Cuteness and An FO

First up is the Cuteness. Emma and C.C. all sacked out for the night. We got this soft side snugle house for them a couple of years ago at wally world. They liked it so well that we went back to get a second one so they could each have their own. There were none left so they have to share the one. I really don't think they mind sharing though. These two get along great. When it gets really cold I put one of the kitty pies inside for extra warmth. But, thanks to global warming I haven't had to do that this winter.


In the Finished Object catagory the Swallow Tail is blocked and ready to show off. Even though this is a pretty simple lace pattern I had a heck of a time finishing it. The main problem was trying to watch too much tv while also trying to keep track of charts. I would knit a few rows and rip back a few rows. Knit a few more, rip back a few. I probably could have left a couple of the mistakes in and no one would have ever noticed. But, I would know they were there and it would drive me insane. Then there was the whole running out of yarn problem. I ended up having to order another skein and finally finished it. I learned a lot about lace construction while working on this project. I also discovered I enjoy knitting lace. A year ago I couldn't imagine that I would ever have any desire to knit lace. Now I find myself surfing the web for other lace projects to tackle. The next one will probably be a rectangular stole. Something very wispy and elegant.

Project Specs can be found here.

Happy 2007

To start the year off on the right foot here is an almost FO. I ran out of yarn with only 3 rows left. After ordering another skein of yarn I finished the knitting Saturday night. Here she is in all her unblocked glory. She now measures 38" x 19". Wonder how much it will grow during blocking?


Project Specs:
Pattern: Swallow Tail Shawl, IK Fall '06
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca, 100% alpaca
Color: 308, navy
Needles: aluminum size 7US circs
Mods: instead of working the P5tog for the nups I slipped 2 pw, p3tog, pass slipped stitches over. This prevented much cursing during the nupping stage.


Crazy Aunt Purl recently made a reference to taking a picture a day for a year. While I won't promise that I can actually follow through with such huge commitment I will post a picture that I took today. This picture of DH was taken as we were leaving wally world today. (yeah, we live exciting lives. lol.) If you could read the Sonic sign you would see that it says "Happy New Year". Also notice the flag flying at half-staff in honor of President Ford. Doesn't DH look happy. I can always count on a good grumble anytime the camera is pointed in his direction.


I also took another picture today. This one is of a particular part of our landscape. I enjoy taking pictures of our property from the same vantage points at varous times of the year and have been doing so since we first bought the land. It's interesting to look at the changes that have taken place over time. For this project I thought it would be fun to photograph this particular corner of our house. During the course of the year you will see that some of those sticks are actually a cherry tree, a crepe myrtle, a clematis, a japanese maple and various flowers. You may even get to see the occasional alpaca behind the fence in the background. Something I'm just noticing is that our siding and sidewalk need a good cleaning. Oh, well something else to add to the spring cleaning list. While I plan to take a picture of this corner each week I won't bore you all with each of them. I really don't think there will be enough change from week to week to make each picture blogworthy. Maybe one a month will be enough to see how beautiful this corner can be. (At least I think it's beautiful since it contains some of my favorite landscape plants.)

For all of the football fans out there I would like to share a little joy. My fantasy football team, The Alpacas (really, would the team have been named anything else?), won the league championship. How great is that? I'm am so thrilled to have won. It was a great season. A big shout out to Vera for organizing this league of yarn addicts.

And to top it all off I made THE LIST, the Third Annual JenLa Knit Blog Awards.
Thanks to you both. Not just for putting me on your list, thereby guaranteeing more blog traffic for me, but for keeping us entertained with your straightforward take no prisoners style of blogging. If it hadn't been for you I may never have tried the Henry's Attic sock yarn. I love the stuff.