Again.

Late afternoon, my cell phone rings. It's never a good sign. A teacher from Mitch's preschool. Not good. Mitch had a hard fall again in the playyard, tripping on the lip that holds the tanbarks in place, and hit his face on the concrete. De ja vu from a month ago. And last week.

It looks worse in person. Will you stop doing this to us, kid? Sure you are a boy and it's your job to get scratched up time to time. But I'm not used to this. I'll never be.

As I arrived, the teacher was holding him down so he could put some ice on Mitch's cheek. Mitch was trying to get free so he could play some more. This evening he looks into the mirror in the bathroom, and says "cool."

OK, enough about the ouchies. Last weekend, I got some cheap felting wool from a local yarn shop. It's not easy to spin -- short fiber, not uniform, lots of nobby debris. But it was fun to spin. So I needed to empty my first three bobbins..... So, as scary was it was, I decided to ply my second and third bobbins.

A spinning book I have says that "learning how to ply is a snap, compared to leaning how to spin." Un huh. It's not easy. So it looks uneven --
some places it's tightly plied, some places it's just two parrarell strings. But I got two skeins, about 80 grams each, and they do look like two skeins of yarn. It feels good.
















Knit Night Friday is coming! I'm going to look for a new sock pattern -- the last four pair were done in the same, vanilla design -- and I look forward to finishing the hooded shawl so I can start a sleeveless sweater. And meanwhile I will mull over what to knit with these 160g yarn.

I'm Back

It was a loaded trip. Businesswise (no knitting related findings. Bummer). I had no dinner meetings, and hotels and their locations were not good. The hotel in Montreal kindly gave me a wake-up call, at 3:20 in the morning. I specifically requested NOT to call me. Especially an hour and forty minutes before I actually had to get up. Gee, thanks.

I missed the flight from Toronto to Montreal, and had to wait in a long, long line to get the next flight available. Even with the commuter flights like this, most everyone needs to check in the luggage because of the newly restricted items on the plane. That makes the check-in line awfully long.


I got a flight an hour later, and there's an hour to go. I drunk beer at the airport and worked on my sock. Beer and knitting make all better. It really does.


This is the state of the socks at the hotel in Toronto.

I left SFO when I was just below the green line of the second sock, so that's a lot of work done in the flight.

And this is Honey Boy, from Future Bakery in Toronto. It's about 1/3 the size of regular Ginger Bread Man. Cute, eh?

I met no other knitters on the trip. No one asked what I was knitting (could have been too obvious), and saw no one working on his/her project. How sad.

One thing I noticed about Telemark from Knitpicks is that for both skein I found a very noticeable yarn joint. I don't see this often with other yarn. The first sock I just didn't do anything and knitted that joint, but after it's knitted the joint is still very noticeable and "pickable."

I ran into another joint as I was starting the toe decrease on the second sock on the Montreal - SFO flight. This time I picked on the joint part, just a little, and it came apart easily. Good thing I had a yarn needle. I did a Russian Join and kept going. But now I'm worried about my first sock getting unraveled. That wouldn't be good.

Here's the joint part on my first sock (the one I didn't do anything). Can you see?

Here's another view in darker color short. This is much closer to the actual color.

I'm really worried about it now. Does anyone know if I should reinforce this part? And how?
I'd recommend anyone using Telemark to watch out for this. Otherwise it's a nice yarn to knit, and it knits up quickly. Oh, also, if you are using Telemark for socks, you may want to get three balls or make the sock shorter than you'd normally do.

This is my fourth pair of socks. One thing about knitting on the road is that I'm more prone to errors -- I didn't make any big errors (aside not doing anything about the dangerous yarn joint), but I did some backwards decreases (like doing SSK on where I should be doing k2tog). I don't usually fix these errors unless I catch it right away. To me socks are socks -- you wear them on your feet and be useful. No point trying to make them perfect. I will work on weaving in ends, and they will be off to Japan to my mom. Hope she'll like them, and also will consider the imperfection as a flavor of handmade socks.

From Toronto

I never thought I'd be blogging while I'm on a business trip! But the hotel charges $10 for the internet connection per day, so I feel like I should use it.

The flight was nice -- it was not full, and that has not happened to me for the last three years. I knit, knit, knit while I watched "Inside Man" for the second time. A good movie -- and my favorite actor is in it.

I keep thinking about Mitch and his big bump on the forehead. Yesterday at Erin's, he was so happy to be running around in the backyard, he tropped and fell forward, gonking his head on the concrete pad. Why is that kids never do that on a soft lawn? It has to be on a concrete. Always.


Mitch cried hard for about a minute, and sat on Daddy's lap with ice on his head for two minutes. Then he was ready to play some more. We were not.

He had done the same at his preschool just a few weeks ago. Can't you get enough, kid? Are you just going to keep torturing us?



OK. That's all for today.
I may post a picture of my second sock tomorrow, if I get a free internet connection in Montreal...


Oh, by the way, there is a great new bookstore at SFO. I went in to look for the Fall Issue of Interweave Knits, being excited with the idea of reading it all the way -- No such luck. Oh well, I guess the knitting community is still small. It means no yarn shop at the airport. Darn.

Knit Night. No Pictures.

I don't know what I was thinking. First Knit Night at our house, and I forgot to take pictures.
I think I was way too excited -- and so were my family. Mitch was bouncing around chanting "Knit Night Friday, Knit Night Fridaaaay!" all day.

The family awaits (anxiously) for the Knitters' arrival.


Liz brought Nicole, and the kids watched Harry Potter -- for Charlie and Mitch, it's probably the 47th time. Mitch still enjoys it, but I'm not sure about Charlie.

The Knitters all dove into talking about the last Saturday's outing. No one else knew that the owner of the Full Thread Ahead left a comment to our post! Howard said why we didn't come in and knit in the shop -- rather than in the car! -- We did think about that, but your shop was full. What a great event it was though -- so well organized, and very pleasant all around. Thank you again, and yes, we'd definitely show up if you plan for another event.


Erin was sick all week, but still didn't miss our Knit Night. Good going. Hope you are feeling much better today. She worked on her beautiful shawl. Liz was on the soft yellow baby blanket -- with Berrocco yarn. Oh So Soft. Huguette was working on the magical two-socks-at-the-same-time. I can't believe I didn't take pictures.

The door prize activity was Knitters' Haiku.

Yarn is my passion
Lie, steal or embezzle
I do it for yarn!
-- Erin

Alpaca Erin
Tamami, Lotus girl
Oh Liz, what great yarn!
-- Huguette

It took only two minutes for them to come up with these. They both received a prize.

I worked on the hooded shawl from the Japanese pattern book titled "Design Knit."
The yarn is called "Fashion Trend" -- 51% wool, 49% acrylic. I didn't realize that it was so -- variegated. Stripy. I'm not sure if I like this, but I'm going to go on and see how it's going to turn out. I love the feel though -- very light and soft. Here's what this should look like at the end... Cute, huh?












Charlie joined the crowd for the last hour, demonstrating weaving on his inkle loom.
Mitch and Nicole had a wonderful time together, and Mitch stayed up until midnight -- this is a first.











Today, we had a real slow, lazy day around the house. Mitch helped me plant some flowers.










Next week I will be on a business trip to Toronto and Montreal. Unfortunately I don't have any room in my schedule to make a stop at Lettuce Knit -- or at Stephanie's house! Sorry, fellow knitters, there will be no souvenir yarn, unless I find some at the airport. Come to think of it, why don't they sell yarn and needles at the airport? Wouldn't it make traveling so much calmer and enjoyable? Waiting in line would be less stressful. Flight delay? No problem.
Ladies, a business opportunity?

Thanks Tamami!

Tamami just hosted a wonderful Knit Night Friday. I find it interesting that our children seem to be just as excited about Knit Night as we are! Tamami and Liz's kids are excited to be part of the activities and my kids are excited by the possibility of getting mom out of the house for the night! I'm sure that Tamami will post for us, but I just wanted to post first to say "Thanks! It was wonderful!"

As I type this a moth flew past me, possibly on its way to my wool stash. Must go now and protect the yarn...

Have your headphones ready....

Somebody Stop Me!

Tamami just keeps posting, and posting, and...

I'm running out of the batteries. I'm on my new laptop, but I didn't bring the power supply (the one from the old laptop doesn't work). I have about 60% of the battery left. My digital camera's battery just ran out, so I'm charging that one. I need to download the photos from the camera before the laptop dies. (Insert Jeopardy's theme)


Another suspense. I am about to finish the first sock for the pair I'm knitting for my mom. She doesn't have an access to internet (I know, I know) so there's no risk of ruining the surprise. Anyway, I'm using Telemark, one of the new yarns from Knitpicks. I've found out in the hard way that it's not enough to do a pair, unless you go very short and small. Do you think I have enough, or do I have to buy another ball to make a pair? (Jeopardy again) Place your bet at the comment link.









As promised earlier -- my spinning photos. Here's my first and second bobbins, and the third in progress.














See the improvement?

And lastly, here's the DeStash link I was talking about at the last Knit Night Friday. There are some bargains there right now. And now that we are the proud blog owners, we can post there too!

OK, that's all for now :-) Good night!

We have a visitor!

Ladies, we have the first comment from outside the group! This calls for a celebration. (Hi Kemma, thanks!)

I forgot to mention about the Fiber Festivals on yesterday's post. Next weekend is Mendocino County Fair, and there's Fiber Festival -- Nancy's going, and I'm contemplating, too.
Whie searching for the site, I found this on Knitty.

I was going to spin today, but was a bit tired from all that activities yesterday. I just woke up from a short nap. Mitch has been high all day on something, and bouncing off the wall. Oh, yeah. He found my beautifully pedicured toes first thing this morning. Maybe this is what he's high on!

Off to see Harlot

(Don't you just wonder about this title?)

The day was finally here. But not without some suspense. First Erin gets sick on Friday, and Liz's mom too -- Erin recovers on time, but not Liz's mom. We really missed you Liz, and we all hope that your mom will get better soon.

The long drive down to Los Altos feels so short when Erin and I were busy talking and laughing all the way down. I was busy laughing so much that I almost missed the turn onto 280, and it's almost impossible to miss that. Boy, driving under the influence of uncontrollable laughter is dangerous. At least I wasn't knitting while driving.

As soon as we got in the line in front of Full Thread Ahead, Huguette arrived. Perfect. The line was not that long, and we got the very early number for the book signing. Erin, your leg work paid off -- thank you! I got so many compliments on my Lotus Blossom Tank. Kind knitters, they didn't even notice that the first leaf is a total mess. Or they pretended that they didn't see it.

Once we got our number, we were off to our appointment at Pinkies Nail Salon just down the block. This was my first ever for the pedicure at a salon. And it was such a wonderful "first" at that. We all felt so pampered. It really was one of the nicest thing I've done for myself in a long time.








Here, on the right, Huguette and Erin are trying to knit. I was trying hard to stop giggling. We really missed you there, Liz. We have to do this again with you soon!

When we were back at the yarn shop, it was almost like a morning rush hour at a subway station in Tokyo. We all managed to buy some yarn. I don't know about you, but I always have this problem of blanking out on everything I was planning to knit, or the kind of yarn I was looking for. I just hate it when that happens, but it happens every time when I'm in a yarn shop, book store, and hardware store.

It's nice to knit among so many knitters. Three hundred of them. I wonder how many pairs of socks were being knitted this afternoon.


Stephanie is so much funnier in person. Her sock was there, and at the end she was knitting while she talked, without looking at her hands. I can't do that.


At the book signing, she comments about my LBT. Yeah. I'm really glad that I wore that today.


We were in the first group for the signing, and we were done pretty early. Then off to our dinner at Maltsby's.

Their amazing ladies' room. This is the ceiling. In case you misread, it's a ceiling of the restroom of a -- restaurant.




After we were done with the dinner, we were stranded. The downtown looked so quiet -- nothing is open. Gee, we thought Novato was dead. This is deader. Even the Starbucks is closed. But it's Saturday evening, only eight-thirty! There's nowhere to sit and knit! We saw two knitters sitting on the dark and cold sidewalk knitting, and we knew why. We thought about pulling a table and chairs over in front of a brightly lit shoe store, but alas it was too cold. So we walked back to our car, sat and knitted. I saw the owner of Full Thread Ahead walk by, obviously wondering what the heck was going on (or snickering). Reminded us of our teenager days. (Someone said, but the activity was different, but I don't know anything about it.)

I was really looking forward to this outing for the last two month or so, and now it's done and over with. And it hit me. I have nothing to look forward to!!! Obviously, we have to plan a new fun stuff.

Meanwhile, next Friday is our KNIT NIGHT FRIDAY. That's something I can definitely look forward to. Thank you ladies for the fun day, and Liz, we really really missed you! See you next week!

Everything...

Ok, so I haven't posted for a while. Ok, so I really don't have an excuse except for the hordes of munchkins that take over my home everyday, and in the evenings the big munchkins (my kids) take up a little bit of my time as well. Enough of the excuses (my Dad always says "Excuses - friends don't need them and enemies don't believe them.") Here's the update complete with photos.

Before knit night on Friday, I finished the baby blanket for Dylan (a son of a co-worker from my previous life). The blanket did not turn out as expected because when I washed it the whole thing stretched width wise - yikes! Anyway, here's a pic of what it looks like folded up. Unfolded, it's not rectangular and not real pretty!



We had a great time knitting together on Friday. I know that Tamami already posted about it, so I'll just add some pictures.


Here is Tamami opening up her birthday present of wool and sock yarn. Hmmmm, I wonder what she'll make with this...

















Here is Liz opening her belated birthday gift. She received some Cascade 220 and sock yarn. We'll get her to knit socks yet.

Can't wait to see the new projects on the needles next knit night ladies!















After the birthday presents, we jumped right into our prize puzzle. It was a crossword that I made online specifically with knitting terms, our kids names, our current projects, etc. It was fun to make, but the girls thought it was a little too hard. Sorry!



















Liz is trying to figure out the clue of "Wood, metal, plastic or bamboo". The answer... needles.













Huguette finished the puzzle first and won the prize! It was 3 skeins of soysilk in "her color". Here she is after opening the package.






After some fun, it was finally time to start knitting. A little while later we took a break for dessert and coffee. The dessert was from our new favorite bakery, FlourChylde Bakery in downtown Novato. We had the Pure Chocolate Tortes and the Rustic Lemon Tortes - yummy!!!



I also thought I'd update everyone on my works in progress. I am working on my first sock and a feather and fan shawl. Here is a photo of the shawl so far.




And, here is some help that I am receiving on my shawl, although I'm not too sure I want the help!


On Saturday the Designated Knitters are going to see the Yarn Harlot in Los Altos. We're really looking forward to seeing her, buying yarn, getting pedicures, going out for dinner, hanging out with our friends and, oh yeah, KNITTING!!!

Labor Day Weekend

OK, ladies... I was hoping that someone would beat me to it, but here's the Labor Day weekend report. The long weekend that marks the end of the summer started, of course, with our third Knit Night Friday!

The Designated Knitters celebrated birthdays for Liz and me. I received a sock package. Thank you, ladies! The funny thing is that I thought I was turning a year older than I actually was. I found out my real age when my friend in Japan sent me email. Oh. Yeah. Now I feel like I saved a year.

Here's Liz, squeezing the skeins she got for her birthday!

At the Knit Night, I finished my third pair of socks that's been on the needles since mid-June. They actually traveled to Japan and back! And they are going back to Japan as these are for my girlfriend in Japan, for Christmas. I can't believe that I'm already preparing for the Holidays :-)

The socks are done in Knitpicks Parade. I love this yarn as it's sport weight, and gets done pretty quickly.
The next socks will be for my mom, but I will choose somewhat muted color for her.

Needless to say, we had a great night again. Erin even prepared a Knit Night door prize, which Huguette won, after completing Erin's original Knitters' Crossword Puzzle -- two balls of soysilk yarn, in her favorite color, lettuce green. So, everyone but Erin got yarn. This needs to be corrected, ladies.

We talked a lot about next Saturday's outing -- a trip to go see Yarn Harlot! Lots of fun stuff is planned, and we are all excited.

Sunday night, Charlie, Mitch and I went to Stafford Lake to watch the fireworks. Boy, it was cold! But it was worth the wait in the ice-cold wind. It was the best fireworks display I've seen in the US. It was close too, which helped. Mitch really enjoyed it too. It was our first time going to the Labor Day at the Park, and we intend to return next year, dressed much warmer!

Charlie spent pretty much all weekend warping the loom for the next project. This was the first time I saw the warping labor. P. A. I. N.
I can't imagine myself doing it. Ouch.
Now he has to fix a couple of broken strings. Compared to this, a long-tail cast on is a breeze, even when I had to cast 230 stitches for the Lotus Blossom Tank, and repeat it three times because I didn't have long enough tail (don't you hate it when that happens?)








OK, I don't think weaving is for me. I'm glad that I have knitting and spinning. Speaking of spinning, I've filled the second bobbin. Looking at the two bobbins, I can clearly see the improvement. I will post the photos next time.
Now the question is... what to do with them? I don't know if I should ply them, or just leave them as a single? What to knit? I will mull it over... I have two more empty bobbins to fill while I think about it.

Well, that's about it for the weekend. I'm feeling a bit sad that the summer is over now. It was a short summer for me -- nothing is long enough though. The next long weekend we can truly relax will be Thanksgiving, a long way down the road. Charlie and I will be busy at work until then.... Sigh.

Ladies, your turn. What did you do this weekend?

Oh Yeah....

It's my birthday today! I'd rather be knitting at home in the backyard, (or with Designated Knitters) but no such luck -- I'm stuck in the office. Maybe next year!

Done!

I've finished my Lotus Blossom Tank last Sunday. I think it looks great -- if you don't look at the details.

The part where the shoulders join the front didn't come out as well as I had hoped. And the first leaf of the lace pattern is a mess. But -- this still is the most challenging, and most wearable item I've ever knitted!

Yarn -- brand-less yarn named "Bamboo", 70% bamboo 30% cotton. I bought this while we were in Japan in June. 4 1/2 balls, about 225 grams. Needles -- started with bamboo circular US 5, but it went faster when I changed it to Knitpicks Options circular US 4. Much less yarn split. Duration -- I think I started this in mid July, so it took me well over a month. I'd still be working on this if it wasn't for our Knit Night!

Have you ever seen this yarn? Who makes it? This is the first time I knitted bamboo yarn, but I love the feel. I thought it was much easier to knit compared to cotton.

Unfortunately the summer is winding down in Northern California -- it's been quite cool. Hopefully we'll have a long Indian Summer!

I've returned to knit socks last night. I did some spinning this evening. (I'm on the second bobbin!) What I need is more time... More.... More....

I'm so looking forward to Knit Night Friday!!

Busy Weekend

Hello, I was busy this weekend visiting friends in San Jose. I did get a little knitting done - although I have no pictures to post right now, and I visited a few yarn shops. The first was Commuknitty in San Jose. It was a very nice store with quite a bit of space including a large workroom for classes. I highly recommend stopping by this store if you ever find yourself near downtown San Jose.

The second store I visited was Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos in order to scope out the place where we will be seeing the Yarn Harlot in a few weeks. I have to say that I had a long talk with the owner, and she is wonderful. She was very knowledgeable and helpful. After the visit it looks like the Designated Knitters will be spending an afternoon of shopping, pampering and knitting together in Los Altos. It should be lots of fun, and I know that we are all looking forward to it!

I promise to post pictures next time.

First Spinning Lesson

The first time I tried spinning on my brand new wheel -- Ashford Traditional, a birthday gift from Charlie -- it was disastrous. The wheel kept turning backward, the yarn (or a wad of wool) kept bunching up -- I didn't expect this would be easy, but it was... discouraging.

I've contacted Nancy, a local spinner and sheep grower, and she said she'd help me get started. She came over this morning with her wheel to show me the basics. I was told that the live help is the best -- and yes, there's nothing better than this. Just a little more than an hour of instructions, I was going. Here's Nancy, dressed for the Giants game this afternoon, with Tamami, the newbie spinner. Picture taken by Tamami's three year old son.

I learned drafting and joining the fiber, and the fact that I need to grow another hand to turn the wheel to get going! After Nancy left to the game, I spun, then after we came back from a trip to Borders, I spun again -- (By the way, the fiber art section at Borders seems to have shrunken. The magazine section too -- they didn't even have Interweave Knits! This is disturbing.)


Look at my almost-full bobbin. You may not be impressed, but you haven't seen my first attempt -- a rotten udon noodles! This is a progress. A huge progress. Thank you Nancy. You are very, very kind. Now you are an honorary member of the Designated Knitters, and I'd love to have you visit our Knit Night! (she's also a knitter.)

Below is my first attempt (A.K.A. Rotten Udon Noodles) and a ball of pencil roving from Nancy's sheep, a gift from her...





I was only mildly intereted in spinning, until we went to Sonoma County Fair in early August. We got to see a spinning demonstration at the craft booth, and I was fascinated by it. The world went quieter around her when she spun -- I said that it looked very calming, and she looked at me and said that it was almost like meditating. She told me that spinning got her through the most difficult time of her life. She gave me tips and pointers to get started, and Nancy's contact. By the time we left the booth I was set. I should have gotten her name -- thank you, the graceful spinner at Sonoma Co. Fair!

On the knitting front, I have not made much progress this week, for I didn't knit two nights in a row due to the minor cold. Yes, the shoulders of the Lotus Blossom Tank was uneven, so I ripped the arm trimming and the joint. I plan to redo that tonight. Now the biggest challenge is to find the time to knit and spin, work full-time and also have time to spend with the family -- not necessarily in that order. I wonder if I can spin while I'm on the phone conference at work?

Oh, Huguette -- I know exactly what would get your knitting mojo back. THE SeaSock Cruise. Yeah. Oh, wait, that's not until next April.... Not good...

My Happy Dance

Yes, as I sit here and type at 10pm my toes are tapping under the desk, my booty is wiggling in my chair, and my head is bobbing up and down. No, there is no music playing...this is just my natural state right now as I count down the hours to SCHOOL STARTING tomorrow morning. You see, I have 3 boys who have been home for the entire summer. In addition, I started a daycare 2 1/2 years ago and during that entire time I have always had my twins home during nap time. I look forward to nap time. The house is quieter. The little ones are recharging their batteries, and I look forward to a few moments of peace. However, that is usually not the case with my 3 active boys around the house. This will be the first year that they will be gone for the majority of the day. Ah...it will be so nice! I can almost hear the deadening silence already. Peace, quiet, sanity...it's almost mine!

I had such a great time at the last Knit Night, but I do have one issue. After the fun and festivities were done, I found this on my counter...Now, I know for a fact that the money is not mine because of the following: 1) I never have that much cash! 2) If I ever get that much, I spend it immediately for fear of someone else spending it for me. 3) My kids or husband never leave money around for fear that I will spend it! Therefore, I have to conclude that someone from the Knit Night left it on my counter. What the heck is that for? Am I now the yarn ho and this is payment for services? Will you pay me everytime that I cry because there's a lot more tears in me! Alright phantom money giver (and I know who you are) the game is on. This will be returned to you someday, somehow.

Oh, before I forget, I wanted to mention that our friend Huguette seems to have misplaced her knitting mojo. She just turned around and it was gone. If you accidently picked it up, please return it to her. She really would like to get some satisfaction again from her knitting. However if you took it, the Designated Knitters will hunt you down, tie you up with yarn and beat you with 12" needles! If you return her mojo immediately, no questions will be asked!

Thank you!

S. A. B. L. E

Charlie, Tamami's partner, has just started weaving. He bought a loom for me three years ago, right after we had our son. Well, thank you, but you think I have the time to learn how to weave? So I decided that this is what I would take on when I quit working. I stashed the box unopened in the garage, thinking that I'd concentrate on my new project -- our son.

While my son and I were in Japan visiting Grandma this summer, Charlie opened the box and assembled the loom, and started weaving. We should have known that leaving him home alone was dangerous.


He is a man of a million hobbies -- and he has the tendency to get into things way deep. He has since acquired an inkle loom, and the S.A.B.L.E -- Stash acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.

Twenty-five + pounds of unmercedized cotton. Uh....
All in the sudden I feel better about my yarn stash.

Progress report -- I've worked on the Lotus Blossom Tank last night, and finished one arm trim.


Hmmm... While taking this picture, I noticed that the shoulder parts are uneven. The left shoulder is longer (higher) than the right. I am starting to notice more and more problems as I get closer to the finish. Darn.

I will work on the other shoulder tonight and see if I have to redo it, but Designated Knitters know I'd never rip it.

My son's preschool is closed this Friday, and I'm taking a day off from work to be with him. I may visit Erin and the kids :-) then I have my first spinning lesson Saturday morning. It'll be a fun weekend, but I just wish it was the Knit Night Friday!

I went through the weekend without opening my laptop for a change, and this is what happens! This is way cool. Thank you Erin for setting this up!

My name is Tamami, and thanks to Erin I came back to knitting after nearly twenty years of not touching the knitting needles. Last winter, Erin started to talk about how she'd been really into knitting, and then I came across the old box with full of yarn I shipped from Japan when I moved here -- it was sitting in the garage for all these years! I picked up a ball of blue yarn and knitted up a vest for my son in two evenings, and then I'm totally addicted.

Here's my son Mitch, then 2 & 1/2 years old, wearing the vest. Can you tell that I ran out of the yarn? I got a darker blue yarn from a local yarn shop and used that to do the right shoulder and the edging. I like how it turned out, considering that I did it without a pattern -- but I couldn't impress my son. After this photo shoot, he took it off, handed it to me, and off went playing Nintendo DS :-(

Since then I knitted numerous children/babies' hats, scarves, a cotton summer sweater for myself, two and a half pairs of socks, and now I'm on the Lotus Blossom Tank on Interweave Knits, Summer 2006.

I'm done with the shoulder part, and I plan to press it tonight and maybe sew them on. Before I can do that, I have to bathe my son and put him to bed.

This is by far the most complicated, challenging project I've ever done. I know it will come out a bit too short, and the first row of the lace pattern is all messed up (I'd never done lace before this), I'm still happy -- well, I hope I will be, when I'm all done!

I had a rough day at work today -- nothing new, it's been like this for several weeks. While going through two hundred emails, running around trying to fix things that are broken, I dream of the day I can quit my day job and spend the days knitting.... Sigh.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I just acquired a spinning wheel? I will have a whole series of Show and Tell on spinning already, but I'll save it for some other time.

Thank you Erin for setting this up -- I love having a blog finally! I really enjoy the Knit Nights, and I look forward to our next meeting. Ladies, I hope your week is happy!