love is all you need

Pattern: Ms Marigold from Zephyr Style
Yarn: Knit Picks Elegance 70% Baby Alpaca 30% silk, 4 balls
Needles: Size 5 Knit Picks Options, Size 8 for bottom ribbing bind-off
Started: 7/2006
Finished: 9/2/2007

I love it! I don't know why it took me so long to finish. I did set it aside around September of last year to knit a multitude of projects for a craft bazaar I participated in, and then when I was done with those projects I casted on for something else and ignored poor Ms Marigold for a while. But she called me back, and I'm glad she did because she is a beautiful sweater and I can't wait until the weather cools down a bit- it is still a little too warm for all that soft alpaca.

I haven't been completely ignoring the ripple afghan- just slowed down a little. (Mainly because I started to feel guilty about ignoring a few other projects.) The ripple is still lovely, and I cannot wait until I'm finished so I can have the most wonderful blanket in the world to snuggle under!

My Thermal sweater is getting a small reprise, as I had gotten lost in the never-ending world of waffle stitch on fingering weight yarn and size 3 needles! I'm getting closer and closer to the 12-inch mark, where I can finally split for the neckline.

And Ms Marigold is thisclose to being finished. I did the single crochet around the armholes last night, and (once again) worked on seaming the center of the v-neck. I have seriously seamed and re-seamed this part at least four times. I can't figure out how to make it look right. Got any tips?

I'm also planning on ripping out the bind-off on the bottom ribbing, because it is too tight when worn. After that there are just a few ends to weave in, give her a blocking and she's ready to go!

Oh, and I'm totally counting down until my sock class.... only 9 days left!

I had a little free time this morning, so I decided to give picking up stitches another try. I had been envisioning how I did it last time over and over in my head, but it was such a long time ago that the details were a little fuzzy. Then something I've been doing a lot of lately popped into my head: crochet. I grabbed a hook, and am now proud to check another goal off my list, just in the nick of time.
Now for this week's goals:
*Finish the neck ribbing on Marigold
*Knit at least one more pattern repeat on Thermal.

I had so much fun at the murder mystery dinner I went to last night- I was one of two people who correctly guessed the murderer! If you've never done a murder mystery dinner, you should. I would like to host my own sometime after seing how last night's went.

How have I been doing with meeting the goals I set for this week?
*I completed the goal of knitting two pattern repeats on Thermal, which makes me happy. I’m getting pretty close to the part where I start the armhole shaping and the split for the neck.
* I cut out the fabric pieces for a reusable grocery bag last night, but I didn’t have big enough fabric scraps to make an entire bag! (This did lead me to do a little fabric stash organizing, though.)
* I have ripped out the neck stitches on Ms Marigold, but I can’t seem to remember how to pick up stitches. Even after watching an online video I just wasn’t getting it right. All the online descriptions I find don’t really go into enough detail for picking them up on the sides of a v-neck. I’ve set this one down for the moment, but might give it another go over the weekend.
So what if I’ve only met one of my three goals for this week? I’m still happy because I at least attempted to complete the other goals, even if I was hindered by unforeseen roadblocks.

In other news, Joey’s band The Valentines won another Dallas Observer Music Award this week! They were voted Best Indie Rock and were pretty surprised by the win. They will be heading down to Houston tomorrow night to play a pre-season kickoff party for the Houston Rockets, which should be good exposure for them. I won’t be going because I’ve been invited to a Murder Mystery Dinner. (My character is a French medium and tarot card reader.) I’m pretty excited about it, and I’ll have to let you know how it goes.

It has been so hot around here that you work up a sweat just by being lazy. So there's really not much to report on the crafting front. I'm trying to remedy that by setting a few goals this week, which I shall share with you now so that you can taunt me if I fail.
* Rip out the neck on my Ms Marigold and re-pick up the stitches so that both sides look the same.
* Knit at least two waffle-stitch pattern repeats (there are 4 rounds in one repeat) on my Thermal sweater.
* Sew at least one reuseable fabric grocery bag.
(And I know that picture has nothing to do with my post but I had to show you guys something, and why not show you what Joey and Henry both do best?)