Dancing crystals

My husband and I reside in California, but he is originally from Idaho. We take frequent road trips to visit his family, as he has an elderly father, and a seriously ill brother there. The rest of his family lives in Colorado, so we are a bit closer than they are, approximately a 9-10 hour drive. My husband does the driving, so it affords me a lot of knitting time. Our last trip was just three weeks ago, and I was a little more than half done with my shawlette, Hitchhiker, by Martina Behm. It's all garter stitch (knit, knit, knit, is all you do), which makes it a perfect road trip project.  I was able to complete this piece in the car, and am thrilled with it. I didn't even wait to block it before I wore it! It's just that much fun! I used Madeline Tosh Light (fingering weight) in the colorway Foxglove, and it matches probably about 90% of my wardrobe.

My most favorite piece to date, that I had had on my needles for seven months, has been completed. It must be noted that it didn't take seven months to knit, I made numerous pieces in between. Also, this pattern is not for the faint of heart. It's intense, but only because it is poorly written and there are errors in the numbers. It did come out with the sleeves a little too big, but I can live with it. I'm so glad I stuck with it. As my husband would say, "don't let it outsmart you!" One of the highest compliments I could've been paid when wearing it yesterday for the first time, came from a friend whom I regard as the most fabulous knitter I have ever come to know. When Angel saw it on me, she said, "Deedee, that is beautiful and looks so great on you! I have to knit that sweater!!!" Thank you so much, Angel! This isn't the most flattering pictures, but I had to ask my daughter to take it, and she was in a hurry to pick up one of my grandchildren from school, so I had to take what I could get at the time. In any case, I'm very proud of this cardigan! I used Shalimar's Breathless, a gorgeous merino, silk, and cashmere blend, in the colorway Gunmetal.

I did finish one other item, a birthday present, but just in case the recipient should decide to look at my blog before next week, I'm not going to mention anything about it. I'm also not going to divulge what's currently being worked on, on my needles, for the same reason. Once both recipients receive their gifts, I will share.
As for finishing up more projects that have been on my needles for far too long, next in line will be my Lemongrass, by Joji Locatelli. I'm looking forward to wearing this piece this winter as well!

As we do on all of our road trips to my husband's hometown, we make sure to visit some friends of ours, who own a wonderful little shop called Shady Lady. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned them and their store before. Each time we've visited in the past year, I've made sure to collect a couple of more Swarovski crystals. They are all different sizes and shapes, and this last trip, I scored a couple of them in amber. They range in size anywhere from about 2.5 inches to 5 inches, and I love them so much! I chose to hang them above the bay window in our living room, where we have a transom type window above the bay window. I still need maybe three more to fill the space, but I know that if we, for whatever reason, don't get to Idaho for some time, I can simply call Debbie and ask her to pick them out for me and ship them. I love the rainbow prisms they cast on my ceilings and walls!!! Again, not a real good shot, but you get the idea of what it looks like during my mornings. Beautiful!!

 

 

 

These dancing rainbows in my morning time makes me happy!