Progress? Yes!

Back (couldn't stop hands from shaking, hence blurriness)


Beads close up


Fronts



It has been slow, but I'm making progress on Beaded Martha.

While down in Portland I went to Lint, finally. The layout of the store is pretty cool and the seating area was nice, I didn't care much for it. Part of it had to do with what sounded like a regular knitter at the store bad-mouthing about another knitter. I was browsing the books and could not but hear her complain, she was so friggin' loud, and it gave the store a really snobby-not-really-worth-a-second-visit vibe. Plus, it was pretty pricey. I'll be sticking to Yarn Garden on Hawthorne. Before hitting Lint I went to check out KnitPicks' headquarter (Crafts Americana Group) in Vancouver, they have an outlet store there. Well, when walked in the sign over one of the doorways indicated that they had an entire room devoted to yarn. Score!! Um, Not! I walked in and the room was empty. Apparently they pulled all the yarn and were getting ready for a sale next Monday!! What a bust! I was so excited to get some discount yarn.


This is what happens when you let a four year old play with your camera.

Ponch-no!!

This my pledge to never wear a poncho, make a poncho or mention a poncho on this blog from this day forward. Like many other people Martha has put me over the edge. Suddenly I'm hearing about the convict poncho on TV and getting emails about it, so it must be stopped. From the beginning I was suspicious of its aesthetic contribution to current fashion trends. Just when I thought that this Spring would be the end of the carpet-on-my-shoulders style, it has made a comeback thanks to convict #885745 from Camp Cupcake. Please join with me in getting rid of this horrible trend. If that doesn't convince you then how about this:

You have been
warned!

I finally opened a toy I got at Christmas. So darn cute.

He's attached to a flexible wire with a suction cup at the end. Itis suppose to bounce and swing around.


Look at that face!

First sweater of 2005

Elspeth is done. The picot trim was fun to crochet! I didn't understand the Rowan instructions so I improvised. Instead of dc stitches I went with hdc.


Picot trim


Picot trim on sleeve



Fog over the lake. Cool.


It also hovered over downtown.


One more reason to get digital cable.

Freebie!!!

New Phildar freebie today!! I have to say that it's about time. It is a
pretty nifty design; one piece bolero style jacket.

Okay, it wasn't so bad. I was dreading seaming and crocheting the edges of Elspeth, but it was pretty painless. Planning it out was very helpful. I told myself I would only seam and crochet during the day because it's much better with the natural light than being hunched over by the light in the evening. I got as far as doing the crocheting around the edge of the body and one sleeve. There is still the picot part to do. The pattern says to crochet dc stitches around the edge which I find too big, I used the hdc stitch instead.



I also got started on Beaded Martha. See as this yarn is fingering weight it may take until May to finish!


It is clear now that this nice weather comes with a price. It's not official yet but they are declaring that we are in for a drought this summer. Whoa! Not pretty at all.

Might as well enjoy what we've got going right now and worry about the drought later.


It's pink everywhere you look.






I love these cacti-like plants that grow on rocks.

It's like riding a bike.

It took me a little bit more time than I thought to get back to knitting sweaters. Apparently I'm not the only one to have issues with the yarn over pattern in Elspeth. There was a lot of frogging going on. I frogged each piece at least once. Yes, the pattern is simple enough but I had the hardest time keeping it correct. It took me a few tries to get back to reading patterns, especially Rowan patterns. Why are they written like that?! I hate it. I can already imagine how fun it will be to seam and to add the picot trim. It will be a miracle if she's done by the weekend's end. Wish me luck.

Now remember, if you add stitch be sure to decrease one. It's as simple as that.


Four down, one more to go.


I'm already thinking of the next project: Beaded Martha. The Elann Baby Silk came today and I will be getting the beads this weekend. I really should focus on one project at time... whatever!