Friends + Smoked Meat = Fun...

Hub and I had a meat smokin' party this past weekend. We had friends visiting from my hometown in upstate New York, friends from Medford, and friends from Rhode Island to our house on Saturday for a special kind of cookout. For those of you not familiar with a smoker, it is a cooking apparatus that looks like a grill but is designed to cook meat low and slow with the addition of wood chips. The smoke creates a delicious flavor in the meat and the low, slow cooking method keeps the meat extremely juicy. Hub went a little crazy and brined two cornish hens, a pork shoulder, and a bone-in pork sirloin, made a spice rub for a chili-rubbed brisket, and smoked some fresh salmon (a gift from our neighbor). It was a serious protein fest... and it was delicious. Since smoking is a day long affair, I had tons of time to knit while I hung out with my friends. I made my friend Bob a nice little hat for the upcoming winter.

He looks a little like a thug but I think it works!

I have also been making some serious progress on all of my projects. Every once in a while I get to a point where I become maniacal about finishing my WIPs. To that end, I finished a lacy scarf I was making out of Kid et Soire and Estelle Dazzle (no pictures because it might become a gift) and I finally finished my Chic Knits Ribby Shell (remember that, it was one of the first posts I ever blogged)! I must say, now that I am finished with it, I really like it. It is one of the first garments I have made that fits me very nicely. Plus, it just looks sharp.
Now all the WIPs I have left include the blanket for my grandmother, the Flower Basket shawl, and Samus. Since that's only three projects, I have started a hat for my dad for Christmas. Super... I love starting new projects!

Cheers!

My Kitty is a Yarn Ho

My cat is a total yarn ho... This is a picture of him cozying up to my monster cone of Shetland wool. He hopped up on the couch, walked over my husband, walked over me, sat down with one paw on each side of the yarn cone, and started to rub his face all over it.

The next day he wouldn't stop rubbing his face on my ball of kid mohair and silk. When I tried to take it away from him, he attacked. What can I say, the cat has good taste.

*Sniff* I am so proud!

Cheers!

Samus knitting...

Check out my hulking huge cone of orange wool and the little, itty-bitty bit of Samus' saxon braid. This is only one repeat out of 9 but I love it so far!

Cheers!

Show and Tell...

I realize that I haven't posted in a while, I was waiting until I actually had some fun things to share! Hub and I spent a week on a Royal Carribean* cruise from Boston to Nova Scotia and back. Since my return, work has been nuts. Sometimes, I wonder if a vacation is even worth all the time I have to put in to make up for being out. Sigh...

However, all that time away has not limited my knitting. I have been diligently working on completeing some of my various projects (seven live projects at last count). I was so successful at this finishing thing, that I have given myself permission to start a new fall project. I will talk more about that in a minute.

First, I finally finished Kirsi, take a look:

I think she looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. The crochet edging was fun to do and I even liked the seaming. I am not sure how much I will wear it, but it was definitely a fun knit for me. Project details:

The pattern for this shirt came from Vogue Knitting, Summer 2005 issue. I knitted this with ~3 skeins of Caron Simply Soft Brites (100% acrylic), a size 6 circular needle, and a size G crochet hook. I did not modify the pattern at all (note, it is pretty short, hits me at high hip level).

Second, I finished the Ann Norling baby blanket and I love it. It is soft, pretty, and cuddly. Now I really want my friend and his wife to have their baby so I can give it to them!

Here's a picture:

Now onto the new project. The fall Knitty came out just in time. I must make Samus mine. Not only do I like the pattern (I think the cables look wicked cool) but I have the perfect yarn for this project. I purchased a monster cone (~2400 yards) of virgin Shetland wool from Webs a number of months ago. When I saw the yarn, I fell in love. It is such a bold color of orange/red and the price was soooo right (I only paid about $30.00). I bought it with absolutely no idea of what I would do with it. I knew that the right pattern would someday present itself. That day happened with the release of the Fall 2005 Knitty. We *heart* Knitty.

Off to swatch.

Cheers!

* I must say that, overall, I was kind of disappointed with Royal Carribean. I have taken a few cruises of various types and this one does not go at the top of my list. Admittedly, this was a budget cruise, but the service was really spotty and they nickle and dime you for everything. I think I would rather pay an extra $100 per person and not have to pay extra for things like soda (ice tea was free), yoga (the gym was free but an hour of yoga was 10 bucks), etc. Our experiences at the same resturant for dinner ranged from excellent full service (including multiple silverware changes and a crumb scraper), to a distracted waiter taking the soup spoon out of Hub's hand and tossing his salad on the table. If you want to cruise, I would check out other lines first!