summer – Page 8

Frumpy Grisaille

June 26, 2013 Marie Leave a Comment

There is absolutely nothing worse than pouring hours and hours into knitting something you know you’ll absolutely love, only to finish it and realize the final results are not what you expected… in a bad way.

Meet Frumpy Grisaille. She’s meant to be a more figure-fitted cardigan, with tighter fitting sleeves. I’ve poured so much time into knitting this. I even gauge swatched, which I never do. I did everything the “right” way to make sure that I knit a properly-fitting sweater. I was in love with this sweater right from the beginning… and that love died when I blocked the cardigan. And by “blocked” I mean I literally soaked it in some warm water, squeezed the water out and laid it flat to dry. I didn’t give it a proper block like I would a shawl, and I’m glad now because can you imagine how giant this thing would be if I had???

I still have over 1,000 yards of this yarn leftover, so I guess I might end up just knitting myself a second one and going down a size… or two.

Stash Additions

June 23, 2013 Marie Leave a Comment

I’ve been bad. Like, really bad. It’s not entirely my fault, though. My coworker is having a baby, so that meant placing a yarn order for some baby knits. That Ella Rae lace merino? That’s for a super adorable hoodie. And I purchased two skeins of Berroco Vintage DK in Oat for Gramps. Up until recently I’ve had an aversion to buying knitting patterns, especially with the large amount of free patterns on Ravelry. But lately it seems that I’m in the buying mood. And since I’m so picky when it comes to knitting patterns, I felt the two baby knits were worth the purchase since I feel like they’re something I’ll knit over and over again for future babies.

Anyway. So yesterday I was in one of the yarn shops in the big city. All I needed was a pair of size 4 DPNs to work on my sleeves of the Grisaille cardigan. And I had those in-hand when I found the Silkpaca. The very same Malabrigo Silkpaca that I’ve been petting and drooling over every time I see it. And, in a moment of weakness, two skeins followed me home. I think I want to knit another lace cardi? But I’m still undecided. Grisaille is easy enough to modify if I want to modify it a bit more – maybe a different lace edging?

Late Summer Blooms

September 13, 2012 Marie Leave a Comment

The first bloom on the clematis trellis we built earlier this summer, and a second one closely behind on the second plant. I’m very thankful that my raised bed/trellis idea has worked out. The distressed clematis plants we picked up for cheap have done really well in their new home. It looks like a little spider has found a little home for itself, too.

Cannoli Friday

September 7, 2012 Marie 1 Comment

Corn dog for lunch, cannoli for dessert. And, I learned, I can find my cannoli fix anytime I want now – there’s a local pizza place that makes them (which is where I found this – they have a booth this year at the festival!). So much for that diet I like to pretend I actually follow… If I suddenly gain 20lbs in the next month or so you’ll know why!

Thursday Noms

September 6, 2012 Marie Leave a Comment

Today was the first of a local three-day festival. When it comes around every year we eat almost all of our lunches and dinners there. It’s definitely one of our guilty pleasures! Tonight’s menu: steak fajita. SO GOOD. And, for fair/festival food, not all that bad for you since it’s not deep fried.