Where has the time gone? 

Here’s my progress on Whistler:

 It’s a little “clumpy” at the bottom part of the color work and I’m hoping that will block out.   This is a lot more difficult than the last Dale of Norway sweater I did.  You can’t really tell but there is black, blue and white in one round.  It took awhile (hence the clumping) to learn how to carry all three colors around.  The picture is a bit lighter than the colors are in real life.  It’s actually a navy blue instead of the royal blue it seems to be.

But no photos.

I’ve been working a lot on Jody’s Whistler sweater.  I’m making good progress and the chances are good it will be finished for this coming cold season.

I’ve also been working on the Essential Tank from Wendy Bernard’s book Custom Knits for me.  I’m using Hempathy by Elsebeth Lavold which is a hemp and cotton blend.  The color is maroon. 

And I’ve started prepping the alpaca fiber I bought and spinning it.  It’s going to make a wonderfully soft hat/mitten set.  And/or maybe a scarf.

Pattern:  Slinky Ribs (Ravelry Link — btw, I think it’s at open registration now, so go sign up Deb and anyone else who hasn’t– so you can see the links.)  by Wendy Bernard, Custom Knits

Yarn:  Queensland Collection, Hyacinth, colorway Beige.  (95% cotton, 5% rayon)  I would definitely purchase and use this yarn again.  I’m not a lover of cotton yarns because they tend to be a pain to knit with and just don’t feel good.  This yarn, I love.  I bought it at the WEBS tent sale because I couldn’t pass up the price.  I’ll buy it again because it has performed well for me.

Needles:  US 4 for hem and part of sleeves; US 6 for the bulk of the sweater.

Notes:  This pattern was well written — I didn’t find any errors in the copy in my book.  It’s an easy pattern but there are some shaping and design elements that manage to keep this an interesting knit.  It’s knit in one piece from the top so there was no lengthy finishing.  I thought the sweater fit well and was exactly as I expected it to turn out.

 In other news, thanks everyone for the congrats.  It’s a 2 year program, but it is also a part time program.  It’s at the same school where I went to law school, but the program is online.  The classes are interactive — everyone meets at one time via computer and we will all have microphones and speakers so there will be interaction among the students and the professors in real time. 

My spinning class went well — a huge difference from the last one.  *laugh*  We broke down the aspects of spinning to better understand stuff like twists per inch.  All I have to say is that when you’re thinking about it, it’s a lot more difficult.  *laugh*

And that’s all the news from Twiggyville.

XXXX is going to happen.  So here’s the scoop.  I applied to and was accepted into an LLM program in Estate Planning and Elder Law.  An LLM is basically a masters program for the law.   Hopefully this will give me what I need to get out of family law for the most part. 

I’m off to WEBS Saturday for a spinning class.  It’s the next level after beginner’s I think.  I made Chicken Scampi Risotto tonight for supper so that I can have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  OMG.  I love love love that recipe. 

Depending on how wiped out I am after tomorrow’s class (ok it’s really today but since I haven’t slept yet, it’s still tomorrow), I’ll either have an FO for you Saturday or Sunday.  I finished the Slinky Ribs blouse today. 

And with that, I have to get to bed or I’ll be dead tomorrow.

Apparently I missed a memo that my domain registration was expiring Jun 12.  On Jun 13, my friend Deb sent me email asking where my blog was.  ARGH!!!  But thanks to her it wasn’t down long since as soon as she notified me, I got my butt in gear and renewed my domain.  I can’t believe I missed the renewal email.  GoDaddy is good about sending it out (I’ve had them as my registrar for 6 years now) so I’m sure it was all my problem and not theirs. 

I did snag lesleymaple.com while I was at it.  Right now I’ve got that redirecting to this URL but I’m considering turning it into my “professional” url.

As far as knitting goes, I’m STILL working on my Slinky Ribs blouse.  I had some crazy ass idea that I would have it finished last weekend.  HA!  I will probably finish it NEXT weekend.  I swear sometimes I get overly optimistic.  I call it Harlot-iness after having watched the Yarn Harlot every holiday season getting her gift knitting list together. 

Hockey season is finally all over.  The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup.  I was rooting for the Red Wings, but I wasn’t overly invested.  I was happy for the Pens. 

That’s really all the news from here except for my big secret.  I’m hoping to XXXXXXXX this August.  But I XXXXXXXX so I’m not sure if I can.  I don’t want to tell you because I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m really anxious.  *laugh* 

I decided to be a good blogger and show you my knitting-in-progress.  It’s the Slinky Ribs  (That’s a Ravelry link, I couldn’t find a good regular link) sweater from Custom Knits.

Here’s what mine looks like so far:

Isn’t that just exciting?  It’s beige and it’s all knit 2/purl 2 ribbing.  It’s top down construction and will shortly be joined in the front, too, for a pullover henley style.  I bought some Silky Wool for this project, but I’m ending up using my cotton yarn for this.

Shelby and I  share the couch in the evening.  She sits on one end and I sit on the other with the foot rest up and my computer is set up, along with my pillows.  I got up just long enough to get the camera and this is what I return to:

She wasted absolutely no time getting comfie in my spot.  But it really is bad news for her that she’s a 20 lb dog and I’m a considerably larger human.  She got whisked away back to her end of the couch by the mean, no-fun mommy.

But, of course, that made me realize that it’s been awhile since you’ve seen the other girls so here they are.  BTW, can you tell we have a strict “no animals on the furniture” rule in our house?

  The recliner is big enough that Annie can stretch all the way out and it’s like she has her own little couch.

And then there’s Hannah.  This is her couch now.  We moved it to the bedroom and she sleeps on the couch in there most nights.

Drats.  Annie is staring at me as if she wants to go outside so I have to get uncomfortable again and I risk losing my spot on the couch again.  Happy knitting!

Pattern:  Spidery Tank by Nichola Thompson, Interweave Knits Summer 2009

Yarn:  Cotton Ease from Lionbrand, Lime

Needles:  US 7 and 10

Notes:  I’m not sure what the reason but I had serious troubles during the first 18 row repeat of the lace.  I must have redone it 4 or 5 times because I couldn’t keep count to save my life.  But then all of a sudden it clicked and after that the top went quickly.  I started it Saturday, May 23 and completed it the following Saturday, May 30.

I was going to let Delia be the only model for this since it makes my hips look bigger than they are (at least that’s what I’m telling myself) but then I realized that, especially since I gained my weight, one of the things I like best about looking at projects on Ravelry and in blogs is the ability to see what the garment looks like on lots of different body types. 

So here are photos of Delia showing the back — hell would freeze over before I posted a rear end picture of me — and the front being modeled by yours truly.

Pattern:  Sidelines Top, by Lou Schiela in Interweave Knits, Fall 2008  (Ravelry link; Non-Ravelry link)

Yarn:  Misspun Cascade 220 that was spun as DK instead of Worsted — Purchased at the 2008 WEBS tent sale

Needles:  US size 6

Notes:  This was an easy knit but the Princess Seaming kept things from getting too boring.  I had issues making my hands perform a Reverse Single Crochet for the edgings, but I finally managed to get it figured out.  This sweater did need blocking to help tame the curling up of the bottom and I’m not crazy about the thought of having to block each time it gets washed, but it is a really cute top.  Unfortunately I finished it just in time for 90 degree weather (and no air conditioner) here in Massachusetts so Delia (the Dress Form) is doing the honors of modeling.  She doesn’t seem to mind modeling wool in the summer.

The Tent Sale was scheduled to start at 10 am this morning.  We got there at 9:30 am and it was well underway.   This was my first tent sale since I learned how to spin and, of course, I had to look at the fleece.  I got 2 lbs of Alpaca.

It’s soooo soft.  The girls were quite interested in it when I brought it home.  It was in a big clear bag that Jody had knotted at the top.  When my back was turned, Hannah had torn a whole in the bag and started EATING MY ALPACA!  So we moved it where she couldn’t get at it and we went out to buy a container for it.  I didn’t want to keep it in with my yarn because it has the alpaca aroma on it.  Hannah guarded the fleece in the container.

She got a new “Do” last week.  She’s looking like a hound dog with her hair cut.

But back to the tent sale — since I went to WEBS for my birthday last month and took advantage of the Anniversary Sale, I didn’t need a lot of yarn to last me until next year’s Tent Sale so I only got a few things.

I got 4 hanks of Valley Yarns Monterey.  The color is Natural.  I wasn’t familiar with the yarn, but it’s horribly soft and is 50% cotton, 50% wool.  And it was on sale for $5 per hank.  Lots of people were walking around with it so I grabbed some, too.   I didn’t realize how great of a deal that was at the time.  Now I do.

I don’t know for sure what this will become because it was an impulse purchase.

I also got some Cascade Fun, in color 0285.  This yarn is 61.2% Viscose and 38.8% cotton.

I’m planning a tank top with this.  Probably the Essential Tank from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard.

Keeping with cotton summery theme, I also got some Queensland Hyacinth in Beige.  It’s 95% cotton, 5% Viscose.

This is likely to be tank or a camisole.  I haven’t completely made up my mind yet.  Luckily for me, the computer at WEBS was messing up and the clerk told me I got an extra discount because she wasn’t able to fix the error.  I wasn’t sure what that discount was until after I looked carefully at the receipt.  I paid $3.49 for the entire BAG of Hyacinth. 

And that’s my Tent Sale adventure.

There’s not a whole lot of news to tell.  I’ve been working on my Sidelines Top.  I’m actually getting close to finishing it.  I’ve got both the front and back knitted and one of the sleeves is completed.  So just one more 3/4 sleeve to knit.

I bought some yarn for my birthday to make Whistler from the Dale of Norway Commemorative Collection (Booklet 8501) but Jody has decided he wants the sweater so I’ve decided to make it for him.  It’s not often he asks me to knit for him so I wasn’t about to turn him down.  Besides, this will mean that eventually I’ll be able to get him to buy me yarn for a sweater for me.  So in the end it works — I get more yarn fun.

That’s really all the news from here.  Happy Knitting.