Off to Alaska

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Originally uploaded by Accent Alaska.

The bags are packed, the housesitter paid, the newspaper is on hold, and I can't wait! We're off to Alaska on vacation for a bit so you won't find me online. I can't believe I'm actually excited about temperatures in the 60s. That seems so backward to me. But this heat has been awful. UGH. I hope we see some moose (my favorite animal!), bear (from afar!) and some huge fish. Hokey wilderness pictures when I return!

Picovoli Problem

Ilove it. I hate it. I can't decide. I love the color. I love the style. I hate the saggy picots. I experienced major Picovoli picot problems. My picots SAG. Here are my saggy picots.



Sure, I'm emphasizing them here. But I have to stand as I am in the first photo with my arms on my hips to prevent sagging. I should have taken a normal standing picture I now realize so you could see how ssggy they are. I've blocked. I've starched the heck out of these picots to no avail. My husband thinks I should wash it in hot water and it will somehow work itself out. I imagine that will only shrink it so it looks like a swimsuit top. Oh well. I don't really know what went wrong but I'm not walking around with my arms on my hips all day! I followed the directions to a T. I even took fellow bloggers' advice and tighted up the picots. It's unredeemable. If there is a silver lining though it is that I LOVE THIS YARN! I used KnitPicks Shine (sport weight) in Grass. I definitely will use this yarn again. Maybe I'll rip this project to create something else. It is too bad. I was a knitting fool trying to get this done because I was so excited for it. I love everyone elses. I wished I loved mine. The pattern was really easy and fun. I bet if I didn't do the picots and chose the straight knit, I'd be much happier. If any other Picovoli knitters out there have advice, please share before I rip, rip, rip. Hey, as I typed I realized rip also is an acronym for Rest In Peace. Maybe that is the best outcome for this Picovoli of mine. I just looked at the pictures again and think "it doesn't look that bad" but then I know how I had to pose and position and starch and press and block and stand strange just to make the picture. It isn't worth it. Picovoli 1. Carolyn 0.

Secret Pal 8 Posting

My SP8 questions follow but first, isn't this such a beautiful flower that was knit by Nguyen Le? It's so, well...perfect! Visit her site. She is selling lots of cute items! Ok, here are the questions and answers Jenn asked us to post to be entered in a drawing to win Socks That Rock yarn. Since I LOVE STR yarn here it goes:

1. What is your favorite season of the year and why?
I like the fall. I love the colors and the smells. It is also around my daughter's birthday and a fun time to have a party!

2. Summer is hot. What do you knit in the summer?
I knit socks. Right now I'm knitting a cotton shirt so it isn't as hot as using wool to knit.

3. If money was no object.....what would you buy at the LYS?
Easy. I'd buy my LYS and spend my days consuming more yarn and knitting, knitting, knitting! But realistically I'd probably settle for the very tall, round, basket-type yarn storage/holders for my future craft room.

4. What are some activities that have become family traditions for your family?
Hmmmm. I can't think of any. We're a fairly new family I guess. We have lobster every year on my husband's birthday. Does that count?

5. What is the weather right now?
It's hot. Too hot actually. Only 7 days, 168 hours, and 10080 minutes until we leave for Alaska where the average high is 65.

Picovoli Yarn

I've received my KnitPicks yarn for my Picovoli project. Many thanks to Elli from Elliphantom Knits for posting her finished Picovoli! I loved hers so much I went and bought the same yarn. Elli, I'm hopeful we won't run into eachother at some dinner party wearing the same Picovoli and be the laughingstocks so I thought it was ok to go with the Grass color too! Is this my new favorite color or what???? The original pattern came from Grumperina and was featured in MagKnits.

I'll post my progress. For now, I'm just so happy with the yarn! As you can see by the picture I actually got gauge! I figured I'd go the extra step since I really want it to turn out right. I also refreshed myself with the provisional cast on method. So I am ready to begin as soon as I get myself some longer #4 circulars. I only have 16" ones. Sigh.... I'm so excited I might begin with these and switch as I progress.

Amy Butler Weekender Bag

I finished sewing my Amy Butler Weekender purse and just in time for our trip to Alaska! I'm happy with how it turned out. I broke about 10 needles and finally had to take it to the sewing shop to get the front of the bag sewn onto the body. My sewing machine is fairly new and does a good job but I was so frustrated with how thick it was toward the end that I had to turn it over to a sewing professional. I still consider it handmade by me but with some help!

I thought the pattern was pretty easy but my advice is to make sure you read through it carefully first. The directions tell you to do so too but I am reiterating it. I found that some of the pattern's references to pieces of the pattern weren't the same consistently and I had to really concentrate before I made a move and then I'd read ahead to make sure. My fabric wasn't cheap so I was not going to mess up. Here is a close up to better see the detail of the fabric:




For the life of me I couldn't find the zipper it called for. I just bought a 36" zipper and sewed across the bottom to shorten it and make it non-separating. It seems to work just fine. I also made the bottom of my bag using the liner fabric rather than the light green exterior because it will hide the dirt better. It looks fine because it matches the lining and handles. I'm going to Scotch Guard the purse before I use it. It really is a roomy bag! My husband was commenting on how he's going to really love giving me all his stuff for the plane to carry. Wonderful.

Anyway, I highly recommend Amy Butler patterns!

Knitting Mystery

Because I have been frantically cleaning out our basement and garage, I haven't done any knitting lately to post about. But then I remembered the knitting mystery book. I haven't yet read Knit One, Kill Two and can't speak to how well it is written or anything. But what I do find intriguing about it is that the author used my LYS, Lambspun, to research. Maggie Sefton acknowledges the owner of Lambspun in the front and says it is "the knitting shop I used as a model for this series and the place I first 'fell down the rabbit hole' into the fascinating wonderland of color and texture." This is from the back of the book:

Despite the fact that her aunt was an expert knitter, Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair of knitting needles she liked-until she strolled into House of Lambspun......

I bought a signed copy and also bought one for my mother in-law, Leslie, my fellow knitter in-crime. Ha ha....

I still have the fifth Harry Potter book (Yes, I know who dies darnit!) and Marley and Me to read before this book but I'm excited to read it when I can. If you have read it, please let me know if it is good! I see there is a recipe and pattern included--how fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Ifirst want to start out by thanking my Secret Pal for the new Jack Johnson CD! I can't believe I've lived this long without it--seriously! I love it! I've been singing "Better When We're Together" to my husband. It's so great..thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't wait to meet my pal and find out more about her!!!!



I ran a 5K today with my friend Becky. Here is a picture of us after we finished. Ignore the Port-o-Potties in the back ground. Ew! I finished in 26:15. I was shooting for anywhere between 25-29 minutes so I was happy!



Last is a picture of my final bag I knit for the boutique in Ann Arbor. I've been hard at work on my Amy Butler bag and after sewing that sucker, I'm ready to go back to knitting. I've already broke 6 needles, no kidding. I'm almost done and I believe I'll be happy with it but it wasn't easy. Knitting is much more relaxing I must say!