Look what I finished!

The Print 'O the Wave shawl has been on the needles for a very long time. I'm quite sure I was still in school when I started it, which, for some reason, seems like it was a long time ago. I love everything about this pattern, except, of course, the errata in the border. I swear I thought I was doing something wrong. After about the third or fourth attempt, I realized it might not be me!

Then I ran out of yarn while working on the border... I didn't have money to buy more until just recently, and then it was a question of time. Well, I made some time, mostly on the way to Rhinebeck to work on it and just yesterday I finished it up, sewed in the ends and blocked it.I had to block it on my bed. It's the only place that's soft enough for the pins to go in, in a room that I can shut the door from the cats! There's nothing like cats to ruin a good blocking session.

My friends, it turned out amazing. So light and yet so warm! Not to mention the feel is amazing. It is merino laceweight after all.Here it is all opened up.

And then, of course, the model shot!
I do believe I'm addicted to lace...

Rhinebeck... yet another year of fiber and fun.

This was the fourth year I've been to Rhinebeck and, as always, it did not disappoint. Though, unlike other years, I actually had specific things in mind.

I went out there with Jill and Sarah. Just the car ride out there was a blast. I enjoyed every second of hanging out with these two lovely ladies. Many laughs were had for sure!Here's Sarah enjoying her Starbucks and knitting in the back seat. It's a three hour drive, we had to keep ourselves awake somehow!

I had made plans to meet up with a friend of mine that I met in Toronto. We met at the Harlot book signing and the yarn crawl in Toronto. Somehow she convinced her husband that bringing her two small children and him to a fiber festival for the weekend would be a great idea, all the while knowing that they'd be camping... she is a master negotiator!

So we arrived at Rhinebeck, is it just me, or was this year a madhouse? I know it's been busy before, but really? It was just crazy! I sometimes felt like I spent more time in line waiting to pay for my goods than actually fondling fiber (this may be an over exaggeration, but still.)

This is the t-shirt I wore, pretty much the best shirt ever for Rhinebeck. Of course, Jill's shirt wasn't so bad either!It's all about representing with the sheep!

A major highlight for me this year was getting to use the Golding spinning wheel.... drool...We won't mention how much this thing costs... *cough*$5,000*cough*.... It's like butta to spin with, like butta! I covet one, but honestly, I'm perfectly happy with my bottom of the line Kiwi.

Danielle, my friend from Canada, used it too...
And don't think that a fiber festival is all about fiber, on no. There's also this guy who held a wonderfully informed political debate with us.I already love him for his shirt.

I met some wonderful people, including Jess and Casey, the creators of Ravelry and Elisa whose blog I've been reading for years! I didn't even go to any sort of blogger meetup, I just left it all up to chance. Last year was a little overwhelming for me, so this year I decided to take it slow.

The weather was gorgeous (though oddly warm for mid-October) and I'd say that all-in-all, it was a wonderful day with wonderful people.




...what's that you say? You want to see the haul.... oh, alright...

Don't ever get between a girl and her fiber!

The little buggers got me...

The weather has finally turned here. It's finally starting to feel like fall. As we all know, fall is the perfect time to break out the handknits. The other day I thought it would be a great idea to put on a pair of my wool socks. The socks I made in Toronto looked like the perfect pair. They've never been worn so it was certainly time to break them in. As I was slipping them on I was shocked to discover a hole in one of them.... then another hole.... then another!

MOTHS!!!!!Does this not just make your heart hurt? I tore apart my sock drawer to see what I could find and see what other socks got a fly by mothing. One more pair was hit, but aside from that, the rest were fine. Not to mention I didn't find any evidence whatsoever of moths. I'm not sure what to do about this. Anyone have any suggestions?

In an unrelated topic, I'll be heading to Rhinebeck on Saturday. I hope to see some of you there!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile... I have a reason. I've met someone... and he's great. I'll leave it at that.

And without further ado...

I present VaVaVoom 2.0 completed.Here's a photo with a bit more detail of the collar. That darn flash tends to blur the details a bit.Oh yes, this one turned out a million times better than the last. By the way, the sweater pattern is called Paisley and it's out of the book 'A Season's Tale' by Kim Hargreaves. I love her patterns. They always seem to fit me nicely.

As you can imagine, I started a new project now that this one is finished. With it being Socktober, it only seemed right for me to start those socks.I'm doing a basic toe up sock because I can't stand the thought of wasting even an inch of this yarn! It's just too beautiful! It doesn't seem to be pooling or striping much either, which I'm happy about.

I may not have mentioned this, but now that I've been working for over a month and have some funds again, I decided it was time for me to place an order at Knitpicks. After all, it had to be done. I have two lace projects just sitting here waiting to be worked on and I don't have the yarn to work on them. Lucky for me they had the dye lots I was looking for.I couldn't pass up the chance to have free shipping either, so my finger might have slipped a few times and put a few more things in my cart... but just a few things...Given the situation, I'd say I was pretty controlled. I can't guarantee I'm going to be so restrained at Rhinebeck... Did I mention I'm going to be there this year? Can't break tradition now can I?

Progress, people!

Ok, so I know I just blogged yesterday, but I was so excited, that I just had to show you the progress I've made on VaVaVoom 2.0.

I finished up seaming all the pieces together. All that's left now is the collar!I'm already in love with this sweater and it's not even finished yet!

It's October!

I think we all know what that means.... Socktoberfest! And it's also the month where Rhinebeck takes place! Oh I'm looking forward to it this year!

As for the socks... I haven't started a pair because I've been diligently working on VaVaVoom version 2.0. I'm nearly finished with the second sleeve. The end is near. But I do have plans for socks. I plan on using that Lorna's laces sock yarn that I bought in Toronto.Mmmmm, Lorna.... you're so good at what you do... I love these colors. These are my kind of colors! The thing is, I never really wear these colors all together other than in socks. But I do love them. They make me happy!

I have a lot of things making me happy recently. My job is going well. I'm making up for all the time off I took, which is great monetarily because it means I can actually get some of the things I've been putting off getting (like that knitpicks lace yarn to finish those two lace projects I'm working on.) It's also wonderful to be able to come home and have nothing to do. Let me put it this way, I come home and there's no reading assignments, no school projects, no papers that are due in the morning... It's bliss. I loved school, but I'm ready for life again.

I haven't blogged much recently because I've been working full time, but I've also been developing a social life again. One that was put on hold while I was in school. I've been dating, which has been fun, but I'm not sure dating is really what I want to do. How can you expect to get to know someone really well while you're dating? No one really acts the way they really are when they date. There are nerves up the wazoo when you first meet. Not to mention there are all these expectations that go along with it. I'd much rather meet someone as a friend and develop a relationship from there. So, I've been open to friendships at the moment.

Anyway, I have today off and I hope to finish up the pieces for VaVaVoom. I'm nearly there! I wouldn't be surprised if I start piecing it together tonight!