stateside again

Sorry for the blog silence, but Paul and I were off on holiday in France!  We spent a week in the Loire valley, sipping wine, visiting chateaux, and spending time with family, then a few days in Paris seeing the sights!  Having a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast today was a real downer after so many lovely mornings of pain au chocolat. :-)  Better for the waistline, though.

Here's Paul rockin' the plaid at the Arc de Triomphe. I got to trot out my terrible French, and it did actually improve (hey, I took 8 weeks of French 7 years ago, and I can struggle through journal articles, so I didn't expect too much from myself).

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There's a pretty major backlog of knitting projects to photograph, blog, and ravel.  Here's the first of many --  Hemlock Ring, from my mini KAL with Barefoot Rooster: 

Kylie looks a little surprised at the woolly beast next to her.  This was a joy to knit despite the hot weather this summer, and the end result is so snuggly.  I can't wait to curl up under it with a mug of hot apple cider and a good book.

Pattern: Hemlock Ring, by Jared Flood

Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool, 2.3 skeins, natural

Needles: US 10.5 circs (magic loop at first)

my Ravelry project page

Notes:
I knit the larger size, and it's nice and cozy, perfect for fully covering your lap. Really quite fun and surprisingly quick to knit.  Next time I'd switch to a larger cable for the last third of the blanket, as it was kind of crunched up on my needles. As usual, the Eco Wool softened up after a good soak in Eucalan. I blocked it lightly, not overdoing it with the pins.

Yikes, I can't believe it's mid-September already.  So much to do! Remind me not to go on long trips at this time of year again.

hemlock amoeba?

Hemlock Ring is looking more like an amoeba now, or perhaps a jellyfish.  Thanks to yet another heat wave, I've been holing up in the downstairs rec room (AKA the man cave) and knitting while drinking endless glasses of iced tea.

I used the magic loop technique with a 40" cable rather than DPNs to start, which worked great. At some point it just slid out of magic loop and I switched to regular knitting in the round.  At this point I'd love to switch to a longer cable, but apparently I don't own one!  Something to add to the next Knit Picks order.  I'm using stitch markers between each feather-and-fan repeat, which is super helpful now that there are a bazillion stitches on the needle.

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The postman delivered one last round of yarn for the stripy crochet blanket.  I refuse to buy any more yarn for this project, and I don't want to calculate how many skeins have already gone into this thing.  I do love the ice cream colors, though, and it's absolutely addicting to make.  With any luck it will fit our queen size bed! 

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I caved and bought a double-walled iced coffee travel cup from Starbucks, and it has turned out to be a great purchase! I usually just fill it with homemade iced coffee and tea; it's even perfect for toting around the house because condensation doesn't build up on the outside.