Happy Birthday To Me!!!

That's right folks, lucky number 25 is upon me. I have to say, I love where I am in life at 25. I really couldn't have asked for anything better.

As for my birthday, it will be spent at work... I know, a horrible way to spend my birthday, but I suppose I don't mind too much. My mom came up on Friday because she got me some Knitpicks yarn and needles (not the Options, just plain circs) for my birthday. I have to say, I love these needles. They're so smooth and I just love how pointy they are!

I started a pair of Trekking socks with them. I decided I'd give the magic loop method another try...
Well, turns out, with the right needles, this can actually be really fun. Not to mention really quick. I started these on Friday afternoon. I'm almost to the heel!

I also am really loving this trekking yarn. It's the first time I've used it and I just love how the stripes are all different and unpredictable. Call me crazy, but sometimes I like not knowing what's coming next!

Well, I'm off to spend my birthday serving food with a smile....

A few things I learned along the way....

I'm back. Gabe left on a plane this morning, I start back to work on Saturday and school starts on Monday. I'm hitting the ground running, to say the least. Before I get into everything, let me fill you in on a few things I learned along the way while driving back to NY...

• It is an inevitable truth that no matter what side of the car I'm on, the glaring sun will be baking me while I ride. I'm serious about this. If Gabe and I switched seats, the sun would decide to switch too.
• If you decide to work on cross stitch in a moving vehicle, you WILL drop the needle and it WILL take about a half hour to find it again... This unavoidable situation, however, is offset by the fact that you will also get a lot of stitching done with the uninterrupted hours of car time...
• Similar to the last point, lace work should be avoided in a moving vehicle because it is not a pleasant situation when you come across a mistake... trust me on this one.
• Highway rest stops do not cater to vegetarians.
  
• In a related point; living off sunflower seeds and Doritos is not a "balanced" meal for a vegetarian.
• Being in a car with another person for 30 hours will reveal quite a bit about their personality. If you're lucky, you will like what it reveals.... It so happens I'm lucky.

So, I've spent the last week in NY, visiting with my family and Gabe's family. It's been relaxing and wonderful and I have to admit, an excellent way to end the summer. Surprisingly enough, I was able to handle my emotions quite well and only cried a little bit the night before Gabe left and then a few tears at the airport this morning. I think it's because I've forgotten what life was like without him so I wasn't dreading it as much as I did last semester when I only got to see him for a week at a time.

As for the crafty stuff. I started a lace weight shawl out of the merino laceweight while we were driving. It's fun, but currently I have more important projects to get finished, and I'm actually thinking I'm going to rip this one and make some other lace project with it.... when I have more time... which won't be for awhile.

I did make a mistake in it on the drive... that was fun to fix...(note the sarcasm)

I also worked quite a bit on my green sweater. The front is looking fantastic. I absolutely love the way the cable pattern is turning out. I'll be working on the sleeves pretty soon and I'm thinking that I'm going to alter them a bit. They call for a sort of flared sleeve, which looks good in the type of yarn that the pattern originally called for (Jaeger Trinity), but I'm thinking that since this isn't a very drapey yarn, it's not going to look as good. I can't say I'm looking forward to the math, but I'd like to make a sweater I'm going to wear.

In other fibery news, I've been spinning like a maniac.... with Gabe's mom! There is something very exciting coming up soon that involves all this spinning. Gabe's mom invited me to be a team member in the Sheep to Shawl contest at the State Fair. We compete in just a week and a half! I'm so excited! It's going to be so much fun! What we were spinning was the yarn we are going to use for the warp. What we spin at the fair is for the weft. I can hardly wait!

My Last Week...

I haven't posted in awhile because (as the title suggests) this has been my last week here in Colorado. I've been busy trying to make the most of it without breaking down into a puddle of emotional goop. Surprisingly enough, I've succeeded in avoiding the goop and making some truly awesome memories.

Gabe and I went climbing a couple of days in a row and I did truly well. When I think back on how I did when I first started, I've come such a long way. I didn't even feel nervous up on the rock anymore, I only felt a drive to get to the top. This was the view from where we were climbing...
I wouldn't dream of leaving without showing you just one more breathtaking view. I just love how you can see the winding road in this one. Not to mention just how blue the sky is inbetween the clouds.

Not only did we have such a great time climbing and spending time together outdoors, but we also made some truly awesome dinners together.

I was most proud of my seared tuna dish. I've had a similar dish at a restaurant and it didn't seem that difficult to recreate. Besides the fact that the tuna was super expensive, I really didn't think I'd mess it up too badly. When it was all said and done, it turned out so well.

So well, in fact, that I had to take a picture of it. It's seared tuna over rice and fresh spinach with a vinegrette of sorts and goat cheese crumbled on top. The first words out of Gabe's mouth when he tried a bite were "Hell yeah!" I think I was beaming for the rest of the dinner. I might make the sauce a little bit differently next time because there was just a bit too much soy sauce in it, but other than that, it was perfect!

We couldn't forget about dessert either. I baked my first apple pie... It was so, so good. We almost finished the whole thing in one night. Of course, I had to take a picture of that too, after all, it was my first...

Isn't it beautiful? And so yummy! I guess I never realized how easy apple pies are to make. (that is of course, if you don't make the pie crust from scratch...) I most certainly will be making myself a pie or two when I get back to NY.

As for NY, we're leaving on Monday. I actually have to work all weekend and then leave. That's why I had to make the most of this past week. After that, I may not be posting for awhile because I'll be spending the next week with Gabe and my family before his plane leaves.

On to a more happy subject... knitting. I finished the back of my green sweater and started the front. In fact, I got quite a bit of the front done last night at the stitch 'n bitch. By the way, I've had such a great time meeting all the knitters here that it's just one more thing making me not want to leave! Anyway, here's what the front looks like...

I love the way the cables are showing up. I was fairly sure they would look ten times better in this yarn than in the yarn it called for (Jaeger Trinity). The cable is just so much more defined.
I'm really anxious to finish this sweater for some reason. I guess I just really want to try it on and see how it fits. My last attempt (the purple monstrosity tank) has really made we want to make something that fits well!

That's it for me folks, at least until the next time I get a chance to post. I warn you, it may be awhile, but hang in there, I'll be back!

Awesome views....

Gabe and I went camping for a couple of days last week (which might explain my absence from the blogosphere...) It was such a blast. We went on a 6-mile hike up to this place called Isabella Glacier, by the way, they're not kidding, there's a glacier up there. What really got me was everytime I looked around I'd see another, new, breathtaking view... like this one...
Or this one...
Then there was this one....
Absolutely gorgeous. I tried getting some good shots of Gabe and I, but it seems he is incabable of taking a normal picture. Case in point...

And let's not forget this little beauty...







I can't say I didn't try.


So, as far as knitting goes, I did bring something along to keep me occupied while we weren't hiking. I'm sure you're wondering why I haven't started anything out of that laceweight that I dyed and you know what? I really don't have a very good answer for that. I suppose I just felt like starting something out of my stash. I bought this yarn (Debbie Bliss, Merino DK) a long time ago on sale and it's been sitting in my stash, dying to become a sweater.

Here's a better picture of the sweater. I really think the cables are going to look good with this yarn. I've been wanting to make this sweater for awhile now. I'm sure the pattern is something like five years old. I guess better late than never right?