wet but fun saturday

saturday was a very busy day. we will start with the top story.

my super-awesome cousin gave birth to her first child saturday morning. His name is Collin Thomas, and you can see the photos on his very own website (with commentary by his father, a man of eccentric humour.) which i am sure will have frequent updates of cuteness.

the family expansion was happening in cleveland, so here in the mid-atlantic, we had a pretty typical weekend on our hands.

rW and i took a trip out to Mt. Airy, Maryland to pick apples and a pumpkin. it was fun, and we took a bunch of pictures. i even did some knitting on a mitten in the car.

the only hitch in the day was some inclement weather. we got pretty wet, but it was worth it. the pumpkin we found is as perfect as any pumpkin i have ever had. it has one slightly flat side, but someone clearly picked it up off its side and set it upright before it finished ripening and turning orange because it doesn't have too much of a deformed side.

i sort of also wanted to take home one of the fancy bright orange pumpkins that were already picked, but i am happy with our guy. rW will have to name him because i am bad at that sort of thing.

here is an album of our countryside activities....

Pumpkin' and Apple Pickin'

later saturday evening i went to a cocktail party at my friend Jen's apartment. i met her new man (well, new so to speak, they have been friends for a long time, but they started dating this year.) and caught up with a few old friends.

all in all, fun and busy.

road knit

i have been playing catch-up all week. catch up on work, the store, time with friends, reading, and so on. now it is time to catch up on the blog. as promised, here is the knitting i did while i was on the road. i actually got a lot done.

technically this one is not a Road Knit, per se. i finished it while i was working at the store about 8 hours before i departed on the road trip back to Ohio. but i thought i would feature it here since it was part of the whole trip preparation experience. the details....

Foliage Seed Stitch Scarf
"designed" by kittything
pattern: seed stitch worked over 21 stitches

knit in Berroco Foliage (3 balls #5963 "Lavender Twist" 53% new wool, 47% acrylic) purchased at Knit + Stitch = Bliss on a 24" size 10 Addi Turbo circular needle.

started: july 23, 2007
finished: august 2, 2007

this is a really pretty scarf, and the seed stitch is a great way to show off this particular yarn (it is a think and thin) but i think i am done with seed stitching for awhile. over 250 yards of it gets to be a little much. i talked a lot about this yarn and project before, so it will suffice to say that i am happy with it, and i hope the new owner will like it come holiday time.

next up we have another holiday gift. i am making two things for this person, and this is one of them.

Reverse-Bloom Flower Washcloth
designed by Cindy Taylor
published in Weekend Knitting

knit in Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille (1 skein #9008 medium blue, 100% cotton) purchased at Knit + Stitch = Bliss on a set of 6" size 5 Crystal Palace Bamboo double point needles.

started: august 3, 2007
finished august 6, 2007

this is a neat little project that has a very interesting construction technique. you start by making all of the petals then join them to knit toward the center of the cloth in the round. very unusual. the instructions tell you to use at least an 8" double point needle set (or a 16" circular, switching to Dpns)

listen to them! i managed to knit mine on 6" double points, but it was a bear for about 50% of the center. you have 108 stitches to join in the first three rounds and it doesn't really get easy again until you are nearly to the last three rounds. as i said, i manged, but it took me a lot longer to knit this than it would have if i had the right tools.

now i know the question on everyone's mind... does the chenille worm? for me, no. this one is knit at the gauge stated on the label, and i had no trouble with it. now, it has only been washed once for blocking purposes, so i have no idea how this will hold up in the long run. i personally think that cotton chenilles worm much less than rayon or rayons blends (like Touch Me.)

the last thing i did in the car was major sock progress on the 2nd Men's Calmer Sock. the lines indicate my progress on this old project. i had the cuff started on the 2nd sock before i got angry with the intended recipient and put them down. on monday i made it to the point where the heel flap is worked, and tuesday at work i finished the heel flap and knitting the gusset.

next time--finished socks and a work update!