No Time To Cha-Cha

Yet another day of run-run-run. Imagine that......me, busy. Bwahahahahahaha. But I did finish the knit ruana


It's just lovely and has incredible drape, given that it's knitted with a bulky-weight silk and rayon blend. Anyone who puts it on falls in love, as it drapes beautifully on the figure and stays wrapped on the shoulder without a pin! Many thanks to our shop manager, Sabrina, for modeling.

Today we received a shipment from Lantern Moon (with another coming in just a couple weeks--HOORAY!) of rice baskets (which we use for shopping baskets in the store) as well as these little goodies


Typically a shop gets one black sheep with each dozen purchased, but they're making an exception and sharing a one-time offer of three dozen (per shop) at one time. Ours arrived today and are selling FAST! $9 each and a pittance to ship (like 63 cents, I think). Lemme know if you need one!

With that, I'm out for now......off to continue leading the fourth of three sessions for a class on a modular knit t-shirt that I am dedicated to making sure they complete in a timely manner. Back again tomorrow!

Fait Accompli

I put my day off to good use and finished the ruana--details and pix to follow here tomorrow.

I've also knitted up a storm on some Colinette stuff, including my Parisienne project that I have to work on (yes, Kristi, I know it's a must) and another that I shouldn't be working on but feel compelled to knit...as a shop model. Yes, I'll show you my version tomorrow, too!

Two posts in one day...WOW!

Yes, I Know I'm Supposed To Be Off On Tuesdays

But I needed to post and wanted to do it after my sock class at the shop last night, but it ran late (10 p.m. vs. 9 p.m.) due to a couple folks getting to class late and my need to make sure everyone leaves with at least one sock completed at the end of the third/final session. So we worked until everyone was able to graft their toe closed and model their finished sock(s) for us. Success!

First picture is mainly for Sandy in Green Bay (HI SANDY!), as she asked about the new whimsical tape measures that we recently received


I think my favorite part is the pull on the tape measure part--it's a fuchsia spring for the pig, a little car for the car, a tail for the tiger, etc...SO CUTE! They $9 each, with some in limited supply (down to the last one or two), so if you're interested, e-mail me and we'll get the process started. They're terribly cute and I'm in love with the tiger striped one, as my alma mater's mascot is the tiger and it was my Dad's nickname for me as a toddler.

I've gotten a little done on my version of Sorbonne, a new design using Colinette Parisienne, one of their three new yarns for fall. Here's my progress shot to date


The strange line in the middle of the knitting is an issue with the photo I snapped being slightly corrupted when Matt went to work it over in PhotoShop. Not overly impressive (SORRY Kristi!), but it is pretty...check out the up close shot


to enjoy the beautiful detail of the lace stitch. It's fairly simple to execute and the four-row repeat was easy to memorize (two rows are just purling back across), so it's a good pick-up-and-put-down kinda project.....I've just been too good at putting it down of late, and I am now staring a deadling in the face (July 15th will come too quickly!).

What's had me distracted?


I feel like I've been knitting one of the above-mentioned characters.....see


that's my version of the Knit Ruana, a pattern from Oat Couture. I'm doing mine out of Blue Heron Silk-Rayon Twist in the Parrot colourway, and it's amazing! And addictive! The pattern is written for three gauges (worsted, bulky, and superbulky) and mine's the middle one. The yarn has incredible drape and the knitted fabric is just stunning! You'll see it in the completed form tomorrow, as I WILL finish it today (I have under 50 rows left, so it will be a 96-hour project...I started it Friday late in the afternoon).

Other than that, it's just been a normal weekend and into the next week for me and Matt. I need to run home (I'm at the shop right now) as he has a hair cut appointment in a half an hour and I've got knitting to do!

Be well, knit like mad, and look for finished pictures of the ruana (and progress pix on the Parisienne sweater) tomorrow! PROMISE!

It's NOT A Man-Bra

said in my best Ahnold.......a la "Kindergarten Cop".

It's a breastplate, a la Grace Jones....if you're not old enough to remember her from her music career in the late 1970s and into the 1980s ("Slave To The Rhythm", "My Jamaican Guy", "Nipple to the Bottle" and more), you may remember her from her role as Helen Strangé (pronounced Stron-jay) in "Boomerang" (with Eddie Murphy). I warned you that she was exotic (in a performance very obviously in collaboration with Keith Haring yet another creative soul lost to AIDS....)


I saw her on a late-night talk show YEARS ago wearing just a skirt and some sort of metallic breastplate-cum-chafing dish sort of thing and the host (I think it was Conan O'Brien or some other smart ass) asked her how it was attached (there was no obvious strap or support around the back) and her quote was "it's glued to my tits". Nuff said, no? She's not been in the public eye much of late, but I'm sure Grace is out there being creative, no matter what the venue.

I've been distracted with a new project that I cast on for on Friday night and it's half finished as of this writing. I hope to have it completed in a day or two and I'll reveal it here tomorrow. We're having trouble with our secondary computer at the shop and that's the machine that has PhotoShop, which I use to clean up images (it also has the floppy drive necessary to pull images off of the digital camera).

More soon!