Yarn Crawl

Can't Wait for Stitches East!!

I have been really bad about updating this lately...it has been really busy with school lately. I finished my online graduate certificate class at UWM and decided to wait to sign up for another one until January. I have three more to go, no big rush though. My marketing class in the MBA program has been really crazy lately...we are almost done with the case report (35 pages, I think we are up to now) and are working on the presentation. Due November 9th - so it'll all be over soon. Sorry no knitting pics - I finished the first sleeve of Blackberry though and am working on the second now. Haven't worked much on Ariann. Started swatching the dark gray Elann Baby Cashmere for the gloves. Can't wait for Stitches East - Baltimore baby! Me and Lisa are each bringing an empty duffle bag and our wallets - traveling light to bring back lots of Brooks Farm Fiber and Tess Rare Yarns! Flying out Saturday morning and will be back Saturday night.

Ariann Progress

I'm really liking this, I made the 1st buttonhole and am half way to the next one. It's going pretty quick but I just haven't been working on it much b/c of everything else going on.

Here's a pic of the whole thing so far:

and yesterday I just got an idea for a pair of really nice dark gray cashmere gloves for a gift.....I think it will look really good. Have to find just the right yarn.

Today's Sweater...

Hi everyone, It has been a crazy weekend in every sense of the word, so all I can offer is today's sweater....

(from Rowan 38, made it last year with Rowan Ribbon Twist - LOVE IT!)

and my almost-finished 1st sleeve of Blackberry that I worked on last night while catching up on Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy.

I'm taking a break from this paper I'm working on with my team at school - having a nice glass of J.Lohr Cabernet and chilling out. This paper is going really well, my team members are awesome! and I finished the other paper for my other class last Friday, so I am a happy girl. Life is good!

Another one shamelessly stolen from

Another one shamelessly stolen from Bonne Marie’s blog…these memes are evil. Yet I'm strangely addicted to them.

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Robin

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope – alternative names considered by my parents were Regina and Veronica – Veronica’s Ok but Regina sounds like V*gina, glad they didn’t name me that. Can’t imagine going through junior high with that little moniker.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Hmmm. I think when I watched “Eight Below” when one of the little husky dogs died. Wahhh.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Nope. I’ve completely lost the art of penmanship (if I ever had it.) I kinda half print, half write and get scribblier as the page goes on.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Bobak’s Polish Ham with Spiced Ham –mmm (worked at Sub City in high school and acquired this fetish)

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Definitely! I’m pretty cool to be around.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Don’t know if the blog counts…if so, yes. Otherwise, no - definitely no pen and paper writing is going on.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep. My mom was not a believer in doctoral intervention unless absolutely necessary ( you had to be DYING). If I were raising myself, I would have had them taken out as I get a lot of sore throats and I suspect that may be the reason why.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Oh no. Most definitely not. I can find a lot more exciting things to do that don’t involve risking my life. I plan to live to be 100 (and hopefully have a good chance as my great grandmother did.)

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Corn Chex and Wheaties mixed together with skim milk

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope (what kind of wacked out question is this – who cares??)

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Definitely. I’m lucky enough not to have to do too much strength training to keep up my muscle tone (at least up to this point) so this is a good thing. Actually if I do it even a little too much I build muscle crazy quick (especially those quadricep muscles) so I’ve limited it.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Chocolate-chocolate chip.

14. SHOE SIZE? 6 1/2 or 7.

5. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Probably my hips. Who really likes those?

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My friend Sandy, as she seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Sure, if they want to.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Well, I’m wearing a skirt, so I’ve substituted that for pants. Multicolor green/brown, chocolate brown, chocolate brown.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? grilled chicken salad

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Myself thinking

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Mocha

23. FAVORITE SMELL? My favorite perfume: Pure or Armani Mania for men – like the women’s too but the men’s is delish

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My husband Jim

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? I guess I’d say eyes, but it’s the whole picture for me.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Definitely! Bonne Marie’s the best. We want more patterns!!!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Depends on the day – Cosmopolitan or a buttery Chardonnay

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Golf

29. EYE COLOR? Greenish hazel

30. HAT SIZE? ?????????

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes, usually every day, but glasses some days.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Sushi, especially anything with salmon in it.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Scary Movies

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Depends on who it is

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? chocolate cake with chocolate sauce inside and out and vanilla ice cream

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ?????????

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ????????

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Just finished Paranoia by Joseph Finder, about to start Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? A Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass design that I got at the museum in Phoenix, Arizona

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Grey’s Anatomy Season 2, episode 15

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Surf/waves crashing on the beach, my cats purring

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Stones

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Europe

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Knitting, and it took me 33 years to figure it out.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Evergreen Park, Illinois at Little Company of Mary Hospital

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Stolen from Bonne Marie’s blog..

Update on Blackberry and Ariann

The first thing I want to say is Thanks! to my Secret Pal, "B" as she sent me a very nice card. I think she may be into scrapbooking/stamping, as the card looks handmade - very nice!

And although I haven't accomplished much, here's some progress pics of Blackberry (left and right front, back - pre-picking up the sides of the left and right front)

And the first sleeve in progress (ignore the bottom part of the pic, that is the top half of the other photo) - I like the cables and bobbles so far!

And Ariann...hard to really show properly, but I'm almost done with the decreases on the body and will be starting the increases soon.

It's been really crazy lately so just about all I can do is work on my papers, try to knit whenever I can and blog even less. I can't wait until the end of the day on Tuesday, when I will at least be done with one of my two classes!

My Favorites

I haven't gotten a lot of knitting accomplished this weekend, as yesterday's golf outing/dinner/cocktails at my co-worker's house ended up being crazy and today am feeling the after-effects!

Here's the list of answers to the "my favorites" meme for the SP9 contest being sponsored by Shelby...as I have nothing to show for myself with knitting.

My Favorites

Actor: Serious - Edward Norton Eye Candy - Johnny Depp

Actress: Kate Winslet

Animal: Cat

Band: this is so hard to choose - maybe Pete Yorn

Book: Memoirs of a Geisha (NOT the movie though)

Bubblebath: lemon

Candy: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or Milk Chocolate Godiva

Color: dark plum/aubergine

Drink: a buttery Chardonnay or a less-oaky Cabernet

Flower: tulips

Food: sushi

Lip balm: Prescriptives gloss

Lotion: Hemp from Sally Beauty Supply!

Movie: Office Space

Place: Anacapri

Song: In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel (so predictable)

TV Show: Grey's Anatomy

Yarn: Anything made by Brooks Farm or Tess Designer Yarns

Vacation Spot: St. Bart's or Blankenberge, Belgium

Sewing Expo Tomorrow

I'm going to the Quilting and Sewing Expo tomorrow - going to take some classes, including serging as I've never done it but am thinking of buying a serger. I've been wanting to get more into sewing but need some help. Then maybe I can use the Garment Designer I purchased at Stitches Midwest!

Oh yeah, and this is the view out my office window right now. Look at the crazy SNOW! It's October 12th people!

Blackberry In Process

I cast on for Blackberry yesterday and got all of this done in a 90 minute webcast! I guess listening to people drone on about new accounting pronouncements is good for something...I know it's probably hard to discern just exactly what you're looking at here, but this is the back just past the armholes, in reverse stockinette stitch.

But check this out - I like the stockinette stitch side better. I don't think it will show up the cables as nicely though.

I like this colorway - "Corinthian" in Rowan Chunky Print - and I have a skirt and a long sleeve layering type shirt in that red/rust color, so I have my outfit all planned!

Oh, and Lisa and I booked our yarn p*rn flight to Baltimore for the Stitches East market on 11/4 last night. We're definitely going now!

New Pattern Frenzy!

Again, I'm all excited about some patterns that I've seen recently. I am still going to cast on for Ariann, but am trying to get some UFOs done first. Last night I finished the last 40 rows of knitting on the baby sweater and will be sewing that, and I'm thinking that on the fair isle cardigan steeking project, that will maybe be next year's project for McKenna instead of this year's. I'm kind of burned out on gift knitting for now, so am thinking about making her something from my gray Big Wool Fusion instead - quick and easy.

But back to the new patterns I want to do. I saw a great sweater on Lara's blog made with Rowan Soft Tweed, a Knitty pattern called Blackberry that I have the chunky print for already (in this great yellow/red/cream colorway called Corinthian) and a sweater in Fall 05 Interweave Knits with K1C2 Temptation - done in the round, chunky yarn, easy cables. I think it is called the Cascade Indulgence pullover. I ordered a ball of the Soft Tweed, and two different colors of the K1C2 Temptation from yarnmarket.com to swatch with as I didn't have anything suitable in my stash (LOL.)

Jim and I decided to skip the MBA trip - he really wasn't so enthused about going, and he didn't want me going by myself to Europe (he is weird about some things like that.) He probably would have went if I twisted his arm, but I don't want to drag him if he really doesn't want to go. So big deal - I'll be 36 when I finish the MBA whether I finish 6 months early or not - and it's not like there's a race or anything.

Weekend Recap

Well, I almost finished the Debbie Bliss Ribbon Tied Jacket this weekend, so I got a lot more knitting in than I thought I would while catching up on Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy today. I have about 40 more rows to go but they only have 34 stitches each, so it should go quickly. (I don't believe my friend Susan - the recipient of this gift, for her new baby boy- has too much time to check out my blog, with a new baby and a daughter who just turned two, so it'll still be a surprise.)

Golf - did horribly - it's amazing how much just practicing once a week does (which I hadn't done for the past two weeks after I finished my eight initial lessons.) I'm glad that I'm going to be playing again as part of an outing next week and am doing a playing lesson with the golf pro the week after and an all day clinic with five other women the week after that. Once I get back into it, I'll start going to one of those indoor dome places and practice through the winter, because otherwise I'm going to lose everything I learned.

Papers - mmm. Accomplished a lot on one, not so much on the other. I'll have to work on that one during this week.

Got my Secret Pal assignment - heard from mine (she sounds very nice!) and replied to her, and sent out an email to the person I'm assigned to "spoil". I'm excited - I've come up with a list already of potential gifts for my "spoilee" and will be scouting out places to get them in the next few weeks. This will be fun!