Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Take me out to the ball game!

We had lots of fun at the San Francisco Giants Stitch ‘n Pitch last night!

Top reasons:

1) The company! The gals from one of my favorite LYS:



Nathania













Chloe and Kevin











Kay & Sandi



Cookie A., CJ, Hollis, and lots of other knitters were there too, but I didn’t get pictures of everyone.

Taught the hubby how to knit – see, here’s the proof!


And, I also got a picture of the hubby taking a picture of Emy and her fabulous purpleness!









The Clapotis for my friend is not a good ballgame knit anymore because it takes a little too much concentration, and it’s at that unwieldy stage (more than 3/4 done), I’m in the 4th (and last) ball of Ritratto. I like to take small mindless projects to the game, thus the Diversity Scarf (scroll down almost to the bottom) with its stockinette/reverse stockinette bands was a good choice. (sorry for the blurriness!)



Not-so-great fun: Giants lost (again). We had left in the middle of the 8th inning (something about having to be at work at 8 AM, grrr). After a l-o-n-g wait at the CalTrain station, we finally were let onboard at almost 10 PM, after standing for almost a half-hour in a huge line. People had left the game early (after what they thought was Barry’s last at-bat) to beat the crowds but got stuck in another crowd. Turns out that we missed a great bottom of the 9th rally to tie the game at 4-4. By the time we got home just before 11:30, the game was still going, but the Giants still lost in the 13th inning.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

One project down...


Finished the baby blanket for my brand-new nephew who was born last Friday, the 13th! It was inspired by this one.

Pattern: Fibertrends Ribbon Baby Blanket
Yarn: Universal Yarn Classic Worsted LP, color Indigo Blues
Needle: size 8 (5mm)
Started: July 9
Finished: July 14
Blocked: July 15
Re-blocked: July 17

The re-blocking happened because I didn't get the results I wanted the first time -- it's acrylic, after all, and doesn't block out like wool or cotton does. I had steamed it lightly, pinned out, with a damp cloth over it, holding my iron just above the press cloth. It still rippled more than I wanted it to. So I really went after it to "kill" the acrylic.
After re-pinning it to my blocking board, I placed a damp press cloth on top, set the iron to high and used light pressure this time. Don't keep the iron in any one position for more than a couple seconds or you will melt the acrylic! This method caused the yarn to get even softer and drapier, and is supposed to be a permanent process. Washing and drying won't affect it!

Then my son got into the act!

More later on current projects, and I need to change the header to something more appropriate for me - like Purple Yarn! But it's late and it's bedtime...

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Beginnings

Well, this is the beginning of my blogging career. Not sure right now how often I'll get to updating, but I've been thinking about it for a while. I intend to post projects I'm working on (in any of my crafts), things about being a mom of a teenager, and any other random thoughts that flit through my mind.

Currently in the queue and vying for my attention:

Baby blanket for my soon-to-be-born nephew (next week...)
Scarf/shawl for a co-worker
Swatch/pattern using a new yarn from my LYS. They're having problems visualizing it and so far, so am I.
Sweater for our housemate
Sweater for my hubby
Summer top for me - if I'm lucky, it will even be done this summer, but there are no guarantees!
My poor spinning wheel has been neglected for the last few months, too.

Now, of course, if I keep working on this posting, I won't get anything done!

Thanks for reading!