I love walking to work in the fall...

WIP Wednesday

Well, I was going to post some photos of what I've been working on, but I realized that the only WIPs I have right now are all gifts! And I, not being one to tempt fate, am not going to post photos of gifts, thus avoiding any potential surprise-ruining.
I have gotten some more done on my baby afghan that I'm making for a friend (whose daughter will soon be my goddaughter - my first!), which is good. She knows that's what I'm making her, so talking about it won't ruin the surprise, but she doesn't know any of the specifics - pattern, colour, etc. - so a photo is a no-go.
There's a point during the afghan-making process when progress seems to stop, even when work on said afghan is still happening. It's like some magical thing - you keep adding rows, but the afghan doesn't get any longer! I should be on track to have it finished by Oct 13th, though. If not, I'll be giving what I call a "mom gift", so named because my mom is famous for giving people half-finished, or almost-done handmade gifts (one sock, mitts with no thumbs, the list goes on).
I've decided, though, that I have to start working on the dreaded second sock. I made the first one in August, and cast on for the second one, but only got about an inch done before putting it aside to start on my Christmas gift list. I think I'm going to make it my stitch 'n bitch project. K2P2 ribbing should be mindless enough that I don't screw it up in the limited lighting of the pub we meet at! I promise I'll take a photo of the "second sock" once I start working on it again!
The First Sock (of the pair, and "ever"!):



I also want to thank all of you blogstalkers for your comments! I've tried replying back to some of you, but unless I can figure out which is your blog from the list of stalkers, I have to reply to you on my own blog (which means you may or may not realize I've replied to you). Apparently Blogger only really lets you reply to a comment if that person has a Blogger blog, in which case you have to comment on their blog. (Unless I'm missing something?)
I've also realized that although I'm enjoying having these themes (and deadlines) to post about, and I enjoy reading everyone else's posts, I'm running out of time to read everyone's posts in the week the topic was given! I'm going to get to everyone, but that might mean a blog-reading marathon once every few weeks. Just so you know...

Some more fall photos

Today I have 2 topics I'm posting about, so to make it easier for all you blogstalkers out there, I'm going to make 2 separate posts.
This first one is going to be photo-heavy...I'm showing off the changing of the seasons here at home.
First: the same photo as in the last post, but 8 hours later, on my walk home. There's a reason people around here say "wait 5 minutes and the weather will change"


And next, an addendum to the "who am I" post: I am a prairie girl, through and through.



And now for some other Fall photos:












These next 2 were taken out of my apartment window...they're not up to my usual standard (I'm picky about framing and such), but it was too gorgeous a sky not to take a photo, and it was too cold out for me to leave my cozy apartment!




And now for some taken at my parents' place this weekend:




Whew!
And now on to write the "purse guts" post...

In honour of Yarn PrOn Fridays...

Even though I don't officially belong to Yarn PrOn Fridays, I thought I'd show you all what I bought on my impromptu vacation in Regina: handspun, Canadian wool! It's not that artsy a shot, but I think the wool speaks for itself. :)


I'm planning on making the leaf motif toque from the orange, although it's going to take some stitch count adjustments, because it's a sport weight, not worsted. It might take me a try or two!

In other news...fall is here. Summer is gone. :(



And look what I did last night!!

I'm re-knitting the thumbs, because I wore them out last year. (Thanks to the stitch 'n bitch girls for telling me about lifelines!!)

Tadaa...!

Look what I did last night!!! (And yes, that would be the new blocking board you (sort of) see in the background!) I was always so intimidated by these techniques, but they're really not that hard...now to find an appropriate project to tackle to do something more complicated than a rectangle...!

Fair Isle swatch:


Intarsia swatch:


On another note, I did something last week that I still can't believe I actually did!! A couple of girlfriends and I went to the local fireman's calendar release party last week (all money goes to the local burn fund, so why not, right?). All required flirting ensued. And then I chickened out and went to hang out on the dance floor with my friend. Well, at the end of the night, I decided that nothing's ever going to happen if I don't make it happen, so I wrote my number on a piece of paper and walked up to one of the firemen (the one I was most attracted to, and who I thought was a bit of a goof!) and after a bit of small talk/more flirting, I essentially gave him my number, and told him to call me, that I thought we should go out. People, I didn't even know if the guy was single or not at the time! (They have to be unmarried to be in the calendar, but that doesn't mean they're all unattached.) Well, he called, and we're meeting for drinks sometime this coming week.
I'm so proud of myself...that is soooo out of character for me. Yes, I'm incredibly assertive, but that seems not to apply when it comes to guys. Maybe that's changing?

I wonder...

If I made some blank greeting cards with some of my more spectacular (!) landscape photos and put them up in an etsy store, would anyone buy them?

In other news, my blocking board is done! Being an apartment dweller with no extra mattresses, and seeing as how ironing boards only come in the one size, I had to come up with an alternate solution.
Let me tell you, getting a 4'x8' piece of foamboard home in a Mazda Protege was an adventure in and of itself! Well, I actually had to crack it in half and take it home *on* my Protege (thank goodness for the bungee cords that live in my trunk!), but I only lost one corner chunk to the wind gods.

Behold the blocking board:


The teacher of my intermediate knitting class suggested that we take a ruler to the fabric store and try to get a gingham in a regular size (1"x1", etc.) to make laying out the FO and pinning it to size easier. Well, I managed to find some 1/4"x1/4" gingham in PURPLE!!! Score!

My latest craftiness

I thought I'd post some of the latest things I've been working on, for the benefit of all the Knitty readers that will soon be linking to this here blog.

Here is my latest FO, the earband from Knitty:






I'm also taking an intermediate knitting class at a LYS; here are the swatches we made at our first class:
The Drop Stitch

The Cable

The Complicated Cable

I've also made a baby sweater for a friend (well, for her baby) - this one is crocheted:



One of many pairs of baby booties:


and a few baby blankets/burp cloths:






I've also been busily sewing away, and have made myself a camera case, seeing as how my camera is really small, and none of the cases in the stores were small enough for me to put into my purse without it taking up my whole purse:



And now to work on my "who am I" post...I made a draft this weekend, but it's a little depressing, so I have to rework it a little! :)

Falls at Fairmont (Natural) Hot Springs

 

And now for something completely different...

I don't know if anyone actually reads ("looks at?") this blog on any kind of a regular basis, but I'm going to be changing things up soon.
I'm getting my knit on, and have joined a blogstalk at knitty.com (is it blogstalk 2.0? blogstalk the second? I can't remember what official name we gave it...)
So basically it's going to be like a treasure hunt - there's a theme each week, given out on Friday, and we all have to post something that captures/describes that theme by the following Friday.
This week, it's "Who Am I?" Hmmm...I'm going to have to think about that one...