Knitting Musings

Prisoner of Astrakan

(thanks to Erin for the title!)

Yeah - due mostly to an almost complete lack of knitting time, the Debbie Bliss Shawl Collar Cardi is stuck - here's the back. Both fronts and both sleeves are complete, but the shawl collar is huge. I hope to finish this before the end of time.

So instead of making progress on my sweater, I'm making progress on my Cherry Blossom koigu sock. It's a simple lace-rib pattern, over 50 sts on size 1 needles.

Speaking of socks - another knitter has succumbed to their siren song - K and I met up early on Friday morning at a local *
And yes, I started her on Koigu. It's like the drug dealers - you give them the good stuff so they'll get hooked faster.

And that pretty much maxes out my knitting content. I have 2 pairs of socks to photograph, but apparently they didn't pose, on their own, for the camera, so no pics yet.

So, using the "fallback" technique common among knitbloggers seeking to distract from the lack of knit-blogging -

PRESENTING THE CUTE ANIMAL SERIES!!!

On Saturday, S and I headed to REI to use our 20% off coupons, and buy a tent and a few other things. Because REI is one of the best companies out there, they allow dogs in their stores, and even have a little doggy water bowl by the drinking fountain.

So Abby helped us pick out this tent - we got the full-sized version because she thought the little one would be a bit cramped.

Next, Abby consulted with S about the comfort level of the various sleeping-pads. In this picture, Abby seems content to allow S to judge the pad for himself.

However, true-to-form, Abby quickly decided that she needed a bit more room. Eventually, S ended up testing the other pads on the floor.

But it was good that she rested up - on Sunday morning, we headed down to the Tidal Basin to check in with the Cherry Blossoms -

- which are not quite blooming yet, but are really really close. But do you know what's even more exciting than some stupid flowers on some stupid trees?

DUCKS.

In fact, even though these particular ducks were not playing fair and wouldn't come out of the water, ducks are SO interesting that we had to resort to the "carries" method to even get to the Tidal Basin. Later on, we had to revisit the ducks a few more times - you know, just in case they decided to get out of the water, waddle over to Abby, and let her catch them.

Eventually, though, we convinced Abby that the ducks were selfish little bastards who really wouldn't be coming over to play, and that maybe it was time to go home and get some breakfast.

Apparently, she got enough exercise on her field trip, because this is what she looked like on the ride home:

And finally, in the ultimate attempt to distract you from the complete dearth of substantive content in this post, I present:

Dog, Cat, and Sunny Spot

Labels: Abby, Astrakan Cardigan, Socks

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Must Take Pictures of Knitting!!!

So this week is part 2 billion in the "way too busy to breathe" series, brought to you by Law School. There has been the occasional bit of knitting, but I haven't managed to take any pictures. So I figure I'll eventually get around to it, and then I can pretend that all of the finished objects (fine - 2 pairs of socks) - and the progress on the Debbie Bliss Shawl Collar Cardi - represent a great burst of knitting progress.

In the meantime, watch as another "I won't get addicted" knitter falls victim to the siren call of the little needles and the koigu KPPPM.

BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH.

But, like any good enabler, I couldn't let K purchase yarn all by herself - so I had to find some of my own koigu to take home with me. I've started on a pair with the top yarn - the pink - and it completely reminds me of Cherry Blossoms, which is entirely appropriate given that they're about to bloom.

Oh yeah - I should probably take a picture of the new socks, too.

But look! I did take my camera to Knit Happens' Birthday Party on Saturday, and got this great pic of Kristine and her new boyfriend, who was demonstrating the proper way to eat a cupcake. (Hint - the more icing you get on your face, the better!)

Phyl-Phyl, on the other hand, demonstrated the proper way to... um.....

To continue with the "demonstration" theme - Abby is showing off how to get the last little bit of yummy stuff out of a frozen kong ball. The secret, apparently, it to stick your butt in the air at precisely the right angle for maximum leverage.

And here, she's demonstrating the proper reaction when your "owner" comes home from a weekend out of town.

Cricket, meanwhile, has perfected her own "pet my tummy" position. If you look closely, you can see the tiny patch of white fur on her tummy by her back legs - she has about 5 white hairs.

Oh! And something I discovered thanks to the fancy-pants spa in Santa Fe -

Orange Infused Water
- take 1 orange (or 1/2 grapefruit, or a lime/lemon, or some combo of various citrus fruits)
- cut it into very thin slices
- place in pitcher
- cover with filtered water and refrigerate
- refill as needed

It is SO yummy! I find it lasts about 3-4 days before I have to switch the fruit out.

Labels: Abby, Cricket, Random

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Why is Spring Break So Short????

Mondays and Tuesdays are my killer days this semester, and somehow, just coming off of spring break makes them seem even worse.

But enough with the whining. Before I left, I managed to finish both sleeves and 1 front of the Debbie Bliss Shawl Collar Cardi. I even managed to take a few pictures of the finished front -

see?

oops - sorry - looks like there's a big black spot in the picture. I'll try again.

Hmmm - that didn't work - the black spot is even bigger, and is now blurry!

I've basically given up trying to get a Cricket-free picture of the cashmerino astrakan. Cricket is rapidly becoming quite the yarn snob - she actually drools when she gets to snuggle up with cashmere, and we all know what happens when she sees the Cormo. And now the cashmerino has been added to the list of "yarns Cricket sits on if given even the smallest opportunity."

Speaking of knitting, I finished a pair of socks and started another on my spring break trip - I haven't done the photo-shoot for the finished pair yet, but here's the pair-in-progress:

The astute among you will notice that the background of this picture is surprisingly white, wet, and cold. That's right - I went to New Mexico for spring break, and lucked out - it was cold, windy, and snowy. The one weekend that the weather was crappy, there I was...

and sorry to you folks in Minnesota - it's totally my fault you guys got like a foot of snow on Monday. I flew through Minneapolis on my way home, and looks like I brought the crappy weather with me.

but it was still spring break, and I got to hang out, watch lots of basketball, and relax. So it was a good trip, even if the weather made us want to stay in our PJs until well into the afternoon. The highlight was definitely this place.... don't let the $$$$ on most of the spa services throw you - for $15, we spent like 5 hours alternating between the women's hot tub, the cold dip (45 degrees - yikes!), and the sauna. It was absolutely blissful.

Curiously, "blissful" is exactly the word I would use to describe the packages I found waiting for me when I got home -

check out the beautiful wrapping, complete with a personalized Virginia keychain.

Inside? The beautiful vintage kimono fabric bag I ordered, plus a little change purse bonus! They're BEAUTIFUL. Thanks to someone's enabling ways, I bought these through this etsy seller. HIGHLY recommended - I may be ordering more soon!

and look - even Abby got a present, thanks to the beautiful wrapping paper!

But Kniterary Girl did make up for her evil enabling ways by sending me a box of cotton - just for the cost of the postage!!!

oooooo - cotton goodies!!!

and no, I didn't need more yarn. But since when has need had anything to do with it? ;)

Labels: Abby, Astrakan Cardigan, Cricket, Socks

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Spring Break

WOOO HOOOO!!!! I Finally have a little bit of a breather in the frenetic law-school race - the glorious, fantastic, wonderful spring break. Sure, I have to do some reading, and naturally, I had to spend the first two days editing my Note, but now it's vacation time. I plan to finally get through some of my Netflix, and to catch up on my knitting... at least until I get on the plane on Wednesday to fly to beautiful Albuquerque for a few days. :)

In the meantime, though, not too much knitting has been accomplished. So I'm distracting you with cute animals.

Here, Abby is demonstrating that the placement of my bedroom windows makes them the perfect "drive-thru." She likes to come over for treats. Cricket, however, is less than amused.

She was much more amused when my roommate tried to study on the couch... clearly, she was interfering with the sunny spot.

And finally, here's Abby suffering horribly at my parents' house while K and Grandma do some knitting. Yes, I'm aware that this is clearly dog-abuse, especially since we didn't let her eat any of these: