love is all you need

I have no excuse for not blogging lately except for the fact that not much interesting has been going on. I have started the My So-Called Scarf from Sheep In The City in Manos Silk Blend, which is coming out very nice. Nice but slow.

A few days after the new year, I was lazing around at home when I noticed that I had missed about 6 calls on my cell phone from both my mom and my sister Kasi. I was pretty worried, cause they didn't leave any messages which meant it must be something that you wouldn't leave in a message. When my mom answered the phone the first thing she said was, "Have you checked your email today?" Which totally threw me off guard. "No, actually" I responded. "Your sister and I have been waiting all day for you to check your email... we felt so bad that you didn't get the KnitPicks Harmony Sock DPN set for Christmas that we decided to order it for you... call your sister!"

How cool are they? I bought a set for my sister for Christmas and really wanted to order a set of my own at the same time, but I convinced myself that I should wait because I knew I would probably get some as a gift. I was actually going to order some on the same day that they told me they had gotten them for me. Thanks so much, Mom and Kasi! I absolutely love them!

I was searching for a quick knit, and Ysolda's Urchin (fall issue of Knitty) fit the bill perfectly.

I love the way the garter ridges look with Malabrigo's thick and thin Gruesa. The way the hat is formed by using short rows with wraps is pretty genius. As I knit I was constantly marvelling at how a hat shape was forming out of almost nowhere. The swirly top looks pretty great, too.

I had to modify the pattern a little bit by including part of an extra wedge, as mine was coming out a little small. (I followed the numbers for the size small- next time I'll do medium.)

I'm also glad that my mistakes seem to be hidden pretty well. I lost track of myself a few times and knit a few extra wrap and turns in there somewhere, but I can't find them now.

Obviously Joey and I had a little fun with our photoshoot- he took about 35 pictures, and we couldn't decide which ones to show. I was a little timid to put up this many pics but he won the argument when he reminded me that people like pictures on blogs. Here's one more for good measure that shows how I feel about my new hat.

Joey has recently acquired some new recording software and while he was having a session yesterday at our house, I snuck out and went to the Shabby Sheep and came back with this:

Three luscious skeins of Manos Silk Blend in Hibiscus to make myself an equally luscious scarf.

I was floored when I looked back over 2007 and realized that I have 17 completed objects, many of them being my first foray into something new. I made my first quilt, first pair of socks, first hand-dyed yarn, first sweater, and first crochet project. This year, I think I'd like to venture into fair isle, designing my own knits, and definately more quilting and sock knitting!

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