Part of my class is learning how to use Photoshop (we’re working with CS3). I won’t post everything we’ve done with Photoshop, but here are a couple things I was playing with. I used photos from recent events (e.g. I was a photographer at my church’s annual Women’s Retreat last weekend). Each of these photos took just seconds to tweak.

Lunch @ the retreat:

Magnet craft @ the retreat:

And this past week, I’ve been in Lake Tahoe. The first couple days, sharing a cabin with friends, and then the remainder of the week hubby and I have been staying at Squaw. We have this awesome studio room (580 sq ft!) in the Squaw Village for $100-ish/night, and prices go as high as $600/night during peak season, which makes our price a steal for a really awesome room!

Anyways, I digress. Here’s a little panoramic I did of Lake Tahoe (there’s some barrel distortion and other things but no matter, I’m still proud of it!). The edges are not straight because I snapped the shots by hand, about 180 degrees around. It only took a minute to put them together via Photoshop.

If you click on it, you’ll view it in it’s entirety. (And if you look closely, you’ll find my brother-in-law in there somewhere.)

And speaking of Lake Tahoe, most of the slopes/lifts are supposed to open by next weekend, but seeing how the weather has not been optimal (barely enough snow!), the season looks like it might start off very slowly.

Northstar:

Squaw:

Hubby and I brought our mountain bikes and did some riding. Here’s a self-portrait at the Squaw Valley olympics entrance:

And because we were in Tahoe, we did a day trip to Reno. And of course, I couldn’t miss visiting a very popular yarn establishment:

I also came just when the mailman was arriving. Because of the high volume of online sales, he had his work cut out for him. =)

Of course, I was too self conscious to take pics in the store. I felt like such a dork, but I was giddy with all THE WONDERFUL GOODIES they had (and I’m not just talking store front, I snuck a peek at the store rear, where their warehouse is, and it was packed with stuff!). Hubby dropped me off and spent a significant time at Toys R Us, got bored, and came back to find me, and I still wasn’t done looking around. I also have to say, the ladies working there are so nice!! I wished they still had their Truckee location, but I guess it’s not meant to be.

Tomorrow we’ll be packing up and heading home. Rushing to class and then a mountain of laundry waiting for me afterwards. Sigh… all good things must eventually come to an end, I suppose. =/

I have no problems admitting that I have crafting ADD. Craft addict, craft junky, whatever you want to call it. I have way too many interests and not enough time and brain cells to do what I want to do. And as shiny and fun and new as some of my interests are, I always, always, go back to my one true love. And that, my friends, is my knitting.

This, is soothing to my soul. If you can’t afford therapy, this could be the next best thing. There is something rhythmic and soothing about the stitches and how they intertwine and weave into each other into itself to create a soft fabric. The textures and the colors draw me in, and it’s a terrific escape.

Did I also mention that this was Malabrigo Lace? (Yes, that helps with the knitting experience tremendously.)

I’ve had a stressful year, and outside pressures (as well as internal ones I put on myself) really put me up against a wall. When my mind is about to explode, I pick this project up. I immediately sink into it’s soft, smooth, rhythmic motions, and it puts me at ease.

***

P.S. This pattern is Flutter Scarf. A perfect amount of lace that it makes it interesting but not boring, but perfect amount of simplicity where you can memorize the repeats and mindlessly knit anywhere.

My local Stitch ‘n Bitch group had an informal Clapotis KAL a month or two back. It was fun knitting along with everyone, seeing all the different yarns and sizes, and the progress everyone was at each week. I finished mine awhile back (April?), but never got around to taking pictures until recently.

Pre-blocking shot:

Post-blocking shot (close-up):

Me wearing it: (P.S. the plants behind me are the corn plants from our veggie garden!)

Pattern: Clapotis, by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Sweaterkits Handpainted Silk, in Purpleberry (+1000 yards?)
Needles: US #5
Size: Full shawl, 62″ long (blocked)
Notes:

Pattern
Very simple and easy, mindless knit. Perfect for social knitting nights. Very addicting! I added one more repeat in the increase section, and did the straight section until I wanted it to a desired length (taking into consideration that silk WILL grow when blocked).

Yarn
I was gifted this beautiful hand painted 100% silk yarn from Lacy for my 30th birthday. It was part of a Sweaterkits kit for the Fiona Ellis Shawl. I saved the pattern for a rainy day, but wanted to use the yarn for this Clapotis; I figured the silk would drape wonderfully and I definitely had plenty of it. I’ve never knitted with silk before - this particular one is soft, and it has a slightly slippery/squeaky quality to it (due to the silk content). Dropping stitches was not a problem. However, because it is silk, it draped wonderfully, but it is “slippery”, so wearing this Clapotis is a tad difficult because it won’t stay put as well as other non-silk ones would have. Also, because this yarn is DK weight, I chose to use a smaller needle size. I didn’t worry too much about it being too small for a full-sized shawl, as I knew that silk will grow when blocked. Variegated colors in this yarn range from dusty roses to mauves, indigo blues to varied purples throughout. Very pretty! One downsize was that this yarn bled onto my fingers. When I blocked it, I had to rinse it through several times to get the extra dye out.

***

I had originally intended to wear this Clapotis to a nice outing, like a wedding. I went to a wedding this past wedding, but decided at the last minute to abandon the idea of wearing this Clapotis because I became a last minute ceremony coordinator for the bride and groom, and I figured I needed an outfit that was comfortable and not fiddly, as I was going to be running around a bit. Despite some behind-the-scenes snafus, the wedding was beautiful, touching, successful, and lots of fun. I got to see the bridesmaids wear some of the jewelry I made for them (requested by the bride). They wore this bracelet and this very simple drop earring:

***

This is completely unrelated to my post, but today is my 6th anniversary! It’s so crazy how time flies so fast. I look back at our relationship, and yes, it has changed over time, and truthfully, our love has changed too - its roots have grown deeper and matured. I know we have so much more to grow from, but we have plenty of time for that, right? I hear about the “seven-year itch” thing, and I worry about what that is all about, because it feels like we are far from anything like that, and we’re starting our 7th year together as a married couple. I was told to disregard it, because we are paving our own way. So that’s what I’m doing for now. Hubby and I are going out to celebrate tonight. Can’t wait! =)