the Akamai Knitter

Megan may call me a bitch all over the interwebs, but the girl shows me the love with the birthday gifties. She sent me a box full of lovelies.

First up is a bag from the ever so talented Acornbud. Megan knows of my bag ho’ tendencies and my addiction to Barb’s bags, y’see.

Inside the bag, was a beautiful skein of gorgeous that Megan dyed herself.

The colors are perfect and they’ll match my wardrobe perfectly. I’m thinking Swallowtail. (Ravel it!) :)

Also in the box was this beautiful mug.

What I haven’t pictured is the nifty French Press that was included. Mainly because it’s dirty. I also didn’t include the bag of coffee. Mainly because it’s nearly gone.

Megan knows my love for coffee.

This was such a thoughtful gift. I love everything in it. Thanks so much, Megan! You can call me a bitch anytime you like!

As to why she called me a bitch? It’s because I cast on a new shawl.

The pattern is the Herbivore by the genius Stephen West. The yarn is Blue Skies Ahead from Hungry For Handspun.

And I am in love.

More on this in days to come.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

This week I had the nastiest toothache. Yesterday I went to the dentist and got it taken care of (root canal) and I’m much better now. While I had the toothache I was on painkillers.

During that time I finished my mom’s shawl. I was afraid that the shawl would be too small for her so I blocked the living daylights out of it.  That’s all I thought of as I pinned this baby out.

Make it bigger! Bigger! Bigger!

That was a mistake.

Before I blocked it the shawl had a beautiful solid texture from the alternating stripes of garter and stockinette stitch. You can see a little of that still in existence here.

But you can really see the difference in this before shot.

I don’t have time to reblock the shawl. Mom comes home tomorrow and the shawl would need a good soaking and in this climate it would take at least two days to dry.

So the plan is to give her the shawl as is, then to take it back, block it again, and possibly add more inches to it. I didn’t weave in the cast off ends and I have more of this colorway so that won’t be a problem.

The main thing for me is that the shawl will be a complete surprise come Christmas Day. Glass half full!

The bright spot of my morning is Quincy’s new lazy spot.

How he finds that comfortable, I have no idea.

Happy Wednesday folks! I’m off to vacuum. Even if it kills me. :P

I’m finally feeling about 90% back to normal. That flu really kicked my ass. I’ve been sick for the past three weeks! Hopefully that’s all behind me and I can just move forward.

All I could really do while I was sick was work on the Damson.

You see all those stitch markers? You see them? I used them to count stitches. And you know what? The stitch count was completely off. Completely. Utterly. Totally. Irreparably. Off.

So.

I frogged that sucker.

I figured it’s only garter stitch and it’s a small shawl. It shouldn’t take me too long to get back to speed.

At least that’s the optimistic point of view.

Another bright spot is the lovely birthday package that came in the mail this week from Cookie.

The pink in the background is the underside of the best part of the package.

Is that not the cutest box ever? I coveted that box back when she used it as a photo prop way back during the Tour de Fleece. She has an amazing memory, our Cookie. Whereas I have the most dismal memory ever since she told me she’d get one for me for my birthday and I completely forgot.

At least it made for a lovely surprise. :)

The yarn in the package is some yummy Pagewood Farms Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Denim. It’s a Merino Superwash/Bamboo/Nylon blend.

It’s so soft and blue. I love me my blue. I think it might make a pretty Swallowtail Shawl.

You know what else was really great about the package? The birthday card. This card has got to be the best birthday card ever. I adore mermaids. I have a  huge print of a mermaid painting in my bedroom. I also collect mermaid art cards, so this card will probably end up being hung in my room as well.

Isn’t she pretty?

So.

Despite the fact that I’ve had the flu and the fact that I like saying “so” a lot, I’ve had a pretty good week.  I’m on my way back to healthy and I had a great birthday. I’ve never felt more special or loved by friends and family.

So.

Thank you to all of  you out there that took the time to wish me a good one. :)

Have a great weekend!

First off, thanks for all the get well wishes. They’re greatly appreciated. I’m getting a little better every day. :)

Now I should be resting, but I just had to post a progress report. I’m just in love with the way the Damson is knitting up. (Excuse the crappy photos. I’m still sick.)

The yarn is just perfect. The colors are so sublime. The garter stitch is so soothing.

I really can’t remember the last time I even knit garter stitch. For now, it’s the perfect medicine.

As is the little boy Sammy.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll be home resting, knitting and playing Restaurant City on Facebook.

Don’t even get me started on how addicting those games are over there. I blame Megan for this one.

When last I checked in, I was all excited over learning a new wire wrapping technique. I had big plans on stocking the shop and I even planned on having a sale this month.  Unfortunately I caught the flu last week Tuesday and the crud has settled in well and tight and has been around ever since.

I’ve mostly been cross-stitching because I can’t concentrate on anything else. I did try in vain to make jewelry. I ended up wasting some precious wire.

Even though I’m on the last chart of the Oyster Bay Shawl, the weather here, for the most part,  has been very humid so knitting hasn’t held much appeal. I think that the lace might also be too much for me to handle right now too.

The knitting mojo might be making a come back though. There’s been a certain skein of yarn in my possession that’s been calling me.

If you can’t tell by the picture, this is a Merino/Silk fingering weight blend from Hungry For Handspun. The color is Steel Wool.

I’ve been itching to knit with it for awhile, but I didn’t have the energy to wind it until today.

As for my plans for it?

I think that the Damson will be the perfect knit while I recover from the crud. The pattern looks mindless and soothing.

I just hope I have enough  yarn. A lot of Ravelers ran out of yarn as they were binding off and I can’t get a hold of anymore of this yarn since it’s a unique hand paint. I suppose I’ll have to search for a complimentary color in case of emergency.

This isn’t a new photo of Quincy. I didn’t have the energy to wrangle the boys up for a photo shoot. I hope you’ll enjoy this just the same.

Happy whatever day of the week this is! Lysol your keyboards just in case this flu goes computer viral on you. ;-P