The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I'm a sucker for autumn. Everything just seems better when you're curled up under an afghan. Mom's ripple is already seeing some good use.

I love cold weather food. Mr. Beagle's got an amazing smelling pot roast in the oven. Summer produce is nice and all, but in my eyes (and stomach), it can't hold a candle to all things braised and roasted and caramelized.

While it's usually Mr. Beagle's task to keep the spice cupboard stocked, he's a little distracted these days by this dissertation thing he's working on (not distracted enough to turn down the chance to cook a hunk of meat, though). The job fell to me, and let me tell you, it was not an unpleasant one. Funneling spices from bulk bags into their jars left a film of flavor on my hands and immediate workspace and made the peanuts I was munching on extra special. Who knew that epazote-curry-cinnamon peanuts were so good? Reinforcements were ordered from (highly recommended) Penzey's Spices (or Penzeys Spices as they call themselves and drive me nuts by not using an apostrophe).

In other developments, my sports team of choice won while I cheered, swore, coveted Mr. Beagle's bloody mary, and knit many rows on C2:TUO. 3-0, baby.

Happy Me

The weather has taken a turn for the chill. I slept in until 9:30 this morning while rain pitter-pattered away outside. My four year old nephew sang to the answering machine. It must be my birthday. Mr. Beagle baked a cake.



And bought me the second purse (the lustworthy one). A little more lazing around, then burgers and milkshakes, followed by, yep, more lazing, perhaps with a DVD. This is the way to spend a birthday.

1 For 2

Oh, it was a week of triumphs and tragedies. Okay, I'm being overly dramatic. It was a week of crap work and crap knitting, so I'm relishing my sewing success.

Let's get this one out of the way:



Pattern: Puff- Sleeved Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel

Begun: 7/3/07
Finished: 9/9/07
Size: S, but knit at a bigger gage to obtain ~40" measurement
Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style in Fog, 7 1/2 skeins
Needles: #3 and #1 circulars
Mods: Gauge, of course and I did took out the mandarin collar. I also messed up and added two too many repeats of the waist decrease in the back. Oops.



I thought I was going to like this sweater. I should have read more into the fact that the collar was all floppy and ginormous (I think it should have been knit on the smaller needles). I ended up hacking the collar off and adding a couple more rows in reverse stockinette. If I had been thinking, I would have knitted the button placket in along with the body, like I've noted other people doing. One neat-o thing I did was think ahead and pick up two extra stitches under the arm and immediately decrease them away to avoid the dreaded raglan armpit holes.



Pros: I like the pinched waist and puffy sleeves in theory. I like the peplum (both the word and the sweater part) in reality.
Cons: Mr. Beagle said it best: "looks like a granny sweater [on me]". My body + this sweater does not equal anything good. My row gauge is obviously off and because of it, the sweater gives the illusion of saggy armpits. The waist drops waaaay below my actual waist and my arms look sausagey (this has nothing to do with the sweater, unfortunately). This sucker is slated for destruction. Deadwood is still cancelled and I'm beginning to doubt that the promised TV movies are going to happen. Those #%^@ing $%*#suckers.

Aaaaand the triumph:



It's Simplicity 4091 in herringbone (not houndstooth as I posted before and kicked myself about since it was listed on the bolt as houndstooth and I was all 'oh no that is not houndstooth, that is herringbone' in my head and then I came home and wrote about it and called it houndstooth) denim. It fits. I got compliments on it. 'I like your skirt, where did you get it?' compliments, not 'did you make that? It's interesting' compliments. Forgive the wrinkles, I ate breakfast in it before Mr. Beagle got up and took my picture.

Also, rick-rack makes me happy.



So, in summary, sewing good, knitting bad. Sew more, knit less? Hah. Who am I kidding? I can't (machine) sew curled up in a blanket, feet on the coffee table, in front of the TV. Nope. I will however say this:

No more sweater knitting in 2007. I'm not liking the sweaters, so I'm not going to knit them for a while. Besides, I need to concentrate on cold weather accessories, 'cause...

Neato

I'm in! Finally got my Ravelry invite yesterday. Now all I need is some time to check it all out.

The Handbag Dilemna

The Feminine Cardigan is finally blocking. Clapotis 2: The Ugly One is progressing. The skirt was constructed and is in the washer. And I've got purses on the brain.

It's been long planned that Mr. Beagle will be getting me a (grown-up*) handbag for my imminent birthday. I just have to pick it out. Ugh. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems that handbag-wise, you have your $59.99 Nine West bag and you have your $600 Coach one... but not much in between. All I'm looking for is a medium sized (it'll hold a book or magazine or a bit of knitting along with the purse stalwarts) leather shoulder bag.

My friend Christen and I braved the mall this weekend to browse. The Coach store yielded the only bag that either of us really liked. This one:

Although Chris prefers it in brown. Online I found this one:
Which I find particularly lustworthy. A little more online browsing found me these from Dooney and Bourke:

Eeee (the squeek of frustration). All these bags are lovely, but expensive. I just don't know if spending $300+ (totally blowing my birthday wad and then some) is the thing to do. Will this handbag purchase be a well-deserved investment in a durable and timeless accessory? Or is it a frivolous waste of money (which would be better spent on the aforementioned Nine West purse and a small mountain of yarn)?

*I lurve my beat up Timbuk2 bags I've been carrying for the past couple of years (I switch back and forth between this:

and this:)
But I really want something a little more classic and sophisticated.

Longest Weekend Ever

I'm typically pretty lazy. Witness my standard issue blog template lacking so much as a header image. This weekend, though, I have truly outdone myself. I've been home for five days now and despite my plan to sew both the skirt and Wendy top, this is all I've managed:



Yup, one skirt cut out. No actual sewing done. Lazy. Okay, laziness aided by an oh-so-timely summer cold. Yeah, a nasty-ass cold in August. During a heat wave. Over a holiday weekend.

The extra long weekend was not all a waste. While I still had a fever on Friday, I took the opportunity to do most of the finishing on my feminine cardigan. I mean, what better time to pick up stitches and weave in ends than when you are already perfectly miserable? You know that saying, "Misery loves sewing on buttons", right?



No fabulous glamour shot because 1. it hasn't yet been blocked, 2. I'm not sure if I'm really happy with the fit, and 3. um, lazy.



I started Clapotis 2: The Ugly One. This one is supposed to be for my grandmother-in-law for Christmas, but, ugh, the Jem yarn begs to differ. I'm thinking there may be another round of dyeing in C2:TUO's future. Pink lemonade? Grape? Tamarind?