Poor little blog, I have been so neglectful.
I just haven't had enough knitting progress to show. I finished Deutsche Socke #1, and I have #2 started. I'm halfway through chart 4 (of 8 total) on my Flirty Ruffles. And I'm about halfway up the back of the Trellis cardigan. Hopefully next time I'll have some knitting photos!

Instead, I thought I'd show some pictures from last weekend at the Finnish Farmers Club. They have a dance every other weekend, and G and I have gone a couple times now. We've learned to waltz, polka, schottische, and fox trot. Not that we're exactly graceful at it yet.

Yeah, we've totally gone off the dork end...
Here's the Club:
Waltzing:G joined the band for a few numbers:This girl made me laugh, she was having so much fun:
Hope you all have a happy 4th of July weekend...weather forecast here is not looking so good. I guess if nothing else I'll get some knitting done!

First Day of Summer

And boy did we have a honey of a day:Mid 70's, no humidity, lovely breeze...ahh! We don't get many days like these!

Of course I had to work all day. At least my office has a window that I can open and look at the lake and somewhat enjoy the weather!

I've turned the heel on the first World Cup sock:
Germany won again and I'm pretty sure it's because I'm knitting these socks! I better make the project last until the end of the tournament (or until they lose) so I don't ruin the streak. Ha ha, can you tell I'm a total superstitous Red Sox fan??

I've got my kitty blankets all wrapped up and ready to ship, so I decided to swatch for a new project:
This is to make the Trellis cardigan for our neighbor's son. His 1st birthday is in September and our neighbors have become rather dear friends to us, so I thought it would be nice to knit them something. I should have it done in plenty of time. And miracle of miracles, I actually got gauge on the first try! I'm using Rowan All-Seasons Cotton from the stash in an off-white.

Happy summer and enjoy the long days while we have them! :)

Amazing Lace: X-treme Lace Knitting

So, I'm not really an "extreme sports" kind of gal. Yeah, there was the short-lived mountain biking phase in college, and I actually went white-water rafting last summer (see the photos here...our group is the top six photos, I'm the last person back on the left side). But you won't ever find me bungee jumping, sky-diving, heli-skiing, or diving off cliffs.

So I knew that for the extreme knitting challenge, I was gonna have to go old-school. Hence:
That's right, extreme roller skating lace knitting.
I know you're all impressed.

There's just one thing missing. I really need to whip up some pom-poms from leftover yarn to put on these skates.

World Cup Special

In honor of the World Cup (which I'm mostly clueless about...but hey, I'm getting in the spirit), I started knitting some socks in Regia Nation Color yarn:

Deutsche Socken!

OK, I admit I'm also knitting them because I thought they'd make my sister laugh :) Did it work??

The atmospheric conditions today must have been just right for making some crazy jet contrails:

The first one arched across the whole sky and was just HUGE! Yeah, I take pictures of weird things!
That's it for now...still cruising along on Flirty Ruffles and nearing the end of another kitty blanket, but nothing to show photos of. *snooze* Oh yeah, and still no hot water at the laundromat! At least there's still a few months before we really need the slippers.

Bits 'n' Pieces

I've made it through chart 2 of the Flirty Ruffles Pattern, and I must say that it's coming out better than I was expecting (based on my swatching experience):
So far, so good, though I suppose the potential for disaster may increase as the rows get longer. One thing's for sure, I can't work on this unless my full attention is devoted to it. I'm also finding that once I pick it up it's like eating potato chips--I always have to do "just one more row."

I made a couple of swatches using the some yarn from the gigantic Bartlett stash my neighbor gave me:
I want to make felted slippers for me and G with the yarn. Tuesday morning I got up bright and early to go to the laundromat and try to felt them.
But, no hot water. Gah! After the machine filled with water I stuck my hand in to check the temp and it was pretty much ice cold, even though I had set it on hot. Total rip-off. I think the swatches are actually larger now than when I started! I'm going back tomorrow to try again. I know there is hot water (at least some of the time) because I re-felted my Kitty Pi the other week and it came out fine. Grrr...I really need my own washing machine...I hate the laundromat!

Lastly, I finished up kitty blanket #2 for the Critter Charity Drive:
G has dubbed this the "Raspberry Swirl" blanket.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Introducing: Wrap Cardi

Looky, looky:I finished the Rebecca Wrap Cardi and I think it came out great. It fits well and I like the way it looks on me, too! Yay! Here's more of a side view:Project Notes: "Wrap Sweater with Eyelets" from Rebecca Magazine #29. Knitted using GGH Soft Kid yarn, color #57 on 4.5 mm needles. As suggested by many others, I picked up and knit the ties (rather than knitting separately and sewing them on), and I also crocheted around the neckline rather than knitting.

The pattern was slightly challenging, mostly due to the directions being a bit on the basic side. The pattern assumes that you are have some knitting knowledge and ability to interpret a bit. With a little bit of patience, though, almost anyone should be able to figure it out. As for the yarn, oh my gosh YUM! I LOVE this stuff and I hope to use it again. So light and fluffy! The mohair makes it a bit "sticky", so tinking or frogging can be a pain. On the positive side, if you drop a stitch it ain't going nowhere!

In other news, I received some awesome goodies from the lovely and talented Jennifer of PieKnits, as a prize in her "new blog" contest. Check it out:Some heavenly navy blue Classic Elite Alpaca yarn (so soft), a yummy scented candle, a gorgeous journal with hand-made paper, and the cutest point protecters in sock shapes! Thank you so much! :D

I must also draw your attention to the gorgeous wood in the background of the above photo. It's a coffee table that G. has been working on for months and he just finished:I wish you all could see it in person, as this picture doesn't show how beautiful it is. It's made from solid maple and has the most lovely grain I've ever seen. Truly a piece of art!