Everybody Loves Saturday Night

june? really?

what is it about trips back home that make me not want to blog when I return? We got back from Minnesota last week, and I spent the weekend not blogging, not even reading blogs. Of course, this is possibly due to our internet connection going on and off so frequently and persistently that there hasn't been enough time to really read or write or post anything...and now there seems to be another problem, so this will have to be posted later.

My stepsister's wedding was lovely, and I really like the man she married. He comes attached with a fantastic family too. I had been worried about wedding weekend overload (there were four days of scheduled events), but it turned out to be a great way to get to know some of the extended family.

The highlight was The Neph, resplendent in his suit and  getting into the music:

Love that tyke. More pictures on Flickr, including one of him in Trellis.

And it was nice to get together with Anne and John and playing games at Chatterbox. The four of us make for a pretty damn impressive trivia team. Perhaps we should go on the road. My favorite question was something about what kind of fabric varieties include Harris and Donegal. I love when knitting knowledge is useful in other arenas.

Speaking of knitting...

I launched the Adamas shawl to keep me occupied on our flights--here's a progress shot:

The yarn is KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Midnight Heather. Had it in the stash for a long, long time. I have to say, I am not enthralled with it, but for no real clear reason. It might have to do with having to go down three needle sizes in order to get the results I wanted. The pattern calls for US 5s. What is that?  I'm not even a particularly loose or tight knitter. US 2s were what I needed to get the lace I wanted, but to be honest, the thought of working a 72" wide shawl on 2s was too much for me. So I'm working this on 3s. Don't ask why 3s are any better. But clearly the .25mm difference makes a significant psychological impact. I'm not totally thrilled with the openness I'm getting, but I can live with it.

(Those using 5s for this yarn must be incredibly tight knitters. I'm just sayin'.)

And I have a new project on the needles: Eloise, from Jane Ellison's Noro Knits. Again, I've had the yarn for this sweater for about three years. It's Noro Blossom, a very soft blend of wool, kid mohair, silk and nylon.

This is color 7, which I believe is discontinued. I'd been thinking about this sweater for months, and when I went to retrieve the yarn I noticed that I only had 8 skeins instead of the 10 I needed. Why I bought only 8 is beyond me. But I went on eBay and found someone selling the exact dyelot I needed, so I swiped two skeins.

I started a sweeve (that's swatch + sleeve: thanks, Brainy!) on Sunday and, compared to my other knitting, this one's going nice and quick:

12" and the increases are done. I added a couple extra increases because the given amount was going to be a little too tight. And while this sweater is my "Optimistic Size I Will Be By Sweater Weather" project (I'm on South Beach, Day 5 and all's well), I've learned that I tend to make armholes a wee bit too tight.

I'm already on the second ball of yarn, which makes me nervous.

Blossom is so, so nice all knit up:

Click for larger image

It really should be photographed amidst flowers, but all I had available at the time was Scout.

 

mall of america

Dieties help me, I'm spending the weekend at the Mall of America. I fly out today, and while I'll be stuck working on Saturday and Sunday, I will be able to see friends and, most importantly, The Neph. (Who is almost a year old, can you believe it?)

I'll be taking the Endpaper Mitts, the Baseball Hat, a sock and the Flower Basket Shawl for my mom. At least one of these will be done by the time I touch back down on New York soil.

i was going to be the model of erudition

But I look at this picture and language fails me completely.

The Neph is now five months old and completely owns all of you.

(Mom, you can't not see Joe in that face.)

Yes, that's a triceratops in the hands of the Neph. I started it the night before we left and finished it up minutes before the Neph arrived on Saturday afternoon. Off all the dinos, this was perhaps the most fiddly, because of the horns. The pattern calls for the frill to be sewn down, but I liked the way it looked up.

(pattern can be found here)

More pix of the Neph can be found on Flickr. Because I know you don't really want to read anything I have to say right now, when given the choice to look at pictures of an amazingly cute baby.

so, how was your flight?

Oh, the flight was fine. Except someone brought

SNAKES ON A PLANE!

One snake goes off in search of snacks.

One snake watches the scenery go by.

Hello. I am a snake.

I am on a plane.

Snakes, while on a plane, enjoy browsing through SkyMall:

And when they get hungry, they don't have to buy a meal...

And seconds are plentiful.

(no Michaels were harmed in the making of this post.)

(Snakes knit from Jess Hutch pattern in random scrap cotton.)

 

more dino pix

This is Emily.

Think about it.

This is Emily gearing up to meet The Neph.

Brontosauri require much caffeination, to keep up with the babies. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to capture Emily's first meeting with The Neph.

That's Anne on the other side of Emily Brontosaurus--or rather, that's Anne's torso--and we're at the coffee house she frequents. Really cool place, if I can't remember exactly what it's called. What struck me most was how huge it is. I know that living in NYC one gets accustomed to dining and drinking in small spaces, but this place is larger than an average coffee house, I'd wager.

Anne has a much better pic of the two of us enjoying the Saints game (even though we lost). Meeting blog friends never fails to delight me, especially when it's so easy to just pick up as though you'd met a thousand times before. Doesn't always happen that way, but when it does it feels fated, you know?

My mind is a little too tired to go on. I would love to tell you more about hanging out with Anne, learning how changed Uptown Mpls. is (really--it's shocking), tailgating at the game, what it was like when The Neph first smiled at me, how awesome a little person he is and how I can't wait til he's talking, but I'm just a little too sleepy.

My A/C comes today. This will help tremendously in the sleep area.

steggy's wild adventure (image heavy)

Are we going on a trip?

Is it going to be cold there?

 

Then I better wear some socks.

(Cold? Only if you consider 92F cold.)

 

Hey, didn't my people once roam these parts?

 

Cool! You're making me a friend! Dinosaurs on a plane!

 

Are we there yet?

Can I drive?

 

Hi! What's your name? I'm Steggy. Wanna be my best friend?

 

Yep. Guess so.

(more pix and trip recap to follow.)