Knitting Confession

Just a quick post before we head back to The Illusionist.

I have knitted an entire sweater, but I seem to have misplaced most of the pieces I've knit. I know I'll find these pieces, but it's a clear sign that I need to do a lot more decluttering, as FLylady tells me to. As soon as I find the pieces, I do want to piece everything together. It'll be a lovely sweater.

Also, today I was working on the lace for my tuxedo tank from Interweave Knits. I was almost in tears because I had a kind of stressful day. I guess knitting can add to stress sometimes if you pick the wrong project at the end of a bad day. (K3tog on Size 2 needles with linen yarn on a loud, crowded tram heading slowly through downtown traffic? No wonder I was stressed!)

Also, I'm gearing up for two great crafty events this weekend. First, the Yarn Harlot will be at the Central Library downtown tomorrow at 2:00. Of course, I'm excited, but I'm also nervous about just what knitting project to bring. Second, I have Church of Craft at the Eagle Rock Coffee Table at 2:00 on Sunday. Should be a fun-filled crafty weekend.

Now, where did I put those sweater pieces?

At Home In New Mexico and Colorado

The second party of my vacation last month had me visiting my parents in Aztec, New Mexico. It was so freakin' hot there that we escaped to the mountains where it was indeed cooler. It was just like old times when we'd go camping; I'd almost forgotten how rejuvenating just getting away for a few days can be.

Anyway, no trip slightly north is complete without a visit to Durango. We played two days there, visiting bookstores, coffee shops, yarn stores, and a micro brewery. Here I am in front of one of the yarn stores: Gossamer Threads on East Fourth Avenue. I bought some very pretty cranberry washable wool lace yarn there. (On another day, we went to Yarn, which is just down the block from Steamworks, the microbrewery. Yea for proximity to special beer!)
We camped at Haviland Lake, between Durango and Silverton. Here are Dad and Lucky on one of the fishing docks. (Lucky gets to travel more than me. No, I'm not jealous. Not one bit!)

This is at the summit on the way to Silverton. It's a little hard to tell from this picture, but it is frighteningly high. I was very careful not to lose my step (as I so often do) as I took this.

In Silverton, we enjoyed a jaw-droppingly gorgeous day. I mean, look at that sky, those clouds. Plus, the veggie burger at the biker bar (including real bikers!) was pretty tasty.


We didn't actually go to the Silverton Brewery, but they had a cool truck, huh?
This was a very cool antique store where I found the perfect buttons for my linen tank top (which I swear will be finished soon--I'm having a wee bit of trouble with the lace).


Here are my mom and dad at our campsite after we had a yummy dinner of veggie green chile enchiladas. (I must say that I'm very proud of my dad for being able to plan so many vegetarian-friendly meals while I visited. He's a real Midwestern meat and potatoes kind of guy, so this was especially thoughtful. That's the advantage of going to see them alone because when David goes, the meal planning all revolves around him and I'm left with some freezer burned veggie patty from my last visit.)

Again in Durango, this is a bicycle that is available for hotel patrons to use while they're staying. Isn't that quaint?

My last night there, we went to Wines of the San Juan, a delightful place with great wine and live music. Truth be told, I went on a semi-empty stomach (lunch had been hours earlier). That, coupled with the higher elevation and the fact that I had not one but two glasses, led to a slightly drunk me. Let me tell you, navigating to the Portapotty was indeed a challenge.
This is the band, Foxfire, that played that night. They played some great bluegrass. My favorite was when one of the boys (must have been 16 at the most) sang Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" in a voice that wasn't quite deep enough. Definitely a highlight.


Alas, the week I was home went by much too quickly. Still, I had a great time and would have arrived back in LA calm and relaxed had it not been for the horrible flight drama that eventually had me routed Farmington to Phoenix to Las Vegas to Los Angeles and not getting home, after everything was over, until after 2:00 am. Ah well. I made it home and was so happy to see David, Thomas, and Greta. And work was less crazy when I got back.

Next--fun in LA, knitting projects, etc. Stay tuned!

Knitting Party in Denver

My time in Denver last month was not without its knitting focus. After all, what would a vacation be if I wasn't Googling "yarn stores, Denver" for addresses and yarn store reviews. Of course, we went to Michael's where I got Tiana her first set of knitting needles (that Niki has claimed as her own, I'm afraid!) and other supplies, but we also went to Knitting Habitat, a very nice yarn store. The woman there let us hold up yarn to Max's face to find a color that worked (purple works so much better than pink for her!). Also, Tiana got to play with a little dog there. Anyway, here we are outside the store.


We had a "girls" BBQ and knitting party one night at Niki and Walter's place. Here are Tiana and Abbey (her cousin) out in the back yard.


Beautiful tofu/veggie kabobs. Ann said, "This is what happens when girls grill."

Here's Ann, Erica (Niki's sister-in-law/mother to Abbey), and Niki knitting away. I had a great time teaching them. Erica did fine, despite the cocktails. And Niki was such a fast learner! I hope she'll keep trying to do some easy projects and not get frustrated with herself. (Niki--remember that it's supposed to be relaxing, and the results aren't always the important thing!)

Tiana and I lounged in the hammock outside.
Here's me, Abbey, Erica, and Tiana. Notice the knitting needles. And, yes Dad, that is a skull on my shirt, but it's for The Venture Bros. Go Team Venture!

I'm back!

Where have I been? Well, it's a long story that most of you have already heard, so I won't bore you with the details. (You're lucky that I didn't just go on and on about the work drama that unfolded from February to March!) Suffice it to say that I've missed blogging and sharing everything with you all.

Anyway, I'm going to ease back into the blogging thing with a quick post about our trek to the Stitch N Pitch Dodgers game on Tuesday. Lots of fun, even more fiber people than last year, and we got a Casa Bianca pizza and desserts from the Italian Bakery in Eagle Rock. Yea!

Niki, here I am working on the baby hat. It's so cute. I'll make baby booties as well.

Look at all these knitters! Oh yeah--there's also a game going on off in the distance.

More knitters with their bags of swag.

We left during the 8th inning so we could beat the traffic (and so we could watch the episode of Lost I missed when I was in Japan).

That's it for now. I have much more to talk about, including the near completion of my first sweater for me. Woo hoo!

Bumper Crop at Church of Craft

We truly had a great turnout at the last Church of Craft meeting on Jan. 21. It was getting packed in the back room of The Coffee Table--packed with crafty goodness, that is. Of course, it's taken me awhile to post this, so people's names have flitted from my mind. My apologies to those people who get shafted. I swear it's nothing personal.

This is Charlotte who was making the most adorable froggy cards. She also had a lot of neat gadgets that we all oohed and ahhed over. And here's ____ with Ben. They were both fiber types who met at a yarn store. (How sweet is that?) She was making cute crocheted monkeys (I did tell her about my monkey nightmare), and he was at work on a sock. Ben also brought in this neat device that one of the other attendees puzzled over and finally figured out. (She thought it was for colored knit work.)

Here are two people whose names I've forgotten and Susan. Susan brought supplies to make fun felt flower pins. I was sorely tempted to join in the fun, but as you'll see below, I was hard at work on something else. Susan always has such neat ideas to share.

And here's Reverend Allison working on a lovely shawl and Christy of getcrafty.com fame working up her own felt flower.
Finally, here's me with the monstrous laptop bag, Joyce holding up her F**K cross-stitch, and Joyce's friend Misty knitting away. There were others there, but obviously I don't have any pictures of them. Thanks again, everyone. You made my afternoon!

Laptop bag update: major knitting operations are complete! Now there are ends to weave in, and I have to sew the whole thing up and felt it. But that's the easy part, right? I hope this one turns out better than the one I did for my parents. Always knit up and felt a test swatch, I say. Otherwise, you never know what you're going to end up with.