Lazy days

We're having a really lazy weekend this weekend, doing a little bit of cleaning and a lot of just lounging around the house. The week has been kind of busy, with lots of work for both of us, plus Thomas had his birthday on Thursday. We ordered some food and watched a movie on Thursday evening after work, so nothing fancy. We're talking about eventually going out to a restaurant for dinner tonight, but I actually doubt that we'll have the energy for it. I think we'll just make some easy food and hang around on the couch instead :)

I also have another finished object for you! Yesterday I finished my Coraline cardigan, and I think it turned out great! It's blocking right now, so you won't get to see any pictures of it on me yet.

Stupid blogger turning my picture around

I've knitted it in Drops Alpaca yarn (100 % alpaca, 180 m/50 g) held double, and in total I used 1693 m(which means the length was actually half, 846.5 m). It is very thick, and a bit dense to tell you the truth, but I think it will be better after the blocking is finished. I used a new (to me) technique on this one, namely smocking. It's where you wrap some of your stitches with your working yarn, and is described very well here. It turned out better than I hoped!

 I love the colour, and I hope to wear it a lot. I'm so glad I finished it before our upcoming trip!

And speaking of the trip, everything is booked! We're flying in to New York where we'll be staying for five nights and doing all sorts of lovely things, then we're taking the train down to Washington DC to meet up with Sarah and Chris. We're staying two nights in DC, visiting museums and stuff like that, then we're driving down south first to Staunton for one night, then onwards to Clifton Forge where Sarah and Chris live. We'll stay there for four nights, then go back up to Washington for our flight back to Sweden. It's only a couple of weeks left until we leave, and it's started to feel very real. I can hardly wait!

Of course, since we're actually going to the States, I had to make a KnitPicks order! It's already been delivered to Sarah, and I think I'll have to buy a whole extra suitcase to fit all of it! When we were Skyping last night (yes, skyping is a verb), Sarah opened the bag and started showing me all of it. And boy do I want to get over there NOW!

Next week Thomas is going away with work for a few days, which means I'll have the weekend to myself. Lucky for me, my friend Alexandra suggested Saturday night for a knit-night, which will be very nice! I work so much right now, and including all my commute time, I rarely have time to go to the knitting cafés any more, so it's great to get to meet up with the girls on the weekend.

Now I think I'll go clean the kitchen, so I get that done. Then I'll have the rest of the day free for knitting, and I've actually picked up my Evenstar shawl again! I grew a bit tired of the knitting bag sitting on the couch staring at me accusingly, so now I really want to finish it. It will have to be my weekend knitting though, as it's a bit too complicated to bring to work. But it feels great to work some lace again, after finishing the cardigan with all that stockinette.

I have to brag a bit about work too. A week ago or so I finally got to learn the last of the machines at the lab, which means I'm now fully trained! So starting next week I'll actually get to be alone at the lab for a whole day each week. It's of course much more fun when there are two of us there, so you have someone to talk to when there are no patients, but I'm still pretty proud to get the responsibility. I love my job!

Finally, I have to tell you about a give-away that Heather is hosting on her blog, Implausible Yarn. She's giving away three prizes in total, of course it's yarn, and since the blog is completely awesome I think you should go there and enter. Or maybe I think you shouldn't, which would increase my chances to win :)

See you next weekend or so!

/ Jenny