October knitting and Halloween

Halloween: I do live in the country but I do have some neighbors nearby, although I don't know how many kids live around here. I'm not usually home in time for trick or treaters but this year since it was on Saturday, I thought there was a remote possibility that I could have them. So, as I was grocery shopping yesterday morning, I bought some candy. Well, we had absolutely no trick-or-treaters, not nary a one. Note to self, don't buy any candy next year and yep, you';ll probably have them. It's like deciding not to take an umbrella and you can bet on it, it'll rain.

Obviously vacation is over but it was a glorious week. Of course by the time I have rested and actually realize, hey I'm on vacation and then actually feel like doing something productive, it's Friday and I only have 3 days left. So I tried to be somewhat productive those remaining days.

I had finished knitting the "straight" part of the Kid Merino Easy Lacy Shrug quite a while back. Before I could seam and knit the frilly part, I had to block it and I had put that off. So, I rinsed and blocked, seamed it and then finished the frilly part this past Thursday. It is a very versatile shrug and I love it. It can be used as a scarf or a shrug. I knit mine with one strand of GGH Soft Kid on size US 10.75 needles. I bought the yarn half price at Haus of Yarn and it was a great purchase. I cast on for it on April 3 and unfortunately I don't remember when I finished the straight part. Since I'm not a monogamous knitter, I think I may have finished that part late summer, but really don't keep track of the true knitting hours. Mine doesn't fit quite as loosely as the pattern picture reflects but at least it doesn't scream look at the girls as most shrugs do. I also finished the Capelet and it is wonderfully warm. Our winters in Nashville aren't too harsh and this will be a perfect late fall/early winter coverup. It is knit with Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Chunky in a beautiful red.

I started a pair of handwarmers to go with the Capelet. I'm using the tabbed cuffs pattern from Mother-Daughter knits (the Melville team) I decided to make them in black to go with the black button I got for the capelet. I'm using Berroco Pure Merino on size US 8. What a fun pattern and I will need to find some cute buttons for this as well (looks like the picture shows 12).

More to come.......................

Vacationing in Oktober

I love to take vacation in mid-October. The weather is usually gorgeous, beautiful blue skies and 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. This week is no exception. After a nasty rainy week last week, by Saturday the weather was wonderful, albeit a little cool.


After 2 painful cortisone shots on Friday, by Saturday afternoon I was feeling much better and decided to take a little jaunt outside with camera in hand.

I plan on going on a little longer walk today since my knees are feeling much better.

On the knitting front, I finished the Feather and Fan scarf in the luscious Lisa Souza bombyx silk. Everyone wants to touch it because it's so soft. It feels glorious around my neck too. I have been working on some baby items since there are 2 preggo's on my team at work. I finished the kicking sack in Magic Stripes and I made a bib in stockinette stitch with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton. I'll have to say for cotton yarn, this is one of the SOFTEST cotton that I have ever knit with. It's fabulous! It's my new favorite cotton yarn.

I am also working on a baby blanket in the Feather and Fan pattern and it's looking beautiful so far.

On my list of things for me, a mini-shawl/kerchief made from a beautiful royal blue in Koigu...pattern will be 198 Yards of Heaven (found in Ravelry) and some socks, fingerless gloves and the Thorpe ear-flap hat.

Life without Television

Our television went on the fritz while I was in Jacksonville. Now, that is not a huge traumatic event in my little household as we really don't watch that much tv, at least not "series" watching. The only things we continually watch (record, actually because we never watch anything live) is Masterpiece Theatre on public tv, House, M.D. on Fox, Burn Notice on USA and I like to watch The Office on NBC. In addition to these series, we will watch quite a bit on TCM because we like those old movies.

These past two weeks have reminded me of the years when DH was in school. Instead of studying for a test, we would play chess or chinese checkers or something similar. We didn't have a tv when he was in school either, so this has been quite reminiscent. We have spent quite a bit of time together, actually eating dinner at the dinner table, playing Mastermind and Colorku (a colored marble version of Sudoku), lots of fun.

What I have come to realize is that I have not been getting much knitting done. So I guess I do most of my knitting while we sit on the couch watching tv. So if I'm not watching tv, I guess I don't knit much. Now there will be times when I would sit on the couch listening to a book on my mp3 player, but that was in lieu of watching tv. Now that there has not been one, we've been spending more time together. It has been great!! All that to say, the fall season is ready to start and we decided it was time to get serious about buying a tv. We have decided on the Samsung 58" Plasma. It sounds big, but we are dropping down from a 64" Sony behemoth. At least the Samsung is flat screen. I assume we'll have it in the next week or two and maybe then I can get back to some serious knitting.

I have been updating Ravelry with some stash photos. My internet line is not conducive to uploading photos on Ravelry so I will probaby not continue that endeavor. I will continue just to keep stash photos on my hard drive and my stash list in Excel. I am almost done with the Capelet in Nashua Handknits though, it will be very nice. Photos will come later.

I have been thinking of holiday knitting. I'd like to make a few things but I'm not sure for whom at the moment. On to my planner so I can think this through.

à toute à l'heure!

Labor Day weekend and knitting stuff

I've taken a 2 month hiatus from blogging but I have been doing some knitting. Also, some knitsibs and I went on a knitting retreat at The Cabin again and I took a little 3 day trip to Jacksonville over Labor Day weekend to visit family.

Had some good beach time on Saturday morning, temp was great, the water looked beautiful. It was a little rough, especially on my knees, but the water felt great. Here are a few pics:

Now on to some knitting:

This is my version of the Kicking Bag that I mentioned in a previous post. The concept is a blanket that you can put around the baby while she's napping and as her legs kick, the blanket doesn't come off. This one is knit in Sirdar's Baby Bamboo and knit in the round. The ribbing is done in the mock cable stitch and it's nice and stretchy.

I've also started the 10-Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown. The beginning of the pattern is a little fiddly but once you get past the first few corners, it's a joy to work. You only have 10 stitches on your needles at any time so you never have to worry about that "let me finish one more row".

I'm working this in Mini-Mochi in pastel colors to make a napping size baby blanket, not a full size crib blanket. Knitting with US 4's.

I'm also working on a 10-stitch blanket for me, probably something for the couch or recliner. Also done in Mini Mochi with a red/fuschia/purple base. It didn't photograph well because of the red, but you get the idea.

I purchased some wonderful Lisa Souza silk at Stitches South and have been wondering what to make with it. I decided on the Feather and Fan scarf. It's knit with a multiple of 18 + 4 for the garter edging. I'm knitting on US Size 8.

I forgot to put the ruler in the picture but the width of the scarf is 6 1/2 inches. It feels glorious to the touch!

I've also started a Capelet knit with a gorgeous red Nashua Handknits. Since red doesn't photograph well, I didn't take a picture of it. Maybe after it's complete, I'll try it.

On a personal note, for the past 4-5 years, I have had severe pains in both knees. I finally went to an orthopedist a couple of weeks ago and xrays revealed that I had absolutely no cartilage left in either knee. The ortho referred me to a joint replacement specialist. Before I left the ortho, he gave me a cortisone shot in each knee. After the shot, the knee pain was virtually gone, I had no idea it would be that great. The joint replacement specialist said I have severe osteoarthritis. My options are surgery or manage the pain. He recommended that I wait as long as possible for surgery, so I have decided to wait and to manage the pain with cortisone shots and Aleve. I can still feel the benefits of the original cortisone shots but it's not as good as it was, so I will definitely be monitoring it.

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I'm going to go outside and enjoy it, so à toute à l'heure!

Knitting during the Tour de France 2009

The 3-week bike race that my husband and I watch religiously every year started yesterday in the beautiful backdrop of Monaco. I always get a lot of knitting done during the race. Exciting news this year is that Lance Armstrong is back in the race after 3 years of retirement. Lance won 7 Tours in a row, 1999-2005, a feat that will probably never be repeated. My mother, the frenchie, couldn't believe that he won 2 in a row (1999 & 2000) and then she died in 2001 and never saw that he won 5 more consecutively. I think she was proud of him but her french heritage demanded that a Frenchman win the Tour. (It's been a while since a Frenchman won.) This year's route is quite unusual as they aren't doing a circle of France, they actually start in the south, move west, dip into Spain, travel northeast, back south again and then take the train to finish in Paris. The last Saturday before the finish they tackle Mont Ventoux. It's a difficult ride when you're feeling good. To tackle it after a grueling 3 weeks will be extremely hard. That mountain is unbelievable. My husband and I visited Mont Ventoux in 1998 and we basically went from 1st to 2nd gear and back to 1st gear all the way up. Every time you think you have to be near the top, you keep going. When you finally get to the summit, it's spectacular. The elevation is 6,273 feet.

Anyway, at the beginning of the race yesterday, I cast on for the Angel Sweater, a cute pattern from Oat Couture. I'm knitting the 12 month size. One of my knitsibs is making it as well.

I'm using yarn conveniently made in France :-) from Anny Blatt in a salmon color. It's 100% wool that is machine washable and it feels wonderful. I believe I can get it done with just 2 balls.
I'm still working on the Kicking Bag mentioned in the previous post. I'm on the 3rd ball of Sirdar Baby Bamboo.

Still spindle spinning

I will have to freely admit to my spinning enablers out there that I have been enjoying my spinning. June has been a horrible month at work, too many hours and add to that my long commute, makes for a very long day. More to the point, I was actually too tired to knit several evenings. I didn't want to think about a pattern at all. I got out the spindle and some fiber I purchased at the Dickson Fiber Festival and did this.



It has actually been quite relaxing, I know that's contrary to what I said a year ago, but I have grown to like it. Had I been smart, I would have practiced with the spindle before I took the wheel class, that way I would have had the drafting concept down. Strong recommendation to any of you who are contemplating spinning.

As for knitting, I am still working on the Ty Dy Cardigan, knit with Delicious. I'm also working on a Kicking Bag, it's a free pattern on Ravelry. Here is one from Ravelry, compliments of SarkaFarka:


The bag is knit a little narrow I think, so I will add some increases to make it a little wider so that their legs won't seem so confined. I'm knitting it in Sirdar Bamboo Baby.

Legendary Nashville Songwriter

You can see songwriter Billy Arr perform locally on piano here with a little backup singing too. The song: "A Night With Me" was written by Billy Arr and published by- Binoco Music BMI

Did I mention Billy Arr was my Dad? Yep, that's why we moved to Nashville in 1970 when I was a mere child of 11 1/2 years old. My dad has stayed true to his craft in the nearly 40 years of living in Music City. I respect his perseverance in this mighty tough industry. As much as the media touts the overnight successes, they don't show you all the hard work and years of playing in dives and playing on the road that so many musicians and writers have to endure, so my hat is off to all of you that have endured that life. My Dad has written many beautiful songs, many of which have never been recorded and heard on mainstream media, but they are forever embedded in my brain and in my heart. I love you Dad and you are still my favorite singer. Keep on writing.

Here are some "old" pictures of him in action. I'm sure he'll appreciate me putting these up on the internet.

This one is from the late 60's, a band he had while we lived in Topeka, KS. His baby brother, my Uncle Jack, was also in the band.

New cat in our midst?

As many of you probably know, the cat that adopted us about 2-3 years ago, Bosephus, has been gone for approx 2 months now. I don't know if he was dinner for one of the coyotes that live in them thar hills, or if he got hit by a car. He did like to roam in the evenings and at night. Since he's been gone, the mice have been plentiful and the moles have gone crazy making tunnels in the yard. DH and I had decided to find a female kitty that might be more inclined to stay around and not roam so much. One of our very distant neighbors had kittens back in February and we had about decided just to get one of his when they are old enough, maybe sometime in July.


As luck would have it, this one appeared today. We assume someone just dropped her in the country because we believe she is pregnant. At first we thought she had just had babies, but she's seems a little young, she's not a year old yet. So, we'll see if she sticks around. I've named her Callie because she's obviously a calico.

Where will it stop???

Now I'm needle felting animals???? Last weekend I was spinning? I bought a Cricket Loom at the Fiber Festival in order to weave? Where will it stop? When do I think I have time for all these fiber related activities? I've realized that my Wednesday lunch knitting group is full of enablers.....you know who you are. :-) Last Wednesday, Deb brought an adorable show and tell. They are so cute and tiny, she is holding them in her hands.

She let me borrow her book, Wool Pets, for the week.

Now, the cute little teddy bears she had are not in this book but since I already had felting needles at home, I went home that very evening and I made my own little bunny rabbit from the book. He's far from perfect but for my first attempt, I think he's cute.

Should he have had a pink nose? The book showed black but I think pink may have been cuter.
I've since done a little more shaping with the needle and his nose is not as pointy, but his tail is still too big and there are other flaws, but I love him nonetheless.

This weekend I have been making an excel spreadsheet with my stash and taking pictures of my stash. It will not be done in one weekend, I have waaaaayyyyyyy too much stash. Where did it all come from? I won't be loading it into Ravelry, uploading pictures on my slow internet connection takes too long, and in addition, if Ravelry or Blogspot goes away (as they always eventually do) I don't want to have to rush to try to get everything logged elsewhere. I will always have it in my spreadsheet and the pics on my external drive.

Spindling.......and spinning a new yarn

The Spindle I bought at Stitches South is very light weight and I like it's design. My Wednesday lunch knitting buddy gave me some yellow roving to practice with and I have been practicing. Drafting the yarn is definitely the hardest part to learn and since I'm doing it on my own, I'm probably developing some bad habits. A friend and I are taking an actual spindle class from our LYS in July so I guess I'll find out what bad habits I've learned. :-)
Here's what I've done so far.

A Sweet Toddler Dress

I saw the sample in the store and knew I just had to make the Toddler Dress for Gracie. I cast on for it while at Stitches and I finished it last week, so it took a month. I was not monogamous to the project but nearly. I made the 18 month size because Gracie will be 18 months this summer, however, I think it came out a little big. Won't it look cute with a little turtleneck and tights though maybe this fall? It's knit with Plymouth Baby Bunny which is 60% Pima Cotton, 30% modal and 10% angora. It's a little fluffy but oh so soft! I chose not to add the flower because I thought it would get torn off with those little inquiring fingers.


I don't know how the colors will come out on the computer but to clarify I knit it in celery green and white, color # 206.

The only big change I made to the pattern is that I went down 2 needle sizes for the bodice and I started with a row of single crochet before I crocheted the picots.

What have I been up to in the knitting world??? Stitches South is one! The long weekend of April 23-26 was spent with great knitsibs, Chris and Martha, in Atlanta. We left early Thursday morn (left my house at 4:45 AM) and arrived in Atlanta in plenty of time to check in to the hotel, get registered at Stitches and still have time for lunch before our first class on Thursday. Thursday evening, the market opened to registered students only. It was great, overwhelming, beautiful, overwhelming, lots of vendors of yarns and roving and wonderful accessories, and did I mention overwhelming??? Martha and I spent Thursday eve just going up and down each aisle, in anticipation of what we might purchase on Friday when we returned to the market. Chris on the other hand, already knew some items she wanted and went immediately to those vendors. Chris has already blogged about some of our adventures, if you'd like to hop over there..... She has even blogged about our yarn shop crawl on Saturday. We stayed away from the Stitches Market on Saturday with good reason. Open to the public day, ouch!
I will post pics of some of my purchases, but meanwhile, I am posting some items that I have either finished knitting or am in the process.

Fingerless Mitts: I find that they are used more in the spring and summer when the office has gotten so cold because of the air conditioning. My co-workers always want to borrow mine, and they are the wrong color, so I made her a pair of her own to go with her red sweater that never leaves her shoulders in the spring and summer while at the office.



The bank is consolidating some of it's functions into one location and therefore a co-worker lost her job. She loves bunnies, so I made her this little cutie.

My garter-toes socks. I love this pattern!

This was an interesting pattern.

It started out like this:

Then you fold it together, end to end, and you seam it.

and you end up with these: very comfy footies that I made with Cotton for summer.

I've also been working on a Baby Bunny Toddler Dress. Baby Bunny is wonderful yarn to work with, it feels so wonderful, like knitting with butter.

Although I'm knitting to gauge, it's turning out a little bigger than I had anticipated. It was meant for an 18M old, but I believe she will have to grow into it.

I've also cast on for a shrug for me, a very lacy lightweight shrug. Now I don't normally go for a shrug because they typically scream "look at the girls" and I don't need anymore attention there, but I tried on the LYS store sample and it was lovely, even on me. So I purchased GGH Soft Kid at half price (even better) and cast on. The pattern is relatively easy to remember and it's usually not bad as a visiting knitting, although you do have to pay attention, yarn-overs and K2G's and all that. Well, as you have deduced, I made an error and it went into time-out until i could tink it in peace and quiet. I have now tinked and will resume the knitting. But here it is as it stands now:

I've also cast on for a couple of summer tops for me. I will post about them separately.

Happy Mother's Day Mom

I still miss you very much. Every time I pick up my knitting needles, I feel your presence in them. I smile every time I start a new project, the kind of project that I know you would be proud of me for undertaking. You would be proud of the progress I've made in my knitting and I cherish the thought that you and I are actually knitting together while I'm at stitch nights in a small group of friends or together while I sit on the couch knitting at home. Thanks Mom for passing along your natural ability to me.

I remember very fondly that Mother's Day weekend when we met in Chattanooga. I drove up from Atlanta and you drove from Nashville. We met there for a nature photography seminar which was held at a reserve for injured animals. The first "episode" we encountered was the hotel had "misplaced" our reservation for a non-smoking room. We decided not to stay there and went further into town and stayed nearer the artsy part of town. We stayed by the pool most of the day Friday and then early Saturday morning started our seminar. We had such laughs and some intense moments like when we first saw a red-headed vulture up close. OMG, who knew they were that big!!!!!! The Sunday, Mother's Day, I took you to a restaurant by the river, it was packed because of Mother's Day and we were standing for a while and you kept saying, no we should leave and go somewhere else and I insisted we stay..........then you saw Michael. He had driven down from Clarksville that day just to eat lunch with you and it was such a surprise!!!! Oh yeah, I forgot, I also lost my wallet that weekend and you ended up having to foot the bill for everything. Good ending to that episode though, when I got back to Georgia, the sheriff had left a note on my back door asking me to get in touch. Who ever had found my wallet in Chattanooga, had contacted the local authority who then had contacted my local sheriff, and I made contact with the young man and he returned my wallet with everything still in it, cash and all, every bit of it. Yes, I had already cancelled my credit cards, but can you imagine???? Yes, there are still good people in this world. Anyway, all this to say Mom, I miss you very much and I still think of you every day.

Love,

your sunshine.........

More Pictures wanted

Do you remember that Saturday Night Live episode with Christopher Walken where he was directing a music video and he kept saying Cut! because he wanted and needed more cowbell? (Tried to find a link on YouTube, but couldn't find one.) It was priceless and hilarious.

Well, a non-knitter friend of mine who religiously reads my blog recently told me that I needed more pictures. She loves looking at my blog primarily for the pictures. When she was telling me this, it reminded me of the "need more cowbell" episode and it just made me smile, so I had to blog about it, cause I know she'll see it and I wanted her to know that I listened and I've heard her pleas for more pictures. :-)

You may wonder why I haven't blogged in a while. It may be because I have been busy, or it may be because the very rural area where I live does not have DSL available. What that means to you city folks is that uploading photos or even adding text to a blog "eats up all the damn bandwidth" as my DH likes to quote. Granted, he is telling the truth but when am I supposed to blog and keep my journal up to date except on weekends when he's using the bandwidth too?

I am 50 today ! ! ! !

All I can say is WOW.......unbelievable. Since I never had kids, I don't see the years pass before my eyes. In my mind I'm still in my 30's so when I'm actually turning 50, it truly is unbelievable because I do wonder where my time has gone. I am so happy to still be alive so I treasure each birthday given to me. (sorry for the split infinitive)

Instead of being at work today, I am at home taking care of DH who's back went out on Saturday morning and by yesterday afternoon it was so bad he couldn't walk. Helping him go to the bathroom ended with him on the floor. He said the pain is so bad it takes his breath away. I will get some knitting done though as I sit on my rocker in the bedroom while he rests.

I received a very cool birthday present from my brother. It's a graphite object from this California artist. He designs many different objects and mine is in the shape of a carrot. It's verrrrry cool!!

As for knitting, I've been working on the mini-mochi scarf (on Rav) with the beautiful Mini Mochi yarn in a blue/green colorway. Absolutely gorgeous. I may try these mittens next with the other colorway that I have. I'm also knitting small mitred squares to make a sock yarn blanket, this one will take a while but it uses left-over sock yarn so it's perfect! If you can't get to the Rav link, you can go to the author's website here. If you're on Ravelry and you search for sock yarn blanket in the patterns, there are several others out there as well.

I may have to try this one next with some pastel colors and make it a car seat blanket.

Another month has flown by...

Where does time fly? I don't know what has eaten up my weekends since the last post, oh wait a minute, maybe it was the weekend of knitting Feb 7 at Haus of Yarn when Chris Bylsma was in town....or maybe the hours I've spent on the Verizon website looking at all the new Smartphones and trying to decide what I have to have (Samsung Omnia won), or the fact that the Tour de California bike race is on Versus and Lance Armstrong has come out of a 3 year retirement (good knitting time too). We love to watch the Tour de France and we actually remembered that the Tour de California is in Feb, so we have watched it everyday, today is the last day.

DH and I had actually planned to go to Georgia this year and find us a good spot to sit to wait for the bike racers during the Tour de Georgia. Well, the organizers of the race decided not to have one this year, maybe next year. Of all things.

OK, the weekend of Feb 7. It would have been my mothers 74th b'day and I know she would have loved to go to this class with me, so I packed her small brass urn (which fits in the palm of my hand) into my pocket and she was there with me in spirit. The 2 classes taken with Chris Bylsma was Advanced Finishing and Eight Empowering Edges. The classes were packed. We especially liked when Chris referred to the knit stitches on a swatch piece of stockinette stitch as martini glasses. That just fits perfectly with knitting water don't you think?

Here are a couple of pics from the class:
Chris herself:



If you haven't taken the time to take knitting classes, you must!! Knitting classes are great to take. So many things to learn, especially tricks. Some of the edges we learned are indeed empowering and the finishing, well we aren't just making scarves are we? Learning how to seam shoulder edges, sleeves to the body, etc, we learned how to make them look "finished" and not just handmade. For preparation of these classes, we did have swatch homework. It was very important to be prepared with your swatches and the swatch size requested. We were supposed to have 5 swatches sized 8x8. One woman had arrived with 1 swatch about 3x3. Needless to say, she left after only 1 hour in a huff, but it was her own fault, she wasn't prepared. If you shell out $50, you should be prepared. That reminds me, I have swatch homework for Stitches South. I had better get going on that too.

As for knitting projects, I have been working on the Best Friends Jacket. Getting to the last sleeve has taken a while but I'm getting there.

I started and finished another neck warmer, this one was in a soft yellow Malabrigo, for a co-worker. She loves it!!


Tamiko is modeling it for us.

The other project I am working on is the Mini Mochi ribbed scarf. The Mini-Mochi yarn is wonderfully soft and the colors are fabulous! Free pattern on Ravelry.

We ordered our new Samsung Omnia online so it will arrive this week and I will be engulfed with learning that for a while. So I'll update later.

First post for 2009

It's already the 20th of January and I am finally posting for the new year. So far, it has been a very cold January, at least for middle Tennessee. We have had some snow flurries, nothing of any substance, but it's fun to see. If you look at the historical statistics for mid-Tenn, our average snowfall is 9 inches. We haven't even been close to that in years.....years I say! The average high in the last week has been in the 30's. That's pretty cold for us and I have been frantically working on the Best Friend's Jacket so I can wear that warm wooly sweater. I am almost there. I have a couple inches left to go on the body, then all I have left is the sleeve. I think I may add a collar of some kind, although the pattern doesn't call for it.

Other than the jacket mentioned above, I have been knitting the following:
Garter Toes socks. I started and finished these and I love them. I will be making more of these. This pair I knit with Sheep Shop Yarn Company, Sheep Number Three. Knit with US 5 and knit 2 at once so that I could knit from the same wound ball. Garter Toes are knit toe up and since my right leg is bigger due to a bone graft, I made the right toe red so that I wouldn't have to guess which sock is for the bigger leg. (I have to make the upper part of the sock bigger to accomodate)

Mittens. I want to felt them, but only a little. I started them yesterday while sitting at the tire shop getting my tires rotated, balanced and aligned. Yarn is Lion Brand Felting wool. I knit them with US 8 and used the pattern from The Knitting Needle (purchased at Patternworks)
I only lack the thumbs and I'll finish them today.

Springy Koigu scarf. This one is crocheted. Lots of fun, lots of crochet. :-)

I taught a co-worker to embroider on paper (cardstock). So far she loves it.

The urge to sew has come alive again. Mainly because I need some new slacks for work, and store-bought slacks just don't fit me. I don't know why clothing manufacturers think that if you have a big butt you must have a big waist to go with it. So it never fails, that if I buy slacks to fit my butt, the waist is HUGE. It's not even alterable. So I have to make them. Anyway, I had to clean my sewing room (for some reason it has knitting stuff everywhere). In my cleaning, I uncovered one of my favorite items that I made several years ago for my sewing room, this pincushion. The cup itself is glued to the saucer so it's great to hold a few things, I even have a pair of small scissors in the saucer.

I may need to make one for my friend to use for her paper embroidery. She loves yellow, so I will be on the lookout for a vintage yellow teacup.
Here are some samples of paper embroidery that I have done.

There's one I did for Valentine's Day which is wonderful too but I don't have it scanned.

Goodbye 2008

2008.........Overall it was a good year.

• I searched for and found a new job earlier in the year and it's been great. Mainly because I can be a worker bee and not have to keep track of billable hours at the law firm. That has been the biggest relief off of my shoulders.
• I've been knitting on Thursday evenings at my LYS and have made friends with some great new knitsibs.
• The Wednesday lunch knitting group has grown to 7 people and it's a good break for an hour in the middle of the week. We all seem to look forward to it. Dunn's enjoys having us so much that they set aside the comfortable Dylan room for us. (I have to find one of those knitting chairs for my house, it's extremely comfortable to knit in.)
• We have purchased some new exercise equipment for the house and they have been pretty easy to use and therefore, should be able to stay on some type of exercise schedule.
• Other than being overweight, I seem to be in pretty good health.
• A new president was elected, although not my candidate of choice.
• We enjoyed a great season of plays at the Renaissance.
• I gave my belle-soeur (french for sister-in-law) her knitted bathrobe and the Noro shawl.
• Took a Beginning Spinning Class. (I won't be picking this up as a hobby)
• Listened to some great books on CD which have truly made my daily commute much easier to bear.
• Began teaching a neighbor to knit.
• Began teaching a co-worker to crochet.
• I have lots of finished knitting projects that I'm happy about for the year.
• I have a good list of projects for 2009 that I'm excited about.

Whew............Hello 2009 and welcome.

December weather

It's unbelievably windy today.....maybe 40 mph winds and unseasonably warm. I think it's up to 70 degrees today and I'm wearing shorts in the house. How can you knit cold weather goodies when it's that damn hot at the end of December?

The best time to buy calendars for next year? Day after Christmas or later. 50% off yesterday at Borders, can't beat that! Maybe after the first of the year they would be 75% off but I'm happy with my 50%. Even though I'm a Palm Treo gal and I use the calendar, memo and task features ALOT, I still love my calendar book. It's 5 1/2" x 8, moleskin cover and this year I picked a beautiful red. 2 years ago it was purple and I have turned that one into a journal of some of my favorite knitting patterns. Kind of like an altered book of knitting stuff. Here's a sample.

Anyway, in addition to keeping my calendar events, I also keep a running list of knitting projects on the needles (does it help keep me focused?) and projects I would like to make. It never fails that I will think of something I'd like to make and if I don't jot it down, I will forget. I re-look at the list of future projects and sometimes decide that I don't want to make something or it reminds me that I need to cast-on because I've since purchased the yarn. In 2009, I will add a list to my Palm Treo that will include some of my favorite projects that I would like to knit again, the yarn type and how much to buy. It never fails that I'm at the LYS and I see some luscious yarn that I think would be perfect for a project that I'd like to make but my pattern is at home and I don't know how much to buy or if it's even the right weight. So, the list in my Treo (which I always have with me) would be very handy.

In 2009, I will turn 50. What a milestone. I'm actually looking forward to it although I find it strange that I'm nearly that age. Where has the time flown? I heard a statement the other day and I liked it. "Time flies and I'm the pilot." In 2009 I will try to be more cognizant of where my time flies. I know a lot of my time is used up in my daily commute (3 hours per day) but I can't really do a whole lot about that unless I move back to the city and I won't be doing that either. Otherwise, where does my time fly?

Shrug for Gracie

As I was surfing Ravelry one lazy weekend, I came across the Confection Baby Shrug and decided I just had to make it. It was suuuuper easy and looks really cute on Gracie. Picture yet to come of the model. I made mine from Berocco Comfort so it was easily washable. It took a little longer to make than I had expected but it wasn't bad and it's adorable.

I'm still working on my Best Friend's Jacket from the book The Knit Stitch. For the very first time, I had a Knitpicks cable come loose from the needle so I have to return that one. It stalled my progress on the jacket for just a little bit until I could get another cable hooked to the needle.

For Christmas this year we bought some new exercise machines for our aerobics room (aka living room). We had had our treadmill for 15-16 years and it had petered out so we decided to replace it and our old stationary bike with a new elliptical machine and a recumbent bike. Both of them are so much quieter than our old machines it's unbelievable. They were delivered this past Friday and we got on them yesterday for the first time. They're great!! So my DH and I have an exercise plan put together, one that is not so horrendous that we can't stick to I think, but one that will get us a little more heart healthy. I plan on 30 minutes @ 3 times a week, maybe a little extra on the weekends. We'll see. (I perspire as I think about all the yarn I could have purchased instead)

Both of them together in this picture:

DH putting the final touches on the bike:

The Elliptical:

Winter time knitting

I usually keep a big project for knitting at home and currently it is the Best Friend's Jacket. I almost have one side done and I'm looking forward to it's completion. Out winter's aren't usually too awfully cold in Tennessee (although it CAN be). I think the Best Friend's Jacket will be perfect for most of the winter and it needs a scarf. I made the Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf from the book 101 Designer one-skein Wonders. I used Malabrigo for the very first time and now I see what all the hullaballoo is about. It's wonderful to work with and very soft and smooth. I used size 7 needles and it took just under a skein of Malabrigo. The color way is Saphire Magenta.

Christmas knitting

I have started several projects for the holidays. One being Koigu wristers, pattern found on Ravelry. I have already finished one pair, and have at least 3 more to go.

I've also started a scarf in some yarn that was on sale at the LYS. Looking at in a ball, I didn't really care for the yarn, however, in just plain garter stitch, it's making a beautiful scarf. I love it.

I also plan on making some sachets, in which I will place a lovely bar of scented soap.

Thorpe for DH

I subscribe to the Yarn of the Month. Last month, I received a sample in red of Berroco Cuzco. A luxurious 50% alpaca and 50% Peruvian wool. I fell in love with it and immediately started looking for a project to make with this delicious yarn. I swatched!! After continuous inspiration from Kathy, I decided to make the Thorpe for my DH (pattern can be found on Ravelry). He loves red and I decided to order the yarn from Webs. The yarn is wonderful to work with and the Thorpe is a great pattern. I know he wanted an ear flap hat for working on the farm in the winter and the Thorpe fits the need perfectly. It is great!! Today it is about 38-40 degrees and quite breezy. He asked for his hat......here he is modeling it before setting out to work. :-) (I think this is the first knit project I have made for him)

I made his in size large and I have purchased the same yarn but in hunter green for me. I will make mine in medium. He says the hat is perfect because it doesn't ride up, it keeps his neck and eyebrows warm without affecting his field of vision. Best hat I could have made. It is the first top-down hat I've made and I really liked it. Kudos to the designer.

Knitting during my computer hiatus

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been without my laptop and therefore I didn't spend hours upon hours in front of my computer on the weekends, and so spent much more productive time with my needles. I started some projects, worked on others, finished some old ones and have decided I now need to have a seaming party. :-) I usually don't mind seaming but here lately, I haven't been too good about it.

In July and August, LYS Haus of Yarn organized a charity knitting project for Warm Woolies. For every project knit, you received an entry ticket. In August, they drew a ticket for their $50 gift certificate............yup, it was me. Hoooorrrrayyyy. I was terribly excited and immediately put it to work. Their next charity project was Gilda's Club and since I lost my Mom to cancer, I knew I was going to knit some hats.

These are the hats I've finished so far.

This one is knit with Chinchilla. This is Shedir, knit with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.
This one is knit with Poof.
On to the projects I've been working on........

Moderne Log Cabin:

From Mason-Dixon's first book. This is knit with Bernat Satin, a very soft acrylic yarn and perfectly machine-washable. No plan to the number of rows knit for each color, I just knit until I got tired of the color and moved on to the next. I then went around all the edges with 6 rows of ecru and the 20-25 rows of the dark blue.


Peace Shawl:

I first saw a sample of this shawl on display at LYS Haus of Yarn in pale yellow. I tried it on and it fit beautifully, I just had to make one. So, I bought the yarn and started and finished this project in about 2 weeks, it was a very fun knit.

It is knit with Brilliance in an off-white color that goes with just about anything. Called the Peace Shawl because of the peace sign on the back that was so popular in the 60's. It gives just enough coverage on the back to eliminate any office air conditioning chills. Instead of a traditional triangular shawl, it is wing-like and is comfortable tying in the front. I feel that it doesn't scream "Look at the girls" as a shrug does to me. It's comfortable, light-weight and looks good.

Triangular Shawl:

This shawl I knit with Noro Kureyon Sock yarn. I have not blocked it yet so I'm not completely done. The colors are absolutely gorgeous. The rows got to be soooo long, I thought they would never end, but thankfully I got to the end of the 2nd skein and finished. The yarn itself is what did the striping.

Oktobergurumi

I recently took an Amigurumi class at my LYS and although I already knew how to crochet, this was a fun class. These lovable Japanese stuffed animals are just adorable. They are typically not made to scale which makes them look that much more adorable. For class I made the Papa penguin.
He ended up being a lot bigger than I had expected, so I then made this one...
isn't he cute??
I made the octopus but decided to make curly legs rather than the stuffed ones they had in the book.
I love the puppy too and I made hin as a gift.
Here's the family. (sorry there is so much clutter in the background) with my newly rebuilt laptop, I lost my photo editing program and haven't reinstalled it yet.
To add to the family, I plan on an elephant, rabbit, hedgehog and a turtle. The baby penguin is also a gift, so I will have to make another one of that.

A Long Computer Hiatus

As some of you know, I have been sans laptop since almost mid-August. During this unrequested hiatus, I realized how much of my weekends were being spent reading knit blogs (which I absolutely adore), perusing Ravelry and managing my finances with Quicken, etc.

Without my laptop to keep me so engrossed on Saturday and Sunday mornings, I have gotten so much more knitting done (notice I didn't say how much more housework I accomplished). I started and finished the Moderne Log Cabin from Mason-Dixon Knitting, several baby sweaters, started and finished the Peace Shawl and have almost finished the Noro Sock Yarn Triangle shawl. I've also started the Eiffel Tower top and the Best Friend's Jacket.

And although I know how to crochet and did that craft for years, I took the Amigurumi class that Haus of Yarn was offering. How fun those little critters are to crochet. I started the Penguin in class and by this weekend I was nearly done and also worked on the baby octopus. Pictures will come next weekend.

We have season tickets to the plays at the Renaissance Center in Dickson. There are two different sets of plays, one in the master theatre upstairs and the dinner theater downstairs which is small and very quaint. This past Friday we saw Greater Tuna and I have to say it was hilarious. If that play ever comes to your town, you have to see it, I highly recommend it. In December, we get to see the followup to it, A Tuna Christmas. It's going to be great, I already know it.

OK, it's almost midnight and I have to get up in 5 hours, so I have to go to bed and try to sleep. I am on vacation next week, so I will take pictures and update the blog with knitting information.

Oh yeah, did I mention Stitches South is coming to Atlanta in April 2009??? I am soooo there, I can't wait.

Long time no blog post, what have I been doing???

It is hard to believe that July has come and gone and I did not blog, not one post during that whole month. What the heck have I been up to?? Well, for one, there was the Tour de France. My DH and I watch it religiously and Versus has been great in that they show nearly the whole race. So we record it during the day and then try to pack 5 hours of bike race into a 3 1/2 hour evening. Needless to say, I did get quite a bit of knitting done but not nearly enough sleep. The Tour lasts 3 weeks and I enjoyed every minute of it. The Tour was great this year in that there was not a clear winner, not as much doping and steroid issues this year, although there was some. Carlos Sastre from Spain had a great win and poor Australia's Cadel Evans came in 2nd once again, just like last year. I also had my Yahoo email account compromised so I spent one Sunday afternoon untying everything to that account. I had had that account for 10 years so you can imagine what I had tied to it. It has been fixed now but I learned a valuable lesson. Now the Olympics have started and I will be doing some great knitting through that as well. OK, on to knitting...........

What I have been diligently working on:

Lace Ribbon Scarf - from Knitty Spring 2008. Knit with Shibui Sock yarn in a wine color with some variegation to the yarn. A beautiful colorway. Originally blogged about this in June.


Baby sweater - the 5-hour baby sweater. Found pattern on Ravelry and made it with some yellow Wool-Ease that I had left over from another project. Cute pattern, easy to do and worked up pretty quick. All it lacks now is some lace around the neck for tying.


Baby bib - new short-row pattern found on Ravelry. This was a fun knit with Peaches n Creme 100% cotton. I liked the extra buttonholes it provides so that it can grow with the baby. It has already found a home with an 8-month old.

Baby Sweater - Pink Tweed for Baby - Pattern is from the 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I used Katia Samba, and it was wonderful to knit with.

I have also started another one of the Baby's First Sweater with the turquoise blue colorway.

Charity child Sweaters - Pattern from Warm Woolies organization. Knit with Lopi chunky. I wanted to knit some charity projects anyway and Nashville LYS Haus of Yarn is having a contest for these charity items. For every project you complete and donate to the store, you get a ticket and they will have a drawing on Aug 14. The winner gets a $50 gift certificate to the store. Can't beat that great incentive. They will do the same in the next quarter as well. So I know where I will be doing my charity projects. I'd like to get back to doing some hats for cancer patients as well.





Socks - Almost always have socks on the needles. I have finished one sock and working on #2 with this wonderful yarn. Pagewood Farm Yukon Hand-dyed Bamboo, merino and nylon blend. Originally blogged about this yarn here. No photo update.

Triangular Shawl - Knit in Noro sock yarn, I am on the second skein now and it only takes 2 skeins, so it's coming along nicely. I knit on it mainly on knit nights or the knit at lunch because it's good visiting knitting. Straight garter stitch except for the 3 YO's on the right side. Easy-peasy. No photo update.

Blanket Bunny - from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders - also found it on Ravelry. I knit it with Lion Brand Homespun, mainly because I just wanted to try out the pattern. I loved it and will make it again. I modified the pattern a little by cinching the neck. Meanwhile, I have given this little treasure to a neighbor who just had a brand new grandson.

Moderne Log Cabin Blanket - Mason-Dixon Knitting - This is being made with Bernat Satin as a trial before using more expensive yarn. I am loving this. I don't think I'm following the so-called pattern exactly, but basically you knit with a color until you're tired of it and then you cast-off from the right side until you haved one stitch left, you turn the work 90 degrees and pick up and knit the stitches along the next border. Yep, that's right, no seaming, it is fabulous. I plan on making the border in the dark blue, so I'll go a little longer, make it a little bigger, then finish with the dark blue.

Road Trip

DH and I took a little road trip on Saturday to Land Between the Lakes. They call it Kentucky Lake on the west and Lake Barkley on the east but it's really the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River respectively. Very beautiful scenery and lots to do if you like to camp, boating, ATV's, hike, etc. It was a little warm yesterday but we kept the windows rolled down and took a leisurely drive through the park. We had the forethought to pack a picnic lunch and we stopped at one of the many picnic tables in the shade and ate our lunch. We drove through the Elk and Bison Prairie and took a few pictures of the bison, the elk were smarter and must have hidden in the shade somewhere on their 300 acres.

The car got in the male's way as he was crossing the road and he just stood there and breathed heavily until we backed up. He didn't go around the car, it was the funniest thing.
Then Momma and baby were getting ready to cross the road too and they walked behind the car.

There are supposed to be 67 in total on this part of the prairie, so no telling where the others were. Smarter and in the shade I suppose.
On the way back home, we drove thru Clarksville and stopped at Silke's German Cafe and had some coffee and a slice of Black Forest Cake in addition to buying some bread and croissants to take home.

I cast on for a new project......the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty. I am knitting it with Shibui Sock yarn, 100% superwash merino in the Mulberry colorway (S229), a wine color. I cast-on 5 different times and kept messing up. I was watching Laurel and Hardy's Saps at Sea movie and just kept losing track of where I was. I think it's an easy pattern to remember I just kept losing my place and it's not an easy one to tink because of the YO's. Maybe I need to use some stitch markers.

Clapotis is finished!!!

I started the Clapotis in March 2008 as part of the Nashville Knitting and Crochet Guild KAL. I knit it with Knitpicks Elegance, 70% Baby Alpaca and 30% Silk. It was a dream to knit with and the pattern itself is great and keeps your interest throughout. I loved it. My Wednesday lunchtime knitsibs took pics of my modeling it.

I first modeled it as a doubled wrap scarf for winter time.

Then this is how I wore it to the theater last Friday when we went to see the Music Man. I had remembered last time we were in this theater that it was quite chilly, so I was very happy to tote the Clapotis. Even my husband was enjoying it draped over his arm in the theater.

It is light weight, but warm. I will be making another one of these, they are so much fun!

Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn

I am knitting this Triangular Shawl from the Noro Kureyon sock yarn, it's an easy pattern to remember and the striping effect is just wonderful! They had a shawl sample on display at LYS Haus of Yarn in a different colorway and I fell in love with it. I just had to make one.
Such vibrant colors.

Baby Cardigan and Booties for MAA

I finished this little set and instead of doing buttons and buttonholes, I opted for the attached I-Cord and I really like the effect. It was so easy to do, I will definitely be doing it again. This was knit with Sirdar Snuggly Bamboo, this yarn is glorious and oh so soft. It's 80% bamboo and 20% wool. The booties are from a pattern by MadelineTosh, Dainty Booties. They are great to knit, and oh so easy, no stitches to pick up.

Bosephus

Bosephus was being very agreeable in having his picture taken, so I took full advantage of it. Not to bombard any readers with his photo, but thought it was a good place to have several pics for friends and family to see. His new "adulthood" scar can be seen across his nose. He's still a cutie though.

Spindolyn, Clapotis and more yarn

I purchased this Spindolyn at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival too but it just came in the mail. They had actually run out of them so I placed my order. Catherine showed me how to use it while I was there and the concept was fabulous. You place the base between your legs and then you don't have to waste one of your hands holding the spindle. You can see the video on how to use it here.
I started the Clapotis in March as part of the Nashville Knitting Guild KAL. I made the larger stole version and I am almost done with it. I am on the decrease rows and have really enjoyed knitting this project. I am not planning on blocking it becasue I love the ribbed effect when it's not wrapped around me. I knit it with KnitPicks Elegance in the Cornflower colorway. Elegance is 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. It is very luxurious next to my skin.


Scored some more yarn while at knit night at Haus of Yarn.



I purchased this Noro sock yarn to make a triangular shawl.

Bosephus has been missing nearly a week......

The last time I saw my sweet mouse-eater was Tuesday. He finally showed up today in reasonable good health although he has some scars. He may have some bruising around his sides and belly because he hissed at me when I rubbed him along his sides. Maybe he'll learn to stay closer to home. He's a 2 yr old tomcat, so who knows where he went. It's the first time he's been away from home this long before, 2 days was the longest before.

Middle Tennessee Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival - May 23-24, 2008

I attended this festival on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. A very small festival in comparison to the Maryland festival I'm sure, but it was great fun nonetheless. They had 2 full days of classes but I only attended the Beginning Spinning class on Saturday. It was a large class and thank goodness for the volunteers who happened to stop by and helped those of us who were really spinning challenged.

We had several wheels that we could try and my favorite was the Majacraft that belonged to Leah (spinner extraordinaire). It was deliciously smooth, unfortunately, I didn't complement it's abilities. I think I need a DVD that I could watch over and over to help me out. Leah gave me some excellent advice and fitting for me since I love baseball, she said to quit choking the bat and I totally knew what she meant by that, it helped a lot. Even Erin tried to help me.

However, Kim used it as well and was doing a fabulous job. I did come away with a few purchases that I'm happy about. One of the vendors had some wondeful alpaca from their alpaca farm, New Era Fiber in Gallatin, TN. They have 33 alpacas.

Some of their yarn shown above made their way into my shopping bag: This beautiful red suri alpaca will make a beautiful pair of fingerless mitts.
I plan to make a moebius cowl with this gorgeous granite.

This alpaca is a luscious deep burgundy which will also make a beautiful pair of mitts.
This vendor makes rugs, chair pads, hot pads, etc. from roving that you will never use to spin. The creator of this has a published book called "The Shepherd's Rug" where she explains how to prepare the roving, braid it, wash it then sew the item together. You can get the book here.


I went home with this already made chair pad and I absolutely love it!!!!

I plan to use this nicely priced wool from Turkey to make some sweaters for the Warm Woolies organization.

I also came home with some beautful angora rabbit roving. 25% angora rabbit and 75% wool from Praise Song Farm.

My last prize was this beautiful spindle from Little Barn. It's weight is 34 grams and I've already been practicing with it. I've got a lot of practicing to do before this gets any easier. whew!! I may just have to look at the spindle because to practice spinning takes away from precious and valuable knitting time. With work and commuting, there is not enough knitting time as it is.

Mother's Day wishes Maman, I miss you........

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years since I lost my best friend. I remember that Mother's Day when we met up in Chattanooga for the photography seminar, I came up from Atlanta and you drove down from Nashville. We had a wonderful photo seminar, taking nature pics, touring the Aquarium and then the madhouse lunch place on Mother's Day (the place was packed!!) and then you saw Michael at the restaurant. You were so surprised that he was in Chattanooga and he and I had planned that surprise all along. We had a wonderful weekend didn't we? I wish we could do another one, but that will only happen in my dreams now. Just know that I think of you every day, I miss you, and I love you.

A photo tribute:

Your wedding day to my Dad:

Our skirts matched :-)
dinner at Applebee's in Atlanta before we went to see the movie: Silence of the LambsGiggling in France, spending time with your sister and her family:
Your favorite place to take pictures, the creek by your house.
Mother's Day in Chattanooga.

You and Michael enjoying a laugh.

Enjoying lunch at a rooftop restaurant in Buckhead.
The Atlanta Olympics: We had so much fun at the Olympic tennis match, even considering the long delay of MARTA due to the previous nights bomb at the Olympic park.
You and Dad dancing on the dinner boat on the Thames in London.
Christmas 2000, a month before you passed away.
Your resting place.......your ashes spread on a beach in NW France where you enjoyed childhood summers.
I miss you so much..................

Yes I need to mow..............

Something is hiding in my tall grass.................can you see it???

Can you see it yet???????
How about now?? In the middle of the picture??
Is this better? You may need to click on the picture to make it bigger.

There she is, she popped up out of hiding!!!!!

New yarn acquisitions...................

BEROCCO SEDUCE:
It still hasn't decided what it wants to be yet.......I'm thinking shawl? another Clapotis maybe? So far it hasn't draped much on my swatches and it could be I haven't picked the right needle size, I'm going to try a swatch with 15's to see what it does.
I love this bag! It's from the magazine Knit n Style, April 2008. It calls for 5 hanks of Alpaca with a Twist Big Baby. I'll have to see what I have in my stash that will work for this bag. The finished size is 15x12x12. Perfect!
Spring (nearly summer here in the south) is upon us and that means poison ivy is out there just waiting for me. I am very susceptible to that stuff. I have a cat that wanders everywhere and probably wallows in it and then comes up to me and wants petted, and of course I accommodate that purrrrrring request. My brother, who is also afflicted with this malady, found this soap and says it is wonderful and so lovingly forwarded some to his dear sister, me!!!! I will not say that I can't wait to try it because I would rather it get old in my medicine cabinet than have that dreaded rash and itchiness. I am thankful for this soap though, just in case.

I have new sock yarn from the Luxury Sock of the Month Club. This stuff is gorgeous!

I can't wait to cast on for it. I may not use the pattern that came with it, I may just want to knit some mindless stockinette socks with some ribbing at the top. I've got a pair of socks on the needles that just won't get done because of the 8 row pattern. (I may have to frog them because I'm still on sock #1) I knit socks because I love hand-knit socks, but I don't like the painful patterns that I can't memorize. Must re-think my sock knitting!


I saw this In Line Vest on display at my LYS and I fell in love with it. I bought the Noro yarn for it, Taiyo. It is 40% cotton, 30% silk, 15% wool and 15% nylon and it's knit on US 9.


I love this colorway. Different from the display model which had too much yellow and brown for me.