*whew*

My dimply car has returned from the dead and it wasn't even half the cost of the lowest estimate I was originally given. Thank goodness. Of course, I found out after test driving this wonderful little Corolla that I would have happily walked off the lot with (it was even within my budget!). But that saved me money! And this was the motivation I needed to get off my duff and start up that emergency fund everyone should have.

In other good news,  we won a plane ticket lotto (or at least it seemed like it) and ended up with free tickets to visit the grandparents over Christmas. Part of it sucks because I didn't get to see the local family last Christmas and won't again this Christmas. At the same time, said grandparents were up for a cousin's wedding and the traveling was so rough on them they don't plan to return any time soon. If ever. (I was offered money to elope when it comes time for me to get married.) The most I'll have to pay for this trip is to board the cats for over a week - and that'll be half the price per night that was quoted to me by the old vet before the move. 

I'm already starting my trip packing list:

• nightgown (always forget that)
• knitting
• laptop
• traveling sock for plane knitting
• iPod
• knitting yarn wishlist
• jeans (2 pair + wearing on plane)
• tops (5 days worth, we'll do laundry)
• layers (5 days worth)
• more knitting

Knitting news: I was super lucky and won a 'you finished the shop hop' prize and a door prize for the yarn tour.  The 'you finished the shop hop' prize was a Berroco sock pattern book and two skeins of their sock yarn (awesome colors, one navy and the other jewel toned self striping). The door prize was the Louisa Harding Gathering Roses: The Design Collection book. Lovely book. And it even has a pattern very similar to a cabled sweater I'd planned to try to design for myself (boatneck, cable up the sleeve, split to go in front of and in back of neck, down other sleeve). Her version is knit sideways and the cable is at the neck and cuffs, so it isn't it exactly. But I've never done a knit sideways pattern, and I always try to learn something knew with each pattern I do. I'm not certain if the yarn I have is the right weight for this sweater (it calls for a worsted weight ribbon yarn), but at least one person has done it in malabrigo and that looks lovely. I think any worsted weight wool would be great.

The shop were I won the Louisa Harding pattern finally got the new Linie/On Linie cabled sweater pattern for Outland yarn. I picked it out during the yarn tour, but didn't buy since the pattern wasn't in. And who decided (after telling me she wasn't going to buy yarn when we stopped to pick stuff up) to buy the yarn for it Saturday? Mom. Of course, she got the color I wanted too. So, unless we want to look like twinkies I probably won't be making that any time soon. 

We finally found (online) green fun fur for the bag I'm to make for Mom for Christmas. I'll start the back tonight (have a blue ton of TV to watch that I missed last week) and will hopefully have it done fairly quickly. Not certain when the yarn will arrive, but I'll start on the front when it does. I'd really like to have it finished/felted well before Christmas. (Seriously, if the yarn arrives this week my goal is to finish it this weekend. We'll see how that works, that wrap I was going to finish by the 22nd? Still only just past the half way point.)

Also got the afghan I made for Grandma back. It is not, however, a feather and fan stitch. Very similar, but the YOs are stretched out over three RS rows. I'm tempted to rip and start over. And for good reason. Callie!girl got a little too interested in my knitting last week while I was at work. And I arrived home to find that the start of the afghan was no longer attached to the skeins. *facepalm* The afghan for Grandma also has six stripes, which kinda makes me want to go back and get three other colors. I have ecru, so actually it'd only be two other colors. I just don't know which to go for. It is meant to go with my bedspread which is dark brown and a light blue/aqua. Not a lot of colors there to match. Need to think about it. And come up with a good reason NOT to go to Hobby Lobby.

Been a while...

Been a long while. There was a new job and move in there somewhere. And an addiction to Ravelry. And yarn. And...

Ah well, current knitting queue (Rav links):

Versatility - love this. Can't wait to finish it. Have pretty much reached the halfway point. My goal is to finish this by the 22nd.

Traveling Scarves - I'm in the Ravelry Traveling Scarf group and currently have two at home. The first is finished, the second I'm waiting for the book to catch up to it. My scarf is out there somewhere - but I was told by the last person to knit on it that it was beautiful. Whee!

Noni bags - I love Noni bags. I love knitting them up and felting them. I do not love lining them, adding decorations and handles. As such, I have two almost finished Noni bags somewhere in my house. (I was recently trying to remember where they are - I'm not certain.)

Special Olympics Scarves - 1 finished, I plan to do another. This is actually crochet. *gasp* I know. Me, crocheting. Who'd a thunk. The first scarf just needs to have ends tucked and fringe added. The second will wait until after some other knitting is finished.

Chemo Cap - *facepalm* It just needs a button. Yeah. I know. This is a goal to get finished this week.

Coming up:

Christmas present - felted bag. Yeah, I don't know what I get myself into either.

Ice Queen - My first beaded lace project. Since I know Feather and fan to the point I can do it in my sleep, I figured this would be a good way to try something new.

Twist + Shout - LOVE this. Scored some excellent sale yarn at Elann.com for this. Can't wait to start. Think it is going to be a bit tricksy, so it may wait until the new year.

Hemlock Ring Blanket - the Lace KAL for November. Got some great Encore at the LYS yesterday - and double stamps on my pink card!

Cosima - Local yarn shop tour netted some beautiful Silky Flamme and this pattern book. I can't wait to get started. I just have a few other things to do first.

Flower Basket Shawl - This may be knit out of either some Noro Kureyon Sock or my Knit Picks Shimmer. I may have something else to use the Shimmer on, but I do love the pattern.

February Lady Sweater - Nearly bought the yarn for this over the weekend. Only problem, the day the online shop had it on sale all the colors I wanted were sold out. Next day? Everything fully in stock. While I understand that it is hard to keep a real time update of everything in an online stock, especially if you get new stock in, it still feels like a let down. I think that now I'll wait until one of the LYS's from the yarn tour gets it in (they're looking into it).

I did meet my goal and finished the right front of my bolero last night. I would have cast on for the left front, however I was falling asleep on the sofa. Of course, the minute I laid down I was wide awake, but that's about par for the course for me lately. Hopefully getting up at 6AM now will help me get back to my proper sleep schedule. This morning instead of casting on for the left front, I worked on my swatch for Lucky. This is out of the yarn I bought last Friday at my LYS. They didn't have the required yarn and I didn't mind since I really couldn't afford the Rowan. Instead they had a beautiful grape colored cone yarn that is about the same weight. So I bought an ounce and swatched it up and took it in for an opinion on if it was a bit too thin.

Well I got an opinion (that it looked good, which made me happy because I love the color and didn't want to try a different yarn) and some yarn. I wasn't planning to buy right away (I've been wavering between imposing one of two different knitting rules this summer - either everything I knit is from the stash or for every two projects I finish I can buy yarn for one), but they only had two cones of it left and once it was gone it was gone. So we figured the amount I needed (1.5 lbs), which was more than one cone, so she wound some off of the other cone and I came away very happy that I went in today about said yarn. And the nice thing? Yarn for lucky with this cone yarn cost less than $15. And I got more than enough extra, which I'm going to use to extend my swatch into a summery scarf in the clover lace pattern.

So, the yarn:



This is a better picture for color than the next, though it isn't quite right. This is a very rich grape colored yarn and I love it to death.

All the loot:



Yarn for the Lucky cardigan from Stitch and Bitch Nation, a hank of sari silk yarn (I swear, I've fondled that hank of yarn every time I've been in the shop. I walked around carrying it today, couldn't put it down and figured I might as well get it. Every time I leave without it I risk someone else falling as much in love with it as I have and buying it before me.) and a pair of Addi Turbos in US size 3. My smallest circs go down to size 5 US and I'm thinking that for portability's sake I want to do this on circs.

And, just for fun, my latest yarn storage method:



I got this wine rack about two years ago? And it's only had more than two bottles on it once. Not to mention there really isn't any good place to store it in my kitchen. Now it's serving well as a holder for hanks and skeins of yarn, on the floor next to my 'landing pad', so it's one of the first things you see coming in the door. Not a bad way to welcome guests, if you ask me.

This morning actually started with a trip to the Farmers Market before heading to the LYS. It was hopping and I looked long and hard at the zucchini and fresh tomatoes before limiting my purchases to this:



Yes, a bouquet of peonies. It's a Memorial Day thing. My grandmother always puts homegrown peonies on the graves of family members on Memorial Day. And while KS is a bit far from here to take peonies to take peonies to Grandpa's grave, it does make me think of everyone back home to look at them. But peonies always make me think of afternoons at Grandma's house and Memorial Day Sunday Services at the cemetary and just of home in general. I think that when I get a place of my one that'll be one of the first things I plant. But for now I'll have to make do with this beautiful bouquet.

For now, though, it's off to make brownies for tomorrow. And maybe get that left front cast on.

Class again. Very short this time, just a quick discussion of the reading, discussion of the class and he let us go if we'd finished the project. While I could have stuck around to work on paper of doom, ended up getting a ride home from a classmate, getting home exactly two hours before class should have ended. Go me!

Having no motivation to start on paper at home, I ran some errands, namely going to my LYS. Before the whole internet break started (well, back when I was eyeing all of that stuff I couldn't afford) I decided I *could* afford spending $15 on a drop spindle and roving to see if spinning was a new hobby I was interested in (even a better idea/concern right now when the cotton I'm knitting up is just tearing up my arms and I need something to keep my hands busy at times – I'm spending so much time reading or on the computer for class/work that I need something to do that isn't reading or on the computer - gah I haven't had tendonitis trouble in years). My LYS sells roving, which I remembered from earlier trips, so I went in to see if they had any suggestions. Ended up with a book on beginner drop spindle instructions, last summer's VK and two ounces of yarn. One is a fingering weight in a gorgeous grape color that I’m hoping to knit up Lucky in – but we're worried it might be too thin so I got an ounce to swatch with. I knit up a swatch in the clover lace pattern, and was one stitch off over 4 inches without blocking (though it was a bit loopier than the picture in the pattern book – so I want to take it in to get other opinions). And with a mistake at the very beginning. So I frogged and have cast on again to try again. Am thinking that I can make it work with is awesome as this yarn is only $.63 an ounce. And when you roughly need 550 grams, which is rounded up to 20 ounces, this only $13 for a cardigan. As opposed to the $44 plus shipping that it'd be with the required yarn. Granted calculations are rough, we didn't figure up the yardage per ounce which would be a better determination of how much I need. There is another yarn that is a little heavier (and about $.90 an ounce I think) that I could use, but it isn't in that awesome purple that I want, though there may be other colors to try that I didn't notice (I sorta zeroed in on the purple :">). :D

The other yarn I got an ounce of is a cotton/rayon blend that is about aran weight that I've loved since I first walked into the shop. Like the other, it's a cone yarn and I've always been a bit wary of cone yarns. This one is only $1.63 an ounce and softer than you'd believe, I just need to find a project for it so I don't buy without something in mind (something I'm trying to stop doing with yarn as the stash is over takingme). So I got an ounce to swatch, and I think I've found a project for it. Just need to finish the two jackets I'm working on first. And maybe a sock. Not to mention a few other projects, though if I finish the two jackets and the sock I will have finished a new yarn project and a stash yarn project and a bus travel project. Now that I've found my hidden patterns, I also have a vest to sew together. Not to mention a few other things to do project wise. So yeah, I may have found yarn for some projects I want to do but no buying for a while. :D