All the Pretty Words

wedded bliss

Originally uploaded by striatic.
So, I have disappeared for a while and left only a couple of fairly cryptic hints as to why this was so. Now see the photo above for the reveal!

We got married on the 15th in a smallish but very sweet ceremony in the area where I grew up. We wrote our own vows, I got a pretty and simple wedding dress, Bryan got a brand-new suit, and we had a big lunch at which we stuffed ourselves full of chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and cake. All in all, it was a great day. Bryan’s mom and sister came down for the weekend, and almost all of my immediate family was there (this may not sound like much but remember there are 20+ of them).

We’re back in Seattle now, loving being married to each other and loving our apartment. The super-secret project I knitted? There were two, actually–a lace shawl for myself and checkerboard socks for Bryan. I don’t have decent photos of either of them, but there will be photos once we’ve received copies of the wedding photos.

Now we just need to figure out what our rings’ special powers are…

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Well, I finished the Waving Lace Socks for my Sockapalooza sock pal. I think they turned out well, but I’m much more enamored with this:

My first handspun! I bought the roving and a simple drop spindle at Lettuce Knits while we were in Toronto, and had been reluctant to spin it up because I was sure I would mess it all up. Yesterday I decided to just get over it and do it, and here it is! It’s a bit overspun, but I think it will be okay once it has dried and the twist has set more completely. I’m a little disappointed by how little yardage I got out of it, though…only 45 yards or so. I think I might combine it with this wool/mohair blend I got at the street market last week to make a little pouch for socks-in-progress or a small purse, or maybe some gloves. I’ll figure something out, I’m sure.

I’m at a bit of an impasse for my next project. I have some lace yarn, but I’m doing the Mystery Stole soon and don’t think I want to work on two lace projects at the same time. I’m also a little burned out on socks, so my stashed sock yarn will have to wait some more. I’d like to knit a sweater or a cardigan or some kind of top, I think…but I don’t have enough yarn of any single type for that, and it would not be a good idea for me to spend the money on a sweater’s worth of yarn right now. I guess I’ll go back to the Log Cabin blanket until inspiration hits, then.

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Yes, I am still alive! As proof, I give you a FO:

The Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I had been pretty bored with the project until I saw someone talking about putting the ribbon through the yarn overs. I tried it (cursing at the newly-unearthed sewing machine as I sewed the ends on), and voila! Boring turns into cute!

I’ve also finished another project that I really loved, but I can’t show it here because the recipient reads my blog. I will try very hard to remember to blog it when I give it to that person, but the gifting date is well out of my easy remembering range. I’ll try!

A few days ago, I started some Waving Lace Socks (scroll down) for my Sockapalooza 4 sock pal. I’m using Jawoll for the first time, and the included bobbin of reinforcing thread is semi-exotic. Should I knit it along with the yarn? Should I sew it in later? Should I toss it aside? Who knows what wonders the reinforcing thread might bring… ;)

I also signed up for Dish Rag Tag (Team Canada, woo!) and Mystery Stole 3 today. I’ll definitely get into the Dish Rag Tag, but we’ll see what happens with the Mystery Stole. There are tons of lace patterns calling my name and I have so little yarn with which to knit them…

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I got a Palm Leaf Tote when we were in Victoria, BC this January and have loved it ever since. It’s a great size for a knitting bag, especially for traveling, since I can throw all kinds of maps, a project, a book, my Nintendo DS, and even a water bottle in there. I’ve used it almost daily since I got it, but disaster struck a couple of weeks ago…a row of palm leaves snapped in half and I’ve no idea what caused it. I sent an email to Lantern Moon asking whether I could have it repaired or replaced, and today I got an email from them saying that they’re going to send me a new one. Sweet!

I’m also making (slow) progress with the Log Cabin blanket. I dearly love the thing, but the gauge and garter stitch are making it a bit mind-numbing, so I posted about it here on Mason-Dixon Knitting’s slogalong. It’s like a knitalong, but for projects that seemingly never end. You know the sort–single-color plain sweaters for 6′6″ men, gigantic afghans, stockinette stitch shawls, and the like. I’ve never done a knitalong before, but I’ve received all sorts of positive comments and encouragement on this one, so I’d really like to join another one sometime.

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The sock yarn log cabin blanket is growing! The purple next to the orange makes me a wee bit nervous, as does the dark blue, but I think they’ll look better once I have some more strips along the outsides to balance them out. I’ve used almost all of my colors, so I’m debating whether to continue in the order I began with or choosing colors near-randomly as I’ve been doing so far. We’ll see…

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