A little bit of lace and a sweater

Well, after all of my big talk about good intentions, I have gone ahead and started a new lace project. When I first saw anne working on this, I fell head over heels and went right out and ordered the yarn even though the pattern wasn’t out yet. By the way, I also ordered more of Kim’s hand cream while I was ordering the yarn. You have to try this stuff – it is so awesome. I accused her of putting something addicting in it because that is exactly how I feel – totally addicted to the stuff. I don’t know if it the fragrance or what but I love this stuff. The smell, the feel – it’s not greasy and just absorbs wonderfully into your skin where you are left with this great smell and great feeling hands. Did I mention how much I love this hand cream?? Hold on a minute while I go get some. I wish there was some way you could try it virtually but alas, it’s all for me.

Oh, yes, I was telling you about my new lace project. Must have gotten distracted. Anyway, I have started anne’s Maplewing with my New England Red yarn from Kim and I love them both. Well, the pattern and the yarn, although the girls are pretty fantastic too. The one thing I REALLY love about this pattern is that it’s very intuitive. Now, I’m not as proficient in lace as some, but I have made a few things and there always seem to be a few rows where I’m just going on blind faith with regards to the pattern and I can’t seem to find a rhythm or an easy way of remembering what is going on in that row. And consequently, I can’t see where I may be off. So, when I get to the end of that row, I breathe a sigh of relief if the count works out and then cross my fingers on the way back that everything will line up correctly. With this pattern I have found a rhythm in every row and I can tell within a few stitches if I am off or have made an error so it’s quick and easy to fix it. OK, don’t laugh, I have only done the first 5 rows but I can tell that the first Chart will definitely be like this all the way. I decided to make the tall size so the cast on was a bit overwhelming, but I figured I have the yarn and when I measured my Moth shawl, the dimensions were closer to the tall size so my decision was made.

And yes, I’m still working on sweaters. The Placed Cable Aran (ravelry link) was sewn up tonight as I was watching Season 4 of Sex in the City. Pictures will be taken soon - maybe I can wear it tomorrow!!

Enough reading – go out and make something crafty!

Can you guess?

Just thought I'd show you the cupcakes I sent in for my daughter's class last week for April's Fools. Another great design from Hello Cupcake. Did you guess what these are supposed to be? I'll give you a hint - it's 2 vegetables that often come together.

Peas and carrots. Cute, huh!! The peas are green M&M's and the carrots are orange Starburst cut into quarters.

Goin’ Loopy

Isn’t life great!! I am thrilled that even after I have been knitting as long as I have, there are still new things I can learn. The girls at my Friday knitting group showed me how to do Magic Loop and I must say that I love it!!



See that picture – it’s the start of a hat. This Through the Loops beret to be exact out of Misti Alpaca worsted which I picked up at 40% off out of the sale bin at KnitKnack. Great pattern, great yarn and a great new technique. What’s not to love!!

There is one thing that I wish. As I was going all crazy, doing the happy dance after learning how to Magic Loop, I thought about other areas in my life where I may need to learn new things and wondered why I couldn’t be so excited all of the time. For example, I need to learn some new skills for my project at work and I must admit that I can’t get so thrilled about it. I wish I could, but the emotion is just not there (it’s a good possibility that my good friend and also the lead in my group at work may be reading this – hi Wendy!!). Wouldn’t it make for a more pleasant environment if I could get as psyched about my project at work as I can about my crafts? Now, I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy my job – there are many good things to say about it. I work with a great group of people and have some very close friends there. And I have been involved in some really interesting work. But there are many times during the day where my mind will wander off to the sweater I’m knitting or the quilt I am sewing – these are the things that keep me going.

Maybe that’s why they call it work and my extracurricular activities are what I do for fun. Make some time for fun in your day – every day!!