Under the Wire
Tonight, I am sorting through all of my yarn, so that it all hopefully fits into my storage bin. Some of it was snuggled away elsewhere, all snug and yarny. Awwww. Anyway, I revisited the Merino Lace Socks single sock that I finished back in November, and realized that if I hoped to knit the second one, I would need to get the matching yarn. I located it online, and bought it... just under the wire. I put some nonessential yarn in my shopping cart, and then prudently removed it. I am such a good girl! Yippee!

I have a new obsession. It is an awesome online laser game. It is super awesome and you should try it. There is a laser, and mirrors, and you have to align the lasers so that they light up the lightbulbs. I am on level 19.

Next, I have some finished items that I just whipped up from some nice Knitpicks yarn. Did I neglect to mention that I ordered it and a book on tams when I ordered all those needles a couple of weeks ago? Yep, probably I did. Completely guilt related avoidance of yarn purchase mentioning. (That was a terrible sentence. Decode it if you dare. The important thing is that the yarn was purchased comfortably BEFORE the Bustalong!) Well, anyway, here is the swatch, which I cleverly made into a coffee cozy. Ummm, which I copied from someone else's blog. I apologize to you, idea maker, for forgetting who you are. But you know who you are, and you are a goddess.
Please admire the adorable crocheted edging. It is adorable.
Next, we have the tam itself. Sorry about the terrible side view; the lighting in my home is exceedingly BAD. As are my camera skills.Sadly, my dinner plates are 11 inches rather than 10 inches. You are supposed to block the tam on a ten inch plate. I guess I'll need to procure one. At any rate, I liked making this tam. I have enough yarn left for at least one more. However, I cannot imagine wanting to own more than one tam of this particular colorway. Ooh, but I do have a friend who is nicknamed "Orange Anne." Ya think she might like one? Hint: Yes, she would. She got the nickname because almost everything she wears is orange. It is quite a sight to behold.
Okay, kids, over and out. I have a NEW post to create!

Knitpicks Needles

My two cents, briefly: I have swapped over from Blunti Stumpos to the new Knitpicks circulars, in size 3. They are pointier than the Blunties, but not as finger-gougingly pointy as I would like. However, they are a good step up and I am satisfied. Plus, the cord is super awesome, even better than that on the Blunties. That is awesome!

Today, I also tried out the double points, in a size 1. They were super pointy and I am totally happy with my purchase. Yay!

I SMELL DANGER... AND IT SMELLS LIKE YARN.

So, I have run across some potential downsides to the awesome Bustalong. I have included them in list form, for ease of reading. They are in the order by which they have occurred to me, in timeline fashion.

Two days ago, while photographing my stash: I have lots and lots of yarn, some of which was purchased with specific projects in mind. I want to start knitting all of those projects. Now.

Simultaneously: I have lots and lots of yarn, some of which I can TOTALLY come up with projects to start knitting. Now.

Moments later: I have lots and lots of yarn, most of which is leftovers from other projects. I want to start coming up with projects to use every single little bit up. I kinda want to start... NOW.

Ten minutes ago, while reading the latest Bustalong posts: Lots of other people ALSO have lots and lots of yarn. It sure does look pretty and knittable. I want to go and get more yarn. Once I do, I want to start knitting new projects. Now.

It is official. I am in yarn overload. And, I am so overwhelmed, that I have only knit one row tonight. What is this world coming to? I am in a state of knitting paralysis. I bet it would help if I put all the yarn back away, instead of leaving it out on the floor so I can gaze at it almost constantly. That's one of the dangers/ benefits of living alone... no one to complain about mountains of yarn all over the place! Hee hee!

Flash Alert! Flash Alert!

I am totally on board with the UFO and Stash Bust-along that Cece and I cooked up in our twisted little minds, and Cece was kind enough to create the blog. Several members have flashed their stashes already, and now, I prepare to do the same. There are six distinct categories of knitting that are in my possession. First off, the UFO's... in my case, there are four of them that are SO CLOSE to being finished, that it is truly scandalous that they have remained incomplete for so long. One requires seaming and buttons, one requires that the sleeves be re-set (due to bulginess), one requires A ZIPPER (yeah, LAZY! But I haven't been able to find a matching zipper, so I have a semi excuse) and the bag requires some sewing and seaming. Observe:

The next category is a sad collection of five finished or almost finished sweaters that I am dissatisfied with and need to decide: frog, fix, or frow away? (alliteration at its best, no?) Gaze upon the sad display:
Next, I have three active WIP's. I fully intend to finish these at some point and am enjoying working on them. There's the Starsky sweater from Knitty, Monkey socks from Knitty, and a lace shawl from the Vintage Lace book. I think the Monkey socks are knitting up a little big, so I will have to reassess:
Next, the 'finish or frog' pile. There is a sock for which I bought the wrong 'matching' yarn, a sock for which I don't like the pattern I chose for the yarn, and then a partially finished vest for which I don't have enough yarn and would have to cross my fingers that varying dye lots wouldn't show:
Then, there is a massive pile of yarn left over from about a bajillion projects. I am thinking that if I put my mind to it, I could come up with projects that incorporated some of those yarns. The biggest accomplishment would be if I could come up with a pattern to use up the leftovers from balls of sock yarn!
Last but not least, unmolested balls and cones of yarn. I can see five sweaters' worth of yarn, as well as yarn for two shawls, four pairs of socks, some soft, fuzzy yarn, angora bootie yarn, and a few random cones of yarn that still have me a bit perplexed:
Whew. That is a bunch of yarn. I certainly have plenty to work on, and have no reason to go out and buy more!

Sock Lurve

Well, I have been indulging in 'startitis', where I have started two new projects before finishing the project I was already working on. That is fairly out of character for me; I generally pride myself on being a 'finisher'. In my defense, I am a little nervous about working on Starsky, because I'm afraid that I will indeed find out that I'll have to rip out the stocking I made my mom for Christmas. And second, that lace shawl that I started is supremely slow going and is very complicated, (read: NOT mindless knitting) and I think I need to label it as a long term project, and just accept that. Additionally, I am kind of waiting for those sharper needles to arrive- I think that will make things a LOT easier!

So, I gave myself permission to start knitting with my new Regia Bamboo sock yarn, and have started up on the Monkey sock pattern from the most recent edition of Knitty. I am completely loving this pattern! I also like knitting with the yarn- it is soft and nice, and is a nice change of pace from knitting with wool. Spiderman 2 is about to be on TV, and I have never seen it... or maybe I have. I can't remember. But if I haven't, I am going to knit throughout the film, and possibly tidy up my apartment to give my hands a break here and there. Perhaps I'll add a pic of my progress later on in the evening! In the meantime, might I suggest knitting the Monkey socks immediately!

ARRRRRRGHHHHHH!

And I don't mean that in the good pirate-y way, either... for clarification, that would only have contained ARRRRRRR! without the g or the h's. Just so you know.

Anyway, I have started a rectangular scarfy shawl thingy from the Victorian Lace book. I had an initial false start, having knit a gauge swatch, sized the needles UP, knit for a while, and saw that the width would have been quite a bit larger than was anticipated, so I then frogged my hours of progress, and went down a couple of sizes. My ARRRRGH? Well, I am using fairly splitty yarn, and possibly the most blunt needles ever invented, the Addi Turbos, which have been unlovingly referred to by some as 'Blunty Stumpos'. I am slowly being driven insane. Now, I have heard rumor that the new Knitpicks needles are nice and pointy, so I went ahead and ordered some. I suppose I will continue to knit on the maddeningly blunt needles in the meantime, but breathlessly await the arrival of flesh-gougingly sharp needles. Luckily, there are no bobbles or nupps in my scarf/shawl, otherwise, I'm sure I would have been driven to pure raving lunacy by now. Blunties are just not the tools for the job. Le Sigh.

There is still not enough actual knitting done to warrant a photo. However, there is one new thing that I'd like to report on: I am actually using life lines, which I have never done before. I suppose that the trickiness of the true lace pattern (working increases and decreases on both the right and wrong side rather than simply purling back on the wrong side) makes me concerned about my ability to figure out what went wrong if I were to drop a stitch... plus, those nonpointy needles are horrible at picking up wayward stitches. I am sincerely hoping that i will never have to frog down 16 rows... maybe I should do it every 8 instead... I did make a WEE bit of an error the first time I ran the life line through my stitches... I ran it through the stitch markers, too... imagine my surprise when I went to slip the stitch marker from one needle to the other, only to find that it was well-anchored to my work by the life line!!! Silly me.
I still don't actually have plans for New Year's. However, I figure that if nothing interesting pops along, I will save money and avoid a possible hangover, not to mention all of the truly fabulous television I'll be able to see, and all of the knitting I will get done! So, Happy New Year to all of you, and may 2007 be totally RAD!

Long-Winded, Overdue Update

So, I've been back from my parents' house for several days now, and still haven't unpacked, because I was met at the door by my sock of the month kit from Sundara Yarns! My hands and arms were so loaded down with packages that I had to kick the box down the hall and into my apartment, but luckily I knew it was yarn and was not fragile! Anyhoo, Ms. Sundara Murphy makes some very beautiful sock yarn, and creates unique hand dyed colors that go along with gorgeous flowers, and the sock club is called the Petals Collection. This particular kit was based on the Lenten Rose, and the pattern is nice and lacy and I managed to memorize the repeats after a few inches or so! I was immediately obsessed with knitting these socks, so here is the result:

Project Specs:
Pattern: Lenten Rose sock kit by Sundara Murphy of Sundara Yarns
Yarn: Lenten Rose colorway, 100% superwash merino sock yarn by Sundara Yarns
Needles: Size 0 double pointed sock needles (eek- skinny!)
Comments: I found one minor error, and one completely insignificant typo. The error stated that you turn the heel round until there are 11 stitches left, but then tells you to split them in half for a total of 21 on each needle (along with the picked up gusset stitches, 16 per side) which lead me to believe that you are really supposed to work until 10 stitches are left, rather than 11. I guess it still annoys me a little that a pattern people are paying for haven't been test knit- maybe I should get a job test knitting patterns- ha!
Anyway, I really, really liked the yarn. It is a little more grey than it appears in the picture, and as a matter of fact, Cece is in the same sock club, and HER yarn is a little more purpley than mine. I am test wearing the socks, and they are totally not itchy at all, even though they're wool. I am happy as a clam!

So, I did some knitting on Starsky while I was at my parents' house over Christmas, but dropped poor little Starsky like a hot potato as soon as the Sundara kit came in! Anyway, here is the progress so far:
The pieces are not yet blocked, so will look a LOT better in the final project! That damned belt took me a better part of two evenings of double knitted HELL to finish, and I am glad I didn't wait until the end to do it, because I probably would have run out of steam! I'm enjoying the pattern other than that particular aspect... However, that brings me to the next point:

I AM A BAD DAUGHTER.

Now, I have had the yarn for Starsky since possibly 1995, and have been waiting for JUST the right aran sweater pattern to fall across my path... now, that particular pattern has just never materialized, so I chose Starsky. By my calculations, I would have PLENTY of yarn left over to knit my mom a super fabulous new Christmas stocking, as shown here- yes, it's a Christmas surprise photo I've been dying to post:


Ain't it cute? However, here comes the 'bad daughter' part... it appears that I might run out of yarn for Starsky! I needed to break the news to my mom, who faked a fit- she pulled down the stocking, threw it at me, and then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her! I apologized profusely afterwards, and then asked her if she had any color preferences in the event that I had to dismantle the gift I had worked so hard on. SHE SAID RED! So, I had some fake ammo against her... every time she moaned about me taking her present back ("So, you mean that all I REALLY got was a roll of tape?!?", I had a response: "OHHH, so you don't even really LIKE the stocking... you want a different color!" A good chuckle was had by all!

So, I must say that my most favorite gift that I received was the book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. The patterns are all delicious, the photographs of the shawls and scarves are gorgeous, and there are sections on technique and lots of pointers about knitting lace. Additionally, there is a lot of info about the history of victorian lace and patterns and so on. I have spent hours reading it and poring over the patterns... have I ever mentioned that I read knitting patterns for fun? Frequently just before bed, even!

Anyway, my final Christmas "gift" was a trip out to the Webs annual sale. That place is great- there is so much yarn to choose from, and the sale is great. I managed to get a bunch of yarn, including a few colors of lace weight yarn on cones: The one in the middle is more of a true gray... who can say why my apartment changes the colors of gray so drastically! Anyway, this yarn is Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk, and is sold by the half pound... I am quite certain that there is enough yarn for several decent sized shawls on each cone, so if anyone reading this wants to wager some sort of trade (for instance, if you have other colors of lace weight yarn and want to make a swap), let me know! I have chosen several patterns that I cannot wait to knit, but I realize that these might be long term goals... lace knitting can be tough going!
Next, I found some great yarn for the Weekend Pullover by Veronik Avery, from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. It's Valley Yarns Deerfield, which is again an alpaca/silk blend. It is a little less orangey and a little more chestnut in real life:

Next, was the new Regia Bamboo yarn:

I am curious to see how it knits up.
And finally, I bought a super cheap deal, at $1 a ball... I just couldn't pass it up! It's Vaudeville by Artful Yarns, and I'm guessing they're not making it any more, because the google search found a LOT of closeout deals! I am probably going to zip over to the Classic Elite store soon, and see if I can find a pattern, because I can recall that they had some of this yarn (or something similar), and maybe they'll have some pattern ideas. I guess another Google search might help...
You might not be able to tell, but it's a very cool tape yarn, and I am dying to see what I'll be able to do with it!

Okay, that is the last of the updating that I can think of for now. I am a few rows into my first lace pattern from the Victorian Lace book, and will show progress when there is something to see!

6 Weird Things About Me

Well, Cece tagged me for a meme, so here goes. First off, the rules of the meme:
THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the weird things about you.People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.
However, I will absolutely not publicly share what I think are the 6 WEIRDEST things about me... I'm just too weird for that, and trust me, you can't handle it, baby! Also, I will not be tagging 6 new people, because I don't have 6 blogs that I read that I know the writers of well enough. (Plus, rules were made to be broken!) So, in no particular order...

1. I am afraid of the carwash. It makes me all nervous to go through one of those automated carwashes. It's all splashy and you can't see anything!

2. I think French's yellow mustard tastes super good with cheese pizza. It's like mustard with a big, soft warm pretzel, but with cheese and sauce along for the ride. Try it- you will be pleasantly surprised!

3. I am not ticklish, except when exceedingly relaxed. Boyfriends are occasionally able to get a giggle out of me.

4. I think long, prominent, pointy "Roman" noses are extremely attractive on a man. Conversely, I think that upturned noses are exceedingly unattractive on anyone.

5. I have several odd talents: I can whistle and hum at the same time, I can make my tongue into the shape of a 3 leaf clover, and I can stick my pinkie up my nose to the second knuckle. I can also make my eyebrows do 'the wave'.

6. I like almost all foods. I can think of almost none that I would absolutely refuse to eat. There are a few I don't particularly like all that much, including liver, green tea ice cream, and bitter melon. I can't think of any others to put on that list at this time. Circus peanuts, the candy? Not that great, but I'd eat them if they were the only candy available!

So, now you know a few odd things about me. Some of you might know a few more...

Anyway, I will be leaving tomorrow morning to go to my parents' house for Christmas. I am assuming that I won't be back home (and blogging) until at least the 26th, so have a Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and I'm now over and out for the next few days!

Poker not-so-hottie...

Well, after my extra snappy comeback to Poker Hottie, s/he responded with little vim and vigor: "Just Poker Hottie!" Bummer. With a screen name like that, I was hoping for a little more. So it goes.

I am pooped. Tonight, I did a jewelry party at Cece's house, and although not everyone was able to come, it was still a good evening. It was my last 'jewelry selling event' of the year, and now the pressure is off and I can just relax. I have two custom items to make, but there is no rush, as they are not gifts. And once I return from my parents' house after Christmas, I will be able to reveal all of the secret things that I made for people! Yippee!

This past Saturday, I went to a party at my neighbor's house. Two days prior, I had gone to my social work staff meeting, where we did a Yankee Swap, and I ended up with the gift I had brought! Therefore, I had a ready made gift to bring to the Saturday party. The woman who ended up with the scarf I brought loved it (yay!), and I got to go home with a bottle of Sambuca! What are the odds! (Party at my house, any day, any time!) Plus, I ended up spending part of the evening talking to a really nice guy. Oddly, he is not really my 'type' looks-wise- he is a MUSICIAN (which I hate hate hate) and has weird musician hair. However, I am remaining open minded because the conversation was so enjoyable! Plus, he has a sensible day job (web designer), so at least he's not the cheap, mooching type of musician. However, he is still the type who plays music, which sometimes drives me crazy. If there are ever any interesting updates, I'll let you know. (note to self: never ever tell boyfriends (if I ever get one) about this blog!!!)

Good night, all. Maybe I will muster up some pics and a more interesting post now that I will hopefully be less exhausted. But until then...

Poker Hottie!

Well, this was just too good not to blog about. I have an email account that I use for my jewelry business, which is comprised of my first and last name, followed by @ and the rest of the deal. I received this email below. It is cut and pasted, so don't grouse at ME for the spelling and such:

"hey i was just wondering what ur middle name was cauz we have to exact same name and i thought that was weird and i live in michigan! so yeah anyways"

So yeah. Anyways. Anywaysssss, the email address from my 'same name friend' was 'pokerhottie24@etc. etc.' I will block her (well, if we really do have the same name, I hope it is a woman!) So, I wrote back to her:

"Hi, my full name is Poker Elizabeth Hottie. What's yours?"

I am dying... DYING to see if I get a response. I am guessing that those of you who read this post are also going to be dying to hear what happens next. WE LOVE POKER HOTTIE!!!

I am an Electrician!!!

Now, this statement might frighten some of you to the core of your very beings. Amanda + Electricity = possible mayhem... However, I tewtally followed the directions. Really, I did! Check it out:

I have been 0ut one overhead kitchen light for a few weeks, and no, it wasn't just the bulbs. Therefore, I went over to Home Depot and bought the above lighting fixture, which was a much better option than my old ugly light, which was one of those terrible yellowing plastic light covers with the fluorescent ring bulbs. Now, of course, I have two bulbs I don't need any more, but I'll bet I can donate it to one of my neighbors who has not been so resourceful as I as to 1. have a light that dies, and 2. go out and get a new one.

I must say that I absolutely love this new light. I made sure to study how the wires were all connected to one another on the old one, and to read the directions on the new one. White wire to white wire; black wire to black wire, and green wire to the plain grounding wire. If any of you reading this think that this is wrong and that my house will burn down, please let me know immediately. IMMEDIATELY. IMMEDIATELY.
But for now, I am going to be enjoying my new, super duper awesome light fixture. I am so cool and handy! I must say I did wish for more than two hands, perched up there on a ladder with my pockets full of all the pieces and tools and trying to hold the light fixture up while twisting the wires together and using a little electrical tape here and there...

Okay, my buddy Megan just got here. I am going to go gloat over my recent electrical success, and then we are off to eat burritos. Life is grand!

Kickin' stash butt, and takin' stash names!

Well, in an effort both to save money and decrease the amount of unused crapola I have in my life, I have been visiting my yarn stash on a regular basis, hoping to find yarn to use up. As other knitters know, there is sometimes a disconnect between the patterns we want to knit and the yarn we already own. I have been trying to bridge that gap- I knit two secret items for Christmas presents out of yarn I already had, and for Yankee Swap items, I have done a couple of quickie novelty yarn scarves. Nothing unusually exciting, unless you consider the fact that the above projects effectively removed about 7 balls of yarn from my life, and will bring joy to someone else's! Yee haw!

And for the most exciting stashbusting news, I do believe I have finally found a purpose for some off white worsted weight yarn that I have been saving for just the right aran knit sweater, since I bought it in approximately 1995. That is some ancient yarn in my book, considering that is just about the time I reached back into the recesses of my mind, dragged out the rudimentary knitting skills my mom taught me when I was a wee one, and started kicking major sweater knitting ass! I must say, I have pored over knitting books and patterns looking for just the right sweater, and even considered trying to design one myself... but it just never happened. I will not stop looking, but in the meantime, am going to repurpose the yarn for this: Starsky from Knitty! I had noticed the pattern when it first came out, but forgot about the yarn I already had. Now, I hope it turns out well. I won't start it until after all of the open houses, jewelry parties and so on... but at least I'll have something "extraspicy" (according to the Knitty rating scale) to work on over Christmas vacation! ANnnnnd, I'll be one step closer to destroying another lump in my yarn stash!
Oh, Cece and I did decide that the true destashing attempts won't start until AFTER we go to the Webs holiday sale after Christmas... there must always be a "Webs holiday sale loophole"... it seems only fair.
So, I put up my Christmas tree yesterday, and it looks fabulous, if I do say so myself...

For those of you who have not been privvy to my explanation, I feel that someday, I may very well live under the same roof with someone who thinks that a pink and white tree is completely unacceptable... so I'm getting it out of my system right now! And last year. And, with the way that my dating life is going, possibly for several (maybe many) years to come. MEN: STOP BEING FREAKS, PLEASE! It's just a thought. But really, I think it's a good thought, and you should really consider it.

General Woolgathering

Well, I got home from work today and promptly fell asleep for almost 3 hours. So it goes on Fridays, it seems. So, even after waking up, I find myself feeling fairly dazed, daydreamy, and generally not completely with it. This might not be good if I were operating heavy machinery, but it definitely allows the mind to wander all over the place.

So, over the past couple of months, I have been pondering the fact that my collection of crafting supplies continues to grow, no matter how many crafts I complete. I am not totally sure what the actual solution to this is... I don't think I've ever met a crafter who does not have this problem. However, I have been thinking about either starting or joining some sort of post-holiday "UFO-along" or a "stashbuster - along", with the idea that new supplies would not be purchased, other than perhaps materials needed to complete a project with materials already owned. For example, I have a sweater's worth of super bulky yarn, and I'm pretty sure I don't have the right needles to knit with. Therefore, under said 'along', I would be allowed to buy the needles. And, I was thinking that after the holidays would be a good time to pull out unfinished projects and... well... actually finish them!
So, that's what I"ve been thinking about. Now, we will see if it actually happens.

Another No Picture Post

Ohhhhh, this is KILLING me! I have been slaving away, making things for Christmas gifts of all types- straight up gifts, Secret Santa gifts, and Yankee Swap gifts. And, due to the fact that people I know and like (and therefore may very well be receiving gifts) look at my blog, I can't post the pictures until after Christmas! I will say this: I have been staying up LATE trying to get things finished. Alas, you will all have to wait another 2 1/2 weeks to see the results!

Last year at this time, I had a craft show every weekend. I was so tired and stressed, I ended up getting shingles, and got sick a lot all winter. Things are a little more low key this year, but I still feel like there is so much to do- send out Christmas cards, tidy up my place and put up the tree, and so on. I want to host a holiday open house, and am doing a couple of jewelry parties... it is a festive time, but sometimes I just feel so pressured, ya know?

Despite the pressure, I am trying to remember the things I'm happy about in my life, particularly the biggest change, which is the new job I started this fall. I am in a new school, and like the environment/ atmosphere much more than where I was last year. It is a much better fit than where I was last year. I am seeing kids for individual counseling, and do a lot more therapeutic work instead of crowd control and babysitting. I went over to my old school yesterday to visit a student, and I must say that I did NOT miss it or yearn to be back there in the least! Some things happen for a reason, eh?

Well, enough of that... I'm going to be gettin' to that whole Christmas card thing. Every year, I consider writing a generic Christmas letter to enclose, but I haven't followed through yet. I'm assuming that this year will be the same...

'Tis a Christmas Miracle!

I do believe that I will be able to completely avoid having to leave my home to complete Christmas shopping. How, might you ask, is this possible? Well, you probably wouldn't ask at all, what with you being aware of the internet... but there's the thing- although I did do SOME of my shopping online, the rest of my gifts will be lovingly created by ME from the stores of my somewhat massive array of craft supplies! I am psyched! I was thinking that I might have to leave the house to get stocking stuffers, but I have also figured out a super sneaky solution to that issue, as well! To that end, I bring you a resounding huzzah!

I have one more miracle to report: I have NOT sneaked a peek at my amazon.com wish list to see whether any of my items have been purchased. The thought has certainly crossed my mind, and it is also quite true that I still need to hold out for almost 3 more weeks, but I'm doing my best.

Apologies for the lack of pictures. I am bursting at the seams to put up pics of the things I'm working on, but sadly, that must wait several more weeks so as not to ruin the surprise... and in the case of some of my knitting friends, the pics will have to wait even longer than that! I can hardly stand the suspense! EEEEEEE!

One of the things I'm good at is recognizing people's faces... well, people I've met, that is. Anyway, I went to a grocery store that I don't usually go to, because it's near the liquor store... I needed to get some red wine to make my stew with. (Beef stew. It was super duper delicious. But I digress.) I'm walking through the meat aisle, and I see a familiar face.... could it be... someone I went to high school with and haven't seen since our 1991 graduation??? Why, yes, it could be, and it was! I was flattered when she said I looked exactly the same... and seeing that I recognized her, she looked about the same, too! She had three lovely girls with her (her own, I ascertained), and lives nearby. What a small world it is!

Well, I am going to stare briefly at the awesome projects I've been working on, and then dream about them as I sleep.

Redemption!

Allow me to clarify through a brief pictorial:

Yesssss! I finally got up the nerve to try these again. So far, I have made this:
I guess the main impetus was that I'm taking a polymer clay class tomorrow morning, and I wanted to be wearing a little somethin' to be bragging about!
Yes, this post is brief, but it's really late and I am sleeeeeepy.

How did THAT happen?

How did it suddenly become December? November seemed significantly shorter than usual, didn't it? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, particularly because I don't think I have to leave the house at all to complete my holiday shopping... other than the stocking stuffers. Our family draws names and fills the stocking for another family member... sort of a secret Santa kind of thing. We then guess who was the person who filled our stocking. I can't write whose stocking I have, because most of my family reads my blog. However, my grandma doesn't, so I can post what I'm getting her (or rather, making her) for Christmas. A couple of years ago, I knitted her some socks that she wears as slipper socks around the house. She mused aloud that they were getting a bit worn, so I decided that was a heavy enough hint to start work on these, for which I already had some nice, soft, stretchy Cascade Fixation yarn:

Also, I managed to finish the socks I was previously working on! I am even wearing them right now. They rule.

Pattern: Cedar Creek by Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Yarn: Socks that Rock in Puck's Mischief , again by BMFA.
Needles: Double Point Susan Bates sock needles in sizes 1 and 0
Comments: I totally love working with this soft and beautiful yarn, except I do not like it when hand dyed yarns pool. That being said, I was too lazy to alternate knitting from opposite ends of the yarn, so I guess I brought part of the problem on myself, now, didn't I? As I may have previously mentioned, I also found a bit of an issue with the pattern- and I'll only restate this part of my complaint: If I am going to pay for a pattern, it clearly should have been test knitted, and it clearly should be nice, pretty, and symmetrical when knit up. It was not. Therefore, I am peeved. Peevish. Peevish may be one of the awesomest words ever. Additionally, I do realize that awesomest is not a word. Deal with it.

Cedar Creek

Well, I totally love the Cedar Creek sock pattern, and I am ADORING the Socks that Rock yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The colorway, called Puck's Mischief, is not quite coming out right in the pics below...


I have started on sock #2. As has been common recently, I have a couple of complaints about the pattern. first off, it is a little unclear when to switch from the larger needles to the smaller ones, and vice versa. I feel like sock #1 fits just fine, so it is not that big a deal... but issue #2 is a little more significant to me: on the smaller size, once you turn the heel and start working the foot, the pattern is completely off center on the top of the foot and looks stupid... unless, of course, you are able to figure this out and change it on the fly. The 34 stitches across the top of the foot means that you are only knitting two of the six columns of the twist panel, which is ridiculous looking. Here is my feeling about this: if I am paying for a pattern, I want it to be right. I want it to have been test knit in ALL sizes, and I want it to work out right! Otherwise, why am I paying for the pattern???
Anyway, I have started with sock #2, but haven't gotten very far yet... holiday season jewelry making has taken precedent for the time being. I must say, however, that the sock yarn is exceedingly soft and nonscratchy. I am psyched, because I frequently find sock yarns to be scratchy. Yay! Go buy some now, but leave some for me!

Polymer Clay Pics!

Okay, Blogger is being agreeable today. Below, please gaze upon the AWESOME polymer clay tiles that I made a couple of weeks ago:

There, wasn't that awesome? Sorry about the blurriness, but so it goes. And, there is another 'so it goes' aspect to these tiles... this is a picture of them prior to being baked. Let's just say that the 'post' pictures are not QUITE the same... there was a 'toaster oven incident', which involved toxic fumes and burned clay. I was beside myself with unhappiness, for a multitude of reasons: First off,the tiles were really complicated to make, second, they were like the first good thing I ever made, and third, they turned out so derned great. However, I have made a new slab from which I can make very similar tiles, but have been scared to cut it out into pieces... and understandably so, says I!
Anyway, that's my update for today. Enjoy the weekend, all! At least in my neck of the woods, it is cool but sunny, and promises to be a lovely day.

What I've been up to

No good, people, no good! Well, that might not necessarily be true. However, here are some pics.

First up, the Urban Bubble Scarf from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Ain't it the coolest? This is made of their Kidmo yarn, which is the seriously soft, wonderful and beautiful yarn that I mentioned in my last post. The scarf is knit flat, and then the Japanese shibori method is used to alter the fabric. In this case, the kit came with a couple hundred wooden balls, which I snuggled into the flat fabric of the scarf and held them in place with rubber bands. Then, I tossed it into a zippered pillow case, then tossed THAT into Cece's washing machine on HOT a couple of times (and pretended not to be nervous), and, Hooray! Bubbles! I must say that it shortened a lot more than the pattern suggested that it would, but I had luckily made it a lot longer than the pattern suggested I should, so it all worked out for the best. Ain't it cute? (I did create a rotated picture, but Blogger did not like it and angrily refused to accept it. Dumb Blogger.)Next, my first Merino Lace Sock. At some point, I will order another skein of it, and another skein of the not quite matching ball... but not yet. I have included a top and side view. I liked knitting this first sock a lot- there are three different, interesting panels of 12 rows- not unusually memorizable, which kept it interesting.
I think you can kind of see how the pattern from the front is repeated down the back of the leg and down the heel. It is totally cool.

And today, I did some very exciting and fun stuff at my friend Kathy's house. She is blogless, so her name is not highlighted. Kathy is the queen of making interesting and beautiful crafts, and owns every craft thing imaginable. She is my polymer clay benefactress- she decided she wasn't interested in polymer clay any more, so she gave me all of her clay, tools, and everything. It was awesome. (as a side note, I will photograph some of the stuff I've been doing with that at some point. Fer sure.) So anyway, she recently set herself up with lampworking and precious metal clay stuff- the works. So she invited a few people over today to have a play day! I made a couple of lampwork glass beads, although my first (and most awesome) one exploded. These things happen in life. I saved the pieces, but it is not much to see at this point! I also made a couple of things with the precious metal clay, and here is a finished pendant that I made, strung with some nice beads. The silver polished up so shiny that it was hard to get a picture of, so I have a 'bright' and a 'dull' picture below:
The bright picture shows the accurate color, but the dull picture shows the detail on the pendant. The silver is mixed in with clay, so you can roll it out, stamp it and cut it to your heart's content, as long as you work fast- it dries out very fast. Then, you fire it in the kiln, polish it up, and bam. Pendant! The other thing that I made is currently in an 'emergency... how do I fix it" state. I choose not to say any more than that at this point.

So, I have tried six times now to include some pics of some of my polymer clay stuff, but again, Blogger is being a poophead. Growl. Well, eventually, it will work out.

Meme- first ever!

Okay, I decided to finally give a Meme a try. I got it from Cece's blog. You're supposed to use one word answers, which will probably be a challenge for me...

1. Yourself: silly
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): huh?
3. Your hair: fluffyish
4. Your mother: friend
5. Your Father: strong
6. Your Favorite Item: bed
7. Your dream last night: weird!
8. Your Favorite drink: cold
9. Your Dream Car: paid-for
10. The room you are in: studio?
11. Your Ex: who knows???
12. Your fear: alienation
13. What you want to be in 10 years? 43!
14. Who you hung out with last night? friends
15. What You're Not? rested
16. Muffins: warm
17. One of Your Wish List Items: raise!
18. Time: plentiful
19. The Last Thing You Did: phoned
20. What You Are Wearing: J Crew...
21. Your Favorite Weather: breezy
22. Your Favorite Book: **brain freeze!*** (too many)
23. The Last Thing You Ate: cookie!
24. Your Life: mellow
25. Your Mood: sleeeeeepy
26. Your best friend: sister
27. What are you thinking about right now? headache
28. Your car: Civic
29. What are you doing at the moment? Duh!!!
30. Your summer: footloose!
31. Your relationship status: (see #2, jackass!)
32. What is on your TV? nothing
33. What is the weather like? Arctic!
34. When is the last time you laughed? Recently.

Okay, I didn't do a great job of sticking to the one word thing, but I did my best. I mean, this is me we're talking about. I can TALK. I guess I'm not as talkative as the girls in my knitting class (holy smokes!), but I can hold my own against the average talker. No one but another 5th grade girl can compete with a 5th grade girl, I promise you!

I sleep now.

I am weak. So weak.

But seriously- how was I to resist??? I didn't mention it IMMEDIATELY upon receiving the package, but I was afraid if I did, I would start knitting IMMEDIATELY, and drop my current sock project. I managed to last just over 24 hours.
What, might you ask, am I talking about? I received my package from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, which contained some very delicious yarn.I must confess that so much time has elapsed since I started writing this email that the parenthesized part to follow is seriously out of date:

Outdated typing to follow:(Yes, yes. some of the yarn is already wound into balls. Lovingly wound. Into soft, fluffy, heavenly, wonderfull puffs of yarn. Seriously, folk(s), the mohair is not only fabulously soft, but the color changes are like nothing I've ever worked with before. So, I only lasted a FEW hours before I wound the yarn into balls, but I lasted until Friday night before I started to knit it up. The final project will still be a mystery until completion, and no fair trying to figure it out! (Insert menacing grimace here)
Okay, now the outdated part is over. So, anyway, while I was trying to avoid playing with the mohair yarn, I managed to do a decent amount of knitting on my current sock project, the merino lace socks. I will someday include a picture.

I am enjoying the pattern, but found a nitpicky little 'error' in the chart: the "V" stands for 'sl 1 purlwise wyif", but it really ought to also say 'sl 1 kwise wyib' on wrong side. If you don't, then you don't get the nice slipped stitch edge on one side of the heel flap; instead, you get a mess. Luckily, I figured it out pretty quickly. I'm all about patterns being super specific- if it's a pattern, I expect to be doing just what the person tells me to do, unless I plan to lengthen the torso, which I sometimes have to do.
Anyway, this is one of those posts that I'm writing with the full intention of not posting it until there are pictures to be involved. So you will not even know that I have been keeping you in suspense! Buwahahahaha!

Rainbow Yarn 1; Amanda... moving on.

So, the rainbow yarn is giving me frustration. It is not a particularly stretchy yarn, and the Jaywalker pattern is not a very stretchy pattern. Attempt #1 yielded an unwearable sock, and so did attempt #2. There will someday be an attempt #3, but for now, I have decided to put that particular project on hold, and move on.
I have selected a pattern from the summer 2003 Interweave Knits, Merino Lace Socks by Anne Woodbury. It is a fairly involved lace pattern, with several panels of interest. The yarn is nice- Gedifra Fashion Trend Sportivo. Unfortunately, in a shopping frenzy at Webs, I picked up two slightly different balls of yarn! One has a purplish background, and one is sort of navy blue. We'll see how the 'pair' looks- if it is lame, I will order one more of each and make their pairs. If it works out, I'll just rock it! Tell me what you think from the picture- it's color # 5793 and #5707. They look even a little more similar in real life. I guess we'll see what happens! I'm only a few inches in, but will post a pic when things get a little more interesting.
In other news, I am feeling much better today; went back to work and everything. I'm not saying I DID much work, but I was TOTALLY there. I then hovered by the side door so I could RUN out to the car when the bell rang, because I agreed to go see Saw III with Cece for moral support, because I actually like horror movies, and the dudes from her work made her go. It was totally gross; I would recommend it if you like horrifyingly gross horror movies full of horror and horrible things. Later on, Cece called me to say, "That was scaaaaaary." I hope she doesn't have nightmares about having to saw her own leg off. That would be... horrible.
Well, back to KNITTING. Wheeee! (I wonder how many posts I've ended with "Whee". Just a thought.)

Sniffleupagus

That is my name for today. I felt a little worse this morning than I did yesterday morning, and knowing how cruddy I felt by the end of the day yesterday, I decided to sit this one out. However, there is no fever, so I will not be shivering under the covers all day, which is cool.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I received a package from J Crew last night, and have found my new favorite chinos- the Heritage Chino. What makes them so great? They are not super low cut, they are cut to assume that I have both a waist AND a booty, and they come in a 35" inseam. Long legs rule! My only regret is that they have stopped making any chinos in black! Now, I must re-start my quest for a washable work pant in black. Sigh. And we all know that they won't be at "Let's cut all of our waistbands so low that you don't actually have to take the pants OFF to use the bathroom". (Oh- also known as Gap) I am not sure whether any of my reader(s) have any suggestions, but they are welcome. Requirements: long inseam, not low waisted, generous in booty and thigh region, and NOT TAPERED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM. That is all.
Last night, I also got a very exciting email from Blue Moon Fiber Arts that my package has shipped. What did I order? A groovy sock pattern that I coveted from Cece, (Cedar Creek) and some excellent sock yarn to accompany said pattern. And a secret surprise that you'll just have to wait and see! I am actually forgetting which sock yarn colorway I ordered, and in order to surprise myself, I am going to forego looking back at my order to figure it out. It will be like opening a present! Wheee!
Last night, I had a knitting incident that I did not capture on film- I have been knitting a pair of Jaywalkers out of some fabulous rainbow Regia sock yarn. I decided to try and knit them on size 0 needles, since I had to downsize the pattern on 1's for my skinny feet. However, in addition to using the 0's, I also appeared to be knitting more tightly than usual, and wound up turning the heel, trying them on, only to find that I have made my first ever too-tight pair of socks! I unravelled the partly completed unwearable item before snapping a picture. Too bad, so sad.
Hmm, what else. Last Saturday, I went to the opening of a new show at the Revolving Museum, and two of the jewelry pieces I have showing there got sold! One of the women who bought something asked for a matching pair of earrings, and I was only too happy to oblige. I whipped them up last night while sniffling unhappily on the couch. I hope she likes them.
I haven't bothered to peek through the blinds yet to see what's going on outside, but I hear it might be gross out. All the more reason not to look.

Yay for Stripes! Boo for sniffles!
Please gaze upon the latest completed project, blocking happily.
Project Details as follows:
Pattern: Rosedale United from Knitty, size 38
Yarn: My favorite, Noro Kureyon #95
Needles: Size 4 circular (pattern called for an 8- I'm such a loose knitter, it's embarrassing)
Comments: This was fun to knit, in part because I lurve the yarn, but also because it involved an intarsia rectangle. However, the pattern required some intuition- it was not always clear at all points. For instance, I knit the smallest size, and the pattern told me to continue with the intarsia rectangle, despite the fact that it would be cut off by the raglan sleeve decrease for that size. And, at another point, it told me to decrease every right side, even when you go from knitting back and forth to knitting in the round... you had to be wily enough to know that you should NOT begin decreasing every row, but continue to decrease every other row. There were several issues like that. Near the neck, I had been working in the round for quite some time, but the pattern had said to keep working back and forth, which made no sense to me. And it said to bind off stitches at the front of the neck rather than just short row-ing and picking up the live stitches later to work the turtlenecky part. There are more examples, but I do not care to continue with such trash talk, as I am happy with the results, and that is what matters.
Prior to blocking, I was a bit nervous- it appeared a bit tight, and I was having horrible visions of having to give it away to my sister for Christmas- she is a few inches shorter and is proportionately slimmer, and this sweater (in its pre-blocked state) would most certainly have been a good fit. However, as wool is apt to do, it blocked to Amanda Size quite nicely! Huzzah!
Oh, another thing- the pattern never even mentions what to do with the leftover live stitches at the armpit. I mean, duh, kitchener stitch them closed, but really. To leave that out? Most patterns even mention to weave in leftover stitches, which is a big 'duh', but they still SAY it! ARRRRGH! I have an editor inside of me, I know it for sure.
Okay, so now it is the time in my post where I begin to whine about part two of the post title: Miss Amanda has a stuffy nose. It is totally gross. And what do you need when you have a cold? Sleep. What can you not DO because of the stuffy nose? Yeah. Sleep. Oh, cruel fate. Thank goodness for sweet, sweet Nyquil. I took some last night and felt like I was awaking from a 15 year coma when the alarm went off. I won't even MENTION the amount of 'sleepies' I had to cut through to be able to open my eyes! (EWWWWW!) Sorry, had to be said. No, really, it did. Just accept it. Love me, love my lack of editing capabilities. OH, and to make things worse, I got the flu shot today and now my arm hurts a lot. Another thing that is annoying about this is that I wanted to go to yoga today, but my nose and arm were significant hindrances. No one wants to be in a 105 degree room with a girl who is not only sweating profusely, but is also blowing her nose and spreading germs... 105 degrees... talk about a breeding ground for cold germs! Plus, I definitely think that the whole not being able to lift my arm above my head would have been a problem.
So, if I post in the middle of the day tomorrow, you will know that the cold has taken a turn for the worse. The school nurse told me today, 'Oh my goodness, you look HORRIBLE!' Yeah, it WAS good for the ego. No,really, it was. I strive to look as horrible as possible on a fairly regular basis- that way, when I try to look good, everyone is blown away by my awesome beauty. Hmm. That might actually not be a bad strategy- I will attempt to put into practice "Operation Look Ugly Most of the Time So that When I Put On Makeup, All Will Bow To My Transformation"!
What is scary is that I haven't taken the Nyquil yet, and still these ideas are flowing out of me. Hmm.
Well, faithful reader(s), we have now reached the portion of the evening when Nyquil taking and tooth brushing shall commence. Wish me luck- either that I will wake up feeling refreshed and like a new woman, or that I will feel JUST enough worse than yesterday that I can justify staying home and watching Netflix movies and making jewelry. YESSSSS!

Yarntastic updates

So I have some yarnular news. First off, do read below this post- there are a couple of backdated posts that I never finished up, due to Blogger being a jerk. Call me scattered, call me disorganized... heck, call me Ishmael, if you wish...

Prior to the most recent project (cotton short sleeve sweater that is now awaiting blocking and seaming- yeah, don't hold your breath for completion OR a picture), I had genuinely been wanting to knit yet another item out of my favorite Noro Kureyon color. So, I decided not to wait any more!!!
Please witness the Kureyon fabulosity! I am making Rosedale United from Knitty. Please note the interesting intarsia rectangle! In the real pattern, it is a bit more to the side, but it's early and I'm in a hurry! In three more inches of the body, I get to connect the sleeves to the whole deal and begin the raglan shaping. Yayyy!
Now, when I first cast on for this, I believed that I only had eight balls of the necessary yarn left, and the pattern calls for nine. Then, the other day I was going through my giant sweater drawer, and I found... another ball! I held it up and cheered, as though there would be someone nearby to share in my glee... but I live alone, so said glee was really only enjoyed by me. So it goes.
This is the first time I have made an effort to match up the yarn- the sleeves match, and I have been matching up ends/ beginnings of skeins. Once, I came across a knot that caused a significant color change, and I pillaged the ball that's being used for the intarsia rectangle. I'm serious about the matching, folks!
After this project, I think I will finally be able to lay to rest my obsession with Kureyon #95. Of course, at some point, I will have to pick another color, but that is another post for another day...

ARRRRRGH!

I have just drafted a letter to the Reynolds Yarn Company via snail mail, as I couldn't find a website. I have been knitting with their lovely yarn, and yet am being driven crazy! The yarn is nice, but there are soooo many knots in each ball of yarn, I am losing my mind! The knots are the kind where the yarn has split in two- the kind of knot that if you just leave it there, it will undoubtedly give way at some point and your garment will explode. And since it's cotton, I can't just spit felt and keep knitting, I have to tink back to the beginning of the row and work as though I'm joining a new ball of yarn. Instead of having just a few ends to weave in, it will be a weaving bonanza at the end of the project. Arrrrgh.

Back to Basics

So, one of the first things I ever knit (after the weird, holey Barbie scarves) was cotton washcloths made out of the tried and true "Sugar & Cream" yarn. The colors have certainly improved over the years, and I recently cast on four stitches and started knitting the pattern (as I remembered it). Then, I thought to myself that the index card that the pattern was written on had been in my knitting bag for SO many years, that I probably still had it around. It literally took me about 35 seconds to find it (not in the knitting bag, but in a logical enough spot- my sewing pattern box). It is all yellow and the pattern is written down in my elementary school handwriting:

The rest of the pattern is on the back of the index card. And, of course, a shot of one of my ancient washcloths next to the new one. I notice that my knitting is looser now, but other than that, the knitting 'skill' seems about the same on this easy of an item:

Aah, nostalgia. Happy is me.

Crafty Updates

This week was the week of cancellations: the polymer clay class was indeed cancelled for Saturday, and my yoga class was cancelled tonight. That was a bit of a saga- first off, I drove up to NH right from work, so as not to get sucked into the vortex of the post-work nap. I went to Parlee Farms to buy some apples, then scoped out the Salvation Army to see whether they would accept my donated clothes. They will, but I need to put them in bags. No problem. Then, I went to the River Art Studio, which is right around the corner from the yoga studio, to see what kinds of classes they offer. The woman who was there seemed pretty vague about when a polymer clay class might be available, or how much a private lesson would cost. I'm not going to hold my breath... then, I went and parked in the yoga parking lot and knit and talked to my mom for 45 minutes, until it was 'kosher' to go inside, 1/2 hour before class. It was cancelled. What an ordeal! Almost two hours 'wasted', and no class at the end. Sigh. However, there are updates. First off, my Swallowtail Shawl from the most recent Interweave Knits is blocking:

Second, I am knitting this fabulous short sleeve sweater named "Camisa" from the most recent knitscene from Interweave Knits. Here is the front so far:

The construction is fairly interesting- first, the basketweave panel is knit from side to side, and then stitches are picked up on either side for the rest of the panel- cute. I am almost at the armholes on the front.

And last but not least, I have created a new polymer clay friend, "Bird With Teeth". I am definitely still at the point of copying someone else's pattern. I think that the expression on my bird says, "Stop cancelling things on me, dammit!" (Or, perhaps, "Tomorrow had BETTER be Friday!") I think this bird means serious business:

I still haven't baked him, but my polymer clay benefactress donated to me a clay-dedicated toaster oven, so NKA birdie (No Kidding Around) will get toasted soon. Oh, and you know what I totally love about polymer clay? You can leave it out unwrapped and it will not dry out overnight! Awesome! A non awesome factor is the somewhat poisonous nature... it is not 'non toxic', like Play Doh is, for instance. I am not the most fastidious of humans, so I am going to have to watch this. No snacking while claying!

Tomorrow, I am going to an all day conference- and will hopefully be able to do some knitting during the lectures. Whee!

Because I Don't Have Enough Hobbies...

I have signed up for a polymer clay class this weekend! Unfortunately, I am only the second person to sign up, and they're not sure that the teacher will come for just two people... I am crossing my fingers for this one! Anyway, I had been becoming a little more curious about polymer clay, and several things have converged all at once... and I'm taking them as important signs that I should give claying a try. First, Michael's had all polymer clay on a GREAT sale. Second, I received a flyer from the Bead Gallery with their class schedule, and they are holding a class on the technique that I am the most interested to learn. And third, my friend Kathy gave me ALL of her polymer clay (there is a ton of it!) AND, she gave me her pasta machine! The only 'catch' is that I am going to give her pendants that I made... as soon as they are actually good! Oh, and if I decide that clay is not for me, that I will pass along all of the materials to a good home. I can indeed do that!

Gross Thoughts

So, some of you did not heed my warning long ago when I posted a picture of my foot blister. I will again warn you, I am having gross thoughts. There are, however, no pictures. So, read this post at your own risk. There is no knitting or yarn talk in this post, so you will not have missed anything fibery.

So, I was just sitting quietly, eating a cookie and having a glass of milk, when it suddenly hit me that I'm not so sure I like drinking a glass of milk any more. It is so.... milky. It is cow boob juice. It squirted out of a chapped, hairy udder. eeeewwWWWWWWwwww. Now, I have been drinking glasses of milk for longer than I can remember, and this is the first time ever that I can remember feeling a little icky about drinking milk. I have felt that way a few times recently. I still feel fine about yogurt and cheese and even cottage cheese. But milk? again, I repeat, eeewwwWWWWWwwwww. What is wrong with me? Am I going weird? Please tell me I am not about to turn vegan. I would hate to have to give up steak. Or bacon. Or leather shoes, for that matter. Help!!!

If Buying Beads is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right!

Today, I went to the Bead Affaire Bead Show, which is a great show with some super high quality glass beads and other stuff, too. I got some pretty yet relatively inexpensive beads, but a set of beads kept calling me back to them. These beads were made by Ann Campbell of Kennebunkport Bead Art, and I HAD to have them. They were not cheap. They were not a bargain. But I assure you, I either had to buy them or steal them, and not being the theiving type, well, I bought them. Of course, I rushed home and made this:


It hangs down about five inches from my collarbone, and is about 28 inches long. The big beads are 3/4" wide, and are super awesome. I am quite sure that the picture doesn't do them justice, as usual, particularly because I didn't bother to rotate the picture or anything. The beads are more glossy and delicious in real life. It is my new favorite thing. I also made earrings, but let's face it: any picture I tried to take would most certainly suck.

So, I am home on a Saturday night, in part because I was too lazy to find something to do (again), and because I promised that I'd have new jewelry to bring over to a nearby museum- my 'collection' over there is lookin' pretty skimpy. So far, I have made 9 pairs of earrings and 3 necklaces. The bracelets never really sold well before, so I figure I'll only make a few. Okay, this is boring. Change of topic.

As I was typing this post, I noticed a burning smell. What could it be? Well, it COULD be the burner I turned on to make some tea... the burner, in fact, directly IN FRONT of the one that the teapot was actually sitting on. Good grief.

So, tomorrow I'm supposed to do a charity bike ride. My only qualms about this? What should only take a couple of hours out of my day (it's only 20 miles) will end up taking maybe 5 hours, because it's a point to point ride, and they pick you up and drive you to the starting line, 2 1/4 hours BEFORE the ride even starts! Why, why, why! It is so dumb. It is so dumb, it is dum. You know, so dumb that it forgot the 'b'. I am considering not going and just sending in the money, because I don't feel like sitting around in the cold waiting for the ride to start. Does that make me a bad person? Please say no. I will be sitting around in 40 degree weather in biking clothes, being sad and angry. Oh, and bring along warmer clothing for before and afterwards? No thanks- last year, it took HOURS after the ride was over for the clothing to arrive at the end point. Totally ridiculous. But still, I just might be stupid enough to show up and do the ride. That is just the kind of girl that I am.

Then again, maybe not.

NUPPPPPP!

I was again fretting about what knitting project I was going to start up on next. I actually pulled out my last balls of Noro Kureyon #95, as seen in such projects as the Counterpane Bag and the Butterfly Sweater (which I still haven't taken a final picture of), but then decided to do a little stash diving. I stumbled upon this, which I actually had thought I had thrown away in a cleaning frenzy a while back... I guess it remains safe. Look how gigantic this cone is- Chapstick is present for comparison:

I have been knitting the center pattern furiously and have the tired hands to prove it. I have now reached the nupps, which involve k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 in the same stitch, and then p5tog on the way back. NUPP! this is all cotton yarn, so it is not unusually stretchy, and I am knitting on my Denise interchangeable needles, which are great in many ways, but definitely do not have unusually pointy tips. Errrgh. I am therefore nupping very loosely. Here is a shot of my progress:

And, here is a shot of the cone of yarn. I see no noticeable decrease in size. (Note: If anyone likes this difficult to wear color, feel free to borrow the cone... I'm pretty sure it's one of those neverending cones!)

A couple of winters ago, I knit a cardigan for my grandmother... which, now that I think about it, I do not believe I have ever seen her wear... it was out of this horrifyingly pink mohair, on a cone, and I swear there was enough to knit about 15 more of them... I was very tired of pink mohair by the end of that sweater! EWWWW! She was all excited about the sweater, and that thing was torturous to knit, and she never wears it. That'll teach ME!

So, I tried to get a good shot of the nupps, but to no avail. My photography skills are clearly not as good as I'd like. Sigh.

How many of you out there are like me- all excited to leave work on a Friday, and then you're so tired you fall asleep and don't end up doing anything? I hate that. However, I had a funny dream during a post-work nap tonight- I dreamed I went to Wal Mart (or a similar store) and was buying candy. It was all awesome candy that doesn't even exist in real life, and I was soooo excited to bring it home and eat it. But when I reached into my pocket to pull it out, there was a hole in my pocket and some of the best candy had fallen out! I woke up sad. It was genuinely awful. :(

I can't wait to block the shawl, although I have quite a ways to go. The shawl calls for a smallish finished size, and since I am tall, and for fashion reasons, I need/ like a bigger shawl. I did about 50% more repeats of the center pattern than were called for, and my hands are tired! The lacing bloom will make it worth it, though!

Olive, meet Baudelaire. Baudelaire, meet Olive.

First, giant olive:

Now, granted, I do have thin fingers. But still, you must admit that I have stumbled across an exquisite olivial specimen here! It tasted good, too. I guess I wasn't impressed enough to save it from a dismal death.

Next, meet my newly finished socks:

Here is a side view:

And, an awkward pic of the back:

Project details are as follows:

Pattern: Baudelaire by Cookie A from Knitty.com.
Yarn: Jawoll by Lang Yarns in color 83.0178. Love Germans and their orderly color names.
Needles: Well, I initially used four size one bamboo needles and one metal one, but then one of the bamboo ones broke in my checked luggage... I then made to with one less needle, but used the broken one as a makeshift cable needle. Now that I think about it, I suppose I could have dug through my stuff to find an actual cable needle, but why go through the aggravation???

Overall, I liked this pattern. It gave me a chance to try a couple of toe-up options, and i had never used a sewn bindoff before. I also really liked the cable running up the side, and I still continue to totally dig how yarnovers and sl 1, k2tog, psso's all mixed together can result in such vastly different lacy results! I mean, I used the same stitches in this pattern as I did in the Shetland Triangle, but they look so different! Yay!

So, now, I am back where I started: what to knit next? There are a TON of projects I've seen lately on the Internet that I'm dying to knit (thank you, o knit bloggers, for trying the patterns out and showing us all how they REALLY look on NORMAL people without perfect lighting and zillion dollar cameras! However, I don't think that my stash matches up appropriately with said patterns... tune in next time to see what I picked! Wheeee!

I Have Found My Way!

A couple of evenings ago, I managed to finish off the knitted portions of the Counterpane Carpet Bag I'm making... and even set it out to block. However, I'm not in a sewing mood, and am not completely happy with the handles that I picked out, so that project will be on hold for a little while. As an aside, I did find some nice hot pink canvas lining fabric for the bag, that I think will be nice and sturdy... plus it's hot pink- what's not to love???
Here is a preview... once I manage to drag out the sewing machine, I will be done in no time, I'm sure... and sorry about the sideways situation... I just didn't feel like fixing it, despite the short amount of time it would have taken- ha!
So, last night, I found myself feeling a little lost... no pressing projects that I really wanted to do (well, a couple of jewelry things that I want to do, but I don't have the supplies I need at the moment), so I started knitting a hat that I have since frogged. It genuinely sucked and did not deserve to be a hat. So, I decided to pick the Baudelaire socks back up... and started sock #2 but with a twist. The sock is worked from the toe up, and requested that I do a figure 8 cast on. I found this method to be unusually lame and fiddly and awkward and ugly and I hated it, so I took a move from the Shetland Triangle, and made two little crochet lengths out of scrap yarn (read: same yarn as project, but I'm so awesome I won't get confused- really!), and did a provisional cast on. At some point, I will zip out the crochet with a hearty tug....zzzzzip! and then will close up the toe with a kitchener stitch. I think that will look much better in the long run- the toe on the first sock is a tiny bit more holey than I would prefer. The less said about that, the better. It's really not all that bad, but I am dissatisfied. So, here is a shot of sock #2, with the toe completed:

You will, of course, notice a lot 'going on' around the toe. Trust me, I've got it all under control!

So, I realize that I'm not all THAT old in the grand scheme of things, but I feel like I have more trouble sleeping than I should. Particularly the night before I have to get up to go to spin class. Then, I'm super duper tired at work, and then come home and literally cannot manage to stay awake, so I fall asleep after work. Then, I feel all perky and awake until past a good bed time, and the cycle continues. YEEEARRRRRGH! What's a girl to do? I need to hire someone to keep me awake after work or something, or just wander the streets like a vagrant until bed time. Or maybe take tranquilizers at 8 pm until my body resets itself not to take naps. Or become independently wealthy so I can sleep whenever I feel like it and don't need to worry about feeling all tired and stuff at work. Hmm.
At any rate, I feel better now that I have a project on the needles. If I finish that one, I will then only have two UFO's flying around- the Carpet Bag, and the dreaded yet beloved Gibson Girl Pullover... all she needs is seams and buttons and a bit of neck blocking... what exactly is keeping me from finishing this one up? No clue. No clue at all...