Tuesday, April 7, 2009

MMmmm, new projects...

Hello, friends and knitters!

Today I am continuing my apartment cleaning for when Bryan gets here on Thursday. I can't wait to see him! Since we met we've been together every single day for the past year and a half, and now I haven't seen him in over three weeks. Seems like a while! They're paying for him to fly home for the Easter holiday, so he gets to be here from Thursday until Monday. It's going to be so nice.

Well I started another beautiful blouse out of that French Girl Knits book and I thought I would show you my progress so far. The funny thing is that it's going to be a tank top for my Mom, .....but it looks so tiny on the needles!! In the design picture that I posted you can see it will stretch out quite a bit and lay flat after I block it (that's getting it wet for the first time, shaping it and pinning it out, and letting it dry into that shape when you're all done knitting something, for those of you who don't knit). I'm making it exactly as the directions say, so I'll assume it's right. :) Here's what I've got so far, and the finished design picture from the book:

I think it's going to knit up pretty fast. I've only been working on it for a week and a half so far. The yarn is awesome too! Blue Sky Alpacas: Alpaca and Silk. Ssooooofft! I must say that in the past month something has snuck up on me that I never thought would happen.... I think I've become a yarn snob! Not entirely, I have to say. I'll still use acrylic yarn for baby blankets or special funky-looking scarves or what-not. ....But the allure of animal and plant fiber, once you've been spoiled with it a few times in a row... It's intoxicating. lol :) I've also begun to LOVE buying yarn online. Seeing something you absolutely love and then having it show up on your doorstep in a little box like a present from The Yarn Fairy is an awesome experience, I must say! Ravelry is truly an awesome website. I like to check out reviews of yarn so I can find out the quality before I buy it. Of course I also love yarn shops. Who doesn't??!! But somehow random balls of yarn get stuck to me as I make my way through, and the only way I can get them off is to dump them at the register and take out my debit card... Online shopping is a bit safer for me at the moment. :)

Some day when I learn how to spin and make my own yarn, I am definitely going to collect my cat's hair after brushings and use it to make yarn! She's a Ragdoll cat - really huge, big blue eyes, and fluffy bunny-soft fur. I've heard of other people using Ragdoll cat hair and they say it feels very similar to cashmere. Here's some recent pics I took the other day of my crazy cat Mia:




She's a sweetie. Alright, well that's all for now. I gotta get ready to go to my teaching studio. I can't believe I only have three more weeks left to teach!! :( I'm going to miss all of my students, and Judy, the owner of the piano store that I teach out of, SO much. I'm also going to miss the mountains and the New Mexico landscape, and the laid-back friendliness of the people here! You just can't beat the laid-back mentality of the West, or the hospitality of the South. (Yes, I know we're not technically South here. Southwest is different, but still - New Mexico people are awesome.) Strangers and people in general are way nicer here than in the Midwest. You can strike up a conversation or a smile with just about anyone here, and you can take your time at the grocery checkout. Ah well, on to new adventures in May. :) Should be fun! I'm looking forward to seeing green grass, lots of lush vegetation, farmland, and water when I get to Missouri. I want to ride that bike trail! And I'm excited to meet Bryan's friendly and eccentric co-workers. :)

Alright, talk to you later!
~Trudy~

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