Yarns-of-the-month: (L-R) "Eco Wool" by Cascade (this red must be new?), "Shiny" by Grignasco, "Prairie Silk" by Brown Sheep, "Kiss" by King Yarns
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What's on your mind?

Here's what's on mine:

• Relief that I got the first gift package mailed yesterday
• Checking up on the folks this weekend
• Excited for the Knitting conference next weekend
• Starting school next week (yikes!)
• Valentine's day is coming up
• Looking forward to relaxing in Napa/Sonoma for my birthday!
• Planning our next vacation and/or anniversary trip
• Creating a menu for Super Bowl Sunday (we just watch the half-time shows and eat finger foods)
• Getting my bike tuned-up so that I can ride it again
• What to knit from the new Rebecca magazine?! (decisions, decisions...)

I'm back, baby!!!!

I finally got a new hard drive installed (thanks Bubz!) and now I'm able to do all the things I used to: scan, print, upload photos, and my forward and back buttons WORK on my mouse again!!!! You never know how whacha got 'til it's gone.

So without further ado, here is the pic of the completed Amy vest. I used all of the colors suggested for the argyle version, but with a few switches. I decided to alternate diamond colors, with the middle one in Ash instead of all in Dusk. Since I had leftover yarn in Russet from the beret hat, I decided to do the stitching in that instead of the original Ash.


Ta da!!! The Amy vest from Jo Sharp
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I think overall, the sizing was designed to be loose fitting, so even though I knit the smaller size it still came out a little too big for me. I think it's really cool, though, and I actually didn't mind the stitching after I came up with a great way of doing it.

I went to the fabric store and bought one of those marker pens that show up in white. The ink eventually dissolves in water, but I didn't care since I was going to stitch over it with yarn. With ruler in hand, I just drew lines across the front and a few seconds later the white marks appeared. It was sooo much better than my previous method of pins marking the way. So there's my tip for anyone thinking of making this sweater!

I've also been working on my own version of the "Holiday Cowl" pattern I received from my yarn-of-the-month club. I had two balls of Rowan Polar sitting around and really thought it would be good worn around the neck (because it's the softest yarn ever!), but I was sick of making scarves.


Holiday Cowl in Rowan Polar and S. Charles Ritratto
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The cowl seemed like a good idea, but I wanted to carry along another yarn that would give the solid color some pizzazz. I found this Ritratto at my LYS and was immediately drawn to it. I think it's gorgeous stuff, but perhaps too subtle in it's pizzazz effect next to the Polar? I just really didn't want eyelash or anything with sequins or such. Eh, we'll see how the finished product looks.

I suck!

Ugh, it's the end of the day and I didn't get to the post office. Thankfully, my sister is coming to take care of my parents tomorrow so I THINK I might get another chance tomorrow.

It was a long, exhausting day of driving all over the place. We got the news that my dad would be released from the hospital today, so I had to pick up my mom and go over there. It took a long time, longer than I expected, and I had to function on only an English muffin.

Tired and hungry, I got home to find that my SP sent a gift certificate for an online tea shop called Adagio. I had never heard of them, but I was immediately intrigued by the "ingenuiTEA" contraption on their homepage. After clicking further, I knew I had to have it. I was just telling Mikey that I needed to do something about my rusty tea infusers.

After browing their extensive tea menu, I added a few samplers - a couple different jasmine teas and their apricot green tea - along with the new infuser (plastic, so the resident dishwasher will appreciate that). I only wish online purchases could somehow pop out of my computer and materialize into the actual thing immediately after hitting the final purchase button! Hey, you never know - this whole Internet thingy probably sounded like crazy talk not too long ago...

Phil says more winter

Yet another cute e-card from my SP has reminded me that today is Groundhog Day. Thanks SP! According to Phil, we've got more winter ahead. I dunno, does that really matter in places like California?! I'm soooo glad we finally came back here (after a 3-year detour in Texas) - I never knew growing up, how much I took the gorgeous weather for granted.

Well, if I didn't say it before, I'm saying it now: I've got drama. My parents were in a car crash on Monday and my dad is still hospitalized. My mom was able to go home that night with some bruising, but her car is totaled so we've been driving her back and forth to the hospital. There will likely be a long and hard recovery for my dad, but we still don't know the extent of his injuries.

Until my mom is feeling well enough to drive (she has a rental), I will be busy shuttling her around the South Bay. It's fine, I just REALLY need to find time to package up my first gift to my SP and ship it out. I was sooo good, did all my shopping over the weekend and had it all ready to go on Monday. I had planned on sending it out Tuesday, but things got crazy and since she's in Canada (yay!) I have to actually take it to the post office. I will get it done today, I swear!

Ack! I hit Save instead of Publish so this is going out much later than I intended...