Tangled In Yarn & Covered In Glitter

Birthday Goodness!

2004-12-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

So. Today was (well, still is, for another hour and a half) my 26th birthday. I spent it properly: switching off between knitting and playing video games. My hands are stiff as hell. :D

Best gift: My mom got me a $75 gift certificate to a local LYS. Most excellent. It's practically spent already.

I am rather drunk on rum, so I'm going to go work on something that doesn't require decreases.

socks!

2004-12-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

It took me three tries, but I finally figured out how to work DPNs! I rock!

Therefore, I am making these sexy things in wool dyed jaracanda (purple!) and lotus blossom (more purple!).

Pictures forthcoming.

I will survive...

2004-12-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

And I have!

I've got a week of classes and three finals to go, and then I'm done for the semester. Hooray! Even better, I'll be graduating with two AA degrees - one in Liberal Studies, the other Administration of Justice - in May.

*insert silly happy dance here*

Of course, it's really hard to do badly when you have this face staring at you and *ahem* helping.

(It's really only cute when you're not studying.)

What I'm *really* proud of, however, is the fact that I finished the basketweave scarf I started back at the end of August!

It's easily the most involved project I've made. I love it! It was supposed to be for my roommate, but... yea. I'm keeping it; he'll just have to deal.

That's all for me for now, but I'll be posting more often now that the semester is over!

I LIVE!

2004-10-31T23:23:00.000-08:00

...barely.

So school has been sucking my will to live, completely and totally. I've been squeezing knitting in here and there when I can (I'd like to take this moment to sing my praises for the h2o hat from chicknits.com, because I made six in two days and that pattern has kept me from feeling completely useless.) and am about 2/3 of the way done with the basketweave scarf. I'd show you pictures but, alas, my camera is still dead. I hope I don't have to replace it, because that's a whole lotta money I don't have.

As for the breast cancer walk, I raised a total of $372.00. Below my goal, but not a shabby amount in the least.

Now, I need to go finish a paper. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Help me on a good cause!

2004-10-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

I'm doing the breast cancer walk here in Sacramento on Sunday, October 24. My goal is to raise $500 in pledges. Care to help me out?

If I get over $500, I'll raise the goal to $750; if I hit that, the goal goes up to $1000 and so on. Cancer is incredibly prevalent in my family (easily 95% of family members over 40 who've died have died of SOME form or another, including my father), so this is a cause near and dear to my heart.

Thanks for reading, and I promise when my camera is fixed you will be flooded with pictures of half finished objects and my cats being too adorable for words.

Sweet Buttery Hell

2004-09-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

You know how you really enjoy doing things and do them a lot but then life happens all over you and you can't do them hardly at all any more and it makes you really grumpy?

That's how I am with school affecting my knitting. ARGH!

At least it's a good cause. I'll have my first degree (Liberal Studies, English emphasis) by December, with a second (Administration of Justice) either in May or December of 2005, depending on the classes I can get next semester. But still! No excuse!

My in-between-classes project has been an absolutely lovely scarf pattern I snaked from Fidget. It has basketweave cabling and is my first cabled project. I'm about, oh, 1/5 of the way done? maybe a little more. Time consuming, but I am loving the texture. And I'm doing cabling with it! Yay! What's next, intarsia?

...nah, that's just crazy talk. :D

I am such a horrible person. I only barely sent my secret pal's box off yesterday. *head in hands*. It's been sitting on my living room floor looking at me all forlorn-like for a week, but I hadn't been able to get myself in gear until yesterday. I hope she enjoys everything inside. And it *has* been sent. So. :/ I Still feel a wee bit guilty.

SPEAKING of secret pals! I got a package from mine! *bounce* It had a little bag of pretty beaded stitch markers (one was on an earring backing, but it's so pretty I'm considering sacrificing another to the same fate!) and beautiful golden crane embroidery scissors with an attached point protector that matched the stitch markers! Lovely. Thank you so much, whoever you are, secret pal!

Time to go re-write a brief and study for my Sociology midterm. Don't you wish you spent your gorgeous, early-fall Saturdays like me? ;p

Stupid school!

2004-09-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

All I want to do is knit, but can I? Nooo! Too many papers to write. Feh. FEH, I say.

The new Knitty is up. Yay! I have completely and totally fallen in love with the Leaves and Waves shawl. Alas, I can see my attempt at it ending with a cuddly, big knot. Fortunately, I am a total Cute Skirt Whore, and the Skating Queen is about my speed of knitting. Hooray!

I am a Horrible Person, in that I spent my money for bills and mailing my secret pal's package on a bike. Well, okay, horrible is taking it a bit too far, especially since gas is back over $2.00 a gallon and my car is taking several tries to start every time I start *and* attempting to overheat when there is absolutely no reason for it to do so... but I still feel bad. Must scrounge change! GEH!

I started the beautiful edged camisole from Vintage Knits a few days back. No pictures, because 1) I'm a lazy, lazy girl and 2) the battery in my camera is dead, anyway. I'm only about two inches in, but I'm already thinking about frogging since winter is coming and I get way too cold way too fast. (I'd die anywhere other than California, lemme tell.) That, however, remains to be seen.

I still haven't finished that damn blanket. I'm at a mental impasse on the whole ordeal. I'd rip it out, but I have no use for the yarn and I've already done so much work on it that the process would make me all bitter. Guh.

Does anyone read this? Probably not, I'm probably just talking (typing?) to myself. Ah well, not much different than the offline world...

2004-08-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Golly.

I've only finished the thing for my secret pal and a wristband for my roommate since the last time I posted.

Stupid school eating away my free time when I'd much rather be knitting!

I went to the coast yesterday with aforementioned roommate. It was a lovely getaway. Driving back through Petaluma, I gasped with glee upon spying a f'n BILLBOARD announcing a brand new yarn store! I slammed on my breaks to write down the address, only to be informed by Dave that it was almost 7pm. Alas, the hours of business as listed on the board were 10-6. Dag.

It's okay. I didn't have ANY money on me. And it's just another reason for me to go back to the coast (to add on top of my 2457 others :D )

A Lesson In Subject-Bouncing

2004-08-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

I found such a fun site! MLM Inspirations has some really cute patterns; easy too! I'm making my secret pal something and have added a few more to the list of Things People Are Getting For Christmas And Birthdays Around That Time.

If those of you stateside of my lovely and sweet readers would be so kind? Please go here, register and do one of the offer deals. It's for a free iPod, which I would absolutely die for but am incredibly broke (and seeing as how I'm *still* unemployed, will remain so) and can't afford right now. A friend got enough referrals and got hers in the mail this week.

DEAR SECRET PAL:

Here's my answers the latest round of questions from the ever-lovely coordinators, just for you *mwah*:

What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? Anything that's soft and not scratchy. That's the only problem I have with making the sophies; wool kills my hands!

What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? I have one pair of bamboo needles, size 10 1/2, that I have a love affair with. They're so wonderful to work with!

What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Simple patterns. I'm still pretty new!

What are you knitting right now? A sophie bag and a shawl for my mom, a big bad baby blanket (Stitch n Bitch) for a sort-of-friend (I'm sure you've seen the previous entries) and a wee item for my secret pal.

What do you think about ponchos? >_< *insert gagging noises here*

Do you prefer straight or circular needles? It really depends on what I'm working on!

How did you learn to knit? I'd gone with my mom to my grandmother's to do some maintenance work, even though I had a nasty headcold. After about 30 minutes, I could hardly breathe, so I went inside to have some tea. My grandmother was working on a sweater for my cousin and I asked her to teach me!

How old is your oldest UFO? My mom's shawl. It's been started, put aside, frogged and re-started about five times... since last November!

whee!

2004-08-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

The friend(?) I ~~was~~ am making the blanket for had her baby on July 28. Little (not-so, really, 9lb 3oz!) boy named James Matthew.

And I say am-not-was on the blanket...

because my friend found the bag the knitting was in. It had been moved from her car to her garage without her knowing. So I only have 52 more rows to go. Yay(?)

In other news: I have new teeth. They are very white and make me look like an oompa loompa. I think I like them, but I'm not sure yet.

They look too big and horsey and far, far too white for me. It's wierd.

(My teeth were yellow and crumbling. Bad genetics + Years of poor orthodontia + Severe Phobia of dentists = teeth that looked like a 62 year old crack addict bulimic. In a 25 year old mouth.)

Anyhoo. Time to get re-crackin on that blanket.

Raar....

2004-07-30T13:31:00.000-07:00

The baby blanket I was working on?

Gone. Left it in a friend's car, car got broken into, bag with knitting was one of the things grabbed.

*deep, pained sigh*

It's a wierd situation. One one hand, I'm extremely pissed because I've busted my ass working on that thing and had *finally* gotten past the halfway point. On the other, however, I'm relieved. The mother of the baby it was being made for has esentially abandoned all of her friends, never returning phone calls, only contacting us when a gift was in it for her. (Example: My birthday is three days before Christmas, I tried and tried to get in touch because I wanted to go out for coffee on my birthday. Nothing. No calls, only thing I heard from her was her form letter Christmas card. Not two months later, though, I got a invite to her baby shower with a list of places where's she's registered.)

So it's a pain because of the work lost, but now I don't have to dread working on it any more.

Feh.

****

I got my Secret Pal! (No, that's not her.) I love swaps and secret pals and stuff. They're so fun!

****

My *grandmother* wants me to make her a Sophie. I love it. :D

Hooray!

2004-07-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sophie is all done. Yay!

Before Felting

After Felting

My mother tried to steal it, she liked it so much. I'm now working on one in green for her.

I know what lots and lots of people are getting for Holiday Gifts! :D

All Hail The Internet

2004-07-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Mad Props go out to Chrissie, as she provided me with a lovely link to lining a bag!

Now I just need to find some nice burgundy thread...

Ta Da!

2004-07-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

I mostly have my Sophie finished! Yay!

All that's left is the felting and the lining. I know there's a link out there in internetland for lining, but I can't find it anywhere. Anyone have any ideas? Or links?

Remember way back when, when I said I was going to make jams and preserves out of the peaches from my back yard?

Yea. Forget it. I set my stove on fire with the first attempt. Im not allowed to play in the kitchen any more.

S+B tonight!

Blank.

2004-07-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

In Eight Hours and Sixteen Minutes, it will have been exactly two years since my dad died.

I miss him like crazy.

I'm going to SF tomorrow. Tonight I was supposed to have dinner with my mom, but she's gone AWOL. So instead I will get very drunk and re-knit my sophie bag, as a small kitten found it a marvelous toy just before I got to the handles. >_<

Lost Week

2004-07-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

How is it already a week into July?

Thanks for all the kind thoughts for my family. It's been a really strange couple of weeks.

I haven't done any knitting. None. I've been cycling through a major manic phase (I'm a mild bipolar case) and focusing on stitching of any kind (knitting, x-stitching, fixing the hems that have fallen in my clothes) just isn't possible.

I have, however, discovered that I'm one class away from getting my AA, and one (different) class away from having all the necessary crap out of the way to transfer to a UC campus. I rule. So I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life once again.

Things are scattered.

Dark Weekend.

2004-06-28T01:19:00.000-07:00

In between getting off of work and going to see Fahrenheit 9/11 on Friday evening. my grandma called me.

Normally I cherish these calls, since I don't get to see her as often as I'd like. This time, however, the phone rang after 8:00pm. She never calls that late. She's usually in bed, or on her way there, at 8:00pm. I knew it wasn't good news before I even answered the phone.

She was calling to tell me this:

Peardale woman killed in collision with semi.

That's my great aunt and uncle there. We spent every 4th of July at their cabin when I was little. I can remember throwing watermelon rinds and corncobs off their deck and watching the raccoons scrabble for them while Patty was in the kitchen making ice cream cones for my cousins and me.

Knitting is a great timekiller when you're sitting by the phone waiting, let me tell you.

Fun times.

2004-06-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I won This auction, which will be lots of hexmas and late-in-year birthday presents. :) Hooray! Since the seller is in Sacramento, we'll be meeting in a public place to forgo all the horrors of the post and the paypal. Yay! Things like that are The Fun.

There was a stitch n bitch last night. I went and worked on the baby blanket, as mentioned in the post I made around 1:00a last night. It's getting big. Damn. I still don't understand how someone could - sanely, anyway - make a baby blanket out of hand-fooken-painted merino wool! That's just begging for exploding diapers and projectile spitup.

Also: I'm trying to get a free iPod so if you wouldn't mind horribly, please click here, sign up and do one of the little tasky things. I know it's silly and pointless but I really want one and am very broke, due to bills and yarn. I don't do things like this. Usually. But I really really want an iPod. <3

Time to gather my knitting and skeedaddle off to work.

Things That Suck:

2004-06-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

Knitting merrily along on your first Sophie (Are we sensing a pattern?), only to realise that five rows back you switched mid-row from knit to purl and everything is completely thrown off.

*facedesk*

So I set it aside in lieu of throwing it away and pumped out a few more rows on the Blanket Of Doom. It'll be finished before the recipient makes his/her/their (oh god, please not twins) appearance. I hope.

Lazy Summer Day

2004-06-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Even though I truly hate being broke and under-employed, it can be nice on hot days to sit around and do Very Little.

Like laugh at the cats when they're playing vulture a la Snoopy on the fence outside the window:

...or basking in the shade of the quince tree:

Or do other things, like sit on the porch with a big glass of lemonade and work on my Sophie bag, trying to figure out the best way to line it when done:

It's truly amazing how much work one can get done on a project when one has the correct size needles. I need to find the link on lining the bag; the ebay fabric is just perfect.

And when I get hungry? Why, I can just wander over to the nectarine tree and pull down a basket of fruit:

I think I need to learn how to make preserves. There's so much fruit on the tree that it'll go to the birds if I don't pull it all in. The pictured basket went across the street, a big bowl went next door and there's still a full tree out back.

Golly. I feel so domestic.

Don't forget to see Fahrenheit 9/11 tomorrow, folks!

woohoo!

2004-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

I got my package from elann.com today! This means I can (as soon as the anesthesia from surgery is out of my system - still a wee bit dizzy!) start over on my sophie. Hooray!

I also got this stunning fabric I won on ebay in the post on Monday. It'll line the sophie, since they're both bricky-burgundy.

Also-also, the package from elann had my copy of Vintage Knits. There is some seriously pretty stuff in there. I need to get cracking on the things I've already got on the needles!

Oof!

2004-06-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Someone commented in here and reminded me I haven't posted in a while. Oops!

I still haven't picked the Sophie bag back up; I cashed out my 401(k) from when I was working at Macy's and used a tiny bit of it to order the correct length circular from elann.com. Should be here any day. In the meantime, I've been doing a few rows here and there on the blanket and Jen's tank, and I started another shawl like the one for Dave's mom for my own mom. She was poking through my craft box and fell in love with this pretty wool-ease yarn that's... hmm. Now that I look at it, it's actually about the same color as what I'm knitting the Sophie in. Hmm.

May have a gift bundle here.

I haven't been knitting as much lately because I've had (ta da!) job interviews. Alas, they've only been interviews and not actual jobs, but a girl can only get so much good stuff in her life at any one time.

In closing, I will say that all of you who have their dads around should be sure to wish them a happy father's day. I took roses to my dad's grave and had a nice little chat and a nice little cry. I miss him.

Then I came home and found Alistair looking fat and stoned...

...much like this picture. Silly kitty.

Bloody Hell.

2004-06-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

So I was working merrily along on my sophie bag, and I got to the point where I joined the sides to start working in the round.

I'd bought too long a circular needle.

>_<

It's okay, no problem. I worked what I could then began to transfer stitches onto the DPNs, thinking that's what I was supposed to do.

Nope.

It's okay, I can improvise. I start to knit onto one of the DPNS... and realise I have no idea what I'm doing. I have one free DPN, one with double the stitches on it, and a very messy project.

And no money to buy a new circular.

*facedesk*

whee!

2004-06-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

I got my materials for my sophie! Yay!

It's Brown Sheep's NatureSpun in Brick Road, a deep, dusty burgundy-red. So pretty. :) Knitting up fairly quick, too, I'm almost done with the bottom!

And because I can, here's a picture of the progress I'm making on Jen's tank.

Off to finish my list o' stuff to do!

oh, hell.

2004-06-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how annoyed I am that the two crafty stores I went to today had plenty of yarn and books and circular and straight needles...

...but no double pointed ones?

*shakes fist*

I wanted to try and make a sock. Well, two socks. But I don't have any DPN. And you'd think craft stores that sell knitting stuff would have them.

I guess I just want too much. Feh! I'll go to Rumplestiltskin tomorrow instead.

(but I wanted to start them tonight. :( )

lots of knitting and lack of batteries

2004-06-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

I'm just about to the point on Jen's tank to start the decrease for the armholes. I'm kinda nervous because it's the first time I've ever done shaping on a decrease; I've only ever done a simple YO increase before. Eeep! It's knit up so prettily, though. I love the yarn. Soft and fuzzy. Hee!

I got my vintage Canadian knitting books in the mail today! Hooray! Here's the link if you don't remember my cooing over them previously. :D They have so many swank patterns. My measurements work out somewhere between an 18 and 20 year (Wierd. Sizes by age and not straight measurements.) so I'll have to make a few calls to Gramma (ooo, maybe a visit? <3 ) to see how I can make the pattern bigger for my nefarious purposes.

I'd have pictures of the knitting progress, but a severe shortage of funds for living has made me use the batteries in my digicam for ebay auctions. They're on the list of things to buy. :)

Hmm...

2004-06-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how I do it, but somehow I manage to keep adding a stitch every fourth row or so on the tank.

I've caught it every time, thank $DIETY, but it's really quite annoying.

Alas.

Pictures forthcoming after I get home from work.

sweetness on many levels.

2004-06-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

I won a swank little ebay auction...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8107711405

*insert cheeseball grin here*

Anyone who knows me can verify that I am a total vintage whore. LOVE the stuff. It just tickles me pink that I'll get to play with these soon. Hee!

***

The cat-children have been fascinated by my knitting.

Pixie followed me outside to chew on my yarn.

Then when I went back indoors, Alistair threatened me. Can you believe him?

***

Now, as promised, pictures of the blanket.

I couldn't get a decent colour representation anywhere I went. The yarn is Caron Dazzleaire in frost mint, which is this lovely, pale, gender-neutral green. The pattern is the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch and Bitch. It's easy to work once you get in the groove. I'm utilizing stitch markers because I'd forget where to switch stiches otherwise. Yay!

***

I also made a trek to a LYS (which claims to have a website but it's not pulling up, hmm) called Rumplestiltskin and picked up supplies for this lovely tank from elann.com that I'm making for one of my best friends for her birthday. Unfortunately, they didn't have the yarn suggested (Boo!) and they suggested an alternate of Skacel's Ocean in color 10060.

It's an absolutely GORGEOUS mix of greens, all mossy and seafoamy and cream. It's also knitting up really well. I think I'll have to go back and get the lavender to make one of these for myself.

Awww, yea.

2004-05-31T05:52:00.000-07:00

It's finished.

I finished the shawl.

The one I promised Dave for his mom for ~~Christmas~~ ~~Mother's Day~~ his mom's birthday.

It's soft and squishy and purple and was a total pain in the ass to knit due to the TOTAL INCOMPATIBILITY of the yarn and the needles. So I totally cheated and stopped after 85 stitches per row instead of going up to 143.

This makes for a much shorter shawl.

I made up for it with lots of fringe. :D

(ph34r the red-eye, yo.)

It's amazing what I can do when I get hopped up on caffiene at 11.30 at night.

Yes. 11.30 at night. I was up all night fighting with this thing. That's the sun coming up in the window behind me. It's eight minutes until 6am by my clock, and I'm still awake.

This does not bode well for my Memorial Day.

Anyhoo.

It was knit in Lion brand Homespun in Baroque. Gorgeous, soft, squishy yarn... which for me unravels and frays and bunches and just Does.Not.Cooperate. Especially when using cheap ass circulars. You get the quality you pay for, I guess.

But it's done. Truly, actually, honest-to-god done. Simplest pattern in the world.

I think I'll make another one. For me. I'll just use different yarn.

Oh...

2004-05-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the patterns on knitty.com for something to put off the blanket and shawl with.

I started crying.

I'm never going to be able to knit my dad something. My grandma - the one who taught me how to knit - made him a fun hat, or a sweater, or SOMETHING every year for his birthday and Christmas.

But I asked her to teach me too late.

I'd love to make my dad a lopsided stocking cap, or a badly-blocked sweater. Because I know that he'd love whatever it was to death, simply because I made them.

But it's too late.

July will be two years since he died.

I'm gonna go work on that baby blanket and not think about it.

Stormy night

2004-05-28T02:10:00.000-07:00

I love me some lightning storms, yessiree.

So the second stitch n bitch was tonight and I actually went. Which was nice. Crafty folk taking over corners of cafes, etc. are always good. I got quite a few rows done on the blanket, and was humming along quite nicely until the very end...

when I missed a stitch and watched it unravel. UGH!

I have yet to fix it. It's not going to be hard, it's just SUCH a pain in the ass to deal with.

I think I'll pound out more length on the shawl tomorrow. Give the blanket a rest.

Pictures of both forthcoming, I swear.

Coming soon...

2004-05-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'll finally be able to keep track of all the crafty projects I'm working on at any given point in time.

Hooray!

I have to take pictures of what I'm working on at the moment (you can see a list over there to the ~~left~~ right.), with names and colors of yarn and where i got the patterns, etc.

I WILL BE ORGANIZED FOR ONCE! *waves fists dramatically*

But now, to save the stitches I dropped when I was working on the blanket earlier. OOPS!