Single Skeins and Stuff

Before I went on vacation I knit a handful of single skein projects for Stash & Burn's annual Single Skein September. It's kind of a KAL but mostly just a chance to look at all the single skeins in stash and use them up in some type of manner. I like quick and easy projects so I dug out a single skein of Manos del Uruguay Clasica in color X, also known as topaz. This is Elizabethtown from the MdU booklet Adirondack Accessories. I knit mine up in a little over an evening on size 10 needles. It's knit from the bottom up with cable decreases and then a ribbed split neck to fold over a jacket collar. There's also a buttonhole to fasten the split neck securely but I don't use mine.

As for the other stuff, last week was my four year wedding anniversary and we had a tasty tasty dinner at ToulousePetit in Lower Queen Anne.

We also took the Little One to her first fair where she enjoyed her first corn dog with lots and lots of yellow mustard, giggled at the baby chicks, and cried when a rooster crowed right in front of her.

My best friend is now in the Ukraine starting her stint in the PeaceCorps. Check out her blog and make a donation to help finance her Eastern European experience. Really, she doesn't even know if she'll have hot running water in her abode and the PeaceCorps living stipend is, shall we say, frugal.

Milkweed

My newest little piece of loveliness - the Milkweed Shawl by Laura Chau.
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn in Bronzed Sienna
Needle: US #4 Addi Turbo Lace
Mods: None! I knit it just as written and blocked the heck out of it.

Vacation

This is what vacation looks like! Bright, I know. I took my camera along but failed to take any pictures whatsoever. There was a lot of relaxation, knitting on the back patio, basking in the lovely weather, yarn buying (eep), and general awesomeness. We made our way down to San Francisco to have lunch with Nicole from Stash & Burn and to buy yarn at Imagiknit. Yes. A whole side trip just to buy yarn. Yeah, like you haven't done it before! I came away with a bag FULL of Madelinetosh loveliness and on top of that we dyed yarn with kool-aid a couple of days later. We used Lamb's Pride Superwash Sport and the pic is what I came away with - a skein of bright blue (8 or 10 packets of blue raspberry, presoaked in 6 packets of green tea) and a skein of shockingly bright orange (4 packets of orange and 4 packets of pink lemonade postsoaked in black tea). They look like goldfish mittens to me! If you haven't dyed yarn before I think this is a great way to start, plus your yarn will smell slightly fruity for a while. Other than the SF expedition and yarn dyeing not much happened except for hilarity with my sister and my BFF.

Quick

I leave for California tomorrow to visit for a whole week. It's just me and the Little One hanging out with my very good friend and my family. I've been knitting a whole lot of little projects for Stash & Burn's Single Skein September. It feels good to do some small, fast, satisfying, and scrappy little projects. Of course, I'm knitting them faster than I'm taking pictures so I won't have anything to share for at least a week. I'm eager to see exactly how much single skein knitting I can get done this month since I think I managed only two or three last year.

See you in a week!