another year gone by
well, today is my birthday and i think i've magically crossed that time when birthdays stop being fun and start seeming a little scary. can it be that a whole nother year's gone by? why is it that time seems to accelerate as you get older? i can remember being younger and feeling that the four years of high school lasted an eternity and now i toss around years like they're nothing - no time at all. I startled myself the other day by casually saying: 'not long... maybe a couple of years...'
a couple of years!!!! that used to be a lifetime!!
in knitting news, i've finally got a pic of the finished katia
sweater.
there are a few problems with this sweater, of course (god! will i ever make a sweater that fits properly?!). first of all, the neck is seriously wide and flash-dancy. i have to wear it with a camisole underneath, which was never my intention. second, it poofs above the ribbed bottom band - exactly where you don't want any poof. if i was going for that look, i'd stick some lumpy socks into the waistband of my pants - that'd look great. and third, the sleeves are not too flattering, although the sleeves on my sweater and very much like those on the model, so i should have seen that coming. i'll try to post a full view of it later...
i just returned from a work trip where we cruised around parts of wyoming, utah and colorado. although we only passed through them, i am now officially in love with the
uinta mountains - they are so beautiful. they're high, lush, rugged, glaciated, full of alpine lakes and meadows, sprinkled with wildflowers, fresh and cold. if i had had the gear with me, i would have insisted on being left there for a few days to explore. i'll just have to go back some day...
oh, and i saw moose - 3 of them!
most of my pictures can't come near to capturing the beauty of the place, but i do have a couple of some falls that we checked out:
while on this trip, i got some knitting done on the somewhat cowl.
i finally got to try it on and it's a little loose-fitting through the rib cage, but i'm not giving up hope. eventually i will make a sweater that fits well, right? while it's frustrating to not make wearable garments, i will continue to try, for the trying and making is the fun part... and i'm getting closer and closer to success with every attempt. i think.
~r
a day off
from work, from thinking, from having things to do. okay, so i have a lot of things i need to do, but i feel no real hurry to do them... i'm loving every second of not doing shit. but i am knitting - so that's something i guess! i finished the green hat i was working on:
i love, love the yarn. it's so soft and fuzzy and touchable and pretty and subtley-stripey. i bought it at a yarn shop in flagstaff and haven't seen the same yarn anywhere else. so i'm stuck with the 1.5 balls of it i have left. maybe enough for another hat? some mittens? something little and cute? i dunno...
i'm making progress on my somewhat cowl. based on what i had read on others' blogs, i decided to stop my raglan increases at 9.25 inches, instead of the 10.5 the pattern calls for. it's too soon to tell if this was a wise move or not. i may have to add some increases now to get the right fit through the bust. but since i'm not thinking today, i'll just have to figure that out later.
i've also begun a new project. i was so inspired by the feather and fan shawls that
hello yarn and
cosmicpluto had made, that i had to have one for myself! [note: wonderful pattern available free online
here]. i loved how colorful and rich and warm they looked. not fussy, yet delicate enough to not be bulky and dumpy. i thought and i thought and debated and debated over what yarn to use for the project. i wanted something really colorful, but with colors that morphed and changed organically. i didn't want a shawl that looked like a crayola box. immediately i thought i wanted to use silk garden. i love silk garden - the feel the colors the drape the natural-ness of the yarn. but it's so damn expensive! i suffered visibly at the yarn shop putting it back on the shelf and picking up some kureyon instead.
so, i've begun the shawl in kureyon. the colors and look of it are exactly what i wanted but the feel of it, well... is not quite right. i'm in denial about this at the moment, but if i'm honest with myself, i'd have to admit that kureyon is scratchier than hell!! it's awlful!! i wouldn't put it against my skin! thank god i'm making a shawl - or more like a winter wrap-up. i'm going to continue with the kureyon and finish the shawl because i'm stubborn and i'm going to keep my needles crossed that a good soak with lots of conditioner at the end will soften the kureyon some. anyone know of any good ways to make it softer??
anyway, here's what it looks like so far:
which shade(s) of kureyon should i use next? rainbows (left)? blues / purples (middle)? reds / browns (right)?
oh, and i almost forgot. while picking up the noro for my shawl, i also grabbed some cotton fleece:
know what it's for?
give up?
go
here.
in non-knitting news, i had a delightful dinner party last night. i made my go-to meal: pork tenderloin and cheese grits. sooooo yummy and rich. i thought i'd share with you THE BEST marinade for pork tenderloin EVER. i swear. i've made this maybe 20 times now and it's always dee-lish.
in a sauce pan, stir and bring to a boil the following ingredients:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
let boil for 1-2 minutes and remove from heat. pour over pork tenderloin and bake at 350 for... i dunno... 35 minutes or until pork is pink on the inside. spoon some of the marinade onto the pork and cheese grits / potatoes / rice / whatever and enjoy!!
happy friday everyone!
~r
tfgif
guess what the other f stands for???
i'm tired and i'm sick of working and i really just want to move to a peaceful little A-frame house in the mountains by a creek and make stuff and be outside. instead i'm spending the summer commuting back and forth to an office lit with flourescent lights (half of which are not working). and i HATE flourescent lights. they suck all the good juju out of me. i work for big oil. they got money, right? apparently not enough for a goddamn incandescent light bulb.
i was complaining to my dearest most creative most beautiful friend (L - if you ever see this - hi!) the other night that i'm not sure i like the routine of waking up at the buttcrack and wearing high heels every day. she said "you wear high heels!? sell out!". she was only kidding, but i got to thinking about it and, while i hate having to wear them every day, i do actually like me some high heels and think they're purty. so i took some pics of them and here they are:
but moving right along... to the knitting...
before i head out for the night, here's the latest in cozy knitting-land (where i wish i could spend most of my days).
the fuzzing chunky green yarn i posted a pic of last time is being worked into a rib-brimmed hat (pattern from
Last Minute Knitted Gifts - my fave book) for a friend, and the somewhat cowl is coming along. to prove it...
hope everyone is getting ready to have a fantastic weekend full of sunshine and laughs!
~ r
