I've been tagged!

So, Aastrikke tagged me for a random things meme...

8 Very Random Things

Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1.) I'm now so pretty much in love with Beautiful Katamari. It's not a complicated game, and I never imagined this would be a series I'd get into; something about just rolling balls didn't seem that appealing. It is incredibly appealing, though! I imagine much of the appeal comes from the colorful happiness of it all. I like the online play too, but just wish more people would play. I'm Velvet Mudkips if anyone out there wants to friend me and roll some balls. I played with some random people, and squealed with delight when one of them wanted to be my xbox live friend!



2.) My cats have a thing for DPNs. First it was the clovers... then the brittanys... If I didn't love them so much, I'd have kicked Blackcat to the curb for chewing the tips off one of my knitpicks harmony wood needles. Jerk... Lucky for him, he's a wonderful cat other than his penchant for DPNs. As a result, I now have 14 random size 1 DPNs, all in different brands and varying levels of cat-chewedness.

3.) My own yarn buying habits have started to alarm me. I need to knit faster or destash... but when I have gorgeous projects planned for everything here, it's hard to imagine destashing! So, anyone have any tips on how to knit faster?

4.) I made a Fake Aisle hat. I read that they came out small, so mine came out huge. Who wants a hat? This is the second hat I've made pretty darned big on accident; the other was for a co-worker and I promised to fix it... and then never did...

5.) I like to knit for gifts. When people don't like the same colors as me, it gives me an excuse to go to the yarn shop somewhat guilt-free.

6.) I did not dress up for Halloween this year, unless you count my obnoxious orange blouse and black pants. Truthfully, it makes me feel pretty boring and a bit sad. I'm not really into Halloween like I used to be.

7.) I've decided that I'm going to reward myself with a new bodymod of some variety once I'm through this first semester of classes. Tattoo? Hideable piercing? It has to be of the variety that won't keep me from getting a summer job... Or a job when I graduate, for that matter. Why did I pick a somewhat conservative profession, again?

8.) I don't think I'm going to be buying Guitar Hero III, even though I love Guitar Hero II. I played a friend's copy this past weekend. The sexist portrayal of female characters and product placement really turns me off to something I'd otherwise love. My favorite character from II (Pandora) is gone, and my second-favorite (Judy) has turned into... a freak? This commentary explains my frustration better than I could.

I tag, um... whoever wants to do it! (Cop out, yes.)

FiberExpo spoils & WIP

My mother sent me these little fishies out of Kureyon to give to the kitten-devils. They're shreds now, but they've definitely been loved the evil kitties! (Thanks, mom - your grandkittens love them.)

More excitingly, I went with Amanda to the Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor. My mom also came to meet up with us! Football Saturdays be damned, we were there bright and early before we were totally awake. There were cute bunnies and lots of yummy wooly yarns and other stuff. There was yarn spun from possum! POSSUM YARN? I didn't get any, but I learned that there are more fiber animals in existence than I realized.



The fiery-colored sock yarn is from Yarn Hollow. The colors are a bit more vivid in real life; their stuff is gorgeous, and definitely worth checking out! The Fortissima Socka is from Parrott's Perch.



I also got delicious stitch markers. I can't remember the seller though.

There were maybe (?) Ravelry meetups during the event, but we didn't attend; we did, however, run into Anna and her daughter. I was recognized by my icon on Ravelry!



This is the progress on Claire's beaded gloves. I made a second Branching Out with Garnstudio alpaca, and with the leftover skein, I decided she needed beaded gloves to match. The pattern is here, but I did alter the cuff to be less annoying... I love how gloves look when they're partially finished, with stitch holders and needles sticking out everywhere. However, I'm just not a huge fan of knitting the fingers. It's so tedious!

Weather

I don't know if I've ever seen three tornado warnings in one evening before. Sheesh, the sirens really lose their touch after a while.

*ETA* Now there's a fourth. Cute.

Socks!

Yay! Finally finished my first pair of socks for the Southern Summer of Socks. I have a healthy fear that my camera might be dead, so please accept my apology for the cell phone photo...



The pattern is Cookie's monkey socks. They're still fun to do the second time around, but I'm never very excited about doing a pattern a second time. I don't think I could make more monkey socks without having my head explode, so it's time to get on ravelry and find some more good stuff to do!

And the yarn? It's from the seller Pinkwool on etsy, her Teamfeet yarn. The socks are obnoxiously U of M colored. They're a gift for my grandmother who has had season tickets to U of M sports for a really, really long time. I can't wait to mail them out!

Speaking of knitting things for a second time, I'm working on a second Branching Out to send to another friend... Sheesh, what is it with me making two of a pattern lately? I also fear that I may run out of yarn... but never fear! Threadbear is near! (And open Sunday. Wow, I'm a dork.)

Hmmm

I really like kawaii not. It's adorable.

Real knitting content soon. Just let me get through the beginning of this week!