My first finished Trellis! I loved knitting this sweater. I thought it would be tough, but the cables proved to be quite fun and easy.

I also adore the little clear plastic rose buttons that I got for it. They might be a bit much for the busy cable pattern, but I still think they are fun.

I started on the second one (for the smaller baby) just before the bug incident, and haven't had a chance to work on it since. Unfortunately, I was aiming to gift both sweaters this weekend when I go to visit my friends and meet the new baby! I'm sure they'll understand if they only get one now and the other comes in the mail later... it is still stinking hot summer, after all.

I also knit this cupcake from One-Skein at the very last minute this week before my friend's birthday celebration. I haven't known him long, but I knew he would appreciate the knitted confection especially since he has a lot of allergies that limit him from eating any real cake. It went over VERY well and I'm happy that I put the time into it. It turned out great!

The apartment is back to "normal" and super clean. It is easy to keep meticulously clean with the memories of all those bugs so fresh in my memory. Still, I've been taking every opportunity to get out of here and go have fun with friends. I think this summer has been th best one yet! Who knows when I'll actually want to hang out at home and have time to knit again...

Posted by Molly at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

**Calling all Montreal knit fanatics**

My good friend Becky who just left me to move back to Canada is going to Montreal soon and wants to scope out some nice yarn stores. Where are the best places to shop? Please comment with any suggestions.

It's been almost two weeks since I've knit anything, as I was busy going out with newbies in my program and then last Sunday, realized that my apartment was infested with tatami mites. Then just when I was getting tired of living at my friends' houses and I thought it couldn't get any worse, the poisonous centipedes came out of the woodwork and claimed my bedroom floor as their own. Lovely. Someone from school is coming to my place today to help me deal with it. Thank god I have been a) able to live out of my new car and b) having so much nonstop fun with my friends that it is easy to forget/not worry about the situation so much. The last 10 days are a blur of fun, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. Still, I will be happy to sit at home and knit again when all this is done.

Posted by Molly at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I realized when I was uploading these pictures that it is going to be totally anti-climatic when I finish this blanket if I show my progress every square or two. But I don't have anything else to show so I've painted myself into this corner, I guess. The squares are coming along swimmingly, even though I am splitting my time with the same needles for trellis, the baby sweater, and the log cabins. So can you see the mistake square? I think that with some creative photography I may have made it a little more tricky to spot, but it's probably still glaring. I haven't decided what to do about it just yet.

I didn't crop my toes out of the picture because they are bugging me today. The outsides of both of my big toes have been tingly/numb this weekend. Has this happened to you before? Can anyone offer comforting words that I won't need them amputated? I'll probably go to the doctor tomorrow morning since it's summer vacation and I can sneak out easily enough. But still.. I'm feeling a little uneasy. Update: I may have overreacted about the toes. I have concluded that since it's the same spot on both feet, it probably stems from having worn heels three days last week and not a rare strain of flesh-eating bacteria.

So I went to Tokyo to welcome a bunch of new participants in my program, but it was bittersweet because I had to say goodbye to such good friends while I was there too. I know it was more of a "see ya later," but still. Maybe Becky will start updating her blog more now as a way to cope with my absence. On a happier note, a lot of the new people I met already knit (as in, I won't have to coax 8 or 10 of my friends into learning and then personally melt down when they are all getting frustrated and asking me to fix their mistakes at our SnB) and some already expressed an interest. It's shaping up to be a very knitty year. Even the non-knitters were fun!

I'm still working on Trellis, and as I've finished block number 6 AND done a rather shocking amount of cleaning and organizing in my apartment this weekend, that means I have all night to knit some collar and see if I can't attach the buttons, too. Yippee! It always feels so good to be back.

Posted by Molly at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)