My new summer job....

Chauffeur. If today was a taste of it, it's going to be a busy summer. Potluck and the park, followed by a trip to an Academic Decathelon meeting. In between jobs, I had lunch with my mother and took a nap. I'm thinking some kind of uniform might be snazzy...

Speaking of driving, Saturday we took a little road trip to the O.C. Laguna and Mission Viejo to be exact. Talk about traffic!! It took us over 1 1/2 hours to get down there, 30 minutes just to go the first 8 miles. Once we got there, we had a really nice time. The weather was great, not too hot with the ocean breezes wafting across. Solely for the sake of market research, we felt that we should visit a yarn store. We decided to check out La Petite Knitterie. I had read many good things about LPK and their yarn, so I was interested in seeing it. This is a lovely shop with very friendly staff. It is a small shop, but filled with many treats. We treated ourselves to some of their house brand sock yarn. I don't think the photo will do this yarn justice, but the colors are absolutely beautiful. I actually got to chat with the dyer, Lori Lawson. Here is a photo of my yarn (for another Spanish Dancer, don't yell, C)


and this is the yarn H selected

Good news/bad news

The Lotorp bag is experiencing technical difficulties


now, the good news:
I have finally finished the body of the Larger than Life bag. I'm taking a breather before I have to dust off the old Singer and get the lining together.

The bag isn't as wonky as it appears in this photo.

I never sign up for knitalongs, but I took the plunge and joined the Mystery Stole 3 KAL, along with about 1,100+ others. come on, let me see a show of hands--who's going to do it with me??? I'm waiting for my yarn so that I can swatch.

Knitting ADD

We have recovered from the drama of last Friday. I think my mind actually relaxed some time Saturday afternoon. Anyway, it's over. H took the SAT on Saturday (imagine "Sunrise, Sunset" playing in my head). I hung out for a while at Unraveled with the gang.

I've had to put the Lotorp bag on a brief timeout because it's killing my hands. To make a bag that is really nice and firm, I'm having to knit a bulky wool on size 9 needles. I've knit up 3 skeins of the Iro, and it's also pretty warm to have sitting on your lap in Southern California in June. I'll be able to pick it up in a day or so. Until then, I've been crocheting more squares for the Larger than Life bag. My philosophy is to aggravate as many muscle groups as possible. ;-)

My increasingly severe case of Knitting ADD continues to flourish. I literally want to make EVERYTHING! The Op Art bag in the new "Knitting Never Felt Better" book (see below) sent me scurrying to find suitable colors in my Lamb's Pride stash. Then, there's the Tuscany Shawl from "No Sheep for You." I've seen several beautiful completed Tuscany's online this past week done in Handmaiden's Seasilk yarn, which I just happen to have. I need more hands.

Finally, my good friend M is flying off to teach at the big Bead & Button show tomorrow. For beaders, this is Stitches, Maryland Sheep and Wool and the Super Bowl all rolled into one. Have a great time!

Arrrrrrgh!

H and I spent the afternoon yesterday cruising around Glendale. We hit a yarn sale and Borders. As we were walking back from Borders, looking for a place for lunch, we saw a Mann theater. We didn't understand why it was so quiet, since it was Saturday and there had been all these stories about the big crowds for Pirates. "It must be a trick," I said. No trick, we waltzed into the 2:50 show at 2:50. My review of the movie: pretty good. The first movie is still the best of the three, but 'At World's End' is so much better than the 2nd Pirates movie. This movie actually had a story. I figure you either like the Pirates of the Caribbean genre or you don't. Personally, I like them (and Johnny Depp). It was a good time, a fun afternoon w/ the kid.



This is the Lotorp bag from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's book Noro Revisited. I highly recommend this book. Anyway, yesterday I saw a Lortorp made in Noro Iro that I really liked. Naturally, I had to dig out my yarn and the book to start knitting this right away. I'm using color #66.



Enjoy the long weekend. Memorial Day always feels like the official kick-off to summer. see you at the BBQ~