Pictures, but not progress

The summer top is half done. Simple, cotton, with short row shaping in the bust. I was excited to finish it and wear it. But alas:
It remains half finished. I had switched to a simple toe-up sock on Friday in anticipation of going to the movies and needing something that worked for in-the-dark knitting.

Isn't it pretty? It's not done either. My arm was hurting a bit early in the day, but it really kicked in while i was picking up the figure-eight toe cast on (there's a fair bit of finagling involved, and i'm afraid that's what put my bum wrist over the edge) and i had to sit through Mr Brooks with no knitting at all. I ate a lot of popcorn. Luckily it was a good movie.

See? There's the bum wrist, all wrapped up. The shooting pains have subsided, and now I have more of a general, dull aching. But the knitting makes it flare up again, and I'd rather not knit for a couple of weeks while my body sorts itself out than cause some more horrible injury that will put me out of action for longer. So i'm thinking of new things that I will amuse you with while I have no finished objects or wip updates. Today you get pictures. This weekend: linkfest!

A problem

Picture updates tomorrow on the summer top. You would probably have a whole summer top to look at, and a good deal of a new sock, but...listen, why don't you sit down a minute...I have stopped knitting for a while.


...yeah. take a deep breath. that was my reaction too. actually, my reaction was painful. shooting pains in my left wrist and arm. which is specifically why i've stopped knitting. it's also why i'm typing this mostly with one hand. so if it has a typo or two, cut me a break. i'm all gimped up.

i think picture taking is not out of reach. so look for those soon, but no knitting for a couple of days, at least. think healing thoughts for me and my bum wrist in the meantime.

A conversation

Mom: What are you doing?
Me: I'm blocking my sweater.
Mom: It looks like you're holding a baby.

--when you make a sweater, sometimes it feels like your baby.

Oops!

Lately I have been working very hard on two big projects which are left over from when it wasn't so unseasonably warm outside.

First the Imbolc sweater: baby alpaca is pretty hot to be knitting on Memorial day weekend but I am knitting it nonetheless. I'm knitting because I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel--I have the front, the back, and one sleeve all knitted and sewn together, and now it's onto the final sleeve.


Look how close to done I am! I can't give up because of the weather. I must knit on.

I had intended to continue valiantly knitting on my dollar-and-a-half cardigan, as well. But it's made of sport weight merino, which is heavier than the alpaca, and it's a lot further away from being done.


I tried to hurry myself along by casting on both fronts at the same time. I sometimes do this with sleeves, especially if I am designing or changing them so that they are knit the same. However, the fronts of this cardigan are meant to be different. See the cable on the left? see horizontal stripes on the right? Turns out that it doesn't make it quicker to knit fronts together if they're totally different.

I really wanted to knock off both big projects before the weather got all muggy, especially because my yarn stash space is severely limited right now and these two projects take up a lot of space. That's also why I've been on a pretty strict yarn diet for the past month and a half.

That is, until Friday, when I happened upon a little yarn shop in Broad Ripple while on lunch (I think the yarn was calling to me.) Turns out it was a shop that was going out of business, and had everything 40% off. I may or may not have gone back from lunch late while I was trying to restrain myself from blowing my whole paycheck on yarn. I finally talked myself out of a few bags of cashmerino and half a dozen self-striping sock yarns by reasoning that there was enough yarn for me to come back at the end of June, when I was told everything would be 80% off.

But I couldn't leave empty handed.


This is Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere (85% summery, breathable cotton, 15% soft, scrumptious cashmere--it seems just right for a slightly dressy, slightly flirty summery tank.) I haven't decided just what it's going to look like yet, but it will be good.

Happy Mother's Day

Today is a day to celebrate moms, and I wanted to acknowledge my own mom, who is rather awesome.




And who, unfortunately doesn't like to have her picture taken. Guess she shouldn't have given birth to someone who blogs.


Happy Mother's Day!

The Great Outside

Knitting is something of an indoor sport, which is great for me. I'm really more of an indoor girl. But I'm willing to consider becoming slightly more of an out-of-doors girl if the view is going to look like this:


This is Evergreen, up in the foothills of the Rockies, outside of Denver. I went up there with Courtney (the bride) and Ashley (best friend/bridesmaid). Courtney went to a spa with her aunts and her mother to have their nails done, which left Ashley and I to explore the tiny town and the lake.
Here is a picture of Ashley, who was determined that--being in the great outside--we were to find animals. Specifically she wanted a bear, or an elk. I didn't have the heart at the time to tell her that bear and elk were not likely to frequent a vacation town in the suburbs of Denver. So I just followed her around as she searched.


Just as we were leaving to pick up Courtney she saw a beaver, but it was quite far away. Ashley was very disappointed as we picked Courtney up from the salon. But then, as we drove down the mountain, she saw something:


A point of etiquette: when you are in a car that is driving down a narrow mountain road, and you see deer grazing on the side of the road, no matter how excited you are, or how much you wanted to see deer on your first trip out west, you should never yell "DEER!" at the top of your lungs, thus causing panic in both the driver and other passengers.

However startled Courtney and I were, the deer were perfectly calm, as you can see here.

Next in knitting: the dollar-and-a-half cardi.

Finished

That is all.

(Later in the week: pictures of the out-of-doors part of Colorado)