flyinmysoup

so, i haven't posted in a while. between work, getting settled into the new place, and, well, just life in general, really, i haven't been in a very "bloggy" mood as of late. i've still been knitting, not like wildfire or anything, but at a slow and steady type o' pace.
i've been progressing nicely on the Weekend Pullover from the Fall 06 IK. got both of the sleeves all knit up with ends woven in and everything (i like to do the ends as i go along, that way, when an item is done, it's done) here's a shot of the front body panel:

isn't it lovely? i confess that my progress on this particular project has been stalled in the last week or so.

because of lace.
actually, more because of the new Addi Lace needles. i'm freakin' in love with these babies.

here's a picture of (from top to bottom) regular Addi turbos (size 5), the new lace Addi's (3's), and Knitpicks Options circulars (also 3's). the new Addi's are every bit as sharp as the Knitpicks needles, they have beautifully wonderfully completely smooth Addi joins, and--the best part--some nifty coating that slows down the action of the yarn on needle just enough to make lace knitting a complete and utter pleasure.
when i used the KP needles for lace, my hands cramped up from how i had to hold the work to control the yarn (cause those are some DAMN slick needles!). this speed works great for non-lace projects--i adore the KP needles for socks--but it hindered my lace knitting. i didn't realize how much until it tried out the Addi Lace needles.
i switched the Fir cone shawl (which i started, oh, a freakin' year ago) to the Addi's and i'm almost ready to pick up the stitch for the border. that's, by the way, is going to be about as fun as spending 3 months knitting a really complex steeked fair-isle sweater, cutting it, blocking it, and then finding out that it's too small by an inch. i can not wait.

i have a tendency to fixate on things--things like food:

now, i think that i have mentioned before in my little corner of the web that i also have quite a thing with my food being pretty. and these are just gorgeous, imho. and abso-freakin-lutely delicious. anytime that G and i go out for thai, i order the fresh spring rolls. now that i've found how easily i can make them at home, i have a feeling i will be subsisting on 'em for a bit (i made them last night and tonight). plus, there is a wicked-cool international ethnic grocery right near us, and i can get the rice paper wrappers (banh trang) killer cheap.

they are crazy thin and soften up in hot water.

there are other things that i'll fixate on--things like a knitting project:

i finished up the center of the Fir Cone Shawl. my excitement was short lived, however, when i realized that the next step was picking up and knitting.....621 stitches. holy freakin' cow. that totally sucked. a lot. it is better that having to graft that many stitches though. right?
now, the shawl looks like this

like a shapeless, lumpy sack. awesome.