I ordered this knitting kit: FROSTROSEN Mittens

Today was a pretty good day. My knee is not bothering me so much, I got my job offer letter by e-mail, I got my Dansko shoes in the mail, physical therapy went well also.

I knit a two layer flower today - I think I'll give it to Michelle. Now if I can only motivate myself to cook the cookie dough I mixed up 4 days ago...

Yesterday I finished my Branching Out scarf - FINALLY! I started it in spring and set it aside for a long time. I decided to do 21 repeats twice and grafted the seperate ends together in the middle.

New Pattern by d-made

Twisted Latice Cabled Hat
This hat is made from Araucania Nature Cotton.

Here are some photos of a few things I've been working on:
Last night Jesper wrapped me up. Now I have my own body form. It only took an old t-shirt and white duct tape. I also marked my waist and shoulders. Next I need to stuff it. My only complaint is that the tape is pretty stinky.

1 hour baby booties from Stitch N' Bitch Nation - these are probably premie size - my gauge was way off. They are still cute though.

I tried tatting from a book I bought over a year ago.

Another mini sweater


I am getting very tired of sitting all day long. Knitting isn't as fun as it was. My body aches started getting to me after the Percocet wore off last Thursday. I think this week will be better. I found out the I can't go Mt. biking for 6-9 months. That means only flat road biking this summer.

Saturday, Jesper convinced me to go with him to his fancy gym - The Pro Club. I did upper body weight machines mainly. The best part was sitting in the steam room and then the sauna. Total relaxation.

Other news... I just got my "official" offer from Expedia.com! I will start Feb 13th as a Production Assistant. I am so glad I was able to get this opportunity from a good friend's referral right when I was laid off. If I was still where I was, I would be feeling pretty down. I was quite bored at my previous job as I had stopped learning new skills and the work was pretty stagnant.

People are knitting my Traveler sock pattern!.

I think I am going to make another pair today - I will use Cascade Superwash in Charcoal.

Revision made to Rapunzel and Traveler sock:

Deleted the text on second line of pattern:
work 20 sts of pattern across top of foot and K 19 stitches across bottom of foot

I got a better photo tonight at my knitting group. I am loving this sweater. BUT... it's beginning to pill as I expected. Maybe after three good pill shaves it will settle down over time.

Other knitting going on:

• Designing my first sweater - done with one sleeve
  
• Knitting a Kiri shawl out of the itchiest mauve wool - just to de-stash it
  
• Blocked my first half of Branching Out and it looks great
  

No comment regarding my job offer at Expedia - I am waiting for the official stuff to be worked out.

Angela at A Girl's Gotta Knit tagged me, so now you get to learn a little about me....

Four movies you would watch over and over:
Amelie
Fargo
Groundhog Day
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four places you have lived:
Tumawater, WA
Seattle, WA
Bellevue, WA
London, England (OK - just 6 months)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Project Runway
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Martha
The Apprentice

Four places you have been on vacation:
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Sailing - San Juan Islands, WA
Australia - Eastcoast
New Zealand - both islands

Four websites you visit daily:
google.com
bloglines.com
nytimes.com
blogger.com

Four of your favorite foods:
My zuchinni bread
Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream
Chichen Phad Thai
Guacamole burger

Four places you would rather be right now: (without my knee brace)
On the couch knitting - I'm headed there now
On a beachtowel in Mexico
Snowboarding at Mt. Baker
Working at Expedia.com (soon....)

Four bloggers you are tagging:
Jill
Janell
Jen
Mara

I am wearing my Vogue shawl collar sweater - I LOVE IT!

Free Pattern by d-made
Rapunzel Socks - Toe-up House Socks with Staggered Fern Lace Panel and Faux Cable Rib

Yarn Required: 1 Skein Cascade 220
Needles: Size 5 (32" Addi circulars for magic loop) to obtain 22st/4" gauge.

Free Pattern by d-made
Traveler Socks - Toe-up House Socks with Traveling Cable and Rib

Yarn Required: 1 skein Cascade 220
Needles: Size 5 (32" Addi circulars for magic loop) to obtain 22st/4" gauge.

I have the front and back done on my Vogue Shawl Collar Sweater and it seems like it will fit perfectly. I watched Vanity Fair today and was pretty unimpressed with the movie other than the costumes.

For some reason - in the middle of getting over dizziness after my first shower in a week and eating breakfast I had to knit this little crutch. It's 5" tall. I wrote up the pattern as I knit it. Now I can get back to my sweater - I am almost done with the front and will be zooming through the sleeves today.

PATTERN

If you want to see what my knee looks like after surgery - click here.

I've started the Vogue shawl collar sweater today with Elann Peruvian Highland wool. I am almost to the armpit on the back after working only since 2PM. This may be another 4 day sweater! It's going to be perfect with my newest jeans. That is... when I can wear jeans again.

I'm doing pretty good today after my surgery - yesterday I got dizzy easily when moving around.
I didn't walk away from the surgery as easily as I expected, but I'm not in pain - so that's nice. Luckily I have a fabulous nurse on call (Jesper) and am being taken care of very well.

Today I finished knitting a sock - variation of other sock I am about to publish. I will call it Traveler.
THe next friend who comes over is going to be modeling it for me.

I'll be getting knee surgery this morning - we'll see how well knitting and Percocet go together.

I made this little "egg cozy" sweater from leftover Manos on Monday night at Purlygirls.

Schachenmayr Only Stretch and Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran should be a good machine washable alternative for the Cascade 220 Rapunzel sock pattern. It's coming soon - I promise....

The double-pointed needle holder sewing party went really well today. Four people came over and we created our DPN holders. I'm really happy with how mine turned out. I didn't follow any pattern - I created the steps to put it together logically.

I finally finished this UK flag seat cushion! Christine came over and worked on seaming her sweater and I felt like I needed to get something done that was still in progress rather than start a new project.

No new projects until after my interview Monday. I've been spending time revising the source files of my webpage in HTML and they look so nice and clean now! I am much more happy to have prospective employers "View Source" than I was three days ago.

I have a new pattern written up! It's for socks... Here is a sneak peak. I am just going to have it test knit and then it's free for you all to knit. Get your Cascade 220 and size 5 needles ready.

I have spent a few too many hours on this starting and restarting to now find out that it is WAY too big for my yoga mat! I am making the "Om Yoga Mat Bag" from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. I need to restart this again for a skinnier bag - Grr. At least it will go quicker with less stitches!

I finished up this pair of gloves this weekend. Another abandoned project out of the way.

I started designing a thick sock made from Cascade 220 this weekend. I am writing it up and will hopefully have it posted after someone test knits it. It is a toe up sock with a lace panel. It's a fast project on size 5 needles. I can't wait to share it.

Other good news: I can drive! Oh, the freedom!

Went to the Dr. today and got the results of my MRI... I have bruise bones, a torn meniscus and a completely torn ACL - so I have surgery on January 17th. Other good things happened today though. I got a nice new brace that has a hinge so I can walk quite well - maybe even drive soon. I also have two phone interviews coming up which is a relief after hearing nothing back from my job search.

Today I cooked a lot. I made homemade lasagna noodles - and eventually lasagna. Homemade noodles are really nice! I finally made the Tiramisu I'd been meaning to make for X-mas. Will get to taste tomorrow after the flavors set.

Now for knitting show off...
My vogue jacket is complete - I even put in gussets to the armholes.

And my favorite scarf pattern to knit in a jiffy... the multi-directional scarf.

I posted my gallery of photos from our New Years Cruise here. We sailed for 4 days and nights and visited Port Madison, Blake Island, Gig Harbor and Des Moines this weekend.

I knit a lot. I started the multi-directional scarf and pretty much finished it except for the last triangle, which is stumping me.
I made Jesper a hat while we motored through the canal Thursday night and it was done by the time we were out of the locks. I brought two lace projects that had been abandoned and revived them. I have made great headway on the NW lace shawl border and am on the second half of the branching out scarf.
Gig Harbor seems to have a nice little yarn store, too bad they were closed. We'll be sailing back there this summer I'm sure.
Today I am job hunting online and tonight I'll be working on the armpit gusset for that Vouge jacket.