Waves

So the window is up and I've spent the last week relishing in the fact that I don't have a bunch of stuff hanging over my head to do. Well, that's not entirely true... I have a LOT of stuff to do in the next little while, including making the jewlery, stitch markers, finishing up a couple of projects and cleaning and packing for our holiday. So unfortunately there is little duff sitting on time for me these days, but it's still nice to have that one big project out of the way.

This last weekend was Pat's 30th birthday, so we went out for breakfast and dinner, to the PNE, had a nap, ate too many mini donuts... it was really nice and especially nice because the week before he was off on Saturday, so we've now had two weeks in a ROW to spend a weekend day together... astounding and so enjoyable!
Also on the weekend, I cast on and cast off a Marian in Cascade Magnum yarn, which is absolutely beautiful and I would live in it, only I'd like it to last looking 'just finished' longer than a week, so I restrain myself. It's a GREAT pattern, super easy, mindless and hella fast on US17 needles with that nice big bulky yarn! The seed stitch makes it very classy looking, which is great, because in my opinion, very bulky yarn has a tendancy to make the item look very 'home made' rather than like a beautiful HANDmade piece of clothing!
I am planning on buying two more skeins in a beautiful red color and making some alterations to the pattern so that it has a full hood on it, instead of just being a very wide cowl. I plan to call it Little Red Riding Hood... is that dumb? Anyhow, that probably won't be until middle of October, so don't hold your breath for a while.
I'm also more than half way done my Noro Striped scarf. It's looking gorgeous and I'm loving that it's mostly shades of blue with other colors thrown in for contrast. It should end up about 7' long, which will make it a luxurious winter accessory.
The final thing I've been working on has been my Haruni. I'm now completely done with Chart A! I have to admit, that it did give me a run for my money in certain sections, but really, in order to prevent that much tinking, I could have used stitch markers. I did mention tho, that I intentionally didn't use them because I prefer to know how to read my knitting in order to get the pattern right. With markers I knit mostly on auto pilot and I think being able to see the pattern and the next stitch automatically is a good skill to have. That said, I will be putting markers in for Chart B, as it's entirely different from anything I've ever knit before and the pattern does not repeat, so I'd rather not have to rip it out ten times. It's a pretty complicated set of instructions for it, but it might get easier as I start knitting it... sometimes reading the pattern is super confusing!
This shawl will qualify as the 6th completed shawl that I have done in 2010. The goal is 10 in 2010 and it's part of a contest on Ravelry (the group is 10 shawls in 2010). I've already won twice for shawls I"ve completed (random number generator draw), so it's been a fun way to keep going with my shawls, which I love knitting. My scarf will count as number 7 and I have 8 and 9 cast on already, so I need one more that's not even a twinkle in my eye yet and then I'll have made it! I'd still like to make my upside down cupcake shawl this year, and it has tons of yardage, so that will probably be the winner.
My last bit of news is that I have pledged to get my Girasole done by Dec 18. That means that starting Oct 1, I have to knit two rows (one pattern, one knit) a day for 20 days... then I have to knit 4 border points (min) a day to get it done. I think some days I'll be able to get more than that done, depending on the degree of busy and tired I am, so hopefully it's done well before the 18th. Feel free to harass me about it if you want... Accountability and all that.
Anyway, that's what's going on here at the mo... 5 and a bit more work days left until we go on holiday and I'm earning my holiday every. single. day at this point!