No Time for Pictures

There are now 40 knitting days left until Christmas. 40. And about 36 left for me to finish up everything I need to in lab before we leave to go to Texas for the holidays. And, of course, on top of the two lace shawls I need to finish for my mom and mother-in-law, as well as the scarf I need to start and finish for my sister for her Dec 8 college graduation, I decided that this year it would be a great idea for me to make all of our Christmas cards. And next Tuesday my father-in-law and sister-in-law arrive for a week. Must knit. Must pipette. Must make Christmas cards. I am going to need a vacation before all of this is said and done.

Silly Pictures

It seems that everything around me has been conspiring to keep me from posting for the last 2 weeks. I have a couple of FOs to share, but unfortunately about the time that I finished them Winter arrived in Seattle. I kept waiting for "natural light" so the colors would at least be somewhat accurate, but with the "sun" coming up at 8, setting at 4:45, and constant cloud cover all day long, it may be quite a few months before I can take a decent picture again. Or I'm going to have to start taking FOs to lab, so I can dash outside if the sun manages to break through the clouds for a couple seconds.

Of course, once I finally gave in and took a picture using indoor lighting, the blog refused to upload the pictures. So, without further ado:



This is the first half of the wrap I am making my mother for Christmas. The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk in Bronze, and when I bought it in July after my General Exams it was the most expensive yarn I had ever purchased (that title has now been claimed by that tiny skein of Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere and Silk that I used for my grey scarf). Unfortunately, I kept changing my mind about the pattern and ripping it back. I finally settled on a design in late September and it has come along fairly well since then. I am waiting to block it until I have finished the second half and joined them together. There are many more pictures, but I can't get them to load, so maybe later.

Seattle in October

When the weather is crappy in Seattle, it really is quite crappy. But when it is beautiful - wow.

NOT a Christmas Present

Instead of working on Christmas presents I spent the past week and a half playing with that tiny grey ball of cashmere/silk I bought at the yarn tasting. It is my first completed lace-ish project, and I feel like it turned out very well. Especially since I had never, ever blocked anything before. Now I just have four ends to weave in: I should just have 2, but Socrates chewed through the yarn when I was four inches from the end.



So, without further ado, here's the fun stuff:

Yarn: 180m of Hand Maiden 65% Cashmere, 35% Silk

Needles: Clover Bamboo, size 8

Pattern: A Molly original, but based on the Foliage Lace in the Vogue Stitchionary Volume 1

A Little Falling Down...

at the "yarn tasting" at my favorite little shop, Hill Top Yarn on Queen Anne Hill. The event featured Hand Maiden and Fleece Artist, super-nice yarns that are handpainted by a mother-daughter team in Canada. I already had 2 skeins of their sea silk and I wanted another two skeins for a similar project. The first two skeins I bought I happened upon this summer, and they just happened to be the last two skeins in the shop (the fact that the whole shipment had arrived less than 24 hours before I bought the last 2 skeins should tell you something about the popularity of this yarn).

Now, I am usually not an impulse yarn buyer. In fact, I don't go into yarn shops unless I specifically know what color and type of yarn I am looking for. So, understandably, my self control held the spending in check - that is, until I actually arrived at the yarn shop. And then the excitement and the pretty colors and the 20% off and the jealous thought that someone else was going to take that skein home got to me. So, in the end, I rescued 5 poor skeins from having to go home with anyone else. And then I got home and did a little math. I. BOUGHT. 2. KILOMETERS. OF. YARN.

Previously, the Sea Silk I bought this summer was the most expensive yarn I had ever purchased. That little silver ball of 65% cashmere and 35% silk now holds that title. A warning to you all: if you pick up this yarn you will buy it, so touch at your own peril. The red and the green are both Casbah - 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Please do not ask me what I am going to do with them. The fact that I, myself, do not know means that instead of working on all of the Christmas presents in progress what I really want to do is sit down and play with this new yarn. Say it with me now... Christmas presents. Christmas presents. Christmas presents. We'll see how long I last.

For Knitting Eyes Only

So, welcome to my new super-secret knitting blog. Most of my knitting projects are gifts, so I can't talk about them on my regular blog, since the gift recipients are usually the people who read my blog. Hence, the secret knitting blog. Ta Da.