…before I disappear for the summer.  Note: if you are Heather R. or a member of the Waggoner family and you have not yet received your packages, don’t scroll down!!!  They’re in the mail, but I’m about to lose regular internet access, so I wanted to share the pics…but don’t want to ruin your presents.

First, two hats I made for myself.  They were supposed to be finished to wear when it was cold.  Notice I am modeling them in a tank top.  However, it should be pretty chilly in NM and so they should get some good use then.

Pattern: The cabled band is from the cover pattern of BHG’s Knitting Fun for Everyone (a nice booklet, with some cute patterns, and some hideous ones…I think the cute ones make it worth it…), but instead of the intarsia top, I just did plain stockinette with a great yarn.
Yarns: The cabled band is Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride, one of the closest things to perfect yarn that exists.  It’s unfussy, and comes in zillions of colors.  The top yarn is…is…crap!  I don’t remember, and the ball band is at home (I’m on the road).  I bought it at the Yarn Barn in San Antonio a few years ago with the lovely Leslie O. and I love it and wish I could recommend it by name.  It’s a heavy worsted, 100% wool, in fab colors, I think from Peru.
Notes: The band is knit first, flat, and then stitches are picked up along one edge and the rest of the hat is knitted flat, then seamed up the back.  The pattern instructs you to pick up 95 sts, but there was no way I could get that many from the band, so I picked up as many as a could (78), went up a needle size (from US7 to US8), and knit in the round to avoid losing any stitches to a seam.  It fits perfectly and I love it!

Pattern: Another Odessa, by Grumperina.  I knit a blue one for Charlotte R. a while ago, and shortly we will be in the same town and hopefully I’ll get a twin hat picture up here soon.  I raved about the pattern then, and I still love it.  I did the beads this time and liked it.
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sport, from the Yarn Barn in Kansas.  (Seeing a pattern here?)  Another great yarn, really smooth and soft, and super warm.  A little too fuzzy to really show off the hat pattern, but oh well.  If/when I make this again, it will be with a smoother yarn to really show off the swirls.

And now the gifts!

Finally, the mystery blanket is done!  It’s for Baby Jack, who got the tiny hat and booties, and is a very special baby.  Jack was born with CHARGE Syndrome and doesn’t have full use of all his senses.  But, he can touch and feel things normally, and that is a sense I can work with!  Thus, Jack got the sweetest blanket ever, made with zillions of different yarns…I’m not going to list them, and I couldn’t if I wanted to.  But I tried really hard to find all different textures – I bought some new yarns and did some stash diving for some faves.

That’s Miss Sherry, Jack’s grandma, holding it up for display after I showed her.  She was pretty excited – the best Thank You for a knitter!

Pattern: Bowl and coaster set for Heather R.  I was inspired by One Skein (go to your LYS right now and buy that book if you don’t already own it – it is fabulous!), but it’s really pretty easy.  Basically, you just make a semi-oversized hat and then felt it.  The coaster is just a big square, also felted.  (If you’re machine felting, don’t forget to put your items in a pillowcase or the fuzz will clog the pipes!)
Yarns: Peace Fleece in Father’s Gray (Dan’s hat was made with the leftovers from this bowl…it didn’t take very much) and Universal’s Deluxe Worsted (although the camo colorway doesn’t seem to appear on that site…weird…), both of which felted nicely, and similarly.  In the bowl, the slightly different felting didn’t make much difference, but in the coaster you could see it pretty easily, so I trimmed the edges to make them look nice.  (And let’s not even talk about how scary it is to cut your knitting…even if it is felted…I don’t think I’ll ever be able to steek!)

Allright folks, that’s it for now.  I’m headed to the Ranch for the summer and internet access is sporadic at best.  As always, I’ll try to post when I can, so check back occasionally.  I heart y’all!

…forgive the lack of real posts lately.  I’ve been traveling a lot lately, which equals lots of knitting and reading time, but not a lot of blogging time.  I’ve finished 5 projects in the past week and a half (!!!) and I can’t wait to tell y’all about them.  Stay tuned…I heart my readers!

As of today, I am officially cut off from the parental units when it comes to yarn money.  Yikes.  I knew I shouldn’t have graduated!

Kansas wedding blog coming soon, when I can get some pictures edited.

Rachelle, you rock.  I’m deleting your comment, in accordance with the “Shhhhh” at the end.  Thank you!!!

Mom and I went to Baton Rouge this past weekend:

(I like the drive because there are a lot of big bridges to drive over.  So what if I’m five?)

We saw this cool intersection:

(Do you think they have a big party on May St. on the 31st, and then move around to June on the 1st?  Because they should.)

We went to her old high school:

(Go Bucs!)

Where we saw some sweet rims:

(Just for you Meagan.)

And her old house:

(Which has a new roof)

We ate dinner here:

(Which is tasty, albeit commercialized.) 

The best part was this sign:

(Mom made me take a picture)

Oh yeah, the two most important parts of the trip:

The all important yarn store:

(I was good.  I only bought two sets of needles…but I have plans…)

And the real reason for the trip:

(The apartment!)

This is my life for the next few days.  Get excited.

I am so close to finishing a couple of projects…

Blanket needs two, maybe three more stripes…

Odessa needs decreases…

Sock just needs a toe…

So what did I do?

Oops.  I may have accidentally cast on for a Soy Silk scarf.

See, I was looking up washcloths for HH and found this awesome stitch pattern and it’s hot outside so I wanted to work with a lighter fiber and I love these needles and hate when they are sitting by idly and and and…

I have no excuse…although, at least I didn’t purchase the yarn for this project, I raided my stash.  I bought this ball a month or so ago becuase it was on sale (whoop!) and I’d always wanted to try it…so it could be worse…

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the
earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there
you will long to return. -L. da Vinci

A week and a half ago, I had the opportunity to go to Brenham for dinner.  By plane.  My dear friend Melanie happens to have a pilots license and a membership in the Texas A&M Flying Club, and there happens to be a fabulous diner at the Brenham airport, the Southern Flyer.  (Yep, there’s an airport in Brenham.)  But what you really want are the pictures, so here they are (as always, click for big):

 
The plane, and Melanie preparing it for takeoff.

  
I like this one.

 
Instrument Panels, and the cool headsets we got to wear.  We could hear all of the traffic with air traffic control and the other planes in the area.

Taxiing down the runway…that’s Kyle Field in the background.

   
Requisite farmland shots.

The sky looked neat.

One of the coolest neon signs I’ve ever seen.  (At the Southern Flyer.)

I was trying to take artsy shots using the light from the instruments and moon (they didn’t turn out well), but forgot to turn the flash off one of those times.  Oops.

The Bush Library from above…sorry it’s a bit blurry, I thought it was cool.

So that’s my surprise…sorry if you were expecting something life-changing, but I thought flying to Brenham for dinner was pretty neat.

PS – Anyone want to take flying lessons with me?

The Sun did come out today – yay!  We had a pretty big storm come through last night (lost power for a bit, and it blew down a section of the backyard fence!), so it was cloudy most of the morning, but the afternoon was sunny and beautiful!  Thus, you get some WIP pictures, and I get a few more days to work on the surprise pictures.  (Ok, it’s not really that big of a surprise, but it was a fun thing I did last week, and got some cool pics, but some could use some editing.  Stay tuned.)

I’ve picked up my Odessa again, trying to get it done before the summer.  It’s coooold in NM in June and late August, so I’d love to have the hat to wear then.  Also, the lovely Charlotte R., who got the first, blue one, will be at the Ranch sporting hers, and so we can be twinkies!  Yay!  Here it is, pre-softball game:

After this pic was taken, I took it to the softball game and got quite a bit done.  Yes, I knit at sporting events.  Statistically, the Ags do better when I’m knitting.  Seriously, they do.  Hopefully the hat will be done within a week or two.

Here’s a fun little project:

It’s a plain ol’ cotton washcloth from this book I got half off when Hancock’s in CS closed:

I love washcloths.  They’re small, cute, have fun stitch patterns, and the yarn is cheap.  This one’s actually Lion Cotton that was also half off at Hancock’s, but usually I use Peaches ‘n’ Cream which is $1.27 a ball.  It doesn’t get much better than that folks.

Now, it’s time for me to get back to work.  I’ve almost finished the homework set due tomorrow, except for two problems I’m stuck on.  We’ll see what I can figure out tonight.  And fyi, as of today, anyone can comment on Xanga blogs without signing up for Xanga.  That means you.  Now you have no excuse for not commenting.

So I’ve had strep for the past week and I turn into a big baby when I’m sick.  Finally went to the doctor and the antibiotics are helping me start to feel better.  I promise real blog content tomorrow.  I have a big assignment due Thursday morning, so I will certainly need to procrastinate and take some knitting pictures.  Assuming the sun comes out.  If not, maybe a surprise.