Tres Chic Veronique

I've just been awarded a "You Make My Day" award by the Plucky Knitter! Aww, Sarah, you're making me blush...

Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.

This is going to be tough, as I read .... (checking Bloglines...): 147 blogs!
1.I'm going to cheat a little and name the Spiders' homepage. That one site will give you access to 21 blogs :)
2. Yai Ann. Rangsiwan is a multi tasking expert: she can knit! She can sew! She can cook! In fact, she started Defiantly Domestic along with Yahaira and Leah, a blog in which all 3 authors follow the same recipe. Brilliant idea! Rangsiwan has a pretty cool thigh high sock pattern in Sensual Knits. So avant garde in fact, that during the photoshoot, they were mistakenly worn as slouchy, below-the-knee socks. I can assure you that once stretched, the lace pattern is very nice.
3. The ADD knitter. Witty and clever, Heather brings a smile to my face every time she posts! She introduced me to the term "chocqua"--the baby that results from the marriage of brown and blue. As soon as I showed off my new vocabulary word, my boyfriend put in a request for a chocqua quilt. Thanks Heather.
4. No More Sweaters. Faith can find the best links! Sometimes, she links to something that I've already read, and then I feel like I'm in the know. Ha!
5. Flint Knits. I think we have all read Pam's post about "the" Drops cardi. Then, we collectively drooled and 1,407 of us added it to our Ravelry queue. Also? She has kick ass tattoos.
6. Whispering Pine. Blossom makes everything look so easy...
7. Slipped Stitch. I "met" Alice when she was my secret pal, and I haven't stopped reading her since.
8. The Plucky Knitter. She put me on her list, and I'm putting her on mine. Is that allowed? Her hand dyed yarn makes me drool.
9. Six and a half stitches. Where, oh, where does she get her amazing japanese fabrics? I strive to have her sense of style: it is always clean, pure and refreshing. And I wish I had thought of it first.
10. Say What? Emily's quickie posts never fail to either crack me up or make me think.

And now, I'm all linked out. Phew!

Labels: raok

Oooh, I could not believe it when I saw a package in front of all the mailboxes . Every time I see a package left out in the hallway (ie which could not fit into the mailboxes), I hope against all hope that it's for me. And this time, it was! (By the way, for those wondering about the christmas gift that my dad sent me from France, it got returned to sender! Grrr).
Whatever could it be?
Yarn? Yarn?! For me? A book? Chocolate?!! I'm in heaven!

This treasure comes to me courtesy of Jacqueline at Serendipity. I think I mentioned already that she was giving away prizes for her 2 year blogiversary. Yes, you read that right, she's giving yarn away. Just in case you can't tell from the picture, I'm going to spell it out for you: that's 2 skeins if KSH in Blushes, 2 skeins of Noro Lily (70% cotton, 30% silk --hmmmm), one ball of Opal, one chocolate koala filled with caramel, and one cute notebook.
I already have plans for all of the yarn. I think we can safely say that my knitting blahs are over!
1. I've been dying to make the Retro Rib socks (here's what Sarah's look like). Hot pink is a good color, don't you think?
2. The Noro screams baby girl to me, so Gleek is getting another baby knit. Maybe EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket... Gleek just posted a picture of the Baby Surprise Jacket that Sarah made for her, so it was the first thing that popped in my mind. I know, I should probably make something else, but the Baby Surprise Jacket has such an unusual construction that I have to try it. Thanks for the inspiration Sarah!
3. I have to make myself a bridesmaid shawl for my mother's wedding. It's at the end of April in Boston and my dress is short sleeved, so I know I'm going to freeze. And wouldn't you know it, I've had my eye on this japanese shawl pattern! It's from "New Style of Heirloom Knitting" aka the book that Am Kamin (the cardigan that's the subject of the Crossed in Translation KAL) and the Mountainash shawl that Grumperina is making are in. (Note: I bought the book at Kinokuniya, but you could order it from Yes Asia).



I'm going to use the pink KSH, orange Lacy Lamb (from the stash), and purple cashmere (also from the stash). I could also use the 1,500 yds of Habu single ply laceweight that's in the stash. In fact, I'm going to dye it at Marie's this week! See how good I'm getting at this Knit From the Stash thing?
This shawl is called Blumengruss, after the lied by Hugo Wolf. Every design in this book is music-inspired: there's a Debussy sweater (l'Isle Joyeuse), a Ravel sweater (Ondine), Mountain Ash is named after a piece by Jean Sibelius, and Am Kamin after a Tchaikovsky piece. Fancy!

Thank you Jacqueline!

Labels: blumengruss shawl, raok