Thursday, July 30, 2009

Best. Wedding gift. Ever.*

(*in my opinion.)

Summer means weddings. And to an amateur knitter this means the potential for panic. As it were, dear friends of the Fella got hitched about a month ago. C and S are fun and special people to the Fella, and the standard kitchenwares seemed to not be special enough to celebrate the occasion. With no fear, I undertook the challenge to finish an afghan in about five weeks.
I referred to one of my favorite (and ridiculously-titled) books, "The Big Book of Quick-Knit Afghans," and chose an equally-silly titled pattern, "Delightful." Fortunately, the result was not nearly as silly, and in fact, I'm quite pleased with it. The picture leaves a little to be desired and the fan-like or paisley-like pattern is faint. Also, it probably needs a napping cat and a pipe resting on it.

And if that wasn't good enough, the Fella brewed a special Nuptial Lager for the happy couple.
See? Best wedding gift ever.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

My next most favorite WIP

As you may or may not know, I get really excited about new projects. Studying a pattern, picking the yarn, BUYING the yarn, (watching the yarn gather dust in my closet). Nonetheless, I have been stuck on the Gigi since it came out last summer.

But finally, I'm through with gifts for awhile and want to focus on moi again with my knitting. So now I just have to choose on a color! I briefly toyed with the idea of knitting it bare and dip dyeing it after it's finished, kind of like this one from Gap, only not in neon. However, I fear two things. 1. not getting a nice gradation in the dyeing, although the banding of the sweater would provide a nice border. 2. getting the whole think knit and seamed and beautiful, and then mucking it up in some unforeseen way at the last second.Below are the current front runners, all KnitPicks Stroll Kettle-Dyed Sock Yarn. Since it's sock yarn (and KnitPicks) it is relatively inexpensive. I think the kettle-dying makes it look more interesting and more expensive. It looks the way I wish my hand-dyed would look.
BordeauxWineGrasshopper
Gold

Assuming it will be done for fall... do one of these colors say "fall"? Unsure.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Summer hiatus is over, and a toothbrush

After my long and certainly woe-inducing absence, I once again return to share my tales of knitting, science and everything else. To catch you up:

1. The countdown to candidacy has officially begun (date is set!) and therefore the requisite freaking out will commence shortly.

2. Science has had some recent ups and downs, most recently an up. Therefore, all is well at work.3. I love my new toothbrush. It has a little bend backwards, which makes all of your teeth so easy to clean. I like how simple the design is, too. It is from Preserve, which recycles #5 plastics and turns them into pretty things.

Apparently most community recycling programs can't handle these dense #5 plastics, so they end up in landfills. Now, I'm not trying to get on a hippie-high-horse, but this seems pretty cool to me. Plus they also recycle Brita filters.
I want these next. 100% recycled materials, dishwasher safe, and if I totally muck them up, re-recyclable, natch.