…bags are packed…
…dogs were taken to Grammy’s…
…alarm set for 4 AM…

I finally picked up a guidebook for New Orleans today. It has some really nice things in it. I am a teensy bit nervous about the food situation, however. New Orleans is one of the top destinations for culinary/epicurean delights… but there are not many vegetarian options that I have found… oh well, I should be okay. I have done it before! Thank you for all of your suggestions about New Orleans sights. I have a nice long list of things to do!

I picked up some light reading for the plane… I think Kris and I are going to be rolling in the aisles We Jon Stewart!

Hopefully I will get a nice TSA inspector who will let me through security with my needles… I am taking plastic and bamboo only so there is no problem with the metal. I will be taking some odds and ends to knit… mainly WIPs. Status reports when I return.

…and my little bit of serendipity today…

I found a German knitting book this morn at my German school. In my time there I have found many academic works, etc., but never anything like this! Now I can learn all of jargon auf Deutsch *yippee* The other book was on clearance at my favorite bookstore ever. This book looks great!

I voted, and so should you! Vote with your conscious… Vote with wisdom… Vote for democracy…

Take care and I will see you all soon!

Have a lovely week, all!

You all are great with your well wishes! I am a lucky Lolly to have all these cool knitty friends

I have to share a lot of news, so this will be a heavy picture post. Oh how I love clicking pics of everything…
especially with my new camera!

We just got it tonight. We used the trip to New Orleans as an excuse, but both of us have wanted a new one for a long time. This camera is so HOT! We got a case too, because this baby is gonna get a LOADS of use! (Its all for you, my darlings!)

QUESTION: Guess what I did last night?

HINT: CHAMPAGNE + LUSCIOUS FIBERS + CUTE GIRLS = TON-O-FUN

ANSWER: Had a lovely evening with my dears, Heather and EI!

Here are the pics to prove it…see H’s blog for all the other pics. This is a very well-documented evening!

Got to Eilene’s lovely home and she prepared the wonderful champagne in her lovely hand-painted champagne glasses…

H jumped right in with her Zim-Zim-Zimmerman pullover. (Can’t wait to see how this turns out! Monica just finished her version!) Love this picture–take a looks at this sexy engineer! Rrrrr!

Ei let me use her umbrella swift and ball-winder (these are amazing inventions) to make my little yarn tuffetts. This is their technical name.

You may recognize the lovely Ironstone mohair from my last trip to Folk Art Studio, as well as the scary Rio de la Plata… but what is this lovely morning glory colored tuffett? None other than the handspun from Harlot!

H mentions my Mohair Mystery on her blog (check out her pics!) and I like this title, so this is now going to be known as Mystery. This mohair is so yummy, and you see the colors, so you know that I love it… I have a specific idea in mind for this, and it will be revealed right before your eyes…

I received a very sweet RAOK from Lynne. Thank you so much for thinking of me. This squiggly yarn will make a great scarf! Umm… and the chocolates are already gone…

I want to leave you with Heather’s adorable bumper sticker. It looks so cute on her zippy red car!

I will talk to you again before I leave for NOLA… on Sunday… at 5:30 AM! *bleh*

I want to thank you for all your kind comments after my last post. I cannot tell you how much I love the knit bloggers out there–I have a feeling that many of you feel the same way. A wonderful group of people you are

What I could not say before, I can say now. I had to make a pretty big career decision. My career is extremely important to me, so each step is a big one. I will be starting a new job sometime in mid-November (the date is not set) and I am really looking forward to it. You might remember my rant about commuting a few weeks ago… and now, with this new job, I will be closer to my school and I will not have to spend as much time in the car… BUT, I will get the chance to do a lot more KIP (Knitting in Public) as I ride the subway everywhere! So, this is exciting for me…

Speaking of school… I got to hang out with the Knitibrarians on Monday! We actually met to do a school project, but we knitted while discussing the project… but we ended up doing more knitting than projecting…

Shayna is making this!

Jenn continues this!

I finished the back of my FCEK cardi, and started on the front panel. Not much to show for that. I did start on a quickie little scarf diversion though for some Christmas presents… It seems like I have a zillion things going at once.

They are both seed stitch patterns, made with acrylic yarn. I have grand plans for these little scarves, and that will just have to wait till next time…

Because I love to see craftiness and creativity, I wanted to show you this picture of Maha, a friend from my current work. She crocheted this scarf, and it is way cute (so is she!) One of our library patrons came in with this little wrap number that was secured with a brooch (so chic!), and all three of us wanted to see how she made it. It was so cute, and SO easy. If a person comes into the department with a cute knit, you can guarantee that we will notice and try to figure out how to make it!

In other news, we leave for New Orleans on Sunday! I am really looking forward to it! Evidently Halloween is BIG TIME in the city, so I guess I better plan a quick costume–any ideas? I need something for Kris and me. I am not into creepy scary stuff, but I want something cool and maybe a little bit cute. There are so many cool things to do there! I don’t think I will have a dull moment we are going to have a SUPER time! I plan to take plenty of knitting with me… have not yet decided what to take though.

Did someone say SCARY?

Lolly shows the new Rio de la Plata who is boss! Rrrrr!

See, Bella was cowering!

Since I showed you our prom pic from nearly 6 years ago, I thought it was only fair to see a picture from now…

A little more fat, a little older… but still SO happy!

There are changes on the horizon, nothing really major, but still things are a little *up in the air*, and there are some decisions that are weighing on me… so, knitting has been a very nice therapy for me lately.

My FCEK cardi is growing to gargantuan proportions. I am making one of the larger sizes, because I wanted to wear a top under the cardi comfortably. But, I still think it might be a little big for me… I checked my gauge and everything, but it still looks huge.

Maybe this is the impetus I need to get my self on the treadmill. Anyway, the color is so great, the yarn still sucks, but I am sticking with it. I am nearly finished with the back. Anna finished hers the other day, and it looks SO great. I am really tempted by the 3/4 sleeves. I’ll see what I want when I get there… I can only pray that mine will turn out half as good!

Holly and I “knitted it up” this week, and she brought her amazing blanket to show. We have an arrangement: she brings the lovely items to show, and I photograph them for the blog world. So, she is living vicariously through me

Amazingness! She is working on the Big Bad Baby Blanket from SnB in Noro Fuji. The picture does not do this blanket justice… I swear this is one of the most amazing things I have EVER seen! This will be the luckiest baby on the planet! Too bad it will probably throw up on it…

Got the new Family Circle Easy Knitting mag, and I do like some of the patterns in it. I think there are some nice sweaters like Arctic Blue (in a not-so-furry yarn though, IMHO), and the cabled sweater (I would make it in a pink or purple, naturlich!) , among others. My favorite two knits are not previewed on the website… they are the ballet wrap cardi, and the turtleneck sweater on the following page. Both are on the *TO KNIT* list!

Kris and I just finished watching Mean Girls, which I thought was a pretty cute movie. I am a Tina Fey fan, so I liked to see her script, as well as her acting. The story had some similarities to my own… like how I moved from a far away land (New Mexico), and met a cute boy (Kris) while in my junior year of high school. The similarities end there, no “plastics” or sabotaging or getting run over by buses.

…so, in that spirit of nostalgia, and remembering high school, I thought I would show you a picture from senior prom. Kris and I had been together for about a year at this point… *sigh*

Party like its 1999!

Back to 2004 —–> I wish you all a lovely and relaxing weekend!

*Running around like a chicken with its head cut off* It sounds gruesome, but that is a pretty good description… nonetheless, I have a lot of great knitting things to tell you about–almost too many!

On Sunday, I met with M and M to knit it up at Folk Art Studio in Bowie. Meg drove an hour plus to come and visit us… the other Megan lives right around the corner. (Lucky girl!) We had such a nice time. Wish we could have knitted longer, but we all had to head in separate ways after a few hours.

We all came out with some goodies, and plan to go again in the future. Thanks for a nice getaway, girls. Maybe I could change my name to Megan too…

I left the Studio with some nice stuff, pictured here. 2 hanks of the lovely Rio de la Plata (the other Uruguayan yarn), 2 hanks of Ironstone mohair, and 1 hank of Ironstone cotton tape. The Studio has such a variety of things, and it is so hard to narrow down what you want…They just expanded the line to include some Debbie Bliss and several Noro yarns, so check them out if you have the chance!

I got a very special RAOK from Amie (who just got back from Rhinebeck!). I can’t wait to learn, Amie! Thank you so much for sending this to me. I love the hand-painted spindle, and the roving that you bought is so yummy. We should set up a time soon!

We celebrated my niece, Krista’s, birthday this weekend, and I gave her the “Dead Muppet” cardi that I made. I was worried that it would not fit, but it ended up being just fine. When she opened the gift, she squealed, then promptly threw it aside to play with new toys–that was expected. I finally got a picture of her wearing it… she would not try it on for me, because that required standing still. Yet, I got her older sister, the lovely McKayla, to pose with her. Still no cute smile, but she is wearing the cardi. Of course, it looks strange here because she has a sweatshirt on underneath.

I knit with dear sweet Holly yesterday, who says she “does not have enough time to blog”… who does, sillyhead? I already made up the perfect name for her blog, now she just needs the time to sit down and do it. Let’s cheer her on– go Holly!

The Bluest Eye Holly continues the lovely Fortissima sock. This girl is a speed demon with those size 2 dpns. I would still be on the second row with those toothpicks, but she has a good start on this sock! Granted, she is also working on some other lovely projects which I hope to show you all soon… bring in the blanket, H!

…and I have been working diligently on this FCEK cardi. The yarn is very annoying, (LB WoolEase splits like nobody’s business) but the color is so great, so I keep going. It seems very big… perhaps it is a little stretched in this pic…

And I leave you with a pic of my little menagerie:

Quincy and Rusta (the kitties) sit near the window, while Bella and Jen (the pups) hang out, and you can even see one of the fish tanks in the background!

Thanks for reading everyone, can’t wait to hear from you!