Tag Archives: shawl

Jun 3

Fashion Show

Upon a few request of seeing my bump and my newly purchased dresses for the upcoming weddings I’m attending, I decided to do a little fashion show on my back porch:

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This outfit shows my bump really well.  It is a $3.00 bargain shirt at the maternity section from Goodwill and my awesome $20 score of Express Editor Pink Pants with Alexis in Wisconsin back so many years ago (that you can’t see).  How am I still fitting in those you asked?  Thanks to the magic Bella Band, I am still able to wear all my regular pants un buttoned!

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Next up is the beautiful Poppy Flower dress found at Destination Maternity at the Promenaude at Evergreen Hills.  We were way early for the movie “UP” so we went across to find me some grubs.  Destination Maternity was on the way to Moe’s, and was having this huge side walk sale (75% off!) so we wondered in.  I think I will wear this dress to the rehearsal dinner next Friday.  (As a side note, UP was really good.  But don’t go without some tissue!  There are some really touching moments in the movie.)

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On Sunday, CostumeChick, BackStageKnits, and I went up to West Farm mall to find some dresses for me for the weddings.  We scored this at H&M of all places!  The dress is not a maternity dress, but it is roomy and comfortable for me.  It was inexpensive (~ $39) and I will be able to wear it again after I have the baby!  I can see myself dress it down to wear it to work, or dress it up for a wedding.  I’m probably going to wear this to the wedding next Saturday.  I’m thinking red jewelry and red nail colors…  I don’t own any red shoes though… hmmm…

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This was found at Caché.  I *HEART* that store.  Always had.  It is, again, not a maternity dress.  I can see myself in this for many summers to come.  It was 50% off, plus additional 10% because one of the strap is defective (it can be easily sewn back in place).  I’m thinking of wearing that to the rehearsal dinner for the August Wedding.

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This is another great find from H&M (~ $55).  It is super comfy and flow-y.  As you can see, plenty of room for me to grow into even though it is not a maternity dress, and wearing this to the August wedding is definitely not a problem.  I’m thinking of wearing my black pearls set of jewelry that I wore for my reception.

And while we are at fashion, I might as well show you this shawl I made as a wedding present for my cousin:

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Pattern – Icarus Shawl by Miriam L. Felton (Ravelry Link Here)
Yarn Used – 2.5 skeins of A Touch of Twist Aussie in Ebony
Needles – Harmony size 4
Gauge – N/A
Knit – February 21, 2009 to May 20, 2009

I have to say, I was bored while knitting this, hence it took me so long.  Plus for awhile I was low in energy so I didn’t get to knit it either.  This, however, could be a really great beginner shawl – a little bit of lace edging that’s just enough to start learning lace, but simple stockinette and yarn overs makes up the majority of the shawl.  Of course, if you just want a easy shawl pattern that you can take along to SnB or watch TV with, this could be good for you as well.

Well, what better way to end this fashion show with a fashion no-no?  This is a dress I tried on to show that some retro styles should just NOT be allowed to come back, EVER:

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Feb 23

New Hampshire

What an interesting trip!  We arrived at Waterville Valley for the Regional Ski races Friday night late, so we didn’t do anything fun.  But Saturday and Sunday was full of knitting and such for me, while David is with the ski teams.

I started my Saturday late, 5 hours later than David.  I was hungry and asked for some advice on where to go, and I was pointed to the Coffee Emporium.  I ordered a Caramel Hot Chocolate and Stuffed Bagel with Jalapeno Cheese and Mushroom.

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Doesn’t that look good!?  The place was PACKED!  For good reason of course!

After my very full filling breakfast, I set out to find Patternworks.  I’ve always wanted to visit the place, but being in the middle of New Hampshire, it is hard to take a trip.  It turns out it is only about 45 minutes away from where we were.

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And that’s just some view of the store.  The store is huge!  and packed!  It’s got different rooms full of yarn!  Although I think it may still be smaller than WEBS.  It’s hard to judge since the layout is so different.  I chatted with the nice ladies there and bought some buttons and a tool I’ve been wanting for awhile.

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Those buttons and the ear wires are on sale for almost nothing!  It was a great find.

I’ve got back to where we were staying about the same time David got back.  We were hungry and took a walk to the town square (a little gathering place by the resort area) and went to a little mexican food take out place for dinner.

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Don’t they look good?  I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture before I bite into the giant burrito I got.  David’s chili was a bit more tomato-y than we both liked, which was a let down, but the rest was absolutely delicious and inexpensive!  I was surprised at the prices for being a ski resort place.

After dinner, we decided to walk around at all the shops and wait for the fireworks.  While we were browsing through the the country store, we came upon this:

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Yup.  It says Bitch.  And I have no idea why.  It is fun to look at though.

The fireworks was pretty but hard to capture.  We tried.

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We passed out rather quickly after we got back to our room, despite the fact that I only woke up less than 12 hours ago, but apparently, I was tired.

Sunday was a lot less eventual.  I got up around 8, and was planning on going to Inspired 2 Knit & Tea, but due to the fat flakes of snow coming down from the sky rather rapidly, I decided to stay local.  I went back to Coffee Emporium and ordered the same breakfast, but enjoyed a cup of Chinese Flower Green Tea this time, and knitted.

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That is Icarus in progress.  So far, it is a super fast knit and I’m really enjoying it.  I have since made more progress though, since after I left Coffee Emporium, I went and sat in the lounge of the place we were staying and watched NCIS marathon and knitted some more.

David got out at a reasonable time, and on the way home, we stopped at Inspired 2 Knit and Tea right before it closed.  The owner was super nice and knowledgable on recent trends.  Even though I have said that I’m on a yarn diet, I went away with some local spun and tea:

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That’s three skeins (750 yards total) of 100% Shetland Wool by McGinnis Brook Farm, from the sheep Lola.  I already have a plan for it.  I think it will become one fo those pretty doily blankets.  The tea is Notting Hall Peaches Supreme.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I may break it out tonight.

The drive on the way home, however, was quite interesting.  The snow didn’t stop and it just kept on going.  Until we got to MA.  It became little snow, then turned into rain when it cross the CT border.  Needless to say, we were home safely.

So did you do something fun this weekend?

Aug 1

Catching Up

I guess it has been awhile.  Wedding preparations have been taking over most of my life, so I guess I will give you a list of what’s been happening around here:

  • I switched blog – as you can already tell.  I’m still trying to figure out how to make it pretty.  So bare with me on all the changes that’s going to happen around here.
  • We have two more “new” vehicles.  I gave my old car to David’s mom who doesn’t have any transportation, and bought a ’03 Passat GLS Wagon in Red with black interior and heat seats!  The other one is a Kawasaki touring bike.  David uses as his commuting bike and we ride to go places once in awhile.
  • We went to the Red Sox vs. Yankee Game last weekend.  Yankee killed the Red Sox, but we had a good time, even though it was completely way too hot to do ANYTHING.
  • David made me a raise bed outside the gate, and I replanted all the cantaloupes and only one died, and the rest are thriving!  And my herbs are going crazy!!!  I cut a bunch and gave it to Archiknist and another bunch to another friend at work.
  • I finished Woodland Shawl, but haven’t block it yet.  Maybe this weekend.
  • I started a Schaefer sample and am hoping that I can finish it this weekend.  We’ll see.
  • David is away for his Bachelor Party – White Water Rafting in Maine.  Yes, the man has weird taste for his party, but hey, at least he is having fun.
  • David’s mom and step mom and my female families are in town for my shower.  So excited to see everyone!
  • I had my second fitting for the gown, and this time, I took pictures!  However, can’t post it here since you never know when that sneaky groom is going to read this.  Maybe I will password protect it on my next post.
  • Wedding invitations were done and mailed last week.  I know quite a few family members and friends had gotten them, which is a good sign, since I mailed the whole box of invitation up to the Wellesley Island Post Office so they can hand cancel the stamps.  As far as I know, they were perfect as perfect can be in my standard. :)
  • When we went to the Sox game, we took a detour to WEBS, and WEBS Bead Store.  It just happened it was the Northampton Side Walk sale and I bought a bunch of Classic Elite Inca Print for $2/skein!  Seriously!
  • I joined Ravelympics, which is knitting one or multiple items that is challenging for me during the Olympics.  I chose a lace shawl in 17 days.  Am I nuts?  Maybe.
  • Engagement pictures are coming in the mail.  Suppose to be getting them tomorrow :) .  Can’t wait.

That’s all I can think of right now.  My camera battery had died and I can’t find the charger.  I have been using a back up camera, which is okay, but not as good as my regular one.  I better get going to find myself a charger on ebay or something before I’m completely pissed at myself for losing it.

Enjoy your weekend!

Jun 15

A Weekend Of Fun

What did you do this weekend?

Saturday morning, our new lawn guy came, and he did an AMAZING job cleaning up the yard.

Even the dogs didn’t know what to do with it!

I went to my weekly farmer’s market with Archiknist and we came back to the house waiting for a few others to show so we can go try on my wedding gown. Now, I was too excited to see my gown and didn’t take ANY pictures!!!!! But no fear, my readers, I’m going back on Thursday to do my first fitting so I will make sure I take a picture then.

While I was there, I was tying out different veils. The one I liked was $195!!!! WTF??? So I looked online and found this – yup, only $63!! I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting that. At first I didn’t want to have a veil, but I saw a very similar one on a magazine and just loved it.

We came back to my house for some BBQ and crafting. It was too bad that the weather wasn’t so great so we couldn’t be out to enjoy my new swing:

We are going to use it for our “altar” area. We will take out the awning part, and the swing, and I’ll decorate it with some fabric and ask my florist to get some hanging plants for the four corners. I really like the look of this when I first saw it during my research, so I’ll do something similar, minus the crazy flower on the top.

Today I went with Beth and Ola to Lyman’s Orchard for some strawberry picking. It was a lot of fun looking for those ripen red, juicy berries.

Afterwards we went to the Apple Barrel to see what’s in season and what they got. There are lots of canning stuff for sale (mmm… jam…) and pies. But I came home with these:

YUM. Can’t wait for mid-July for the other berries to be ready.

On other news, I worked on my invitations, and here is what I got:

Yeah, the outer pockets are finally done! I can finally move on into the inside of the invitations. Speaking of that, I got these in the mail:

I’m going to use these vintage postcards as the response card. I think it would make a cool scrapbook when it is all over. I just hope everyone will actually return the response card!

Oh, and it’s 97 days till the big day! :)

As far as gardening, I’ve been kinda on hold since I couldn’t move all the blocks needed to do the raise garden and David is away for work, all the seedlings have been just staying in their starter container and waiting. Hopefully it’s not too late. So without further ado, here are some pictures of the herbs:

See how awesome those herbs look? And I use some for dinner tonight:

I had some Greek pasta salad at Ola’s house not too long ago, so I decided to try my hands in it with some of my herbs.

jennsquared’s Greek Pasta Salad

1 box of pasta of any kind
1 small can of chopped olives
1 and half cup of corn (I grilled some corn last night so I used that)
1 shallots, finely chopped
1 scallion, finely sliced
some parsley, finely chopped
some thyme, finely chopped
1 tsp dry basil (use fresh ones if you have any)
some garlic pepper seasoning
salt
olive oil
basil pesto grapeseed oil (just use more olive oil)
apple cider vinegar (use whatever light vinegar you have on hand)
crumbled feta cheese

1. Boil a pot of water and cook the pasta until al dente
2. While the pasta is cooking, chopped up all the herbs
3. When pasta is ready, drain well and let it cool a little bit before mixing everything together
4. Serve slightly warm

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. And feel free to leave a comment on your variation!

May 31

All the Good Stuff

Look at what I won from Knittymuggins????

I entered her 200 posts contest and I won! And I NEVER win anything from blog contests so this was very very cool! :) She sent me one skein of Farmhouse Yarn Silk Blend in Turkey Red, lots of Dove chocolates and two Soak! :) Thank you so much!

So I wanted to amend the meme I did few days ago. If I have a billion dollars, the FIRST THING I would so is to hire myself a chauffeur!!!! How could I forget!? That will give me more time to knit while going to places!!!! :)

And here are a couple of things I forgot to mentioned from our trip -

We stopped at Grandma Nancy’s on the way to the 1000 Islands, and also on the way home, since she is literally on the way. And on our way home, I got some grandma’s famous molasses cookies and she also gave us a little birdhouse wind chime to take home. What is so very special about this is grandma painted it herself!

Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t paint for anything and it’s so awesome to have a piece of art hanging outside our house.

Another thing I forgot to post about is a good find I got from the antique store where I got my yarn winder.

I don’t know exactly what it’s called, but it holds the cone steady and let it spin while I knit from it! The yarn came with the gadget feels like cotton to me, but I don’t really know for sure. I know that it will be perfect when I knit with my zephyr cones.

And I suppose I should really post some knitting progress:

The Woodland shawl is coming along, although not as fast as I would have liked. I am itching for this one to be done so I can start something else, with fat needles and fat yarn that can be finished in a few days! We’ll see when that can happen!

With that said, I should really get some knitting in before the day ends. I got quite a few things done in the garden and also I went to the farmer’s market, but that means no knitting has been done!!!! Not good! Me Go, NOW!

May 21

Happy Birthdays!!

This week is birthday week for Sunflowerfairy and Archiknist. We had cakes for both of them. One of the cakes is an ice cream cake from Ashley’s and one is vanilla cake with chocolate icing from Julia’s. YUM. And as one of the birthday giveaways, Sunflowerfairy had a little drawing at SnB for her “Shut p and Knit” mug and I won! :)

And I started another shawl to keep p with 2klace as I am pretty behind on this whole knit lace 51% of the time thing.

This is beginning of the Woodland Shawl. I actually had quite a few repeats done earlier, but after consult with Archiknist, we both decided that the 89 stitches the pattern called for is too small for a shawl, it was more like a scarf. So I frogged it tonight and re-cast on for extra 4 repeats for total of 137 stitches. we’ll see how this one goes. I’m using Schaefer Andrea again for this project as I have quite a few left overs and I really enjoy with the yarn. Plus the color is just gorgeous!

So David and I are going up to 1000 Islands this weekend to take care some wedding stuff, plus to see a house for potential vacation home. What are you doing for memorial long weekend???

May 18

Kiri

Without further ado, as promised -

Pattern – Kiri by Polly Outhwaite
Yarn Used – 663.5 yards of Schaefer Andrea in Julia Child
Needles – Harmony size 4
Gauge – N/A
Knit – April 08, 08 to May 11, 2008
Modification – None.

This pattern was very easy to knit. It starts from the top center and works its way out and down. It is a fairly quick knit compare to some other shawls or stole I made before. It can get kind of boring towards the end though with lots of stitches.

The yarn is divine! It is easy to work with and absolutely gorgeous! It’s good that I have three more skeins and I can’t wait to work with them.

Isn’t it pretty? Now, onto the next project!

Apr 19

Some Progress

So I suppose I should update the knitting first -

Let me present you… The Kiri blob! I figure I should keep going on the lace thing so I can keep up with 2klace! It’s getting longer and longer to complete each row, but I suppose that’s the trade back with an easy start right?

Next up, some knitting books!

I pre-ordered Shear Spirit awhile ago and it finally came on the day of the release. Gale and Joan did an awesome job with this book and I can’t wait to see Gale to congratulate her! And in order to get the free shipping, I ordered the 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I already flipped through this one before, but I really liked it so I couldn’t live without it. The third book is Knitting from the British Islands by Alice Starmore and Anne Matheson. I swapped this book with three pair of sock yarn from Ravelry. It’s an older book so it has some very interesting garment (if you can even call it that).

So now I’m done updating the knitting related topics, on to FOOD! :) I saw this recipe on Barefoot Contessa so I decided to try it:

I got the fresh noodles from the farmer’s market. I also got a pint of chocolate milk, a parsley plant, and some bread. All I can say is YUM.

I started reading a new blog – Vanilla Garlic. I know, it’s not knitting related. But who can say no to food? I found him in my search of cupcakes, and this one captured me. The only thing I needed was an orange to make it!!!! Tada!

I haven’t try it yet, but I should go now to try it… I’ll let you know in the next post!

Apr 9

Rusted Root and Some More

First, I want to say “THANK YOU” to all who commented on my MoonDance. I really enjoy knitting it. And the more I look at it, the prettier it gets! And if you are on Ravelry, and you like my MoonDance, would you please “heart” it?

The reason I was asking is because recently, I got this message in my Ravelry message box:

Request to use your photo: DSC01862
We’d like to feature your photo on the page for Pink Frosting by Elissa Sugishita

So if you are on Ravelry, and you search for Pink Frosting, MY Pink Frosting is the picture you are looking at!!!!!!! And currently there is no other picture listed for MoonDance besides the designer’s original picture! So if you like it, “heart” it!!!

Now, without further ado:

Pattern – Rusted Root by Sarah and Rachel from Zephyr Style
Yarn Called For – 3 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Sedona Red
Yarn Used – 4.5 balls of Kona Bay Cotton n Red
Needles – KnitPicks Harmony size 6 for body and size 4 for edging
Gauge – 5 sts per inch
Knit – March 31, 2008 to April 7, 2008
Modifications – I added increases towards the bottom of the tee to shape it even further.

This is a super fast knit, although the lace part is a little confusing because there is no chart, and it’s not a even chart even when I made one. Though that should not discourage you to try to knit this tee. Another thing I would do different is to use a different cast on (I saw on Ravelry a lot of people did tubular cast on) so I don’t have to pick up the edges later to finish it, although it really isn’t hard. I wish there was more puff on the sleeves as you can tell it really isn’t obvious.

Obviously I have to start something, and I decided to do another lace:

That’s Kiri in Schaefer Andrea. So far, the yarn is to dye for! And the construction of the Kiri is really interesting. I’m thinking of doing a tutorial in case of people not understanding what the instruction meant.

So I joined 2klace in Ravelry awhile ago. It means that 50% of my work for 2008 has to be lace. And so far, Here is the list:

Irish Hiking Scarf
Honeycomb Socks
Cocoa Swap Piggy
Red Sox Socks
Square #1
Jacobean Socks
Undulating Waves Scarf Swatches (lace)
Wedding MoonDance (lace)
Rusted Root (lace)
Kiri – WIP (lace)
SotS WIP (lace)
Aspen Top Down Sweater

There are total of 12 items so far, and only 5 are lace and two are WIP!!!!! So I better go catch up! And you there, you should go heart my MoonDance ;)

Dec 16

Ice Storm and Knitting

Can I be ANYMORE lazy today?

The answer is NO.

I mean, I am still in my PJ!!!

But, I passed my Continue Ed test for my insurance license, I FINALLY blocked Diamond Spires Shawl, and I whipped up Baby Cable Rib Neckwarmer/Headband in under 2 hours! Take a look:

Pattern – Diamond Spires Shawl by Anne Davenport
Yarn Used – 2.5 skeins of Judith in Jane Addams
Needles – Denise size 6
Gauge – N/A
Knit – November 17, 2007 to November 29, 2007
Blocked – December 16, 2007
Modifications – None

This was pretty easy to memorize once I created a chart for the diamond pattern. I find reading charts are much easier for me than the written pattern.

Pattern – Baby Cable Rib Neckwarmer/Headband by Kerry Moorhouse
Yarn Used – 1 skeins of GGH Aspen in #19
Needles – Harmony size 9
Hook – Boyd size I
Gauge – N/A
Knit – December 16, 2007
Modifications – I used crochet cast off instead of a regular cast off

I will be getting some buttons tomorrow during lunch so this is ready to be shipped.

And I started Aspen Top Down Sweater from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery. I am using the yarn called for, and I think this is the first time I used the yarn the patterns calls for for a sweater! I only have the first three rows done, but it is quite interesting as everything is done twisted!

Oh, and I should mention that I made a killer beef stew today – definitely a perfect meal for the weather we have here tonight. And my secret ingredient – Apple Cider. It is something I made up but it is so good! Maybe I’ll put up the recipe if anyone out there is interested.

And lastly, Patriots won :) Totally a perfect day today. Now without changing, I’ll be rolling back to bed. Night.