I'm Here!

I've been really bad lately about blogging, for a variety of reasons. First of all, this past weekend was that grand tradition of debauchery - EdFest! Basically, this is a group of people who have gotten together for a weekend every July since right after their freshman year in college, which makes this the 15th year. (I didn't start going until after Kris and I were married, so this is only my 7th year) It's pretty much an excuse to hang out and drink a lot of beer while acting like a bunch of goofballs. This year, we were in Wintergreen, VA, where we rented an absolutely beautiful house. It was an awesome weekend, and I think Kris and I both needed a little time away. Kris got some great pictures (as if we expect anything less), which he has posted to an album here. For anyone wondering, the crossed out XIV replaced by the XV is because we had all been calling it EdFest XIV, until we were there and someone actually started counting. That would be when we realized it was actually XV. Oops. =) I did wear the completed Bombshell this weekend, and although I told Kris that I wanted a decent picture of it, this was the best he did. Oh well. I'll get one at some point. I was working on my next project, Sizzle from Wendy over at The Garter Belt. It's an awesome pattern, and is coming along quickly in spite of the fact that I can't count. If the decrease rows say "repeat this 6 more times", that means you do it SEVEN times total. Duh. So, I got through the back and was partway through the front when I realized my mistake and I had to rip the back to the point where I needed the additional set of decreases. No biggie - it would have annoyed me if I hadn't done it right. I'm using the KnitPicks needles on this, and I have to say, I am really, really happy with them. There have been lots of reviews on these out there, including a couple from people who were less than thrilled with them (Grumperina found them too heavy for her taste. They don't bother me, but that's a pretty personal thing.), so I'm not going to go on ad nauseum. I'll just say that I personally am very pleased with them, and have ordered a second case and some 24" circs. That way, once case will hold the interchangeables, and the other will hold the circs. I think that should alleviate the crowding issues in the case. I am part of the Stitch Marker Swap over on the knittyboards, and I finally finished making all of mine. Here are the 9 sets I made. The top photo, left to right, are for Clotho42, hotmama, and purrl. The middle ones are for adore_one, PrincessRach84, and tionaknitsinaz. The bottom ones are for merrymom, allwoundup, and jennyknitnpurl. (If you click the linked names, you will see a closer picture of that set of markers) I'm really pleased with how they came out - I hope the recipients all like them, too! I received my first two sets right before I left for EdFest. The top ones are from AKKnitter, and the bottom ones came from mrsmotter. I am actually using the ones from mrsmotter on my Sizzle shell right now. I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! Oh, and I've also joined in on the silliness of the "blog stalking" over at the boards, so there will be some odd pictures coming up around here. I missed the shoe collection flash, the "what's under your bed" pictures, and the "freezer flash", but I'm still thinking about going back and catching up on them. Maybe. =)