Silly, but ambitious, Icarus

Well, as promised, here is another FO post. This one has been a long time in the making! I have completed my Icarus Shawl, just in time for the New Year!




Now for the specs:

Started: April 13th, 2008

Completed: December 28th, 2009 (Over a year in the making! Damn, that feels good!)

Yarn: Baruffa Cashwool in Dark Green (I have a ton of this yarn left. I have no idea what I will do with it!)

Modifications: I did fewer repeats of the first chart. At least I think I did. In all honesty, I was just too lazy to count my repeats as I went along and also too lazy to count the stitches.

Verdict: I love it. The yarn is really light and airy. I like that it isn't a fuzzy yarn, so you can really see the details of the lace. I might have wanted it a bit bigger, but let's be honest here. I have no patience. Once I start to feel like I'm forcing myself to work on something, it's time to finish it! Fortunately, lace shawls sort of lend themselves to size modifications. The final word is that I love it!

To shift gears, since it is New Year's Eve after all, I think it is necessary to make the ubiquitous resolutions blog post. I don't think these are going to be too terribly difficult, but we shall see.

2010 RESOLUTIONS

Before the baby arrives:

• Finish Max's Argyle vest (This is the only resolution that should be ridiculously challenging. I don't know why I hate working on it. I think there is some kind of mental block there. It's easy knitting...and I'm excited to learn to steek, which is something I worked into this project)

• Go through stuff in basement. This is really urgent. We need the storage space cleared out before the baby comes and I know that half of the stuff in there is only there because we have been too lazy to throw it out/take it to Salvation Army. Some of the stuff is just junky crap from when I was in grade school that I kept for no good reason. Garbage. Out with it.

Throughout the year:

• Get WIPS down to only 4-5 at a time

• Spin a sweater's worth of yarn (and possibly dye it, see item 4)
  

• Knit a sweater from my handspun
  

• After the baby is born, get back to dyeing yarn (with natural dyes!!)

• Gym once a week (I'll have to lose the baby weight, after all)

• Take a prenatal yoga course

• Write something (Too vague? Here's an explanation from my "other" blog)

• If I don't like it, frog it. (This isn't just about the knitting, folks!)

In other news, I might be considering a destash in the new year. I have way more yarn right now that I will ever knit and I'm going to have to say "bye bye" to the craft room once the baby takes it over. We are planning to keep the baby in our room with us for a while to make feeding (and bonding time!) easier, but "it" will still need a place for clothes, a changing table, stuffed animals, and other silly things we and others will be spoiling the tiny womb monster with. So, just be prepared for that. ::wink, wink, nudge, nudge::

And come back in a few days for ANOTHER FO!!!! I know!!! Crazy, right? It's nothing too exciting or impressive, just another quick knit baby item! Squee!

Because I'm a Grown-Up, Dammit...

...and I can have as many WIPs as I want!


Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery.

OK...so I loved this scarf at first sight and then I learned that it was designed by Veronik and said, "Yeah...ok...no wonder. She's amazing." I've finally found a use for my turquoise Hill Country Yarns sock yarn! The pattern reminds me of water and this yarn is a perfect fit! HAPPY! I'd also like to say that the yardage on this skein of yarn is pretty incredible. Check out The Most Mega-est Yarn Cake:


Yeah, I wasn't kidding. :)

I feel like I have a lot to talk about!

Ok...My mind is just spinning. I have so much to say! I will try to be concise.

First of all, I went to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival up in Crystal Lake. I had a great time shopping, but that was all there really was to do there. I heard about this at the last minute, so I didn't register for any classes, which would have made things a little bit more interesting. There weren't any woolie-faces there, excluding a few hippies (lol, j/k...I love hippies, really). I thought I could buy some fiber and see the sheep right there...but no, it was a bunch of tents with people selling stuff...wonderful stuff...that I bought.

I bought myself a new drop spindle. It's a beautiful Kundert and I feel it is much better than the one I had already. My old one is too heavy and chunky. My new one is all streamlined and has a wonderful craftsman feeling to it:


I bought lots of fiber from Opalessence (and she was super nice, btw):


The blueish is 4 oz of merino tencel in the "Clover" colorway, and the pink (I bought two) is 4 oz of merino in the "Cassis" colorway. They are soooooooo soft and soooooooo pretty!

I also bought 4 oz of merino top in the "Tiger Lily" colorway from Winterhaven Fiber Farm:


I have no excuse to not start spinning...especially after listening in on a quick lesson from one of the ladies at a booth. I learned that I wasn't really controlling the twist when I was spinning and she showed someone (and sneaky old me) how to do it. Easy! My spinning is looking much more normal and regular now, but not completely. I'm still a beginner! ^.^

All in all the Fiber Fest was a good time shopping...but shopping was all there was to do. Hopefully future events will be better...next year?

Moving on, I ordered a pattern for a stole from a LYS in Wheaton. It's this one, called Estonian Garden. I bought a skein of Alpacas with a Twist Fino in white, which is a whopping 875 yards for only $20!!!! Guess what! This is going to be my wedding shawl/stole thing!!!! Isn't it pretty? I know it's kind of simple compared to what people usually do for wedding shawls, but I don't want it to take away from my gown at all. I decided that I wanted a stole instead of a triangular shawl because a triangular shawl would hang down my back too far and cover too much of my gown. With a stole, I can just wrap it around my arms and let it hang at my sides, hiding less of the gown, which is gorgeous if I can say that. So...isn't this freakin' EXCITING?! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I hope that pattern arrives soon! PS, I went all over the place and no one had this pattern in the store, which I can't understand because it is SO nice! At the final stop, I just decided to order it...and now I'm waiting, waiting, waiting...

But good news...I've started another pair of socks from my queue! No, I haven't finished the two pairs I'm in the middle of yet...or the Lace Blouse, or Rusted Root...but these are short little socks that probably won't take me too long, AND I'll be knitting them both at the same time on two circular needles...so leave me alone!

Ok, one more thing...and that's it, I swear. I have sewing news. I have cut out the pieces for a chemise. It isn't the right period, EXACTLY, but I don't care. I'll wear it to RenFaire if all goes well with it. I also bought supplies to make this RIDICULOUS collar...seriously...ri-di-cu-lous...I'll show it to you sometime...stupid as all hell, but I love it.

Ok, that's all...happy knitting!

My toilet bowl shines like the sun

...or at least it shines like a really clean toilet bowl. I cleaned the bathroom today...it needed to happen. I did laundry like a good future housewife (too bad I still have to work). I also tried to clean up the spots that Scooter left behind for us on the carpet, but I need to buy more cleaner. I tried my best, though.





Yes, we returned Scooter to my mother last night...she and the doggie were both very happy to see one another. It was a nice long ride to Bloomington (the semi-half way point we chose to do the hand-over)





Aren't those sunsets GORGEOUS? I love road trips...if only for sunsets. We can't really see them as well in the subs, you know?

Plus, Max is really cute in the car:


I love him.

So, I uploaded these from flickr this time instead of doing file uploads from my computer and they loaded up A LOT FASTER. I will probably do it this way from now on just to save time. Plus, I'm totally addicted to flickr and am a member of TONS of knitting photo groups. Soon, I'm going to join up (or start) with an anime cosplay group...Anime Central is only about two weeks away. I don't think I'm dressing up this year, but I may still have some tricks up my sleeve. I think my next post may be more anime related...but let's throw some in here now, just for shits and giggles.

I love anime...more specifically, I love girlie anime...but I also dig me some moody, dark, and terribly confusing anime as well. If anyone reading this has a favorite anime that they would be interested in sharing with me, don't be afraid to leave a comment :) I don't bite. Also, if anyone reading this is planning on going to Anime Central, let me know!!!! I want to actually make friends there this year! Plus, it would be fun to read your blogs and see what you have planned!!!! It's called networking, people...don't be afraid :)

Ok...enough of that. I've done my part to make friends. Today's post had little to do with knitting...so I guess I will throw some in here now. I am working on my lace blouse, specifically and it is coming along. I LOVE IT. I am slowly working on my socks, but I haven't made any photo worthy progress. When I do, I will show you! Promise!

HAPPY...happy...HAPPY...happy...HAP--

Ok, how happy am I?? Well, first of all:





I love the new cardigan I'm working on!! The lace looked like it was going to be hard, but it is totally simple...but still interesting. I love the color (it's very Sandra).

I'm also happy because my OTHER new yarn just arrived like, five minutes ago!! That was FAST!! The yarn is lovely...so soft...love the merino. Too bad it's going to turn into socks for The Russian, because I'm totally in love with it. I will DEFINITELY be ordering some in a different colorway for myself someday soon! If you are interested, I bought it here. Seriously, I love it. I really want to learn to spin. I've tried in the past with a drop spindle, but I wasn't very motivated at the time I suppose. Someday...someday...It WAS sort of one of my New Year's resolutions, after all...


One thing that I found interesting online today. That's right. There apparently is a knitting oriented store in Scottsdale, AZ that bears my name. One of these days, we'll have to have a leetle vacation, mmmyes. I'll make The Russian jump on board...is Scottsdale anywhere near the Grand Canyon??