Alright... things are flowing again (for now, anyway).
James and I have found a new apartment! It's a 1 bedroom, so we're downsizing slightly from the 2 bedroom we have now. But the bedrom and living room are both larger than the rooms we have now, so that shouldn't be a problem. What I absolutely LOVE about this apartment is that there is direct access to outside via a deck that is all ours to use. So, that means patio furniture and a BBQ in the springtime. There is also a yard, which the other tenants don't use aparently; a flower garden with perenials and space for a veggie garden. All that stuff I won't really get TOO excited about until spring, but for during the winter we now have a washer and dryer in our apartment. No more saving quarters and hiking down two flights of stairs. It's in our bathroom, which is right across the hall from our bedroom. I'm going to feel like a civilized human being... doing my laundry on a regular basis and what-not! There is also a dish washer!!! We've lived without one for about 4 years now, and while the dishes did get done, there has often been a large pile of them covering our counter.
As for the large tech editing project I've taken on, I feel like it's actually moving along at a somewhat decent pace now. There have been road blocks and detours constantly popping up with it. The rest of the sweaters should be at my doorstep when I get home today, so I'm planning on spending this weekend organizing and figuring out exactly what I have left to do, and when I can realistically complete it by... taking into consideration that I'll be moving too.
A few weeks ago my friend Kevin brought over 2 balls of Bernat Organic Cotton for me to play with. I knew immediately what I wanted to make with them:
• A hat for my mom. Ravel it • Baby booties for our friends Kat and Eric who just had a baby girl. Ravel it.
That same morning I was working on swatching for my mom's hat with some mystery yarn on a cone that I got for free from work some time ago. So, the design was already in mind. When Kevin gave me this yarn I couldn't wait to get swatching. So, while he was chatting with James I wandered into the other room and grabed up a pair of 5's, cast on and swatched away. I think I still may use the mystery cone with the same stitch pattern. It looks REALLY good in that yarn too.
My mom is the ruffle and flower type. She has always really enjoyed showing me the crocheted (and sometimes knit) flowers she has created; and often her designs have ruffles. So, I figured this would be a fun little hat for her. The textured part of the hat is a really fun-to-knit brioche stitch. I've recently fallen in love with the brioche stitch thanks to Pam Allen's ravings about it. It's so fun to work and it makes a beautiful fabric. I'm pretty sure James likes it too. He has a ready-to-wear sweater that is covered in a very basic brioche stitch that he LOVES. And he said that this stitch pattern reminded him of it, even though it's pretty different. Maybe he'll get something in that mystery yarn someday.
When I was finished with mom's hat I was happy to see that I still had a significant amount of yarn leftover—enough maybe, to make the booties shown on the yarn's label. Just to be sure, I cast on for both booties at the same time, each with one end of the same ball. And being careful not to let the yarn get TOO twisted I knit them up in an afternoon. They're pretty cute, but there's a seam. And we all know how I feel about seams... Let's just say I would have done them a little differently if it were my design. I added a little ribbon to add to it's femininity.
