Sun Ray Shawl, Part One

I have been a lousy blogger as of late. Whatever. Here's a picture:


This is the Sun Ray Shawl. It's my project du jour. It is a pattern from elann.com, just like the Flower Petal Shawl. I am making in in elann's Peruvian Highland Wool, Tranquil Lagoon colorway.

I've found I really enjoy knitting lace, whether it be in true lace weight yarn or worsted like Sun Ray. The nice thing about knitting lace in worsted weight yarn is the fact you feel like you're actually making progress. This is moving pretty quickly and I cannot WAIT to wear it!

Some knitters hace a sock jones, I guess I have a lace jones. I think I like knitting lace so much because it's not boring, it has "parts", like a sock.

love, reign o'er me...

Warning: Non-crafting content.

On the dry and dusty road
The nights we spend apart alone
I need to get back home to cool cool rain
I can't sleep and I lay and I think
The night is hot and black as ink
Oh God, I need a drink of cool cool rain

Imagine my surprise the other day when on the radio, I heard one of my favorite songs performed by one of my favorite (mostly for nostalgic reasons) bands...except the song isn't an original by said band. In other, totally non-confusing terms, Pearl Jam has done a cover of the song, "Love Reign O'er Me," by The Who, one of the most kickass bands of all time.

And this song. What can I say? I love this song. I have no reasons why, it's just one of those things.

I'm sort of a purist, so I do think the original version is best, but PJ does an excellent job on this song. They should, they're know to be big Who fans.

You can listen to a clip of the song here.

the hat that found a home

Holly from this group started a new group. She'd better not bail on our Tuesday night group in the L-I-V because she's fun! Everyone in the group is fun! If you are local, you should consider attending!

Anyhow, I finished my hat made from Noro Silk Garden. I tried it on, and Steve says, "You look like you smoke pot." I looked in the mirror. I hated to admit it, but he was right. So I took a picture of him:


It looks ridiculous on him, and plus, he says the colors "aren't guy colors." Ugh. So I gave it one more shot. It's funny how a hat that makes me look like a "pot smoker" looks totally normal on my mom:


She likes it, too! My dad was happy because he started telling me how Mom was outside shoveling snow "without a damn hat on her head," so I'm glad I'm saving her body heat when she's outside.

And, here is that lovely KnitPicks sock yarn I got last week...it's Dancing, and I believe this colorway is "Rumba" It's a very, very stretchy cotton. The color is sort of different than I imagined; I guess I would call it interesting...


And, your daily puppy picture...here she is after going apesh*t in the show! Can you see the crazed look in her eyes?

Questions, answers and general musings:

- Zora is named after Zora Arkus-Duntov, the man who introduced the Corvette to popularity and designed it to be a sports car, rather than a "docile roadster" and generally credited with creating the whole brand identity. And I did not pick out her name even though I like it.

- "Purl & Hurl" is now under copyright. At least in my own mind. I will elaborate on my evil plan later. Now I'll just let your imagination run wild, because I'm so charitable.

- Another quick project I'm working on is a simple hat because I actually need a hat. I know, I need another project like I need a pair of red patent leather six inch platform shoes, but sometimes you just have to indulge. This hat is being made from Noro Silk Garden in colorway 244. It is lovely but I don't feel like taking a picture because someone in this office is in a bad mood and keeps giving me "I hate you" looks. Well, I hate to break it to this person, but they're gonna hate me even more when they see this hat! BURN!

- I apologize for my comparison of cats and Dick Cheney. I'm sorry, when I hear someone say the word diabolical, I just think of our vice president.

-Hi Holly...have fun in Canada and I hope your concussion heals, since it was mostly my fault and all.

- I was going to use the remaining space to bring you one of my regularly scheduled rants. This one was going to be in relation to a discussion at knitting group last night in relation to working and what a scam it is. I've however decided it might be to offensive, but if you want to read it, shoot me an email and I will send it to you.

project updates

You can't really see the stitching on the UW thing, but it is pretty cool...it's quilted. It will be a gift for Mr. Steve and all of his friends who are also UW alums will be SO JEALOUS. Or not. WHATEVER.

Tonight I am helping Drama Teacher Amy, a.k.a. Boss' Wife Amy, a.k.a. Awesome Amy make some dresses for her upcoming play. Should be fun...woo woo!

Alright, gotta go run and see if Zora's frozen since there is no power at Steve's house! Too bad I can't bring her to work...hmmm. Maybe I can guilt the boss into letting me bring her here!

weekend projects

On a whim, I picked up some of this while I was out one day during lunch (last week):


I'm not sure what I will do with a yard of University of Wisconsin fabric, but I know a few U-W alumni and Badger state residents who I'm sure might appreciate a small item.

And, here are some placemats I made at the request of my mom. They're reversible February/March placemats. They're a little too cute for me, but she will love them:


And, here is a small, secret project I am working on:

shout out

My blood pressure is skyrocketing today. Ugh. I’m like a dumbass magnet. People…why are they always around me?

Anyhow, I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Joy and Sandy who are one of three people who read this mess and they also attend the South Eastern Michigan Knitting group every other Tuesday, which I have gone to twice and plan to continue my attendance. So hi guys! And hi to everyone else, to! You’re a fun group, and I have to hand it to Ms. Sandy for being patient with me on the whole spinning issue, the issue being that I’m a completely inept moron when using a drop spindle. I think I’m too hyper to spin...imagine that! :) And Joy, you have excellent taste in old cars/subversive cross stitch.

While I’m at it, hi Tammy! She’s reader #3.

Notes and news...

- I picked up the Grandma Blanket this weekend and worked on it after having it sit, untouched, for about three months. My deadline for completion is her birthday in March. This is quite possibly one of the most boring projects ever.

- I worked on my quilt. I’ll take pictures and post some tomorrow.

- I began some ribbed socks for my Mom for her birthday. Again, pictures tomorrow.

- I ordered a pattern (Ardmayle Knot in Green) from Celtic Obsessions to make for Steve for his birthday. I think he needs something to hang on his wall that isn’t car-related (even though I’ve contributed to that as well…hey, it’s what he loves). Hopefully it will go okay, my most recent experience with cross stitch was this pattern which was fun to do and almost instant gratification!

On to the new...

Now that the Flower Petal Scarf is done...

This is a scarf I'm making for my boss' wife, Drama Teacher Amy. D.T.A. requested a purple scarf because, “come on, I’m a drama teacher.” (Sorry about the crappy picture...I'm not frickin' Richard Avedon) The scarf is a pattern from Jan Eaton’s excellent book, 200 Ripple Stitches and is pattern #18/19 Springtime/Leafy Panels (the same pattern, just listed in the book with variation of yarn choice). The yarn I’m using is good old Cascade 220 “The Heathers” collection in color # 2421, a purple with flecks of royal blue.

As long as I’m plugging places and things, I bought the yarn at The Knitting Den in South Lyon, a sweet shop I visited for the first time right before Christmas. I highly recommend a visit to this store, located in an old house and absolutely PACKED with yarn of all varieties and supplies…their needles/notion room (yes, almost a full room full) is impressive by itself.

Now I just have to make a pair of socks for my mom…