Poor Neglected Blog

Wow - I have been a bad blogger for a few months now. Sorry about that (you know, to any of my faithful readers who have been leaving all those comments about my quietness...).

This month has been tough. It's had some really high highs, and then some really low lows. And the in between has been closer to the low than the high. So I'm definitely looking forward to October.

There has been knitting this month - lots of knitting. And you guys haven't seen any of it, so this will be a knitting post, for those who are uninterested and just check to make sure I'm alive - you can go about your business now.

First, I really should show you what I finished in August.
The Presto Cardigan. I love it! I wear it every chance I get. I think I might need to make another one in a different color. And I really should get a better picture, that one just looks goofy to me.

Onto the September knitting. I started a little sweater that I've had my eye on since the pattern was released, Goodale.
It saw a lot of knitting time on the road trip at the beginning of the month, and then it kind of sat for a little while, and then it just kind of slogged along there at the end (never ending purl rows will kill a persons will to knit, I tell ya). The above picture doesn't look all that fantastic I know (it's closer to the true color), it's not blocked yet. But look what happens after it's blocked:
So cute. A pain to block though. I love knitting cardigans and sweaters in general all in one piece (so nice not to have to seam) but I hate blocking them. Oh well, you can't have everything right? Tonight it should be dry enough to finish up (it might have been dry by now, but I only just managed to sew in the ends before Mom and I left for the Chicken BBQ yesterday). So I need to make a trip to JoAnn's to find some buttons, and tomorrow I should have a finished sweater, maybe I'll even get back on later this week to post about it - how crazy would that be?

I also started my "crazy project" for the next little while. I talked about it before - the Corrie Fair Isle Vest. I'm (amazingly) at the 25% mark (I told you I managed to get in some knitting this month), and I think it's looking really good:
And fun. It's fun to knit too, but I'm weird like that, fair isle will amuse me forever.
A little closer so you can see the colors better. Ignore the bumpiness, it needs to be blocked. I haven't worked on it much in the last week (as I was stuck with the slog of the project previously talked about), but I'll get back to it soon. The trick is to just knit a few rounds a day, and pretty soon your 8 inches into it.

I was overtaken with an urge to knit a pair of socks this month too (why no, I didn't finish the plain pair of socks that was started during two-a-days, I'm a grown up and can knit what I want).
The Sleepy Hollow Socks. So cool looking. I mean, look at the leaves!
Something else that will endlessly amuse me, little leaves in my knitting. I really am a simpleton. But I'm at the heel on the second sock, so it shouldn't take too long to wrap these up. Ha.

And then this weekend, I fell into a little black hole. I had to start this project. And then I had to keep going on it.
I mean, isn't it cool? What? You don't see the cute little owl?
It's adorable. But will be more so when finished. I don't know where my obsession with owls came from, but I love em. I may or may not have purchased yarn to do one for me in different colors...

And then there are 2 other projects this month that aren't shown. I finished the Tammy Wrap (a new pattern from KNOTS owner, Kate Jackson) but haven't gotten any pictures yet, hopefully today. And then there's a sekrit project. Not sure how long it will stay sekrit, now that I'm back at home, but we'll see.

Probably see you later this week with some updates and finished projects!

Not Laboring

So somehow, somewhere in the universe, the stars aligned and I had this past weekend off. Miracle, I know. So what to do with a weekend off? Go on a road trip of course!

Saturday Ellie and I headed west, to South Bend, and my very first ever ND game at ND.
Here come the Irish!
First play of the season!
The student section celebrating the first score of the season!
Victory formation!
Tradition.
Touchdown Jesus from the top of my section.

I met back up with Charlie, Rachel, Ellie and C4 and we eventually went to Red Robin for dinner - Ellie got some good photos, well maybe they're scary. And then we all went to bed kind of early. Breakfast Sunday at IHOP (pumpkin pancakes!) And things might have gotten a bit silly...
Sarah decided to make a mustache out of her straw wrapper, then the glasses came out, then the hood went up...
And then the bus boy brought us silly glasses.
Not everyone was so amused. But it was fun. All too soon, it was time to part ways - the Jerseyans went directly to Chicago to catch a plane, and Ellie and I went to the Christmas Tree store (I swear if there's one within a 50 mile radius, she will find it). And then we were off to Chicago as well. After checking into the hotel, we headed out to Navy Pier and happened upon the Stained Glass exhibit.
I took a bazillion pictures, but I'll only show you my favorites, and surprise, most of them are the work of Tiffany.
Seriously beautiful.
This one is not by Tiffany and was my most favorite, should have paid more attention to who and what, but I was distracted by the pretty!
I probably could have spent a lot more time wandering and admiring, but we had short time. This last one is by Tiffany, and it took me a few looks to figure it out, but here it is:
So cool how the light changes it!

We eventually made our way down to the Ferris Wheel, and hopped a ride.
Amazing how many pictures you can take on a 7 minute ride (and I probably would have taken more, but I restrained myself).
Then we set off for Michigan Avenue. Did a little shopping, took a few pictures, then started looking for a place for dinner.

We ended up at a Mexican place (so good! we both overate a lot) and then went back to the hotel as it got dark.
So I had to take some night time Chi-town pictures along the way.
Monday came (here's the view from our hotel room). And we went out to get some coffee and see some more sights.

First we went to Millennium Park, to find the bean.
Aka, Cloud Gate. Pretty cool.
Then we found this fountain - not sure what it's called - but it's kind of cool that the faces change, and then they do this:
Too funny. Okay, maybe I'm easily amused. We kept walking, went past the Art Institute and Grant Park, and finally hit the harbor. We sat for a while, finishing our coffee and watching the boats float.
We walked along the lake for a while, almost back to Navy Pier, then headed to the River Walk.
Found another fountain, and happened to be there for the 10 minutes an hour it shoots across the river.
The architecture is just so cool in Chicago, I kept snapping random photos of random buildings.
We happened upon the theater district, I think this picture will make the perfect title for a scrapbook page that will have to be made.
Then we went to the Pizzeria Uno, and had some deep dish pizza. Forgot to take a picture, oops. And then we went down Michigan Ave again, and wandered through the Swarovski store - OMG! I wanted just about everything in there, including the decorative store chandelier like thing.

And then we headed home. And it's back to work today. But it was so great to get away for a little while.