Rivah Quilt Guild Retreat 2008

My Mom and I drove out to join my aunt in the Northern Neck of Virginia for the Rivah Quilt Guild annual retreat. I've mentioned this for months now, and in the end it was everything I'd hoped for! I had a complete blast hanging out with these experienced quilters (nevermind that I'm 20-30 years younger than the youngest of them). They were kind and generous with their knowledge, and I think were a bit surprised that I'm not half bad for a beginning quilter. Just a bit slower than them!

I spent most of the retreat working on my Storm at Sea quilt. The blocks will fly together once I get all the fiddly bits done, but before starting to assemble the parts in assembly line fashion, I completed one beautiful block. The colors are exactly what I was hoping for, and the blocks together will make beautiful stormy waves. I plan to finish this one as soon as I possibly can, because I want to hang it over my sofa!


Mom started and finished her quilt top while we were there:


And Aunt Barb completed her quilt top, too:


We were set up in stations, two to a table. My neighbor, Jeanie, was a very lovely and very helpful lady- she gave me lots of tips and tricks for working on my aunt's gorgeous Bernina. It's going to be hard to go back to my (perfectly adequate) machines. First, my station:


And the rest of the working area:


One afternoon we worked on a challenge to complete a Sudoku puzzle, and then piece fabric squares in order based on the puzzle to make a completed little quilt top. My family all rose to the challenge, but none of us completed it first to win the prize! This is one of the ladies showing off her work in progress, with the completed sample quilt in front:


Another fun part of the trip was that every person was paired with a Secret Pal. My Secret Pal treated me well- I received some great quilting supplies (needles and little cutting mats and things), an adorable flowerpot pincushion, and a good bit of chocolate. Mom loved her little gifts, too!


I also cast on for my Mystery Stole 4 again- this time with white pearl beads. It looks so much better than it did with clear beads, so I hope to get caught up with clues 1, 2, and 3 this weekend before I go back to work.

The only unfortunate part of this trip was entirely my fault- I took Autumn Rose to work on, and as my mom and aunt and I are looking at it on a kitchen table, we all realized that it is just too darn small. So I finally had the gumption to check my gauge. Despite having done a gauge swatch, my fair isle was significantly smaller than when I did that little bit of test knitting, and I was off by at least 4-6 stitches from gauge. Across a sweater, that was enough to take it from my size to WAY too small. I'm suitably upset with myself, but so be it- I ripped out the whole thing, back to the corrugated ribbing (which was plenty big for my hips, at least). I didn't even tear up, but it will be some time before I attempt that one again! For the record, I apparently need to go up at least two needle sizes- it calls for a 2, and the 3 was too tiny. I'll try a four next time, and check my gauge a lot sooner!

In closing, I am so glad that we were invited to go on the retreat. The food was amazing (catered, delicious, plentiful, and we only had to cook breakfast!). The women were informative and welcoming. The campground where we were staying and crafting was well maintained, and the staff treated us very well. I hope to be able to attend next year! In the meantime, I have found a local guild that meets on Monday evenings, and I might just join them. I am not an accomplished quilter, but I have a lot of interest, and I feel like I have so much to learn. I don't feel daunted by anything in knitting, really- I figure with a pattern and time I can do just about anything I desire to knit. I can teach it, I can fix my own and others' mistakes, and generally I feel perfectly comfortable with it. I'm finding the challenge of sewing to be very suited to me at this moment in my life- I'm ready for something a bit harder, a bit foreign. I don't know all the terms, or how to do a lot of it. I don't know the tips and tricks like I do with knitting, my more native craft. It's exciting- and unlike sewing apparel (or knitting sweaters off-gauge), I don't have to worry about whether or not it will fit. What a delight!

Self portraits

I never end up taking photos of myself unless I'm modeling knitted garments (badly) or I have a new haircut. I have just tons of haircut photos, because I am always excited to document the new 'do. Taking photos today, after my first haircut in far far too long, I realized I take the same photos, from the same angle, pretty much every time. Instead of doing a little comparison, I'll just post a few typical shots. My hair, as I suspected, is just plain brown now. The last of the highlights has been cut off, and for now at least I'm pleased with having entirely my natural color. Even if my natural color is about 5 shades darker than I ever dreamed I could handle. Still no gray, so no reason to think about coloring for some time yet.





It's not all skipping out on work early to get long-needed haircuts around here. I'm still plugging away on Autumn Rose.


Here's a very depressing shot of all the ends to be woven in. I'll probably start soon, since it might take as long as knitting the sweater!

Growing Autumn Rose

Delicious.

Recuperation

I apparently have been feeling more down and exhausted than even I realized- I slept until a pretty obscene hour today, getting a solid eleven or more hours of sleep. Sometimes after oversleeping you end up feeling even more tired and out of your head, but apparently I needed it- I feel really lovely. Like I've finally caught up a bit. I took the recuperative feeling and did a whole bunch of laundry and tidied up a bit. Just having a clear area near the front door makes a huge difference in this little efficiency. I started putting together my projects to take on the quilting retreat, and have just started sewing down the binding on my handmade gift for the gift exchange. I spent a fair bit of the afternoon working on Autumn Rose, too.

I am the slowest hand sewer on the planet, I think. I'm a good 15 minutes into watching Project Runway, and have completed about an inch of this binding. Thank goodness for sewing machines. I still feel like if I practiced more, I'd be better at it- and I'm thinking I would like to hand sew and quilt a doll quilt in the not so distant future. I also am definitely going to be making this out of a jelly roll at some point: Quilted Patchwork Hot Pads. I adore the thought of pre-cut fabrics that can be quickly stitched together, removing a lot of the prep work.

I also wound up some yarn for a few projects I'd like to start this weekend- obviously I don't have enough going on. The first is Mystery Stole 4. I participated in MS3 until it got to the wing, and nearly completed the symmetrical version. I'm hoping I like MS4 a bit better. The first clue came out on Friday, and it's so tiny that I feel certain I can finish it before week two comes out next Friday morning.

The beads are from Beadworks in Cambridge, MA, and the yarn is Tess Designer Yarns Superwash Lace- the same yarn I used for Hanami and absolutely loved. It's gorgeous and a breeze to work with.


I also pulled out some Dream in Color Smooshy in a beautiful barely variegated brown to make the vine socks from the latest Interweave Knits. I can't believe my sock yarn stash is large enough that I can make both sock patterns in this issue- I'm a very slow and inconsistent sock knitter, but I love the thought of little vines and bobbles on my legs. I think I'll only put the bobbles above the shoe line, so I can wear them with my adorable little red embroidered shoes.

Home again home again

I had all these fantastic plans for this weekend. But with a hurricane (tropical storm) heading my way, I'm thinking this would be a great weekend to be a complete recluse. I want to hit up the farmer's market early before the rain hits, and then just hide in my apartment and knit like the wind. Maybe I'll even make my RenFest skirt, so I'm prepared for October.

I would like to get out on Sunday, if the rain isn't bad, to see the Jim Henson exhibit downtown. I hear I could get a Kermie lanyard there for my badge at work- it's just the fashion statement I need. I also want to see the exhibit. I'm just awfully excited by the thought of a Kermit the Frog lanyard.

I finally watched Obama's speech. I've been pretty uninspired about this election. Mostly regretting being here in DC, where it is generally the only topic of conversation. What can I say? I'm finally a bit inspired.

I'm watching I'm Not There and knitting on Autumn Rose. It's the most frustrating thing I think I've ever knit- I watched a half hour speech (plus some applause on either side) and finished one row. It is definitely not a quick knit, but it's getting more familiar. And it's stunning. Most frustrating? Sure. Most beautiful? You bet. I had these silly hopes of finishing it in time to wear for my birthday, at Rosh Hashana services. Never going to happen. That's just as well- it'll probably be 80 degrees here, anyways.

Ah, DC. Land of politics. Land of exceeding warmth. And somehow, home.

Labor Day weekend recap

In a few photos and a few words:

I love books. I finished The Book Thief, which was truly amazing, on Friday before I left. I read another two books while I was gone.

I love the train. It's such a beautiful way to travel, so spacious, easy to knit, and no security check-in at the airport. Also, costs the same and takes the same amount of time (in traffic) as driving. What a win.

I love my parents. We had a very quick and enjoyable time- good amount of card games, Mom conquering her fear of the slide at the pool, crafting. Always good to see the folks, and not having to drive there made it all the sweeter.

I love crafts.






And yes, mother, I swear I will sew the binding down soon. As soon as I watch my third Netflix disc of the day (did I mention long train-ride?)

Fun when moving

I haven't had a lot of fun time lately- lots of writing for work, and packing, and trying to read a bit, and of course I have another work essay to write by this Sunday and I have to finish packing by next Thursday.

What fun time I've had, though, has mostly been knitting. Still haven't blocked Hanami (for shame! I should do that this weekend). I did finish the first Kaffe sock, and I've finished the cuff of the second. I'm making them not matching. On purpose. Something about the fun stripes leads me to believe that if I make them the same, they will lose a bit of their eclectic cool. I want them to not match up. Me, the incredibly anal knitter. If I hate it once I get to the heel, I could always rip them out and make them match... but I doubt I'll be tempted.

Autumn Rose has been sitting neglected ever since I started these socks. I have this dream that I'll finish packing almost everything on Saturday, and write my paper then, too, so Sunday I can sit around and watch Netflix and knit. I know reality isn't going to allow any of that to happen, but I can dream!

I went to see Live at the 9:30 Club last night. It was a stellar show- the opener was surprisingly talented, and I'm still in love with Live. They played some great hits from their back catalog, and stayed away from playing too much of the recent stuff (which, realistically, isn't why their fan base goes to see them). The crowd was so different to me than the usual 9:30 Club fare. I usually feel like I'm the only boring normal late-20-something at that venue, surrounded by cool cats and hipsters and skinny girls in skinny jeans. Live fans seem to trend a decade or two older than that, and let me just say that I felt kinda thin. And oh boy, I'm not thin. I'm not judging, I should note... it was actually very refreshing to look around the crowd at a rock show and go "wow, I fit in here." Usually I feel like a bit of an interloper- I'm just not cool enough for the nifty indie bands I love. Music transcends age, but it definitely is part of a moment. I'm glad Live's moment has been going on for a decade and a half. After all, this was my third or fourth time seeing them, and every time I'm more impressed with their talents and the vocals and the rock'n'roll soul they share so willingly with the audience. Over 1100 people showed up.

My only complaint is with myself. I remembered my camera (for once)... but I didn't charge the battery, so it died after one photo of the opening band. I'm a terrible photographer, less due to skill and more due to idiocy! So it goes.

Photography!

I complained, and after about a minute's search the camera was found. Apparently I put it in the pink purse... why there? Who knows. I'm brilliant.

At any rate, I have proof! Beautiful proof that I knit!

Autumn Rose, the beginnings:


A close-up with truer colors:


Jeanie, for perspective


A close-up of Jeanie- I'm just past the first dropped stitches


And of course, I did finish the Snowflake Socks from Interweave for my roommate's (belated) Christmas gift. They are super cute on her! Voila, an FO for 2008.


Even more photos to come tomorrow...

Music and Musing on Autumn Rose

This weekend was fantastic. On multiple counts, even. I got to have delicious steak and equally delicious conversation on Friday night with the boy, and I spent Saturday swatching and casting on for Autumn Rose.

No really. I'm almost done with the corrugated ribbing! You'd think aliens came by and stole my usual placid boring non-swatching self. As always, I had to go up a needle size. I may knit tight, but at least I knit consistently tight. I started out with the Addi Naturas... I hate them. I've switched to the metal Addi's and am already significantly happier with my work. I'm hoping to finish the ribbing on the train tomorrow, so I can come home and do the prep row for my beautiful colorwork! I also need to make copies of the charts- the book is far too large for convenient metro knitting.

Saturday night the boy, my friend Stephanie, and I went to dinner in Arlington- Whitlow's on Wilson will evidently become one of my new haunts in my new neighborhood! As we were waiting to order, I was watching the door and said "huh, that guy looks like Dan... only taller." Silly me. It was indeed my friend Dan. He lives in Southwest... his friends mostly seem to live in Bethesda... so that was a pretty random meeting! I think the whole world is coallescing in Arlington nowadays. After dinner, we went to Iota to see my favorite rockers, Fools & Horses. I was completely unimpressed by the first act, since they were a bit too Christian rock and way too feedback-full for any kind of enjoyment. The middle act was rocking, however. The Sometime Favorites had a really great sound, and I definitely want to check out their music a bit more. Their rendition of Gin & Juice had the whole crowd singing along. The night was of course capped by the boys of F&H, who I have adored from their humble(r) beginnings and will always love. Their new song "Selfish" screams radio to me, and if I don't hear them all over the local rock stations soon then those people are craaazy. A good crowd stayed to see them, and my roommate and her boyfriend joined us midway through the show as well. A good time was apparently had by all, since most of us left humming their music. Or in my case, still singing it- I can't help knowing the words! Jamie is pretty enthused by them as well, and good taste in music is a key component in any boyfriend. My only regret from the night was not bringing my camera- it seems to be missing in action. We had awesome seats at the bar, and then right in front of the stage for F&H, and I could have snapped some great shots in that brightly lit venue. I'm not much of a shutterbug, but I was definitely kicking myself in this case.

Speaking of music, on this tangent, March is a crazy music month. We're seeing Jonathan Coulton again (my 4th time, Jamie's 3rd, our second together as a couple, since we met at his show at the Birchmere in August). We're not fans or anything. Then we'll be seeing Live at 9:30 Club's "Surprise! At the Club!" show. And I also have tickets to see The Mountain Goats, up from Raleigh where my pal Abby blogs them with love. I really want to see them live, but I'm a bit nervous about trying to catch a show on moving day. I guess if it all goes smoothly, I can nap and then head downtown. Hmm.

The Stupor Bowl festivities were a bit lacking in vim this year due to them being all-vegetarian and almost-all-healthy. Most of us had a glass of wine, and I think my friend Adam even managed a beer- but the mulled cider was the drink of choice. If everyone hadn't had to drive, mayhaps it would have gone differently. I worked on Autumn Rose during the game, and then consoled myself with some easy-peasy Hanami once my Pats LOST. Oh cruel world. Work tomorrow will be insufferable. At least I have Autumn Rose to see me through! And twilight yoga at 6pm, if I can somehow get out of work on time. Yoga is my new knitting. Except for the part where I knit obsessively, and am an inflexible beginner yogi, once a week... gotta start somewhere!

Knit knit knit!

I may not have had visible signs of my knitting to post lately, but I have by no means been ignoring it. I knit like a madwoman over the weekend, in fact. In between naps and long long sleeps at night- it's been a stressful week and I spent most of the weekend attempting to recover. My back has hunched up in pain again, but with the help of my back exercises and yoga, I think that the pain is manageable. Hurray, this winter will not repeat last winter's physical therapy regimen!

As to what I have been knitting so industriously... I am back on Hanami full-time to finish her before the cherry blossom festival. How could I live in DC and not model my shawl in front of the cherry blossoms which she depicts?

She is very much a she. And I have completed the basketweave section, and am moving into the blossom part. This is fantastic! It is flowing through my fingers so fast I really need to wind up my next ball of yarn.

I have a photo or two as proof, but I think I need to save them for a few days. Letting that expectation build. It's all about delayed gratification around here!

Wonder if I'll ever swatch for Autumn Rose this month... or finish a certain special project that's due next week from my sewing queue... Goals are made to be ignored.

And the 2008 -alongs begin

Have you noticed, dear reader, that my right hand navigation has been updated? Probably not, since you surely subscribe to my RSS. No matter, here's the scoop!

Mystery Stole 3: the button is gone. Yes, I never finished it. I'm something of a failure that way. Although I prefer to think of it less as a failure, and more a solid grounding in lace theory. I might finish it... someday. Knowing that I'm only a week's worth of knitting away doesn't help, somehow.

ABC-Along: A challenge to post photos for each letter of the alphabet, every two weeks. I'd love to think a bit more creatively with photography (being not much of a photographer at all... I use it for documentation of family and knitting, hardly for art). This should be a good challenge for me, and if I work in knitting that's fine, too! I have a few days to post my "A" entry, and I have a few ideas.

Project spectrum: Lolly most likely doesn't remember me from college, but I do remember her. More to the point, I love her knitting and her use of color. I've held back from participating in the past, but I think this year (the year of knitting for me?) I am more prepared to think critically about color and tone and looking at the world through more varied colored glasses. After all, most of my recent projects were shades of green or blue- isn't it time to mix it up? Fire is the first element we are exploring this year, and I have some beautiful burgundies and rust colored yarns to use. I'd hazard the guess that I'm most closely aligned with the Fire colors- my blog is all over red and pink. I'm still doubtful about orange, but my Jayne Hat will fit the bill. I'm hoping that I will also use Project Spectrum as another excuse to amp up my photography skills. Surely I can get some ABC-along shots, too! It all comes together.

In Love with Autumn Rose knitalong: Still going on this. Rather, I have never begun. My kit arrived, and I have been just plain scared of it. My goal for the month is to swatch the darn thing- let's keep our expectations low! Casting on would be a great step for February.

Anne of Green Gables knit-and-read-along: This knitalong is going much better than the others. It is nearly over, and I am on track- with half of January left, I have only Rilla of Ingleside left to read. I completed the Endpaper and Fetching mitts (very almost-Victorian!), and I can imagine Anne knitting snowflake socks for Gilbert in their later years. Why not? Everyone needs fun socks. I didn't finish my Philosopher's Wool sweater, but I did start it. That's a good first step.

Coming up: A is not for apple.

Don't get whiplash

I just can't do it. I knew this might happen, and it seems to be happening.

I wrote almost 2000 words already. And then I just... cracked. I can't write a novel this month. I have work commitments that need to be completed (in fact, that's what I'll be doing quite a bit of Saturday, I suspect). I hadn't realized the full extent of my commitments to GesherCity this month. We're talking 2-3 events each week.

And I got more than a little bit of a guilt trip from certain friends of a significant nature.

But don't think I'm stepping away from the challenge completely. I still may try to sneak it into my schedule. But darnit, I'm going to go to my knitting group tonight. And afterwards (or maybe there) I'm going to swatch Autumn Rose if it kills me.

You, you sweater you... you WILL be done in November. Cue the evil laughter.

I think my sudden change of heart may have been spurred by realizing I already hate my protagonist. I don't want to get to know her better. Why not quit while I'm ahead?

Oh, and here's my pretty little washcloth! Do I smell holiday gifts? Please disregard my apparent inability to weave in ends. This took longer than it should have- I watched an episode of House, two episodes of Rome, and the season finale of Battlestar Gallactica, season one. But I suspect the next one would be much faster. It would also be helpful if I could locate which project is using my size 7 KnitPicks Options needles, since I was required to do the whole thing on DPNs yesterday. It worked, but it was a bit tangly.

Best laid plans...

Reviewing my UFOs yesterday didn't help as much as I thought it would. For one thing, I realized that I'm in an awful lot of knit-alongs right now. And I want to do them! I'm beginning to wonder if I can really do NaNoWriMo this year or not.

Here's my rationale for the moment, until I switch back to wanting to write. If I don't write after all, I could do some marvelous stuff. For example, I could swatch and start knitting Autumn Rose. Which I very much want to do.

And I am also in the Anne Knit-and-Read-Along. Someone on Ravelry noted that they're going to do a Philosopher's Wool sweater for the knitalong. Weeeeell. Philosopher's Wool is Canadian. Anne is Canadian. The pattern is traditional fair isle. 1907 is traditional (err, old). I have the kit for their Garden Patch sweater, and in fact I bought it at Sheep and Wool. Not last year... the year before. Oops.

So maybe I will have to reconsider my goals for November. Is it better to write a bad shoddy novel that will never be published anyways... or to knit two beautiful fair isle sweaters that I will be able to wear and enjoy for decades to come?

I swear, if these are the difficult decisions of my adult life I am a charmed woman. Good thing I have a few more weeks to decide one way or the other. I guess if I choose to knit, I could sign up for NaSweKniMo instead...but could I realistically knit an entire fair isle sweater in the month of November? I guess if the goal is 50,000 stitches, I could distribute that over both sweaters. Ponderponder.

Don't both of them beg to be knitted?

Home sweet home

I went away for vacation, and all I got was a stinking cold. Or sinus infection. We'll see.

Buuut it was otherwise great fun. I'll surely update my Flickr soon with my (hundreds) of photos of fun with the parental unit. In knitting news, I completed over half of a super-secret holiday knitting project (so secret that you can't have a progress photo). But it's cute.

I cannot print out the lace charts for Seraphim until I buy color ink or go to work and print it there. So that didn't get to go with me on vacation. And I realized all my other projects weren't portable. C'est la vie!

My Autumn Rose yarn and book arrived while I was away. They are sitting on the floor in the living room, waiting for me to swatch. For the safety of all concerned, I'm waiting on that until my nasal passages clear up a bit- way too many nose bleeds for comfort in knitting! Nevermind that I probably can't handle fair isle with this cold...

Coming up in October (oh goodness, it *is* October!) is the Anne Knit-and-Read-Along. So! I need to decide what I'm knitting for that. And start reading the first two books. How exciting! Fall is the very best time of year.

Knitalong Happy

Seraphim continues apace- I've got 61 stitches in each of the stockinette pattern sections, which means I have only another trillion increase rows to go. Trillion may be putting it strongly. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, for essentially knitting stockinette fabric for most of the shawl.

Brian's sweater is so close to finishing I can taste it- I completed the sleeves, picked up and knit the neck, and sewed the sleeves to the body. I even wove in a bunch of ends. All that's left is to seam up the sleeves and the sides of the sweater, but that is apparently proving to be too much for me. After all, just the two small seams and the collar took me 3.5 hours. Did I mention this is a huge sweater? Maybe I'll go home and finish it tonight.

Or I could go to a new knitting group and work on Seraphim. Hmm!

In other knitty news, I have joined my third knitalong. MS3 is essentially over, though I have 3 more charts to complete before my shawl is actually done. Clue 4 has two charts, and then I have to do the inset piece to bind my two symmetrical sides together. My Autumn Rose fair isle can't get going until the yarn gets off backorder- presumably the 25th, and they will ship it after that. It's quite likely that the yarn will not arrive before I head out on vacation, so I will not be starting that until at least the second week of October. Then yesterday (care of Ravelry), I discovered the Anne of Green Gables Read and Knit Along and I'm in love. I truly adore LM Montgomery. I have all but the most recently printed couple of books- all lined up in a row of my bookshelf. The goal of the knitalong is to read two books a month, October through January. And knit something Anne-related while doing so. I'm suspecting I would like to knit a counterpane or a tablecloth. This is one nice resource for vintage patterns: the Antique Pattern Library. I could also just make some military-issue WWI era socks, but that's not the challenge I'm hoping for. I need to bear in mind that November is inside the KAL months, however, and I might not be knitting or reading a thing that month. If I decide to write another novel. I will probably try to read one of the books for that month in October and December, respectively. No worries.

I don't just dream in color, I dream in fair isle. Don't you?

Oh, what an exciting Monday. I am not sure I can make this coherent, because it is all just too exciting.

First, I get quoted on DCist for my review of Firefly- the DC restaurant, not the TV series... though I do love both wholeheartedly. I love DCist because it tells me when and where to go, what I need to know about my fair city, etc. Also it hooks me up with events like seeing Jasper Fforde in person (so funny!) and on Friday, William frikkin Gibson! Cyberpunk FTW! That's assuming I don't check out one of the restaurants that has extended Restaurant Week, or head over to CityZen with a coworker for their astonishingly almost-inexpensive 3-course tasting meal- there are so many choices. I love DC!

I also love DCist because it brings random people to my blog, who are then exposed to knitting content. Hello, random people...

Right. That was a good start to a Monday. But then it got even better- some local knit ladies have started a knitalong for Eunny Jang's gorgeous sweater, Autumn Rose. It is a stunning fair isle sweater that, frankly, I have coveted since I first saw it on her blog. It isn't just fair isle. It's fair isle for a modern figure. It scoops, it flatters, it curves, it would look just as good on a busty thing like me as on a little waify girl... what I'm saying is that it is HOT. You can check out some photos in the Simply Shetland 4 book, at Simply Shetland. I really have to knit this sweater; it's just the perfect fair isle. So let's forget about that Philosopher's Wool beauty I have sitting balled up and ready to go. And that baby sweater that was going to be my first fair isle project. And the trillion projects I have going right now. I simply *must* knit and wear that sweater this winter.

That is perhaps a bit dramatic. But it would definitely give me more street cred in the office as an accomplished knitter! It's not just that the sweater is amazing- but I get to be part of this In Love With Autumn Rose knitalong! Since I should have my MS3 done very shortly, I'm feeling ready to get the yarn for this sucker and cast on, leaving my holiday gift knitting plans in its wake.

Now, we all know it won't happen that way. I'll manage to create a bunch of gifts. I will probably even compete in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again this November. But somehow, I will manage to do this knitalong, and I will hopefully end up with a gorgeous Autumn Rose of my very own. I'm giving myself two weeks to finish MS3 and at least one gift, before I can buy the yarn. But then it will be September- what an excellent birthday gift for myself! Mm, yarn. Mm, sexy fair isle. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Oh, did I mention that I saw Casablanca on the National Mall tonight? A perfect evening, perfect weather, and a perfect movie, marred only by not knitting (I didn't want to fade the yarn in the sunlight). Let me say it again- I love DC.