Saturday, May 31, 2008

So, breathing, right?

So, I'm breathing again after my rant on the L&V boards. and I thought that I should just post this, because it kinda made me feel better. Let's see if I can get it to post right.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Not-So-Pretty-Knitting... Yet.

I'm on the mend. Apparently not getting sick at all in High School let my immune system take a hike and now when I get sick it nearly kills me. And it takes it's sweet time doing so. But I'm getting better, and now it's just a lingering cough. But this morning I did wake up with no hearing out of my left ear... It came back in the middle of taking a shower though, just like someone flicked a switch. Talk about a weird feeling.

Knitting News! I've been working on the Adamas Shawl, and I'm up to like 4 feet across at the shoulders. I'm making good time, and I've almost run out of one skein of yarn. I'll try to make it to about 6 feet across, I think it should be a good size then. It's not blocked yet, obviously, and there isn't enough cable on the knitting needle to show it off really well, so no pictures. I'm also working on a couple other random things. I'm doing a throw pillow with the cassette tape from the DJ Bag in Son's of Stitch 'N Bitch. I'm working it out of the Cascade 109 tweed that I had used to try to make the first sweater, and the Buttony sweater, and I had made a toque out of. I love how soft it feels when knit up on the 5mm needles. I'm also still (slowly, very slowly) working on the Sweater of Doom. No real progress on that. And as of tonight, I have cast on an adapted version of Cargo from Knitty. I'm working them up at an XS size because Benjamin (my cousin) is still tiny, even though he's seven weeks old. Basically, he's still wearing newborn diapers and only barely fits into clothing other than onsies and diaper shirts.

That's pretty much it for news. Oh, I sent out my first ever swap package today! It now has to make the long trip to Washington State. I hope it gets there in good time. I had thought that my life was a bit more interesting than that, but apparently not. Well, then theres the Fort Mc Murray story, but that isn't quite ready for blog posting yet. Drop me a line if you're interested, because it is quite interesting, and I'm in need of input.

-Cheers and happy crafting!

Friday, May 23, 2008

I'm just here to b!tch and complain right now

Nothing new and interesting really. I've been spinning up the Silver Romney, love it. I did about 110 yards of a single that was somewhere between heavy fingering and light sport weight. I haven't touched any of the other fiber yet except to fondle. I was at the Loop Wednesday and bought some stuff for the single's swap and I also got a top knot. I love it, It's a base of black with bright pink and a light blue and a few strands of red, yellow, green, and turquoise. I'm spinning it up at something like a fingering weight. I'm excited. I think I'll kool-aid dye my other handspun that will come along eventually and do up a Shawl. Or maybe a lap blanket. I don't know and It is apparently very hard to type, and not only am I sober, I am non-medicated.

I cast on a lace shawl, Adamas. I love it. It is being called my Battleshawl Galactica because the yarn (from darling Miss Violet) reminds me of Battlestar, and the name of the pattern is the name of two of the characters. Three if you include the dead brother. Four if you include the dead ex-wife.

I frogged Blink. Love the pattern but the yarn just wasn't showing the stitch patterns and cables enough for my liking. I'm going to frog the binary bag because I will never use it. I might make a pillow instead because the yarn is really soft but too chunky for a sweater. Maybe I'll make a shawl. I like the idea of a shawl right now.

I got my order in from Ravelry. Shot glasses and a pin. My camphat is far too full. I think I might go out and get a new one so that I can have my "around camp" camp hat that has actual pins on it, and then have my "campfire only" hat that has my camphat crafts on it. I'm sure that made no sense to anyone who isn't familiar with guiding. But I'm far too tired and bleary to explain.

Oh by the way. I'm sick. I'm achey and sore. I'm coughing. I'm not happy. I hate all healthy people.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

It's here! It's here! It's here!

Let me just say this: It was so hard to get into the shower when I got back from my run/walk to the post office after picking up my package. All I wanted to do was spin. But I was stinky, and do not want stinky yarn. So without further ado, may I present my tale of Hello Yarn.

I opened the box to find this.

And a note on the back! Oh Adrian, I *heart* you.

I removed the card, and the bit of tissue and look! fiber!

Cutest labels ever. :)

They looked so cute all huddled up together, long journey by mail truck from Boston.

I removed the bags and there was something at the bottom of the box.

What is it? OMG! It's a pin, and that is so going onto my camp hat. The other knitting leaders will be jealous.

I got 8 ounces each of: Light Brown Romey

Merino.

Biffle. (*drool*)

and Silver Romney.

Yes Sir, Yes sir. Four bags full :P

A wonderful trip to the post office. :) Seriously Adrian, me and you, babies? I will have yours.

-cheers and happy knitting! I'm off to go spin. ;)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The many uses of boobs

I went for a run today. It felt good mentally, but physically... well I hadn't realized how out of shape I am. But still, went for about 40 minutes, and I'm hoping to make it a regular thing. Last year I went biking quite a bit, but my bike has fallen beyond repair and I don't have the money to lay out on a new one, so running is my best option. I even managed to find a route that is relatively flat, not an easy feat here in Dartmouth.

But on to the boobs. I was wracking my brains trying to think what to do with my keys while I was running. I had even thought about taking just my house key off the the chain and putting it in my shoe, but I didn't like the idea of running on a key. A bit of a back story, I don't have any good sports bras since I stopped playing soccer about 3 years ago, and skiing doesn't really make any difference to me if the girls are bouncing because they're under about 5 layers of clothing. I grabbed one of my old tank tops that has a built in shelf bra. It also squeezes the girls nice and tight. Makes me look like I have absolutely no chest, but that's okay for running. I threw on a t-shirt over it and I was ready to go. Still no place for keys, let alone my mp3 player. It hit me like a ton of bricks though! Mp3 player and keys in the boobs! It worked perfect. So then, as I was running (and listening to Rogue Traders, Scissor Sisters, Panic! at the Disco, Creature and more) I began to think about the many uses of boobs. So here is my list.

-They can buy you drinks when out on the town. Just wear a low cut top and know how to work the guys.
-Wonderful place for keys, cellphones, debit card, credit card, licenses, etc. when you don't want to carry a purse and/or bag.
-Obviously provide sustenance to new babies (if you are able to breast feed)
-Great distraction objects when the guys at a party try to do something that they should not be doing (ie the boys are trying to light a fire while drunk, you shout out "hey guys! look! boobies!")
-Hours of amusement to all sexes and orientations.
-Can get you out of tickets/warnings if you play your cards right.
-Place to hold cable needles, row counters, and other odds and ends while knitting
-Folding paper boxes is easier when you can use the extra couple inches of chest to push the semi-folded box against a wall.
-Closing filing cabinets while your hands are full.
-Men hold doors quite often (even more so when paired with high heels)

I'm sure I have forgotten many good things about boobs, but those are just the main things I can think of. On to knitting news! I'm working on a swatch of the Durrow Cable as an idea for the cable running down the sleeves of my Sweater of Impending Doom. I like it. I'll most likely use it unless I can find something better. I have also been working on the sweater itself. Not too much progress to report, but there are pictures! Yay, we like pictures don't we?

Such is the swatch. This photo was at row 40 something I think. I'm currently on 89 of 132. I'm pretty sure that It'll work out to be the right length for an arm.
Such is the Sweater of Impending DOOM!!! It's not that bad actually. You can kind of see how I separated the placket at the top. Although I think I messed up on which goes to the front for a chick's sweater. Oh well. Now I need to find buttons to go with it.


-cheers and happy knitting!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

oooohhhhh baby

This week has been amazing. Minus the fact that I'm not--never mind, TMI.

So, heres the list of amazing things that happened to me this week:

1) Got new dress pants that make my ass look super sexy and a new tank top that makes my boobs look amazing.
2) Interview at Tour Tech East, where my name is on the list, and I got contact info for Iatse which is the local union for gigs and such.
3) Work on my sweater has been going great
4) V sent me a podcast to edit which I am currently half way done (those girls talk too much)
5) Got new dress shoes that are flat and semi casual. And comfortable.
6) Finished the Guacamole Seeds baby sweater that I had been working on, and it looks great.
7) Went through my stash and am giving nearly all of my acrylic ends to my Nanny who knits up finger puppets for the local children's hospital.
8) Taught mom how to use my PSP to surf the internet so she can send emails easily while down in Nashville.
9) Drove with mom, not far, but still, I drove with her in the car and she didn't freak out.
10) Mail! I got my tribal captive hoops. Sucks that I didn't realize that they're a ten gauge, but still.
11) Ravelry has a store! I bought shot glasses and the logo pin for my camp hat.
12) I got two Cinnabons! Yummy
13) Got a new CD (thanks Michael, I'm defiantly addicted to Creature now.)
14) Talked to my friend who moved to Fort Mac Murray for a co-op term.
15) Devoured and entire bag of Smart Food popcorn (the white cheddar stuff)
16) Tried on a bikini I had from last year just for the hell of it. It looked great!
17) Got new gradual sunless tanning moisturizer, and it looks natural.
18) Bought new mascara and I love it.
19) I have been sleeping well, no matter what time I go to bed and wake up.
20) I have been in a great mood for the entire week.
21) I changed the template of my blog.
22) Got the new template for my blog to work.
23) Got the ad ons from my old template to work on my blog.

Obviously, this week rocks.

And now, for pictures of the aforementioned Guacamole Seeds Baby Sweater. I changed the way of doing the placket, instead of casting on the extra stitches and then sewing them down later, I just did K1front and back in the center 4 stitches. I then separated them, having the knit stitches for the front, and the new stitches for the back. It worked great and is also the method I used for my sweater.


The baby sweater, my legs, and my laptop in all their glory.

Detailed artsy shot of the neck detailing.

Yea, that's about as artsy as I get when it comes to taking pictures. Though I must say, my skills have gotten much much better. :)

-cheers and happy knitting! (and crafting)

Saturday, May 10, 2008

*insert joyeous choir here*

it worked! I actually got it to work. :D AND I got a hit counter on the bottom. Let's see if I can move it to the side bar and also get my Feedjit back. I really loved seeing where everyone was from. :)

-cheers and happy knitting

Friday, May 9, 2008

*insert various filthy words here*

so, I changed the template for my blog, and I love it. BUT I can't get the header to align with the body. Or vice versa, not sure which is wrong. I'll try again tomorrow but right now I'm kinda tired.

In employment news, I had a meeting at Tour Tech East today, and it went awesome. I also got contact info for the Iatse 680 union, which would give me many many opportunities for work. I just need to find women's size ten steel toed work boots at a decent price. Something is telling me that I'm going to have to drop a shit load of money to get boots to fit me. Damn being a female sometimes. But the guy I had the interview with said that there are way more opportunities for females in the industry than there are for males just because of the ratio of females to males, so yay!

knitting news: sweater out of 220 is awesome. I've got almost 12 inches of the body done, and I've already seperated it for the placket . Seeds and buttons (the sweater for Dot and Chris's baby) has the body done, and the sleeves, and they're all now in the round together. I didn't follow the pattern for attaching them, so I don't know how it'll turn out. hopefully it'll be wearable.

And now for ideas for the LAVWTKIP Day (Lime And Violet World Tour Knit in Public Day)! How and when did you know that you were addicted? Was it when you found yourself drooling at an LYS? When you waited with baited breath for your next paycheck so you could fill you paypal account and check out your cart before someone stole that skein of handpainted whatever from you? Or was it when you got a shipment in the mail that you instantly ripped open, threw on the floor and then proceeded to roll around in it screaming "My friends are here! My friends are here!"

-cheers and happy knitting!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Drinking + Knitting = ?

so yea, Wednesday I had a couple coolers with the guys I graduated with, came home with my brother (who had just gotten off of work) around 9, and then proceeded to go onto Facebook, and Ravelry and the L&V messageboards and made a complete fool of myself *sigh* It was bad. I also apparently and amazingly turned the heel on Blink, my bayerische (so spelled that wrong) sock. But it is quite pretty.
I hate that the angles makes my ankle look so fat, and my feet so short... Size 10 double A width, not size 5 D. lol But the cables are so pretty!


In cast on news, I also did a gauge swatch for a sweater out of Cascade 220, and it worked, so I cast on a sweater. Don't you just love 3 inches of 4X2 ribbing?

I'm going to model it after Durrow, which I absolutely love. I started with 144 sts rather than like 180, and I'm also going to do it in the round with.....*thunderous music* seamless saddle shoulders! It requires the acquisition of a book, which I can't find at any of the local bookstores, but the trusty library has one copy, so I should be good.

OMG. I totally just had an "omg it's Friday!" moment. That means Battlestar Galactica! YAY! *off to go find the episode*

-cheers!