KIPping in Pasadena, Part Deux

At the weekly gathering of the Pasadena Daytimers the usual rip-roaring good time was had by all. There was an additional touch of festivity however in the form of chocolatey goodness--have I mentioned that Zephyr is notorious for its delicious baked goods? Those are miniature Chocolate Lava Cakes, replete with deep dark chocolate fudgy filling and extra-special chocolate chips. Madge is making a 70's-style wrap. It's a joke, she says. Luckily it's crocheted and going quickly. We are all split on whether or not we'd do that much work for a joke, but she says it will be worth it. She's been photographed in her favorite style--hiding behind her project.
In case you were wondering why the extra festivities, it was a Bon Voyage party for Azusa (soon-to-be-Seattle) Marie. Even though her house hasn't sold yet, we knew we'd better catch her while we can, since she's heading up to Seattle next week for a visit--class reunion, family reunion, that sort of fun. We are SURE she'll be back--but she might be packing up her house by then! If you wonder what's in the baskets, be sure to check out her blog (My Crafting Ramblings, and there really is a link to it here on this page) since she laid out all the goodies and photographed them.
More Daytimers--Annette and Kille and of course Our Joan, who orchestrated all this hearty-party! Notice how they are "appearing" to concentrate on their knitting, thus ignoring the siren call of all that chocolate...

Okay, so no one really wants to show her face? This is a second view of the Candleflame Shawl, before I ran its tails in. It just felt so good to be finished! The top border is only 9 stitches, but it's garter stitch, and it takes two rows to reduce by one stitch. When you've got 300 or so stitches to get through, it feels like the worst kind of Knitting Black Hole.

K IPping in Pasadena

Hanging out at Starbucks' in Pasadena on a hot summer night is a good way to get some knitting done. Herewith two examples:
Yes, that's yet another Candleflame Shawl. This one is knit out of white LB Jiffy, speckled with blue. Model Marie insists it's quite large, but I think it's just a good size to wrap up in. This one will be going to St. B's in Conn. for their Shawl Ministry.

Example Two:

She's swatching to find a good pattern for the neckband of her Tempting II. After several hours, she still had this much to show for it--but a really really good idea of what WOULDN'T work!
Lastly, this little number is the washed and blocked swatch from the Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed that was photographed in process a few days back. It actually got tossed into the washer with the shawl shown above, with some lavender shampoo (heapie-cheapie brand) and some lavender fabric softener. The yarn really got soft and bloomed nicely. But, as you can see, the detail of the cable is lost. There's also a really strong vertical line to each stitch, which didn't show up on the swatch before washing. I think this yarn is destined to be yet another Slouchy Cardigan--I love the pattern, and I think it will be fun to have a couple (or more). I have an idea for personalizing the Blue Sky Alpaca one, too, which is almost ready to execute. However, since I have to ball the BSA, and the DB AT is all ready to knit, guess which one will be started first??

In other news, I've been on a shredding binge lately. Have been fighting a sinus infection which has left me feeling pretty lousy, and sitting at the computer and shredding old stuff is quite therapeutic. Ten bags of shreddies went out last night, and I'm willing to bet there will be that much again by Tuesday night. Yeah, I've let it go way too long! Also had a nice chat with the contractor and we are set to begin work in two weeks (YAY!!!) on a replacement deck and fence. In fact, I'm going out right now to take some before pictures!