Monday, February 23, 2009

Birthday Fish & Vacation Shawls

I've been slow yet steady with the shawl knitting. I'm more than half way at this point! It's turning out lovely and I can really envision what it will look like with my cute black dress. I also cannot wait to block it. Blocking lace = knitter's high! The color is off in this picture-- truly it's a more fiery red!


I also started a knitted Angler Fish as part of Jorge's birthday present. I ordered this pattern from Etsy ages ago but never got around to knitting it for him. This pattern isn't a difficult one just lots of row-by-row instructions. It has tons of short-rows which, luckily, I taught myself to do recently. This is a quick and fun knit and I can't wait to give it to him!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

New Yarn, New Project and, yet again, another Bad Haircut

So the weekend before last, I had a Saturday appointment to get a haircut, my first since I was traumatized back in November 2008. By some ridiculous circumstances, I ended up missing the appointment and was totally bummed (this should have been a sign!).

I rescheduled for the next Wednesday (last week) and took a few hours off from work. When I arrived my stylist was giddy over getting her new shears and texturizer-- the scissor guys was still there. I told her that I essentially wanted the same cut but was open to suggestions for a bit of change. She went totally scissor happy and chopped soooo much hair off my head, of already short hair, making me look like a demented little boy. I just don't get it. We discussed how different did NOT equal shorter. I'm gonna chalk it up to a one-time bout of crazy due to her new equipment, but if it happens again I'm outta there.

Good thing is: hair grows. And mine seems to grow fast. I'm really sick of walking out of the salon with tears streaming down my face though. This should not happen when you articulately describe what it is that you're looking for. Maybe I'll post a pick but no promises so you can all see my misery.

I was feeling so bad after my haircut appointment that I decided to got over to Windsor Button for a pick-me-up. I was in search of Malabrigo Silky Merino in teal. I couldn't find it out on the floor so I asked the sales lady. I do NOT usually do that there because they're pretty weird and not usually too customer service-oriented, but I was in a desperate place.

To my surprise the lady was kind and outgoing. She found more stock, and specifically the color that I was in search of. I purchased two beautiful hanks of this heavenly soft yarn. I plan on making a Reclamation Scarf , Stephanie Japel's newest invention, out of each-- one for me and one for my bff.
Though I have been working on the second sleeve of my CPH, I'm at a standstill with this project. I'm just really bored of knitting it. I wondered why so many people took an average of a year to complete this project and now I know why. Though it's got more interest than a straight up stockinette project, it's still very rhythmic and boring to knit. I need more instant gratification. I decided that I'd start a new project while I was in NYC this past weekend to awaken my mojo.

I cast on for Tuscany from No Sheep for You. I'm using my stash of Elann Endless Summer Luna in red which I bought ages ago for another project that I never got around to (and lost interest in). I've always thought that this was a pretty shawl but had no desire to knit a lace project of that magnitude or knit a shawl, for that matter. But then I had this vision of me in Old San Juan, wearing a black dress with a red lace wrap around my shoulders so I figured that maybe it was worth a try. We leave for PR March 12th...less than a month away. I'm not sure if this is going to be possible to finish in time but I'm going to give it a shot.

I work on it on the bus home yesterday afternoon until it got too dark and I got a massive headache. It seems to be working up fast. I guess we'll see.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Color of the Month-- Nuclear Red

So by the end of January my fun Burgundy Wine streaks were on their way out. So I decided to help them out a bit by washing my hair in hot water and a really detergenty shampoo to strip most of the color out. Then I chose a red!


I went for Nuclear Red Special Effects. My streaks are super bright red now and the rest of my head has a nice reddish glow to it. I quite like it. Reminds me of something that I did to my hair ages ago. How do you like it? Better than the Burgundy Wine?