the Akamai Knitter

Now that I’m finished with the Spring Things Shawl, I should be focusing on the Forest Path Stole. Instead, I’ve been kidnapped by a confection of pink fuzzy goodness.

You might recall my previous run in with this yarn was rather disastrous, but I was bound and determined to make it work for me. Eventually I landed on the gentle wings of the Luna Moth pattern. I did have some problems with the needle size called for in the original pattern. Instead of a size 7 needle, I shimmied all the way down to size 5 needle.

As much as I love working on this shawl, I still need to work on my FPS, I’m just about down with Tier 8. I had originally tried to set a goal of one tier a week. I’m still going to aim for that, but switching back and forth between projects really seems to disrupt my knitting mojo. So we shall see how it all works out.

Quincy particularly loves the Super Kydd that I’m using for the Luna Moth shawl. I found him something else to play with, but he doesn’t look very happy with the switch. Does he?

Finally finished is the Spring Things Shawl. This was an amazingly fast knit and it was an incredibly fun knit too.

Started: April 12, 2007

Finished: April 25, 2007

Pattern: Spring Things Shawl

Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in Sage

Needles: Addi Lace Needles size 3US

After some initial bumps and false starts, I really became enamored of the simplicity of the upper body pattern. It was soothing and relaxing to knit. The pattern is well written and the charts are easy to read.

As I worked my way into the more complicated pattern of the shawl, I was particularly delighted that I invested my money in the Addi Lace needles to work the nupps. While I have some problems working the stitch with my Balene DPNs, I had absolutely no troubles with the superior German needles. I can’t stress to you how well worth the money these needles are.

I have to admit that I was concerned with how tiny the shawl came out as well. But I think that I found a recipient that will be delighted with the size of it. I’ll have to wait and see as I’m not ready to send it to her quite yet. It won’t be quite a surprise, but by the time I do send it to her, maybe she’ll have forgotten all about it. I’m really terrible at sending packages out.

I know how easy it is to send packages out from home, but I tend to hold out on sending them out because I want to put in just one more thing. Just one more thing then it will be ready! It’s a character flaw. I’m working on it.

Note: Forgive me for the flash photos, but I took these at night. I probably should have saved some of this blog fodder for Friday, but it’s nearly Friday. So we have nearly Friday Eye Candy!

After what was a weary week, I was more then looking forward to the Aloha Knitters‘ meeting tonight and I wasn’t disappointed. Joy was there with the most beautiful Pomatomus socks (scroll down to the bottom of the post to see them). These socks were so worthy of adoration that I do believe they received a few smooches. (Don’t tell me you’ve never loved a project to the point of wanting to give it a big kiss. If you haven’t, you don’t know what you are missing.)

Keohinani was also there with a big bag of love sock yarn and I was the lucky girl that got first pick of the booty, so I splurged on two hanks. I picked a colourway that reminded me of the Pacific Ocean that surrounds the Hawaiian islands and another that reminds me of the gorgeous greens of the lower hills and valleys of the Ko’olau Mountains. On the left is Tidepool from All Things Heather and on the right is Jungle Canopy from Brooklyn Handspun. I’m so jazzed that I got a hold of these two as I thought I’d never get a chance to lay my hands on either of these awesome yarns. Thank you, Keohinani!

Another bright note of the week was a package I received from Roseann. She had warned me that she’d be sending me the DVD “Spinning Wool – Basics and Beyond” (I really can’t wait to see how my spinning matches up to the professional on the video), but she hadn’t mentioned a word about the other goodies she included in the package!

Not only did she give me a gorgeous red silk hankie to spin up, she also tossed in a hank of Jitterbug in Sahara. Even though this isn’t aren’t the colours I would normally choose for myself, I really love the burnt oranges of this yarn. I can’t wait to see how it knits up!

To top it all off, Roseann also included some lovely cat toys for Quincy and my girls Pressie and Onyx. So far Quincy has been the one enjoying them the most. Thank you again, Roseann!

It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve posted, mostly it’s because I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately. It’s also because I haven’t really been able to put together two coherent thoughts together.

I haven’t stopped knitting and I’ve been working on the Spring Things Shawl. I’m on the last chart and although I’m eager to finish it I’m having a hard time concentrating on any one thing.

Quincy is settling in really well. There have been zero fights as he’s really respectful of my girls and their need for space. He’s delightfully affectionate and playful. I’m just head over heels with this guy. I mean, who could resist a face like this?

Look what came home with me today!

His tentative name is Quincy, although I’ve been calling him little boy a lot more then Quincy. I started the adoption process last week Monday, but there was a wait period of 6 days while the doctor at the clinic checked out our credentials. Seriously, the application was 3 pages long. It was more thorough then most job applications.

I didn’t want to say anything about it until I was positive that we were going to bring him home. I didn’t know we were positively going to bring him home until I brought him home. So here he is in all his wide eyed kitten* goodness.

*He’s 5 months old.

P.S. Please excuse the crappy photos. It’s extremely hard to take pictures of an overly active kitten when the light is failing.