Good News and Bad News

Everyone likes to start with the good news, right?

I finished the vest! I am so happy with it. I love the color, I love the texture, I love the fit. This is my second project from fitted knits. (Way back in 2007 I made the Puff Sleeved Feminine Cardigan.) I love Stefanie's use of texture in this book, especially in this vest.



In review: This is the Back to School U-Neck Vest by Stefanie Japel from her book Fitted Knits. I used Cascade 220 Superwash in color 819. I had three skeins, but only used a very small bit of the third one.

With the vest finished, I was ready to dive into my next project. Would I make a hat? Socks? Maybe some new mittens? I blacked out with all of the possibility before me and when I came to I had cast on for a sweater. A men's sweater. This from the girl who took three months to finish a vest. This also brings me to the bad news. It's not just a plain old men's sweater (Jared Flood's wonderful Cobblestone, which I've made before), but it's a plain old men's sweater in black. My apologies, and I completely understand if you skip over my photos until it's finished.



I didn't realize that I last made this sweater almost four years ago! As soon as my brother saw it, he started asking me for one. I didn't realize I'd kept him waiting for so long! Last year for Christmas, I gave him a hat I made using Mission Falls 1824 Wool. My brother is one of those people who likes to insist he's allergic to wool, so the hat was a little test. I didn't gloat about it, but he loved the hat and wore it all winter, no complaints! I figure, if he can wear wool against his forehead, surely he'll be fine in a sweater. I love this yarn. It feels heavenly and has great stitch definition.

As Promised...

Progress!

While this vest isn't moving along as quickly as I'd hoped, it's nice to see a recognizable garment forming rather than an endless ribbed tube.

Ribbed tube aside, this has actually been a fun little project. Particularly the top which has a sweet waffle stitch pattern that is so textural but also so simple.




All I really have left now are the straps and finishing! Too bad Boston has reached a sweltering 90 degrees and the idea of putting wool anywhere on my body gives me hives. This may be a job for my dress form when it's finished.

In other news, I had a birthday since last we talked.



My sister came to see me and we went to the North End for dinner, drinks and cupcakes. All were delicious! That drink in front of me is some grape martini thing they serve at Cantina Italiana that I can't get enough of. Then we moved on to Assaggio for dinner where I had some of the best gnocchi of my life. And how could we end the night anywhere else but Mike's for dessert? I usually don't stray far from the cannoli case (the Florentine Cannoli in particular gets me every time), but since it was my birthday, a known cake holiday, I had the most amazing, extravagant chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting ever. Seriously. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. For once I'm glad I don't live in the North End!

Tonight is the first night of my summer class. I'm nervous! Isn't that silly? It's my third semester, technically, and I'm still all jittery.

10 Day YOU Challenge!

So my bloggy pal Adrienne is doing a 10 day blogging meme. I clearly need some motivation not just to blog but to write, so I decided to take part! Part 1: Photograph

I have roughly one million photographs in my possession. Some are digital, some are actual printouts from the '50's and '60's, some are scans. I wanted to choose one photo that meant a lot not just because the photo was nice to look at or evoked an emotion like calm or giddiness. I wanted to choose one where the subject matter itself was important to me. This made it a much easier choice.

I don't have a lot of pictures of my whole family together. I have lots of my brother and sister and I, but Daddy is an elusive subject. Sure, this isn't technically my whole family. I have a mom and cousins, and a gramma and aunt and uncle, etc... but to me, to all four of us, this is our family. We fight, we tease, we bitch about each other... but at the root of it all is the most true, deep love anyone could ever know. We are always there for each other, even if there's an eyeroll involved (I'm looking at my brother for that one), and we always come together at important moments. Like holidays... and graduations. This is my little sister graduating with her Respiratory Therapy degree (I think I already posted it). She just got a job in Virginia, which seems as far away from New England as India. But even though I will miss her tremendously, I am so happy and proud of her. (I only wish my nephews were in this photo. As spawn of my sister, they are naturally added to the fold!)

Want to play along? Guidelines are here! Let me know if you do it. If I don't already follow you, I will!

So, along with the meme, I have actual, factual knitting content! I'm so close to finishing the U-Neck Vest!



I have a half inch to go until I divide front and back, and then I'll pretty much be finished! Just in time for my summer class to start! Ha ha

(And PS: Happy Happy HAPPPPPPPPPPPPY Birthday to Purl Diva! My most cherished, favorite of yarn stores, and my most favorite job ever! Congratulations on five years, and here's to at least ten times as many more.)

Is This Really My Schedule?

Monthly? Really? Ha ha I really thought that once school was done I'd be posting at least weekly, but it seems like I've been so busy, I've hardly had time to write in my paper journal, much less blog. First, my BFF came to visit all the way from Texas!

She was here for almost a whole week! We went out for drinks, and tried some restaurants I've been wanting to go to and happened upon a street fair. This was taken in Chinatown, a place I'd had yet to explore. Holy hell! There are like five thousand bakeries tucked away in there, with the most delicious little tidbits! Totally rivals the North End. (Of course we made a stop at Mike's too!)




Right after that, my little sister graduated! I can not express how proud I am of her, finishing school while raising two children by herself. Not only that, but her kids I don't think ever even really noticed she was in school. She never missed a game, a concert, a play.... She is amazing. (The cast is from foot surgery she had a couple of weeks before graduation.)




Then it finally got nice out! The changing seasons always bring on bouts of extreme homesickness, and this slow churn into summer has me constantly craving salt air and trees and clean air. The closest I can come to these things is hanging out on the Common. With views like this, there are worse places to spend an afternoon.




This past weekend, I finally got to breathe in some salty air! I've been traveling home more lately to help out my sister (still hobbling around), but have spent most of my time doing things like running errands and catching my nephews' baseball games. I could have hung out here all day.

I actually DO have a knitting project going, the Back to School U-Neck Vest by Stefanie Japel, but the only pictures I have of it are pretty crappy. Next post I promise. More knitting! I have one month before my summer class starts, and I'd LOVE to finish the vest (well over half finished) and a pair of socks or a hat or SOMEthing!