Quick update, since it's been a week

I've been a bad blogger as of late, I know. I'm about to enter the busy season at work. However, I didn't want to let an entire week go by without a post, so here's a down and dirty update.

In no particular order, here are some things of note:

• My brother's wedding in Virginia was very, very fun.
• Driving home in the Nor'easter was not. Thought we were going to float away on the Merritt Parkway -- loads of flooding and cars off the road.
• I only knit about 2-3 hours of the drive down, and not at all on the way back.
  
• Both Yarntini socks are past the gussets. However, they are now on hold, because
• My grandma (who taught me to knit, sort of) asked for a pair of socks.
• I'm trying to get those socks done for Mother's Day. I'm using the Waving Lace pattern from the new Favorite Socks books by Interweave. So far, they are the quickest socks I've knit.
• I'm at the gusset on sock #1. I cast on Friday -- so about a week.
  
• I hate knitting the gusset part of a sock. Hate it.
• Made our room reservations for Rhinebeck! Yay! Making it a family vacation with my knitting buddy and our families.
  
• We informed our families that we needed the 1st half of Saturday to shop, unaccompanied by family members. Then we will rejoin them after lunch.
• Failed to pass up a sale at Chez Casuelle that resulted in the purchase of enough Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb for a clapotis. This one will be a Christmas present, so that's a deal, right? Total justification.
• Hating the Pony Pearl dpns right now. Splitting at the tips of 2 needles on the first sock knit with them is NOT right. Haven't decided if I'm going to call customer service (if there is such a thing).

And lastly. My favorite photo from the wedding. The is The Belle, in her Flower Girl dress ...

An Ode to Cider Moon

It started with this:

One skein of Cider Moon's Istanbul colorway, purchased from Sheri at The Loopy Ewe.

After it arrived and I saw just how beautiful it was, I decided that I wanted to do solid colored cuffs, heels and toes on the socks that I am going to knit from this luscious yarn. I emailed the folks at Cider Moon, asking if they had any colorways that would work with the Istanbul yarn. Jacki was happy to give me two suggestions. Cider Moon had just updated their site, and I couldn't decide. And so, to my shopping cart, I added Raspberry Twist, and Victoria:

But of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone. By the time I checked out, my order looked like this:

You can just see the solids peeking out from the back of the pile. Sitting proudly in front are Giddy, Apple Crisp, and Fern Cliff. Apple Crisp is in their 'Flurry" line of yarns, while the others are all in 'Glacier." The Flurry line is a tighter twist, more reminiscent of yarns like Koigu. I wanted to try it, and just couldn't resist the colorway. Here, take a closer look -- it just glows:

My order was shipped immediately, and sped through the mail blindingly fast. When I opened the package, I oohed and aahed at the loveliness of the yarn. The package included a handwritten note from Gail, one of the owners. But whenI got to the bottom of the box, I gasped aloud. The folks at Cider Moon had decided to prey upon my weakness. They sent me this:

Adorable little sample bundles of yarn -- each identified by color name and yarn type on the invoice. (I'm not going to tell you which colors they are. Go see for yourself. I heard rumors that they were going to update the shop soon, including their new Blizzard line that uses Louet Gems as the base yarn.) I will tell you that the pink and black yarn in the back is called Jackie O., and Cider Moon donates 25% of the retail price to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation. So go buy some of that.

Oh, and my original reason for ordering -- yes, I found the perfect match.

What do you think? I hope that the solid color accents will highlight the gorgeousness of the variegated yarn. Unfortunately, I have a few projects ahead of these socks in the queue, but I can't wait to get them knitted up.

Happy Birthday to Me, again!

That's 3 skeins of Brooks Farm Four Play, in the Wines & Blues colorway. They arrived in the mail yesterday. This yarn is destined to become a clapotis. And yes, I bought it for myself. Studley Knit-right didn't know what to get me, so I took the pressure off and took care of it for him.

Thank you to Elizabeth, Nell, and Jody for the birthday wishes.

Jody wrote:

3 inches of sock to drive all the way to Virginia?? How can that possibly be enough to keep you occupied?

OK, I'm a slow knitter, but not that slow. I guess I wasn't clear. Once I turn the heel on sock #1 (hopefully done by tomorrow), I will have the entire foot (7" or so), plus I will also have 3" of the leg left on sock #2 before I get to that heel. So, 10" of stockinette, plus 2 young kids in the back seat, should keep me occupied the entire ride.

Speaking of the socks:


Aren't they pretty? I just love the yarn (Yarntini 4-8-15-16-23-42).

Happy Birthday to Me!

Fran's Chocolates: milk and dark chocolate with gray and smoked sea salt. My favorite chocolates in the world (so far). And today, my breakfast.

Another photo-free blog post!

The good news: I found my camera.
The bad news: the batteries are dead, and I don't have any more AAs in the house.
So you miss seeing us in our Easter finery.
This year, that was our pajamas.

This is the first Easter since college that we didn't have a meal with extended family. We were invited to my sister-in-law's, but then her kids came down with strep. So we stayed home, baked cookies for my brother's wedding next Saturday, played video games, and just hung out. I did cook a ham for dinner, and of course the girls stuffed themselves with lots of chocolate, so some traditions remained intact.

We did get all dolled up last night, though. The four of us went to Pot Au Feu for a special birthday dinner (mine tomorrow, Studley Knit-right's on Tuesday). The girls were amazingly well-behaved. They've eaten in "fancy" restaurants before, but I was a little concerned about how they'd do with French food. They shared an omelette au trois fromages -- and didn't really care for one of the three cheeses. But they did like the french fries, and loved the Smoked Bluefish Pate appetizer. Of course the hit was the dessert course -- creme brulee, and pot de creme au chocolate.

I haven't done much knitting. I started turning the heel on Yarntini sock #1 tonight, in preparation for our trip to Virginia this weekend. I don't want to try turning the heel while riding in the car, or chatting with relatives at the hotel. So I'm trying to get the 'trickier' parts out of the way. I still have about 3" to do on the leg of sock #2, so I think that will be sufficient car knitting.

In the meantime, I've become obsessed with the Jan dress designed by Wendy Bernard, available at The Garter Belt. I'm trying to figure out what yarn to use. I had never checked out The Garter Belt, thinking that it was patterns for knit lingerie, etc., but I saw this dress on someone else's blog and fell instantly in love. I think it will look adorable on both girls.

I'm off on a business trip tomorrow, but then I promise I will get batteries and photograph my sock!

Where, oh where, has my camera gone?

Oh where, or where can it be?

I'm a bad blogger. Knitter, too. And now an entry with no photos. Shame on me.

I had a week-long business trip, and knit for only 3 hours on the plane. It was difficult to find the motivation to knit in my hotel room when I'd have a glass of wine or two at dinner, or a margarita after hours. On our one free afternoon, I chose a nap over my sock.

The good news is that I have the cuff/leg done on one sock, and half of the leg done on the other. I'm knitting both separately but at the same time on dpns. The yarn is wonderful -- Yarntini in the 4-8-15-16-23-42 colorway. I wish I had my camera! They cheer me up so every time I look at them.

My schedule doesn't appear to be opening up any time soon; lots of travel for work, more travel to attend my brother's wedding ... but I am already planning my next several knitting projects. Is that terrible? Because while I haven't been motivated much to knit lately, I have been motivated to buy yarn. The last few weeks brought me the following:

• 3 skeins of Vesper Sock yarn
• 2 skeins of Socks that Rock Lightweight
• 1 skein of Austerman Step
• 1 skein of Fiesta Ballet
• 2 skeins of Malabrigo Laceweight

I also received a fabulous early birthday present from my friend, who got me 3 more skeins of sock yarn (2 Regia, one On-Line) and Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush.

So yes, there are more socks in my future. I think I have enough sock yarn for 45 pair. At less than one pair per month, well ... you can see where I'm going with that.

But today is The Belle's 5th birthday. So after I cook her specially -requested Birthday meal (breakfast for dinner -- pancakes, eggs and bacon), I will spend tonight putting the pompoms on her scarf -- finally.