We went to Texas last weekend!
Expect a more detailed post tomorrow!
Jan 252012
Oct 042010
Yesterday we were fortunate enough to witness a beautiful wedding between our Jessica and HWJF! We drove up to Mohonk yesterday morning and the weather was perfect, well, except for a frigid breeze on the mountain!
The beginning of the hand binding part of the ceremony with Mr. B. Their hands were bound using a shawl that Cookie knit from yarn that Jessica spun that was a blend of Corriedale (or was it Cormo?) and angora bunny (yes! stitches!)
And exchanging rings:
oooh shiny!
It was a beautiful ceremony. I managed to not cry (I’m shocked – I cry at everything these days). We moved to the porch of the mountain house for the cocktail hour. They had a live band playing all sorts of music and there was a SQUEEZE BOX! Love!
Then we moved to the dining room for dinner. The band played music from Elvis to some random jive to the Beatles. And check out this awesome cake topper:
(sorry for the blurry photo, best I could do with DH’s phone!)
Congratulations again to Our Jessica and her hubby. Yay Wedding!!! Enjoy your honeymoon!
Jun 202010
Really, how does a whole month go by? Wow. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
1. Knitting my cousin’s wedding shawl, which came off of the needles yesterday
Erika's shawl - purity from Roman 43
Lace detail
I dropped 3 stitches on the final row of the edging and had to figure out how to pick them back up and somehow managed it. If I wasn’t a Knitter with a capital K before this, I most certainly am now.
2. Knitting a baby sweater for my niece, Marisa who joined us on June 5th.
handspun boheme for Marisa
The pattern is Boheme (ravelry link) and it was a quick knit, done in 3 days. I love knitting with handspun, I love the accidental striping that happens. I see more of these in my future, they are a great way to use up smaller hanks of handspun!
3. I’ve been dyeing fiber like it is going out of style. Sharon and I are trying to get an etsy shop up and running and I’ll post as soon as we get everything in order 
But here’s a teaser of some of the Falkland roving I dyed:
falkland sampler
I think I may just be addicted.
bagged up and ready to go
4. Finished two pairs of socks:
Zen toe-ups which took me over a year to finish because I hate the yarn (trekking xxl – a sin I know!).
zen toe-ups
and a pair of toe up monkey socks using yarn from my friend Debbie:
toe up popcicle monkeys
5. Some spinning has occurred but not much since I was focusing on Erika’s shawl.
Pigeonroof studios SW merino in Emperor
6. And a ton of test knitting for the girls over at Crafty Detour. The next sock in the series looks awesome and I can’t wait until they launch their CSI series
Skinny Bugga! in Beyer's Jewel Scarab
I’ll be knitting this pattern using skinny bugga! for the first time. I can’t wait to see how it knits up and how the sock turns out. So far all of Heather’s patters have been lovely!
Hopefully I’ll be back in a few days with more to blog about!
May 132010
And yes, this re-mix from Flo-Rida gets stuck in my head thanks to my Thursday night Zumba class.
Let’s do a spinning recap! First up, the last braid of fiber that I got at MDS&W that went home with Sharon accidentally,
"Pure Luxury" from Frabjous Fibers
Cashmere, Silk and Merino. MMMM. Can’t remember the colorway, but yes, it’s another blue/purple/green mix which was apparently the theme for the day.
Next up, some etsy shopping. These two braids are from Christina Marie Potter (and they were purchased because JessaLu posted her new stash and yeah well, I’m weak):
100% Superwash Merino in Cheshire Cat
Firefly Inspired Fruity Oaty Bar Corriedale
And What I’ve been spinning:
1. Some merino/bamboo from Fiber Optic that I purchased at Rhinebeck 2009
merino/bamboo singles
that I navajo plied:
Navajo Plied merino/bamboo
2. Some batts from Pigeon Roof Studios in the Victorian colorway. These were a blend of Merino, Shetland, Silk, and firestar:
Victorian
And some yarn stash enhancement:
Wollmeise 100% superwash in Frühling
I actually obtained a skein of Frosch but traded with Sharon for this Frühling because it’s more like what I wanted for Haruni. I really need to get moving on my cousin’s shawl so I can start mine!
And knitting wise, I’ve been doing some investigating for the girls over at Crafty Detour and here’s some progress:
picot edge
but that’s all I can share of my investigation so far.
This weekend we are staying put so I hope to get some MAJOR progress on my cousin’s shawl accomplished. I gave my self the goal of May 22 to be at the beginning of the first ruffle (there are two!) so I need to get a move on!
And a Mom-Mom update. The surgery went well, they still believe they got rid of the cancer. She met with her oncologist (the same that my MIL had) and discussed treatment options. They removed 7 lymph nodes (this is an updated version from Dr. Swab) and two of those were clear. Mom-Mom will start a pill form of radiation and will not be undergoing chemotherapy because hell she’s 82! So your good thoughts, prayers, ju-jus, vibes, etc are all still appreciated She was doing well on Saturday when we went to visit her (3 days post mastectomy) and we hope that she continues to be as feisty as ever.
Apr 092010
I’m not a proficient lace knitter (unlike someone I know ) but when my cousin announced she was getting married this year, I felt the urge to knit her a shawl.
When we were kids we fought constantly. Erika is younger by 10 months, but is really my first cousin Beth’s daughter. We went to college together at Pitt (I was one year ahead) and while I was in grad school she was applying for programs to be a Physician’s Assistant. She graduated last May and begun working at a hospital in Pittsburgh. I could not be more proud of her. She worked very hard for her degree and deserves all the success in the world.
So I decided on something plain, classic, simple. This is Erika’s style. I chose Purity from Rowan 43. Sharon gave me the yarn, it’s a cone of alpaca laceweight in an off white color. I’m 30 rows into the main part of the shawl, and hope to finish the first Ruffle by June.
Having been down the road of prepping for a wedding recently, I am thrilled and excited for Erika. Her hubby to be, Rob, is wonderful. I am very happy that they found each other.
Wedding shawl in progress
Oct 132008
Okay, so I’ve been rather quiet as far as this blog goes. Things have been insane lately!
First, I’m now happily married. On Sept 27, John and I tied the knot at Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Bally, PA, with our reception at La Massaria at Bella Vista Golf Course. Everything went perfectly and from what we can tell, everyone had a wonderful time. We meet with our photographer on the 25th, so I will be sure to post the link for our photos here, after we’ve picked them of course!
Our honeymoon took us to Orlando, Florida where we stayed on Universal Studios property, specifically at the Loew’s Royal Pacific Resort. The hotel was fab – decorcated in a post WWII pacific feel, there were stunning orchids, tahitian huts, luau’s, hawaiian shirts, and it was just fantastic. We would stay there again, no questions asked.
Since the wedding? Well, I went to the Garden State Sheep & Wool festival with Sharon and Jess, we did all of our banking merging, put a deposit down on a larger apartment (2 br, 1 bath), bought much needed bookcases, did a massive clean of the apartment (there is still more to do), sent out a billion thank you notes (still more to go) and have been enjoying married life. This friday I’m going to make it official and go to the Social Security office and PennDOT and change my name 
Knitting wise? I’ve purchased a ton of fiber from Jess, a new spindle which is making things so much easier, and am saving up some $ for a wheel. Sharon and I will be testing a few while we are at Rhinebeck this weekend (SO excited).
I’ll be inserting some photos in here later on, I have to get to a meeting for a presentation I’ll have to give in a few days. Gah.
Aug 192008
Okay this entry may just be the suckiest ever because I just.don’t.feel.like.blogging, but something inside is nagging me to blog so, here ya go. Been doing a lot of running around lately and I’m exhausted.
- It’s 39 days until the wedding. Yes. 39. Gah. So much left to do, the responses are coming in and final meetings are scheduled with our vendors. Honeymoon hotel is booked, need to arrage rental car and flights still – hopefully have that finished next week.
- Work has been good lately, going to have my mid year review sometime this week. Had to create spreadsheet of weekly summaries of what I’ve been doing since March. Funtimes.
- Knitting has been productive lately. I finished my Ravelympics project last night and have found the socks a new home as I don’t like them. And, as of today, I am taking a month long hiatus from sock knitting due to wrist pain.
- I’ve joined the YMCA to start swimming again. I blame this entirely on Michael Phelps, but honestly, I did miss swimming and the olympics have really brought that feeling home. So yesterday was my first day to swim and wow, totally over did it. This may be cause of wrist pain as a major battle ensued with the locker that was to keep my belongings in! I will be doing 30-45 mins 3x a week, so essentially, MWF, and may increase to 4x a week – no guarantee. I am trying to lose ~ 10 lbs before the wedding, and this can easily be done and the dress will still fit, so don’t worry about that.
- I’ve been trying to destash a little bit. I’ve gotten rid of 3 skeins of noro kureyon, and 2 skeins of koigu kpppm and then of course, I buy more yarn.
- Sweater knitting shall now commence, since, no socks for a month. I have to finish a Clapotis for Cait still, but that’ll go smoothly and be great SnB knitting. I need to figure out what sweaters I will be attempting, I know already February Lady sweater and another Wicked – this time no pocket and definitely short sleeved again. I do want to knit a central park hoodie, but I need yardage for my size and can hopefully find something suitable at Purl Soho since I have a store credit from the mishap with the BSA Alpaca & Silk that I purchased earlier in the summer. There are a few patterns from KnitScene and IK that I want to make, but it all depends. I may get sick of sweaters super fast. I also need to do a set of Knucks for a friend that studies in London (way behind on these) and those will be next, after I finish up some of my WIP’s that aren’t socks.
- And well, here are some FO’s I can so off!
Jul 032008
Clearly you can tell that things have been a little nutty in the Sairy household. Here’s what has been on the needles lately:
Pattern: Zombie socks
Yarn: BFMA Socks That Rock Lightweight Ravenclan series – Valkyrie
Finished pair of Froot Loops from Knitty Spring 2008 surprise! Yarn is Koigu KPPPM (I have a problem with this yarn… I love it)
Started:
Or that should be re-started Firestarters by Yarnissima! out of, well, Koigu KPPPM. This go around they are going much better – I’m on the gusset increases now! These are my FIRST socks for summer of socks 2008. I’m a late starter. That’s all I can say.
Also on the needles, an odessa hat, wicked, a new malabrigo clapotis for Cait, and well, I need to start the mates for the river ripple socks and the zombie socks. Those will come soon.
Work has been crazy lately and things have just calmed down – nice that it is happening before a holiday weekend. Wedding planning is still going smoothly, I have to call the reception site and inform them of our food choices, finish up creating direction cards in Publisher, and then we can start to get the invitations sent out! So much is happening so fast! Best get back to work now!
May 152008
Not much has been going here at chez sairy! Work is humming along. I FINALLY got my computer so I get to sit at MY desk!
Knitting wise, Marcia received her package and I’ve completed two socks of different pairs…
please ignore my dirty patio – we haven’t gotten around to fixing that up yet.
Had to restart the baby blanket for Laurie, but that is about 32×12″ now. I may have to buy more yarn this weekend, but that is easy enough.
My friend Cait is coming to PA with us for Memorial day weekend! I am thrilled about this because I haven’t seen her since I went to NYC with JC for his interview at Marvel (almost a year!).
Wedding wise, the cake is picked out, flowers decided on, and invitations ordered! Invites should be done by next week, I have to call the florist because I haven’t gotten the estimate from our meeting. *sigh*.
And tomorrow, I get to go home and see this fuzz ball:
And hopefully more blooms from this plant:
Feb 222008
Okay it has been ages since I have felt that I have had anything to blog about. Still unemployed. Still interviewing. Still Knitting. Still wedding planning. But! I have news.
We have a photographer. Rick Blanco is just awesome. It is a husband and wife team and they have already sent us a small planning binder. Just so many personal touches, I am just very very impressed. Mom and I went to a bridal fair at La Massaria last weekend. Spoke with the florist that we will be using, as well as Kharissa about the planning at the site. Tasted food at the site, chicken marsala, which was just excellent. We also spent saturday trying on dresses at two bridal shops – one in East Greenville and one in Harleysville. No luck. So things are going along nicely.
Monday, my mom, godmother (Aunt Charlotte) and I drove out to Lancaster to see the Alfred Angelo store. I *found* my dress. Here it is: MY DRESS!!! Thank goodness. Now we can really talk to the florist and figure all of that out as well as the baker.
Knitting wise, I'm working on finishing up my wicked sweater. I have a pair of knucks to knit for a friend in the UK and that is about it. I just participated in the She-Knits Super Secret Swap and received my package and it is just wonderful. I will post a photo later. I also received my shipment of Malabrigo from Fabulous Yarns!
I am getting a new camera too! Yay. I ordered a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 MP body and a 28-105 mm lens since my piddly sony cybershot 4.1 mp is on it's last leg – the usb cable is dying and the display screen is shot. I have been saving my pennies for this. The yarn above was a weak moment after a job interview that won't lead to anything until June as it is with how the economy is lately.
Ok back to purging my room, I have too much stuff. Eep!