Oh-did I mention I only have 1,700 or so people ahead of me on Ravelry. Well, I was the little geek and catalogued all my yarn and books. I just need to hit inventorying my needles. But, then today I met Whim & Vinegar at stix who was super cool and gave me some more of the 411 on the Ravel.
Sanpoku is done. I finished both sleeves during the vacation and I finished seaming last night. I need to block it and add a quick simple trim. I promise to post a picture sometime this week.
I found out that I didn't use the pillar stitch for the red scarf project. As Crafty Weasel has asked for the pattern I promise to write it up and publish it on the site sometime.
Man, I am making too many promises here.
Georgia's Aquarium boasts to be the largest in the United States (and only 100 feet short of the world's largest) and it certainly was impressive. It has 8 Million gallons and red velvet cupcakes (I have my priorities straight).
Some highlights:
- Beluga Whales. Four in total= 3 females + 1 Male (Nico). The whales are feeling frisky as Nico circles the girls who is excited to get busy and have been demonstrating their attraction. So much so you can read about it here.
- Moon jellyfish. As the jellyfish reflect light they had a light which changes colors and they reflect it which is so cool.
- Piranhas. They don't eat people but they have a strange scary stare (and they don't move).
- The sea lions where fun! And one of them demonstrated where the bathrooms are in the wild.
- You walk underneath the tanks so fish swim all around you including giant grupers, hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, guitar fish, etc....
- Feel them up! You can touch the manta rays, bottlenose something, and shrimp (which by the way one of them tried to attack me or so I thought it did).
- Red Velvet Cupcake. The food was pretty good and designed by Wolfgang Puck.
SEX: Heck yes. Beadles needles in flower petals, project bag, Noni patterns, felted balls (one for Kristina fabulous cat sitter to the stars and one for our furbabies) and later that week I picked up some yarn.
Oh-We ate dinner at the Harvest Grill which is on the winery and the food was freaking fantabulously terrifi-excellent. It was decently priced and it was casual attire overlooking the winery. Loved it!
Knitting Addiction is located in the Southern Shores and has ample parking. It is a spacious store full of delicious yarns like Manos, Blue Sky, Cherry Tree, etc. Jeanne the owner is such a great personality. Britney who works there is incredibly helpful and funny. And Purrl, the store cat is so precious (read her monthly article here). I met some of the regulars who were a hoot. We wanted to stay for the Thursday night group.
The store has two very comfortable sofas (Ben lounged out reading HP7) and a couple extra chairs finish the lounge area. There is this stunning farmhouse table and coffee table which are very cool looking (no photo so you will have to visit them) and handcrafted. Lastly, KA has a large amount of their own knit designs from pillows, ponchos, purses, to sweaters and tanks (another reason you should check them out).
I did pick up some yummy stuff. Let's review: sock yarn t-shirt (great shirt, great fit, great price, check it out here), one skein of CTH in Potluck Jewels, one skein of CTH Potluck Blues & Purples, Interweave Knit Fall '07 (dreaming of Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke), Notions Bag (in the back it says, "Life's Too Short to knit with ugly yarn"--True Dat).
The rest of the OBX included us eating at Mama Kwan's (highly recommended from Jeanne and with good reason) and then departing at 6am in the direction of Atlanta.
Purrl's asks, "Ahem, if you were going to Mama Kwan's for their fish tacos where was my invite?"
As you may remember, I love the house slippers from Knit 2 Together. And with the yarn I picked up on sale at stix a few weeks ago, I embarked on a new felting project. I am okay with felting. I got gauge, knit up the slippers, and admittedly they were both a little different. 
I knit the squares to be used as little flowers or bows. I had a lot of yarn leftover and can knit something else some other time. 
Here they are felted and drying. Now, a few things I need to adjust for the next pair. I think they need slipper bottoms. The three yarns held together don't really make for a super firm bottom. As well, they slide. I can still see the stitches on the bottom and top. In the picture of the book the tops are much longer which could help stop the slippage.
They do look really cute though. So, when I get back from vacation, I will explore this pattern again.
Sanpoku Update: So after all the work I did on the sleeve of Sanpoku I had to frog it. I was planning on switching to knitting straight when I came to the decreases but the gauge would have changed. I was knitting in the round 21/4, but they pattern and everything else I knit was 20/4. I have re-started the sleeve.
X-Files Update: We are on Season 7. Ahem, yeah we saw the episode "All Things" written by Gillian Anderson and I gotta say I did not like it. I felt like I was in a french film on pause. At this point, I am thinking that the show will improve wth Robert Patrick. Cyn, I know you have some insight on this.
Buffy Update: Yes, a Buffy update. We finished Season 4. The climactic fight at the initiative and bullets turning into doves (although freaky primal slayer). We are moving onto Season 5 which I remember enjoying. Although, then is (blegh) Season 6. Bezzie, I know you can add some input on this.
almost on vacation, almost done with sanpoku, almost on the road again....
DH and I went to see The Order of the Phoenix in Imax. The only thing 3-D was the last fight scene which bummed me out because I think it would be so cool to Hogwarts and everything else in 3-D. About the movie. Hm. I listened to DH discuss how the movie was the only HP movie he has not enjoyed. I agree with him. The movie was choppy, there was a lack of transitions that other HP movies had, characters were on the side but not involved, it felt like all other movies. Here's my thing, I love HP movies because there was always so much detail and visual stimulation.
Onto knitting. I finished Sanpoku last night and started the sleeve using the magic loop. I haven't yet determined how I am going to transition from this to raglan sleeve, but I will. This will be on-the-road knitting, pure stockinette. Speaking of on the road knitting, I am having trouble selecting knitting projects. I am thinking to bring: sanpoku, arwen, red scarf, and socks. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Tomorrow, I hope to post some pics of felted house slippers. I just need to add some details to it...
Puffy says, "Bring me Southern Fried Chicken or else the fake plant gets peed on!"
I pretty much worked.
That's my weekend.
I did do some knitting.
A little bit.
I finished the afghan square. All done before my trip. There was some fuzziness. I only had a few furball moments.
I made some progress on the sanpoku front. This is the second one. I don't think the sleeves will be done before I leave, but I should have some more progress before I leave. Does that mean that I am not thinking about my next project?
Oh yeah. I have loved the Arwen cardigan since published in Interweave last Winter.
I have been eyeing the Pure Merino which matches the gauge and is oh so soft. I have knit with Zara which is the DK weight of this yarn and loved its softness and stitch definition, so Pure Merino was the perfect choice (for me). I have already cast on a gauge swatch which is good to go. It is sproingy and smushy and did I mention oh so soft?
Well.
It is.
Margaret has been in progress on this sweater and it is gorgeous. Although, I do want to make it a little longer in the body. We will see how much I can accomplish while on vacation. I have to admit I copied the directions, crossed out the numbers I am not using, and highlighted the numbers I am using, and read them. I am a little intimidated by this project so I am going to bring some socks just in case this is a little too much. No pictures of furbabies today, instead I bring you yummy pure merino....
Read about the winner's lobster who attacks guests. If aimless tangent could email me her address at callingkahlo@gmail.com
I am way behind on mailing out the other prizes, so everyone please be patient. I have had drama (yet again) but all will be well.
On to knitting, this is a square for an afghan for Jamie's daughter who is attending college in the Fall. It looks like lilac on my monitor, but it is a silver in Cascade Pistaza. I am almost halfway done with my contribution. I am so excited as this is my first time participating in a group afghan. I am honored to contribute.
I have never been considered a patient person. Waiting is torture and lines make me tense up immediately. What is worse than waiting is when there is lack of closure. For instance, the 1.5 hours spent at the car dealership yesterday. Granted, I cam prepared, I had my sanpoku and my red scarf. I without hesitation changed the channel from Fox News to something well educational and not so frightening. After 1.5 hours what do I have? Nada. The radio they needed to install came without brackets. I still don't have a radio.
The rest of the day was spent waiting a repairman who didn't come to my house. Four hours. Luckily I was also prepared knitting and office supplies. I did some knitting and I started the organization of the office. We can finally found our taxes, paystubs, and bills in the right year.
So, I leave you with a photo of the right (or left) front of the Sanpoku. Rob had a nice compliment for the sweater. It is funky pattern which I think may look fabulous. Out of the dozen people I know who bought the pattern and yarn, no one has finished the sweater, so we will all see how this comes together....
