Somebody Had a Busy Day

While Ben and I were busy at a coffee shop all day (I was relentlessly reading about thymidine and folate and he was studying epidemiology), it seems that back at the ranch two kittens were also very busy. I'm not quite sure how long this took them, but it must have been hours.



The yarn looped around the kitchen table multiple times; it looped above, below, and around the legs on the kitchen chairs;



it went in circles around the desk chair, it was wrapped around the little rolling-storage thingy we have for school supplies;



there were layers and layers on yarn.

It seemed to take forever for me to get it all tidied back up, especially since the cats insisted on playing with/pouncing on/sitting on the yarn as I tried to ball it back up. Amazingly enough, NONE of the yarn had been chewed on or eaten, so other than being a bit linty (what can I say, we're busy and vaccuming hasn't been at the top of anybody's list) the yarn is no worse for the wear. I was planning on showing off some new projects today, but I figured this yarnapalooza took preference. But, I promise, next time there will be plenty of yarn to look at in all sorts of pretty patterns, not as part of giant knots in my floor.

I'm Baaack

On my way home from Christmas break my camera apparently got crunched in my luggage (I say apparently because we think it happened in the luggage - the camera definitely got crunched). I finally got it replaced with a snazzy new Canon S5 that has tons of features I haven't learned how to use yet. I would include a picture, but, well, that would require a second working camera, which I don't have. I have tons of new projects and yarn (including the now-infamous Hill Top Yarn Fire sale), which means it should be pretty interesting reading as I play catch-up.

But, to begin, I wanted to show off a pattern that I had created over Christmas while watching football with my family. If you really want to impress non-knitters, designing and completing a scarf during a 4-hour football game is a great way to go about it. I call this scarf Serafine and the instructions are here. I love this pattern and the bulky yarn means that it is stiff enough to actually stand up underneath a coat, keeping my neck toasty warm and showing of a little bit of the color and texture. The Nashua Creative Focus Chunky I used is a bit itchy, but it is also inexpensive and colorful and warm. I've worn this scarf quite a bit and it is holding up very well, in addition to getting compliments from almost everyone who sees it. Not bad for 4 hours and a $9 ball of yarn.

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.