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Thanks to all for the comments on Milano. I've worn it out into the world twice this week, and I'm really digging it!

Next up on my list is the Knitting Pure & Simple neckdown raglan that I've mentioned before. I started this one over the weekend when I finished Milano, and it's going pretty quickly. I'm on my third skein of yarn and I've already gotten past the armholes and am rapidly approaching the waist. (I know the picture is a little washed out and lacking in detail from the flash, but just pretend you can see what's going on there, ok?) I've decided to add a little waist shaping that the pattern doesn't include, so keep your fingers crossed for me that my math all works out! The Manos cotton is interesting to work with. The strand of yarn has crinkles in it that make for a slightly uneven texture in the fabric, especially at the gauge this is worked in (18 st/4"). I swatched a slightly tighter gauge initially (21 st/4") that I liked, but besides the fact that the pattern is written for 18 st, the looser gauge seems more casual to me and has more character so I'm going with it.

I'm feeling pretty much moved into my house at this point. I've only got 4 unpacked boxes left, and out of those, 3 of them contain yarn/knitted items. The other one has a large mirror in it that will be hung in the dining room as soon as I locate an appropriate stud (in the wall!). I've got a few other pictures to hang as well, but other than that, I'm about done with the moving. I've gotten to the point where I'm living in the living room, dining in the dining room, and cooking in the kitchen.

There are plenty of other things that need to be done here, but they're more in the home maintenance vein of things. We had a massive downpour of rain here the other day at which time I discovered I really, really need to clean out the gutters. So I started that yesterday but my ladder would only reach around half of the house. So now I've got to figure out how to get a 12' ladder home with a MINI. Do you think Home Depot will deliver? I'm also going to have all the windows updated in the house. The ones I have now are old, probably original to this 1937 home, and are so inefficient. I haven't seen an electrical bill yet, but I'm scared already. So that's in the works... I found a guy who my real estate agent used, and he's pretty cheap, almost a third the price that H.D. quoted me. Hopefully he's not too good to be true, but definitely seems like a nice and reasonable guy.

Anyway, that's what's going on on the home front. And in my spare time, I've been taking a bartending class too! That's been a total hoot, and tomorrow I'll be a licensed bartender! Think I need to put that on my resume?

See, I have been knitting!

Specs: "Milano" from Dale Trend book #123
Needles: US 3/4
Yarn: Dale Svale

My weekend was slow enough that I finished up my Milano tank! This was a perfect knit for me in a time when I didn't want to be thinking to hard about my hobbies with it's knit-in-the-round construction. I love the neckline on this one, and the little slits on the bottom sides. I think the fit is good (although maybe it should have been a tad longer), and so I declare this FO a winner!

I know I've been promising a report on my trip to ArtFibers in San Francisco too. It was great, and a little overwhelming. Since I'm unemployed for the month I knew I couldn't go hog wild like I might have otherwise, and so I decided to limit myself to one yarn selection and pick out a pattern for them to build to my gauge and measurements. Oooh the choices! There were so many gorgeous yarns there, but I ended up with this Cellini to make a jacket with. Their pattern making capabilities are pretty cool, and I actually picked the pattern first and then found the suitable yarn. They've got books and books of sketches that they can adapt for you, or you can use those as a jumping off point to come up with something totally different. And the "tasting" lounge was so impressive too. All their yarns were there, and in every color, with any needle size you could want. Like I said, it was a little overwhelming to me, but only because I wanted to pick "the perfect" pattern, and "the perfect" yarn 'cause who knows when I'll ever be back again!

I haven't started my jacket yet, partly because I'm still enjoying admiring the yarn on the ball, and partly because there are a couple more summer knits I want to knock out first. (It's been in the mid to high 90's every day that I've been in Charlotte so far, so who can think of fall and winter knits?)

Vacation, all I ever wanted

(Warning: Picture heavy post, with little to no knit content!)

I'm back from vacation and am finally feeling like my house and move are under control enough to spend some leisure time at the computer. This week I've had what's felt like an endless stream of painters, plumbers, electricians, security system installers, and contractors coming through. My living room has gone through at least 3 different furniture configurations. Oh yeah, and I haven't been able to do laundry since I've been here because there wasn't a plug for a dryer. Go figure. After today though, things should be fairly settled, and I'll be able to work on the finishing touches. You know, hang pictures, place a few tchotchkes here and there, that sort of thing.

I haven't been doing much knitting lately, although I am nearly done with my Dale Milano tank, and should get that finished up this weekend. I thought I'd share some pictures from my trip to Yosemite though. This was my second trip there, but by far the most time I've spent in the park. It's such a huge place that I still haven't seen it all, but we did manage to get around quite a bit. (Thank goodness for unlimited miles on the rental car!)

This is Tunnel View, the first peek at the Yosemite Valley if you're coming in from the south on Rt. 41. The view is breathtaking, to see the granite cliffs rising up on all sides. Click here for the same picture with the main features labeled, but that's El Capitan in the front on the left, Half Dome in the back center, Bridalveil Falls on the lower right, and Sentinal Dome is the highest little peak rising up in the top right.

Our first major hike was a loop along the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls (left) and then continuing on the John Muir Trail up to Nevada Falls (right) to complete the circuit. The Mist Trail was aptly named because you really did get a bit of a shower as you got closer to the Vernal Falls. From just the right angle there was a nice rainbow in the mist.

Yosemite Falls (the highest in the US!) could be seen from nearly every vantage point in the valley, and one night we ate dinner at the Mountain Room in the Yosemite Lodge at a window table that looked directly out at the falls at sunset. I don't know how we rated that table, but we definitely weren't complaining at all!

Another epic hike we did was a trail that looped above the valley to Taft Point, then to Glacier Point (where the fire falls used to be held every night) and on to Sentinal Dome. The views were amazing! I won't put all the pictures on the blog, but click if you'd like to see me at Taft Point, a couple of fawns we came across along the trail, and the view to Half Dome from Sentinal Dome.

And I did manage to convince Erica to do some climbing with me in Tuolomne Meadows in the northern part of the park. That area has tons of granite domes rising off the meadow floors. Our biggest accomplishment was getting to the top of Cathedral Peak. You can see we were way up there, but what the picture doesn't really show is that the top of the peak isn't much bigger than the roof of a sedan. Getting down was nearly as adrenaline-pumping as getting up was. (One more picture, if you're interested, of the sweetheart of a guide who got us up there.)

So next time I blog, I'll have to tell you about the good times at Art Fibers in San Fran, and show off the very reserved amount of booty I brought back from there. Maybe I'll even have a finished Milano to show. In the meantime, I'm off to do a bit more organizing around here!

Coming up for air, but only briefly!

I'm moved... at least all my stuff is present in the new house in Charlotte, and the cat has been getting acclimated. Things are still a mess here. I'm having some painting done inside which is preventing some of what I need to do to make the house feel comfortable, but it will be done soon enough.

Anyway, I've had little to no time for reading blogs, much less writing on this one, and for that I apologize. Likewise, very little knitting has been accomplished, although I have managed to finish most of the knitting on Milano, and just have to pick up stitches around the arms and neck to make a seed stitch border.

Tomorrow morning I'll leave for what seems to now be a poorly timed vacation to Yosemite NP. I know I'll really enjoy being there, but I just hate to leave the house in such disarray. I've been waiting to find homeless people taking up residency in my own box city. I'm wishing I had the perfect project to take along for the flights and down time at the park, but yarn and patterns have not been unpacked and sorted yet, so I'll take along a second sock that's been waiting a long time to be made. Oh yeah, and we're flying into San Francisco, so I think a trip to Artfibers will be on the schedule for tomorrow. :)

See you all in a week!