Sea Anemone Knits

So I took a little vacation! Yay me!

I went to Dallas and stayed for a few days with my Grandmother. We did a lot of hanging out at the house with the dog and reading, napping, visiting and eating. Mmmm, root beer floats and good Mexican food. Can’t beat it!

She did ask me to teach her to knit so we went to a discount store and found a cheap-o learn to knit kit and off we went. She caught on VERY quickly and a day or two after I left, I got a phone call that she had finished her first scarf and was looking forward to the needles i was sending her so she could begin something new.

We went to a lovely little yarn shop tucked into downtown Dallas. It is in one of a little group of refurbished houses turn shops like a tiny hiccup amongst the huge office buildings. It’s called The Shabby Sheep and I absolutely LOVE it. I’ve got an LYS in Dallas now as well as Houston. Hee!

We picked up some yummy deep red alpaca yarn for her to make a hat and scarf from and she sent a skein of it home with me because she wants me to knit her a pair of Fetching but she wants me to alter them so that they’ve got individual fingers on them. I can totally do it.

She also gave me some yarn of my own choosing. (NOTE: I didn’t buy it or ask for it. It was true gift yarn and thus does NOT count in the Knit From Your Stash 2007. I’m just about a month in and still standing and tightly gripping my "Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card". Give it up for me!!! Yes!!!)

See! Pretty new sock yarn! I’m going to have even more toasty toes!

I got a good amount of knitting done while I was there too. I started an Anemoi mitten and got this far:

By last night, I had this:

I decided that in South Texas, we have no real pressing need for mittens, um, oh, say, EVER. (Imagine that! Now, close your mouth. You’re gathering flies in there.)

So it has become fingerles.. I’ve cast on the second one and suffice it to say, I will sing this pattern’s praises from the roof tops or at least the walkway of the second floor. You know, whichever I get to first. Heh!

I knitted some bags for my little cousins before I went and they turned out SUPER cute. Here’s a picture of one of them. (Close your eyes and imagine there are two. Because they were identical and I didn’t see any point in bothering y’all with two similar pictures. Thank me later. Really.)

These little bags went over really well. So well that I came home with a request for another one. My Aunt Barb wants one. And when she was requesting that she managed to remind me that she really like slippers and she wears a US 8.5 shoe. Hmm. I think that was a pretty obvious fishing about for a pair of felted slippers. Seeing as I don’t have enough bulky wool in any one color for a full pair of adult slippers, methinks she’ll be getting a pair of slippers a la Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat. Eventually that is. I’ve got a lot of plans laid out for stash knitting. I think I’ll be hitting the excel spreadsheet tomorrow to organize so I don’t forget any of my plans.

And with this, I’m off. That second Anemoi is calling my name and I dare not ignore it lest it become (a most unlikely) victim of second mitten syndrome.

Lookie here! My very first FO in 2007!

Pattern: Fetching

Needles: US 6 Brittany dpns

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Modifications: No thumbs and no picot bind off.

I enjoyed making these. And I gifted them the night after I finished them. They are pictured here on the recipient who was VERY happy to get them. She’s been giving me strawberry cream candles that her sister makes that I happen to really like the smell of. Since she won’t let me buy any of them (grumble…) I knit for her instead.

I used the yarn that I recieved from Yarn & Order

She very kindly also sent me a bar of soap that I could just smell forever it smells so good. Using it is an absolute treat. I love this stuff. Kristin, when I run out, I may be emailing you like a crack fiend looking for help to score more. Just sayin.

But I mean well all the same.

I neglected to mention that I had used my gift card from my SP. Lookie!

The gift card plus supplemental help from me bought 10 skeins of this pretty red yarn that I mentioned in this post. Mmm, silky and wool sweater… drool…

Also, I had a surprise waiting for me when I got home from Galveston after Christmas. I am so pleased with it!

My mind reading SP gave me a Soy/Wool blend yarn that I’d been trying to talk myself into needing enough to buy. But she beat me to it and in the colorway I loved too! Felted bag? Here I come! I got some knitting necessities like darning needles and a measuring tape. (You knew I needed more of those how??) I swear the couch eats them! A delicious smelling candle! I got a moose crunch bar. heh heh - and they’re gooood. Popcorn-y, chocolate-y, other stuff-y goodness…

And best of all! Oh my woolly goodness!

SP, you gave me a moose!

I love this moose. This is my very favorite ornament EVER.

Do not even bother asking me what on earth could be going on in my addled brain that I like moose - I just do. I’ve never actually seen a live one either. But I like ‘em! An SP from a mellow round I did a while back, she sent me a Moose X-ing magnet that promptly went on proud display in the smack middle of my fridge door so it could not be missed and now! Now I can spread the moose-y love to my Christmas tree!

I may have squealed like a 9 year old girl at a Hilary Duff concert…

I used the random number generator. Hee! (I love that thing!)

Congrats to Jennifer of YarnKnita!

The RNG drew your name!

I’ll be in touch to get your address.

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In other news, I spent Friday night with my cousin, Gwen. She’s in Spain as of this morning for the next 5 months and we wanted to hang out again before she left. She’s a total ball of energy and its great fun to be around her.

(Now this picture is from Thursday night, not Friday.)

By Saturday morning, I felt like death. So I stayed home and cast on for the Cabled Cardigan from Classic Elite’s booklet Luxe. (Jen lent it to me. Yay! Thanks!) I’d gotten a sweater’s worth of gorgeous Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in the last days of 2006 so that I’d be doubly sure to have pacified the call of the wild yarn.

But here’s the thing. When I felt up the model of this sweater at Yarntopia, it felt thicker and more substantial. But even though, the weight according to yarn labels match, and hell, even my gauge matched (and on the first try with the right needles too!) the resulting fabric is way way different. This red stuff is much drape-ier and more fluid. Here’s my question:

Do I keep on keeping on and knit the sweater knowing that I’ll know that it’s supposed to be thicker? Or do I take a detour to the froggy pond and find something else to knit with this yarn?

I’m conflicted. Help me.

I’m also still sick from this weekend and am now taking my crud-y, cough-y, sore throat-y self off to bed with a fabulous drug that tylenol puts out that is specifically for chest congestion. The Dr. didn’t even give me anything when I went in today to whine about not feeling good and being sick. He was all like go get something from the store with <insert unpronouncable drug name here> in it. I like a Dr. who won’t write unnecessary prescriptions. It saves me money. Gotta love that!