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So sorry for the delay in postings! I wish I could say a lot has happened on the scarf, but it is taking me a bit longer than I had wished, as you can see!
I thought that I would have more done by now, but I think if I want a project like this to go faster, I am going to have to learn the continental style. I may also have to start taking the train to work more often to give myself a few more hours a day to work on this!
This is the Amaryllis bulb that Steve's Aunt Sue gave us for Christmas. It's finally flowering! Isn't it pretty? 
I realize that this posting is mostly just pictures, but it's late and I should get to sleep! I regret to say I watched a movie tonight but didn't knit at all while watching it. "The Breakup", with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, while not being that great of a movie, does it's job as a light romantic comedy. It really is just a really long commercial for Chicago! Also, if anyone has seen HERO's or What About Brian - no spoilers, please! They are Tivo'd and ready to go for tomorrow! What did I do before TiVo?
Since the knitting picture leaves something to be desired, I will leave you with what I consider to be one of the most hilarious things I have seen in a long time. This is just a clip of the highlights, I believe the entire episode can be found on YouTube. Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/v/Ws8QOF6x4rc
The white scarf is in progress. It's not as ethereal as I had intended, the weight of the pretty white yarn is probably a bit too heavy combined with the small stitches I'm making. But, I think it will still turn out nice. It's a great project to knit while watching TV as it's a very simple pattern. Here it is if anyone is interested:
http://www.canknit.com/free/kos.html
On another note, I hit up some of the fun Lincoln Avenue shops this afternoon. One consignment shop caught my attention. After walking in I exchanged pleasantries with the shop owner and she told me everything was half off. There had been a sign on the door that said "Buy 1 item, get the 2nd Half Off," but I wasn't going to argue with her if she wanted to be more generous. I looked around for a bit, I must've been there for maybe a half hour, as I had tried on a thing or two. In the whole course of the time while I was there, I kept thinking this woman is getting stranger and stranger by the moment. She must've asked me if I wanted coffee or tea about 5 times, each time I always said no, thank you though. Then she told me the same stories over and over again about how her husband was watching the Bears game today and how glad she was that she told him years ago she didn't care about that kind of thing. A little bit later she got into how she told her sister -in -law that she was jealous of her for being able to retire. This woman was probably between 55-60, herself. My favorite moment(s) was when she was telling me that one does not need to spend a lot to look good. Her "fancy-schmancy" sister-in-law had never visited her shop though, and couldn't understand the fun in finding a great cashmere sweater for a mere few dollars, she told me.
I really didn't think much of it until I was ready pay and leave. She could barely add up my items on her calculator. She had one of those that just had the plain white rolls of paper, simply to add items up on. She added everything twice, the second time coming to a total. Then she started adding everything up a third time. I actually got out my cell phone to use the calculator on it to add the items up, in an effort to politely help her out. This was when I decided, this lady is either completely off her rocker, or else ON something. I was starting to get nervous that she wasn't going to be able to complete the transaction and I wouldn't be able to take home my lovely second-hand store finds! Before she rung up my credit card, I reminded her of the total - I was going to be the one spazzing out if she overcharged me due to her loopiness. End of story...I ended up with several items that I got great deals on! I promised her on my way out that I would recommend the store to all my friends, and that I will! Just be sure to visit her on "Sloshed Sundays," when there's a Bears game. Guess I just got lucky!
This bag and scarf, which are actually new, not second-hand, as the store sells both, are two of the things I picked up. I absolutely love the bag!
....or news of anykind, really. I started a scarf over Christmas, a beautiful white flowing yarn scarf, but only had about two rows in it, when I decided to take 2 weeks off. When I went back to it the other night, I was so disgusted with the fact that I couldn't remember how to do the particular stitch pattern that it required, that I just ripped everything out that I had, and decided that I would start all over. This time though, I would get further along than 2 rows before taking a break. 5 minutes later, I decided it wasn't the night for it. To which I proceeded to watch about 4 hours of craptastic Lifetime tv, fall asleep around 10:30, and wake up with a lovely cold! So, I'm convinced that my lack of motivation for knitting just has to do with my body knowing that I was about to get sick. Don't you just love January?Anyways....I will try and get something going soon....and take pictures. In the meantime though, there might be more non-knitting news on the way. =)Happy Tuesday.
I know this is cheating, but.....I've been wanting to post these pics since I started this blog. The quilt and the accompanying pillows were HALF created by me, and so I figure they have a place here. Back when I was a sophomore in college my mom and I decided to make a fun quilt for my dorm room. I picked out all the different fabrics...there's an assortment of reds, yellows, purples, greens, blues...in different prints: books, coffee, woodland fairies, stars, and '30's and '40's old reprints. I wanted it to be bright, and have an artsy flair to it. I think that was accomplished!
My mom quilts ALL THE TIME. This is no joke. She's been quilting since long before I was breathing. Used to sell her own pattern back when there was no internet and so I remember boxes and boxes of plastic pattern bags in our house. I'm not sure I could guess how many quilts she's made in her life-time, but it's gotta be up there in the numbers. There are quilts all over my parents house, in every room, hanging on the walls, in chests or dressers, and on the backs of chairs. She's given many away as gifts too...I have 3, besides this one (the one in the background is another of
hers!). So, this is why it was the
perfect project for us to work on together!
Here are two blocks close up...
So the purse is done! Well...almost. Now for the really fun part - I just have to decide which buttons, and what design to put on the front/back. The lining of the purse took a bit longer than I expected, but was worth it. And I got to use my new sewing machine to make it! Thanks, Mom. =)
I found a pretty red and white "fan and flower" printed flat quarter to make the lining out of, sewed in a pocket, and touched it off with one of those "Handmade By ___" labels, to give it a more detailed look. Then I stitched it around the top to the edges of the bag fabric, stitched the sides together, then stitched the handles onto the bag. In hindsight, I kind of wished I had put a magnetic button at the top, to clasp it together. Oh, well, will do that with the next one!
Let me know if you have any suggestions about the buttons. At first I was going to stick with just the crystal/glass/white flower ones, but I'm starting to think a variety of colors, with some wood or leather buttons in there might add a nice pop of color.
The other night I finally figured out how to "bind off" on the fabric for my cablenon purse. The purse had been sitting on the pretty red knitting needle, last row complete, for about 2-3 weeks now. I had attempted to understand the diagrams of binding off before, but sometimes you just have to take a break from something and come back to it and it will make more sense. I also have been Tivo'ing the HGTV network's show, Knitty Gritty and watching a lot of that lately. I think that just gave me a feel for how to read the diagrams in a fresh way. That show is awesome! 
Steve travels most of the time for work, which is not always fun for me. But there are perks. For one, I have more little shampoos and lotions than any sane person should have. It's kind of our routine. Which hotel did he stay at? Oh, the Hilton? That's Crabtree & Evelyn! The Omni carries Molten Brown. Usually he just comes back with 3 or 4 for me, but this last week he hit the jackpot. Check out this booty:
My first knitting project! After it's completed, it will be folded in half, a lining will be sewn in, and I will stitch it onto a cute set of wooden handles. I admit, the cables are a bit hard to see, and I don't think I can really blame it on the color of the yarn. =)
Thought it would be fun to make fudge this year to give out as Christmas presents to people. Spent a whole day grating the chocolate for 4 batches. Here's a picture of Steve helping with the grating!
It's really imperative that I get this stuff packaged up quickly. The longer it sits on my kitchen counter, the more I keep nibbling at it!
Every now and then I get the itch to paint. It's just something I've always liked doing, since high school art class. One of my favorite painters is Van Gogh. Here's my much simpler rendition of Starry Night. You'll notice I left the little village at the bottom out! I just didn't want to ruin a good thing...
Inspired by all of the very crafty blogs I have seen out there, I have decided it would be fun to start one myself! Hopefully this will help keep me motivated and on track with some of my projects that otherwise tend to get forgotten somehow. While the name of the blog is Suki Knits, that is really only because I wanted to incorporate a picture of my cat with knitting needles in the headline somewhere. =) There will be other things besides knitting crafts on here. Knitting just happens to be my most recent adventure in the DIY arts!
So sorry for the delay in postings! I wish I could say a lot has happened on the scarf, but it is taking me a bit longer than I had wished, as you can see!
This is the Amaryllis bulb that Steve's Aunt Sue gave us for Christmas. It's finally flowering! Isn't it pretty? 
