Caricia completed
I wanted a portable project to work on while I was at MDSW so I tossed this yarn and the pattern into my bag. I had to finish up my mom’s Mother’s day socks on the way over but on the way back I started this shawl. I then took it with me to Germany, knitting on it diligently the whole flight over. Until I was short a stitch, then I tinked back a row and was still short a stitch. Then I ripped the whole repeat and was still short a stitch. Mind you this was oh 6 hrs into my flight and was roughly about 1 am, I should have just gone to sleep! I picked it back up the next evening and knit the repeat again but was still short a stitch so I didn’t do much else on it until I got home. When I got home I ripped the repeat one last time vowing that perchance this time it would work. And you know what? It did. So lord only knows what I was doing while I was sleep deprived but after that final time of walking through the repeat slowly this shawl did nothing but fly off my needles. I really really liked the pattern and will probably do more of her patterns in the future. 
I love my shawl! Pictures below.
Description: Icicle Caricia
Pattern: Caricia by Anne Hanson from KnitSpot
Yarn used: 1 skein of Yarn Pirate Merino/Tencel sock in Colorway Icicle (Merino, tencel ) 100g / 400 yds
Care Instructions: handwash
Needle Size: US 4 (3.5mm)
Modifications: none
Finished Size: mini
Date Started: 5/3/2009
Date Completed: 5/26/2009
Notes: The charts may have taken me a moment or two to figure out but once I did. Boy did this thing fly off my needles!
Close up of Vivian cables
On January 1 of this year I cast on for the Vivian cardigan from the Winter 2008 Twist Collective. I thought that maybe if I worked diligently I could have it done by the end of February. 
You know I could have been right but well I kept running into snags with it. Things like I dunno casting on for it in the round even though it’s knit back and forth. (Who’s the smartest gal in the world?) Then there was the moth scare which it got caught in the crossfire of. Then for some reason it just ate up all my yarn. Thankfully I ordered a few extra balls. Unfortunately I had knit those into swatches when I was trying to design something a few months ago. As I neared the end of the saddles I decided that while I totally adore hoodies, it’s rare that I put the hood up. Ok I do use them in the rain. I also *really* wanted to complete this cardigan so I could finish it. So I made a short collar and did an i-cord bind off all around. Then I blocked it, and it started to grow, but since I had already bought the zipper I blocked it to the length of the zipper. I think it took me about another month to get around to hand sewing in the zipper. But now it’s done. Officially done. Pictures below.
Description: Amethyst Vivian
Pattern: Vivian by Ysolda Teague
Yarn used: 16.5 skeins of Uruguay Chunky Colorway Amethyst (70% Merino Wool, 20% Baby Alpaca, 10% Silk) 50g / 73yds
Care Instructions: Handwash
Needle Size: US 8 (6.0 mm)
Modifications: No hood. I did an inch or so collar instead with an i-cord bindoff around the edges.
Finished Size: 34″
Date Started: 1/1/2009
Date Completed: 4/17/2009
Notes: You know I kind of adore this sweater. If I were to knit it again (and I plan to) I think I would actually knit it down a size but do something to expand the forearm width. It grew a good amount in blocking and will easily fit over most of my shirts. So I think going down a size would give it a more fitted look than it currently has.
My chum Sairy managed to score some Campari Orange for me in the last TLE update. I really liked the bright orange and reds and had told her thus. Well the yarn arrived at my door today! Isn’t it grand?
Campari Orange
Ok so reds are hard to photograph. This is actually a much deeper color of the shades shown here. Looks like I need to get some good sunlight and try again with the pictures.
Today we spent most of the day hanging out with the boy’s paternal grandparents. We did some Wii bowling which Grandpa got into. It was kind of awesome to hear him ask the boy if he wanted to keep playing. The boy was delighted to continue playing and then his dad rejoined them. I took down all my recently completed knitting projects to show Grandma. She approved my workmanship as usual. It really was a very nice day. But now I am exhausted and must go to bed. Pictures below.
This morning I hung out with my little. We went to brunch and then wandered around town ending with a short nature walk in a park. I also surprised myself by being able to pull myself up onto monkey bars and hanging upside down. I should try that more often, it will help keep up my back strength as well as make me feel good about myself!
After I dropped her off it was just too gorgeous a day to pass up. So I called the boy and told him to ready the motorcycle. We went and “got lost” for about an hour and a half. It was great! We also got to really test out the headsets I bought him for Christmas. They worked really well and I could hear him with no trouble at all. As the driver he tends to get a lot more wind noise so when we’re at speed he can hear me talking but not always hear what I am saying.
Then my good friend Orchid came over to help me work on processing the fleece I bought at MDSW. First we rolled the fleece out and decided what went where on the sheep. The boy came over to verify the softness quotient. 
Then we got to work pulling out locks and placing them into lingerie bags to go in the wash. I took the occasional break to educate the boy on the crimp and other characteristics. We then filled my washer with hot water and let the locks soak. After the soak we spun the excess water out and laid them on the table and drying rack to air dry. They came really clean and I can’t wait to play with them and figure out what I can do. Pictures below.
