Okay, so I totally lied about being back here on a more regular basis. Sorry, sorry...BUT, I did have a good reason for being away...
Meet our new house, all in blue during a snowstorm:After many years of saving we finally bought our very own abode, and it is wonderful :D It's just a little place, two bedrooms, but enough for us (and not overwhelming to clean, lol!) It doesn't need a ton of work, although we will have to reshingle the roof this spring. Also high on the list is painting the exterior anything but the current poo brown. Here are some interior photos, as you can see we haven't really done any decorating or anything yet. Also, things are still kinda messy. I guess we're not ready for our BH&G photo shoot yet.And our view off the back deck (which will be much more fun in the summer, yeah). The yard is pretty postage-stamp sized but I can't wait to start gardening!There's more exciting news too...(wait for it)...I finished Sapporo! Wooo! It took me just under a year from start to finish (although of course I didn't work on it all summer), and I am very happy with it. G seems happy with it too. Glad I finished it in time for his upcoming ski trip.Pattern Notes: "Sapporo" by Dale of Norway, knit in Dalegarn Falk (colors black #0090, grey heather #0007, fern green #9155, natural #0020, and sand heather #0004) on size 2.75 mm needles.This was a good pattern, although I really should have read it all the way through before starting or at least before doing the finishing work. I did my own "unique" iteration of the zipper/collar. But it works, so whatever. The yarn was fine too--a nice, basic workhorse yarn--my favorite type.I really love working the fair-isle/two color type stuff...it's just endlessly amazing watching the pattern slowly emerge. I love it so much that I've already bought all the yarn for my OWN ski sweater...though I think I'm gonna wait awhile before starting it, he he. Right now, I'm really feeling the urge to do some cablin' and some lacin'...what will it be? More details next time :DI'm a bit late, but wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous new year!

Apparently March was supposed to come in like a lion up here, but the snowstorm we got today was really not that impressive.That's OK though, we have plenty of snow to last us until spring. Speaking of spring, today I listened to my first spring training game of the year, squee! Even better, the Sox managed to rid themselves of the nefarious Glenn Geffner (awful radio announcer) so all is right with the world. And of course, the Sox are looking pretty good...can't wait for the season to start!

I am still plodding along on the Sapporo sweater. I managed to finally finish the sleeves, and with a swift karate chop I have moved on to the body:Hee-YA!
Working on the body is starting to suck the life-force out of me though. Except for the three rows of gray striping at the bottom, it has been pure black stockinette. It is little wonder that I could not resist the siren call of Socks that Rock yarn in happy spring colors (graciously gifted to me by my bud Kelly) that has been marinating in my stash for ages:I just can't stop staring at the colors, they're mesmerizing! It looks gorgeous knit up too: This is the Purl Beret, and I'm hoping to have enough left over for a pair of fingerless mitts, we'll see. Either way, it's a nice mental break from all black (and from the month of March). Actually, I shouldn't complain as I am very glad February is over. That cold I was coming down with when I last posted turned into a two-week cough fest. I really can't remember the last time I had such a long lasting cold. Here's to a good March for all!

P.S. Thanks all for your comments on the Victoria Shawl! And no, Jeanne, you may not have your yarn back, LOL ;)

You would not believe how quickly I am cruising along on Sapporo, despite time constraints:This is an oh-so-exciting picture of the first sleeve, which is completed up to the point where it will be joined with the body (it is going to be a raglan sweater). A close-up of the beginning of the fair-isle design:That is definitely a lot of plain black stockinette, though! I'm still waiting for the "other shoe to drop" when I get to the body and things slow waaaay down. I think the next stranded color project I do will have to be an all-over design so I don't have to do these boring plain sections anymore!

Not much else new to report here. Last weekend was a lovely long weekend, so G and his buddy convinced me to go skiing on Saturday.I hadn't gone in about two years and threw out my old skis before our move (they were the old straight kind and just not working for me anymore). So I rented a set of the newfangled shaped skis (er, guess they're not that newfangled, I'm just a "late adopter") and had a blast. Still couldn't get the courage up to hit the black diamonds and I guess it was just as well because they were apparently quite icy. It was all great until the day after when I could barely walk...skiing uses some strange muscles.On the left: a trail I could not ski, even if it were open. Here's my kind of hill: Have a fantabulous weekend!

Oh, and P.S. Quincy thanks you for all the well-wishes! He is feeling much better now and seems to be a happier kitty.

We had a bit of rough week here at our house...poor Quincy had to have all of his remaining teeth yanked (he was already missing about a third of them).Sad little beast. Unfortunately the post-op care included an antibiotic pill two times a day and as I'm sure many of you know, cats + pills = no fun. Finally on the second day we picked up some Pill Pockets from the vet, and they totally made my week. Quincy wolfed 'em down like they were nothing, despite the rather large pill inside. I would definitely recommend trying these the next time you have to medicate your cat!

Anyway, he is starting to get back to normal and doesn't seem too fazed by the lack of teeth. Animals are stoic about these things, I guess. As sad as it is, it seems like it will be a good thing in the long term, since apparently his mouth was probably in serious pain before. I only wish that one of our past vets had paid a bit more attention to his dental care--no one had ever said a thing to us!

I picked up my Victoria Shawl again a few weeks ago, which I last blogged about in September (!). Trying to get back into the rhythm of the thing was a bit challenging, as my new edging was not looking the same as the previously completed edging. After numerous rips and re-dos, I realized that the edging was supposed to be done as garter-stitch lace (which is what I was now making by reading the charts correctly) and I had originally started it in stockinette lace! Well, no way was I ripping back to do it the "right" way, so now I have a garter-based center and a stockinette-based edging. I think shawls usually use the same type of lace throughout, but it looks OK to me! Hopefully that won't create a blocking nightmare.

Thanks for your comments on my Setesdal cardigan! I know a lot of people wouldn't make something that labor-intensive for a baby, since it would be outgrown so quickly, but I did have a bit of an ulterior motive in making it. I have been planning to make G a fair-isle ski sweater but wanted to try something a bit smaller for my first steeking project, just so I could gain some understanding of the construction. Setesdal was perfect for that, and now I am ready to start the "big" project:That is the very first cuff of the Dale of Norway "Sapporo 2007" ski sweater. I am using Dale Falk for the yarn, and it's amazing how much bigger this yarn is compared to the Baby Ull used for Setesdal. It already feels like it's going to be fast knitting, although I do have miles of stockinette for the body so I may be singing a different tune later!

Before I close my post, I wanted to let you all know that I may be posting less frequently for the foreseeable future (although I've only been posting about 2 to 3 times a month anyway, so maybe it won't be that noticeable, ha ha). I'm taking a couple of night classes which will probably keep me from knitting and posting as much. Like a lot of people, I debate a lot on how long I want to keep this blog thing going...I don't like writing all that much (which probably shows) and really started it just to keep a "scrapbook" of projects. Even though Ravelry has taken over a lot of that "scrapbook" function, I figure I'll keep this thing going at least a bit longer since it's still fun to share non-knitty aspects of life. So, I'll be still seeing you around though perhaps a bit less frequently! Take care, and have a great week!