Where did it go?
So what has happened in the last week and a day or so? Well first I got a nice surprise in the form of foliage. My Christmas cactus has decided to bloom (although a bit late for the holidays) and I got a couple of great pics with the new camera:
Aren't they pretty? I always think the fact that a cactus can bloom is such a weird but neat thing.
I managed to get quite a bit of knitting done during various train rides. My Mom requested a scarf from the yarn leftover from her mittens. I've gotten through one ball and this is what I have so far:
I think one more ball will make it plenty big. To recap: I'm using Paton's Canadiana which is 100% acrylic (Mom's allergic to everything else) and the pattern I'm using is exactly like the Morehouse scarf I wear all the time, which you can see here. It never even occurred to me when I started, but it looks like we'll have Mother/Daughter scarves at the end of this project. :)
The other thing I've been working on is the first sock for HWJF:
I'm quite pleased with the fact that the strips are actually coming out the way they're supposed to. I'm actually quite a bit further along than this pic shows at this point now, done with the gusset increases in fact, and the strips are a little more wonky now, but I don't think it will be a problem. I had him try it on last night and he actually said he was excited about them!
HWJF had to work all this past weekend so I spent my time in CT. Saturday I actually had the whole day to myself. I must say it was a very nice thing. I didn't get out of my pj's all day. I think Simba approved of this idea:
But don't let that sweet and innocent act fool you. My little monster darling is quite the yarn cutter! Luckily that didn't slow me down too much from finishing up this:
Yep! The body of Samus is finally finished! Ends weaved in and everything. And I even managed to finish the cuff for the cables. Just two sleeves to knit and I'll be as good as done. My only worry at this point is that the extra inch I put into the length on the body is going to make the cable band hit me in an unflattering place. Unflattering mostly because I'm afraid it's going to be too tight in that unflattering place. But I figure if all else fails, I'll just block the living daylights out of it.
Sunday found me out with knitbuddies Robyn and Sami. About a month ago someone brought up the idea of going cross-country skiing. Being that I was put on skiis just about as soon as I had mastered walking, I was totally up for this idea. I managed to remember to bring my gear back from NY after Christmas, we found a place that did rentals called Winding Trails, and off we went. Now Sami and Robyn had never been skiing before so I got to play ski instructor for a day! It was a lot of fun and I had two very good students. I surveyed the grounds a bit while they went to rent equipment in here:
They even had some decent equipment for rental:
After a short crash course we went out on the trail, managed to negotiate some not-so-beginner-thank-you-very-much hills and arrived safe and sound back where we started. We even got a rather nice looking man to take our picture:
See! They survived my instruction! It was a great day. I'd love to go out again before the season is over if I can.
And I should have known it was going to be a great day when I opened my Christmas present from Robyn:
Sock yarn! My friends know me well....
