Singing the Praises of Canon. And FedEx.

So.

When I first set up this blog I had intended to post something every single day, because as everybody knows, you are not dedicated to serious journaling unless it is an unpleasant, excrutiating experience. Well, as has happened with every other attempt at journaling I have undertaken in the past, this was not to be. Not only did I not post every day, an entire week has gone by with narry a word. More than a week in fact! Ah, well, we are not perfect, are we?

Exciting news: I have purchased a new camera! It is the stupendous Canon PowerShot SD700 IS. It was delivered to me today, on a Saturday, to my utmost surprise (and delight). Now, it is unfortunate that I cannot show you a photo here of the darling little thing, but alas, one cannot take a self portrait of a camera without using a mirror and I am somewhat opposed to that idea. Besides, any mirror photo I take of it cannot do it justice. It is the cutest camera I have ever owned. Ok, so the last camera that I owned was that behemoth Kodak DC290, but still. The Canon is just 2 1/4" tall, 3 1/2" wide and 1" deep (with the lense retracted)! I can tell I am going to love this camera already, and plan to take it with me everywhere. It is sad really, that the old Kodak was so big. My sister and I went to Hawai'i and I didn't even bring it because of the weight and size. I missed a ton of fabulous photo opportunities. Ah, well.

I found another photo of the Sixth Sense Socks on my computer whilst rearranging photo files in anticipation of the Canon's arrival. This was an in-progress shot, but shows the stitch pattern nicely, as well as the hemmed cuff:


If you think it looks on the rather small size it is - I had to block the hell out of it to get it to fit my foot. I think the needles I used were a tad too small, and possibly a few too stitches cast on. But, they fit for now, and I'll see if I can't stretch them out permanently.

Icarus shawl is almost done. It is so close I can feel it! I finished the last chart a few nights ago and flipped back to the previous page to see about finishing only to realize that there are four more rows plus the BO row to go. Sigh. That's about 2 more hours of work at my present knitting pace (480+ stitches per row are a lot of stitches.) It might be done tomorrow?

Progress is being made on my package for my lace swap pal. A pattern has been found (I love it) and yarn as well, if only in theory. Now I just have to get out to the shop to pick it up! Other items for the package are still being considered. The deadline for mailing is September 1st, and I think I will need all that time to get everything in order. Sorry secret pal!

I have also been doing a little crocheting lately. You probably don't know that I was a crocheter first and a knitter second. Well, actually, I learned both at the same time, from my maternal grandmother, when I was around 5 or 6, but for some reason I took to crocheting. All you knitters out there can stop laughing now. I have made some pretty nice crocheted afghans, and not the granny square variety either. (Although I have made a few of those as well... they can be very pleasing in their simplicity.) Why are some knitters so anti-crochet? Some are even... dare I say it... afraid of it! It is an easy and fun craft once you get the hang of it. Only one live stitch at a time to mess up! (The flip side of that of course, is that if you screw up you must rip back to the point of the infraction, or be able to live with the mistake. This can be quite depressing with very large projects and a mistake quite a ways back...)

Anyway, I crocheted exclusively for many years, and only started knitting again maybe in college? I don't know exactly when. At any rate, all that crocheting has given me an appreciation for tiny stitches (frequently to my downfall - it takes me forever to finish anything!) I also can crochet very quickly, much more quickly than knit. If only crochet made more garment-friendly material...

posted by Carrie @ 12:19 AM