Vegas!

We are back from our family trip to Las Vegas. We are exhausted and busy trying to get the cigarette smoke smell from out of everything we brought with us. I had fun using Instagram to capture some moments from our trip.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Like an unstoppable horror movie beast, the poncho has crawled back out of its fashion grave. And like a B-movie monster it has now returned meshed together with the corpses of other fashion trends.

Behold the "parka cape" which features all the bulk of a parka with none of the warmth and a long tail to get stuck in things.



Then there's the slicker-parka-cape.



Which then mutates into the poncho-slicker-parka-cape.



There's also an evening poncho-cape when you still want to feel really chilly but also have an extremely difficult time picking things up and getting in and out of cars.



These girls all need to remember the sage advice of Edna Mode. No capes!

Waving Farewell in Giant Sleeves

So this cardigan's sleeves...
I ripped them out. I reknit them with many more decreases until I was ready to knit the deep garter cuff I envisioned. I know that garter is wider than stockinette so I worked several decreases into the cuff. I finished one last night. Enormous. When will this sweater ever end? Now I have it in my bag for Madrona along with some needles that are 1-2 sizes smaller and a new decrease plan.

I am heading to Madrona this morning and then straight on vacation. Blogging my be halted until I return.

George

I've been having fun playing with the Instagram app on my phone. I love the way this photo of George came out. It really captures his essence and his giant pink nose.

Deny, Deny, Deny

I knew the sleeves on my Garter Yoke Cardi were kind of big. So why didn't I try the first one on until I finished it last night? It was huge but somehow I convinced myself that the cuff was the real problem. So I ripped it out and started reknitting it. This morning I took another look at the enormous sleeve and pulled the needles out and started over on the second sleeve. There was some serious denial going on there. Now I won't have a new sweater for Madrona.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

No, Urban Outfitters. No, no, no. A thousand times no.



No one, but no one, wants printed, see through, chiffon pants. And "a loose fit with a high rise and tapered, cropped leg," no less! NO!

Never Mind

Just call me Emily Litella. Last night Wes kept talking about a Chrysler ad with M & M's in it. "That's bizarre," I thought. Then I realized he was saying it had Eminem in it. Oh, never mind.

Forget Football

I've got my RuPaul's Drag Race Fantasy Team picked out.

Interweave Knits Preview

It's up. What do we think? I see a few interesting pieces but overall I'm not too jazzed. But isn't that always the way with a spring issue?

Fusing

I took a silver fusing class this week. We used fine silver and a small butane torch to fuse rings and then make chains and texture them. It was surprisingly easy and not at all scary and lots of fun.

First we made headpins with a balled end. You can place a bead on them and then wire wrap them to add to jewelry. They are beyond simple to make. Take fine silver wire and hold it in the flame. The end melts into a ball. Voila. If you want a bigger ball, hold it longer but remember to start with a longer piece of wire.



Then we learned how to make fused rings. We hammered them to flatten or give them texture.





Then we make chains of rings.





The rings are very soft and easy to shape into ovals, squares or whatever you like. The pieces all got to spend some time in a tumbler to shine them up and work harden them. We got a lot done in 3.5 hours!

Everything we worked on is covered in this book from Interweave.

I've been busy knitting too. I started another pair of socks for the Sock Stash Knitdown. First I tried Shur'tugal but the pattern was completely obliterated by the yarn. So now I'm doing Aquaphobia.



But then I got back to my Garter Yoke Cardi and that is monopolizing my knitting time.



This is handspun, hand-dyed Shetland in the yoke with Imperial Stock Ranch Columbia 2-Ply for the rest.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

What on earth could this young lady be doing dressed like this?



Of course! She's waiting for her date.