Vacation over?

Okay, I'm back.  Back from my unannounced and unintended vacation from the blog.  Honestly I'm not sure why I haven't written in so long.  Well, that's not totally true.  I have been knitting a fair amount still, but I wasn't really excited about very much of it.  Also, I'm not afraid to say it, old man winter really kicked my ass this year.  I know it's technically been spring since I wrote my last post, but it basically stayed winter until... May?  The weather combined with everything else that's happened in the last few months just kind of sapped all of my energy and desire to do anything except knit and watch TV.  I was starting to feel a bit better after the snow finally melted, but then some more crap happened, and it took until now to start feeling like myself again.  It comes and goes still, but I'll take advantage of my good mood today to write (finally!).  However, I will say that my energy today extends only to the actual writing, and not the taking of pictures.  Therefore, all of the pictures that follow are just ones that I already had on my phone.  Please excuse the crummy lighting and picture quality!

So, an update on my knitting.  I made some mini cupcake earrings for my mom's birthday.  It's amazing how she keeps having birthdays but never gets any older!  I think it's all a ruse to get presents.

As for more tiny things, a few months ago when the Enabler went on a business trip, I knit him a tiny airplane to take with him.  Partly because he was going to be flying on an airplane, but mostly because he works for an airplane manufacturer.  After he got back he kept it on his desk at work, and a coworker saw it and asked if I would make her a bunch to give as gifts.  So I did!

On a sad note, one of my dearest friend's kitties suddenly and unexpectedly had a major health problem and had to be put down.  So I knit a pillow for her in memory of him.  

 

And last night, I finished knitting Hanami, which is a lace stole inspired by the tradition of viewing cherry blossoms in Japan.  I made mine grey, so I feel like it looks more like raindrops than cherry blossoms.  Well actually, it didn't look like much of anything right after I finished knitting it.

   

Total dog's breakfast.  Luckily I know by now that a knitted item that has not been blocked is a totally different creature than something that has had the benefit of a bath and a stretch... So I wasn't worried.  An hour and half a million pins later, the true nature of the beast made itself known.

Again, I know the picture is terrible.  I'll take better pictures once it has finished drying and maybe when I wear it.  However even with the crappy picture I think my point has been made: Blocking is MAGIC.

Hanami was a fun knit but holy cow those charts made me cross-eyed.  In order to give my eyes a break I started knitting the Dream Stripes shawl.  This is a work in progress, nowhere near completed, but I'm liking it so far.  Simple stockinette stripes.  I don't think you can go wrong with stockinette stripes.  Let me know if you disagree, we can fight about it.

Seriously, if you don't think stockinette stripes are awesome, I WILL fight you.

And I will win.