Workin' The Stash

This is a picture of the view from the beach house we stayed at in Costa Rica. I wish I was there right now! It's so cold here.

Now that school has started I've only got a few days to get some knitting done before I get too overwhelmed with homework and projects. Unlike last semester, I don't really have any art classes that will consume my life like last time but I think I should be prepared nonetheless. This sense of urgency combined with the fact that Matt is out of town for the week has led to some good knitting time. On Monday night I started and finished the black and white scarf that I've been wanting to make out of some Manos De Uruguay wool that I bought a while back. I'll have to show pictures when Matt returns home with the camera. I also started to make some much-needed handwarmers out of the leftover cashmere that I have (Yay!) I'm very excited to finish these because my hands get soooo cold. I'm using an Ann Norling loose pattern for mittens and changing it a bit so that I can make the fingerless warmers with a thumb gusset. Very exciting stuff.

So far I've had three days of school. I think that in my mind I'm just not ready for the semester to begin and therefore I've just assumed that we won't actually be doing anything in classes yet. This is obviously a very stupid assumption that has lead me to do a couple of very retarded things, the worst of which was going to yoga class in a skirt. Yes, that was definitely the dumbest thing I could have done.

Now I'm off to work at the knitting store after about a month of being away from it. I'm excited to go back and show off all of my FO's!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Home for good, unfortunately

We got back from Costa Rica on Friday, though we could have easily stayed there for a couple of more weeks! I didn't spend a lot of time knitting (no surpise there) but I did manage to finish this ruffly scarf from "Scarf Style" that I was making for Matt's mom's X-mas present. I made it out of Trendsetter Yarn, Kashmere which was great to knit with and really soft. It was the first time I've knit with Cashmere and I liked it alot but I'll have to save up for a while until I'm able to use it again.

I've got to wait to post pictures of my UO shrug because Matt has taken the digital camera on a trip. I do have to say that it is now my most favorite knitted item ever! I wear it constantly and I think I'd make another one if it just didn't take so darn long...and so much boring stockinette and ribbing.

Now that I'm home I start school tomorrow and I'm trying to motivate myself to do some cleaning up and organizing around the house. I really don't want to clean or organize though, so maybe I'll spend my day trying to finish one of those unfinished projects in my craft closet. We'll see.

We took a ton of pictures on our trip. If you're interested in seeing all 225 of them then please email me and I'll send you the photo album. I'll also try to sprinkle some highlights into future posts.

Happy New Years!

We've been home for just a day or so and now Matt and I are getting ready to leave for Costa Rica tomorrow morning. The good part is that we never really had to unpack our suitcases, so that made things pretty easy. I'm really looking forward to lounging on the beach, which is something that we hardly got a chance to do in Hawaii.

Our trip home was fun and it's always nice to spend time with the family. Kauai was beautiful and green and warm and I really enjoyed being there. I was a little bummed that we didn't get more time to hang out because we were busy helping with the wedding and going to various celebrations before and after Andrew and Dayna's big day, but it was worth it to be a part of everything that was going on. I think that we'll have to try and go back another time when we can just cruise around and see the sights. Kauai is so laid back and quaint, so different from Oahu.

I've been knitting nonstop since I finished school, but of course I've forgotten to photograph all of my projects. I finally finished my UO Shrug and it is SO cute! I think that in retrospect I should have knit the back part to be about 18 or 19 inches instead of 20 or 21 like the pattern suggested, but it still fits pretty nicely and I like the way that the rolled collar replaces the need to wear a scarf (I'm prone to cold neck). I also finished the scarf that I was making for my uncle just in the nick of time. I carried that thing around with me everywhere I went until it was done. I also started a ruffle/corkscrew scarf thing from Scarf Style. I really like some of the patterns in that book and I decided at the last minute to buy the book and make Matt's mom the ruffle scarf in black cashmere. I've never knit with cashmere before, and it's quite lovely! I'll be sure to take a picture of it when it's done.

Of course, part of planning my trip involves figuring out which projects I should bring with me (and I always bring too many). I'm kind of low in projects to bring that aren't too big and complicated so I've decided to try making Clapotis with some of the yarn I got from Matt's mom's stash. I know this project takes forever, but it will be a good thing to bring along and keep me interested on the plane.

Happy New Years to all of you, I'll be back from Costa Rica in a couple of weeks!