Let's Head to the Polls

There has been some interest in doing another knit a long. T. and I have decided to leave it up to you. Please come on over to baadmedicine.blogspot.com and cast your votes. We were thinking of starting up in the new year so get your votes in now!

Thanks for being a part of this knit a long! I hope we'll have a chance to knit with you again. Don't forget to find us on Ravelry! (Teri and Joline.)

And the winner is....

Amanda - from Australia!!! From our random selection of all comments and posts, Amanda is the winner. We used a random number generator and then we counted back from all the posts and associated comments and Amanda's post was it!

I know there are lots of you out there who took your time posting and commenting - providing moral support for those stuck or lagging behind. Special mention to Maria (Mimicatknits), Cary (at Serenity farms), Kristina (beadntat), Catknip, Lauren, Linda F, Chanda in Mississipi, AnnieBee (who set up the flickr site), Metta (if you can read Swedish-check out her blog- I just look at the pictures) and everyone else who posted numerous times (I'm not trying to be exclusive - just these people were posting maniacs)!!

A KAL can only work if there's interest in the project and interesting people to post. You are definitely an interesting bunch. I've enjoyed meeting people from all over the world and working on this project with you all.

I am NOT done. J. is (this is the way our knitting relationship usually works - T. is the slow poke, J. is the over achiever - I can say that, she's currently away and won't read this!). Either way, we had fun.

Remember to add us to your friend list at Ravelry (we're Teri and Joline there). And keep checking out our blog for future KALs (January 08 perhaps??). Let us know what you'd like to KAL with!

Oh WOW! I've been away for about a week and today was the first time I had a chance to check in on the KAL and received this wonderful surprise! What's more, today is my birthday - how good is that? Thank you!

Final picture

Last Sunday my husband and I participated in a special birthday party. Our parish had invited all its members reaching the age of 80, 85 or 90 years during the second half of 2007. My husband celebrated his 80th brithday in August. We spent a very nice afternoon with good food and in pleasant company. I wore my Hanami for the first time with my dark-blue pantsuit and I felt very elegant. I had my husband take a picture of me and here it is.

I am looking forward to your next KAL and once again thank you for letting me take part in the Hanami KAL.

For me?!?

I was having a rather icky day yesterday when my wonderful mail lady left a package in my mailbox. For me?!? And it came a long way, too...from way up north of the border...via Canada Postes no less! Thanks T&J for my wonderful present..just for being a part of this KAL and chatting with everyone. I received a skein of KnitPicks Shadow in the Jewels colorway--the very shade I was considering ordering for my wintertime lace knitting. As if that wasn't awesome enough, there was a set of handmade stitch markers made with freshwater pearls in the same shade of blue and white. They are so pretty!

I know the KAL is winding up. My shawl is done and I'm contemplating my next move, but I just wanted to thank everyone for being here and contributing their ideas and experiences. It's been a great learning experience for me. It's also been a lot of fun getting to know you better. I look forward to meeting up with ya'll again after the holidays to knit up another great lace shawl design. Thanks T&J for having the courage to put this group together. I know moderating a group is no small feat, but I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we really appreciate your efforts.

{{{hugs}}}
Kristina

Wedding Hanami

Despite missing my friend's wedding ceremony due to an "incident" (this is how the RCMP officer described the problem) that closed the highway to Edmonton for approximately 4 hours on Saturday, my fiance and I made it to the wedding reception. I'm so glad we were able to make it to the reception - it was really lovely and my friend Lucy looked so beautiful. I brought my Hanami and here is a picture.

Of course I have to include a pic of the beautiful couple, Mr and Mrs Lucy and Mike Mussieux:

I felt terrible about missing the ceremony, but Lucy was very understanding. Apparently a number of people were traveling from out of town and didn't make it. Lucy and Mike are now heading to Hawaii for a very relaxing honeymoon.

The end is in sight....

After just keeping pace with the sections each week (finishing the final rows each Thursday night just before the next set is announced) I am now speeding through the last stretch and heading straight for home! It helps that I only did 5 repeats of Chart G instead of 8 (that area just seemed a bit too long for me in the photos I've seen), which got me into the first rows of the ruffle today. I can't wait to have it done and blocked and ready to wear this week!

I'm really happy with how the second half of the shawl has turned out - and how my experiment in 'erasing' sections of the transition chart helped the basket weave area blend into the flower charts. Here is a detail shot that shows how it all turned out (and that gives a pretty good idea of the color too)


Thanks so much to T&J for hosting the knit-along - even though I didn't post much, it really kept me motivated to keep knitting a bit each day to keep up with the pack and get this done. I can't wait to see her finished, blocked, and out on the town!

Megan