Finally! (I know you've all been waiting...)

After 12 long days (that is almost two weeks!) I'm back to post again.

I've been doing TONS of stuff, including my trip to Joseph, OR and a trip to Boise, ID. I knitted practically the whole time I was in Oregon, and a day in Boise with my gal pal Mal(orie).

I also conquered a couple of tribulations I encountered. I started going to a knitting group here in Moscow (at the Needle Nook...they meet twice a week, and it's great fun. :-D). That is awesome, and it's very close to where I'm living. During my time in Joseph I had a cataclysmic problem with the baby blanket...I messed up one of the cables! And it was nothing to scoff at...we're talking six rows back I put one cable over instead of under, and now I was paying the ultimate price. What was I going to do...unravel SIX ROWS of 190 stitches? At that point, I had half a mind to frog the WHOLE THING.

Well, let me tell you. I really almost did it. But thankfully a wonderful woman in the knitting group (I forget her name, to be honest, but I'm sure I'll remember shortly) spent an hour with me, a crochet hook and a cable needle and we fixed that blanket right up. I use the term 'we' very lightly, as she did all of the work and I watched and referred to the pattern for her. What a wonderful experience it was to see everything that I had managed to destroy get cleared right up. Thank goodness for knitters and the knowledge they willingly dispense. Since then I've been following my pattern religiously so as to avoid a similar incident!

I finished Whitney's scarf...photos on Ravelry. But here's a teaser:Gorgeous, right? :-) I know. It was the talk of the knitting group, let me tell you. :-D

No new photos of the blanket, but I promise you're not missing much. She's on the back burner for me...I'm certain that during the rest of my life, if I manage to finish this blanket at some point, someone that I know will have a child. My heart can rest until then.

I'm planning on starting Elefante tonight. So cute, and Whitney (big sis Whitney, not Spokane friend Whitney) will love it. She loves elephants, and I'm making it in a pink-ish yarn. I'm a little nervous that the yarn is too thick, actually,but I'm certain that if it is, I can find something else to do with it.

What else...OH! I got my dishcloth exchange package. I was so excited that I think I scared the UPS man. :-) And let me tell you, Jenny M. gave me everything I could have asked for and more. I have since creepily stalked her on Ravelry and read the last month or so of her blog. I find her very witty and really interesting, so I recommend you all go check her out. (I love writing like I have a huge army of readers...even though I know it's only like two people. ;-D)

Here are a couple of photos of the awesome package that I got yesterday:
From left to right let me explain what all these things are. :-D

-The white card I knew right when I saw it...Starbucks card!! :-D
-Underneath it are six 'pick of the week' songs from Starbucks. These are free downloads of music. I haven't gotten around to downloading any of them yet, but I'm excited for that. :-)
-A little envelope that says "For keeping track of stitches and rows!" Inside were what I assume to be handmade stitch markers, shown below. They are SO CUTE, and I'm very excited to have some adorable ones instead of my (let's face it) bland green and purple ones.-Next, an envelope that says "Time to make your own!" This came with travel bug tags...and she is RIGHT...I have never made a travel bug, but it is definitely time, haha. I'm itching to go geocaching now, but my GPS is still out of commission. Hopefully I can get it working again (or get a friend to 'tag' along, haha).
-(NOT SHOWN) An envelope that says "For summer fun!" on it. Inside this was a GEOCOIN from IRELAND. She recently returned home from a trip, and this is SO cool (see photo below). At this point, I was ecstatic. It's really cute and really thoughtful. :-)-"For summer relief!" --this contained the Starbucks card. :-D
-"For your ears!" --this contained the 'Pick of the Week' cards. :-D
-Here we get to the dishcloth itself (see below). This is SO scrubby and cute, I can't wait to use it...but my roommate and I can't seem to bring ourself to wash our gross dishes with such a pretty cloth. :-) I'm thinking I might be able to convince myself to use it in the shower though?-Along the bottom she included not one, not two, but THREE balls of yarn. Two are Sugar n' Cream (always reliable and cute!), but the third is a brand I have not heard of before. It's a fingering weight, too, so I'm trying to plan something really adorable for it. And it's purple/blue tones, so very nice. :-)
-Also along the bottom is a cute little plastic container with four slots. :-) I'm thinking my stitch markers can go in here. :-)

All in all, I plan to do this again and consider it such an awesome first experience. How much fun it has been, and now I want to read her blog regularly! :-) Thank you so much, my dear dishcloth pal! :-)

I'm sending my dishcloth package tomorrow. I've been a very bad pal, and I should be thusly punished, but I swear her stuff is awesome and I know she will love it! Next time I will be more hasty with my choices, but I wanted to make sure to get just the right things...and Moscow is not super big for this kind of stuff. :-( I'll post a photo of the stuff I sent her once I'm certain she has it...the dishcloth I made is awesome...probably one of the coolest I've made so far.

I think that is everything. I know, it's a lot, but I tried to include pictures and keep it uplifting and short! So many cool things going on in the knitting realm of my life...and I found a pattern for a gift for Krysta for Christmas. Hooray! And potentially a pattern for my little bro, Collin. Better get started on that stuff, because with school right around the corner, Christmas is going to be here in a snap as far as my free time goes. :-D

Post!

I'm writing about my discovery via dishcloth trade for the summer.

I discovered Darcy's Knotty Knitter. It's a blog that drew me in from the very get-go. I enjoy the photos and the stories, so you should go check it out!!!

I was reminded of a note I send my friends these days: "Beer: Now cheaper than gas, so drink, don't drive!" and she's sending a felted purse to Idaho (my state!)!!!

I was drawn in. And some of the posts are quite charming! :-) And a dishcloth down the page a little (right now) is absolutely adorable!!! So check it out! :-D

Now! :-) My suggestion!

Welcome to July!

July is the hottest part of the summer yet, where we're averaging somewhere around 88-90 degrees. Phew! Saturday we went back to the pool, but I spent a lot of Sunday inside with my roommate just wishing it would stop being so hot! We don't have an air conditioner, but we did pull out the boxed fan to try and suck the cool night air in once the sun goes down. We made do with an abc.com marathon and a game night with Rainier and Aneel (just met Aneel on Saturday, and he seems quite acceptable! :-)).

As far as knitting goes, I finished Rainier's bag dispenser about a week ago. They're just so easy! This time I put on the extra inch of ribbing at the bottom...it makes a huge difference. The seam turned out better too.

But my more exciting news is that I started Whitney's scarf! I decided last week that I was done avoiding finding her a pattern, and I discovered a great one...the 'Cherry Leaf' pattern (it's in my WIPs on Ravelry). It comes with a simple chart to follow, and it is knitting up beautifully...I'm probably close to 1/3 done. I removed one of the pattern repeats (it says to make three sets of leaves across for a 9" wide scarf, but I was thinking smaller, so it will be around 7" instead). It's a short scarf (48"), but that's what I wanted for her...like a little neck scarf. I have pictures, but I'm being lazy about uploading them....so I'll get to it later, I swear. :-) I'm so excited about it!

It makes me really interested in doing lace knitting. I like the fragile nature of it. Such small stitches and so many purposeful holes...it's just pretty and delicate. Which, if you know a fair amount about me, is definitely not a word typically used to describe me or anything about me. But I can't help what I like. :-)

Haven't done my pattern repeat for the blanket this week yet. I'm going to Joseph, OR for the 4th of July, and I'm hoping to get a lot of knitting while I'm there. My extended family (two uncles, one aunt, 4 cousins and one set of grandparents) are going to some RV resort there, and I was extended an invitation. Initially I had been thinking I might go to Boise to visit all my dear friends there, but I owe the family some attention and I'm planning on visiting Boise the weekend of the 11th...it's one of my best friend's 21st birthday and I want to be there. So much travel these next couple of weeks. But I really enjoy the driving...with a good mix on my iPod and the windows down, it's hard to be unhappy.

On that note, it's time to go to work! :-D

Week #3 topic

Week 3 of Dishcloth Exchange!

Well now that Summer has OFFICIALLY begun.. what do you do to beat the heat? A nice tall glass of lemonade? Frozen Coffee? A dip in the pool? What's your favorite way to keep cool this summer as things heat up?

Finally! Summer! I am a big fan of iced americanos and trips to the community pool. I like to geocache during the summer (my GPS is still not working though), and I love the evening time when the sun is going down...after 5-ish at night, because it takes the sun until around 10 to actually be down. I have a basement apartment which stays relatively cool, and my favorite coffeehouse in town has some pretty sweet air conditioning, so I often go there and knit. :-) Oh, and I bought these popsicle-makers from the dollar store that are really awesome! My roommate and I use Crystal Light to make DELICIOUS popsicles! :-D

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I am doing pretty good on the knitting side of things. Just a little short of finishing Rainier's bag dispenser...will probably wrap that up after I finish writing, actually. :-) Still no pattern for Rainier's scarf, but it's because I haven't been very diligent about looking. I've been thinking about just making him a ribbed scarf...boring for me, but I think he'd like the simplicity of the lines. No pattern for Whitney yet either..again, kinda haven't been looking. Lots of LIFE has been coming my way, which leaves me little time to sit around and knit. It's all positive stuff though...knitting is fun when I have time to spend on it, but it is certainly not the only enjoyable thing I do! :-)

Finished!

I love short projects!
Hung it from the light switch to get it up and displayed. :-) We're planning on hanging it on the door to the cabinet under the sink. Such a FAST project, and so adorable when finished. My favorite part? No binding off! :-) You just feed the tail end through the final stitches a few times and pull it tight....then seam the back with the tail yarn. It was beautiful in it's simplicity. Oh, and the directions call for creating an i-cord loop on the top to hang it from...but for me, the last stitch in the second to last row was big enough that with a little tugging I got it free to be the hanging loop. What a delightful project! I have other friends that now want one because they've seen this one while it was on the needles. :-) First time that has happened to me.

Working on the blanket again while I finally force myself to find scarf patterns for Rainier and Whitney. I'm more excited for Whitney's...that Regalia Silk is just calling my name from my stash! So soft and beautiful. ;-)

Quick update :-)

I definitely miscalculated how long it would take me to finish the dishcloth, but regardless, it is DONE! And so pretty. :-) The colors and the pattern...oh, I am just so thrilled about it. Now I guess it's time for me to finish out the rest of the goodies I'm sending my pal and get it all boxed up for him or her. ;-) I'm not giving any secrets away!

Also started on Krysta's bag dispenser last night, and am actually almost done. It looks VERY cool...I'll post pictures soon. I'm taking it with me to work today so I can work on it during lunch. I'm feeling very inspired, I guess! The color...a hot pink caron's simply soft...is beautiful all knit up. PERFECT for my pink-loving roommate!

That marks TWO things that were on my list that were dragging me down. I just have way too many projects going on in my head right now. One I want to make for myself...the Namaste yoga mat bag.

My queue and my excitement for new projects is just too big. I need to scale myself back and calm down. :-) I've been watching knittinghelp.com lately...very helpful stuff. Some of the videos don't even apply to what I'm working on right now, but I like knowing that I know what is out there...even if I don't know how to do it (yet). ;-)

Week #2 (and a brief update!)

This week's topic for the dishcloth exchange:

Living in Atlanta, I know Summer has truly 'arrived' when it begins to get humid. Blech. When I was a kid, I knew Summer was starting the easy way - School was out!! Share with us how you know that summer has truly 'arrived', or something that signifies the start of Summer in your world.

Well, I'm a student (U of I, woo!), so for me, summer hasn't started until finals are OVER! I would comment a little on the beautiful weather that comes to Northern Idaho when the summer comes around, but this year it managed to SNOW a week ago, so I'm not sure how true that is these days. I live in an area called the Palouse, a flat rolling-hills kind of landscape. There are a ton of farms (let me stress that none of them are potato farms...it's mostly wheat, lentils and canola) that turn green this time of year, so it's like having a huge lawn. :-) I live in Moscow, a tiny college town on the western border (9 miles away from Pullman, WA, home of Washington State University), and I'm living in an apartment with one of my sorority sisters. It's a basement apartment of a complex on a hill, but we don't have a very good view of the fields. Just more apartments. ;-)

Another good indication of summer for me is starting whatever internship I'm doing that year. This year I'm staying in Moscow, last year I moved north to Coeur d'Alene (a resort town about 90 miles north of here). The year before that I was in my hometown: Boise, ID. I visit both often, as I have family and friends in Boise and just friends in CdA. :-)

Flip-flops too. I love wearing flip-flops. And tanning....in the real sun, but not TOO long, because I don't want to get hurt. AND I geocache during the summer...not really during the winter. I haven't this summer, however...my GPS seems to be broken. :-( Add that to my list of things I want to get for my birthday...which, by the way, indicates the beginning of fall for me, since it's at the end of September. ;-)

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Now, on to my knitting stuff! So I am probably 30 minutes away from being done with my dishcloth for the exchange! I am hoping it is a gorgeous as I think it will be when it is all completed...then I will be done with that step. :-) If not, I might have to go to the LYS and find some more yarn, because I didn't get a full skein of what I made this first one with.

I haven't touched the baby blanket in probably a week. Too caught up with the dishcloth and visiting my friend in Coeur d'Alene. Ah well. The baby is getting a little older, but I know toddlers still enjoy blankets. And if Abby gets too old, I'm sure I could give it to someone else. :-P I mostly wanted to make it and was looking for an excuse...Abby is a very adorable one.

Also haven't found a pattern for the beautiful Regalia silk I bought for Whitney's scarf. Soon, I tell myself...her birthday is at the end of August. No pattern for Rainier's scarf either...but that doesn't need to be done until October at the earliest (assuming we don't have an Indian fall...which would be typical after such a rough winter). He's in no hurry and neither am I.

Officially hibernated the backpack, and haven't started on Krysta's bag dispenser. Like I said, I have not done a lot lately! :-) But I did buy an actual cable needle (it was like $2 at LYS and SO worth it!) and REAL stitch markers (those yarn tail markers were driving me NUTS). I'm starting to hoard my stash too...it's now a basket and a bag. Uh-oh... ;-)

Need to make an official Christmas list for everyone too...so I know exactly what I'm doing for whom. I need to stop caring about so many people...it's getting to be difficult! ;-) Just kidding, of course. I will be very busy this fall, is all....especially because I need to start studying for the GRE! And fill out my applications for grad school. *gulp!*