Farmer's Market

Ardovino's Desert Crossing has a local farmer's market every Saturday. While I was a bit disappointed at the amount of actual produce and the high prices, I did come away with quite a good haul of local products. It was a bit too hot to stay for very long, but I'll definitely be going back, as the only other farmer's market in the area is in New Mexico.

Clockwise: Sweet and Spicy pickles, BBQ sauce, local honey, lemon poppy-seed bread, sun-dried tomato foccacia.

My mom and I were talking on the way home, and it would be really easy to set up a booth where she sells her jalapeno jelly, and I sell fingerless gloves. Something to think about.

Fightin' Words Part 2

I finished them!

Them's Fightin' Words!

I needed something quick to knit just for fun, as a break from all the shawls I've been working on. I finished this first mitt in an evening. Colorwork is very addictive. I couldn't put it down. I know it's not all that complicated to knit in stockinette with two colors, but it always seems a little magical to watch the pattern emerge. This was my first time doing fair isle knitting on double pointed needles, and the contrasting color got pulled a little too tightly in some places. I had to keep reminding myself to loosen up my tension. I think any problems will come out in blocking, though. Pictures of the second mitt and the pair together will be on the blog soon! :D

Here's a shawl I've been working on for a friend. It's finally finished! She's a lovely lady, and deserves something special.  We're meeting for coffee on Sunday, and I can't wait to see the surprise on her face. She's been wanting one for a while, and always compliments me on the ones I wear. I asked her what her favorite color was, and she said blue running into purple. This lace-weight wool was spot on! Thanks Knitpicks!

Knitters Anonymous

Part of overcoming an addiction is first admitting you have a problem, right? Well, hello, my name is Amanda, and I'm a yarn-stash hoarder. I'm going to start rationalizing it by saying that I've been peeking at the stashes of others on Ravelry, and mine isn't nearly as bad as it could be. Some people have tubs and tubs and closets full of yarn. I only have 1 closet, which is currently disorganized and will soon receive a makeover. But I'm going to set some goals for myself.

Goal 1: NO BUYING YARN until I knit the stuff I just purchased. Sounds easy enough, right? HA! Here's the picture.

This is my goal: to knit all this. Into stuff. By the middle of August. Most of these are already earmarked for projects, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Goal 2: Complete 2 unfinished projects by the end of June. My Larch cardigan is missing a sleeve, the collar, and assembly. The blue shawl I'm working on.. about 1/3 of the way there. And it's really pretty. Here are some pics.

Goal 3: Keep up with my Mystery Shawl KAL: I've done well so far with this one. Clues come out once a week, and even though I started late, I've managed to catch up with Clue 3. Here it is:

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with everything. I also have some non-knitting goals that I'm working on: Finishing my high school scrapbook, which is 90% done. Clearing out and organizing the closet, which will have to wait until the scrapbooks are done and payday comes along. Finishing my defensive driving class by the end of the month (mandatory, but also good knit time. Might start today). Now that everything is on the Internet for posterity's sake, I might as well give myself a reward for meeting my goals. A Philosophy purchase from Sephora? A pedicure? Hmmm... :)

Shawl # 8 of 2012

Here's my most recent finished object. This Shawl took forever to complete because I broke my own rule and had more than one project on the needles at a time. The lace border is knit first, then stitches are picked up along the edge and the remainder of the shawl is worked from the outside in.

It's been so hot outside lately that most of the plants are drying out a bit more than normal, so the herb garden was the only somewhat green place to photograph. 

 I'm also participating in a mystery Knit-along. There's a new clue given every week, but I have no idea what the finished product will look like. This is my first mystery KAL, and I'm pretty excited. Here's the yarn I've chosen to work with. It's super soft, with Alpaca and Silk. I'm almost finished with the 3rd clue, and then I'll be posting some pics.

New Blooms

Here's a picture of the biggest flower in my garden. We have a 6 foot wall in the back, and this is at least a foot taller. It has decided it likes facing East.

And here's a picture of the smallest flower in the garden. Some type of trumpet vine that calls hummingbirds. 

Knitting

I've been trying to update my ravelry project page so that everything has a photo or three. Since I've gotten the new camera, which is much better at taking indoor shots than the old one, I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots.

 This hat is made out of Plucky Primo Sport, in a colorway called "Bleedin' Armadillo Groom's Cake", which is a reference to the movie Steel Magnolias. I LOVE this hat. The pattern is called "excess" and it's great for camping, and a little slouchy in the back.

 This pink cowl is make from Naturally Caron yarn. I have a friend who likes it, so it might become a Christmas gift, since I don't wear it all that much.

I wish there was a way for yarn to be touched through the monitor, because if there was, this orange alpaca scarf would be even more amazing!
 

 These fingerless gloves are of my own design, using a wool I bought when M. and I were in Shetland last year. It was very itchy, but they never leave my purse. They're perfect for work, where the temperature is always arctic. 

 This was my first real attempt at garment construction. This is a wool/mohair blend, which makes it super warm, but also really smelly if I start to sweat. Definitely a deep winter type of vest. I would probably make another vest like it in a lighter yarn some day, but I really love the vintage colors in this one.

New Camera Test Shots!!

My new camera arrived yesterday, and I couldn't be more satisfied with it. There are several features that I think I'll be using pretty frequently, such as the panoramic, blur background, etc. Here is a shot of the damage done on my previous camera. Frankly, I'm surprised it works at all anymore. It still takes pictures, but the screen doesn't work. I can't select any of the cool camera functions or see my pictures. Rest in peace, dead camera!

Next is a panoramic shot of my living room. What's nice about this camera is that you just press the shutter once, and then pan around, and it takes all the photos for you and stitches them together in camera.

This is a shot of my hand, but what's really cool is that the background is blurred just like a DSLR would do.

This is a photo of my knitting. My camera has a color filter option. It can select 1 of 4 colors, and makes everything else black and white. 

Here's the same effect with yellow. 

The camera has a very intuitive smart shot function as well. The wind was blowing, and the flowers kept moving, but the blur-detector kicked in and steadied the shot. 

 This is another blurred background photo. Probably my favorite so far.

Color select: yellow

Color select: green

Color select: red

Panoramic shot of the back yard. 

And a shot of me. The camera has a special portrait function that recognizes your face, waits until you smile, then takes the picture. It also softens skin tones to hide blemishes. :D