Growing Up - A Teddy Bear's Perspective

And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I think I'm going to go hug my dolls and stuffed animals now.

The Great WIP Roundup!

Yeehaw! Git along little doggies! It's time for the Great Work-in-Progress Roundup! In this post, I round up all of the WIPs I'm knitting, take photos of them, and show the whole world just how short my actual attention span is. I'll post Ravelry links to the pattern and any links I can to the yarn used.

To start off the call out, we'll go with Diana's Cardigan! Knit in Debbie Bliss Amalfi. 

That's a shot of all the pieces up top. The bottom is showing that I have half of the second sleeve to knit. You know what that means, right? It means I have very little knitting left to do in the body and all I'll have to finish if I were to just get the rest of that sleeve knitted. Really, there isn't much left. 

Next up: The Dirigible Ground Crew Socks. My own pattern. Made with a discontinued, handpainted sock yarn.

I started these in December. I still have the foot and toe to knit of the second one. Apparently I got a nasty case of Second Sock Syndrome.

The Beauty in Ashes Lace Wrap. Knit from some alpaca handspun I got for my birthday last year.

This one is especially sad. It's a beautiful pattern, knit on one of my favorite pairs of knitting needles (a Christmas gift from my friend Tasha a few years ago), and did you see that ball of yarn attached to the stole? Yeah. It's the last of three balls. I'm almost done. This thing is going to block beautifully and I just keep setting it aside. 

Lochinver: The Sequel! Knit in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino.

This deserves a bit of a back story. When I first started knitting I really didn't have much of an understanding of gauge. My second year I started knitting things that really required a working understanding of it, and I never knit a swatch! So when I started Lochinver the first time, I used inexpensive yarn that was far too thick (supposed to be sport weight, not worsted), and needles that were too big. So, if both components were too big, what do you think happened? I got a multi-room, wooly tent that fit my 200 lb, 6 foot 4 inch stepfather, that's what. Plus it pilled like crazy within about a day of finishing. 

The Aforementioned Sunburst Stole. Knit in - oh, just click the pattern link. It's from a previous blog post (that might actually be on the same front page).

Since I've already spoken at length regarding this lovely little slip of lace, you get no further description here.

Fire on the Waves. Knit in KnitPicks Swish Worsted. 

I took easily a dozen pictures of this. Inexplicably, they all came out weirdly blurry. This is the only one that looks decent. 

In my own defense, this sucker has gotten so big and unwieldily that I have to pick it up about ten times a row, and therefore do ten bicep and tricep curls a row. It's halfway finished. It's huge. I'm still mustering up the courage to do more work on it. 

Anouk. Knit in Cascade Bulky Superwash.

This is meant for a baby. I don't know any babies. I don't know why I still have it on the needles. But there it is. Ta Da!

The Beekeeper's Quilt. Knit in whatever leftovers (and some lovely mini-skeins from a raveler!) I have laying around. 

I have photographed the hexipuffs this quilt requires with my tennis shoe for size comparison. In order to make a king sized blanket, I'll need to knit literally 1000 of these. 995 to go. I'll be done in roughly... five years. Oh well. They're a good train project, at least.

And lastly... (ZOMH we're actually at the last project!)

The Raindrop Cardigan! Knit in Aslan Trends Pima Clasico mill ends. 

"Now wait just a second!" you're likely shouting at the screen, "That looks an awful lot like a finished cardigan!" you say. And you'd be right. I finished the knitting and blocked it last night. I hung it on a broom handle which was set on top of the shower curtain rod and the corner of the shower's ceramic wall. I pulled it off this morning. 

However, it isn't finished. 

It still doesn't have any buttons.

Dear Cat

... I've noticed that recently you've become remarkably adept at giving me dirty looks. When I decide to take a cute picture of you instead of petting you,

when I tell you to stop trying to eat my lily plant on the patio because it can make you sick, when I wake you up to get you off my bed so I can sleep,

and then when I tell you that no, you may not sleep in my room because you don't sleep, you walk all over my sensitive bits, you look at me like you're a teenager and I'm some out of touch parent that's ruining your life. 

Yes, I know it's your apartment and I just live here. But if we're going to be roommates then I'm going to have to insist upon a few ground rules. 

1) You are not to give me dirty looks when I am doing Things That Are Not Petting The Cat such as sleeping, eating, preparing food, cleaning out your litterbox, working, and standing up.

2) You are not to sit outside my bathroom, crying to be let in and shoving your paws under the door.

3) You are to...

Aw...

Hehe... what was I saying? Was it something important? Must not have been. Oh, just keep being adorable, kitty. 

The Ubiquitous Jazzy

She's everywhere and in everything! Remember last post when I said I was working on getting a cat? Well, now that I've found my camera (things tend to disappear for short periods while moving) I can show you some pictures!

 "Hey look! Stringy thingies!"

"Your pillows are quite comfortable. Wait, I mean my pillows."

"I don't care that I have a nice cat tree. This sink is much more fun."

"Can you see me? I'm good at hiding."

"You can keep Mr. Chan and his crazy Kung Fu stunts. Looks too strenuous. I'm going to sleep."

Ah yes, Jasmine (I call her "Jazzy" for short). You'll have a following in no time.

Pictures of You

Sometimes I'm afraid to show people what I look like. Especially on a day where I woke up at 5AM and couldn't get back to sleep. So now I look a little strange, because it feels like it should be late afternoon, but really it's only about noon-ish and I'm ready for a nap.

Anyway, this is what I look like:



Beware of Stash. It attacks.

Remember: there's still a contest.

Could it Be?

Is it here? Could fall finally be coming to Salt Lake?



Yes, I believe it is! Today is currently topping out at a whopping 68 degrees! I'm so happy. I'm tired of the 90+ degree heat.

It's That Time!

Oh, you don't know what time?

I think you can guess!


Here's a hint...


It involves Malabrigo Sock in Boticelli Red.


I can hear you all screaming at me to tell you!

The winner of the sock yarn is jenifra! Congrats! You just won the sock yarn! (Extra special thanks to Blazing Needles in Salt Lake City for the help picking out the yarn)

Thanks to all of you. Moral of the story is don't get between knitters and their yarn.

What do you think?

Pioneer Day Part II

So, I promised pics, so here's pics.

This is the ropes course. Awesomeness. I came down shaking with the adrenaline rush.

This is where Allison and some others did a Spice Girls lip sync. Very funny.



We played an awful lot of Phase 10. Very fun/infuriating game.

We went out on the lake in canoes.

We did eventually have to come back in. Good timing, too. We were all amazingly sunburned.

All in all, good weekend.