bestitched

Back home...

San Juan was beautiful. Here was our view on most days (I did have to go to the conference some of the time...no, really, I did)

Gorgeous!

And, wait, I turned to the other side. Gorgeous!

The pink socks were finished and enjoyed a little sun

And I had a little knitting friend who would visit me by the pool, sit on the edge of the lounge chair and watch me knit.

All in all, it was a great time. We went to Old San Juan (breathtaking!). Saw some truly excellent friends (go Team Chuggnutz! And Ms. SH, please get yourself a blog), ate delicious mofongo and tostones at Café del Angel. While we were there, 50,000 people organized in a march from the convention center into Old San Juan for Puerto Rico Grita, a peaceful demonstration regarding recent governmental crises. I'm not even sure it made the news in the states. It was amazing.

So now, the pink socks, BL & I are home after a long flight and a layover in Philly during which I saw my brother who was traveling from Philly to Texas (totally not planned - completely random!!!) and I picked up some soft pretzels

Mmmmm

Since it's not 89 degrees here (...sigh...), I put on the pink socks - cute!

And while I was away, I made wonderful progress on the San Juan socks

  Now for some unpacking and sleep!

Journeys

I finished the striped baby pants this morning. Yesterday afternoon, I took a quick trip to the local fabric store and picked up some 3/4" elastic. Using my trusty new sewing machine (I've named her Ethel), I stitched together the elastic and tucked it into the waistband hem, whip-stitched it together and voila!

Finished stripey baby pants (sans baby)

Here's the inside where I whip-stitched the waistband in place.

I also got some pink & green fabric (I heart Amy Butler)

 

Project still undetermined.

I've also made some progress on the pink socks, but still not quite finished.

I'll be bringing the pink socks to Puerto Rico (yup. little vacation for me and my man!) as well as some more lovely sock yarn to knit with along the ocean.

See y'all back here in a week!

harmonious yarn convergence

At Sunday knitting, there was a meeting of yarn

specifically "the great pumpkin" yarn that Loops, 2Ktog, and I all bought independently from Greenwood Fiberworks.  Yarn from the same dye lot reunites in the Boston Metro area. Awww!

As a dark foil to my lovely bus ride with Emily:  yesterday while waiting for the bus, I saw a woman spit through her front teeth.  It's a damn shame to see all those deportment lessons go to waste.

All hail retro prep

Let's face it, in the 80s, I was the furthest thing from a prep. But with the resurgence in preppy things these days, I find myself attracted all things pink & green. Like these (drools uncontrollably) and

my new garden shoes

and this yarn combo for a sweet baby dress

I'm also closing in on finishing the striped baby pants. I've decided (thanks to some wise moms) that elastic is the way to go. Then just 14 bazillion ends to weave in and I'm done.

 

And, rejoice, I just got Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yokelson. I'm a deep, deep fan of Baking by Flavor which she authored some years ago. Chocolate Chocolate is just as brilliant. Here are the Home on the Range cookies from the book, complete with bittersweet chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut. Brilliant.

Finally, my bus ride on Thursday was filled with amazement. I sat down across from a knitter and pulled out my own knitting. Chatty girl that I am, I asked what she was knitting.

"A skirt for my daughter" (which was gorgeous!) And then she asked what yarn I was using for my sock

"Greenwood Fiberworks from an Etsy shop."

"I knew it!" She had seen the yarn on Grumperina's blog (of course!).

We had a very, very nice conversation and she told me that she had gotten some cotton/spandex sweaters from the thrift store to use as sock yarn. Frigging genius!!!

If all bus rides could be as wonderful!

Pink sock progress

I've just turned the heel on the first pink sock. Still loving the stripey goodness of this yarn.

I also went into the Hope Chest today to pull out some towels for the new crapper. I pulled out a pair of my Grandmother A's linen tea towels. [Backstory: she grew the flax, spun the fiber, and wove the towels. And I am fortunate enough to have these treasures].

So, I think I'll knit up some linen hand towels a la Mason Dixon Knitting to add to the mix. What do you think?

dazed and confused

or, alternately titled, never underestimate the psychedelic powers of good allergy medicine.

In a fit of dispair late Sat night, I ripped out the pink socks yet again and cast on for another iteration of what would be the best friggin' pink knee-high socks in New England.

Problem was, I was wasted on allergy medicine and cast on 100 stitches. Yeah, yeah, I know. Too many. But in my defense: a) this is only my third pair of socks and 2) I suck ass at math. Thank god I saw Ms. Grumperina on Sunday. 100 stitches was way, way too many. This would only work if I was knitting a sock for my head.  Ripped out and cast on 60 stitches. Yup, much better.

Look at the subtle stripey goodness of Greenwood Fiberworks yarn. Yay stripey goodness.

Oh, and since my math sucks ass, didn't realize til yesterday that I don't have enough yarn for knee-socks. Duh.

neverending wip

Thanks everyone for kind words & thoughts. I keep reminding myself that it is spring after all and good things always come in the spring.

Plus, we've started working in the garden and that's always good for the soul.

As is retail therapy

As for knitting, clapotis is truly the never-ending knit

finish me for craps's sake already!

Pink knee-his? Back to step one again (pass the ativan)

Delays and disappointments...

In the hot mess I like to call my life, there have been recent delays, disappointments and distractions that have put me on edge. Thank god there's knitting. At least in my knitting life, some goals can be achieved and realized.

Witness slow and steady progress on the stripey pants:

Yup, I'm past the crotch. (Could that be a sign as to the rest of my life?)

The lonely clapotis has been getting some love:

I started some pink knee-hi socks with cotton sock yarn (hooray!) from Greenwood Fiberworks (and which of you bought the orange out from under me??!?!??!)

And there's always the slowly growing pile of afghan squares to keep me company when I'm feeling down (but why did I choose to knit a queen-sized afghan with the smaller squares?)

Send chocolate and love. Both are needed in vast quantities right now otherwise I'm going to lose it and frog all the FOs in my closet. I'm serious.