Sunday, November 06, 2005

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

First of all, some long overdue wedding weekend pictures to show!




This was the scene from our front "yard" at the Sea Lodge in La Jolla, California! We saw a jellyfish that had washed ashore--my roommate thought it was super cool. I thought it was gross and weird. Walking on the beach was fun, though. The sand looked like gold dust, and we saw millions of little seashells that were half-buried in the sand. At first we thought they were pebbles, but on closer inspection, we discovered that they were real little animals! And still alive, because we saw a few wriggling around, as though trying to get out of their shells. Being a bonafide, certified city girl and having limited experience with the ocean, this was pretty fricking cool. We proceeded to step on as many as we could as we walked down the beach, liking the feeling of the shells against our bare feet.

After our walk, we went back to our room to get ready for the wedding. It was beautiful, and touching, and personal, and funny (the celebrant was cracking so many jokes I was convinced that he would wrap up by saying that he'd be doing a comedy showcase in L.A. later that night).

Here are the beautiful bride and handsome groom:



Mariachis serenaded us after the ceremony:



And here's the Flower Basket Shawl, in all it's FO glory:



No better time than the present to do the specs. I'm posting them on my first giddy FO post about the shawl, just so it's self-contained and easier to find (now that I'm doing archival work at school, this is the kind of logic my brain follows...how can researchers best find this information? Obsessing over minute details, a Virgo's dream come true!).

There's just so much to post about today! I won't bore you with the details of my current fit of start-itis; let it just be said that I attempted to start Wheelie with some Cascade Fixation and didn't like the way the colors were patterning, so I started the Broadripple socks. Knitted on that for a while, but then decided I need a shrug more than I need socks right now, so I cast on for a One Skein Wonder, identical to the one I knit for my friend Alison. Lacking a swift and ball winder, I spent about an hour last night trying to wind the skein and then getting it all tangled, then untangling the black cotton as I watched Scarface on t.v. So now when I wear this shrug, I will forever be doomed to remember Al Pacino snarling, "Say hello to my little FRIEND!"*

The exciting news today is the knit along started by Laura: It's the Cover Your Head KAL! It's the most low-key, friendly fun knitalong, one that even I, the biggest committment-phobe, can agree to join. All you have to do is knit a hat, or two, or three--whichever you want, and there are no deadlines. Yay Laura! I think that I may knit a regular watch cap from the pink yarn I have left over from the Flower Basket and some blue I've got from the Viennese Shrug. And then I want to make one of Marnie Maclean's lovely lacy caps!

The other super exciting news is from the Austin Knit Out, held on Saturday, November 5, sponsored by the Lone Star State Knitters. These fantastic ladies gathered at the Borders in the Westgate Central Market shopping center, and offered knitting tips, hints, and techniques. And guess who learned to spin!

If I were a better blogger I'd have pictures of the blobby yarn I managed to eke out on Saturday, but that'll have to be a post for next time. Suffice it to say that a very patient, lovely lady simultaneously taught about three of us to spin with a drop spindle, and Peggy let us keep our spindles and a handful of roving to play with. Stunned, I accepted her lovely gift. She explained that it was much like dealing crack cocaine--you give a little sample and before you know it you've got them begging for more. Well, I paraphrase a little, but that's essentially the gist.

Now I'm gonna want to spin, as well as knit, and sew too (actually, my machine remains pristine inside its unopened box)! Dissertation? Whuh? Am I supposed to be writing one of those?


* Why is it that men love this movie so much? My ex-husband knew all the dialogue and could amuse himself for hours on end by repeating lines like the one above. I suppose that should have been plenty warning for me.

3 Comments:

At 5:31 AM, Blogger Laura said...

Thanks for the nice words about Cover Your Head! Lolly's Socktoberfest and the Warm Hands KALs were sort of the inspiration -- start or not, finish or not, any pattern you want. That's my kind of KAL! I am so glad you joined. And thanks for the tip on the Marnie MacLean hats. Those are gorgeous. I put the link on the KAL site.

 
At 12:45 PM, Blogger Marisa said...

You are so funny! And beautiful. The FO looks fabulous -- and the model! It's a good color on you.

As for the sewing/spinning/knitting, if you're anything like me, you'll get more done the busier you are!

 
At 3:27 AM, Blogger Elizabeth said...

Your shawl looks gorgeous on you... and it looks like you had fun. Thanks for tagging me with the meme - I'll reply sometime this week. :)

 

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