eBay!

I bought some pretty yarn a while ago and it finally arrived:


I will turn this into a gift for my mother-in-law.

There are pretty yarns on ebay, but sometimes people don't offer enough yarn for a sweater, their usual clients probably stick to scarves only. And there's also those whose starting bids are too high, and when you add shipping and handling the total is comparable to what you get at your local shop. There's still lots of good deals, and though finding them takes time and you can be often outbid, eBay is still a fair source of cheap yarns.

I've been helping out with the quilt, basically pinning pieces together and ironing seams. It's coming out nicely and it will be finished soon.

No progress to show yet but...

I've turned in my square for the quilt and forgot to take a picture of it. At least I hope to take a picture of the whole quilt! And yes, little by little I've been adding shells to my green tank whenever I have some time.


I forgot to show off my purchases from Spain:



This is linen/cotton blend.




And this is 100% linen. It doesn't look like it, but it's very soft. I'm planning to (gasp!) dye it (gasp!), which I've never done before. I don't know when but I have the dye already:




So it's now my eight dollar experiment instead of my seven dollar experiment. Will it work?

Butterflying along

These are my butterflies, so far. The pattern calls for pipe cleaners for the body and antennae, but I expect this quilt to be machine washable and pipe cleaners aren't. So instead I threaded a crochet chain in the middle of each butterfly.



There was an unexpected guest in our parking lot.

Crochet Butterflies

Wait, what about the green tank?



That will have to wait. I voulteered to contribute a square for a quilt. My "thing" is more yarn-ish than fabric-ish, so I'll decorate a square with butterflies.


I know, I know, I'm so close that I really shouldn't get distracted, and finish my tank right away, but we're putting the quilt together this Monday. It'll be my first experience with quilting.

Green Tank Update

Here is my green tank so far. I haven't decided yet if I want to make two or three rows of shell edging.







In addition to this progress picture, I finally took pictures of the potholder I finished a long while ago.

Run for the Cure

Actually, we walked for the cure, but it was just as fun. It took us 50 minutes to walk 5 km surrounded by a huge crowd. The weather this Saturday was just perfect: cloudy but not rainy.



I finally finished the seams of my green tank and added crochet trim to the neckline and armholes. And since I love crochet edging, I'm adding crochet shells at the bottom... I wish I could post some pictures but that's not going to happen yet.

Green Tank

I tried to do the seams of my green tank yesterday. Big mistake. Block first, seam later, that's the lesson I've painfully learned in the past. How can I be so stubborn? Well, my stitches are easy to count and join. It's not like I'm attaching sleeves, which is more complicated than side seams. So, did I at least block the pieces for a second trial? No, I didn't. I blamed my failure on my tiredness and lack of attention, since I was trying to cook and seam at the same time. I pinned the pieces together and laid them between moist (not wet) towels. I call that quickie blocking. It does not work for wool but cotton is OK. We'll see how things go this evening. I still have to work on the collar, armholes and bottom edging. I cannot promise any pictures, my better half is very busy these days.

Jet Lag

Two days in Málaga, one day in Ronda, then a wedding in Torremolinos until 3 am, followed by a long train ride back to Madrid... And then, instead of resting before a transatlantic flight, we went to the theatre... so of course I haven't been knitting even though we came back this Monday. I've been basically sleeping and eating. And trying to stay awake at work. Boy, I'm glad to be back but if I try to knit at all I'll fall asleep again.

By the way, my mother-in-law wants a tank like mine. I seldom get requests, particulary for things I've designed myself, so I'll be happy to add this to my future project list. I wish she'd told me sooner and not at the airport, because now I know that yarn is cheaper in Spain. But I can set aside my cheap mantra once in a while.

Salamanca

After a sunny weekend visiting my husband's friends, I went to Salamanca yesterday to visit my own friends. Hubby couldn't come with me, he's stuck to his laptop, trying to get some work done across the Atlantic. I happily took my air conditioned bus, and after two and a half hours, spent a lovely afternoon having lunch and coffee, and taking a walk around the city and university buildings. At eight o'clock I took my bus to Madrid and was here by 10:30. My in-laws think five hours is too much time to spend in a bus in one day, but when you only see your friends once in a blue moon it's really nothing.





This is my last day in Madrid. Tomorrow we're going to Málaga and on Friday we'll meet the rest of the family at Torremolinos, where the wedding that brought us here will take place. No more yarn shopping for me, but I'm about to finish the green tank. Will I get to wear it in Torremolinos? Probably not, but it would be nice.