Catching up

Everything is ready to be taken to the fair tomorrow! I'm so excited. I hope I win a ribbon! The only thing missing from my pile of entries is the ogee tunic because all I have finished are the sleeves and this: It's coming out really well and I changed it from a tunic to more of a standard pullover with the addition of some waist shaping. A-lines just don't work for me. Here's a detail of the cabling. It's so pretty! (A while back Anna posted a comment asking about the gauge for the ogee tunic. I don't have her email address so here's the answer to the question she asked. The stated guage deson't seem to match up with the number of stitches you cast on and the measurements you're supposed to get. The math doesn't work out right, but everything turns out fine. The edges of the pieces have a small amount of ribbing, lace and cables, which apparently changes the gauge just enough that you end up with the right measurements even though it seems like you have a lot of extra stitches. So, my advice to Anna, and anyone else who is thinking of knitting this, is that as long as you get the same guage as stated, trust the pattern's stitch numbers and measurements. It works out. )

Backing up a little, here's a picture of me knitting the second sleeve in El Salvador. The cute yellow building is the hotel we stayed at in Apaneca, a little town in the mountains. Rocking chairs and hammocks- what more could a knitter want? Okay, maybe cooler weather so that I actually felt like knitting, but I didn't want to be picky.

Finally, here is a finished picture of the pillow I knitted for my friends that got married. I am still finishing the second, but the 1st one had a special assignment.
As part of the ceremony, they got lassoed together. As my friend Cindy said, "I't like a unity candle but we get lassoed together instead." Yep, those are exactly the same. Anyway, they needed a pretty pillow to kneel on so my gift was very fitting. You can just barely see the corner of my (their) pillow below.I had to fancy up the pillow a little for it's big day. I folded the flap inside and then safey pinned some ribbons to the inside so I could tie it closed. To make it look balanced, I tied some bows and pinned them to the other end as well, keeping the pillow case snug around the pillow. The happy couple loved it!
Last but not least, my secret pal deserves a huge thank-you shout out. I got this great package, along with a stitch pattern book that didn't make it into the photo. I got some soap (I love cute soaps!), pretty needles, felted tweed to make the knucks from the latest knitty, and some really pretty hand-dyed yarn that I've already started swatching.
Thank you, secret pal and good luck to all you knitters who entered things in your local fairs this summer!!