Back to Life, Back to Reality

Today is Iva's first day of daycare. Please, whatever you do don't put something like, "wow, it's so soon for her to be in daycare" in your comments. I am already feeling very sad to be leaving my baby, but in order to continue getting paid I had to come back. My department has been really great about giving me duties other than teaching, so I can ease my way back and have a flexible schedule. I even plan to nurse her over my lunch break for the next few months, so I'll be seeing her once during the day. Despite all that, it's still really hard. Thankfully, I really love my job so I am looking forward to getting back to my actual work.

While I was on leave, I did manage to do a bit of crafting, but mostly of the sewing variety. I am trying to make Christmas stocking for everyone in the family and have been making pretty good progress. I had a stocking that I sewed years ago for myself that served as my starting point.  I have lots of holiday fabrics in my stash, so I was able to buy just a couple more fabrics and put together a patchwork quilted stocking for RJ which I got done before Christmas.  Here it is after I did the patchwork.  I will take a finished photo of it soon and post it. My stocking is made from a panel of vintage 50's-60's holiday fabric, so I was trying to mimic that in RJ's stocking.

I also did one for the hubby in dark red and green plaids, so more masculine. I have the quilting done on this and just need to sew it to the back and make a cuff.

I also started one for Iva before she was born. Hers has a more "country Christmas" feel, with blues, burgundy, and tan. Here it laid out before piecing it together.  I now have it all pieced and am working on quilting it right now.  I should have it done in a couple weeks.   It was really fun to make each one unique and I am so excited to put them up all together next Christmas!  This has also gotten me on a sewing kick, and I will share my next big sewing project with you soon.

Having Goals

For some reason I thought that the Winter Olympics ended this Friday, today, so all week I've been panicking about finishing in time. Of course most of you probably know that they don't end until the 28th, which is Sunday. This means that I have a lot more time than I thought, and it's weekend time which is even better. Last night I was able to do some serious knitting and I got past 60 inches (the length in the pattern). I would like to make a bit longer and go until I run out of yarn, but I could bind off at any time now. A gold medal is nearly mine!

I know it's nearly March, but I haven't yet written about my knitting goals for the year yet, so I thought I might do that now. Why have goals? Actually, my husband spent a lot of time in January thinking about and writing down his short-term and long-term goals for both his personal and professional life. I have to admit that at first I thought it was one of those touchy-feely things he had picked up in his business classes. At first I just went along with it to help him out. However, I have discovered that keeping those goals in mind has been pretty helpful. For example, instead of the weekend flying by without really getting anything done or doing anything fun, I now decide in advance what task I want to complete and plan things to do with RJ. For example, this weekend I plan to clean the refrigerator and take RJ to a local park with train rides for kids. The plan for my knitting this year is generally to do more of it. I also want to try several new techniques. I have planned a cable project (Belle Wrap in the Knitting Little Luxuries Book) and a stranded colorwork project (Composed Knits from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits). I also plan to do some more complex lace patterns like Lacey.

I have a bunch of bright pink mohair to use for Lacey. I am wondering if I should knit it along with another softer yarn to tone down the color and decrease itch. Any opinions?

The Ravelympics 2010

As you may have guessed from the title, I am competing in the Ravelympics. This is the Knitting Olympics on Ravelry, for those who don't know. The goal is to cast on during opening ceremonies and complete your project by closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics to earn a gold medal. It's all quite fun and I participated in 2006 (sort of; it's a long story). I was going to avoid it this year, but then my friend who is a pattern designer (Ann Kuo Lukito of Crafty Diversions) was sponsoring a KAL for the Ravelympics. Just knit one of her patterns and you qualified for a drawing for $40 worth of hand-picked (by Ann) knitting items. I remembered that I had some mohair that she dyed for me and some Frog Tree merino that I had purchased to go along with it:



I had planned to use the yarn to make Ann's pattern, Linh's Ivy (this is a Ravelry link, but you can also find the pattern free on the Crafty Diversion website), so it seemed silly not to participate. I am actually enjoying the knitting and the competition quite a bit. I joined the team for my Ravelry Group Motherhood Later (go team!) Here is my progress on the scarf (for the Scarf Super G event) as of Monday.



By Sunday I was feeling pretty cocky about my progress and decided to enter another "event", the WIPs Dancing. What a great way to finish one of my UFOs! That has not gone as well as my soft, beautiful scarf. The tragic details to follow......

Will It Stretch To Fit?

It is raining today in SoCal, normally a rare event, although this winter has been a lot more rainy and cold than usual. For a knitter that's not a bad thing. Today I am actually wearing a vest I knit for the Knitting Special Olympics, 2006. What is the Knitting Special Olympics, you may ask? My knitting group was full of new knitters and we weren't ready for the actual Knitting Olympics, so we did our own version that was about enjoying the process, rather than competing. No one actually finished their project, but that wasn't the goal. We just wanted to challenge ourselves to do something more complex than we had before. It was lots of fun and we had a closing ceremonies party to celebrate our accomplishments, complete with medals for the winners.

Anyway, it is rainy today and the light in my office is burned out. Wouldn't it just figure that on one of the 10 cloudy days we have here, my light is burned out? So here I sit in the glow of my computer watching the rain and thinking about what new fuzzy woolen knitting project to cast on. Here is a project I cast on early in the winter and I've just gotten back to:



It is a One-Skein-Wonder Baby Sweater from the book One-Skein Wonders. I had leftover green chunky Wool-Ease from my brother's Christmas gift, so I just bought some tan chunky yarn to go with it and voila! A baby sweater for a little boy. It is intended as a gift for friend who had a baby boy in October, but at the rate I'm going he will be graduating from college before I finish it. This may end up in the bin of baby gifts, ready and waiting for the next friend who has a boy.

Daydreaming

When I was a kid, probably around 9 or 10 years old, I would go through the Spiegel Catalog page by page, deciding which items I would buy if I were rich. We were what you might describe as "dirt poor" while I was growing up, so this was quite a feat of daydreaming even with Spiegel. You're probably asking yourself, "why Spiegel?" which isn't really known for being a luxury catalog. Living in a rural area before there was the internet (for the youngins out there, yes such a time did exist), Spiegel was the most posh catalog I had access to. It was so much more tony than Sears or JCPenney's. I had not even heard of Saks, Niemans, or Nordstroms, and Macy's was something related to the Thanksgiving Day parade, not a place to shop. Anyway, it turns out that if I had lots of money I would pretty much buy everything in the catalog. Afterall, you just never know when you'll need a juicer or aerobic shoes. Once I eventually did start to earn a bit more money, I did not buy out the Spiegel catalog. Honestly, I'm fairly certain I've never ordered a thing from them. I still do daydream about what I would buy if I were rich, though. I can tell you that my craft closet would have to get a lot bigger to accommodate all the silk, cashmere, and merino wool.

Back in the real world, I am making dishcloths for RJ's teachers. I want to give them each a cloth for Christmas, along with some nice soap. Because she is in the infant/toddler room, she has about 8-9 teachers, so I need to get moving on these. Here is the first one I started, which is now nearly finished. Frustratingly, I ran out of both the red and the ecru yarn. I was able to find more red, but I still need to hunt down some more (Ravelry, here I come!).

An Unseasonable FO

I finished these warm, woolly fingerless gloves, just in time for the hot season here in SoCal. I know, good timing right? Now I'm thinking I should start my bulky wool hoodie. I'm only half kidding, since starting it now would mean I might finish it in time for Christmas. The only thing stopping me is that I am spending two weeks in Wisconsin in July, and that project would be way too bulky to take along. I will probably take along a project for my light, airy Jaeger Trinity. I was working on a simple top from a Schachenmayr pamphlet, but I am having trouble getting gauge with size 3s, and the idea of going down to a size 2 needle for a whole sweater gives me the willies. So, I found a couple new pattern options that I will swatch. I will post about that soon. Anyway, here are the particulars of the fingerless mittens:

Yarn: Lorena DK, wool/acrylic blend
Pattern: Modified version of Fingerless Mittens from One Skein Wonders
Changes: I added quite a bit of length to the cuff, and a little to the thumb and hand. I wanted to have more coverage and to use more yarn.
Yardage: about 1 skein (125 yards)
Needle: US 7
Time: Started July 2008 and finished April 2009





I bought this yarn at a craft store in Iowa City, IA while in grad school about 12 years ago. The store is probably long since closed, actually. So far, I've used the yarn to make a vest, a hat, and now a pair of mitts to match the hat. Honestly, I've gotten more than my money's worth out of this yarn. Despite my best efforts, I still have a small ball of this yarn left that I really should just toss away and be done with it. However, now that I have the mitts and hat and I am thinking I need a matching scarf. Perhaps I will start the Ribbed Mini-Scarf, and see if I have enough yarn, or just the flower part of the Flower Scarf (Ravelry links). My frugal nature refuses to let me waste any yarn and my vision for a matching set is taking hold.

Another Anouk

JennC from The Carlson Zoo asked who was the intended recipient for the new Anouk I mentioned in a previous post. When I finished my first Anouk recently, I said I would like to make another one in fall colors. So to answer Jennifer's question, it's for RJ but as you can see I did not use fall colors or fall yarn. I just used up some more kitchen cotton I had laying around in colors that looked nice together. What can I say, the pattern is addictive and the cotton is easier to work with in summer.



It may appear that I am knitting too much for RJ and not enough for anyone else, but when I post my newest FOs things will look a bit more balanced. I'm also working on a project for a Christmas gift (fingerless gloves for my youngest brother) and may even start a new sweater for myself: Sunkist in yellow cotton (ravelry link). I do love the more relaxed feel of summer, don't you?

Katja for My Princess

I don't suppose it comes as a surprise to those of you who know us that we are spoiling our little girl. We are now suffering the consequences, as we try to train her to sleep in her own bed and not ours starting this week. The result is that none of us are getting much sleep. Before she was born we vowed that our bed would be off-limits. During the first few months she slept in our room, but had her own bed. Once she moved to her crib we were doing just OK with our vow, only bringing her into our bed around 5:00 am or so, just until she woke up for the day. Then I broke my foot, and she has slowly been taking over our bed ever since.

I am also spoiling her in the knits department, but to be entirely truthful baby knits are so much fun that knitting projects for her are just as much for my enjoyment as they are for her. Gauge, what's gauge? As long as it's bigger than she is now, it will fit her someday. Also, a child can wear lots of things that are no-no's for adults. Garishly bright colors? No problem! Slightly see-through? Throw on a onesie and leggings underneath! Baby knits are also a great way to use up small amounts of yarn or have fun with a yarn that would cost too much to buy in a quantity large enough for an adult sweater.

With that in mind, I am currently working on katja from Knitty, Spring 2006. Could I wear a knitted halter? Probably not. But on a tiny little girl, this will look too cute. I started with a small ball of a silk/cotton blend yarn in a lovely mauve/pink color that I Marie passed along to me. I then bought two skeins of Dale of Norway Svale, which is a cotton/silk/rayon blend. It has just a bit of shimmer and the color is a rich, dusty purple. The result so far is this:



I think it looks girly, but not too cutesy. I have enough of the pink to do the bottom band as well. I think the two colors add a bit more interest. I hope to finish this soon so she can wear while we visit my family in Wisconsin in July.

Gifts in the Making

My knitting has really taken a backseat since RJ was born, but now that she is a bit older I'm hoping to get back into it. Before she was born I actually had planned out several Christmas gifts to make and even completed a couple. I made a hat for my youngest brother and a scarf for a friend in England. I have decided to allow myself to be off the hook for all but one more holiday gift. I want to make the four-in-one gaiter (Ravelry link) from One Skein Wonders for my middle brother. It wouldn't be fair to make something for one brother and not the other and this project should be fast and easy, since it's just a ribbed tube. I am using some easy wash Wool-Ease Worsted in a heathered forest green. Here it is so far:


I may make a couple more simple things, but probably I will just work on things for next year. What I really need to do before Christmas is make RJ a stocking for our fireplace. I may actually make use of my sewing machine for that.

Sugar and Spice

One "problem" with having a little girl is that I am always coming across cute clothes or patterns for clothes, and I want them all! We just received an order from Gymboree which included some adorable winter clothes, like this jacket with little ears on the hood. Can I get a collective "awwww"?I am also working on anouk, Itchy Fingers Longies, and some baby socks. So, I should really work on something for myself, right? Then I came across this cute knitted halter top on the blog Newton's Knitting, and I totally want one for RJ! She looks SO cute in halter tops, how can I resist?

Sock It To Me

Summer is such a difficult time to keep focused. In my old school-age days the summer reading list got dusty (with the library over 20 miles away that would have been a bit difficult anyway), while I found sewing and craft projects to occupy my time. In a similar fashion, this summer the things I thought I would do have gone to the wayside only to be replaced by new projects. So what have I been doing?

1. Our next round of guests have arrived. We will have visitors on and off right up until classes start again in the fall.

2. I am working on reading several books on balancing a successful academic career while still having time for things like family. Many people probably don't realize it, but college professors get very little training on how to do the many of the day-to-day aspects of our jobs. We all sort of figure it out as we go along, muddling along as best as we can. It's nice to get some insight on ways to do things more efficiently and it's easy to read while RJ is sleeping on my lap during the day.

3. Most importantly for blog purposes, I started my first pair of socks. These are a tiny pair for RJ made of some leftover sock yarn (thanks for the yarn Anne, Zona, and Marie!). I will have to stripe this with some other leftover yarn, but since I'm just experimenting I figure it's better to use free yarn.



I also started a pair of fingerless gloves to go with my Le Slouch. Yay for the freedom of summer!

Cry Baby

Want to know what it's like to live with a newborn?
This classic Sesame Street video pretty much sums it up. The last few days we've had lots of crying. The good news is that she's adorable and loveable even when she's crying.

When RJ was in a good mood I was able to get her to model at least one knit. Here are the Saartjes bootees on a live model:

A warning for those making these, like most booties they really don't stay on that well. They do look really cute for the five minutes they do stay on, so maybe it's worth it. ;)

I am continuing to make progress on Anouk, which is turning out really cute in the yellow and green that I'm using. I am thinking about starting a new sweater for RJ. I am considering the Rosebud Cardigan from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies in peach Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. What do you think?

New Projects and Baby FOs

I meant to get this post up earlier, but baby RJ and her father caught a cold and we've been struggling to get by these past few days. Everyone is slowly getting better, but I have gotten even less sleep than usual and RJ has needed lots of attention. Being on the computer is taking a back seat as a result. First, another picture of RJ with her new teddy bear. She looks a bit frightened in this shot, but I swear she didn't seem scared of the bear at the time.


Before RJ was born, I finished a couple small projects for her. First, I finally got to to the final details of a cute new bib for her. The inspiration was some scraps of black, white and black/white Sugar 'n Cream yarn and a ladybug button.


Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream in white, black, and salt & pepper
Pattern: baby bib 'o love from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Changes: none
Yardage: small amounts of each
Needle: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Time: started July 10, 2007 and finished March 6, 2008 (knitting was done in September, but finishing took awhile)

I also whipped up a cute pair of booties just before she was born. I wanted to use up the leftover yarn from a hat that I made for her.


Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
Pattern: saartje's bootees
Changes: none
Yardage: about a third of a skein
Needle: US 2 (2.75 mm)
Time: started February 16, 2008 and finished February 20, 2008

I also started a couple more new projects for RJ (she is getting all my knitting attention lately, but I just can't resist making cute things for her). First, I started Anouk in green and yellow.

I am also making some knitted pants in white and yellow. I started them in just yellow (to use up some leftover cotton-ease), but it was obvious I was going to run out of yarn, so I just restarted using white for the waistband and cuffs, and yellow for the main body. I should have photos next time!

No Baby Yet!

Sorry for the long blogging absence. Nowadays if I am out of touch for any length of time people assume that I am having the baby. Under the circumstances this is perfectly reasonable, but it is a bit strange to have so many people waiting with baited breath for any news. As you've gathered from the title, the baby still hasn't made her appearance, even though the doctor says she is head down ready to go. He does predict that she won't be much longer, though, despite the fact that my due date is nearly a month from now. Her size is good and she seems healthy, so at this point we have far less to worry about if she is a little early.

On to how I am keeping busy while on bedrest. First, I am still doing lots of writing and article reviews, etc. for work using my laptop. It's good to feel productive, although I do feel a little bitter doing work while I'm officially on leave. Oh well, this is the nature of academia.

I have also started several new knitting projects. First, I am over halfway done with a chunky scarf in a two by two rib. I am using a wool/acrylic yarn with wonderful mix of fall colors with a strand of gold. It is Moda Dea Cache in the colorway "wink" and the colors are much more muted than you would think based on the photo below.


I also started two new Seija blankets that are extremely overdue gifts. The boy/girl twins were born at the end of November and I gave the happy parents a fairly lame shower gift with the promise of a homemade gift to follow. It seems imperative to get these done before the weather starts getting in the 90's, although they are stroller/carseat blankets so they should still be useful next winter (I hope, or this will just be adding another lame gift to the previous one).


I also started a cute pair of saartjes bootees this weekend using the last bit of some Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. Everyone whose seen them describes them as the cutest booties every, and the pattern is super easy as well. I think our little girl will be wearing these home from the hospital with a matching umbilical cord hat. Here is my progress after about 15 minutes, but there will be sickeningly adorable photos of the finished product soon to follow. Unless of course I really do have the baby, then there might be some delay!

A Dress Rehearsal?

Thanks for the compliments on my belly. For once, having a large belly is actually good! As for how close the big day is, I will be 40 weeks along in 7 weeks. However, the baby may be making her appearance a little sooner than that. Tuesday was my first day of class, so I got up, did some things around the house, and started getting ready for school. I soon realized something wasn't quite right. I called my doctor and ended up being admitted into the hospital for observation. Evidently, my body is trying to jump the gun a little, so I am home resting for a few days. Our goal is to make it to at least February 4 before this little one makes her debut, but the hubby and I are really hoping for longer. Her room isn't ready yet, and we haven't even bought a carseat! Just another lesson to remind us that we are no longer in control, I suppose.

The baby has also been on my mind for knitting as well. Take for example this knitted beach outfit from the book I received from Jennifer. I don't want to make it using as many colors (the hubby says that it looks too "court jester" the way it is), but the idea of the baby in this cute romper and hat at the beach was too much to resist. As luck would have it, soon after falling in love with the pattern I went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company with Theresa of Knitting Underway. She and the hubby helped me pick out some adorable yarn so I can make it for the baby. I plan to use the blue for the main body and the green for trim. The hat would alternate the two colors.

Vegas, Baby

I wanted to post a quick New Year's post before the hubby and I drive off to Vegas for the weekend. Yes, we plan to have a rockin' good time in the city that never sleeps, particularly since my current bedtime is about 9:30 pm (being 7 months pregnant does cut into your night life). My younger brother is getting married, though, so I am really looking forward to the trip. Perhaps I will post some lovely photos of me looking very pregnant in my dress when I get back, if there actually are any photos that turn out lovely (I've heard that an extra large bouquet was ordered to offset my belly, so we'll see).

Much like other folks, I wanted to post a recap of 2007. Last year I basically gave myself three "resolutions" for 2007. How did I do? Well, not nearly as well as I'd hoped considering how low I set the bar, but to be fair to myself I had a busier than average year (new house, pregnancy).

1. organize, organize, organize
We moved into our house about 6 months later than planned, so this organization was really stalled by that (that's my official excuse, anyway). However, my wonderful husband just put all my crafting stuff in the office closet so I could easily access it. Really, is it any wonder I married him?

2. finish the projects in my sidebar
Actually, I've nearly used up all the really, really old yarn in my stash. It seems like there are some yarns I've made into a million different things and still have a skein or two left, but progress has been made. I recently finished several projects and then started a few new projects (posts coming soon).

3. Learn to cable and do colorwork
Hmm, not sure why I never got around to working on these types of projects, but I do think I'm ready to do some more complicated stuff. I did do some actual lace, which was quite fun.

Finally, I have been working through my nonstartitus (inability to start new projects) and have actually cast on for a new project. The pastels should probably give it away that this is indeed for the new baby, but also may reveal a little something more about the baby that you may have missed in my last post. Yep, it's a girl! I am making a fuzzy sweater for her to wear when we visit her grandparents in frigid Wisconsin.

A Project Stalemate

Lately I've had the opposite of startitus. I haven't wanted to start anything. I think part of the problem is that several of the projects that I think I should start are fairly intimidating. For example, to really start the body of the Schachenmayr sweater (at the bottom of the page) I would have to swatch the lace pattern, which would require reading the chart and, you know, paying attention to what I'm doing. I just don't want to do something that requires that much thought. I think I may have to find a more mindless project for the time being. To be fair, part of why I didn't do anything complext is that this past week I was on vacation here:

Yes, it's San Francisco and that's a photo of the Bay Bridge. The hubby and I spent so much time enjoying the city that I was too tired to knit in the hotel room. I know, rough, huh? I did start one new project, a baby kimona from Mason-Dixon Knitting in a nice gender neutral yellow cotton-ease.



I am also thinking of swatching for Knit and Tonic's flair. It looks good for the SoCal climate and has no complicated lace or anything.

Reports of my death....

are greatly exaggerated. - Mark Twain

So, yah, I'm not actually dead, just distracted. This past week and half it was difficult to get any blogging (reading or posting) done, for several reasons. First, I had a wonderful, crafty visitor. My good friend K was visiting from New York, and we spent lots of time together discussing projects, visiting craft shops, and seeing the sights of Southern California. There's nothing like hanging out with someone as entranced with crafty stuff as you! Despite my vow of a yarn diet until we move into our new house, a couple skeins did manage to follow me home. I needed yarn to make the 8-ball tea cozy from SnB Nation for a good friend. Is he a fan of tea you ask? Well, no, not to my knowledge. He is, however, a pool shark, and upon learning that I had gone gaga for knitting asked in his best Philly accent, "so, you like make tea cozies and stuff then?" A perfect opportunity for a tea cozy with irony, if you ask me. I have no doubt that he will display it with pride. Here is the yarn I picked, some nice black and white Cascade 220:

And the other reason I have been MIA? Classes are starting in a week! Today I finally finished putting the final touches on my syllabi and have been tweaking my first week lectures. I also read over my course evaluations for fall of last year to get some pointers, since I am teaching the same schedule. They were mostly positive and the critiques were either things I had planned to address or are just differences of opinion (yes, I do go through a lot of information, but this is a high level class people so get over it). All my courses are completely full, so this semester will likely be a handful! Hopefully, once I get into the swing of things I will have more time to blog (it's a great way to avoid grading ;)

And finally, I have been nominated by jenfrom RI at Newton's Knitting as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! I feel a bit shy of "rockin" lately, but I'll do my best to live up to the title.

My Congested Hat

I have a severe dust allergy. Oh sure, you say, we all sneeze when we encounter a little dust. This allergy goes way beyond that. An allergist once told me that on a scale of one to four, four being the worst, I was a five-plus (this is after he put the offending allergen under my skin, resulting in a rash which nearly sent me to the emergency room). At the time I decided that I really needed to take care of myself and acknowledge my limitations and give up any hobbies that were bad for my allergies. I decided that quilting would be my main hobby and I would give up everything else in the interest of good health. However, I discovered that taking a quilt in your purse to work on while you wait at the dentist is a little impractical. I've now decided to compromise and be careful about storing yarn in sealed bags inside plastic containers. Unfortunately, I am still trying to use up some fairly old yarn and it causing me to get congested every time I knit with it. I present to you my congestion-causing version of the beret, Le Slouch:Barring any significant allergic reactions, I hope to finish it quickly and move on to more healthy yarns. This week I also finished the knitting on the spiderweb capelet. I need to block it, crochet the ties, and make pom-poms for the ends of the ties. For my first real lace project, I think it turned out pretty well. I would also like to thank Theresa for the lovely yarn she gifted me. She sent some beautiful lace weight that I plan to use to for Mystery Stole 3, and as "padding" she included some Bernat cotton in a sunny yellow. How sweet is that?

Summer Knitting

Even though some disagree, summer can be a fun time to knit, as long as you put away that heavy wool sweater and pull out some warm weather yarns. As for patterns, anything lacy and full of holes is a good choice. To that end, I have started the spiderweb capelet from SnB Nation. The capelet is actually for me, to keep the chill off my shoulders on cool summer evenings.

Working on the capelet should be good practice, since I recently joined Mystery Stole 3. Not wanting to break my trend of joining a lace knitalong every summer (last summer it was The Amazing Lace), I convinced myself it would be a good idea. This was assisted by the extremely generous offer from Theresa of Knitting Underway, who graciously offered to send me the lace weight yarn leftover from one the most impressive lace projects ever, the 8-ft by 8-ft chuppah she made for a friend's wedding. Thanks Theresa!

Next is the ball-band dishcloth which is a gift for a friend. As many before me have said, these dishcloths are fun!
In addition to the capelet and the mystery shawl, I have several other cotton and/or short sleeve sweaters in the queue. It would seem that my summer will be full of knitting!