sheep in the city

It's Friday, right?

I hate that I've become one of those people, you know, the people that only post once a week. There are certain blogs that I read that when I go there and they haven't posted anything new...it's so disappointing! My Mom cracks me up, she says to me today, "you still haven't posted anything new!" My response is, "Mom, you see me almost every day, why do you want me to post?! You get to see my knitting up close and personal all the time." She's a funny one, my mom.

So, I have been knitting. It just seems somewhat boring to post what seems like identical pictures of Ariann. I'm hoping to make some good progress and cast on for the sleeves this weekend! Let's all cross our fingers. Repeat after me, no more working on the Jawbreaker Cardigan.

In fun knitting news...if you don't already own a copy of the two books pictured here, Lace Style and Fitted Knits, you need to run out and get yourself a copy. They ROCK! I bought both of mine from my local yarn shop, Colorful Yarns. I have plans to make many projects...the first one from Fitted Knits though, is called the Elizabeth Bennett Cabled Cardigan. Must. Knit. This. Sweater. (and yes the yarn is already on order!!) How could I not knit that sweater, with a title like that?! Needless to say, both these books have been in my knitting bag for the last couple weeks so that I can peruse the pages whenever I feel led. Sometimes, on my lunch hour, I just sit at my desk and look at knitting books. It's definitely time well spent. Have a great weekend everyone...I'm going to be knitting, knitting, knitting on Ariann. Wish me luck!

"But we were on a break!" *

So, I've got a confession to make. On Saturday afternoon...I just couldn't take it anymore. I never, and I do mean never, work on just one project at a time. (many of my friends and knitting buddies can attest to that) I have consistently been knitting on my Ariann sweater, and only my Ariann sweater for the past 17 days. We needed a break though. Luckily, a friend stopped in at the shop while I was working and started talking about her Jawbreaker Cardigan that she had just finished. I remembered my fascination with that sweater from the Winter 2006 Interweave. I also remember thinking that I would never buy the yarn that it called for, Colinette Prism at $23/skein and I'd need 7 skeins! Imagine my delight when I realized that Patagonia Cotton from Araucania was the right gauge! I cast on that very evening. I do realize that I could have worked on my Sienna Cardigan, or any other project that I had on the needles...but I wanted something new. I had the pattern, I found the yarn, I was ready to go.

All of a sudden, I had 10 inches of the back knit. It's amazing how much faster it is to knit on a size 10.5 needle. Just to show you how pretty the Patagonia is, here is a closeup of the yarn. It's color 206. (click here for the closeup) The other knit in the picture is a sample for the shop. I'm knitting a little shawl from a Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Noro book with a new yarn from Plymouth, called Boku. You hold the yarn doubled and knit with a size 15 needle, this one is a super fast knit too. It was nice to be knitting on something other than Ariann for a few days, but now I'm back on track with her. All is right with our relationship, and I'm happily working through the increase section.

*do you recognize where the title to this entry came from? It's a classic!*

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day, also known as the half-way point of the month...and the last few days have hardly seen any knitting. I've actually been a little under the weather myself the last few days. Thank goodness for a surplus of sick days I've earned at work. I ended up staying home yesterday and resting in the morning and then running errands and taking my Dad to his radiation appointment in the afternoon. His appointment is so quick that I only made it across one row of Ariann before he came out. That will maybe explain how long these rows feel...or you'll just think that I'm a super slow knitter!

I wanted to show you one of my favorite knitting spots. It's a big chair in the corner of my bedroom. I love my big comfy chair...and if I stretch out and use the ottoman too, then there is room for both Jesse and me. Jesse will even sometimes lay on the afghan behind my head while I'm knitting...so funny, like I have my own audience watching me while I knit.

I'm now getting into a rhythm with Ariann. As I knit across the row...it just flows. I don't have to think about anything. I'm now on the hunt for the perfect buttons, any suggestions? I'm thinking about using some big black vintage ones that I have in my button stash. But I'm totally open to suggestions. I do have to confess something though. Last week, I was knitting along, all proud of myself, when I realized (thank you Tiffany!) that I had put a buttonhole on each side of my cardigan. Sheesh. If that's not a boneheaded mistake...and the worst part was that it wasn't like, the last row that I had done. It was several, several, rows back. I made the executive decision...because I am the boss of my own knitting...to just sew the wrong buttonhole closed, and be done. The button is going to cover it up anyway, right?! I'm thinking that BIG buttons might look nice on my Ariann, don't you?

The heart...and Ariann

The last few days have been crazy around here. Things were going along...all calm and normal, until my Mom called on Monday night and told me that she was bringing my Dad to the Emergency Room. Of course, I dropped everything and went to join her. They ran a bunch of tests, admitted my Dad, and we went home at about 2 in the morning. The next day they ended up putting a stent in one of the arteries supplying blood to his heart, then keeping him for another day/night of observation. I know that I officially declared this the month of love and all things heart related...but this is taking it a little too far for my comfort zone. The doctors then decided to do an EGD, or esophagogastroduodenoscopy, the next day for some other problems that he has been dealing with in the last few months. Luckily, nothing serious was found, and he went home last night. Through all of this, my mom and I continued to knit on our Ariann sweaters. Lots of hours in the hospital waiting for test results equals lots of time to knit. We both made a good bit of progress...of course, since you are knitting the cardigan all in one piece sometimes the rows seem endless. Plus, I'm making the largest size, as usual, which makes the rows all that much longer. It's times like these that I wish I was an A-cup. Seriously. Things would get knit faster, less yarn to buy...but I guess I've got no choice but to knit with what I've got...so, I'll keep knitting and knitting.

A little retail therapy with Tiffany last Sunday resulted in me bringing home a new bag. (as well as a bag full of clothes) So cute...and it fits the theme for this month. It may be a little cutesy for some people, but I've always been a sucker for hearts. It's a Harajuku Lovers bag. I love the size and little details. Check it out...so cute!

Knitting has really kept me sane in the last few days. I can't imagine if I didn't have knitting to keep my hands and mind busy. It's such a comfort to do something, with my own two hands, that I know what the end results will be. I know what I'm going to get when I finish this. Unlike so many things that have come up this week. Knitting is a sure thing. I love that.

Ariann, how I love thee...

This picture was taken as of Sunday, Day 4. That's the beginnings of my Mom's Ariann at the top, with my darker pink version below. She decided to use Berroco Ultra Alpaca in color #6233, Rose Spice. The picture (or at least on my monitor) doesn't accurately portray her color...it's more of a rosey pink. Many of you have asked what yarn it is that I'm using. It's Cascade Quatro in color #9433. I am loving everything about this project so far. The color of the yarn is gorgeous, the pattern is easily memorized, and I love that the purl row is a resting row where you only have to purl across. It makes me not even mind purling that much.

Friday night, after a long week of work, I was having a bit of trouble with the pattern. Some of the girls that I knit with on Friday night can atest to that. Once I realized that I was thinking things through too much, and once I got my markers back onto the sweater from where they had fallen off...it was smooth sailing. *Note to self* Don't try to start the patterning on a new sweater project on a Friday night after a hard week with no food in your stomach.* I should know better.

Since Friday night though, I just can't stop working on this sweater. I love it! I wake up in the morning and have to do one row before I get out of bed, and of course the last thing I do at night is knit one more row. It's taking all my willpower to not just work on it all day long, but somehow I don't think my boss would like it if knitting became a part of my job description. Although wouldn't that be great?! Ahhh, maybe someday.

In stash news, I've taken pictures of all the yarn that will be for sale...now I just need to type up all the info about it. But, do you know what that means? You guessed it...it means less time for me to work on Ariann, and at the moment I'm just not willing to give up my precious knitting time. So the sale is getting put on the back burner for a while. That doesn't mean that the stash enhancing has stopped though. Lookee what came in the mail last week...some Socks That Rock in the January One colorway! If it seems like I've become a bit of a Cara-stalker...well, I have. But in the nicest of ways though. It's a compliment. Really. I also picked up yarn to make another afghan. Not anytime soon, but someday. It's the "Cynthia Afghan" from Sally Melville's: Color Experience book. I had so much fun picking out colors with Michelle the other day, that I just had to bring them home with me. Yes, I realize that she and I are a bad influence on each other in regards to buying afghan yarn! But seriously, one skein of each color was so easy to justify. For now, into the stash it goes.

The Month of Ariann

Today is the 1st of February, the month of Love.
Today my Dad started radiation treatment that will last until the last day of February, 20 sessions, 5 days a week.
Today I cast on for Ariann, so did my Mom. We're going to knit this sweater all month long...while my Dad is in treatment. (if you haven't read about Cara's experience with this sweater...please, go read it)
Tonight, I'm going home, in the snow (for the 7th week in a row!), to knit Ariann and watch Grey's. Sounds like the perfect combination to me.