Making the most of every minute...

Day XVIII

Day XVII

Day XVI

 My boss said I could take off early since it was a quiet afternoon ~ so I did!  I managed to get home in time to get some daylight photos of my latest three kal shawl pieces.  Much truer in color than the last batch, not that I didn't like the amber shade they appeared!  I finished the spacer for Day 19 in my car before work this morning while I was drinking my coffee, so I should be able to get that one done tonight.  Three quarters done...or more if my yarn doesn't hold out til the end!).

View from our deck

 Here's proof that the sun does shine around here once in awhile, even if it is just peeking between the hills and the clouds.  That's enough for me!  Can't get enough of that sight this time of year!

Pink Polka Dotted Pre-Primered Attic

Now I still have time to get one last coat of primer on the knitting attic ~ man, those giant pink splotches are tough to cover up ~ before I whip up a batch of Kelli's Tuna Noodle Casserole and then settle down for an evening of knitting.  I love unexpected free time during the week ~ time to go make the most of it!

A New Scarf For 2011

Guess who's wearing their new scarf to work... don't you just love when you've put all the work into something like this and nobody notices. I'll find out today.

I love it. That's what matters.

Now I can't wait to knit with big yarn and big needles.

Melissa, this scarf might not even be here without you.~Thanks

Half light ~

I feel like the sun is impatiently waiting to burst through this never ending cloudiness and ground saturating rain.  We have huge lakes of standing water in our backyard that Dozer is a little too interested in and it's a constant battle to get him unmuddied when he comes in from stomping in the puddles.  Aside from that, the dreary atmosphere is not the best for great photos but I'll share my newest completed days on the kal shawl.  It really is the same yarn ~ it appears amber (beautiful) in these pics but it's still the same 'rose' yarn I've been slowly knitting away at.

Day XV

Day XIV

Day XIII

I am enthralled with day 15 ~ it proved to be quite the concentration knit.  I'm getting much better at reading my lace instead of counting stitches to keep on track, but I just couldn't see any rhyme or reason do this day until I was close to finished.  But, boy, when I finally got what was going on, I love it!!!  I really do find the more complicated a pattern is to knit up, the more I'm impressed and pleased with what I see at the end.

So, I'm slowly plugging away at this kal and also working on my gift for a friend project so I won't finish either of them quickly, but they'll both get done eventually.  Tomorrow should prove to be a fairly knitless day (sigh) since I'm planning on getting my knitting attic primed and ready to paint.  Very exciting!  Now, to buckle down and pick a paint color....decisions, decisions......

Errata - Spacer section between day 15 & 16  ~ I think the error may have been corrected in copies of the pattern that were downloaded later on in the month of December, but I downloaded mine daily as the pieces were released so I've been finding some errors that may not be on everyone else's copies.  My download for 'Day 16 Spacer Section' said to increase ONE stitch in the first row for a total of 86st, and then decrease THREE stitches evenly on row 8 for a total of 83st.  Row one was easy to figure out since day 15 ended with 83 stitches, so you actually INCREASE 3 STITCHES EVENLY IN ROW 1 (for a total of 86 stitches).  Row 8 was a little more difficult since I had to work backwards from the chart til I got the math correct.  Instead of decreasing by 3st, INCREASE 2 STITCHES EVENLY IN ROW 8 (for a total of 88st).  I have no idea if this will help anybody but I thought I'd share anyway ;)

Worst Knitting Photo EVER!

Greetings all!

I have officially fallen behind schedule on this knit. I have only completed 14 days of patterns and here it is already the 18th. Sigh. I don't really have hopes of finishing up in time to cross the finish line on the 24th, but who knows. Maybe the knitting gods will smile down on me. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you what must surely be the worst knitting photo of all time:

Here We Are Soaked and Tired~

We still look great after walking blocks and blocks in the pouring down rain,lugging our treasures around town. The cab to Voodoo would have been the way to go~

Thanks ladies for such fun memories~

STP Yarn Train 2011

King Street Station

After getting off to a rough start which included spilling an entire cup of coffee in my lap at the train station as the train was boarding (managed to soak my jeans, my camera and my cell phone all in one fell swoop ~ no damage done other than a big stain on my pants so no harm no foul!), we headed south a little drowsy but excited for our first trip to Portland on the annual Yarn Train sponsored by the Snohomish Knitters Guild.


my first train ride ever!

 The trip down was fun as we started waking up and visiting with other knitters, and watching the light of day break outside our window.


left to right: Kelli, me (see the stain on my knee?), Trudy, Sherry

 It proved to be a rough day for a walking tour since it rained a hard, non-stop, torrential downpour the entire time we were in Oregon. We opted for a taxi to our first stop of the day, Knit Purl, a great shop with a stellar staff that made us all feel welcome and gave us some free swag as well as our 10% event day discount.


Union Station in Portland

 Our second stop was Dublin Bay, one of my favorite stops of the day.  It's beautiful inside and I wish I could have sat and knitted for awhile in front of the fireplace to dry out from the rain.  They had a great book selection and I picked up a copy of 'Knitted Lace of Estonia' by Nancy Bush, among other things.  I didn't realize until I uploaded pictures when I got home that I was lucky enough to catch our guest KAL blogger, Morgen, while she was shopping (that's her in the gray sweater below).


Dublin Bay

 Our third stop was Twisted, not on the walking tour but since we were taking a taxi everywhere we had some extra time so we headed out to see if Sivia Harding was there.  This is her home shop below, where she works.  We weren't lucky enough to be there on a day when she was there, but the shop was offering a 15% discount for the tour so of course, we shopped a bit...


Twisted

 ...and Trudy got to rest her weary knees and do a little reading.


Trudy

 Our last stop was Urban Fiber Arts, which had some great things we hadn't seen anywhere else during the day, but we were tired and hungry and the shop was really crowded so we decided not to linger and went down the street to Deschutes Brewery & Public House.  I had a fantastic breakfast-lunch-dinner (we hadn't really eaten all day!) ~ grilled sirloin with rosemary jus, smashed potatoes with white cheddar, bacon and hops, grilled squash and an ice cold Cascade Ale (one of my new favorites!).  I think everyone enjoyed the food as much as I did but I was so engrossed in my meal I don't think I even asked how their food was!


are you drooling??

We found some amazing stash builders (that's mine in the above photo), got lost trying to walk to Voodoo Doughnuts for the still elusive bacon maple bars (we ended up in a reaaaaaly bad neighborhood and quickly decided it was time to turn around and get our butts to the train station), had lots of laughs (broken umbrellas, crazy taxi drivers, almost leaving Sherry behind in Portland....I'm so sorry Sherry!!!  I lost my mind!), and had a fantastic adventure.  Thanks to everyone at the guild who helped to organize this trip ~ especially Mo! ~ what a huge undertaking!  You gave 200 knitters, us included, a day full of cherished memories!

Watch out Portland, here we come!!!!  I could hardly sleep last night ~ feels like Christmas morning all over again ;)