So, I've decided that I will never manage to keep a steady pattern of updating. Thankfully I haven't been on a knitting hiatus this time.
I finished one of the three stockings I promised Grandma Bobby I would make. Even though I said this last Christmas, I didn't start on them until September. I finished the snowflake stocking, but still haven't taken pictures. I've gotten 2/3rds of the way thru the Christmas Tree stocking, but still need to double stitch or embroider the lights and ornaments onto it once I've finished the chart. Not sure which to do!
I also decided that I wanted to learn garterlac, and I had 200 yards of some freshly dyed yarn. Oooolala. I was so impatient to start it, that I started knitting straight off the swift, and didn't bother winding the ball. This made it a less than portable project, but I'm already past halfway on using up the yarn.
Since that wasn't portable, and I still had the garterlac itch, I started on another one! I'm using the variegated white, yellow and orange cotton that I have just under 800 yards of to make a present for someone else. I'm saving all the juicy details on who the gifts are for, and only putting them on Rav. That would be the only place I'm certain no one in my family goes to.
I have tons of other things hibernating, and a buttload of things to make for Christmas. I still need to go by some size 2 DPNs to make another set of Spirogyra, and find my size 3s. One day I will break out my pretty size 15s and make stuff in a gauge I like, instead of all of this small stitching. *phew*
For Christmas, I want some elves to do my knitting for me, and then a wizard to put a false memory into my brain making me believe I made all of them.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
So long you want to cry!
The Maryland vacation went pretty well.
It was lined with some minor freak outs disasters and broken things. My travel buddy, NK, and I had some freaking out before going, thanks to the airplane crashings and LAX cleaning crew going on strike. Surprisingly, neither of us chickened out!
We got on the bus to go to the airport, and got stuck in some horrible traffic! The traffic was caused by a big rig that had caught fire at the top of the Sepulveda Pass, though only the length of what was left gave away what type of vehicle it used to be. The driver and a passenger were on the side of the road with no visible damage to them.
NK and I talk each other through all of this, hoping that nothing else disastrous would happen. We sit outside the terminal smoking cigs and really calming down, bags get checked quickly and with no problems. Then we go to security...
I walk through with no problems (and a size 0 metal DPN poking out of my ponytail). No arguments from the workers about the needles and hooks, no arguing about the nail clippers. And then NK's bag goes through the x-ray machine. Blue screen of death. Wait! The x-ray machine is running Windows XP Pro?! Really?!
They shut it down, turn it back on, black screen of death. Awesome, Windows won't even boot! Shut down, turn it back on, blue screen again. NK and I mock the guys from the sideline, saying now that they have rebooted twice they can call NOC. NOC tells them to reboot again.
20 minutes later we get out of there and to the gate, thankfully we were so nervous we had tons of time! Even more so once the plane got there and we were told that it needed "special maintenance", which was then compared to "when you get the oil in your car changed and you need that extra work done". Super!
I try to get NK to practice her knit stitch, and try to work on my gloves. I guess now would be a good time to explain the travel buddy's nickname! She is my newb knitter, though she will need a nickname upgrade soon, as she's proving to be a quick study.
Hardly any turbulence on the flight, lots of people sleeping. I got halfway through my "Why the crap is he so damn tall?!" scarf, and then 3/4 of the way through my first glove. Splendid!
We land, have troubles with them opening the door for the plane, eventually get out and try to go to my favorite restaurant. It's closed, forever. There's one part of the chain left at the crappy mall, so we speed over there to get our all crab dinner with my family. NK's brother comes and picks her up, and my sister kidnaps me to go to a movie. Except the tire is flat.
We get the tire filled with air and just go home. It was too late for anyone out there to do anything or meet up with people. Everything else was pretty standard and uneventful. Yarn crawl kept getting postponed to hang out with family.
When NK and I finally took my cousin out for the yarn crawl, the first store on our route was closed for filming. We had to skip some of the others because I was in a car with no blinkers and I was being a giant wuss about driving through Baltimore with no turn signals. We only made it to two stores, but they were both completely awesome! NK admitted that she was officially addicted, and got some nice new yarn to play with, my cousin seemed to enjoy picking out yarn for me.
I somehow managed to avoid working on the scarf, and only worked on the gloves. Until the flight home when I decided I wanted to use other yarn to make other gloves. I changed my mind on them and frogged over and over until I just went back to the "Vacation gloves". By the time I got home I was halfway through the second glove, and they were finished 2 days later.
I've tried lots of other patterns for my "frogging yarn" and haven't found anything that sits well. I'm impressed with how well the bamboo-silk is holding up to all the frogging though. Very pleased.
I set everything aside for Hat Attack, which started yesterday. Got through 2 pattern repeats, found out I screwed up, frogged. Got through 1.5 pattern repeats just to find out I made the same mistake! Frogged again, cast on with the alternating color and have only gotten through 1 pattern repeat. Looks like I might die before I finish my first hat again.
I really just don't knit well under pressure!
It was lined with some minor freak outs disasters and broken things. My travel buddy, NK, and I had some freaking out before going, thanks to the airplane crashings and LAX cleaning crew going on strike. Surprisingly, neither of us chickened out!
We got on the bus to go to the airport, and got stuck in some horrible traffic! The traffic was caused by a big rig that had caught fire at the top of the Sepulveda Pass, though only the length of what was left gave away what type of vehicle it used to be. The driver and a passenger were on the side of the road with no visible damage to them.
NK and I talk each other through all of this, hoping that nothing else disastrous would happen. We sit outside the terminal smoking cigs and really calming down, bags get checked quickly and with no problems. Then we go to security...
I walk through with no problems (and a size 0 metal DPN poking out of my ponytail). No arguments from the workers about the needles and hooks, no arguing about the nail clippers. And then NK's bag goes through the x-ray machine. Blue screen of death. Wait! The x-ray machine is running Windows XP Pro?! Really?!
They shut it down, turn it back on, black screen of death. Awesome, Windows won't even boot! Shut down, turn it back on, blue screen again. NK and I mock the guys from the sideline, saying now that they have rebooted twice they can call NOC. NOC tells them to reboot again.
20 minutes later we get out of there and to the gate, thankfully we were so nervous we had tons of time! Even more so once the plane got there and we were told that it needed "special maintenance", which was then compared to "when you get the oil in your car changed and you need that extra work done". Super!
I try to get NK to practice her knit stitch, and try to work on my gloves. I guess now would be a good time to explain the travel buddy's nickname! She is my newb knitter, though she will need a nickname upgrade soon, as she's proving to be a quick study.
Hardly any turbulence on the flight, lots of people sleeping. I got halfway through my "Why the crap is he so damn tall?!" scarf, and then 3/4 of the way through my first glove. Splendid!
We land, have troubles with them opening the door for the plane, eventually get out and try to go to my favorite restaurant. It's closed, forever. There's one part of the chain left at the crappy mall, so we speed over there to get our all crab dinner with my family. NK's brother comes and picks her up, and my sister kidnaps me to go to a movie. Except the tire is flat.
We get the tire filled with air and just go home. It was too late for anyone out there to do anything or meet up with people. Everything else was pretty standard and uneventful. Yarn crawl kept getting postponed to hang out with family.
When NK and I finally took my cousin out for the yarn crawl, the first store on our route was closed for filming. We had to skip some of the others because I was in a car with no blinkers and I was being a giant wuss about driving through Baltimore with no turn signals. We only made it to two stores, but they were both completely awesome! NK admitted that she was officially addicted, and got some nice new yarn to play with, my cousin seemed to enjoy picking out yarn for me.
I somehow managed to avoid working on the scarf, and only worked on the gloves. Until the flight home when I decided I wanted to use other yarn to make other gloves. I changed my mind on them and frogged over and over until I just went back to the "Vacation gloves". By the time I got home I was halfway through the second glove, and they were finished 2 days later.
I've tried lots of other patterns for my "frogging yarn" and haven't found anything that sits well. I'm impressed with how well the bamboo-silk is holding up to all the frogging though. Very pleased.
I set everything aside for Hat Attack, which started yesterday. Got through 2 pattern repeats, found out I screwed up, frogged. Got through 1.5 pattern repeats just to find out I made the same mistake! Frogged again, cast on with the alternating color and have only gotten through 1 pattern repeat. Looks like I might die before I finish my first hat again.
I really just don't knit well under pressure!
Monday, August 25, 2008
I am not witty enough for a title today!
I made it up to stitch group yesterday. Those girls are amazingly wonderful, and Jo particularly is completely at fault for the below addiction notice. I also managed to come up with a ton of Christmas gift ideas on the drive home, only managed to write down half of the ideas before forgetting them. I just hope I can actually get them done in time.
I am now COMPLETELY addicted to cotton yarn. I think it may have replaced my addiction to Simply Soft. I still love the sheen of Simply Soft, but oh how wonderful the cotton feels. And oh how tempting it was to grab Jo's stash of it and run...
I'm about halfway through Bry's scarf now, and hopefully I can get it completely done by the time I land in MD this Sat. That only leaves the Transformers rug for MarMar and then all of my WAY overdue birthday gifts to people should be done.
On another stitching group note, I set up a stitch meet at work. Thursdays at 1pm, for lunchings. I'm contemplating letting the office manager know that we are doing this and I'm willing to teach basics for free, but I think that will have to wait until after my vacation.
Thanks to DL, Jo & my dad, I've also got a myriad of ideas of a business to open. Of course in my head all of the ideas fail. Miserably. Only time will tell if I follow through with them.... >:D
I am now COMPLETELY addicted to cotton yarn. I think it may have replaced my addiction to Simply Soft. I still love the sheen of Simply Soft, but oh how wonderful the cotton feels. And oh how tempting it was to grab Jo's stash of it and run...
I'm about halfway through Bry's scarf now, and hopefully I can get it completely done by the time I land in MD this Sat. That only leaves the Transformers rug for MarMar and then all of my WAY overdue birthday gifts to people should be done.
On another stitching group note, I set up a stitch meet at work. Thursdays at 1pm, for lunchings. I'm contemplating letting the office manager know that we are doing this and I'm willing to teach basics for free, but I think that will have to wait until after my vacation.
Thanks to DL, Jo & my dad, I've also got a myriad of ideas of a business to open. Of course in my head all of the ideas fail. Miserably. Only time will tell if I follow through with them.... >:D
Thursday, August 21, 2008
4 months!
So, I've been telling myself over and over that I haven't update in a long time and I need to. Then I get distracted by shiny objects and forget again.
I was on a bit of a hiatus from my crafting, and my podcast listening. I'd like to blame it on the boy and the breakup, though I'm not sure I can. As soon as I had to go to the dentist again, I picked everything back up. Which happened to be around the time I started seeing dreadlocks boy, who will just be DL from now on. I guess when I think of it that way I could blame the old boy for the hiatus. Or just my inability to knit while single.
I've finished off the never ending blanket for my cousin's baby a few weeks ago, and failed to get a picture of it before I mailed it out. Make 3 little baby hats too, only got a picture of one.
I managed to teach myself broomstick lace and made a mini-scarf for my niece. I still need to block it out, but I will get a picture before she gets it. I also finally finished off my roommie's R2D2 hat! Got pictures, just haven't uploaded them.
All in all, I've been pretty productive the past couple weeks, just not at all for the other part of the 4 months.
I make no promises for updating more often. Mostly because every time I do, I end up going on a HUGE hiatus.
I was on a bit of a hiatus from my crafting, and my podcast listening. I'd like to blame it on the boy and the breakup, though I'm not sure I can. As soon as I had to go to the dentist again, I picked everything back up. Which happened to be around the time I started seeing dreadlocks boy, who will just be DL from now on. I guess when I think of it that way I could blame the old boy for the hiatus. Or just my inability to knit while single.
I've finished off the never ending blanket for my cousin's baby a few weeks ago, and failed to get a picture of it before I mailed it out. Make 3 little baby hats too, only got a picture of one.
I managed to teach myself broomstick lace and made a mini-scarf for my niece. I still need to block it out, but I will get a picture before she gets it. I also finally finished off my roommie's R2D2 hat! Got pictures, just haven't uploaded them.
All in all, I've been pretty productive the past couple weeks, just not at all for the other part of the 4 months.
I make no promises for updating more often. Mostly because every time I do, I end up going on a HUGE hiatus.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
More than a month is unacceptable...
SORRY!
So, my god damn project has officially died. Things broke off with the boy on right after I finished with the move. I've been finding the silver lining of things lately, and trying to be grown up about it. I never thought I would be grown up!
I keep completely horrible track of my FOs, so I will leave you with my WIPs. ;)
- Star baby blanket for Roy & Jessica's soon-to-be newbie
- R2D2 hat for the new roomie
- R2D2 hat for Kev
- Autobot wall hanging for Mar
All of these podcasts have got me really interested in learning how to knit socks. Not to mention the 2 skeins of bamboo silk sock yarn my mom sent over. I've decided that until I finish these 4 projects I will not be making anything for myself, or learning how to do socks.
I miss being monogamous with my projects. I know 4 isn't a lot for a lot of crafters out there, but for me, it's left me scatter brained.
In non-crafty news, the move is done, the unpacking is not. I just can't get thru unpacking before I get distracted, by my projects, laptop, scanning photos, tv, etc. Maybe I'll get it done this weekend. Canyon Country has treated me nicely so far, the wind has been howling around my window making some magical background noise.
I finally got up to Lancaster to meet with some girls in TFC, and see J. Depending on what's going on with friends' birthdays weekend after next, I might end up back up there for the Poppy Festival. I'm also thinking about heading down to RF in Monrovia, and going to the Poxy Boggards show afterwards on the 26th.
So, my god damn project has officially died. Things broke off with the boy on right after I finished with the move. I've been finding the silver lining of things lately, and trying to be grown up about it. I never thought I would be grown up!
I keep completely horrible track of my FOs, so I will leave you with my WIPs. ;)
- Star baby blanket for Roy & Jessica's soon-to-be newbie
- R2D2 hat for the new roomie
- R2D2 hat for Kev
- Autobot wall hanging for Mar
All of these podcasts have got me really interested in learning how to knit socks. Not to mention the 2 skeins of bamboo silk sock yarn my mom sent over. I've decided that until I finish these 4 projects I will not be making anything for myself, or learning how to do socks.
I miss being monogamous with my projects. I know 4 isn't a lot for a lot of crafters out there, but for me, it's left me scatter brained.
In non-crafty news, the move is done, the unpacking is not. I just can't get thru unpacking before I get distracted, by my projects, laptop, scanning photos, tv, etc. Maybe I'll get it done this weekend. Canyon Country has treated me nicely so far, the wind has been howling around my window making some magical background noise.
I finally got up to Lancaster to meet with some girls in TFC, and see J. Depending on what's going on with friends' birthdays weekend after next, I might end up back up there for the Poppy Festival. I'm also thinking about heading down to RF in Monrovia, and going to the Poxy Boggards show afterwards on the 26th.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
I don't quite agree...
But there's just something about it.....
Who is your inner bombshell?
WORSHIP! You're inner Bombshell is the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. Like her you've been blessed with a "certain something" that no one could describe accurately. You are more reserved than other bombshells, and that shows in your gentle, graceful nature. You like doing things for other people and love volunteering for your favorite charity. Yours is a rare gift in this day and age. You don't need to show a lot of skin to be sexy, all you need is your eyes. To see Audrey at the top of her game watch the movie "Breakfast at Tiffanys".
Take this quiz!
Quizilla| Join
| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code
Who is your inner bombshell?
WORSHIP! You're inner Bombshell is the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. Like her you've been blessed with a "certain something" that no one could describe accurately. You are more reserved than other bombshells, and that shows in your gentle, graceful nature. You like doing things for other people and love volunteering for your favorite charity. Yours is a rare gift in this day and age. You don't need to show a lot of skin to be sexy, all you need is your eyes. To see Audrey at the top of her game watch the movie "Breakfast at Tiffanys".
Take this quiz!
Quizilla| Join
| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code
Another month passed...
I really need to stop taking forever to update!
I finally finished assembling the smoking hat for the boy, and went up for a visit over Valentines weekend. I figured before tucking in all the loose ends I would at least get him to try it on, since it looked a teensy bit awkward on me.
After working on it for the third time, way above gauge, and having a hell of a time figuring out the assembly... it still didn't fit! The visor went straight up in the air and the "bill" poofed up and looked like a horrible crocheted version of some 80s bangs.
Now it is sitting in my still packed suitcase from the weekend, mangled, unloved and ignored. I can't even unpack the bag for fear of seeing my shameful mess of a project. On the wonderful 7 hour drive home, while catching up on all of the back-episodes of It's A Purl, Man and listening to 'God Damn Projects' I decided that this hat was my God Damn Project. Then I thought, I was blaming the design a lot earlier on in the process, and that wasn't fair. Perhaps my gauge changed, or the boy has a really big head, or I'm just completely insane and can't work off of patterns! So now, I'm waiting for the exact measurements from the boy, and I will design one myself, leaving no one to blame but myself.
I think I have it mostly figured out in my head, except the visor portion, which should be a "fun" bit of trial and error. I'm also going to knit it instead of crochet, even though it takes me forever to knit things, it seems easier for me to work out shaping with knitting than with crochet.
On a lighter note, the Urban Urchin and the scarf I made for the boy's best friend turned out to be a solid hit. From construction, to fiber, to color, which was a pleasant surprise after the failure of the boys hat. And ended up making an owl hat for myself while I was up there.
I participated in Hat Attack for the first round, and had great problems with my tension. The frantic knitting did not agree with my relaxed gauge swatch. I did end up getting up to the last 2 rows before I received my death hat. Since there were only 2 rows left, I figured putting it on waste yarn at that point was a little silly, so I just finished off the rows and sent it off to my assassin. Fortunately for my target, my assassin has been MIA, to the point that the Oracle had to announce her death, so my poison green death hat is floating off into the unknown.
You're welcome target!
I've finished off a lot of projects, some have even made it into Ravelry. Even though very few of them have had pictures end up there. I'll have to do a plea for pictures from the people who received them.
Since I can't even begin to think of which projects I've finished in the past month, or which ones haven't mentioned, I'm just going to get back to work!
I finally finished assembling the smoking hat for the boy, and went up for a visit over Valentines weekend. I figured before tucking in all the loose ends I would at least get him to try it on, since it looked a teensy bit awkward on me.
After working on it for the third time, way above gauge, and having a hell of a time figuring out the assembly... it still didn't fit! The visor went straight up in the air and the "bill" poofed up and looked like a horrible crocheted version of some 80s bangs.
Now it is sitting in my still packed suitcase from the weekend, mangled, unloved and ignored. I can't even unpack the bag for fear of seeing my shameful mess of a project. On the wonderful 7 hour drive home, while catching up on all of the back-episodes of It's A Purl, Man and listening to 'God Damn Projects' I decided that this hat was my God Damn Project. Then I thought, I was blaming the design a lot earlier on in the process, and that wasn't fair. Perhaps my gauge changed, or the boy has a really big head, or I'm just completely insane and can't work off of patterns! So now, I'm waiting for the exact measurements from the boy, and I will design one myself, leaving no one to blame but myself.
I think I have it mostly figured out in my head, except the visor portion, which should be a "fun" bit of trial and error. I'm also going to knit it instead of crochet, even though it takes me forever to knit things, it seems easier for me to work out shaping with knitting than with crochet.
On a lighter note, the Urban Urchin and the scarf I made for the boy's best friend turned out to be a solid hit. From construction, to fiber, to color, which was a pleasant surprise after the failure of the boys hat. And ended up making an owl hat for myself while I was up there.
I participated in Hat Attack for the first round, and had great problems with my tension. The frantic knitting did not agree with my relaxed gauge swatch. I did end up getting up to the last 2 rows before I received my death hat. Since there were only 2 rows left, I figured putting it on waste yarn at that point was a little silly, so I just finished off the rows and sent it off to my assassin. Fortunately for my target, my assassin has been MIA, to the point that the Oracle had to announce her death, so my poison green death hat is floating off into the unknown.
You're welcome target!
I've finished off a lot of projects, some have even made it into Ravelry. Even though very few of them have had pictures end up there. I'll have to do a plea for pictures from the people who received them.
Since I can't even begin to think of which projects I've finished in the past month, or which ones haven't mentioned, I'm just going to get back to work!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
I swear I'm still alive!
I think I have finally recovered from the Holidays. Longest recovery time for me! *phew*
So, I think I left off right around the boy getting back into town. He got back just in time for me needing him to try them on for sizing. I didn't manage to finish even the first one before I left for Christmas in Maryland, but he did calm my nerves on his roommates gloves and got me to start tucking in the edges. Believe me, it was not an easy task by any means.
Somehow, between the plane trip home and Christmas Eve, I managed to
finish a buttload of projects. Seeing as how I told everyone they would not be getting gifts this year, and they would just get me in town, I was nowhere near prepared. I only managed to get pictures of 2 hats that I made, and a snippet of one scarf. I didn't manage to upload any photos yet of course.
I still have a couple of unfinished projects. Which just goes to show, I need to learn how to go quicker, or just say no.
Projects for Christmas:
Raven's Hat for Uncle M.
Skullcap for R.
Skullcap for M.
Beanie for B.
Beanie for D.
Newsboy cap for the Boy (Still in progress)
Beard cap for G. (Still in progress)
Scarf & Beanie for E.
Loom knit scarf & Urban Urchin cap for S. (Still in progress)
My So Called Scarf for S.
Scarf for C.
Loom knit Scarf for B. (Still in progress)
Scarf and Wrist-warmers for M.
Scarf with Wrist-warmers at the end for M.
Fingerless Gloves for G.
Cigar Gloves for the Boy
Cigar Gloves for R.
Blanket for the niece
The only ones that weren't finished in time for Christmas (-ish since the friends got gifts after I got home) were the ones that are still in progress.
So the boy went back to school, and I started working at the new office location, which is too far away. I ended up getting a promotion, which has caused too many 10 to 12 hour days. And that brings me to now!
I finally got off my toosh and made it to a SnB earlier today, where I got about 20 rows of the Urban Urchin done. And now, I've finally update the blog! Hopefully I manage to upload some photos of the finished projects and dump them into Ravelry. We shall see!
So, I think I left off right around the boy getting back into town. He got back just in time for me needing him to try them on for sizing. I didn't manage to finish even the first one before I left for Christmas in Maryland, but he did calm my nerves on his roommates gloves and got me to start tucking in the edges. Believe me, it was not an easy task by any means.
Somehow, between the plane trip home and Christmas Eve, I managed to
finish a buttload of projects. Seeing as how I told everyone they would not be getting gifts this year, and they would just get me in town, I was nowhere near prepared. I only managed to get pictures of 2 hats that I made, and a snippet of one scarf. I didn't manage to upload any photos yet of course.
I still have a couple of unfinished projects. Which just goes to show, I need to learn how to go quicker, or just say no.
Projects for Christmas:
Raven's Hat for Uncle M.
Skullcap for R.
Skullcap for M.
Beanie for B.
Beanie for D.
Newsboy cap for the Boy (Still in progress)
Beard cap for G. (Still in progress)
Scarf & Beanie for E.
Loom knit scarf & Urban Urchin cap for S. (Still in progress)
My So Called Scarf for S.
Scarf for C.
Loom knit Scarf for B. (Still in progress)
Scarf and Wrist-warmers for M.
Scarf with Wrist-warmers at the end for M.
Fingerless Gloves for G.
Cigar Gloves for the Boy
Cigar Gloves for R.
Blanket for the niece
The only ones that weren't finished in time for Christmas (-ish since the friends got gifts after I got home) were the ones that are still in progress.
So the boy went back to school, and I started working at the new office location, which is too far away. I ended up getting a promotion, which has caused too many 10 to 12 hour days. And that brings me to now!
I finally got off my toosh and made it to a SnB earlier today, where I got about 20 rows of the Urban Urchin done. And now, I've finally update the blog! Hopefully I manage to upload some photos of the finished projects and dump them into Ravelry. We shall see!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
