I am pleased to report that I have organized all my knitting. I've cleaned out the stash yarn, made plans to use most of what I have left, cleaned up my Ravelry queue, and am working away on a few things that I want to finish asap, so I can cast on some other things that are ready and waiting-yarns and patterns together in bags, hanging from the hooks in my little studio, just hoping to be cast on soon. Whew, that feels so good! 

I finished one mitt to go with my much loved shawl, and the other should be done shortly. These will be worn regularly this winter. I just love these patterns, the stripey-ness and the lacy-ness of them. 

And because I have been making progress on my Tea Leaves cardigan (button bands are done! sleeves are underway!), I just thought I'd go ahead and cast on a big, lacy shawl. It's just that the yarn, it was sitting there so prettily, I couldn't help myself.

It's Malabrigo Lace (the color is Bobby Blue), and oh my goodness, it knits up like a soft, soft cloud. Those two skeins should become a big shawl that will weigh nearly nothing. This is my first time knitting with Malabrigo, but I really think I need to try every yarn they make. I should, right?

And mostly unrelated, I just thought I would jump on the "what's in your bag?" bandwagon, and take a picture of the contents of my purse. This is one of very few places that I have complete control, and I like to keep it super tidy and organized. Doing this I realized that I really need a much cuter case for my sunglasses, and a much cuter cover for my check book. Why have I been carrying it around in the navy vinyl monstrosity that came with the checks? What is wrong with me? I'll take another picture when I remedy these things, don't you worry. 

What is the state of your bag? What all do you carry around with you? 

I'm having kind of a good time finishing some things that were started a long time ago. Here are just a few: 

A long ago thrift store find, this little display shelf was dusty, dark wood. I think it still needs one more coat of glossy paint, I just had some flat spray paint, but I love it so much more in white. It's nice to have a place to showcase some tiny treasures that I love. 

A simple appliqué quilt I started long, long ago. I finished sewing the three big flowers and their stems, so now I just need to get some batting, figure out the backing, quilt, and bind the whole thing. I love the saturated colors of these batik fabrics. I know they're maybe not so modern and hip, but I don't care. I'll probably hand quilt it with lots more of the same bright colors. 

It's nice and chilly in the evening, so I've picked up the knitting needles again! This is the Tea Leaves cardigan (Ravelry link) I started in March, and that is the bottom edge, just about ready to be cast off. Then I'll just have to do the sleeves and the button band, and I'll have a new sweater for this autumn!

There are a couple more projects in the works, and all this suits my ADD style just fine. I've also managed to hem my living room drapes, which have been hanging there un-hemmed for longer than I'd like to admit. There's also another porch project that I hope to finish this weekend that I think is going to be very cute. 

Luckily, Winston keeps me company in my little house studio as I work on all these projects. It really must be fall, his summer haircut is growing out quite nicely! 

Good grief it's been gloomy and dark around here. I attempted to take some photos of knitting projects Monday morning and this was the best I could do:

I know I have my Ravelympics project, and I have been working on it, but it's laceweight yarn, and I needed a break. This is the opposite of laceweight, it's two strands of yarn held together and knit on giant (size 17) needles. Plus, it's a blanket, so it kept me warm while I was knitting it. This pattern is from Lion Brand, it's called Cascading Colors blanket, and it's made with Lion Brand Jiffy and Cotton Ease. I love the colors. It's pretty small, but just perfect for a stroller or car seat, or for a toddler to drag around. I blocked it by throwing it in the washer and then in the drier, and the Jiffy yarn got pretty fuzzy and pill-y. Also, every single end that I had carefully woven in popped through to the front side. I trimmed everything neatly, and now it looks pretty good, If I do say so. 

And now I have some opinions and reviews for you, whether you want them or not. I splurged on a set of Zephyr knitting needles from Knit Picks, since they are on sale right now. They're clear acrylic, and I think I rather like them. They're slick, although not as slick as nickel-plated needles. I switched my Featherweight cardigan from a pair of plastic needles to these, and it's going much more smoothly. The yarn slides nicely, and the tips are nice and pointy, so they're especially nice for this very fine yarn.

I watched Bright Star this week. My goodness, it was boring, but so very beautiful. I'm not really one for wimpy poets, and Fannie was kind of bratty, but her clothes were wonderful and every scene was like a painting. I could look at it over and over. How's that for the oddest review ever? I loved it, even though the story was slow. Maybe I'll just let it play without sound next time, and enjoy the eye candy.

I went to the Asian grocery store and bought ingredients for Tom Yum soup, which is very easy when you use the paste mix from a jar. I got a big bag of shiitake mushrooms for just $2.99 a pound. When I was at Vons a few days later, I noticed their price for shiitake mushrooms was $15.99 a pound. That's just crazy, how can they do that? My cheap mushrooms were delicious in the soup, they absorbed all that sweet and sour broth and just melted in your mouth. I don't think they would have done that if I had paid $15.99 for them. 

Do you have this problem? I'm making and shopping for Christmas, and trying to stick to a tight budget, and then I find super cute things that I want, like this pincushion/spool, from this etsy shop:

Or this hat, for which I have a single skein of yarn that might just be perfect:

I don't have time for this nonsense! 
 
 

Too much stuff on my to-do list, too much stuff to make, and too much stuff in my house. That's the theme for this weekend, I think. I will have to clean the bathroom and do the laundry and hopefully clean out the dresser and send some things to Goodwill, but mostly what I want to do is make things, so let's just talk about the fun, creative stuff, shall we?

Actually, despite the fact that for some reason, this week I haven't done much more than come home from work and sit like a zombie on the couch while watching Netflix dvds, I have one finished project to share (finished a while ago, actually):

It's this little baby jacket from Debbie Bliss. Stash yarn from I don't even know how long ago, and a scrap of fabric for the flower. It was a quick little knit for my new niece, and I hope to see her in it this Winter. Baby knits are so perfect for Summer knitting: small, quick and portable! Which reminds me that I really need to go to the beach sometime soon, before Summer is over (the portable part of that last sentence is what made me think of that, in case you were wondering how my mind works and what knitting has to do with the beach).

I decided to be a little less lazy last night, and pulled out my orange sweater to work on while watching the last season (sniff!) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I had started the first sleeve, but stopped because extreme laziness prevented me from reading how to do the M1L and M1R stitches that I needed to do to move on to the next row. It turns out those increases were not as difficult as I remembered, and now I'm nearly done with the first sleeve. Here's hoping I'll have pictures of a finished sweater soon! One more sleeve and it's all done. Just in time, too, since the new Interweave Knits just arrived, and I really need to make a couple sweaters from it (Rosamund's cardigan and the Nordique
Swing, in case you were interested).

Besides knitting, I've got some serious quilting to do. I have a commission for a baby quilt and the only requirements were pink and brown. I can add another color and do any design I want. I have an idea what I'm going to do, but this one is a little challenging. Brown is not usually on my list of color choices. I went to the 1930's reproductions for inspiration, since I especially like those pinks, and here's what I've decided to work with:

I love the light brown polka dots. The plan for this weekend is to get a few squares done. At the other end of the spectrum, I picked up a jelly roll while visiting my favorite quilt shop in Boise earlier this month. Then I found this pattern, and thought it was quite adorable, and started slicing and stitching away. Sometimes it's nice to have someone else do all the work planning and thinking, and to just sit and sew.