how I love those boys of summer

I've waited fifteen years to see images like these:








(borrowed from several websites)

In 1993 I fell in love with baseball and with the Philadelphia Phillies. That year was full of highs and lows (I still cringe when I hear the name "Joe Carter") but my love for the sport and the team stuck. And last night, the Phillies won the World Series. It was a beautiful sight.

At the beginning of the World Series I realized that I would have a minimum of four games worth of knitting time, and I should probably start a new project to work on. I didn't expect to finish it--and I didn't--but I got a good amount accomplished, so here's a work-in-progress peek at my Opulent Raglan:





I'm calling it my World Series sweater. And what a World Series it was. Yay Phillies! Phinally!

shrug it off

I finished this up last night while watching five episodes of season one of Mad Men, so now at least I can wear it to the wedding I'm in next month!



Pattern: Little Silk Shrug, from Lace Style
Yarn: Louisa Harding Jasmine (3 2/3 skeins) on size 7 and 8 needles
Notes: The sleeves are too big, as usual. I had sized up since there was no way the original stitch count would work but, as usual, I overestimated and made it too big. But at least it won't fall off my shoulders, unlike my last knit shrug.



I wasn't trying it on with the dress, since the dress is hanging all neatly in my closet, but if the wedding pictures come out okay I'll post a few here later on.

But doesn't it look nice with my shoes for the wedding?

Rhinebeck recap, part 2

The evening





The Ravelry party









As you can see, my miniature Doctor Who did come along with me for the weekend, and he attended the Ravelry party. I had already gotten a lot of comments that day in regard to the Yarn Harlot's post, as well as a few people who had no idea who the doll was of but told me they "liked my boyfriend." :) But at the party I had my most surreal moment of the weekend. We were sitting at our table when Danielle, who had a better view of the room, turned to me and said, "um, I think the Yarn Harlot's pointing at you." A minute later Stephanie brought over a group of people to meet my David Tennant, saying one of her friends had a bit of a crush. Hee! They took pictures, and I even got asked if his pants come off (for the record: no. But his jacket does). And Stephanie told me it was the funniest thing she'd seen on her book tour. I think my knitting fame is complete!



Our group's combined loot



What I got



Let's see, there's two skeins of Sheldridge Farms sock yarn in Fury, Sock that Rock Silkie in Seastone, a Socks that Rock lightweight mill end that's not labeled but I think is Lettuce Knit, Socks that Rock lightweight in The Cookie Next Door, and Kraemer black yarn with sterling silver in the top row, two skeins of Brooks Farm solo in the middle row, and eight skeins of Plymouth Galway in a green heather on the bottom.

But that's not all! On the way home we stopped, as we had done the year before, in Lenox and visited Colorful Stitches, who were having a fall sale. So I came out of there with these:



That's two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug (40% off!) and two skeins of the new Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn.

We had also stopped at the Jo Ann's Fabric store near our hotel and then made a stop at the going-out-of-business Fabric Place in Framingham on the way home. So I also got these:



And yes, I did go over my budget for the weekend. But I got some nice stuff, and I had a fabulous time. I can't wait until next year!

Rhinebeck recap, part 1: the massive photo post

Rhinebeck was overwhelming, exhausting, and a total blast. For the most part I'm just going to let the photos tell the story.

The drive:







The Sheep and Wool festival:















Here are Sophia, Michelle, Catherine, and me, with Danielle and Kim in front:




















Meeting some fellow Who-vians, courtesy of Iko:








Part 2 tomorrow, including the Ravelry party (and my most surreal moment of the weekend), how we spent Sunday, and what I acquired from all of our excursions. :)

what a difference a day makes

Wow.

Seriously. Wow.

My little blog doesn't quite know what to make of all of the attention it's gotten over the last couple of days. Before the Yarn Harlot posted yesterday I had twenty hits that day. Since then it's gotten close to 400 hits. Wowzers.

Hello to all of you who have wandered over here from there, and thanks for all of the compliments on my knitted Doctor Who! My original post about the Doctor is here, if you want more info or want to see more pictures. As to the question of whether the pattern will be for sale, the answer is no. It's a heavily modified combination of a couple of existing patterns (including the basic doll pattern from World of Knitted Toys) plus a lot of improvisation and some creativity. I just wanted something a lot more huggable than an action figure, considering David Tennant looks fairly huggable to me. And it's far closer than I'll ever get to getting a hug from the real thing. :)

I'm off to Rhinebeck for the weekend, and I think I'll be bringing the Doctor along with me, so if you see us wandering around, please say hi! I'll definitely be at the Ravelry meetup and party on Saturday.

(Oh, and if by any chance you should happen to have a spare ticket to see David in Hamlet on December 3rd that you'd part with for much closer to face value than they're going for on ebay, let me know. :)

a visit from the Yarn Harlot

I know, I know, I know. I disappeared. There really hasn't been much to write about, or I haven't felt like it, I don't know. But this week is certainly fiber-filled, so hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things.

The Yarn Harlot was here in Boston tonight, giving a talk and doing a reading from her new book. My pictures from during the talk aren't good, but I got a great one later on. Knowing that she's a sci-fi fan and a Doctor Who fan, I had to bring along a special guest for the evening--my own knit Doctor Who doll.



Me: "Yes, I knit my own David Tennant."
Stephanie: "That's a great way to get one!"
Hee!

And now I am all pins and needles, waiting to see the outcome of the Phillies game tonight!