An Abundance of Lisa

Distractions, part 3

Spring fever has hit me bad and I can't seem to get any meaningful knitting done. There's some being done in fits and starts, and some is secret, which makes for awful boring blog fodder. Aside from the Spring Fever, many things are distracting me...

Getting ready for more visitors
Awesome blog contests (tell Katie I sent you!)
New York Comic Con (for work... I didn't voluntarily go to this)
Road trips to Cleveland (3 boys and me - thank goodness for knitting and iPods)
Reading all your blogs
Reading manuscripts for work
Still rubbernecking in the MCY thread on Ravelry

I know that these are rather lame excuses, and I promise to make it up to you! In the meantime, happy knitting!

Distractions, part 2

I don't know if it's the onset of spring, or of adult-onset ADD, but I can't concentrate on anything lately. A slew of distractions have conspired together and ganged up on me to prevent any meaningful knitting, and therefore blogging. Things such as:

The MCY thread on Ravelry
New York Rangers playoff hockey
Facebook
Browsing userscripts for Greasemonkey
Looking at all my contacts' photos on Flickr
Looking at my friends' queues on Ravelry
The Annotated Edition of Pride & Prejudice
Visitors (see below)
Touring the city with visitors (see below)
Top Chef/Biggest Loser/TV in general
Bloglines

I could keep going... but instead, I'll entertain you with a few pictures.

My college roommate and dear friend Janel came to visit. Here she is modeling my Herringbone Mitts in Central Park.

We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, and no matter how many times I walk near/by/over it, I can't help but snap a shot of it.

I have been doing a little knitting here and there though. I started some Argyle Golf Club Covers at my sister's request for her new set of clubs. It's 3-color fair-isle and my first time doing colorwork in more than 2 colors. My first is coming along alright...

Ok, back to the MCY thread on Ravelry!!

Distractions

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my Lush & Lacy Cardigan. You are too kind! Normally I would be fired up to get another big project on the needles after such a successful FO, but a series of distractions have gotten in the way. First, we had a lovely baby-warming for TeamKaty and her new little boy.

Here he is resting on the progressive Log Cabin that the Spiders made for him. Check out Fig & Plum's FO post for the deets. Jess hosted a wonderful little brunch so that we could all meet Katy's little man, complete with mimosas, quiche, and my chocolate mint bars.

Photo courtesy Fig & Plum. She has a much better camera than I.

Then, at brunch, Marie told us about the Mystical Creations Yarn thread happening over on Ravelry. I thought I'd just check it out for a laugh, but I got completely sucked in. All week. We're talking thousands of posts. I didn't knit a lick all week--I was couldn't look away from the train wreck.

Then Friday rolled around and we had some special guests dropping by The Point: Jess & Casey of Ravelry! After doing a little knitting, a bunch of us went over to Williamsburg to have a few beers at The Brooklyn Brewery. As is always the case when the beer is cheap, good times were had.

Virginia and Jess swapped glasses--it was highly amusing. It was so great to meet Jess & Casey and their friends Steve and Maya. Thanks for stopping through!

FO: Lush & Lacy Cardigan

I've gotta say, I'm pretty pleased with this one...

Pattern: Lush & Lacy Cardigan by SweaterBabe.com
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL in Arctic Night, a little more than 7 skeins
Needles: Size 7 addi turbos
Date Started: February 10
Date Finished: March 6
Mods: To accommodate my gauge, I knit one size up (36 1/2 inch bust) and it seemed to work out pretty well. I also didn't add any buttons or hooks/eyes for closure.

I love, love, love this cardigan. The detail, the lace, the yarn. Everything came together so well on this project. Aside from a little mistake on one of the sleeves and a tiny bit of wonkiness at the neckline, it's perfect. This is the first time I made a garment in pieces, sewed them together, and finished it well. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

Not even a rainy day could suppress my enthusiasm for this cardigan. Huzzah!

The joys of traveling in the winter

I was unfortunate enough to have travel plans last weekend, flying out the exact day in which New York City got clobbered by a blizzard. Being canceled, delayed, and held up in various airports made for a lot of knitting time.

The airport in St. Louis is particularly comfortable for knitters: they have great rocking chairs!

Do I always look mad when I'm knitting??

After a long day of travel, I finally made it to Winter Park outside of Denver, Colorado. While BK and his buddies skied, I played in the snow and knit. The next day, we took a sleigh ride with some gassy horses.

These weren't our horses, but they were very photogenic. I also met a cute kitty who wanted his ears scratched.

All that knitting time put me awful close to finishing my Lush & Lacy Cardigan. I am done with all the pieces of the cardigan and I've applied the button bands and collar. I have even seamed up the sides. All the remains is to attach the sleeves and sew in the ends. I believe I'll have an FO to show soon--and it's gonna be good!