Sleepy

There's the kind of sleepy you get from lack of sleep. From too much sleep. From too much pot. From too much sun. From too much cough syrup. The worst kind of sleepiness though, is the kind induced from sheer boredom. So ruthless and savage this boredom is. And I'll leave out the details as to how one can be busy yet bored at the same time. It's too depressing. Thank god it's Friday, I say. THANK GOD.

Well, only a couple of more days left until Summer, so I think it's safe to say that this year, Spring never came. I've been daydreaming what life would be like in the Southwest, like Arizona or New Mexico or Southern California. Who cares about foliage in the fall or powder in winter when you're wearing a coat and scarf until mid-June?? All overrated. Enough of the hibernation already and let's get on with it.

I would never ever get tired of the sun, even though a few friends in San Diego complain that all the "nice weather" "day after cloudless day" gets kind of "boring" after awhile. Oooo idiots.

So I post these pictures in memory of the Spring That Never Came.

Tomorrow we make an attempt at summer-time fun with a trip to the ocean. If it's warm enough, there will be no knitting. Has anyone ever knitted while sunning at the beach? I don't imagine the Coral Tank will be very nice covered in sand, sweat and sunscreen. I am so desperate for good summer weather that I would choose sunning over knitting right now.

I will now make lemon squares.

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Filed Under: Life

This is crap

After a week of glorious 90 degree weather, all humid and sticky like it should be, it's all gone, all gone. 50 degrees right now. Grrrrrrrrrr. The positive thing to come out of this bullsheet weather is that I've whipped out AJ yet again. And speaking of AJ I've been commissioned by a friend to make one for her. Hooray!

Nothing much going on the knitting front. I haven't had much time. This weekend we're going to a friend's house on the Cape, and since it's supposed to be freezing still by then, perhaps I can get some knitting in.

Blah blah nothing interesting to say blah blah blah.

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Filed Under: Life

Summer colors

Many thanks for all the positive comments left about Dianne!  Maybe I should give it to one of you so she can be appreciated more. It's true we're our own worst critics, especially if we have it stuck in our minds that it's going to turn out a certain way.  I do prefer my tops to be more fitted, the smaller the better, not because there's anything I'd like to show off, but because I don't have anything to show off. If it's loose, if there are one too many air pockets, then I'm walking around looking like a small leafless tree covered in burlap. I can't be wearing anything that looks more like it's wearing me than I'm wearing it, know what I mean?

Anyway I'm hoping my mom will appreciate it more, because that's where Dianne's going.

So here's what I got going on in the project queue:

"Allegra" aka Twist Top, from AV Spring 05
I started this several weeks ago and have only done several inches. The yarn I'm using is AV Allegra, which consists of cotton with a thread of shimmery nylon running through it. The elasticity the nylon gives is great.

I'm pretty sure the front of this pattern is going to make me wish I never chose to do it, even though it's the very reason why I am doing it.

"Coral Tank" aka Top with Lace Pattern, from Rebecca 29
I was in the mood for something lacy and started this on a whim. I'm using Cotton Fleece in terracotta, and hoping I will need only the 2 skeins I bought and no more. I'm making this one shorter.

This style I normally wouldn't bat two lashes at, but I've been seeing A LOT of open knits in all kinds of styles - shrugs, ballet wraps, cardigans, belts - and I guess the trend is growing on me. Plus lace is more interesting to knit. Plus it'll look cute with a visible and obvious camisole underneath. Unlike that model, I have nipples. But I'm squinting at the photo now and perhaps she's wearing a nude tube top...which is just as bad as showing your nipples because now you're inviting others to wonder if you are truly nippleless or if you're wearing a nude tube top and already way too much speculating has been done.

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Filed Under: Adrienne V | Rebecca 29 | Allegra

Bunny's gone wild

Today I'm wearing the Eyelet Cardi/Bunny Wrap, and my god! The hair, the dander! There's pink bunny fur everywhere, inclduding the back of my throat and underneath my eyelids, and wisps of it floating about my keyboard. This will deter me from using Classic Elite Lush again, even though it's such a nice and soft and delicious yarn.

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Filed Under: Rebecca 29 | Eyelet Cardi

Dianne's grand day out

Woo woo woo, cheesy pose

Pattern: #6 Shaped Top from Adrienne Vittadini Spring 2005
Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Dianne, cotton/microfiber blend
Gauge: 17 sts=4" on US6/4.25 mm needles

OK I don't know how I feel about this piece. The part that gave me the most trouble was of course the lace pattern around the bust, and thus had the potential to look the wonkiest. But I ignored the chart in the book, drew my own (BIG help), and despite a row boo-boo which I now can't even see, the lace turned out pretty decent. No complaints. The picot finishing around the neck and armhole edges look really nice too.

It's everything else that looks off, from the bottom front to the waist shaping to the entire back piece, knitted in plain ole stockinette stitch. It's too big. I used the yarn specified (for the first time ever, ironically), went down a needle size to get a smaller gauge, and still it came out all billowy. Not at all a fan of the drape. I could shave a whole 3 inches off from the width next time. If there is a next time. Most likely there won't be.

Taking a break next to a cemetery in the Boston Commons.

Despite this, Dianne's grand day out included getting passport photos taken, dinner at Parish Cafe downtown, and a movie afterwards (Star Wars Ep. III. Horrible).  I figured if I wore the top around for an entire day in public, Dianne would grow on me. That isn't even a choice really. I am determined that she WILL grow on me, I WILL like her. Because you can't just not wear what you've slaved hours and hours and hours on.

I did very much enjoy seaming Dianne. Left side, right side, done!

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Filed Under: Adrienne V | Completed Projects

Dianne is damp. Still.

Putting Dianne under 30 lbs of books was a bad idea. So was soaking her thoroughly in a waterbath. That was three days ago. A spin in the dryer seems to make Dianne even wetter. I was actually feeling good about the finished piece before the flattening trauma. Now not so much. All that manhandling has stretched her some more. She's too big, too flappy in the breeze and too limp and boohoo I am too sad. Maybe I will give her away.

I have a hangover.

By the way, I have been getting a lot of mileage out of AJ. In fact I wore AJ twice this week to the office, paired with even the same shirt underneath and the same pants. I was able to get away with such a fashion faux pas because since Tuesday I have seen and spoken to exactly no one (okay maybe I spoke to one person. Two at the most). How is this possible you ask? First, many people were away on conferences. I think. Second, I have this weird corner office in the way back of the floor that gets little traffic and even if there was traffic, the wall directly in front prevents anyone from seeing the office's occupant. If there is one. If a consultant sits in an office and no one knows she's there working, then has she gotten anything done?

And so I wore AJ over and over. AJ's been in the wash too, and although the color faded somewhat, she's holding up extremely well.

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Filed Under: Adrienne V | Life

Crushed

The good news is I finished Dianne the other night. The bad news is that in an attempt to uncurl the unruly bottom edges, I subjected Dianne to the force of Webster's Dictionary and two more text books, and any little bit of air has been entirely stamped out. Dianne and all her perky picot bobbles are flat, lifeless and crushed. I tried her on after retrieving her from underneath the pile of books, and hey I was wearing a box. Poor Dianne. Stupid me. I'm going to attempt to plump the stitches back up by soaking the piece and maybe give it a quick run-through in the dryer.

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Filed Under: Adrienne V

Verdict on Vegas

I could have spent 5 hours in Vegas and seen all I needed to see. Vegas is not the place to go to if you don't care two flips about gambling. Sounds obvious. I was hoping the people watching and the hotel hoping would be enough. And my god was it HOT. I know I was looking forward to the heat, but an entire week of triple-digit highs was hard to keep up with. If you didn't sweat outdoors, you did as soon as you entered an air-conditioned casino - but at that point it was more like you were condensing rapidly. You know it's out of control when the meteorologist calls a high of 99F a "cool down." 

"O" was amazing as expected. So was the brunch buffet at the new Wynn. They had congee, and Thai lychees.

Left: South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Right: Red sand at Zion.

The best part was the drive to the Grand Canyon and Zion. I didn't plan well for this trip at all, so we didn't have time for hikes, which would have been perfect because the temps there were a good 20 degrees cooler. We drove from Vegas to the South Rim, stopping at Hoover Dam along the way, quick detour along Route 66, and made it to the Canyon in time for sunset.

Zion in fact was a last minute "detour" - I hadn't realized how close it was. Instead of driving back to Vegas we drove East around the GC, through Navajo Country, through the Painted Desert, and into Utah. It was a beautiful drive. Had I planned this through we would have spent less time in Vegas and more time at the national parks.

Duck had a mild case of food poisoning from a suspect hamburger at a restaurant in the Canyon and puked on the side of the highway in Utah. First time that stretch of dry dry desert had seen any precipitation in weeks.

As far as knitting goes, I brought with me the other Adrienne V project, and did a few inches. Lots of cables and yo's to keep things interesting. Pics later. As far as Dianne goes, I will have her finished TODAY, fingers crossed.

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Filed Under: Life | Travel | Las Vegas