June 26th

June 26th is one of my favorite days of the year.  On June 26, 1999 Pete and I went on our first date.  And on June 26th, 2004, Pete and I became husband and wife.

Happy Anniversary, SweetPea!!!

Hey look . . . .

pretty yarn and a cute cat card!!!  Not that I would try to use them as tactics to distract you from the fact that I haven't blogged since *mumble hmmmrf cough*.  That would be wrong.  But the yarn sure is pretty, isn't it???

I got it for my *mumble hmmmrf cough* birthday which was *mumble hmmmrf cough* ago.  Does it make you forget that aside from not blogging, I also haven't really knit since *mumble hmmmrf cough*.

Because I'd never try to throw you off with ploys of that sort.  Nope, because that would be really really wrong. 

But did you see the cat on my birthday card????  Sooooooo cute, huh?

Not So Quick Socks . . .

Way back in February, I had been a slacker.  (Not to say I haven't been a slacker before, or even after, February . . . but for today let's let the rest of my slackerness slide.)  The end of the month was quickly drawing to a close and I hadn't even cast on a pair of February socks for Sock A Month 9.  So I did a very smart thing.  I dug out some pretty yarn and cast on a wee pair of socks, knowing that I could gift them to one of many new babies girls that would be arriving to my friends in the next couple of months.

February ended, and alas, the socks weren't finished.  March got underway, and the socks weren't finished.  March ended, and the socks weren't finished.  April got underway, and the socks weren't finished.  On Friday night, April finished up . . . and finally so did the socks!!!

Pieces of Eight Baby Socks

Cast on: 26 February 2010

Completed: 30 April 2010

Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Petticoat

Needles: US1 (2.25mm) DPN

Cute? Yes.  Fun?  You bet!  Quick?  Not so much . . . but that is entirely the fault of the knitter!

Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Sunday - What a Yarn - knitcroblo7

There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative.

Today I thought I'd share with you one of my most treasured skeins of yarn.

What you see there is my one and only skein of ArtYarns Cashmere 5, in a gorgeous natural creamy color.  (Please excuse my crappy picture taking though.)  I won it as a door prize at our local Stitch n Pitch game in 2008.  Honestly, if I hadn't won this yarn I'm sure I would never ever have it in my stash.  With a price tag of close to $50 for 102 yards, it is unlikely to ever fit into my budget.  So I'm extremely grateful to have been lucky enough to win this wonderful skein of yarn.  My ultimate plan is to knit it up into a scarf from Luxury One Skein Wonders.  But for now, I'm happy to just pet it and admire it.

Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Saturday - Revisit a past F/O - knitcroblo6

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of holes. Or maybe that jumper that you just didn’t like that much…

Today I thought we'd take a look back at the first sweater I ever knit - the Ribbon Tie Cardigan from Knit.1. It was knit way back in 2005 out of Lion Suede. Here is my original FO picture, complete with a dribble of Starbucks on my white top. (For the record, last week I dribbled Starbucks on my white top on the way to CT Sheep and Wool. Some things never change.)

The status of this first sweater?  It's tucked away in a drawer in the spare room.  It still doesn't have a ribbon tie.  I think I only wore it once.  Honestly, although I guess I loved it when I first knit it, I believe that was simply because it was my first sweater.  I don't like chenille yarns.  I don't like sweaters with 3/4 sleeves.  I don't like the length of this sweater (it's too short).  But I'll probably always keep it, tucked away in that drawer, because it's my first sweater and I can't bear to part with it.