I'm Home!

I am back home again. Arrived yesterday. So today has been my "Saturday" and I am taking tomorrow off as my "Sunday". Need to get to know my pets again. Hah!

I had a great trip. The humidity is hard on me but I loved the lush green everywhere.

I finished my first "recipe" sock and today I started the second. But I knit mostly on my Tidal Streams.. Here is where I am today - finished 11 out of 16 repeats:



And a closeup of the border:



And the edge where I stopped today:



The pattern was easy after I realized she had included the errata page with the pattern. I had looked online and hadn't found one so I assumed the pattern was without errors. Silly me. Oh well - I guess I deserve that for not reading the whole pattern.

And my sister and I did some yarn store hopping. I bought this incredible black (or very dark grey) alpaca sport weight yarn. It is so soft I cannot believe it. Not sure yet what I will do with it . I also bought some Noro Silk Garden Lite.. it is so pretty.

I also used my Namaste Peacock Laguna as my bag/tote. Wonderful bag and made it so easy to knit on the plane. The bad news is that I also bought a medium GoKnit Pouch and proceeded to leave it on the plane. I hope a knitter finds it!

Its good to be back though. I missed my pets. Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Country!

I love the 4th of July. I think I must have blogged that last year too. Its a happy holiday without all the guilt that comes with not being with family and sugary foods around. I would much rather have a grilled burger than jelly beans. And I sincerely love living in this country. We are so blessed.

Anyway - I am going to visit my family in Baltimore next week so I decided to blog today. And no - sorry burglars - the house won't be empty - I have a house/pet sitter spending the nights. I can't bear the thought of my babies waking up alone.

So here is my progress on Bee's. I FINALLY (with the help of Annmarie on Ravelry) did row 5 of the Bee In Fields section 1:



Its tricky. You CO 4 stitches, pickup 4 bars and knit one from your Right needle, YO, and then do another 4 bar PU and knit, then CO 4 more stitches. It makes a fancy bee. Hah!

And here is a good photo of the entire shawl:



I am on the second skein of yarn so I must be getting near the end!

I am also still in love with Kindle. I hope to get a lot of use of it on my trip. I had originally planned to knit the Bee on the plane but found out that TSA only accepts circulars <= 31 inches. The Bee is already on 47 inch circulars. Geezz... So I am going to start this on the plane. Its the Tidal Streams stole by Ilga Leja. Isn't it pretty? And I am using the same yarn as shown in the photo - Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino yarn in Aquamarine. I will take my Denise needles on the plane just in case.

See ya when I'm back!

Swarm's Done!

I just knit the last row of the Swarms section of my Bee Fields shawl. I would take a photo but I need to get to sleep soon or I will be out of it tomorrow. Still need to do the separation rows but then its on to bigger and better things.

I also am gathering yarn for my trip to visit my family in Baltimore next weekend. Lots to do.. get ready for my pet/house sitter, decide what to wear, what to knit. I know I will never finish Bee Fields so that is a given. I may finish the "Ricki's recipe" sock tho.. so I am going to attempt knitting a Monkey Sock using STR in Dixie Chick (or maybe one of my other 3 cakes I plan to take).

Also wanted to report on my Kindle. I am still in love. I easily read Executive Privilege in 1.5 weeks. Now I'm reading the new Lincoln Rhymes book by Jeffrey Deaver. I love this way of reading. I think its faster and more comfortable than turning pages. Love it, love it, love it!! I wish I didn't have that stack of books I haven't read yet and can't justify rebuying for the Kindle.

I am also sadly recovering from an eye dr appt last week. Found out my optic nerves have worsened (I have had borderline glaucoma since last summer). My dr first tried adding a new eye drop but it made me very dizzy. So he decided to do a laser trabulectomy. They put 100 holes in your eye with the laser to promote drainage and to lower the eye pressure. I had my right eye done on Friday. It really wasn't as bad as I imagined but the drops I was given to use over the weekend - once again - have made me dizzy. So I have spent most of the weekend flat on my back trying to relax. I have the left eye done when I'm back in town.

So Happy 4th!! and I will be back soon!

Nearing the end of swarms..

Well I'm nearing the end of the bee swarm section of my Bee Fields shawl.. have 8 more rows. Then two more sections to go:



I love this but it does get kinda tedious after awhile. The rows are taking about a half hr now and I can't seem to get through a row without finding my count off in one or two sections. I either forget a YO or I don't do a decrease. I need to focus. I also found out - hah! I have been doing my SSK's wrong for a LONG time. I always did the slips purlwise, guess I should have been doing them knitwise. Oh well - the next time. Guess I'm twisting the stitches.

Here is a closeup of the bee swarm section:



I finished The Appeal by Grisham. I thought I knew how it would end but I didn't. I was surprised by the ending. Usually the good guys win.

But here is my baby - an Amazon Kindle:



How many ways do I love thee? I love being able to make the text font big for my old tired eyes. I love (note in the photo) how easy it is turn a page. I don't even have to move my hand from its location when I'm holding the book. I love being able to get a new book in 1 minute at anytime. This Kindle rocks!!

And here is my latest favorite yarn in the whole world. The Autumn colorway - Arabian Nights from the Sundara Season's Yarn club. Its a luscious brown with brownish-red variegation.



I plan to make Anne Hanson's new Elm Row scarf with it.

A Balanced Life

I have no knitting photo's to show. I am on row 26 of the Swarm section of my Bee Fields Stole which looks just like the rows I showed last week so I won't bore you.

Instead I am going to blog about the fact that I think Knitting has taken too much of my free time. I haven't read a book since the last Harry Potter came out almost a year ago. I don't have a lot of free time but I have devoted all of it to knitting.

Well - I suddenly became intrigued by this. I'm thinking that if it is more convenient to buy and move books around maybe it will result in my reading more. I do miss reading. So - I spent part of today (I took a day of vacation) to read 60% of The Appeal by Grisham. Felt good. I need more balance in my life.

I'm not going to stop knitting. In fact - I also bought a pair of these this week. I found them on Ravelry to show off handknitted socks. I went up a half size and they are so neat!

FYI - I did seam up my Antique Lace vest. Love it. I will post a photo (I took one this AM for my family but didn't think it was suitable for my blog.. hah!)

Have a good week!

I see bees!

Yes, there are bees! Can you see bees?



At first I thought they were in the yarn but then I realized they were in the spaces between the yarn. Hah!

I just finished row 21 of a 24 row repeat (I do the 24 rows twice + another 4 rows for the swarm section). It seems to be going so slow now but the rows are long and the Purl tog thru the back loops are really slowing me down:



And to have some mindless knitting.. I am also doing my sock recipe using Araucania Multi - I really love the color combos for this yarn:



I think I may do something fancier for my next sock.. Maybe a Monkey sock pattern.

I finished my Mr Greenjeans by June 1st so The Loopy Ewe gave me 20% off my next order of Dream In Color. Love that yarn. I bought 5 skeins of ChinaTown Apple. Isn't it pretty? I may make the Central Park Hoodie.

Sorry everyone is having hot humid weather. It is 67 degrees here altho it is humid for Denver. I can't complain tho. Have a good week!

Onto the swarm!

I've finished the bee hive section of my Bee Fields stole and started the swarm section which is a bunch of bees!



Do you see them yet? I don't see them.



Maybe next week. This swarming is hard. There are a bunch of P2tog TBL. Geez.. I had never done that (I can barely do it thru the front loop). Found it online (YAY!) and now I can do it but I'm limping along. And the rows are getting VERY long. I still love it. Seeing the other ones on Ravelry, this shawl is gorgeous.

And I got the Knipicks Lace Sampler bug. Yes, I ordered one of each colorway. They are selling 6 different skeins of lace wt yarn in coordinating colors. SO pretty. I want to find patterns (Charlotte's Web?) where I can use all the colors together.

I also got my WII Fit this week so I really need to finish this and exercise! Hah!