Softy softness

Don't you love it when goodies arrive in the mail?

More of the cotton/silk softnesss that I love was in my mailbox this evening. I ordered it from Webs last week, but was getting antsy because it took a whole six days to arrive. I don't understand why they can't get it in the mail the minute I place my order :o)

This color is called "Fairytale."

This one is "Guilded Lilys." I had buyer's remorse earlier today when I went to the website and looked at this color again, but now that I've seen it in real life I'm very happy with it.

Yesterday I started working on my March artist trading cards for my swap group. Instead of selecting a theme, Cory sent each person in the group a packet of embellishments to use on our cards as we want. Fun, fun. I can't show you mine yet because they aren't finished, but I'll post them in a few weeks after everyone has received them.

My poor baby Charlie. He was very sick the other night and I didn't know what to do. He let out the saddest little meow every time I tried to touch him. Charlie seems better now, but I'm still keeping a close eye on him.

This is my Ishbel shawl I recently started working on. I'm knitting it with 100% wool, something I rarely use. Bamboo, cotton, and silk blends are so much more comfortable next to my skin. But I like the colors and the way it is striping, so I'm going to try to stick with the wool.

When I left my office this evening, the wind was blowing so hard I thought I was going to be swept away. I wanted to take a picture of the swaying trees, but it was so cold I had to run to my car. It hailed on the drive home, which was pretty exciting because we rarely get interesting weather around here. When I got home I opened the bedroom window so I could listen to the sound of the rain as I worked on my Ishbel. I love to knit by the window to whatever sounds are going on outside ... birdsong, rain, the rustle of leaves, children playing.

Pampered

I've been feeling like I'm way overdue for some pampering, so Friday evening I took myself out for dinner and then went to the nail salon for a pedicure. Oooh, it was heavenly.

This afternoon I went to a day spa for a massage. Things didn't start out well. When I arrived they led me to a quiet sitting area and said someone would be right with me. I waited and waited. When I started getting irritated, I tried to distract myself with an In Style magazine. When I'd read the whole thing and still no one had said a word to me, I marched out to the reception desk and asked what time it was. It was a half hour past my appointment time! The receptionist was confused as to who I was and why I was upset, and then tried to tell me my appointment was for a different time and a different kind of massage. Grrrrr. Not a good way to relax.

Fortunately the massage therapist had magical hands and my anger soon dissipated. By the time the hour was up I was completely blissed out.

I started a new knitting project this weekend, the Ishbel shawl. I'm using handpainted sock yarn, and while I'm still not sure the colors are the right choice, so far it's a fun knit. I'd post a picture, but first I'd have to take one and that would involve disturbing the cat draped across my lap. I can't bring myself to do it.

Several months ago Thimbleanna wrote about the book The Help on her blog, and I'm finally listening to the audio. I'm halfway through and it is SO good. I think it's destined to become one of my favorite books.

Have you seen the movie Waitress with Keri Russell? It's sweet. I watched it for the second time last night and enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time. Do movies make you cry? I often end up sobbing when I watch movies, especially during the happy ones.

Hope you're having a good weekend.

A passing thought

I’m not up on the latest styles of clothes and bags, and I almost always choose comfort over fashion. Fortunately, I have the type of job where you can wear whatever you want and no one cares. I spent plenty of years in pantyhose and pumps and I am SO glad those days are behind me.

(I never actually wore shoes this painful.)

But today I wondered for a moment or two if perhaps I should have a proper handbag and wear something other than hippy sandals on my feet.

I don’t usually give that kind of thing much thought, but I got an unexpected glimpse of myself on my lunch hour and was a bit startled. I was at a Hawaiian BBQ place, drinking orange soda and reading Tempted, a teenage vampire novel, and beside me was my Twilight tote bag. I use it as a purse/knitting bag combo because I have separation issues with my yarn. (I need it close by at all times. Some people have security blankets, I have security yarn.)

For a moment I felt like such a weirdo, a forty-something woman carrying a bag with Edward and Bella on it, reading a book written for junior high school girls while dressed in flannel and clunky leather sandals.

(These are my sandals I wear almost every day.)

I turned the Twilight bag around so no one could see who was on it and returned to my soda and novel. The grown-up handbag and sensible shoes were just a passing thought. One of the benefits of being forty-something is even though I might be a little bit embarrassed by my love of Twilight, teen fiction, and hippy look, I’m not going to change or try to fit in.

I just wouldn’t feel comfortable.


Peace!

Giveaway Winner

This morning I used the random number generator to pick a name for my Blogiversary giveaway and the winner is:

Rachel of Not-So-Plain Jane.

I'll be sending your stitch markers to you this weekend Rachel. Thanks everyone for participating.

Well, it's done.

I finished my Forest Canopy Shawl last night and it's blocking on my futon right now. Hurray!

It's smaller than I thought it would be and I had a little trouble with the bind-off, but other than that things went smoothly. I figured it would take me at least two or three months to complete this project, so it was exciting to finish it in four weeks. A big thank you to Kate at Lazy Kate Creates for initiating the Adventures in Lace knit-along. It motivated me to learn to knit lace and I'm completely smitten.

I feel like my blog has been pretty low energy lately and I know I haven't been posting as much as I used to. I've been debating whether to talk about why that is and decided to just be honest about it. It's tempting to only write about happy sunshiney things, but doesn't feel very real. Since mid-January I've been consumed with problems with a disruptive neighbor and it's been hellish. Things came to a head last weekend when the police got involved, and the problem neighbor will be moving out next week. I'm looking forward to getting my life back and feeling happy again instead of beaten and broken down. The stress of the situation had begun to permeate every area of my life. I learned some painful lessons, especially about not allowing myself to be bullied.

On that cheerful note, I'm going to turn off the computer and turn my attention to American Idol. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my giveaway-- I'll pick a winner Thursday morning.

It's Raining Yarn

Actually, it's raining rain here. We had a torrential downpour late this afternoon for several hours, which I spent curled up in a fleece blanket watching Everybody's Fine. What a great movie.

I spent the morning at Stitches West with my friend Cathy and had a great time. My purchases included Valley Yarns Goshen yarn, a blend of Peruvian cotton, Modal, and silk. I intended to buy soft yarn in solid colors for a couple of small wraps I want to knit, and I think this will do the trick. There was lots and lots of gorgeous sock yarn and some silk I think I might have drooled on, but overall I managed to control myself.

I picked up a couple of these little notion cases. They are the size of a soap box, but you flip it open and it has small compartments for markers, pins, embroidery needles, etc.

Speaking of stitch markers, Cathy bought me these cute red and blue markers made by Miss Purl that come with their own tiny tin box.

I like them so much I bought a set in blue to offer as a giveaway in celebration of my one year Blogiversary earlier this month and as a thank you for your friendship and support.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment and include your email address if it isn't on your Blogger profile. This giveaway is just for those who read my blog regularly, so there's no need to mention it on your blog. I'll use the random number generator to select the winner on Thursday morning, March 4th. This giveaway is open to my readers in any country.

Thank you for making my first year of blogging so wonderful.

Fickle Girl

Yesterday I returned some sock yarn I didn't like and exchanged it for this Cascade Heritage Paints yarn. I made a swatch last night because I wasn't sure about the colors (they are a bit washed out in the picture), and it knit up beautifully. In fact, I like it so much I carried the ball of yarn with me in my purse today, taking it out periodically to admire it throughout the day. I'm thinking of using it for an Ishbel shawl.

You might remember I took a toe-up sock class last month, and this month I've been learning cuff-down. Things were going fine until last Sunday's class when I used the wrong needle to pick up the heel stitches. While trying to transfer the stitches to the correct one I dropped a few, and while trying to rescue them a dozen more fell off the needle. Part of me (the part that is still three years old) wanted to burst in to tears, throw the whole mess on the table, stomp out the door and never ever knit another sock.

Fortunately the teacher noticed I was drowning in dropped stitches and took it out of my hands. She was able to get all the stitches back on the correct needle, a small miracle. I'm thinking I like toe-up socks waaaaay better at this point. Actually I'm thinking I'm not as in love with sock knitting as I thought I was.

And that's because my new love is lace! I set up my grandmother's old dining room table in my bedroom to work on my shawl and just love to go straight to the table when I get home from work and start knitting.

(This picture uploaded sideways ... oh well.)

I wish I could capture how vibrant the colors are in this Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk Yarn. I can't say enough wonderful things about this yarn ... it's incredibly soft, the colors are rich, and it is such a pleasure to knit with. I'm planning on buying more in a couple different colorways very soon.

My shawl is up to 195 stitches, and my collection of markers is growing as well. How did I ever knit without them? I'm totally hooked.

It's cold and pouring rain outside this evening. I'm going to curl up on the couch and watch American Idol. Have a good night!

Stitches is coming! Stitches is coming!

Stitches West, that is.

If you aren't familiar, it's a big knitting show that comes to town once a year. There are classes, demonstrations, fashion shows, and a market with yarn and needles and books and accessories and so much more. I really look forward to it and take time off work so I can attend the morning of the first day, before it gets packed. The Stitches Market is overwhelming enough without having to elbow and glare your way through a crowd to get a close-up look at the latest in hand-painted yarn or get your hands on the discounted bamboo needles.

Last year I took two classes, one on needle felting and one on short rows, but this year decided not to take any because they are a bit pricey. I'd rather spend the same amount on a four-week class at my local yarn shop than a two-hour class at Stitches.

I went through my stash this weekend, gathered up a grocery bag of yarn and gave it to Dogwood, who will use it to knit scarves and blankets for charity. It felt good to admit to myself that I won't ever use that yarn and then let it go. Now I can shop at Stitches without quite as much guilt.

The show begins on Friday, so this week I'm going to decide on a few patterns I want to knit in the coming months. That way I can attend the market with a shopping list for specific projects rather than buying yarn just because it's soft or shiny or affordable. But I'm sure there will be at least a little bit of impulse shopping ... that's what makes Stitches fun.

Lace Update & Artist Trading Cards

Thank you everyone for your tips on knitting lace, it helped me tremendously. If it weren't for you, I would have given up on the shawl. Instead, I'm making good progress and enjoying it so much that I've been working on it in my car during my lunch hour at work. And I've already started scoping out my next lace project, which will probably be another shawl.

The theme for my artist trading card swap group in February was "Vintage Valentine." (If you aren't familiar with artist trading cards, they are original artwork on a 3.5" by 2.5" card.) I couldn't figure out what to do and was a bit overwhelmed with my lace shawl and the sock knitting class, so I bought a bunch of stickers and pre-cut tags at Michaels and went to town with glitter and glue. They are simple but I enjoyed making them.

I made a few more, but forgot to take pictures before I sent them.

This one is a bit different because it is for a "Love" themed swap. I used postcards and lace from an antique store.

Would you like to win some handspun yarn? Check out the giveaway over at Lazy Kate Creates. Congrats to the talented Kate on her 100th post!