by the end of May!

yarn hangover

Spent all day Saturday at Stitches West in the Santa Clara convention center fawning over and petting some of the most delicious yarn I've ever seen. {sigh}

As a Stitches "virgin" I had been forewarned about how overwhelming the event is and I mentally prepared myself and the good old pocketbook. I budgeted $150 for four projects which was completely unrealistic in retrospect. Not going to lie, I did go over, but not by a lot and only bought yarn two of the four projects, Sugar Maple Shawl and Green Gable. I also bought yarn and patterns for Clara (too cute!) and Overhill shawl (not yet on the Foxyknits website). Counterclockwise starting with the bag: Mission Falls 1824 in Raspberry, Koigu PP, Miss Bab's Yowza Whatta Skein! in Merlot Shadows, Isager Alpaca 2 in Fushia, and Lorna's Laces Peppermint Mocha (made especially for the event).

But before I can work with any of those yummy yarns, I need to finish the Bunny Hop blanket (my second and LAST blanket) and the Ruggles scarf.

Iit has taken all of February to get that much of the blanket done. I should have know there would be problems when I attempted to cast-on five times and frogged it each time. I'm only on the second repeat of six! The rows are not hard, but one can get easily lost when one does not pay attention.

february catch-up

Can't believe March is just around the corner and I've hardly blogged during February! Unfortunately I can't chalk it up to being crazy busy with work or being on vacation. I just haven't been in the blogging state of mind lately, mostly because, frankly, there's really nothing to tell. Plus, I've been glued to the horrible Olympic coverage by NBC since there really isn't another option.

We did hit the slopes twice for some snowboarding Sierra-at-Tahoe. We used our last two days of our 3-day lift ticket. We were in luck that it snow both times we went up. Love the powder! I'm just a beginner and after five days, I'm finally having fun and enjoying it (even the falling, but it's getting less and less).


Since they are within days of each other, we always celebrate Jay's birthday and Valentine's Day together. It was a weekend of food, food and more food.

And I finally finished the Sheldon baby blanket. I hope she likes it and will actually use it. After this next baby blanket I'm working, NO MORE BLANKETS!
Haven't done any scrapping lately. Keep thinking I will but end up knitting instead! Will have to do some soon since the 2009 December Daily is still in limbo and I want to finish a mini from last year's Savor Sonoma in time for this year's.

knitting addiction?

My name is Charmaine and I'm a knit-aholic. I skipped a weight workout last night to keep working on the Sheldon baby blanket. But I'm so close to finishing. The third border is a couple of rows from being completed. And I'm hoping to finish on Sunday while I "watch" both NFL Divisional Championship games.

To make things worse, Knitscene Magazine previewed their Winter/Spring 2010 issue earlier this week. WOW! These are just a few a picked from my favorites.



So many great contemporary styles to choose from! Loving it all!

rain day

Normally I love rain. But not today. Rain coupled with wind makes walking challenging. Not to mention, one big gust sends me skittering sideways a couple feet. But I know the Bay Area desperately needs the water so I persevere. Probably would have enjoyed today's rain if it happened yesterday when I was cozy at home with my coffee and knitting. This was seriously my favority part of the day.

Stayed up late on Sunday night to finish the body of the Sheldon baby blanket. Last night, I completely weaved in one side of the loose ends and picked up stitches to start the border. Can't wait to finish this and start a scarf!

Scrapping this weekend was a big. fat. FAIL. I had planned on getting some substantial work done on my 2010 December Daily as well as couple layouts that have been percolating in my brain, but my frustrating morning attempt to order pictures through Target threw me for a loop from which I didn't quite recover. On a good note, my scrap area and closet has been purged and cleaned. Now, gone are old CK and Scrapbooks Etc. issues, empty Stampin' Up plastic cartons, flowers and ribbons on the shelf instead of the floor, a basket to corral the inordinate number of mini books I have bought "for a project". I can now actually walk around my desk and get into the bottom drawers of the tool chest. Ahhhhh! (*Moment of epiphany*)

already dreaming of this

The week seems to be dragging by. Is it just me or does this always seem to happen the week of a 3-day weekend? As you can see the baby blanket is coming along quite nicely. I finished the last yellow stripe last night and I am hoping to start the bottom border tonight. I am dreading the borders because they are in seed stitch and my continental purling sucks (throwing and moving the yarn back and forth for eight rows seems like a lifetime)!

So happy that Chuck premiered this week in triple dosage. He is so goofy and endearing it makes me smile! This will definitely keeping me sustained until Glee starts up again (wouldn't that be great if there was an episode where they sang?). Can we just fast forward through American Idol already?

Finally played with some paper last night and scrapped my first layout of the year (with hopefully many more to come)! Can't post it just yet because it's for the Lift Me Up challenge over at Cocoa Daisy.

december recap

December was so jam packed with such good stuff that I hardly had a chance to blog.

• a week in Lake Tahoe snowboarding and relaxing (because one day of snowboarding requires an equal amount of recovering)
• last minute Christmas cards (though I actually managed to mail them before Christmas day) and shopping
• dinner at Aqua in San Francisco and Cirque du Soleil's Ovo with friends
• Christmas lunch with Jay's side of the family at our home
• a chocolate cake baking disaster
• major movement on baby blanket

With the New Year upon I just want to wish everyone the best in the coming year!

let the knitting begin

So very excited! The yarn that I ordered finally arrived today! I can't wait to start knitting. All that yummy, beautiful yarn will become this super cute baby blanket. (I'm not sure yet if I'm going to also make Sheldon the Turtle, but he is adorable.)

I am making this for a sweet, special someone that I love and care for dearly. I hope she likes it. I thought the colors were kind of dark and since I don't know what she's having I decided to go with the "go to" neutral palette of yellow and green. I'll try to post pictures as I go along.

good times

As luck would have it I came down with a cold over Halloween weekend: nausea-inducing sinus headache and cough, slowly developing into sneezing, running nose and low-grade fever. Thankfully the fever did not stick around for too long. I stayed home from work last Thursday and Friday because I felt bad about leaving my germs everywhere and I wanted to rest up for our Las Vegas weekend. It was all in vain, however, since I coughed and sneezed my way through every casino.

A visit with my parents is always a good tim! Enjoyed every minute! Driving them to the airport is bittersweet especially this time around since I couldn't take a lot of time off. They are already home in Hawaii and probably happy to be out of the cold.



Been enjoying my new found obessesion: knitting! Already planning a couple baby projects for some special people in my life.
Have a great Monday!