What knitting?

Much to my chagrin, I have not been getting loads of knitting done. I had hoped to have at least one of my main projects completed and ready to show you, but alas, that was not to be. I find myself distracted by work and life in general. As I mentioned several posts back, my mom has been sick. She started chemotherapy for lung cancer, which she also had surgery for just after the New Year. We anticipate the need for some spiffy faux hair in the very near future. After pondering my options and discussing with my mom, we arrived at some wonderful Italian funfur. When someone in one of my knitting circles saw me knitting with anything that was not lace weight and/or cashmere, they were appropriately shocked...I myself am somewhat shocked.
I finished one hat, and I am partially through a second. I can't really see the stitches with all the fur, but I seem to be doing well anyway! I must admit that these hats are very soft and light and actually look pretty cute, in a darling faux hair way. I got the pattern here. I made the small size a few stitches smaller and made the straight section slightly deeper. You can't go too far wrong with this pattern. My mom really likes them. I am thinking of making one for myself, in purple.
I have a few more rows of Lyra to show, with many more to come, so I might refrain from showing her again until she actually is ready to be blocked. We shall see if I can stick with that concept.
You might recall my French pear doily. The actual "doily" is complete, and I selected a deep traditional style border. Now I just have six inches of several hundred stitches to knit, so I should also refrain from boring you with this until I am blocking it...
And finally, I still have a few points to go on Hecate's border. Are you snoring yet? Goodness knows I am...I better stop yapping and actually go knit something...and by the way, doesn't my new camera rock? You can really see those beads.

A Mid-Week Update

I am neck-deep in my real job this week but my jet lag is finally lifting, so I am here to say I have not gotten much fiberwork done! Instead, I thought I would share the beauty that is my new camera! Here is the wine I drank on my South African Airlines flight. Not only was it good, but It has the cutest label ever, don't you think? It is not easy to take a picture of something on the little tray table, from the very close plane seat, so I think it came out pretty well!
Here is my travel knitting, on night one in my room in Durban. This is Lyra, recently moved to a 24 inch circ. For anyone not familiar with Lyra, she is a design by Niebling and the pattern was given to me as a gift. The yarn is the Candy colored 2/28 cashmere-merino from Colourmart that I showed you a few posts ago. I am a bit more along now...
Finally, here is a dusk view from my room in Durban, looking out to the Indian Ocean. The Durban harbor, which is huge, is on the other side of the point of land you see. I could hear the surf and there was a lovely sea breeze blowing. Durban is a very pretty and interesting place. I am sorry to say I didn't see much of South Africa this trip, but If I go again, I will take my family and some extra time, and really see the place.

I hope to have some finished objects to show you in my next post. Until then, knit on!

I'm baaack...tag, I'm it.

Last week while I was away, I was tagged by “The Power of 7.” This was a very sneaky thing to do (coughcough…Fleegle.) Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

The evil spirit who got me is Fleegle. Fleegle is extremely interesting and I suggest you go read about her!

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

1) I have a BFA (fine arts degree) in design. Can you imagine?
2) I worked on the 076 protocol, which discovered that transmission of HIV from mother to infant could be prevented using medications. Because of this research, millions of infants are born free from HIV infection.
3) I played the French horn for a few years in high school, but it made my lips itch, so I stopped.
4) I grew up in Brooklyn during the 60s and was on the first buses out of my neighborhood, to the “good” school district. It was an interesting but stressful time.
5) I could live on Sushi, chocolate, fruit and wine.
6) I like to lift weights, and was pretty serious about lifting in my twenties. I was ripped…but that was one baby and some years ago…
7) I am a terrible house keeper. Everyone who has been to my house can vouch for that…

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Well, I just can’t do it…I am betting all the bloggers I know have been tagged already! I am tagging a few friends who I hope won’t kill me…

Jeri Riggs

Elizabeth

Kat

Brenda Osborn

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Yup. I’ll go do that…

I’ll be back later with a real update. The book my daugher is displaying for you was found for 50 cents at my local library. Who could resist...

A little of this and a bit of that...

I am taking my very last and few free minutes to wish you all a wonderful upcoming week. I am leaving for Durban, South Africa tomorrow and I will be away until the 17th. I can never tell what sort of internet connection I will have when I travel, so chances are I won't be around, virtually or otherwise! My brother gave me this card, which says "To someone of rare ingenuity and resourcefulness, happy birthday!" He felt it was made just for me, but I bet it might be right for someone you know too...it is from Papyrus, in case you were thinking the same thing.

Birthday!? Did I say that?? Sure thing, it is my birthday on the 13th, smack in the middle of my work-trip. I imagine my daughter will have a cupcake waiting for me when I get home! I got an early gift from my husband though. A new digital camera!!! The old one takes great shots, but weighs a ton. This new one is tiny and is also waterproof. I believe my husband has sailboat racing plans for my new camera that may not include me... All of this is to say that I will have good pictures of my trip this time around. My cellphone pictures were a sad representation of my last trip...
Here is a fabulous picture of Grace, in the new vest her mommie Susan made her. She has loads of room to grow, because Sue and I couldn't stand the thought of spending all that time making something that would be too small before it was finished. Looking good, Gracie!

I am almost finished with Hecate, and will be totally done by the time I return. I am also done with the French Pear doily, but I have larger plans for that, which I am still formulating. It is going to stay home and rest while I ponder it. I am casting on something special, to keep me busy during my long plane trip. Blogspot has a broken spellcheck, so please forgive my terrible spelling. Until I return, knit on!

And now for something a little different...

Today I have some knitting that does not have holes in it! My friend and work-partner, Susan Vacca, wanted to learn how to knit. Two years ago I gave her some needles, yarn and lunchtime knitting lessons. She started slow; first a textured scarf, next a lace shawl, next a lace and beads scarf...she went on to mitts, cables and finally this! Susan picked some Harrisville Shetland style yarn in four colors and asked me to help her make a vest for her daughter. I started with a basic vest pattern for the gauge she got and made a simple design to use all four colors. Susan worked really hard on this project, ripping anything that didn't look perfect to her. We fooled around with the neck and armholes so they were just so. You can see the great care she took when you look at the inside!
Sometimes I think Susan was a knitter in some past life. Isn't her work amazing? In case you would like to make something like this, here is the chart we used. At some point I might put the whole pattern together, but not anytime soon!
On a totally different note...I have a few things to share! The pattern page on the Jade Sapphire website has been updated, so all my current Jade Sapphire patterns can be seen. Just go to the patterns link on the top of the page.

And another fun item...LittleKnits, a really nice internet yarn shop, is having a design competition, which some of you may be interested in joining. You can find the details here!

Until later in the week, knit on!