I PASSED!!!!!

I feel as though the weight of the world has been lifted from my pathetic shoulders. My NAVLE letter was finally delivered this afternoon, and it contained good news. I did not kick this exam's butt the second time around either, but I do not care. I passed, and that is all that matters. Time to go buy a plane ticket and get the hell out of dodge :)

Fun with Accessories

Well, the crazy knitting lady continues her run. While working on Avery's sweater, I have found numerous smaller projects to provide "distractions". The first is a simple ribbed hat in an amazing yarn: Transitions by Noro. This yarn shifts composition as it transitions from one color to another, from wool to angora to silk to camel. I plan to make a matching scarf one of these days.


The next project was inspired by yet another pattern from Knitty: fingerless gloves. I already had the appropriate yarn and thought it would be a good way to learn how to cable. Cool.

Mohair Mayhem

What do you do with 870 meters of varegated purple mohair? Make a shrug, of course. I bought an entire bag of this yarn several years ago and finally found a nice (FREE!!) pattern for it on knitty.com. Of course, I had to buy a 32" size 11 needle and some DB pure silk in grape to go with it. Why am I such an expensive knitter? Anyway, here it is. I thought the shrug would be too small, but the yarn has relaxed with wearing and it now fits nicely.


























I seem to have an unfortunate fascination with mohair. At the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, at least 7 years ago, I purchased two skeins of worsted weight mohair in periwinkle and lavender. I finally decided last year to use them for my first attempt at lace work... what was I thinking? That project was so frustrating that it turned me off knitting for months. After finally unravelling that disaster, I decided on a simple shawl on size 15 needles; start with one stitch and increase at the beginnning of each row to form a triangle. Intersperse some DB Alpaca Silk DK for interest. Not my favorite project, but very quick.

Trip Procrastination, Knitting Obsession

Happy new year!! I am slowly getting ready for this trip, trying to decide whether a straight ticket to Singapore, or an around the world ticket is the better deal. Since I hope to leave in just a few weeks, I need to get my act in gear.

My obsession of late has actually been knitting, inspired by the birth of son Rowen to my friends Emily and Rick on Halloween. My first projects were simple fruit caps, knit in the round on a #7 circular needle. First a strawberry, and then a pumpkin for the Halloween baby.


I enjoyed making these so much that I decided to embark on my first sweater, a raglan pullover from Knitting at Knoon. The yarn, DB cashmerino DK in teal, was a joy to work with. Much of the work was done on two cross country flights, first to LA and then to Denver.


Once I completed the first sweater, I wanted to try out a different pattern in a different yarn. This one is knit entirely in one piece, in the round, except for the collar which is added on later. It felt strange knitting on size 10 needles with worsted weight yarn, but I eventually became accustomed to it.