tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48623388657542386802024-03-18T20:22:12.424-07:00Shop on the High StreetA wee place to find a good yarn.Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-21414632604100629632011-10-24T07:58:00.001-07:002011-10-24T08:02:27.337-07:00Moving ShopHello everyone! Sorry for two weeks of radio silence; I have been moving over to a new blog! From here on out, I will be blogging at Anti-Quotidian. I hope to "see" you there!Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-70762108443073887022011-10-10T08:48:00.000-07:002011-10-10T08:48:44.698-07:00Mad as a...As soon as fall peeks around the corner, the first thing I want to knit is a hat. A little hat, to ward off the gentle morning chill and keep my ears from getting cold (oh, how I hate it when my ears are cold). In the Phoenix area, this reflex is perhaps maladaptive: last week's flirtation with 70s has been shoved aside this week for what I hope is the area's last fling with triple digits.
ButWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-64548812512255385462011-10-05T14:39:00.003-07:002011-10-05T14:39:30.569-07:00Welcome FallYesterday, a stiff south wind blew a storm through the valley. We got a nice, heavy soaking, and this morning the air was cool and clean. Fall is finally here, and it is glorious.
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Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-8836861253226224182011-10-03T08:19:00.003-07:002011-10-03T08:21:02.711-07:00ProofKnitting is happening. I swear it.
I know; anyone who has been following along has been expecting a status report on my quest to Knit American, or at least, some evidence that I have been knitting, not just eating.
 
 So here is exhibit A: sleeves, knitted in New York City. They will eventually belong to an Owls sweater. The success of my Lyttelton has stoked my ambition to knit Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-69916574828220222052011-09-22T06:45:00.001-07:002011-09-22T06:46:19.228-07:00Home AgainI should have given you all fair warning that blog silence might be coming; I was positive I'd have time to blog on the road. Clearly not, so let's catch up a bit!
Mousie and I traveled east, spending time in NYC and Ocean City, NJ.
We saw knitbombing in Chelsea,
took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty,
drank lots and lots of coffee,
saw Broadway shows on Broadway (!)
Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-12208954699331375342011-09-09T07:58:00.003-07:002011-09-09T08:04:09.308-07:00ImprovisingAs summer's bounty starts to fade, the amount of iffy fruit in the fridge is rising. I seized on a smoothie as the perfect way to use up some of this waning produce without having to think to hard about how it looked in the package, and was really warming to the idea of a peach-raspberry-strawberry combo when I discovered we were out of yogurt.So I had to do some creative substitution. Oh, darnWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-51276749613252244282011-09-02T07:58:00.003-07:002011-09-02T08:04:33.475-07:00Calloo, Callay
This morning I woke up to rain. Oh frabjuous day! I needed this break from the heat, the sun, the muggy air, and more sun.
Don't palm trees look nice against a backdrop of clouds?
The morning had a very back-to-school feel: me, tromping through the rain with a fresh haircut, wearing stiff jeans and yet-to-be scuffed sneakers. Fingers crossed this the beginning of the end of a frumious Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-1219967036625103432011-08-31T08:03:00.004-07:002011-08-31T08:06:16.396-07:00:)
They say happiness can't be bought, but for the cost of peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut flakes, and chocolate chips, I am pretty darn happy.
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Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-58295840584601261932011-08-29T08:04:00.003-07:002011-08-29T08:25:41.339-07:00In Which I Throw Technique to the Wind
I am officially obsessed with my Vega beret.
The project began with a bit of trepidation: first the mathy acrobatics involved in getting gauge. I always need to go up a needle size for everything (use a 6?), but ribbing is usually knitted on needles 1 size smaller than the body of the project (use a 5!), but the ribbing on Vega is rawther snug to begin with (5 not working!), so I ended up Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-55720806255398405262011-08-23T08:00:00.006-07:002011-08-23T08:20:59.087-07:00Unexpected DiversionsAfter a break so short that I didn't even get to wash my backpack, we are back to school. Over the weekend, however, Querido and I spent the weekend in a place I never thought I'd go: Las Vegas.
Mousie came along, too!
(muchisimas gracias, Querido, for helping Mousie pose just about everywhere we went)
The city was and was not at all like I expected. Expected: lots of people with little Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-5460530470562943212011-08-12T06:32:00.007-07:002011-08-12T09:03:32.338-07:00Good things in a Small Package
I simply love getting things in the mail. (We've discussed this before). The anticipation, the package, the return address to someplace far away with a name that evokes far-off hills, and sheep, and people in sweaters wrapping bouncy skeins of wool in cream-colored places and sending it to the far corners of the country (in this case, Portland, ME)
And then there's the opening. Yep, that'sWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-77930054358715227022011-08-08T07:58:00.006-07:002011-08-08T08:09:18.649-07:00Betwixt and BetweenThe only issue I have with finishing a big project like Lyttelton Brown is that it leaves me without anything to knit. If this weekend had not been the death throes of the semester (aka finals), I might have gone stash diving, emptying out half the bags in the stash tote and flipping through my magazines until something clicked.
Alack, that will have to wait. Looking for backup plans, I Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-61796573484898069092011-08-02T06:29:00.007-07:002011-08-02T14:54:14.038-07:00No-FailThis weekend, Querido y I retreated up north to escape the muggy heat of the Valley. I brought along the nearly-but-not-quite-finished Lyttelton Brown as my only light sweater.This was another opportunity to test my favorite sweater-finishing strategy: bring it along as the only sweater on a trip where I'm sure to need a sweater. Sure enough, the weather was deliciously cool and rainy, just theWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-85603830295567873192011-07-19T08:00:00.004-07:002011-07-19T08:23:02.803-07:00Hello LytteltonLook what's back on the needles: the Lyttelton that I started what feels like ages ago!My apologies to Kate Davies: I disregarded the instructions to backstitch the side seams together, opting instead to crochet them together. My logic was that the crochet seam would be just as firm as the backstitch, with the bonus of me having my sanity after its completion. And it worked!I am now happily on Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-40507771673038499112011-07-18T08:18:00.007-07:002011-07-18T09:33:42.185-07:00New Week, With Red ShoesOf late, there has been something about Mondays that necessitates wearing red shoes.Yes, with a green purse. Criticize not: it's a Namaste bag.These are not red shoes worn in a desperate attempt to make the week survivable, but red shoes worn in triumph, for I have conquered the festering mess that was my corner of the universe. Behold:Clean dog on clean rug next to comforter waiting to be put Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-69187046619061099402011-07-13T07:57:00.002-07:002011-07-13T08:06:22.182-07:00One Down1. My second Haruni, called Silver Leaves for the obvious reasons, is completed, blocked, and gifted.2. In spite of my ridiculous mistake, resulting in a border of single leaves where pairs should have been, it was a quick knit.3. Knitting the body was faster the second time around. The looped i-cord border was not.4. My room is still overflowing with yarn.5. I am knitting another shawl._uacct =Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-42341445429570232372011-06-27T08:04:00.003-07:002011-06-27T08:17:02.531-07:00New Shoes!I have Fluevogs. Not quite sure how they have not yet made an appearance on the blog. I have wanted a pair for ages, and finally got the opportunity to visit a store at the end of last month. Time elapsed between browsing around chockablock shop and buying a happy-birthday-to-me gift: half an hour.These shoes are absolutely fabulous: comfortable, fun, and sturdy. They have not transformed me Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-58332668791137980162011-06-20T07:57:00.002-07:002011-06-20T08:10:50.000-07:00Diversionary TacticsFriday evening, I realized my knitting had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Where I should have been knitting pairs of lace leaves, I was knitting single leaves.*gnashes teeth*So--rather than dwell on a foolish mistake that is entirely my own fault, not the fault of a poorly written pattern, or uncooperative yarn, or any other uncontrollable factor, let's look at a pretty building!The Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-26336943898939673682011-06-15T10:04:00.005-07:002011-06-15T10:20:30.886-07:00Shawl, FastConfronted with loads of laceweight yarn, I have taken the only rational recourse and started knitting shawls.This is a new Haruni, in one of the *wince* three skeins of Silky Alpaca I picked up at So Much Yarn. The pattern is much more intuitive the second time around, and I am already halfway done!Seeing beautiful examples of Estonian-style shawls with nupps and Shetland lace made me seriouslyWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-27416014024282300722011-06-13T08:47:00.008-07:002011-06-13T12:31:39.769-07:00Summer Socks!With all this yarn, what am I knitting?The socks I began in Seattle are traveling around in my purse. In the past week or so, I've been lucky enough to see three movies and be the passenger on several long car trips, so these socks have gotten a lot of attention. Sock the first is finished, and sock the second is in the home stretch!(I need to practice my car photography skills)The yarn is Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-69039997236686078782011-06-07T07:55:00.007-07:002011-06-10T13:28:34.546-07:00Share Time!After coming home from Seattle with so much yarn from so much yarn, I had to get creative. The Dream in Color Smooshy has been stuffed in a bag is helping one of my purses keep its shape while being stored. Two of the skeins of Silky Alpaca Lace are in the process of fueling my shawl kick. In spite of that, there's no way the remaining skeins are going to fit in the Yarn Tote.And what do I Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-35141930814424692602011-06-03T06:37:00.007-07:002011-06-03T08:27:54.830-07:00In Motion!Good news: I am out of my knitty funk! The body of the neverending summer bolero is off the needles, and there are two new projects in the works and skimming along.Here's how it happened: Mousie and I, with Querido & Co., took a train tip. Oh, how I love trains. If the private shower wasn't in the same cubicle as the shower and the windows actually opened, they would be pure heaven. I broughtWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-44670165264155308712011-05-13T16:49:00.003-07:002011-05-13T17:06:01.744-07:00Running in PlaceThis has been a madly busy week. I have been running in circles, trying to catch up on a million things on this, my one week of summer break. But be it knitting, professional development, or writing, everything is in the same infuriating state of partial completion it was at the beginning of the week. Take my current knitting project: that photo was taken on Monday. I have been knitting on Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-28651037054992043362011-05-06T16:52:00.002-07:002011-05-06T17:04:02.689-07:00PetsOn my commute, I am lucky that the bus comes off the highway well before the area around where I actually work. As it wends its way through the narrow streets one-way streets of downtown, I get to see some of the the best of the city before we swing west and traverse some of its worst.Tucked among the modern mid-century concrete, steel, and glass monoliths are some lovely old buildings (old for Wendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4862338865754238680.post-25651496217589006482011-04-05T12:04:00.002-07:002011-04-05T12:11:32.382-07:00Six Months to the DayThat is how long it took me to complete my third Icarus.I am not sure how I managed to work Haruni--a pattern I'd never completed before--in a month, without a single setback, while this shawl--a pattern I know well--was one setback after the next. I will not ponder that one too deeply; I'm just glad it's done and I can move onto something new! Want to check out the specs? They're Raveled hereWendolenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525155309586185163noreply@blogger.com0