Florida

I've been away to Florida for about a week.

I saw palms:

I saw pelicans:

I saw alligators:

The space shuttle (Well, technically, I only saw the external tank and the boosters, but they promised me the orbiter is there as well....)
I did plan my vacation so I could see a shuttle launch, but then the launch was pushed out by a couple of days just to the day I was flying home. A well, at least I've tried...


I saw lots and lots of water

I saw surfer dudes


And, of course, I saw a lot more but there's just not enough space for it here.

A Knitting Update

I finished a couple of projects during the last couple of weeks. The biggest one is this brown cardigan.

There was no pattern. I saw a cardigan like this at a friends place, tried it on and saw it fitted almost perfectly. I took the measurements and from then on I improvised. In the above picture it's not blocked yet, so it does look a bit wonkey.
But it does fit well and keeps me nice and warm (even with the short sleeves)
The color is a bit warmer and browner than in the picture, though.

I also finished a pair of socks.

The pattern is called Monkey and is by far the most popular sock pattern on Ravelry (with like 9200 projects). I knitted them in Amiral by Schoppel Wolle. Though I have to admit, I don't get the craze about this pattern, it is a nice enough sock and they do fit quite well.

Next is an experiment in felting


A dice bag I made from a skein of Noro Kureyon I've had lefts after finishing Lizard Ridge last year. This yarn is used a lot for felting, so I decided to give it a try. I ran it twice through the washing machine, but still wish it would have felted a bit more. I also would have liked it to shrink a bit more, but it lost maybe 10% in size, no more (I've expected something like 30%)
Ah well.


I did start two now projects - one's a pair of potholders with my rainbow pattern (--> here and here). When I gave the last pair to my sister, my mom said she also wanted a pair.

The other is possibly my project for my vacation in Iceland.

A lace shawl made from a silk/wool yarns I've bought two years ago in Seattle. The pattern is called Hanami. I've seen that pattern a while ago and finally decided to give it a go. So far it has been a lot of fun.

Speaking of vacation. As of next weekend I'll be gone for two weeks vacationing in Iceland. I'm really exited about this vacation and really am looking forward to it. I promise a lot of pictures will be taken.

Meercats

I'm going to take the lazy way out today. Nothing much to report anyway.
So, just some cute pictures of meercats (from my visit to the zoo last week) - I did mention that I love me camera with the big zoom lens, right?



I love his expression in the last one - 'who're you lookin' at?'

On the doily front, number 4 and, at least for now, the last one. Seriously love it.


I've picked up a crochet hook for a change and am working on a bag kit I've got in Japan (which, in regard of the instruction is interesting, to say the least). I'm pretty sure I've followed it as it should have been, but the bag turned out to be really small and I've got more than half the yarn left, so I did decide to frog is all and start anew with a sort of made up pattern. Then I decided that I'm not happy with that one either, so I've frogged again and am about to start with try number 3 next.