Wow. I gotta get out of Ravelry more often

Ravelry is a complete time-sucker, and I've ignored this blog because of it. Not that anyone ever READS this blog because, you know, I've been ignoring it (grin). I'm gonna try to change that.

I've started and finished several items not on the progress meters at the left. I will try to update those in the next couple of days.

Not much progress on the remodel; we have applied for financing and run into some snags. Apparently, one of the previous mortgage companies filed a lien against the house when the loan was sold on the aftermarket, and never cleared it. That mortgage companies is now out of business. I'm sure these sorts of things happen all the time, but they are frustrating when they are happening to YOU.

Projects - Stained Glass Felted Bag. This is an amazing pattern which you can see and purchase here. I'm very pleased with the way this one turned out:

There are more pix if you want to see them, but I like this one the best.

Currently, there are two main projects. One is another felted bag, the Noni Green Earth Grocery Bag:


The other is the Flower Basket Shawl, from Interweave Knits, done in Kauni. This was in TimeOut for a while, but I'm not sure why, most likely set aside for Christmas crazies. I've got 6 or 7 repeats done, quite a bit more than what shows here.

While it is my intent to make it larger than pattern calls for, it won't happen any sooner with stuff like this to deal with:



The one on the left, I gave up and frogged back to lifeline. This particular repeat was done 4 times, I think, before I got it right. The jury is still out on the reddish one at the right. I've redone it and frogged that already once this evening, and will try again before bed. It SHOULD work, but maybe trying to fix lace on a city bus isn't the best way to go.

Hopefully, this will get the new habit started. People who blog daily, or 3 x week, wow. I have a lot of admiration for you. I just can't be clever on command.

I am beyond delighted

After promising to be VERY careful with DH's new $$$ digital camera, and learning about only three of the eleventy-five buttons and switches on it, I was able to get pix of my first serious lace piece. It probably took me as long to pin it out as it did for this to dry - it was nearly 90F today.

Without further ado (and reluctantly saying adieu to the scarf tomorrow), here it is. Click on a thumbnail for the big picture.

Losing my lace-inity

It was a lovely day. It was a holiday. The sun was out; the sky was blue.

The jasmine was in bloom. It was a perfect opportunity to do my first-ever serious lace blocking job. Even though there were men in my way , eventually I knew today was the day.

I am never good with finishing. I am often so proud of myself (not to mention surprised) that I ever finish the knitting, that there are nearly FO’s, who shall remain nameless, all over the place. You can’t pass judgment on something if it’s not completely done. Once I get started with finishing, the mechanics of it usually interest me and I do a fairly complete job. Unless it’s 10PM, Dec 24.

So, my intended partner was feeling lazy and loose. It was only when I prepared the tools that she tried to make a run for it. Too late. Ironically, the first thing to do is to get dressed (before getting “dressed”). To look finished. To not go to pieces.

Then, like a small child, she could not avoid – the bath. A toe dip. OK. Well, here we go. Ah, nice, cooling, relaxing. What could be better? She relaxed, looking not so much like wool, but more like raspberry compote.

When she was gently lifted from the cooling waters….. again, much like a small child, well, you could tell, she had been there.

Rats. I really wanted to get this done today. Ah, another holiday. 3 capfuls of vinegar, in we go again. This time, she didn't lose her flavor or her personality.

I will spare you the pix of the actual event (parental discretion would be advised, plus I couldn’t fight the child and take photos at the same time. Eventually, she wound down and stretched out for a nice nap.