KAL and other things...

So, at random on plurk, my friend KnitChick and I were chattering away about True Blood Season 3 - and needless to say we're both super psyched and pretty much impatiently waiting for it to just start already! And of course, being as we're both obsessive knitters, the topic gradually turned to just that - and then moved on (quite rationally I'd say) to the idea of having a Knit-a-long (KAL) for Season 3.

Okay, so I know that this idea is not a new one, and that people have been having KAL's forever, and that there's been one for each season of the show (which I hadn't had the fortune to jump in on), but I can't seem to locate one for this season so we thought we'd try and get the ball rolling.

The tough part was finding an appropriate pattern (as the other appropriate patterns for such a tv show had already been used in previous KAL's - or were *gasp* Twilight related), so I plugged the word "vampire" into the little pattern search bar on Ravelry and went rifling through - and managed to discover this little gem : Calais Shawl . It's beautiful, the lace pattern isn't overwhelmingly complicated and looks to be repetitive and thus easily memorized - and it looks great in red, black or just about any color you'd want to knit it in! And after a few moments of discussion with Miss Chickie, we decided that it was just perfect for what we were looking for (plus as an added bonus, it ties into the 10 shawls in 2010 KAL that we're participating in as well).

So here's the info for the KAL

WHAT: Calais Shawl by Judy Marples
WHEN:Sunday JUNE 13th (edited thanks to a kindly reader) :)
CAST ON: 9 pm SHARP
CAST OFF: 10 pm SHARP on the day of the Season's last episode (or at least, that's our goal :) )

And believe me when I say that we'd really, really love to get as many people in on this as possible, so feel free to join in. And yes, we want to see pics of your FO!

Speaking further of knitting, I've been knitting up a storm lately! So much so that I actually need to take a break tonight so I can let my forearms rest. I don't know why, but they're killing me today! But...I do have plenty of FO pics to show for the aches and pains!



First up, we finally have here a complete, FO picture of the Bubbles Wrap I mentioned eons ago. The yarn again, is Acero by Brooks Farm yarns , and let me tell you it is some of the prettiest yarn I've worked with. Slips right through your fingers and is a dream to knit with. The model would be the woman that I actually wound up gifting it to - my Aunt Sharon - and let me just tell you she loves it. She wears it with everything and says that it even looks good with everything. It even looks nice with that bright, floral dress she's wearing! I'm just glad it went to someone who will actually get use out of it. Although, I fear I've turned her into a handknits addict. She's already looking through the magazines I have at patterns and plotting out when to take me yarn shopping her next hand knit piece. And my mom's super jealous because I've never knit her a stole like that (because I thought she wouldn't wear it)...so now I absolutely have to knit her a sweater. Hehehe. Soon I'll have projects coming out of my ears.



Up next is my Citron. I know this is meant to be a winter type shawlette, but around here, it still gets cooler at night occasionally so I thought it'd be nice to wear out in the evening - and the color is bright enough that it'll still be noticed. This I knit up in Mmmmmalabrigo lace. It was my first time ever working with this yarn, but I have to admit that I now see what all the hullaballoo is about. This is hands down the softest, skwooshiest, prettiest lace yarn I've had the pleasure of petting,and it almost seemed like a waste to remove it from it's oh so squeezable skein to wind it into a ball. The color I chose, was Tiger Lily. I'm a pink person by nature - and as such I tend to gravitate towards just that pink. Sooo...with this I took myself out of my color comfort zone and I have to say that I really, really love the result. I think I'll have to do this sorta thing more often!





The above is some baby stuff I knit up for my cousin's baby shower. They were a last minute, quickie gift, but still came out beautiful. I used yarn from my stash for this - as I was able to locate about 9 skeins of Madrid (6 of the multi and 3 solid pale pink). The hat, sweater and booties took me a combined four days to knit, and let me just say that they were a HUGE success. The patterns (in no particular order) are: Mary Jane Booties by Lucie Sinkler, Ruffled Baby Hat by MaryAnn Hwee, and Confection Baby Shrug by Tonya Wagner. I matched them with this cute little ruffled denim dress bought at Wal Mart and the result was adorable. I knit a blanket buddy for her too, but I can't seem to locate the pictures!

Now on the ruffled hat - I know my "flower" doesn't even look remotely like the ones in the pattern - and that's because I can't crochet for crap. So, if you like it, all I did was knit about 3 1/2" of a 3 stitch I-cord and then sewed it into a spiral and then proceeded to sew some beads into the center for sparkle. My cousin loved the result. So easy and yet so little work. <3

I have a few more FO's to post pictures of, but I think those will have to wait for another post as I'm kind of drifting off to sleep here...and I still need to get my butt in gear to do some cooking for tomorrow's family BBQ. But I absolutely have to leave you with this:



DW! Freshly showered, scrubbed, smelling oh so nummy and looking oh so sexilicious! Is it any wonder I love this woman? She's HAWT!