FOs: 2. Pictures: 0.

I finally have some FOs! But, alas, no pictures, because they are both gifts. I actually have taken some pictures with GPG's camera, but I won't post them until I mail them off.

After knitting like a madwoman this summer, I finally finished the Violinist's wedding present. It's a bit late, but at least it's done. I tried to mail it off this weekend, but the post office branch I went to wasn't open! Thwarted! I will have to schlep it across campus in the blazing TX heat next week to mail it from the branch on campus.

At the same time, though, I will be able to mail off the Ecologist's birthday present, which is also somewhat late (even later than the wedding present). I finally bound off that sucker last night, and it's done!

I had something of a knitting block with both these gifts. The Violinist's present was somewhat big, so it took until this summer (and an impending deadline) for me to buckle down and finally make some serious progress on it. Thanks to all those evenings of watching DVR'ed Project Runway in L.A., I finally finished it.

And, of course, knitting on the Violinist's present meant that I fell behind on the Ecologist's present. I also ripped a fair amount of it out at one point, because I realized that the stitch pattern that I had chosen (a double moss stitch) was beautiful for the yarn, but not too great to wear. So, in interests of expediency, I switched to a simple rib that makes the yarn pool somewhat, but provides a much better fit.

Sorry to be so cryptic. Pictures will hopefully be postable in a week or so, depending on how on-the-ball I am with getting these things sent off. It may not happen right away--I have two days of orientation to help out with for the newbies on my journal this week, and school starts on Wednesday. Plus, it's hot as all get out in Austin. So we'll see when I actually get over to the post office.

Long time, no write

I'm BACK!

In Houston. And on this blog. After 8 weeks in Los Angeles!

It's been a whirlwind summer, but I'm back in Texas, ready to head back to school (early, for journal duty) this WEDNESDAY. (As an aside: That is SO SOON. I don't know if I can handle it. School starts the following Wednesday. ARG! I'm not mentally prepared for it.)

I'm sorry for being incommunicado all summer long, but I didn't want to blog while I was actually working at my summer job, and the place where I was staying had no Internet connection! Although I checked e-mail and kept up with my regular blog reads at work, for some reason I felt a compulsion not to blog. Irrationally, I felt like blogging was not something I should do from a work computer, even though I otherwise surfed all over the place. So I kept off the blog while I was in L.A.

But, I'm back in Texas with access to Internet again, so I hope that eventually I'll be able to blog about all the highlights of my time in L.A. I don't know if that will actually happen, since school is starting up so soon, but I'll make an effort. I did a lot of interesting things this summer, and although I have no pictures (still no digital camera for seedlessgrape, alas), I'd like to tell you about them.

I do have some major highlights to show in this post, though! And anyone who knows me well will be able to guess what those highlights are:

YARN!

Despite my resolution not to add to the stash, I dropped a fair amount of money on yarn this summer. I justified it to myself for a variety of reasons: on sale (some Rowan and RYC), good deal (some really outstandingly lovely yarn from Germany), and, in the case of Socks that Rock, access. It will all get used eventually for specific projects--I at least tried not to buy yarn without knowing what I wanted to use it for--and the STR and the German yarn was just irresistibly beautiful; I had to get it. Spoken like a true fiber addict, right?

But enough with the rationalization, and on to the pictures, courtesy of GPG's camera!

First, the lovely German yarn, from Wollmeise of "Rohrspatz und Wollmeise." I can't remember how I discovered Wollmeise (it was through another knitting blog I stumbled upon), but she makes GORGEOUS yarn. And has a fabulous site, to boot. She has lots of luscious colorways--it took me a long time to figure out which ones I wanted!

I bought 5 hanks of superwash sock yarn. Two were in the colorway "Rosenrot" ("Rose Red"):


I hope to use those for a Clapotis. (I really suspect that I am the only knitter in blogland who has not yet made one of those things.) The best part is that the hanks are so generous (350 m (~383 yds) per hank!) that there might be some left over for some ankle socks or something like that. I absolutely love the bright, vibrant red--I think a Clapotis in this yarn will be really striking.

I also bought a hank each of three more colorways:

Dani (I love, love, love how brilliant the blues are):


Farn ("Fern"):


and Koralle im Meer ("Coral in the Ocean"):


Unfortunately, the bright orange doesn't come out really well in this picture. Rest assured that it's absolutely beautiful.

And Wollmeise provided excellent service. Because I had no Internet at home in L.A., I actually ended up ordering the yarn on a Thursday or Friday and not paying until the following Monday through Paypal. But Wollmeise sent the yarn on Monday before she even received my money! She wanted to get the yarn to me right away. And she also wrapped it up in some beautiful paper and included a little sample skein of some of her other yarn:


It was a gorgeous package. I was so pleased to receive it! And in addition to being beautiful, the yarn itself is really stellar. Nice and "sproingy," as Wendy would say. I can't wait to knit with it. I'm actually in the middle of making a pair of Koigu socks, but as soon as those are off the needles I'm moving on to the Farn yarn!

Please go and check out Wollmeise's site and give her some business! She was a pleasure to buy from!

I also have some Socks that Rock to show! I happened to have a dinner to attend in Santa Monica last week, where (conveniently for me) one of the few brick-and-mortar retailers of STR is located. I'd heard so much buzz about STR, and had drooled over their colorways on-line so many times, that I decided to check out Wildfiber. Unfortunately, I had to dash in and out in order to make it to my dinner after work on time, but I managed to look through the whole store (which is lovely) and pick out three hanks of STR. I figured it was the only chance I'd have to get some STR in person!

Here's "Rooster Rock:"


"Ruby Slippers:" (can you tell that I'm on something of a red kick?)


And "Torridon:"


Aren't they all lovely? I have a huge incentive to knit as quickly as possible so I can start using all this beautiful yarn!

That's the L.A. news for now: lots and lots of yarn. I'll try and recap other highlights over the next couple of weeks, as school permits.

It's good to be back on the blog!