Big hiatus = big post

I'm very into talking in equations today.

I can't believe its been almost two months since I posted! But, I've been quite busy. Here it is, in a nutshell.

I went to Italy with my husband and his family, to see his family. His Dad moved here from Italy to marry his mom, and all the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother, etc are still over there. The family farm is still working! We went to Rome for a couple of days, then headed out to the country where we ate and ate and ate and ate. I also worked on the farm one day, pureeing tomatoes for sauce that was sold at the market the next day. It was a really cool trip. I loved Rome, but it was a great experience to be out in the country where the "real" Italians live. Here are some pics:

Me and Erm at the Fountain of Trevi

One of many statue people in Rome

St. Peter's Basilica

View from our hotel room in the country

Italian Family :)

Me and my father-in-law, getting the tomatoes ready

The open market

Me & Erm at the Amalfi Coast

Making friends at the horse farm

Cappucino... only 1 Euro!

I have hundreds of pictures! It was a great trip. I feel so lucky and blessed to have gone to Europe twice in the past year, and now we've caught the travel bug. But no more big trips on the horizon!

I also celebrated my 31st birthday, which I don't have any pictures of. I was spoiled this year. I was taken out to dinner by friends, Erm took me to a French restaurant the night of my birthday and then to Salem, MA the next day (which I've been wanting to do for awhile!). While in Salem I went to Seed Stitch Fine Yarn which is a MUST if you are ever in the area. The owner helped me patiently while I deliberated over yarn and a pattern, and they have a great selection!

We also went to Block Island with friends and rented a house for a couple of nights.

A pretty view from driving around the island

The girls

The guys (I feel like Cat Deely)

Me and Erm before leaving the house

I also have had more time to knit lately, believe it or not. In September I went to Fawn's baby shower and was able to give her this adorable sweater:

I completely forgot to take a good picture, so this was on my lap, in the car, outside the shower

Pattern: Super-Natural Stripes, courtesy of f.pea (f.pea is Fawn Pea... how perfect is that?)

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton, 1 ball each: Sand, Sky, and Expresso

Mods: None.

I could be having a gauge problem. Once again, this sweater came out very small. It may fit the baby when he's first born, but I don't think it will fit him for long. I think I'm going to start using a larger needle or knitting the next size up for baby things. Until I figure it out, I'll stick to baby blankets :)

And that's it... for now. I have many things on the needles, a poncho patiently waiting to be blocked, and new yarn waiting to be cast on. I am running the Lowell Sun Half Marathon tomorrow and its supposed to be 45 and rainy!!! Please pray for a dry day in Lowell tomorrow!!!

Coquette Lace Tube Top

I bring you... an FO:

Coquette Lace Tube Top from "Fitted Knits"(Ravelry link), by Stefanie Japel.

Used 3 skeins of Cascade Pima Tencel in black, and some of another yarn with tencel (can't find the ball band!)

Mods: Everyone who knits with this yarn points out that it stretches. I knitted the smallest size and went down a needle size. I used some white grosgrain ribbon through the top eyelets to help hold it up. May add straps.

I love the lace on this top, I love its cuteness, and its comfortable when I first put it on. However, even with the ribbon tied tight to help keep it up, I still had to change out of it after a few hours because it was falling down! This yarn stretches more than I would have imagined. I think this can be solved by adding straps, but I was really hoping to avoid that. However... I want to be able to wear it!

I ran my last race of the summer on Tuesday night. It was 94 degrees and humid and miserable. My cousin and I brought our tank tops in a bag of ice water and changed into them right before the race, which helped for the first mile and a half or so. But it was still so hot! However, it didn't stop me from this:

That's me, signing up for the Lowell Sun Half Marathon! I'm ready to take the next step in my racing. I'm a little nervous about finding time to train, but I think I'll be ok. Its only a half marathon, after all!!

A week of firsts

This week was a week of firsts for me. I made my first project on a sewing machine (picture to come later).

I finished my first shawl, and also my first project with mohair! I cannot believe how warm this shawl is, its so light and airy that I was curious if it would just be for show, but its definitely warm!

Pattern is Aunt Phebe's Comfort Shawl. VERY easy. I wish I had made it a little bigger, but I have yarn left over and may make another one as a gift.

Made with about 1 1/2 skeins of Marvelous Mohair in the Dead Squirrel Color

Mods: None. This pattern is so easy and quick as it is, I didn't have time to think about making changes to it.

Another first, I ran in my first bikini race! I did NOT run in a full bikini. Charlotte and I ran in bathing suit tops and running shorts, and even then, my bathing suit top was a very sporty top and actually felt like a sports bra, so it wasn't too bad for me. There were people who were in full bikinis though, and some guys in speedos! I ran an awful time, which was a letdown after my incredible race a few weeks ago, but it was fun... despite being 86 degrees and humid. It was one of those runs where I pray for rain. I won't flash a bunch of pictures for you, except this one, which I laugh at every time I look at it. I think I was fixing my shuffle, but it looks like someone slapped me in the face!

Yesterday I finished my Coquette Tube Top, but it needs to be blocked before I'm ready to show it off. I knitted a bunch of it at the lake on Saturday with Erm's family. So I leave you with another first... my first time knitting on the water.

My first love

Other than my husband and family and friends, my first love is animals. A few weeks ago, you can imagine how happy I was to pick these two up to babysit for a few days

You may recognize Cody from earlier posts. We babysit him all the time and he always settles right in. Our new guest was his sister, Roxie. Her usual babysitter was off with Mom and Dad, so we offered to take her. I'm not sure there could be two more different dogs. Cody is mellow, snuggly and obedient. Roxie is spirited and always the first in line for attention or anything that may fall on the floor. We had lots of laughs with these two for three nights and were sad to see them go!

Joey getting in the mix

Best friends

Octavious is safe if he stays in the office

Roxie enjoys sunning herself

We returned them to their Mom and Dad a short few days later, but Cody will be back in just two weeks!! Can't wait!

Mozarthuys Cowl

When I was on my honeymoon, I was determined to buy yarn from overseas. When we were in Bruges, I found a yarn store that was a little cramped, but the lady who worked there was very sweet. The yarn I bought was actually from Spain, but... still from overseas. I only bought one hank of it and it was super bulky and I knew it would be a scarf or a cowl. After knitting one cowl that didn't work out so well, I found the pattern for it. This is Marian (Ravelry link). But since I bought the yarn in Bruges and it will always remind me of Bruges, I'm calling it my Mozarthuys Cowl, after our favorite restaurant there.

Pattern: Marian by Jane Richmond

Yarn: Katia Nordic Print
Mods: The directions say to cast on 45 stitches and use size 19 needles. I cast on 40 stitches and used 15s. The result is a much smaller cowl than what its supposed to be... but I think I like it better this way. Also, you're supposed to twist the first stitch after you cast on to create the twist in the cowl. I think I twisted it twice instead of just once. No biggie.

This yarn was great to work with, not too splitty. Its very soft and will definitely keep me warm under my coats this winter!

The short sleeved polo goes well with the cowl

Its my first cowl and I'm very excited about it!

This was Erm's idea

Not enough time!

Where have I been?? I don't even know!

Real quick, because we're busy getting ready for a wedding this weekend. This past weekend we went on our annual sailing trip.

We sailed from Salem to Gloucester for lunch and back! Best sailing day we've ever had. Perfect weather, perfect lunch, and perfect company.

I also tried my hand at a minted pea soup:

which was not very good. Those onions and peas are from our CSA and are delicious! And the mint is from our mint plant that Farmer Erm takes care of and is also delicious! But... the soup wasn't minty enough for me. And I think that to get me out of the mindset that pea soup is supposed to be warm and comforting it should be pretty minty and summery. So this soup... not a hit. Back to the drawing board.

I also ran a PR (personal record) this week! Running in the rain agrees with me, I guess. Between that and some tips I got from my personal-trainer-friend, I shaved 13 seconds off of my time and finally passed a milestone I've been trying to reach since I started running two years ago!!!

The good news is that in all my busy-ness, I am finding time to start AND finish small projects. The bad news is that I don't have a picture of the cowl I finished on Wednesday. Next post shall be about the cowl!

Have a great weekend!

I love quick hits

I didn't win the contest. So sad.


However, nothing picks me up like a quick FO, even if its just a baby hat! My third Baby Cables hat!





A friend who has a baby boy who looks dangerously like Adam Lambert is the recipient of this hat. I need to come up with a baby hat pattern of my own that I can make and sell. I started this one on Sunday afternoon and finished it Monday night. I showed it to Erm this morning, his reaction was "you finished that already?". Ahhhh...


And my longer term project is a shawl for me. I bought this yarn awhile ago, its one of the only yarns I've ever bought with no idea for what I'd do with it, just because I loved it. I thought it looked like a dead squirrel, Erm thought it looked like potatoes. Anyway... I went nuts looking for a shawl to knit with it and came up with this pattern... I can't remember where it is to link it, but it strikes me as pretty basic. Funny coincidence, now that its knitting up, I think a friend of mine has this shawl someone knit for her in a greenish/blueish/brownish yarn. Mine is just brown. I'm SUPER excited, as this pattern is easy and I can tell this shawl is going to be the right balance of warm and not too warm and go with a lot of my fall clothes, because I wear a lot of browns.

I think I finally found the perfect pattern for this yarn!