Livin' La Needle Loca

...I stayed home sick today, trying to get rid of a bad cold. So far, it's not working. Needless to say, I didn't get out to take any pictures today. So here's a picture from our trip to Bandon, Oregon last summer. I love the beach and this picture makes me wish I was there instead of camped on my couch. I also wish I felt good enough to knit. Maybe tomorrow...

...but no quilting. I have pictures of my progress, but they are at work and I'm at home. When I tried to update my blog this morning, I couldn't get into Blogger at all, so I'll post them tomorrow. (Not a happy blogger today.) Edited to include pictures. I continued working on my Hydrangea socks. They are going slowly, but I'm loving the lacy pattern. In fact, I love it so much, I started a new scarf using the same pattern. I'm making the scarf in some purple chunky Misti Alpa ca that I've had in my stash for a while. I tried a couple of other patterns (the linen stitch from the Rock & Weave sock pattern...garter stitch) before settling on the Hydrangea lace pattern with size 15 needles. It's a narrow scarf, so it shouldn't take too long to finish. I also cast on the Central Air socks from the Rockin' Sock Club, using the Peaseblossom yarn from a previous month. I'm not very far yet, but I love the pattern.

I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute to my father. 45 years ago today he passed away from stomach cancer - he was 45 years old. He left behind a wife and three kids (ages 11, 9, and 5), plus many friends and relatives. His passing left an enormous hole in our lives and I know my mother still loves him after all these years. He was a devoted family man and a great father to us three kids. We miss you, Daddy! On to Eye Candy Friday: This is the fountain outside of our offices. Didn't the water turn out strange? This was taken without a flash. With the flash the picture was too dark, but the water looked "real." My plans this weekend are to get some sleep and make progress on the Hydrangea socks. Maybe I'll even work on my quilt!

Here's what happens when you put your yogurt bowl down for one second while you finish up an email. (Gotta get that last bit under the spoon!) What's that on your nose? Silly, silly Tica! So, lots of work is happening, but not a lot of knitting. However, I did pick up my Rockin' Socks Club package from the office and got to pet my new Titania yarn. I love the two patterns included in this installment. I'll probably use Cookie's Titania's Revenge pattern for this yarn and use the Central Air pattern for the Peaseblossom yarn instead of Hippy Crunchy. While the Hippy Crunchy pattern looks interesting, it wasn't something I was dying to knit, plus I figured one challenging pattern at a time was enough. I think it's a good choice for me, especially since I have the Hydrangea socks still on the needles.

...I've been working at a client site, so my Internet access is limited for most of the day. (Sorry, no pictures today.) I spent Saturday doing house cleaning. I didn't finish everything I wanted, but I did find tables under the dust and vacuumed up a lot of cat fur. I did go to the Sew and Quilt show on Sunday...very disappointing! There weren't nearly as many vendors as there usually are. Some of my favorite quilt shops weren't there and there was a proliferation of doll booths (patterns to make dolls, doll displays, etc.). The packaging people did have a nice sized booth so I bought all the packaging materials that I needed. If it wasn't for them, I would have been really miffed to pay $7.00 for parking and $6.00 for entry. Not much knitting got done, unless you count my surfing the Internet drooling over lace shawl patterns! I did get my Hydrangea socks set up to be knit two at once. Since I didn't get into my own office today, I didn't get to see my...

...but it's been a long week and this made me smile. This wooden cat sits on the window ledge in my office. He guards all of the toys on my bookshelf. (Yes, I have toys in my office...) Not much knitting or other crafty stuff has happened since last Sunday - my brain has been worn out by work. This Sunday, I hope to get to the Sew and Quilt Festival in San Mateo. I usually go every February and September. I sometimes find some interesting quilt books and fabric to buy, but in September, I buy the cellophane and craft paper bags I use for my Christmas baking and gifts. My sister and her husband will be in the area this weekend, so I want to make sure I'm there when she visits!

First off, I made another Knit-2 bag, this time in copper colored fabrics. I used a Fairy Frost black and copper fabric for the outside and a Fairy Frost copper on the inside, with a contrasting blue and copper print fabric (that I bought a long time ago and have no idea who manufactured it). Here are pictures of the outside and a close-up of the inside. (That's my Hydrangea yarn from Sundara's Petals Collection .) . . . Then there was the Yarn Harlot talk at Full Thread Ahead . After picking up my signing ticket earlier in the day, I arrived around 4PM for the 5:30 talk. Wow, I'm glad I didn't wait much longer than that - there were already a lot of people there (they estimated that there were around 300 people) . Along with everyone else, I sat and knitted while I waited. It was fun seeing the shawls and recognizing knitted items from things I'd read on blogs, or seen in Knitty. Anyway, Stephanie was incredibly funny. She, of course, took a few pictures of the ...