Knit Exploits

SDC10289

2008-12-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

SDC10289
Originally uploaded by ahough404

It's been really pretty snowy here. Even the cats are interested in it!

Now if only I could get the gumption to do practical work...

My view

2008-11-16T15:22:00.001-05:00

My view
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Why couldn't the snow hold off until at least December? Yuck.

Lookit me!

2008-11-04T18:50:00.003-05:00

...being all ironic with my Married to the Sea "voting" shirt. If you can't tell, it has two women doing farm work on it, and they're saying "This rules" and "No kidding, I hate voting."

My prediction

2008-11-03T22:52:00.003-05:00

This is my election day prediction. It would give my candidate a cool 311-227 win. Ideally, my pessimism surronding North Carolina, Missouri, and Florida will be wrong... but I'm trying to be realistic here.

Don't be fooled...

2008-11-01T12:33:00.002-04:00

SDC10264
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I was totally the best fucking Katamari prince last halloween. Pepper did it too, but... uh, I've got nothin.

APOLLO SWEATER!

2008-10-18T21:12:00.002-04:00

SDC10252
Originally uploaded by ahough404

A friend's dog was cold. Therefore, some stash yarn became a drops dog coat (pattern at http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=102&d_id=44&lang=us). Thankfully it fit the little guy perfectly!

Another Working Family For...

2008-10-12T17:10:00.002-04:00

SDC10240
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Orangecat even likes Obama!

YARRRRRN!

2008-10-12T11:44:00.002-04:00

So I'm pretty shitty at updating these days. This is mostly bcause I've been working on relatively big projects, and don't have that much to share.

Ah, Facebook. I was chatting to Meg one evening after she mentioned in her status that she had purchased Jacquard acid dyes, and we agreed that we needed to have a yarn-dyeing party at her abode! (Her chronicle of the yarn-dyeing expedition is here.) We started with Kool-aid on some old yarn, and came up with this:

The colors here are washed out because of the crazy-bright sunlight. But I promise you, these two colors were dubbed "nuclear waste" because of their AWESOME brightness. Certainly makes you not want to drink kool-aid anymore.

There will be finished projects soon eough. My halloween costume will be partially knitted, and I am waiting on the model for one thing that's been finished... So in the meantime, here is Orangecat by the fire and one of my blueberry muffins.

Picking the cat hair off my new sweater...

2008-09-28T17:35:00.003-04:00

This is the Drops Jacket from Garnstudio, out of their Garnstudio Eskimo yarn. I got it at an amazing price at Threadbear a while back, and it is warm, cozy... just completely awesome.

Cat spin!

2008-09-14T01:17:00.002-04:00

Cat spin!
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I worked out how to work the movie function of my digital camera. I'm not sure where we got the idea that OrangeCat needed to spin around in the chair... If only I could add "You Spin Me Right Round" playing in the background...

Despite some weird camera-focusing...

2008-09-10T18:58:00.002-04:00

SDC10178
Originally uploaded by ahough404

That's more like it. Sweater? Done. And pink. And washed and blocked and dried and heck yes!

It's Wisteria from Twist Collective. I used some Lamb's Pride superwash worsted that I pulled out of a sweater circa 2004 that was definitely ill-advised. Ah, recycling. Always good! The pattern was very well-done, clear, and fun. There were challenging bits and easy bits throughout. Oh, and it is top-down with no seams. Good stuff!

I've clearly lapsed on my 365 photo project. Did anyone expect anything else out of me? Yeah, I know.

In other news, I'm back into the swing of the semester, with family law, professional responsibility, constitutional law 2, advanced legal research, and an internship. What started out looking like an easy semester quickly spiraled into lots of commitments. Add in a bowling league, and... well... free time? What free time?

SDC10155

2008-09-07T13:03:00.002-04:00

SDC10155
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Dry faster, damn it!

365.30: Hidden!

2008-08-02T01:56:00.002-04:00

365.30: Hidden!
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I promise no more cat pictures for a while. But how could I resist this?

365.29: Laundry Day

2008-07-31T23:07:00.005-04:00

365.29: Laundry Day
Originally uploaded by ahough404

365.28: Finicky fuck

2008-07-31T23:07:00.004-04:00

365.28: Finicky fuck
Originally uploaded by ahough404

365.27: Microwaves suck

2008-07-29T22:56:00.003-04:00

365.27: Microwaves suck
Originally uploaded by ahough404

The microwave saga. Oh, where to start? The old one died, and we figured we'd replace it with a cheap one. The first one we bought didn't work, go figure, so that was two microwaves in as many days... Third time was the charm, but not until after we fought with maintenance insisting that there was something wrong with the outlet causing the microwaves to fry.

No, it just turns out we have horrible luck with microwaves. It's probably not in my best interest to be flipping the bird at the new one. Hush.

365.26: Fill 'er up.

2008-07-28T22:49:00.002-04:00

365.26: Fill 'er up.
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I want to go back, and I want a stiff drink. *sigh*

365.25: Magic Mirror #1

2008-07-27T23:25:00.002-04:00

365.25: Magic Mirror #1
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I finished a sock today. I love me some Dream in Color Smooshy.

365.24: Angry Kitten!

2008-07-26T18:56:00.002-04:00

365.24: Angry Kitten!
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I'm pretty excited that I captured this... intense... photo of Blackcat. He really gets into his playing sometimes.

365.23: Getting There!

2008-07-25T20:41:00.003-04:00

365.23: Getting There!
Originally uploaded by ahough404

My tomatoes are growing. Soon enough they'll be edible! You can't see it, but this tomato plant is as tall as me now, pot included. It's a mutant.

365.22: Lots of Words

2008-07-25T20:40:00.002-04:00

365.22: Lots of Words
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Steve's co-workers are starting a scavenger hunt, and the first photo was "Steve ordering a drink with five or more words in it!" Proof here that we were waiting for my venti nonfat no whip peppermint mocha. That's a six word drink. Fifty points for Steve.

365.21: Best friends

2008-07-23T22:11:00.002-04:00

365.21: Best friends
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Actually, Blackcat is the one who favors Steve. It's hard to tell who Orangecat prefers.

365.20: RIP Misty

2008-07-22T23:28:00.002-04:00

365.20: RIP Misty
Originally uploaded by ahough404

This mutt passed away while we were in Vegas... yes, I'm cheating a little on my 365 photos, but don't go telling anyone, OK?

365.19: A good evening

2008-07-21T22:56:00.002-04:00

365.19: A good evening
Originally uploaded by ahough404

365 isn't dead!

2008-07-20T16:05:00.002-04:00

I was just away in Vegas... so, incidentally, 365.13-18 are all available here, in the photostream set.

Cozy!

2008-07-14T23:48:00.002-04:00

I used some scrap Simply Soft Shadows and whipped up a new camera cozy in new time flat. I'm so in love with my new camera, I'd hate for it to get all scratched up in my purse!

365.13: Bambi?

2008-07-14T22:41:00.003-04:00

365.13: Bambi?
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I went to go see my mom today before heading out early tomorrow to the airport. We're going to Vegas! I just didn't want to do the 1 1/2 hour drive here, then to the airport, then security and stuff all before noon. Ick. So here I am, out in nature (and knitting), and a baby deer appeared! Awww.

365.12: Not soo good at portraits

2008-07-13T22:53:00.002-04:00

365.12: Not soo good at portraits
Originally uploaded by ahough404

First self-portrait on the new camera. Um, wow, maybe I should figure out what the "self-portrait mode" entails, and perhaps do it when my hair is dry. (At least I got off my ass and did my roots and trimmed my bangs. This is a big deal to a lazybum like me.)

365.11: Making out

2008-07-13T01:43:00.002-04:00

365.11: Making out
Originally uploaded by ahough404

This year-long project might end up being 365 cat pictures after all. That's fine by me!

365.10: Burnt out

2008-07-12T03:04:00.002-04:00

365.10: Burnt out
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I'm getting burnt out on this lace knitting. Do you see that progress? It's less than an inch long and I'm sick of it.

I'm also getting burnt out on posting a photo every day.

365.9: OC on Satin

2008-07-10T22:49:00.005-04:00

365.9: OC on Satin
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I'm trying to resist the urge to post 365 cat pictures... I couldn't resist this one, though, because we had to cover our giant black bean bags with our old sheets because this particular cat is just SO sheddy!

Also, I'm very proud of my cat-parenting skills; Orangecat has stopped having so many dry skin issue since we switched the babes to wet food. That means no more nosebleeds, and no more dirty dry-bloody nose, and a lot fewer eye goobers. Hooray! Healthier kitten!

365.8: Dessert of champions

2008-07-09T21:35:00.002-04:00

365.8: Dessert of champions
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I can't think of a better combination than super dark chocolate (laced with espresso) and Blue Moon in a ravelry pint. The ultimate question, though, is how well it will mix with knitting my Hanami Stole? Hmmm... This might not be the best idea for the evening.

Swallowtail/365.7: Satisfaction

2008-07-08T19:44:00.004-04:00

My noro sock swallowtail is done! Blocked! Dry. During its photoshoot, I decided that maybe it's not as oogly as I'd originally imagined. I like it scrunched up like a scarf... it's too small for a traditional shawl anyway, I think.

365.6: less-than-aggressive blocking

2008-07-07T16:53:00.002-04:00

365.6: less-than-aggressive blocking
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Swallowtail is blocking. I love the yarn, noro sock, and I love the pattern, Interweave's Swallowtail Shawl. However, when I put the two together, it seems like something is a bit lacking. I should have guessed that a busy yarn with a busy pattern wouldn't work out so well. Oops. Not to mention that it didn't grow as much as I'd hoped. No matter, I was hoping it would be a funky winter scarf anyway.

Never mind that I'm kind of lazy about blocking, and all those little peaks were crazy-making. Nor do I bother to get out a T-square and make the damn thing perfect... I promise you all some action shots soon!

365.5: Mutant snow peas

2008-07-06T13:29:00.002-04:00

365.5: Mutant snow peas
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I'm pretty sure these are normal peas, rather than snow peas. They're huge. Now I get to eat them!

365.4: New metal

2008-07-05T21:42:00.002-04:00

365.4: New metal
Originally uploaded by ahough404

Some of the 365 groups on flickr suck.

365.3: Patriotic Margarita

2008-07-04T20:01:00.002-04:00

365.3: Patriotic Margarita
Originally uploaded by ahough404

I craved margarita. Recipe here: http://www.recipezaar.com/263450 I think it turned out pretty well, and I feel like I should mention that the ice was even star-shaped. Could I get any dorkier?

365.2: Camo

2008-07-03T17:21:00.002-04:00

365.2: Camo
Originally uploaded by ahough404

365.1

2008-07-02T18:13:00.001-04:00

Okay, let's see if I can post a photo a day for a year. Who wants to take bets?

I'm betting a week, but here goes.

365.1: Computer help

Loot!

2008-06-30T14:11:00.004-04:00

First off, check this out:

I did the birthday swap on Ravelry, and Michele (who shares a birthday with me!) totally spoiled me. I've been eyeing that pagewood farm sock yarn forever! And now I finally have a harlot book to call my own... Seriously. Awesome.

Mom spoiled me too; that's a Jordana Paige knitter's satchel in PINK! The bag is so wonderfully large that, come the apocalypse, I will have the kitchen sink and plenty of knitting in there. I love that thing. I never figured I would be a very good bag whore, but I stand corrected.

And one of my best friends, Claire, spoiled me as well by MAKING me these amazing note cards:

Did I mention that the evil girl also picked up knitting really quickly? Well, she did, and her first project was an Irish Hiking Scarf. Seriously, she's going to be knitting circles around me in no time.

The real birthday celebrations are happening later, as right now I really should be studying for the exam I have tomorrow and working on the paper due on Wednesday. After that, lots of freedom for the rest of the summer, Vegas, and a biking trip.

Noroholic

2008-06-20T17:25:00.002-04:00

Hello, my name is Amy, and I'm a noroholic.

The socks I showed you in the previous post were out of kureyon sock. But, I'm a noroholic and could not hold off on casting on for a noro sock swallowtail shawl. Yes, perhaps I have a problem. But I feel like the insane stripey colors are giving me back my knitting mojo which had been lost...

Noro stripe sock

2008-06-14T17:52:00.001-04:00

I'm doing a basic toe-up sock in noro sock yarn, and I'm striping by pulling from both ends of the yarn...

And, well, all the pukey colors converged at the bottom of the sock. I'm not sure I'm loving it.

Uh oh....

2008-06-09T14:07:00.001-04:00

-24

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Poor (Failure)

Take the test!

Lack of knitting...

2008-06-07T15:26:00.007-04:00

I'm in a big fat knitting funk. How do you all deal with this? No project has really been holding my attention that much. It stinks! Even ravelry has been a bit boring lately. What's up with that? Nothing has been very inspiring, but I'd hate to start something new... I've been diverting my spare time to video games instead, especially Mass Effect. The most I've accomplished in the last few weeks knitting-wise is a couple of sets of pasties for a swap:

Trust me, they look really nice on the recipient's boobs.

But yarn is good for a lot of things! Don't forget that. I'm apparently a gardening retard, and didn't realize that my supposed bushy-variety pea plants would actually want to climb. The lovely folks at Lazy, Stupid, and Godless suggested making a ghetto pea-wall:

Finally! A use for that red heart!

For good measure, I'll show off the other plants. A tomato, and a pot of petunias. Send happy-veggie vibes this way, because I want a damn salad.

A bit about me

2008-05-22T21:54:00.006-04:00

PrincessPea tagged me for a survey... I'm honored! I think I've only been tagged to do something like this once before.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?

I would have been just finishing the seventh grade, waiting to turn thirteen, and probably quite miserable.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

Well, the evening is almost up...
- Finish this meme
- Play some Mass Effect
- Set the alarm so I get up to register for fall classes tomorrow morning
- Have a drink
- Go to sleep?

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Unfortunately, I really enjoy sugary things like... Ben & Jerry's cake batter ice cream?

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

- Pay off student loans
- Buy that hot pink Mini Cooper
- Get my mom something nice
- Get some Twinkle Soft Chunky, since presumably I'd be able to afford it!
- Invest enough to live off interest, do some philanthropy

5) Places I have lived:

Manchester, Ann Arbor, Lansing... all in Michigan.

6) Jobs I have had:

Shoe peddler, carpet/blinds/paint peddler, library whore...

7) Peeps I want to know more about:

Meg!
Amanda!
Tracey!
TEH WILKZ! (Maybe? This doesn't seem like her style!)
Zanti!
...and, of course, anyone else who likes.

I'm afraid that wasn't terribly exciting. Maybe I'm just too tired/grouchy/whatever to really get into it. I haven't been into too much lately, actually. The knitting has been relatively sparse, my two summer classes are kicking my ass more than I'd imagined, and nothing I've started knitting has really stuck out as something I REALLY wanted to work on. It's strange.

Oh, not to mention with Grand Theft Auto IV, Mass Effect, and Wii Fit all taking up my time, video games have put knitting on the back burner. Don't worry, folks, I'll be back... Let me go take my GTA girlfriend bowling.

She's back!

2008-05-15T19:39:00.005-04:00

You know, I went to Florida to visit a friend in Clearwater/Tampa between semesters. And you know what? I didn't take a single picture. It's all right. Steve, his friend Ryan and I went beaching, to an aquarium, and Busch Gardens, as well as playing some video games! Woohoo. We'll just ignore the part where Northwest airlines stinks and it took us 24 hours and an overnighter to get back to Detroit...

I did finish some socks though:

The pattern is Crosswalkers, a rip-off of the ubiquitous Jaywalker pattern. You know what, though? The fabric is much stretchier, and I love these damn things! The yarn is Fortissima Colori Disco. Pink, with a few spray-dyed colors and a strand of glitter running through. What more could you want?

Oh, what's that? You want one of my homemade Oreos? Too freaking bad! The recipe is here though, and fucking amazing if I do say so myself. Go on, make yourself some! You deserve it! Although they're laden with fat and sugar and everything else bad, they at least aren't laden with preservatives and weird Nabisco chemicals!

Uh huh.

2008-04-28T23:05:00.003-04:00

Is there really anything else that needs to be said here?

God's first two groups? Lazy, Stupid, and Godless... and Atheist & Agnostic Crafters.

Meh.

2008-04-27T14:26:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to get back into the groove of knitting. I wanted to make a naughty Valentine's Heart Pillow from the Domiknitrix book...

But, alas, I suck at embroidery. Sheesh. I can't do anything right these days! I guess I'll go back to socks and crocheting squares for Babette and stuff. Although, I might end up cutting a "FUCK OFF" or "OMG WTF" out of felt for this pillow.

I should have known.

2008-04-22T00:41:00.005-04:00

There is clearly no fucking god.

Post-steek:

Look, I can accept that I'm weirdly proportioned. But it really fucked me in the ass this time. Had I made the 37" size of the Autumn Rose, the chest area would be baggy. But I made the 35", which fits fine in the chest, and no where else. I have fat arms and a thick midsection. This sweater fits neither. Oh, but the boob area? Fucking perfect. I guess I just need breast implants to make my body proportional and a re-knit in a larger size...

...over my dead body.

Motherfucker.

God damn motherfucking cuntlicking COCKSUCKER.

I guess I really need to drop a bunch of weight to wear this. All that work! A month of monogamous knitting! Do I even bother with the neck ribbing and weaving in the 7,000 ends?

WHAT THE FUCK? Those motifs are circles, not ovals! AUGH! I had no idea I had gotten so fat.

Time to get drunk and cry. Whoever said knitting is relaxing needs to go jump off a fucking cliff.

Hmmm....

2008-04-17T21:46:00.004-04:00

This is a bad time to be having doubts about this sweater. I'll just chalk it up to cold feet. For now. Maybe it's just the looming steek I'm afraid of...

A couple FOs and a Harlot

2008-04-16T18:29:00.006-04:00

Last Friday, Amanda and I went to go see the Yarn Harlot. We ran into Meg! We waited to get Meg's book signed for her because she's still on the mend! We met Carolyn in all that waiting! There's no point in me saying much else. You all know the Yarn Harlot, you know she's funny...

...and even though I look dreadful, I held the sock.

Oh well. All that waiting was conducive to plenty of knitting. My mom found four balls of Lion Brand Landscapes (in Rose Garden) at Big Lots for very cheap, and they made their way into my Easter basket. I didn't waste a lot of time figuring out to do with it. When I left I had very little done on a scarf:

And there it is, all neatly finished up. I pretty much did the whole thing while waiting to meet Stephanie.

One more day of knitting gave me a matching hat:

But don't you all worry. I've joined the sleeves to the body on the Colorblind Librarian Autumn Rose sweater. It's one piece now, and it shouldn't be too much longer before I get to steek and finish everything up. I'm thinking I'll need a nice glass of wine before I take scissors to that damn thing. Really. The thought frightens me. Um, just like realizing it's not too long until my first exam also frightens me...

For good measure, I'll leave you with Orangecat on a wet sweater.

Naughty

2008-04-08T16:17:00.000-04:00

Repeat after me, folks: NOT A CAT BED!

Progress

2008-04-06T17:18:00.004-04:00

The Colorblind Librarian Sweater is coming along nicely. With the aid of a long weekend, I have completed the body up to the armpits and a few inches of a sleeve. I can't believe how quickly this sucker is coming together!

Well, okay. There's still plenty more knitting to be had on it, of course. I'm also starting to suspect that I WAY overbought the the yarn in the gray tones. I suck at guessing. I'm on my second ball of black, and all of the other colors are holding steady; I'm even starting to doubt I'll need a second ball of white! Perhaps at the very end for the neckline ribbing?

The only other real development here is the new titanium in my body:

Three tasty microdermal anchors. Love 'em. And I know you all don't believe me, but no, it didn't really hurt.

Too fun

2008-04-01T15:48:00.004-04:00

I found myself a little too amused by Ravelry's April Fool's Day pranks. First Fabio and Happy Hooker were in my library:

Than my parrot-hat shat on my head:

And here's a few random favorite "hat" icons, including an "asshat":

Nothing else to report on this front!

What I've been up to

2008-03-25T23:22:00.005-04:00

Appellate brief

Oral argument preparation

This:

That would be Eunny Jang's Autumn Rose cardigan in a rather bastardized colorblind color scheme...

WIP to FO

2008-03-17T18:12:00.002-04:00

Done, and in their natural habitat.

One down...

2008-03-15T13:31:00.003-04:00

I got some yarn from Luxe in a swap a while back, and I wasn't really sure what to do with it until I saw Spirogyra in the new knitty.

One down:

...and one to go. It shouldn't be long. This thing went surprisingly fast.

FO: Fetching!

2008-03-13T19:22:00.003-04:00

I decided that since I grossly overestimated the amount of yarn I needed for my new hat, some new glovies were in order.

Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (Less than 1 ball)
Needles: Size 5 DPNs
Pattern: The ubiquitous Fetching
Mods: None, but I probably should have killed the picot bind off.

At least they can be used to beat up kittens.

Socks!

2008-03-11T20:22:00.003-04:00

So, I discovered a great pattern on Ravelry and decided I needed socks. These suckers are the "monarch" socks, because I thought it was clever with a mix of the colors and the butterfly stitch motif.

Pattern: Flutter-By Socks
Yarn: Yarn Hollow superwash sock, purchased at a yarn festival in Ann Arbor
Needles: Size 1 1/2 US or 2.5MM
Mods: I made the toe much less pointy, stopping with 26 stitches to go. I used the eye of partridge heel, but that's not really a mod since it's given in the pattern...

It's strange how knitting melds in with whatever is going on in life. Last week should have been awesome, as it was spring break and I was off classes. However, on Wednesday my father passed away. (I know I sound crass, but at least he had the sense to go when I was off classes and didn't have to miss any. Trust me, if you knew him, you'd know he wouldn't mind comments like this.) The rest of break has just sort of been a blur of visiting mom, DVDs, knitting, and trying to forget. I didn't get any fucking schoolwork done. At least I have some freaking socks to show for it.

A blanket!

2008-02-29T17:37:00.004-05:00

I'm going to a gift exchange tomorrow. It's like a White Elephant exchange, but everyone brings "something good" and leaves with "something good." I know that a good portion of those in attendance will enjoy knitted things, so here's my contribution:

A blanket! No, I'm not that fast of a knitter, this was actually very quick. Some specs:
Needles: Size 50 (that's 25mm, bitches)
Yarn: 6 balls of Lion Brand Homespun (three red, three black), knitted with four strands held at once
Pattern: Six Hour Throw by Lion Brand, but really, it's just stockinette stitch...

In other news, it's Spring Break. I'm not doing anything exciting, but damn, I'm excited to have some quality knitting time!

A new hat!

2008-02-24T21:41:00.004-05:00

I'm kind of sick of all the blankets I've been working on. Hell, I even started a third I have to have finished in a week. Yes, I'm absolutely nuts, but I think a big-needles fluffy-ass afghan would be a great thing for a gift exchange this time of year. If I don't make it to the gift exchange, I keep it. Win-win, right?

Anyway, Steve and I made some roadtripping today to visit friends, and take an impromptu visit to a music shop. I wasn't about to take a giant afghan with me for car knitting, so in a mere couple of hours, I churned this out:

A hipster hat! I'm not sure if I can wear this in public without feeling like a dork. But it was a fun knit, and the brim was something I've never done before.

Some specs:
Pattern: Headline News hat from Stitch 'n' Bitch: Nation
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (EXACTLY one skein... what do I do with that second I thought I needed?)
Needles: Size 8 for brim and ribbing, 9 for the body of the hat.
Mods: Just one - the needle size for the body of the hat is smaller than what's called for, but I kind of wanted to avoid having this sucker be huge, which seems to be an issue lots of people have had.

So about that road trip... Steve has been dragging me to all of the area music stores, as he figures since he has beaten expert guitar on Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it's about time he got himself an actual guitar that doesn't suck. We were in Ann Arbor, and a friend recommended a music store there for reasonably-priced instruments. Sure enough, he came home with a new guitar that's miles ahead of his old one:

The one in the background is his five-string bass. He's had that a while, and it's a nice instrument. Personally, I think the new black beast looks kind of like a bat or something, but he swears he got it because it was comfortable to play...

It's cold outside

2008-02-14T15:33:00.005-05:00

It's been so cold, that 26 degrees Fahrenheit seems balmy today. The worst temperature I witnessed was -1 Fahrenheit.

Naturally, I've been hard at work on blankets I likely won't finish before spring. First up is a very old WIP, and more garter stitch than I ever thought I could do while remaining calm:

This is out of lion brand Homespun. Love it or hate it, you have to admit that it's amazingly soft. The photo shows four of seven strips sewn up. Strip number five is on the needles. I ran into some problems with the dye lots of the black/white yarn; naturally the same dye lot varied dramatically, but luckily it wasn't anything a trip to Joann for some exchanging action couldn't fix. It was a close call, however.

Next up is my first major crochet undertaking:

A Babette Blanket! Rather than 13 colors of sock yarn, I opted for six worsted colors of Knitpicks Swish Superwash (Black, coast grey, fired brick, bordeaux, dark navy, and jade) which is an awesome yarn! Washable soft wool for cheap... I must say I was pleasantly surprised; I thought it was going to be a little rougher like Wool of the Andes, but it's just not the case. It's a million times softer!

FO - Jitterbug Cowl

2008-02-03T15:48:00.000-05:00

I wanted something out of yarn from Threadbear to take to their movie night. A break from the homespun afghan of doom sounded pretty good too! I had major inspiration from Vierge en trop, considering I, well, had the same yarn stashed and I had gotten it and Threadbear and, yeah... perfect.

Pattern: MintyFresh's Bainbridge
Yarn: One hank of Colinette Jitterbug, held double
Size 5 needles
Mods: Ties omitted. I can close the sucker up with the many gorgeous antique brooches I've been collecting from antique shops...

A few words about the Jitterbug. I'd heard horror stories about this yarn, which is why I hadn't turned it into socks already. True to form, my hank was underweight and had two knots in it. Although, I did luck out, because the yarn appears to be ALL the same dye lot, unlike some of the stories I've heard on Ravelry about having different dye lots knotted together in the same hank. Nonetheless, the color is amazing, and it feels squishy and soft and warm. I fear it may fade, and when I mentioned this to Rob at Threadbear, he informed me that wool washes that contain eucalyptus may be the culprit for hand painted yarns fading, including jitterbug. I'm a eucalan devotee, so I guess I'll go the cheap shampoo route when washing this.

Check it out!

2008-01-30T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm famous! Can you spot me in that post? (Here's a hint: I look angry. But I'm not, I swear!) I'm now one of Franklin's 1000 Knitters.

Introspection

2008-01-29T13:33:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the lack of knitting related content in advance. This is the kind of thing I'd put in my defunct livejournal, but... eh. Does anyone use livejournal anymore?

The sedentary law school lifestyle has done a number on my once skinny bod, as well as the addition of beer on my "favorite things" list. I get to sit around and read and think and take notes for huge portions of my time. Then when I get home, my favorite activities are knitting and video games. Physical activity is all too easy to avoid; I don't really have to walk anywhere, because the bus stops are just so convenient, and my bike isn't up here with me anyway. I had gotten a lot of walking and physical work in at my job after college graduation, lifting boxes of tile, moving carpet, and running around the store like a headless chicken... But now that I'm up here? Forget it. My weight hit an all time high (170 lbs, if you must know) at the doctor's office where I used to happily be around 135-140.

Time to make some adjustments. This wonderful lady has been one hell of an inspiration.

After class every day, I've quietly started what I fondly refer to as the DDR regimen. For those not in the know, DDR is a fun little game where you dance on a mat on the floor. It's hard work. It seems like it's the perfect solution for a nerd like me, plus I've thrown in some crunches and pushups for good measure. It feels nice to work up a sweat for once. Cross your fingers that I don't go crazy from all the bad dance music...

Crochet FO - first ever!

2008-01-19T22:54:00.001-05:00

I sorta vaguely knew how to crochet before. But when I saw a pattern for a magnetic katamari, I knew I needed to learn.

Here it is! Magnetically doing its job. I can't collect enough junk to make a star, but perhaps Joann should carry larger magnets... I think it's destined to hold paper clips on my desk or something.

But having learned to properly crochet from a pattern, I feel like a new world has opened up to me; there are a couple patterns out there I've been wanting to tackle, and now it seems possible!

Happy Birthday!

2008-01-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

I lied. Orangecat and Blackcat won't actually be a year old until February 2nd... But Steve took some pictures of them and I couldn't resist posting them. The kittens are now cats.

At six weeks:

Today:

They'll always be kittens if you ask me...

Big Damn Hat

2008-01-17T19:37:00.001-05:00

I hate making pom-poms. There's a reason I don't ever really do it. I don't have any of those cool plastic pom-pom makers, and it's hard to find cardboard and a nice-sized circle to make templates out of.

That said...

Beer. Is there anything it can't do? The "moon" on the blue moon box was the perfect size for a pom pom! Cut out the centers and voila: nice one-time use pom-pom makers. Why the heck did I need to make a pom-pom?

I had a request for a Firefly hat. (Isn't Steve a smashing model? His curly hair sticking out of the hat cracks me up to no end. There's a reason he doesn't wear hats.) No, I've never seen the show, and I don't really have any intention to run out and watch it. Oh well. I'd hate to fall in love with it and have to make yet another three-color pom-pom. Never again.

In other news, Jason, I have your hat. If you ever want to see it alive again (and your little snow shovel, too!), bring lambrusco to my apartment. You've been warned!

Socks that Don't Rock

2008-01-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

So, they're done...

The toes, in the pattern as written, are far too pointy. The second sock, after the cat fiasco involved five little balls of yarn cut away from that mess. Now to cast on something that ACTUALLY rocks...

I also sewed a messenger bag, but all the photos I've attempted to take of it have been absolutely dismal.

Oh, and let's not forget that I could be voting today, but my genius state and the national democratic party have given me a fiasco where I get a choice between Clinton, Kucinich, and "uncommitted." It pisses me off. This explains well what the hell is going on. Normally I'm excited about voting, but... not today. If you hear any pundits tonight saying "Clinton wins Michigan!" they're lying.

Herringbone mittens!

2008-01-06T00:20:00.000-05:00

Sadly, I lost the old pink alpaca knucks which had been my favorites for... forever. Okay, a couple of winters. I needed a quick replacement, so I whipped up some mittens!

Oh wait, yes, there are two.

Perfect for the teasing of kittens:

The pattern is (warning, .pdf) here. Steve got me the yarn (wool-ease) as part of my Christmas gift. I'm quite proud of him, actually; he hacked my Ravelry account, pulled this pattern out of my queue, substituted yarn, and then surprised me with it by saying, "I thought you could make these mittens." I guess all my talking at him about types of yarn really does pay off!

FO - Exchequered

2008-01-03T17:53:00.001-05:00

So, I started Knitty's Exchequered right when it came out... early in 2006. I had no idea that double knitting was going to be such an incredibly tedious endeavor. Two years later, I've finally cast off one of my perpetual UFOs. Uh, I might have overdid it a bit, because this scarf is seven feet long.

Seven. freaking. feet. of double knitting. I feel like I've just run a marathon or something. Very much worth it, though. This thing is double-thick, warm, and just... yeah, I haven't really taken it off yet. I wish I'd have pulled it out to finish sooner, because it languished as a UFO for far too long. I guess one of my New Year's resolutions should be to finish or frog all the things that have been sitting that way for far too long...

Socks, ornaments

2008-01-01T20:29:00.001-05:00

I finished some socks...

They're simple, easy, happy little things. I really just wanted to play with the yarn, Skinny Duets from A Swell Yarn Shop. I can't believe how perfectly the colors worked out. Usually with hand-dyed yarns one can expect some crazy pooling, but that just wasn't the case! Color me happy.

And for some belated Christmas cheer... ornament covers. The furry one went to Jason, and the other two to my mother... Considering I don't have much in the way of a tree to hang them on.

Not much is going on. Still waiting on grades. Still knitting. (I should have some more things to show off soon.) Still playing a lot of Rock Band, which Santa brought me. I RULE at drumming.

Oh, and speaking of video games, you all should check out Sprite Stitch. It proves that 8-bit characters work well in charted form... for knitting, cross-stitch, or otherwise. There are some AWESOME works on there!

The time of pink, part 3

2007-12-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

So, the Socks that Rock is still a mess for now... But, as consolation, look what came in the mail today:

Noro. Kureyon. SOCK YARN. OMG. Amazing. That's about all I can say other than yes, it's a single ply of wool and nylon. I have no idea how it'll wear, but gosh is it pretty.

In other news, I finished some pink things...

I know this looks more like an amorphous blob than anything else, but it's an expandable market bag out of Plymouth Fantasy Naturale. It's incredibly expandable, and a couple more of these should be able to support a bunch of groceries at once. I can finally start to cut down on the amount of plastic bags we bring back from Meijer...

Oh, and everyone needs to cover their ornaments with pink fuzzies, right?

Breaktime fun

2007-12-19T22:08:00.001-05:00

I really do love my cats, but sometimes I wonder why. Last night I fell asleep on the couch and then groggily went upstairs. I left out my sock knitting in my absent-mindedness. When I woke up this morning, the cats had destroyed another DPN and made a HUGE mess of my ball of Socks that Rock, as you can see. I've already had to cut two sections off, and the mess isn't much better than pictured at the moment. Ugh!

So, I'm planning to make Gloria from Noro Knits soon. I just have to free up the needles that are currently being used to make an expandable shopping bag... soon, soon. I got the yarn at Lavender & Peonies in a town just a bit north of here. I was pretty well blown away by the friendliness of the ladies, as well as the nice sale that was going on!

On top of the new acquisitions, I don't really have to feel one iota of guilt for spending money for two reasons:

I sold two of my books back on amazon already, fetching me more than $100

Steve got a steady job!

Here's hoping the new job doesn't suck. It's only eight minutes away. I'm a little too proud of him, I think; but it's been so long since he's had a job with a decent company or that wasn't temporary and home-based... Too bad for him, he has to wake up early now!

WHEEE!!!

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000-05:00

First semester of law school is DONE! I get to play around until 1/7/08.

:-D

Holy mother of god, what do I do with myself now?

Excuses, FO!

2007-12-14T18:12:00.002-05:00

For anyone alarmed at the volume of knitting I'm pumping out (*cough* Mom *cough*), let me just say that this was almost entirely done while staring at outlines for various finals. So, studying and knitting, all at once!

This is Excuses from the latest Magknits. It took very little yarn (two of the Louisa Harding and three of the Paton's wool), and consequently I broke my sweater speed record which I had previously set with my Tangled Yoke. Mine is the first FO (other than the designer's) on Ravelry, and as a guinea pig, let me say that the pattern for the 34" size is absolutely perfect and error-free. :) The only thing I'd change is add an inch or two to the length, but that's a personal taste kind of thing.

Uh, yeah. I need to find something new to work on now... Back to studying?

Ravelry Secret Santa strikes!

2007-12-07T16:16:00.000-05:00

How totally awesome. I signed up for a Secret Santa swap on Ravlery, and my package came trough today, full of awesome goodies!

Wrapped up all nice, complete with festive furry yarn acting as a ribbon...

And the goods! Three skeins of Fantasy Naturale cotton in awesome colors, which I think I have plans for already. Plus, a recipe for making those knitted ornament covers! I'd seriously been contemplating how people do that, and now I know, along with having some great fluff to try it out with! (These will be SO perfect on the pink Christmas tree. Seriously.)

Still-secret Santa - you rock my world, and I think you read my mind. :)

Another FO!

2007-12-04T18:22:00.000-05:00

These are flippy-top mittens to mail off as a Christmas gift. They're based on the Urban Necessity mitts with a few modifications. I did the large size on size 5 needles to get a slightly denser gauge with the called-for Cascade 220 Superwash.

I'm sending wool to a vegan person; he swears he's okay with it though after a discussion of the ethics of various types of animal fibers.

Now I'm going to go see Spamalot.

THEN I'll get to the exam studying and panic.

Another one...

2007-12-02T23:48:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's another freaking Foliage, out of Malabrigo chunky in a gorgeous red called amoroso. This one is getting mailed off to Claire; it is a companion to the beaded gloves I did last month. Oh, and her branching out as well. The total time for this project was a mere 2 1/2 hours, two of which were spent in my new knitting group!

This all came about on Ravery. In attendance were Marcy, Shaun, Amanda, Meg, Jessica, and Kendra. Woot! It was an awesome group of people, and now I feel like I'm making steps toward being a bit more sociable in my city. A weekly knitting group? Completely stinking awesome. Bah. Enough rambling...

Lush

2007-12-01T23:42:00.000-05:00

I'm going to leave behind the knitting content for a while; there is knitting going on, but most of it is semi-secretive holiday stuff, so I won't be able to post until they're FOs. I'm not sure how many of the recipients read this, but I don't want to risk it!

I've mentioned a few times before my love of alcohol, especially gigantic bottles of stoli. It usually just gets mixed with cranberry juice, but lately I've been mixing it into a bunch of random shots to spice things up. It's really important to me this time of year, when looming exams give that extra law school pressure...

I didn't photograph them, but I made a batch of Pudding Shots. In mentioning these, most people gave a confused expression. Pudding and alcohol? Yes! It can be done! And if you enjoy the taste of Irish Cream/Kahlua, you will probably enjoy these.

Chocolate Pudding Shots

Ingredients:

1 (3 1/2 ounce) package of instant chocolate pudding mix

3/4 cups of milk

1/4 cup of vodka

1/2 cup of Irish Cream/Kahlua (your choice)

8 ounces (yes, an entire tub) cool-whip

Mix pudding and milk until well-blended. Add vodka and Irish Cream, mix well. Fold in cool-whip. Divide into individual servings. (I usually get 18-20 shots out of a batch!) Place in freezer.

And that's it! After the day or so, they are about the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, and they're tasty, with a definite chocolate aftertaste.

What did I make tonight?

Classic jello shots in berry blue, my favorite flavor. I'm thinking the cranberry-raspberry flavor might be really good as my next attempt! These are actually a lot less complicated than the pudding shots, and I think there are a lot of neat variations out there... midori and watermelon jello, anyone?

Easy Jello Shots

Ingredients:

1 small (3 oz.) package of Jello (any flavor)

1 cup boiling water

1 cup chilled vodka

Mix jello with boiling water. Stir until the jello is dissolved. Add chilled vodka, stir in. Separate into individual servings, and put in fridge. Let set for 2-3 hours. Makes 12 shots.

Obviously the jello shots are much more potent than the pudding shots... Surely this makes up for a lack of knitting content... right?

And again...

2007-11-28T19:14:00.000-05:00

I swear I didn't knit most of these in one day. In fact, I started these in February for a friend's birthday. They're now a Christmas gift. Pathetic, I know. All I had to do was knit up a few fingers! I had these about 75% finished, and just chilling as UFOs for a loooong time. My friend knew I was working on them, and has been very gracious about not giving me grief for their unfinished state. He doesn't know I picked them up again! Won't he be surprised when they show up in his mailbox?

The pattern is Knitty's Cigar, with all of the fingers fully formed. The yarn is knitpicks Alpaca Silk, leftovers from a sweater I made myself. Hope he can deal with gloves that can't be machine washed. Because of all the alpaca goodness, they'll be super warm, though!

Post 100!

2007-11-27T21:54:00.000-05:00

Keeping in the "knitting machine" theme...

I think I'm done with hats for now. Until I crank out a few as holiday gifts, that is. I was going to hold off doing this one, but the yarn showed up in the mail on Monday, and I just could not resist casting on. It's Leticia from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in one of the uber-gothic "raven" colorways. It's so sexy. I opened up the package and just swooned at the super-soft thick-and-thin merino in the charcoal, fuchsia, and back. The pattern in the Harlot's Unoriginal Hat.

Bring on the snow. I have a slew of new wool hats just begging to be showed off.

Knitting machine

2007-11-26T19:28:00.001-05:00

Tangled Yoke is done.

It's a personal speed record: November 6th - 24th. I used Silky Wool rather than the Felted Tweed, and it could't have worked out better. It's lightweight, but still incredibly warm. Six skeins of silky wool was much cheaper than the Rowan it called for. For once in my life, I had stitch gauge and row gauge! So exciting.

There were only two real challenges: Understanding the decreases in the body rib (I couldn't get them to add up nicely in my size.) and getting through the cables. I had to tink back a row or two trough the cable rows, but the end result has been so worth it.

I also finished a second folialge, this time out of Malabrigo Chunky. Now I have three awesome new hats for the winter. It snowed like hell today; bring it on, my head will be warm and stylin'!

The time of pink, part 2

2007-11-17T16:21:00.001-05:00

I totally forgot to show off the OTHER pink project on the needles.

That would be the body up to the armpits, one sleeve, and the start of the second sleeve of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I'm not known for having luck with patterns by Eunny Jang. I'm really hoping to break my streak of bad luck. I stared on November 6th, and am going along at a pretty good pace. I almost feel like I should be participating in NaKniSweMo!

The yarn is silky wool in dusty rose. With size 4 needles, I got stitch gauge AND row gauge. That never happens to me.

The time of pink

2007-11-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

I have two FOs to show off.

The first is the one I'm less excited about: Magknits Fake Isle.

There's nothing wrong with the pattern. It's just that my damn head is so small I have to fold up the brim. (Okay, and I heard that these hats turned out small so I made the bigger size. Whoops.) It's okay though, I got to use some stashed Kureyon and black wool, as well as polish my fair isle skills. My floats aren't crazy tight anymore.

Do you need proof that law students are the coolest? Foliage was designed by Emilee, who started into the lawyer endeavor at the same time as me, coming up with this fun hat in the process.

I do have a small confession. I didn't like this hat at first. It wasn't until I saw it on a girl on the bus that my interest was piqued. It was funny. I thought the girl's hat was storebought at first. I said to myself, "That's a cute hat, and that yarn looks remarkably like Malabrigo... say, isn't that in the new knitty? Nah... the crown increases don't look like that." Lo and behold, when I raveled it, I discovered that it was the same hat, crown increases, malabrigo and all. Naturally, Amanda and I rushed to our LYS to scope out the malabrigo, and one day later, I have a new pink hat. Good thing for watching lengthy movies on Netflix! Two, really. And I'm working on a pink sweater.

It's the time of pink. And I have a week off for some studying and some relaxing. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to curl up by the fire with my knitting and some pudding shots. Gosh, we're classy people.

FO: Beaded gloves

2007-11-02T20:11:00.000-04:00

I feel oh so productive.

I finished these garnstudio gloves out of a single skein of their Drops Alpaca. Admittedly, it was leftovers from Claire's Branching Out (not pictured on this blog). I majorly modified the cuff, if you can't tell; I just did three-by-two rib rather than that fancy picot edge that the pattern calls for. Oh, and because the chart was in a different language and I didn't know which double decrease the triangles were, I used a s2k1p. I don't think that's what it called for.

I was inspired by the work of lillstrumpa's on ravelry. The link goes there, so apologies if you're not in yet. I mention her because it was not my brilliant idea to add beads to the pattern. I used some size 6/0 black seed beads I had laying around and a size 12 crochet hook to do the magic. I like the crochet hook method WAY better than beading them all in advance. Deb has a great tutorial here.

Incidentally, blogger's uploader appeared to be broken, so I used flickr. Uhhh, I already had the post and just wanted to add images, and I'm a little peeved that flickr has stopped giving the direct URLs for its images! When I go to "blog this" it wants to make a whole new entry. No way. I had to control-click (right click for you PC folks) and "copy image location" so I could write my own tags. What the... Maybe I'm missing some integral part of flickr because I only really use it for ravelry...

Incidentally, I hope they're not huge images.

ETA: Okay, so blogger's uploader magically started working and I edited them. Because they DID look crummy.

I've been tagged!

2007-10-29T23:44:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-27T14:25:00.001-04:00

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

2007-10-18T22:56:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-10-14T10:14:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-08T23:45:00.000-04:00

I really like kawaii not. It's adorable.

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

It's not just about politics, but also my booze!

2007-09-29T00:30:00.000-04:00

The pink mouse I made for the kittens last month finally met its maker. After spending the night in the cats' water bowl, I decided that it was in their best interest to just throw the soggy, tailless, unraveling, partially-felted guy away.

His replacement was made out of some leftover Malabrigo. I'm sad to report that this new kitten toy isn't holding up so well; after just one day of terror from Orangecat and Blackcat, his i-cord tail is already unraveled and gone! Oh well, it's obvious that these guys still love him, so I'm not too heartbroken just yet.

The Flame Wave socks from Favorite Socks finished! Fishnets no more, I rather like their second chance at life as comfy socks. I wish I could use these for the Southern Summer of Socks, but that action doesn't start until Monday. Don't worry, there is plenty of sock yarn just waiting for my sole goal of being knitted up!

Speaking of Monday, I should probably go to Meijer and get more liquor. Why, you ask? Well, my government is shutting down. It boggles the mind that the fact that Michigan is going into government-induced anarchy isn't making national news. Most of the residents of this fine state were blissfully unaware of the fact that this was a possibility. What do we get? We get limited police force, limited funding to colleges, and no distribution of liquor, among a lot of other random, annoying things until the legislature comes to some agreement over their budget. The most tragic part of this isn't really the liquor, it's the bazillions of people who suddenly are laid off. Virtually every government worker is out of work starting Monday. They are only keeping people in prisons and hospitals and such to keep this from being complete state-induced anarchy.

There are a lot of fingers being pointed at our governor, but I don't think it's entirely fair to place the blame on her. Rather, what I see is a bipartisan host of morons in the legislature so stubborn and so motivated by sheer politics rather than goodwill that they've caused a shitstorm. At least Governor Granholm has been proposing a budget since January...

No wonder West Virginia's economy is better than ours. Fuck you, Michigan. I'm going to go buy another huge bottle of Stoli while I still can.

1967 was a good year

2007-09-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

Once in a while, my mother comes to visit me and we go antiquing together. She has an ubiquitous collection of glass, while I look around for random kitschy knick-knacks and LPs. I've always secretly hoped for old knitting and sewing patterns... Of course, most of the sewing patterns are for a 30" bust (!), and the knitting patterns were usually just never there...

I scored last weekend. Really.

It's from 1967, and published by a now-nonexistent yarn company. I LOVE some of the styles in this book, in particular the sweater being modeled by the blonde girl with the flip hairstyle. The only dilemma? This book is so clever that it has many of the same patterns available as cardigans OR pullovers! Choices! And thankfully, it's not SO old that the patterns are written in Greek. I can't wait to get started.

In other can't-wait news, I've joined up with the Southern Summer of Socks. I'm not an Aussie (right now), but I need an excuse to use up all my sock yarn. And, really, I think that's my main goal for the "summer" challenge.

FO: Branching Out

2007-09-18T23:56:00.000-04:00

One of my absolute oldest friends, Jackie, is moving to England for graduate school. It's up in the air whether this will be for the duration of her program or perhaps the rest of her life. When you've known someone since kindergarten (age 5), it's tough to think about them being an ocean away...

She leaves on Saturday, so I wanted to knit something up to send to her when she arrives. You know, maybe along with some Hershey's chocolate (scarce in England, I believe) to cheer her up in what may be a rough time. I consulted with another old mutual friend, and we decided that Knitty's Branching Out and some autumn-colored silky wool would be a nice match for her personality and wardrobe.

Well, I wasn't banking on having it done BEFORE she leaves. Now I'm unsure whether to save it for a bit and mail it to her, or drive miles and miles to see her off on Friday, the day before she leaves. I must ponder this.

In the meantime, there are 27 pattern repeats there just as the pattern suggested. This was an incredibly easy and satisfying knit which I almost didn't want to end! I wet blocked it after soaking it in some Eucalan, and it opened up the lace even more! At least there's more lonely balls of silky wool in my stash... I may need to make another to keep!

Socks, redux

2007-09-13T19:36:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, I thought that knitted fishnet stockings were a good idea. I thought that these were SUCH a good idea, in fact, that I have enough Elann Esprit to last me a loooong time. I started out with the ruby color, as I had every intent to wear them as a transvestite to a Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight thing. Long story short, I finished one. It looked like crap, was too short for my garter belt, and I ended up with storebought red Victoria's Secret fishnets instead. The rest of my outfit? I was pretty much half-naked in October. This was not the greatest idea. There is still photographic evidence of my bad, bad idea.

That lone fishnet stayed in my stash for far too long... But when I got a copy of Favorite Socks, I knew the destiny of that Esprit!

Yes, Flame Wave socks. One is done, the other is on the needles and on its way. Part of me still wants ruby red hand-knitted fishnets... but then, I remember the miles and miles of windowpane stitch and smack myself for even thinking it.

Janet's still a slut, as far as I'm concerned.

Here she is...

2007-09-10T23:49:00.000-04:00

Mariah is done! She has been in the making since March, with some long breaks. I found the cabling on the sleeves to be sort of annoying. But once I got past all that, making her pretty much flew by! She took six skeins of wool-ease (sue me, I want a washable sweater) and all was well. I urge anyone who plans to make this to contact Jodi, the designer, for a set of errata; these are fixes that are not posted on Knitty, and I found them invaluable in getting a good fit.

The rest of the zipper went off without any further issue, save for spending ten minutes digging through moving boxes (yes, there are still some boxes) for my sewing accessories. I needed my zipper foot, damn it! This zipper tutorial was really helpful.

Ignore the weird hair. I've been bed-ridden because I'm getting damn sick. :-(

September

2007-09-09T11:17:00.000-04:00

So...
When did it become September? Oh, nine days ago? Sheesh. Law school has definitely kept me busy, but I've made it a point to allow myself plenty of knitting and video game time every day. It's for the sake of my sanity, you know! Not having to worry about a job actually frees up more time than I used to have, so truly I've been enjoying it. For once in my life, the reading for school doesn't mostly bore me! Cases are kind of exciting, even when the decisions piss me off.

That said, I hit a wall with Mariah. It's a small wall, but annoying nonetheless. Here she is:

Inside-out, basted shut, and sadly waiting a zipper. You see, I seem to be completely unable to measure properly for a zipper. Initially, I figured I'd get one ahead of time, and I measured her front at 16". Did it occur to me that it seemed short? Hell no! I realized how short it would be when I tried on the sweater, and saw that it was far longer than that... I measured while it was on my body at 24" in the second time around. I ran out to Joann right before it closed for a new zipper.

Did you figure out what I did wrong? Yeah, I measured it on my body, a bit stretched out. The true length I need is actually 20", smack in the middle of my two follies. I even went to Meijer late last night to see if they had zippers in their meager sewing section. (They did not.) I was so hellbent on getting Mariah DONE!

Oh well. Today. I'm not sure I can show my face at Joann AGAIN for ANOTHER zipper. I consoled myself by casting on for my next sweater:

It's the Tweed Cardigan from the Winter 04/05 Vogue Knitting. There's not one on Ravelry, nor can I seem to find one on the internet. I mentioned buying the yarn for it a while ago, but here's what it looks like for a refresher:

The colorwork is basically a slip stitch pattern in garter stitch. I could have started this ages ago, had I realized how simple it actually was! Although, I might not have substituted yarn well, as the original is made from a discontinued Lion Brand yarn. Instead, I'm using Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky (From Alpaca Fleece, who are WONDERFUL!) which pretty much feels like butter.

So, how have you all been?

Michigan Fiber Fest!

2007-08-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

For the second year in a row, I've made the trek to Allegan for the Michigan Fiber Festival. This year, with quitting the job and starting law school, I was on a bit of a budget so the haul wasn't as exciting as it potentially could have been. However, this is all either gifts or for a specific project! Good news!

The outside is six skeins of Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky in Baron Red, meant for a buttony. There are some really gorgeous ones on Ravelry that inspired me, otherwise I'd probably never have looked twice at the pattern. This wouldn't be such a new, exciting thing, EXCEPT that the skeins were only $3.90 apiece rather than $8.00! Twenty-five dollar sweater, hello!

The two skeins of sock yarn are from the same vendor, Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm. The red/black is for my mother, and is superwash merino. The black/green is for myself, and is an 85/15 merino/nylon mix. Delicious stuff. It may actually become my second pair of Monkeys, unless something cooler comes up.

Not pictured: A set of 5" brittany size 1 DPNs, already hidden from the cats who chewed up my clovers of the same size. They don't seem to like yarn as much as needles. I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse.

Ever wonder what $500 of law books looks like?

Wonder no more!

Fiber festival, orientation fame

2007-08-18T16:40:00.000-04:00

I was so excited about posting the Absorba that I totally forgot to mention two other awesome yarn-related things.

I initially thought I'd be unable to attend the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan this year. It was only today and tomorrow, and I was supposed to work tomorrow... but I quit my job! Yay! After less than a month of working in Lansing I decided to quit. I hated it, and it won't mix with law school by any stretch of the imagination. What was I thinking? Now I'm going with Steve to the fiber festival, and I have a meager paycheck I can put toward my bad habit. WONDERFUL!

Speaking of the law school thing, I had an orientation seminar this morning. One of the Dean-types welcomed us and then told us how diverse our class was with random facts about us. There were pro basketball players, poets, a student that knows how to eat fire... "and," she announced, "one student enjoys knitting socks!" I sort of groaned and sunk into my seat, because my entering class seemed to think this was one of the most amusing things they'd ever heard, and erupted into laughter. I think I'm going to take it as a compliment. I don't remember exactly where I said I enjoyed knitting socks; perhaps it was on the application? Maybe it WASN'T something I mentioned anywhere, and someone ELSE enjoys knitting socks!

Fun fact: Total cost of my books was roughly $500 this semester. This may sound really expensive, but it really isn't that bad, considering I was expecting it to be much worse. No one book cost more than $50. I did far worse as an undergraduate, when I had a java book that was $110 by itself.

FO - Absorba bathmat

2007-08-18T14:42:00.000-04:00

Decorating a new place has inspired me to attempt to knit a variety of home-ish items. A few dishcloths, then the Kitty Pi... and now Absorba from Mason-Dixon knitting. It was a really quick knit when you get down to it, however, the pattern calls for three strands of double-worsted cotton on size 15 needles. Since cotton has no give, I had to take it in short spurts because knitting on it for too long was somewhat uncomfortable on my hands. Not enough, however, to ruin the pattern for me. The pattern was wonderful, and I'm in love with the final result. It's so squishy and comfy to stand on, I can't wait to take my shower tomorrow morning!

The colorway is Peaches and Creme Delft Blue. I used three cones of double worsted. There's enough left over to make me believe that I can make a second bathmat to send to a lucky friend.

Of course, it weighs a ton, and would actually probably cost a fair amount to send it to someone. Go figure.

The color in this photo is a bit wonky. The flash made the blue much brighter than it really is. But it is an accurate reflection of the size the bathmat comes out as written in Mason-Dixon Knitting.