Kiri

I realize that as of late I haven't really been updating. I don't know whether it's the summer heat (for the past week we've been in the 110+ range with heat index) or that I'm just spending so much time engrossed in my knitting and Ravelry, that I don't feel I have much of interest to say.

I am, however, knitting quite a bit. And I have a new project to show for it. It only took me two weeks which AMAZES me. I present to you, Kiri:


The Pattern: Kiri

The Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock, 2 skeins

The Needles: US 6's

The Verdict: In this pattern the yarn did all the work. Noro is delightfully dyed and the colors are fantastic. I was a bit apprehensive about the bright orange in this skein, but as it turns out I love the finished product. I love that this photo shows that I didn't make any errors in the pattern, and how clear the lace looks. I'm definitely on a lace kick - you'll be seeing more shawls this summer!


Let's see... what else have I been up to? Yesterday Wes spent the day with friends so I spent my afternoon beating the heat and catching up on Season 1 of True Blood. I only just recently read Book 1 of the Sookie Stackhouse series. The book and the TV show are a bit different, but I have to say that I quite like both. Who thought I would be into vampire series?

We're also still growing the garden. At this point we harvested our big cucumber (it tasted great!), but had to forfeit the rest of the plant. Unfortunately it had succumbed to some kind of root rot or fungus and wasn't growing well. We've cleaned out the container and started with fresh dirt and are putting together another crop! Our peppers are growing great - we've got half a dozen in various sizes and our jalapeno plant is boasting one perfect looking spicy pepper. Remind me not to eat that! Our carrots are harvesting sweet and crunchy. Our tomato plants look full and green and leafy and smell great, but so far we have no tomatoes. We're going to look into fertilizing soon. All told, not a terrible crop for our first foray into gardening!

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

English Lace

Unfortunately this past week I came down with the cold from hell (thank you airplane rides!) and even took a few days off of work. The upside to this is that when I wasn't sleeping or blowing my nose, I did have some extra knitting time. Lately I've been on a shawl and lace kick, and I was able to finish a shawl this weekend!


The Pattern: English Lace Shawl

The Yarn: Cascade Heritage Handpaints, Hollyberry

The Needles: US 6's

The Verdict: This shawl came out quite a bit wider and not as long as I had anticipated. I still love it, however, and in the dark colors I anticipate wearing it quite a bit. The pattern was easy and the lace adds just the right touch of pattern and difficulty to the piece.

Here's a closeup of the lace:

As the vegetable turns.

My my.... what do I spy?

A growing cucumber.


Some tender green peppers.


A budding squash flower.


Some sweet carrot tops.

C'mon summer.

It's starting to warm up for summer and I keep wanting to get out of town. This weekend I did just that!

This past weekend I went to North Carolina to visit Light, her hubby and her adorable little girl! Light and I have known each other since high school. Even though we see each other rarely these days, we can always pick up where we left off and have a great time doing it. Most of what we did this weekend was hang out, eat good food, watch movies and play with her daughter.

When I showed up, I came bearing gifts. Which brings me to the knitting:

For Light's birthday I made her a mesh bag for when she goes to her wonderfully yummy farmer's market right near her house. (We may or may not have had white chocolate baguettes there on Saturday!)


The Project: Everlasting Bagstopper

The Yarn: Fantasy Naturale 100% cotton

The Needles: US 5's and 10.5's

The Verdict: This was a simple easy knit and a great bag. I did make a few mods: I knit the bag with sightly less height, and I tapered the top so it wasn't quite so floppy. Also - while the yarn was perfect for the project, I found the cotton very hard on my hands, so I could only work on this a bit at a time.


I also had to make something for Light's little girl:


The Project: May Day Dress by Vicki Howell

The Yarn: Mandarin Cotton

The Needles: US 3's

The Verdict: This was an easy knit and makes such a cute little summer top. It can start as a dress for a little one and end up as a top, which makes it able to survive more than one summer! I upsized this one a bit and it's a little big for her now, but I'm sure she'll grow into it!


The weekend was a great one away! I had a fabulous time even though I didn't get a lot of sleep (someone is a bit of a finicky sleeper....) But who couldn't love this face?