For every end, there is a new beginning

I finished Ene's Scarf! I'll try to get a better picture this weekend. Then, I started in on the Fiddlesticks Knitting's Peacock Feather's Shawl...



And I had gone to the Gem and Jewelry Show....ooo, dangerous place. I bought a few cabochons and I also bought this ring:



I'd never liked large clunky rings but this really called out to me. There is a booth at the Gem and Jewelry Show that sells amber jewelry and they sell the pieces based on weight. I was drawn to the rings and found this one. The amber itself is gorgeous but add to that the bright, shiny stirling silver, AND the design of the ring and setting...the prongs are good enought draw blood! I was a sucker to its seductive calls.

And in case you didn't think I was busy enough...I also took the beginning chain class at Bead Obsessions and made these chains:


From top to bottom: the 3 in 3, flower basket, and byzantine chains. I like I like I like!

Knitting software

So, I've been looking for some sort of an html editor that is designed more towards programmers and crazies who actually want to write their own html, and not of the WYSIWYG variety. Those drive me nuts. I think I found a nice little editor in jEdit that is about 1 step above Notepad which is what I'm currently coding in. For the record, I hate FrontPage. I can't stand it. And like any other Microsoft product that you write code in, it adds in this extra crap.
I found jEdit over at sourceforge.net which is mainly a repository of open source applications. And as I was surfing around to see what sorts of random pieces of software there were out there, I wondered if there was another insane knitter out there who had started an open source piece of software to design knitted garments. The answer was no.
So now I"m wondering...what would it take to start an open source knit design software? I don't know if I quite have the capabilities to do it since then, it would become my third job (job 1: software developer. job 2: crafty beady lady) and I really don't need to have 2 jobs that overlap so much. Hmm...ponder ponder.

What is this?

It's from a company called Sei Water...yup, that's right, that's water in a plastic flask. I found it at Balducci's and was really amused by it.

What is this?

It's from a company called Sei Water...yup, that's right, that's water in a plastic flask. I found it at Balducci's and was really amused by it.

The first cabochon necklace

I'm getting around to these pictures. It is a lot easier now that I can pop out the memory card and stick it directly into the computer.
I'm not really sure what the stone is but this was my first attempt at a beaded cabohon. Picot bezel. The necklace itself is made from a combination of a double spiral and a single spiral technique and it all reminded me of chocolate as I was making it. I didn't think this was quite my style of necklace when it was first finished but I have grown to love it. 4

To New Orleans and Back

In smaller news, I just bought another digital camera. It's smaller and fits more easily into my pocket and uses and SD memory card for which my computer has a slot for. That kind of takes away excuses to not post more pictures.

Ene's scarf - in theory, there are fewer and fewer stitches on my needle. I think I'll believe it when I bind off.

My first impression of New Orleans was made when I stepped off the plane. It was really hot. I got up at 5am and in the airport at 6 for my 6:45 flight. I had one of those horrific headaches when the plane arrived in New Orleans. Ick.
Jazz Fest was great. There are many reasons people are there. Me, I think primarily, it was the food. I am a food addict and compulsive eater after all. There was so much good food. All the shrimp and crawfish and po boys. Couchon au Lait Po Boy was every bit as good as everyone said. And then there were these ribs with white beans and rice and cole slaw, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! And to drink, well, I was addicted to the strawberry lemonade. These were also great when you added some vodka, rum, or both to it!
Music. Zydeco music is pretty good. I think I can only take so much of it. I do like some of the old time stuff. Gospel...that tent was a little freaky as the people in there, according to my friend Mark, were high something, but it's not alcohol or drugs. I didn't catch much of Jimmie Buffet. We were watching Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas. Nathan (the main guy) had a 6 year old son who was playing the wash board. Then he had him play the drums for a song and wow! That kid was amazing. I'd love to see him in 20 years. Irma Thomas - I liked her. Paul Simon, that was a great set too. Didn't get to see Fats Domino. He was on the way to the hospital during Paul Simon's set. Instead, Lionel Ritchie ended up playing the Acura stage and while you would think he'd be cheesy, it was actually pretty good.
Saturday night, we had some really good African food in the French Quarter, even though we had to wait 2 hours and didn't start eating til sometime after 11pm. Then John (the local) took us to his Irish/80s bar where the band featured the sister of his infamous Lolita. I was half asleep there until they started doing Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and I perked back up briefly.
Sunday night found us wandering out by John's place for a bite to eat and then just sitting around. I left Monday and missed the trip back to the quarter and Yo Mama's burgers. That's kind of sad.

Pictures. I didn't bring my camera. However, I point you to Mark's Flickr account where he has pictures of stuff, including me asleep at various times at JazzFest.

knitters at Victoria's Secret?

Tubey is still on the needles and there are no new updates.
But I was shopping Victoria's Secret website since I do have a $10 card I need to use before May 15 and came across this that made me think of Tubey. Kinda makes me go "hmm....I wonder if the designer was a knitter..."

So, I continue onward into the sweater section and come across something that reminds me of Angelina. As a refresher, this is the Angelina sweater.

I am, however, considering buying this. I figure it will be another in the "layer over my bra shelf tank top" collection.

In actual knitting news, I did purchase the pattern for the somewhat cowl. I figured it was inevitable since I'm planning on knitting that as my first continental knitting project, after my class at Springwater Fibers in June.