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May 18, 2005

Rain, rain...

Portland had a decent sized storm roll in today and currently there is lots of near-horizontal rain pelting the windows of my office. This is the kind of weather where I just want to go home and bundle up with some tea, a good book, and knitting. Unfortunately, though I will be going home soon, I'll be babysitting my sister and trying to get a virus off of my parents' computer (one that I worked unsuccessfully on until almost midnight last night!) So bundling up all cozy-like isn't so much in the cards. *sigh*

I'm sure I' will get to knit at some point though. My newest project on the needles is Andra, a Berroco pattern for which I am actually using the specified yarn! (More or less.)

The progress picture was taken last night. The completed piece is the back, and after lunchtime knitting I'm actually just about ready to start the armhole decreases on the front.

This is a very speedy knit, and I'm quite enjoying it. I'm using a Zen Colors colorway that is orange on the nylon half of the ribbon and pinkish on the cotton half, and I love how it knits up. I'm going to skip the beading at the neckline, though, because the added interest of the half-and-half coloration makes it both unnecessary, and likely to blend in.

I'm rather pooped and can't think of much else of interest to say right now, so why don't you all go visit Ilona and congratulate her on her new house!

Posted by Shannon at 03:21 PM | Comments (1)

May 11, 2005

Secret Pals Revealed

So, now that SP4 has technically been over for close to 2 weeks, I suppose I should mention it! Heh. I still have not heard from my fabulous canadian pal as to who she is (so if you're still reading let me know!) Many thanks to Ginny over at GinnFizz for spoiling me!

My pal that I was sending to is Jussi, a Kiwi living in Australia! I had a lot of fun reading about all of her travels over the last few months, and thinking of interesting gifts for someone on the other side of the world...

I'm going to sit out SP5, though I am participating in the backtack swap...

Posted by Shannon at 09:54 AM | Comments (1)

May 06, 2005

Bam!

Eep! I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! Ah, well...

Mariah is still not finished - it ended up being 30" long, and the only zippers in that length I can find in any of the stores around here are big, bulky parka zippers - not exactly what I was looking for. So I ordered a few options at Zipperstop, which shipped out yesterday. I did weave in all the remaining loose ends last night, though, so it is getting closer.

Meet my most recent FO, the BamBam Bag. I found some Southwest Trading Company Bamboo yarn at 50% off at one of my LYSes, and got inspired. I designed the bag myself, and ran with the bamboo theme, adding round bamboo handles and a bamboo-print lining:

It's currently for sale at the 3WA Craft Fair, but no bids yet. I also made a quicky twisted-drop-stitch scarf out of Lion Incredible ribbon to put up for auction - that one has been bid on.

Beyond knitting, I've been keeping up with my efforts to get healthier - I've lost almost 6 lbs, as of last Monday's WW meeting, and gone to 2 bikram yoga classes so far (yes, that's the hot kind... 105°F to be specific! And it would be 3 classes, but I got there about 2 minutes late last Sunday, and they'd locked the doors. Sad.) I've also joined a gym again - as a new (big high-tech company headquartered locally) employee, D gets a great deal on month-to-month membership at 24-hour, so I signed up! I got up early and went before work once last week, but I've been super tired this week and having a hard time getting up in time to get to work, much less work out.

Also, last friday I went to a concert:

For anyone who likes them, let me just say that Maroon 5 is awesome live. I was less impressed with the opening acts - not bad, but nothing I'd pay to listen to... I've had really good luck with opening acts for most of the concerts I've gone to - either they haven't existed, or I've really liked them. The best was the Depeche Mode concert I went to, where Poe was the surprise opening act. Anyway, I'm digressing - it was a great concert.

Posted by Shannon at 01:10 PM | Comments (4)