365:106 A Camping We Will Go…

We’re off to Rhode Island for some camping this weekend but before we get there we have to take a little detour. We’re driving up to the Boston area so we can meet Mom at her sewing class Saturday morning so I can finally try on my wedding dress!!! I’m so excited to finally see the dress! I’ve tried on the muslin version but I haven’t seen it put together with all the fabrics. It’s going to be spectacular. Of course Carl will have to busy himself in the morning so I’m sending him to get the oil changed. I think that should keep him busy long enough to miss me in the dress.

Of course I’m bringing my knitting with me. I’m about halfway up the leg of the first knee sock already. Let’s see how much I can get done by Tuesday. Maybe I can even finish this thing!!! I really should bring the little baby sweater I knit for my colleague since the baby is almost here and only one sleeve is sewn in but I think I have enough time before we head out for me to get one more sleeve done. Heck, if Carl is late might be able to even sew the collar on! I’m not knitting the booties since I’ve had issues with booties in the past. For some reason they never come out right so I’ve given up on them. Instead I bought her little sheepskin booties for the baby. They’re a little warm for this time of year but come fall they’ll be perfect.

Enough yapping, it’s time for me to finish packing and get those sleeves in. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

365:105 Go Me!!

It’s done and to prove it to you here’s a shitastic photo!!

I probably should have knit the average since the tall is SUPER long but who cares. The extra length will keep me warm come winter time. I really love this vest and I’m so proud to have finished my first fair isle project bigger than a pair of mittens or socks. I still have to sew in my ends and tack down the steeks but all the knitting is done!

Now, what will be my next fair isle project…hmm…

365:104 Ugh

Stuck at the office again…I just want to go home, watch American Idol and knit. I’m sad.

365:102&103 Coming Up For Air

I spent most of yesterday trying to make up the work I didn’t get to do on Sunday. It was a very long day and frankly all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with my knitting and veg. I guess you have to be an adult sometimes and take care of your responsibilities though. I still haven’t caught up but I’ve made some good headway which is very important. I really want to do well since this is the first BIG project I’ve had in a while and I think it’s the kind of thing that people may notice and could serve me well. I will just have to keep plugging away and hope everything gets sorted in the end.

Tonight was our last golf lesson (which means I got to work a little less today which was nice) and we finally had good weather. We’ve met some pretty cool people through these lessons and it felt a bit like summer camp at the end. Everyone was exchanging their contact information so we can meet up and play a few rounds together or just hit some balls at the range. We even talked about making Tuesday nights are beer and driving range night. We’ll see if we all follow through.

I managed to turn the heel on my knee high socks when I finally got some down time last night. So I’m on to the leg which will be pretty mindless but just what I need at the moment. I hope to finish at least one sock by the end of our upcoming camping weekend. Let’s see if I can do it.

I still need to pick up around the neck on my Corrie Vest but I haven’t had the time to really focus on it. I’m hoping things will slow down as the week goes on so I can finish all the knitting before we head out. But I guess if I don’t I can always finish it in the car on Friday. It’s not like I’ll have anything else to do right? I can’t wait till I can call this project done. It’s probably my most involved project to date and it will feel so good to finally be able to wear it. Of course I will have to promptly put it away with the rest of my winter clothes but it will still feel good even as a sweat through the picture taking process.

I’m so tired and it’s not even 10pm. I guess I should sign off and find some comfy clothes to relax in before I pass out for the night. It’s been a long week and it’s only Tuesday. Wish me luck with the rest of the week. Pictures of my sock soon!

365:101 Frustrating

I’m having a frustrating day. I planned to spend the day finishing a project for but it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to start anytime soon. It will take me a whole day to finish and now it look like I’ll be up till very late. The project is being worked out around the clock with a colleague in Hong Kong but it looks like he went to sleep without closing the files. I can save new versions but then there’s the risk of my losing information when I merge them together in the morning. I’m totally frustrated. Now I must sit and wait for him to wake up, see my email and close the damn things.

To pass the time I’ve been reading and every hour I check to see if I can get into the document and I can’t. I honestly have no desire to knit even. Sitting there knitting just cause me to think about how annoyed I am and I’ll start muttering to myself and get all worked up. And frankly this isn’t that big of deal, just super annoying. I guess this why I never liked to share. Oh well…

I did finish one armhole yesterday which is exciting. I just need to get into a knitting mood so I can finish the other one.

I’m in a blah mood now…

365:99&100 I Did It!

Yesterday was super busy after work. I had a baby shower for a colleague and then a house party for a friend of Carl’s and then we had my brother’s 31 birthday party. Needless to say I never had the chance to knit let alone reinforce my steeks and cut! But today is a very different matter.

I woke up late (8:30am) and spend the morning finishing Silent In The Sanctuary and procrastinating. The plan for the day was to clean a bit and for me to finally cut the steeks. Eventually I had to be good and get to the steeks. So I went down to my desk and dusted off my sewing machine. I never use it because frankly I have no idea how to sew but I can sew a fairly straight seam and that’s all I needed for this. My heart was racing as I put knitting to machine. The cutting didn’t worry so much as the sewing. I kept telling myself to remember to put the foot down so my knitting didn’t slide everywhere and get ruined. And after several agonizing minutes my knitting was reinforced and the steeks we ready for cutting.

The cutting was odd but definitely not scary. After watching Meg Swanson cut dozens of steeks I knew it would work as long as I stayed between the lines. I have to say I’m really proud of myself.

I finished the ribbing on one of the arm holes while we watch Tarzan. Unfortunately, I have to do more cleaning before we have to head out for yet another birthday party. When did I get a social life?

And I just realized this is my 100th day (sadly not post, bad blogger). I couldn’t have picked a better thing to do on my 100th day.

365:98 Wooooooo

As of this morning I am officially done with the colorwork on the Corrie Vest!!!!

I’m so excited! But also a little nervous because this means I have cut the steeks this weekend. EEEK!

In the meantime I’m starting a simple stockinette pair of knee highs with some yummy Zauberball from  Schoppel Wolle colorway Charisma. It’s super relaxing and easy after the vest. I’m using Streets and YOs’ basic knee high toe-up sock pattern. It’s straightforard and the yarn is gorgeous! Plus they’re perfect for our camping trip that’s coming up.

So tonight I’m just going to kick back, relax and work on my socks. I will worry about the steeks tomorrow or maybe Saturday.

365:96&97 One Month

One month ago I started my Corrie Vest and now it’s nearly done! Who knew it would only take a little over a month to finish this project. I know it’s not done but it’s so close it must be a matter of days/ a week before it’s finished (and quickly put back in the closet for when fall comes around again). I thought I would be working on it this all summer. I’m pleased it’s gone as smoothly as it has. And I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. I finished all the neck and armhole decreases and now I have about 10 rows of short rows to shape the shoulders and the colorwork is DONE! Who knows, maybe I’ll finish tonight.

I’m so excited!! Back to work.

365:94&95 Totally Distracted

Yesterday I did two things, I read and I picked out the last fabric for my wedding gown. You’ll notice that neither of those things are knitting related in anyway. I’m a very bad knitter (but an excellent reader!).

After finishing  The Dead Travel Fast on Saturday I jumped right into another Deanna Raybourn book, Silent in the Grave. I was so engrossed in the story they I barely put it down, reading late into the evening last night so I could finish the story. And alas, no knitting. I made of point of ordering the next book instead of stopping by the bookstore tonight so I will at least have reading free night tonight and maybe tomorrow. My amazon orders ship pretty darn fast and it should be here tomorrow but you never know. I’m still aiming for cutting my steeks this weekend and I will stick to my plan even if I have to leave Lady Julia and Brisbane alone for a few nights to do it.

The only time I did put the book down yesterday was to head downtown to Lace Star to pick out the last and possibly most fun fabric for my wedding dress — beaded lace. Here’s just a little taste of what we had to choose from:

I won’t tell you which one we chose but here’s my little seamstress (a.k.a my mother) making sure we had enough lace for the dress.

The rest of the dress is a gorgeous dupioni silk in a slightly off-white. Really it’s just the natural color of the silk but when I say natural it always makes me think of something darker and more creamy. It’s going to be stunning!!! I can’t wait to show off the finished dress in a few months time. I’d show it sooner but Carl might look and that would be very bad luck. And we wouldn’t want that.

OOO just got the call with Carl’s ETA so it’s time for me to wrap this up and put dinner on.

365:92&93 Progress and Distraction

I meant to post about my progress on the Corrie Vest last night but I was so engrossed with my book that I never got the chance and then we headed out for dinner and drinks and it was too late. I finished the book this morning and I really did enjoy it. It’s called The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn. It’s was a good story that I obviously enjoy since I couldn’t put it down but it wasn’t the best book I’ve read. It think the story was interesting and the characters had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, I think it was a little too short. It would have been interesting to see some more character development but all in all it was enjoyable and I would recommend it if you’re looking to read something diverting but not too involved. I’m starting her Lady Grey series next and hopefully these books will be even better. The reviews on Amazon seem to be really good so fingers-crossed.

Now back to the knitting…

Now that I’m decreasing for the neck and the armholes while doing all the color changes I thought it was best if I wrote out some notes so I don’t make any mistakes (or I should say any more mistakes). So the other night I sat down and wrote down each decrease row and I’ve been crossing them off as I go.

Now that I have some guidelines I’m really truckin’ along nicely. I have 3 more decrease rounds for the armholes and then handful more for neck, some shoulder shaping and the colorwork part is done! I hope to have all this done by the end of the week so I can cut the steeks next weekend. I’m still a little nervous about this whole cutting my knitting thing but many people have steeked before me so I should be fine.

It’s looking pretty good right?

I’m having a brunch with a friend in a few hours so I have to get myself dresses and presentable. I hopefully I can eek out a few more rows before she gets here.