Happy Birthday Mac!

Yesterday my precious little aussie turned THREE. THREE!!! I have had him for 2 years and 10 months. It seems like forever. =)

On Mac's birthday I also did a photo-shoot for my book. I am writing a knitting book called "Knitting Through College." Mac was cooperative (kind of) for the photo shoot and allowed my friend Anne to take photos with him. the one below is the best of the entire shoot. =) Mac is a natural model.

I also knit up my "Logical Beanie" for the photo-shoot. This is Wollmeise worsted in Rittersporn. This used up some of my stash, which made me happy. Luckily we were mainly shooting hats because it was cold outside. It kept Anne warm.

I have basically finished both heels on my basic toe up Mountain Color socks. Now I just need to finish them so I can continue my "use up stash" mission.

I also started another pair of my "Roundabout Socks" for the book. The yarn being used is Alpaca with a Twist's Socrates. This is a wonderful yarn! Very soft and beautiful. I bought it while up in Cedar Falls visiting boy.



I went and saw boy on Saturday and just had fun hanging out in downtown Cedar Falls. It's nice getting away and spending some quality time together. While we were in Crazy Girl Yarn Shop, boy walked around and FELT yarn. LoL I have trained him well. =)

Ahh spring. . .kind of. . .

Claudia's colors for this month's package for the Wollmeise Sock Club is definitely bright and colorful. But unfortunately, it didn't match the weather outside. It was snowing, yep snowing. I had just gone up to see boy and go see a movie. When we exited the theater, it had begun to snow. =P

Over spring break I went down and visited my brother and his fiance, Alicia, for 5 days. Unfortunately I was sick the entire time and couldn't get pictures. After that, my parents picked me up from O'Hare and we went to the condo. On Saturday my dad and I went downtown to Navy Pier, which was a lot of fun.
Here is a picture of the ballroom at Navy Pier. Lake Michigan was gorgeous!

Picture of part of the skyline. It was such a beautiful, clear day.

Okay, yes, this is a picture of Mac's butt, but I guarantee there is a good reason for it. While I was home, we took Mac to petco for a bath and a trim. Usually we take our dogs to Petsmart, but they don't do that good of a job on Mac when it comes to trimming. So after we took him to Petco and they did an amazing job! No one has ever trimmed his butt this well. It is sooo wonderful!

I have also been working on some very simple projects right now.


New news is that I will be moving into my sister's old condo, which is much larger and nicer. I now get to find a job before I graduate in this area. I hope it won't be that hard. I am meeting up with an advisor who will help me spruce up my resume and help me with my job search. But, I am staying in Iowa, hopefully for a few years until the economy gets better. I mean, Iowa's unemployment is only 4.6%, which is low compared to the rest of the country.

Gotta Love the cold and snow

As you probably know, I love the cold and adore snow. I wish we had gotten the large amounts of snow that went just slightly north of us. My parents and Boy got that and I was slightly disappointed it missed IC. So, plans have been changing quite a bit lately. My Valentine's Day was kind of boring. I watched movies all day. Boy was in upstate NY attending a memorial for his cousin who was killed on the 6th. And we're not going down to visit my brother for spring break, we're probably just gonna go to my parents condo in Chicago. It should be fun though.

I had to stop knitting my shawl because I finished the first skein and hit a snag. . . all of the other skeins I bought were an off white cream colour and not the white of the first skein. I just happened to use the only white skein for the beginning of the project. Soo, I need to go an buy some more of the white before I can continue.
I have been knitting though. I have finished a couple of projects below. I finally finished my dad's hat last night while watching the Oscars. Yay! It's soft, thick and beautiful. I hope it fits!

I also did some destashing and knit a slouch out of some Misti Alpaca Sport Weight yarn that I have had for years! It's a forest green colour and neither pictures show it very well. I have 2 more skeins left I believe and need to figure out what to do with them.

Mac was very reluctant to model it for me, but I managed to get a cute picture!

I also started another slouch based on one that Scarlett Johansson was wearing in a picture I saw. The first one is being knit out of Cascade Eco Wool, same as my first Ailidh hat. I'm hoping to make adjustments with Malabrigo for the second one before I write the pattern down.

Well, I need to finish going through my Marketing notes, because I have an exam in less than 2 hours. Ugh!
There was also an update in the shop on Saturday. Enjoy!

Rain??

Today is a beautiful gloomy Monday. I love two kinds of days, gloomy rainy ones and crisp white snowy ones. I love over cast skies and cooler to cold weather. Those are both ideal to me. The snow is melting and it feels like spring, even though it's only February. Quaint eh?

I have been slowly but surely been working on my wedding shawl.
Details:
Pattern: Shetland Triangle
Yarn: Baby Cashmerino
Color: white
Needle: US 5 24" and 32"

Apparently the orange beanie That I knit a while ago doesn't fit my dad's head properly. Sooo, while I was home over the weekend I picked up some Debbie Bliss Como in grey and a set of US 13 circulars and cast on. The hat is 52 stitches and will be a basic beanie. The yarn is awesome and soft to work with, if only the skeins had more yardage.

Of course this post would not be a proper post unless I had a photo of my beautiful baby boy. He's enjoying the cooler/warmer weather, but not the rain.. This dog hates rain, baths and any other source of water that gets on him, except snow. odd dog.


For spring break I'm going to down to Austin to visit my brother and his fiance for a few days. it should be fun. =) Boy was supposed to come with but he never gave me an answer and I said screw it I'll go alone. Life does go on.

OMG Knitting Stuff!!

Okay, yes, I understand that i REALLY have not been keeping up with my blog or anything fiber or knitting related. So here is a knitting post, omg omg OMG!!!!! Yeah. . . I hadn't been in the mood really to knit anything in the past few months due to stress. Lots and lots of stress.
Below is a new photo of my second Old Shale scarf that i still haven't finished. I am about 3/4s of the way done with it and it's still on the needles. Sigh. I've been dragging it to classes in hopes of finishing it as soon as possible. Also, thank god for movies and knitting while watching them also.

I also started a new pair of socks. Details:
Pattern: Tesserae Sock by Anne Hanson
Yarn: MacKintosh Yarn Mey Seacell Sock Yarn
Colourway: Victoria
Needles: US 1 circular

I also dyed up some sock yarn for my bridesmaids socks. I have 4 pairs to knit. I know all but one bridesmaids shoe size.

Mac has been enjoying the warmer weather. I've been opening the balcony door at times and when he's not out on the balcony, he's usually laying right in front of it feeling the breeze blowing in.

Haha, a few months back I commissioned some yarn to be spun at a mill down in texas. I commissioned sock weight yarn. . . .I received a call, paid and was sent the yarn. i looked at it confused and decided to dye some up to see how much it would bloom. The final product is below. Yeah. . . .thats sock yarn for who, a giant?


I also want to congratulate my friend Anna who is expecting her second child this summer. Grats!!
Also, I rejoined Weight Watchers after five years and lost 3.8 lbs last week. Granted most of what you lose the first week is water weight, but it still means something to me. =)