"Helena" baby sweater

A friend of Husband's is expecting their first girl, after 2 boys. So I went the pink and sweet route.

This is Helena from Knitty.com, Summer 2008, knit the smallest size in Takhi Stacy Charles Cotton Classic in Light Pink. It took just under 2 skeins with size 6 US needles.

Modifications:
garter stitch edges instead of the turned under picot hems.
one tie closure instead of 2
braided tie closures instead of garter stitch

Started June 13, 2008, finished July 29, 2008. I would have finished faster but I'm not a monogamous knitter.

I liked it so much, I cast on for another one, for a co-worker expecting another girl. This time, I'm using Plymouth Fantasy Naturale in pink. It's worsted weight, so I'm using size 8 US needles, but still following directions for the smallest size. I won't have enough yarn, so will probably do the yoke in pink and the skirt in white. Doing some stash busting this way.

Though the sweater's so small, it's hardly putting a dent in the stash.

Back from the Cottage

Last weekend of July, Husband's father's side of the family has a reunion. It's held at their summer cottage on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Husband calls it a cottage. I call it the closest I get to camping. It is a house, with a kitchen, living room, upstairs has bedrooms. A big porch where everyone hangs out all the time.

And one bathroom with no ventilation. Husband's side of the family is all men. There are 6 of them.

So, it's kind of primative. However the company is laidback and fun and Husband can finally relax. He thinks the place has healing powers, able to fix what's physically wrong with him.

I think it's because it evokes good memories of spending summers there growing up, and while at the cottage, he can unplug from the rest of the world and responsibilities. For the longest time, there wasn't even a phone at the cottage. And even now, cellphone reception is weak.

So it's a place where he can totally relax and that's why it heals.

Arty Savannah trip

Friday and Saturday Husband and I were in Savannah, Georgia. Husband was there for work, I was there to keep him company.

We left Atlanta Thursday evening and drove as the sun went down, and the full moon came up. Sang along to the iPod. It was very enjoyable.


Savannah was hot and humid, as usual. Tropical Storm Cristobal is off the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas, randomly sprinkling us with rain, increasing the humidity. Ugh.


As Husband went off to his meetings, my first stop was the art supply shop. Savannah is the home of the Savannah College of Art and Design, and the Telfair museum. I bought a sketch book and a case of colored pencils. I have lots of colored pencils already, as well as sketch pads, but forgot to pack them, even though I had planned to come to the art supply shop. But mostly to get pottery tools, which I did get.


Second stop: the Telfair museum of art. There was an exhibit by William Christenberry, photographer and sculpter. Loved his work, especially his dream house installations. I really liked this piece: Alabama Wall I.

I sketched it, abstracting it to blocks of colors. I think it would make a very cool quilt or afghan.


Third stop was Wild Fibre yarn shop. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed. They had very little yarn to offer, though I do like that the yarn was organized by color. So all the celadon greens in one cubby, linen yarn, mohair, wool, all put together, and so on.


Years ago, I went to this shop and was introduced to Cherry Tree Hill and Colinette yarns for the first time. I bought a skein of Point Five Colinette yarn, in the Jamboree colorway. This was the first time I bought expensive yarn (did not realize how little yardage I got for my money) but oh the colors! Oranges, greens, purples, all colors outside my comfort zone. It's a skein of souveneir yarn.


By 3pm the heat and humidity got to me, so Husband and I met up at the hotel room, rested a bit in the airconditioning, then went for dinner at Il Pasticcio. Good, as always.


We finished the evening by going down to the Savannah riverfront, watching the sun set, the container ships and river ferries float by, the people walking around, and eating an icecream cone.


Saturday we headed out to Tybee Island and the pier. The beach was full, so different from our last trip there in December 2007. There was a family reunion going on, which is nice. Think of the great family memories that will make for them.


The sun was hot, we had too much alcohol too early in the day, and by the time we got back to Atlanta, I had a pounding headache.


But still, it was another great trip with Husband and I'm glad I went.

Rain!

This week, it has been raining almost everyday. Hasn't broken the drought in Georgia, though.

It's been cool enough to keep the windows open and the other night, caught this:

A little frog on the screen door.

I was worried for a while that it had rained so much that even the amphibians were seeking higher ground. But I think it was just looking for bugs.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is Independence Day in the US.

It's also my parents' 39th anniversary. Last night I called them to ask what they had planned to celebrate. Ma said that the paint was peeling in the living room, so they were going to repaint. Ooh, romantic!

When she said that, I remembered them back in the early 1980s wallpapering one wall in the living room in Baltimore. You know, one of those living rooms that no one ever lived in because we do our living in the kitchen and the den. The wallpaper was grey, silver, and black, like a herringbone pattern blown up to huge proportions. That's the room my mom would use to lay out the duvet covers she used to make.

My parents are very handy people. I mean, they do a lot of stuff around the house themselves. It probably helps that my dad's a civil engineer with all kinds of knowledge about how to design buildings and such.

They did a lot of stuff around that house in Baltimore. It was the biggest house we ever lived in. They did a ton of landscaping and gardening, planting trees, building raised beds out of 4 by 4s, and digging huge vegetable beds. My dad built a 2 story shed. Gardening equipment, like the riding mower, on the bottom and a playhouse upstairs with a real staircase (not ladder) to get up there and a slide on the side. He built it all himself, I don't think any neighbors helped.

Now that I've built my own raised beds, I know it's not that hard to do. But at the time, I was about 10 years old, and so impressed.

My parents have been married 39 years. They got married when they were 27 years old, but they knew each other since kindergarten. They dated in high school, but dated other people in college. I don't know all the particulars and they aren't talking. I remember time, again, when we were living in that house in Baltimore, I got out of bed, came downstairs, and asked them when was their first kiss. They laughed and wouldn't tell.

They've been together for so long, they're like that couple who won't stray more than 15 feet from each other. I'm pretty sure they didn't take a vow to do so. But I know whenever my mom walks to the open air market down the street, my dad will go look for her.

It's funny. My mom's so outgoing and talkative and my dad is very quiet. Yet, apparently, he will talk her ear off when it's just the 2 of them.

May they have many, many more years together!

Namaste Knitting Bag

I finally got a Namaste knitting bag. Specifically the Laguna in Peacock, a teal blue, from The Yarn Grove. $59 with free shipping over $50. The Yarn Grove is a web only store on one side of Atlanta and I live on the other. I could have driven over to their house and picked it up on the way home from work, but with free shipping, I decided to save my gas, time, and sanity by not driving all over Atlanta.

Anyway I ordered it Friday and got it Saturday.

I like it, it's big and roomy, with a center divider to keep yarn and needles separate from all my other purse stuff. There's also an external pocket in front for my cellphone, business card, kleenex tissues, and pens. And on the back another pocket where I keep my appointment book. And more pens if necessary.

To carry all the stuff I need to carry (work papers and folders, purse stuff, and knitting) with me in one bag, I knew the bag would have to be kind of big. And by big, I mean big. Here are pictures. Note that I am 5 feet tall, wearing 2 and half inch heels:

From this angle, it's not so bad. When using the strap the top and handles fold over so it doesn't look so big.

The shoes by the way are Romeo by Aerosoles.

From this angle you see how bulky it is. Yet that's necessary to hold all the stuff I need. Other pursed aren't as roomy and since I'm knitting with bulky yarn, I need the room. I'm just 50% wider now from side to side..

Here's a pic of the inside.The zippered center divider pocket isn't as tall as I expected and it's floppy pleather. But significantly lighter than the leather bucket purse I had been using that was about 1/3 the size of the Laguna bag.

All in all, I'm pleased.

And for a blog named Red, there's been no red in the recent posts. So here's a gratuitous picture of my red pedicure, in a pair of navy blue slides I keep at work, against the industrial grey carpet of the office.

Sometimes yarn just isn't enough to keep a girl happy.