Goals... maybe too many

Over the weekend I realized that I'm going on vacation in one week (leaving this coming Saturday, August 4th on the 9AM ferry) and I have a lot to get done with very little time to spare. I managed to give the house a good top to bottom scrubbing so I won't worry about that now until I get home.

I also worked my butt off cleaning the inside of my car. The car goes in for a service on Wednesday so that will prep it for the week long road trip, and as a bonus I know they will spick and span the outside of the car. I was too upset to wash the outside myself... someone backed into my car on the weekend while it was parked downtown. It's barely noticeable, but to me it's huge. I was sad... there was much throwing of bags and jackets into the backseat as I hurled the keys at my husband saying I probably shouldn't drive while this angry.

So. Goals for this week(some knitting, some not):

1. Lose 2lbs
2. Find Yarn Stores along our semi-planned route
3. Finish Monkey socks - I need the needles for the planned road trip knitting
4. Finish Diamond Fantasy Shawl - I'm only 1.5 repeats and an I cord edge away from finishing... I can taste victory and I want it to block while I'm away.
5. Pack... hmmm which also means tackle the ever growing pile of laundry - harumph
6. Pick up August bus pass... sooner rather than later
7. Stock up on easy to cook food for the husband... I'm thinking burgers and frozen lasagnas :)
8. Finish reading last 120 pages of library book due back while I'm away.

Did I mention Tuesday I'm playing tennis after work for 2 hours? Wednesday my car is in for service and I have to go rock climbing after work until about 6:30 that day as well? Oh and what about Softball on Thrusday night, did I mention that?

So what am I knitting while I'm away? Why do I need the Knit Picks 2.5mm's that the Monkey's are currently on? Well, let me tell you... it's a suprise ;-)

Secrets and more...

I signed up for Secret Pal 11 thist morning. After seeing this on several other blogs I couldn't resist, it looks like so much fun! On a more yarney note - Lorna's Laces arrived yesterday afternoon. I got Jeans, which were promptly put on Anna K's desk :) Cranberry and Bucks Bar are sitting on my knitting table just waiting to be made into something. I think another pair of Monkeys for Bucks Bar... but the cranberry... hmmm...

No pics, sorry

• MS3 Clue #3 done. Looking at #4 thinking 'dear god, what have I gotten myself into?' But I'm sure I'll have it done before I leave for vacation in two weeks.
• Diamond Fantasy Shawl, only 4 more repeats to go. It got too big to fit in my daily work bag, so I've started:
• Monkeys. Started both at once (in the dark purple - thanks Jennifer!), cuff done and two pattern repeats. I'd read that the pattern was easy to remember, but no one mentioned just how fast these socks work up! No wonder they are so popular! I should have these done within two weeks as well.
• Victorian Lace Today... I caved, I bought it. And I LOVE IT! I'm fairly certain I'll make everything in that book, eventually.
• I also bought some Crystal Palace Kid Mohair in Misty Lilac at the same store for one of the patterns in the book.

So I'm going on vacation in two weeks. The plan, August 4th drive like mad into Seatlle to catch a baseball game (tickets arrived on Thursday - weeee!), tootle around Seatlle for Sunday, hit the road again and make our way to the Sea Lion Caves and the Sand Dunes, then make our way back stopping where-ever pleases us. I'm going with mom, we do this every couple of years just hit the road with not too much of a plan in mind. Soooo anyone have any recommended places to see/stop in at? Any wonderful restaraunts that we simply shouldn't miss?

Now... what to knit on the road...

Two shawls at once

Clue #2 came out on Jul 6 - I finally got to it tonight and finished it in 4 hours, yay! I'm finding this KAL quite enjoyable. It's my first KAL and the added suspense of not knowing what I'm knitting, other than the fact that it's a stole, is making it doubley fun.

I read an article online today that mentioned needle blocking to help keep the shape better, so I tried it out for this quick block photo op. I think it works really well... I may pick up Knit Picks Lace Blocking Wires.

The Diamond Fantasy Shawl is also coming along nicely. I'm mostly knitting this on the bus and on my lunch break. I think I'm almost half way done, it's supposed to be 10 repeats, but I can't remember when the repeats started... after the first diamond, or mid-first diamond... oh well, I'll just keep going until the size suites me. I can't wait to wear this with a little black dress at Christmas time.

I think I would like to knit this one again, it's super fast and fun... but in a variagated yarn this time... maybe...

Sheep Farm

Recipe for an amazing day:

1. Ferry Ride to SaltSpring Island
2. Spinning Mill Tour
3. Tour of the farm and petting all the different animals
4. Great lunch with great friends
5. Market wandering
6. Beach walk, pictures and visit with Grama
7. Tired ferry ride and drive home with much talking of how awesome the day was.
Here are some pictures of the highlights.

Spiral Boot Socks and Clue1 of MS3 - Check!

Some Sunday eye candy for you. I finally finished the second spiral boot sock for my sister. I also managed to get the First Clue for MS3 finished tonight. Clue #2 came out on Friday... hoping to get that done sometime this week, as in, before Clue #3 comes out :)

I am very excited for the coming weekend. I've arranged for the stitch 'n' bitch group from work to take a little field trip. We're going to a farm on SaltSpring Island to visit a sheep farm. They are going to show us how the sheep are sheared, the wool is cleaned, carded, dyed and spun. I believe we'll even get to try a few things out to see how we like it etc. There is also a yarn store on premise and as per our special request, we get to pet the sheep :) What more could a knitter ask for?

New project and bus news

Mission Bus Sock came to an ubrupt reality check today as my first day riding the bus. 1 - the express taking me into work is way too fast, 7 minutes does not go well with knitting. 2 - the bus ride home is far more condusive to knitting, 40 minutes, but also far more squishy... Therefore I must find a project with simple repeats, I can't take a pattern with me on the bus, it's just too tricky to balance on my legs. So the original difficult socks, just not going to happen. I'll find something easy, but fun.

It was fun to watch the number of people that just simply stopped and watched what I was doing. I had my headphones in and decided to pretend I didn't notice... for now. tee hee

I have been making progress on the second Spiral Boot sock and am about to work the heel... I suspect it will be finished this week, unless I get distracted by diamonds, pretty, pretty, diamonds

Long weekends are great for knitting

Happy Canada Day!





I find myself looking forward to long weekends more than I used to... only because of the potential knitting I could accomplish in such a time-span. For example, this weekend:
Stripey socks for myself. Finally my first good pair of socks (my previous three attempts have resulted in very, very short feet... must find small children with large calfs to give them to).





There are two new babies comming into the world this fall, how could I resist?

I also cast on for what will be my 'Bus socks'. I'm going to attempt taking BC Transit for the month of July. Why? To save on money, do my part for the environment where-ever I can, squeeze in some extra walking in a day, and also, of course, more knitting time! So I cast on for what I thought was Monkey Socks.... note to self: when printing two online patterns at the same time, take careful attention to seperating the patterns well. I accidentally cast on for pomatomus... I don't think I'm quite ready for the difficulty, but heck if I have to redo it's just more knitting, so I decided to leave it as is and attempt a pair.



Now that I am using the intended Monkey sock yarn on these socks, the question becomes what colour should I use for Monkey Socks? In the stash we have an off-white, self-striping(which I don't think would work well), light blue, and a dark purple... or do I buy something new? Help me out here people, I hate decisions.