it's a WRAP!

TWO WEEKS EXACTLY! that's right. two weeks for my purty-rific vest to be complete! Here's a pic to capture your attention. nice and casual-like:


and then how i will wear it on Thanksgiving, 'cept with dark dark jeans:


now the specs:
pattern #25 in Fall '05 VK. Made in Cascade 220 in colours who's ball bands i have lost so don't ask what colours. they are listed in an old entry, i believe. The grey is left over from Mariah. Oh wait, shouldn't have said that. moving on now.... Denise size 8 for all ribbing, and 10 for fair isle. I love my 40-inch cable!

notice my design feature:

the first section (bottom) is incorrect. it has a row of pink/greay/pink/grey up the center of it..supposed to be blue/grey. it completely changes it. but i like it that way!

and on to my huge list of mods: they said knit flat! i said, two pieces of ribbing to then seam? i think not! plus that way i got to do at least some of the fair isle in the round before splitting for neck/arms. as for flat fair isle: kill me now! lol but i found that knitting backwards, i was better able to keep my tension than if i purled the row. luckily the solid colour rows landed on purl rows, so that helped keep me sane. all the ends! i actually didn't mind weaving them in. it was ok.

then, their chart was totally dumb. the last stitch and first stitch were the same..which meant you would have two stitches the same in a row during repeats, and when i visualized it, it wasn't working for me. so i made the chart 18 stitches instead. i also wanted a size between the two largest. so i fudged with the 18-st repeat and my gauge, and came up with my own number. then i started the chart on like, stitch 14 so that the pattern would be centered over the front.

i put a ton of work into this vest, but it was TOTALLY worth it and i cannot wait to wear this!!! will wear it Sunday, methinks. nice and casual for church. then it's Thanksgiving, baby!

WOO HOO!

photo blockage

just some quick photos on my vest and mittens! woo hoo, vest will be done thursday, i am sure...exactly two weeks after starting it

photage of back with way incorrect colours:


photoage of blockage:


and the mittens being blocked:


right now i'm crocheting my afghan...close to done, but of course each round takes longer ('ghan is a single granny square). pics upon completion

a pile of ends

so today i cut all the ends in those Covered With Color mittens. now i just need to severely block the cuff to lay flat...tricky, tricky!

then i knit the right front of my vest, and here's a craptastic picture of an idea of the fringe i have:


and then i WOVE THEM ALL IN. figured i may as well get started. my knitting MO has changed...now i have been loving every single step of this project. it rocks my socks that i am liking it, and doing all these things as i go and modifying every little thing i can...go figure. i will need another section of colour for the fronts, but i want to get the back to the same level first to see exactly how much length i need. like it?

i've fallen in love all over again...

i dunno...i am so in love with this WIP! as much as the mitten i am knitting. this is from Fall VK, pattern #25 if you have the mag. a fair isle vest. i have changed so many things in this pattern to mold it to my liking, and i will go over them all when i finish. i will wear this for thanksgiving, over this blouse i got at Gap, which is why i was lead to these particular colours. close-ups of fair isle later in the project. whoever thought up flat-knitting fair isle needs to be shot. purling two colours is next to impossible. but i'm handling it, and i'm zipping right along! few more inches on this front left, then the right front, then the back...(eek! all that purling!!) and then more ribbing around the neck/armholes.



question, though...when i do a 3-needle bind off at the shoulders...how will that effect my patterning? if i do it in a solid colour, will it show up as a plain row? or not...because the patterning would 'drop off' the needle, and the new colour (bind-off row) would be the 'seam' inside the garment? help me think this through.....

catching up

i know, i know. it's been forever since i have updated. so here goes:
(yes, Ana. i know my pics are crappy. there is no sunlight. ever)

i got an RAK monday! i was so excited to pull an unexpected envelope out of my mailbox, from the lovely Terby.

then today i got another envelope! this one from a wonderful online store Cotton Clouds. This is a cone of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in 'Cherry Moon' and it photos kinda orangey, but it's the loveliest deep pink colour.


then we move on to my mittens! i join the Warm Hands Knitalong, and the mittens FLY off my needles. i made the right one last year, and finally cast on for #2 yesterday, and cast off today. all that's left is to trim ends (i wove them in as i knit!) and then block. 'Covered with Color' from the 'Knit Mittens!' book, in lamb's pride worsted. odd colours. was a kit from my LYS, and the actual colours used in the book. the blue motif on the left mitten pulls a bit, but it's still good. pics of inside once trimmed.


and then i cast on this lovely mitten! 'Chipman's Block' from same mitten book, in Lamb's Pride Nature Spun Worsted in Natural and Eucalyptus and i must say this is the most fun project i have ever ever knit! i am loving the two-handed knitting action, and also the colours and it reminds me of when i used to do cross-stitch because the back is supposed to be as neat as the front. oh yeah, this'll be a fun, fast project.


i might cast on for the fair-isle vest tonight as well, take that to school with me. woo hoo for all this knitting!

new LYS!

so..class gets out, and my train doesn't leave for an hour...so i wander two blocks south on State St (That Great Street (tm) ) and take a gander at Loopy Yarns. they are still kinda setting things up, putting in some finishing touches, but it's great. the prices are FOB. 220 for 6:45, fixation for $5.45, lorna's laces shepard sock for $9.75...they have lots of Cascade, Berroco, Lorna (tons of LL! all kinds!) and many other odds and ends...even the Addis seemed to be decently priced. so i would definitely go back. without my wallet. we should plan a knitty meetup, Mitten and everyone else :D so yeah...this came home with me:

sorry for the crappy photo...colour is Puprle Iris..green, purple and a bit of tan. definitely brigther in real life, but it's a cloudy day today.

on the shawl: 6 repeats done on second half. 6 to go. i'm getting there!!

it's my blog-o-versary!

woo hoo! i have been knitblogging for one year. :D click on the oct 2004 archive link to see what was up one year ago.

Laura knows me so well!!

my mom picks me up from the train and says i have a big box from Texas! I'm like, from Pearland?!! the UPS guy came today, woot woot!



and i must say, Laura knows me so well as she picked a great assortment of Ms. Stranger's yarn to fling my way.
first off was the brand new in the bag linen/cotton that i loved when she posted it on her site:


and then Laura knows me so well, this'll totally be a sweater for me cuz i LOVE this stuff...no tag, but it's soft and fluffy and bumpy and slightly thickish:


and then this green stuff...not too keen on it yet, but it's 15% mohair and the rest petrol products. but it'll come in handy for something:


now, hiding this box in the back of the closet til after the holidays are done..cuz i need to make gifties, then the current list of things i want for myself and THEN can use this stuff. see if i have the willpower....

THANKS LAURA!!!

half-way there!

my shawl has 12 repeats, and we are calling that half done. now my biggest challenge is casting on the other side so that the colours stack up in the same manner. wish me luck!

the cursed socks are done. that's as good as they get

so the kitchener on #2 is marginally better..but i'm glad they will be in my shoes most of the time. almost ran out of yarn. stupid, stupid big feet of mine. this is actually the third sock knit of this yarn. ripped #1 to make '#2' (left sock) and then made sock '#3' (right sock) so now they are done and i will never ever make top down socks ever again!! and i only want wool you can spit splice. or that has enough yardage for my feet. or or or
i'm crabby and the pics are crappy, the colours are actually brighter. sock '#3' is ever so slightly bigger and i do not know why and i do not care why. these better be machine washable cuz they don't deserve better treatment than that.

never enough knitting

hmph. 11 repeats is 26 inches. guess i need a few more. but i am not tired of this pattern, and it is mainly memorized so it flies...but here's the proof:


maybe tomorrow i will finish sock #2 during class. then concentrate on lace all weekend. (forgot pic of sock *shurg*)

i met a monkee!

well, almost...

she sounds just like you'd expect. except the accent is a little light...but yeah. the way she types? just like she speaks..with a *grumblemutter* and a *blink, blink* thrown in for good measure..and her motherling told me to enjoy the snow. and missy and i were then IM-ing on Trillian whilst on the phone. which was quite amusing and had me in stitches. which caused Ceci to call us:
"oh my god. you are geeks.
nerds.
dorks.
dweebs."

hehe. that was quite the enjoyable convo. until my phone battery died..leaving missy staring at her dial tone *sigh* at least she is okay for now...

quick and dirty post

okay, y'all keep asking me questions. school keeps me so very busy! so here i am, just taking a quick, yucky photo to prove i have been knitting this during class and on the train...i am in the middle of repeat #8, and it's getting long. nothing in pic for scale..no measurement yet. after this repeat i will try and block it a bit to get an idea of the length so i know how many more repeats to do.
Pattern: Gothic Leaf Stole
Yarn: Knit Picks' Gossamer in 'Caribbean'
i love, love, LOVE it!

look! lace! that WORKS!

looooooook....my sweetie Anne sent me FOUR lovely skeins of KP's Gossamer and I LOVE it. 'cept the part about winding it without a swift lol



and these stitch markers that i cannot photgraph with my crap-tastic camera:


and look! it's lace! 1.5 repeats, they are easy and look lovely. these colours are truer than the pic of skeins

Actual Knitting Content!

hey everyone! look what Anne/Roxy sent me:

so much AMAZING stuff! that is one SWEET chica. already plotting what to send back...

take this:

90% wool, 10% cotton. white yarn, with blue wrap thread, which i assumed made up the cotton content
add 23 packs of Arctic Green Apple Kool aid and come up with this:

ain't it purty?? gonna make a vneck sweater in the round, then steek it and add button bands!!

and last but not least, the Actual Knitting Content:

Branching Out. Third attempt. Tahki Cotton Colori. notice the pretty pooling. will skein 2 continue the trend?? stay tuned!

it's a mememe about meme! or, a meme about me, or umm, well. just read.

If only to distract you from no knitting content, here is the current meme that has been floating about. Terri tagged me for it, and i'm gonna have a tough time finding five peeps who haven't done it yet.

ten years ago:
I would've been 11. starting junior high...let's see. I cut my hair up to my chin, from being down to my waist. Got new glasses that weren't bigger than my head. let's see. met a few new people, but basically hung out with a tight group of three girls. i don't remember too many specifics about sixth grade; more junior high in general. but yeah, sixth grade was when i was still holding this major crush on Mike Benning that i had since first grade, and began one on Craig Merczak. haha.

five years ago:
i was 16. hmm. end of sophomore year. this was the beginning of my 'fat phase' where, yup, you guessed it...became more and more depressed and gained lots of weight. gradually enough i didn't notice it until i looked back on it. anyway, i was in advanced bio with mr. ley, one of the cruelest teachers ever. switchign to Mr. Effinger was the best thing i ever did. i did have fun charting dominant and nondominant genetic traits. fun class, until we got to the fetal pig dissection. what was i NOT doing? getting my drivers license. took drivers ed in school. my group was two 18 year old girls who's fathers hadn't let them get their licenses until they were 18. i drove in rain in snow, whatever. yet somehow always avoided driving with my parents until my permit expired...odd, no?

one year ago:
i was looking forward to a fairly large anniversary date looming ahead. hmm. starting junior year of college...well, i lost a lot of weight by this time. about 50 pounds. nothing exciting really ahppened if you technically go one year from before today. but last december was the horrible car accident that has ruined my wrist because it hurts, to this day. at least not while knitting. just at work. at least my knee fully recovered. and i think i picked all the safety glass out of my yarn purchase from that day. i spent $140 on yarn. all with christmas money. all at 40% off. but i got amazing stuff.

five snacks:
microwave popcorn, sugar-free jello, yogurt, rice cakes, chocolate!

five songs I know all the words to:
(way hard to chose. let's be random!)
1-"You Were Meant For Me" Jewel
2-"Amazed" Lonestar
3-"Navy Blue" Diane Renay
4-"God Only Knows" The Beach Boys
5-"Two Days In February" Goo Goo Dolls

five things I would do with $100 million:
1-pay off mine and my husbands' schooling
2-buy a car
3-buy a house
4&5-donate the rest. i feel slightly selfish buying things for myself first. while of course they are not absolutely necessary to live, they sure make it easier. and i wouldn't need any more of that money. so umm, okay, stop justifying and move on *shifty look*

five places to run away to:
1-Millennium Park
2-Museum Campus
3-Any Library
4-Any Yarn store
5-my room

five things I would never wear:
1-bikini
2-a man in public (people are gross)
3-black jeans when not working
4-anything that was unflattering, no matter how much i liked it
5-pointy toed shoes

five favorite TV shows:
1-Everwood
2-Gilmore Girls
3-Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
4-news at nine on channel nine
5-baseball games

five biggest joys:
1-when someone smiles at me as if i mean more than anyone else
2-singing in the shower
3-accomplishing a complicated craft project, knitting or not
4-having my writing published
5-more things in the future, i am sure

five favorite toys:
1-mp3 player
2-computer
3-knitting supplies
4-sewing machine
5-books!!!

five people to pass this on to:
1-let's go with Lisa, since i like to tag her and she needs to blog more :D
2-maybe Laura can find some time...
3&4-let's keep Joeli and Iain busy until the are reunited
5-and maybe my web guru Trevor would take time out of his busy college life to attempt this one.

booooooga booooooga!

before and after of booga bag. as you can see, it didn't shrink all that much, still has stitch definition. most likely will not felt with Kureyon again. now it needs a shave and i am planning a nifty lining to make this purse/WIP holder.

<

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MAN. i never get spam comments. and now? i got EIGHT in one day. some are fairly amusing. all are anonymous. guess that means shutting off anonymous commenting, eh?

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it is done!

With Special thanks to Missy and Trevor, my blog now has an updated look with two sidebars! so fantastic. maybe now i will actually add in progress bars.

maybe.

a very very close finished object!

so i pinned Mariah to the floor, and blasted it with steam from my fantastic iron. mmmm nice and warm, considering how very cold in here it is!!!



i promise to have someone actually take a picture of me in it...so i can get a gorgeous shot. in daylight. so you get the full effect. after i sew in the zipper. i'm so close!!

next up we have yarn i bought when i bought my zipper...i mean, c'mon..who couldn't resist solid colour sock yarn that is discontinued and 30% off?? i see some winter socks for me...if i get my butt in gear, that is. these will be perfect train/school knitting.



so, for Mariah, i bought 10 skeins of 220. because it was 40% off, and according to the pattern, i would need 9 for my size. 9 were one dyelot, the last is different. but i ended up only using 6 total. leaving me with 4...and the fair isle ribbed vest in fall vk calls for 3 skeins...so that is some sorta karma, huh? which means i bought this:

colours are sooo bright they POP (POW, MONKEE!!!) so i am giving you the link to see the colours there as well...i love, love, LOVE them! especailly cuz i had the LYS lady wind them for me, since i do not own a lovely swift. the colours are 9421, 7919, 7803. and they do not do it justice on their site either. y'all will have to wait for true life pics.

and that's it for now. gonna go cast on vest before bed. doing front and back at same time until i get to the fair isle, otherwise i know they will never end up the same length.

an (almost) FO

a most craptastic pic..but just for proof. sunlight, blocking for the collar, and a zipper, will make it all good. little bit of yarn left from skein #6. beautiful job, if i do say so myself. and i now can move on to my next projects, a granny square afghan that is half done, and the ribbed fair isle vest from fall VK. more more more probably monday...busy weekend. so squint and laugh at this pic for now:

hey hey, proof of progress

okay, seamed the sleeves so i could get an accurate idea of fit. the decreases will now start messing with the ribbing, so i will have to decide what to do. that's cuz i started with less sts than the pattern called for before decreases. but it'll all work out. thinking ahead to the collar anyway...i have 239 sts, need to get down to somewhere around 200. so here's my slightly-out-of-focus-stil-in-pj's-rolling-skarf-pic:

*clears throat* mememememe!!!!!!!

welp, the ever-wonderful Peri has tagged me....so here goes

id·i·o·syn·cra·sy
Pronunciation Key
n. pl. id·i·o·syn·cra·sies
A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.

Write down (blog) five of your own personal idiosyncracies. Then, if you wish, tag five people from your live gerbil or friendslist to do the same.

1- I check myself for level of fatness...yeah. feel my neck, check the amount of belly outward at top of pants, look at my thighs whilst sitting. strange, i know. and Missy, especially, will find it odd lol

2- I obsess over the things i should be doing verses what i am currently doing...like exercising more, and eating less/better. yeah. grrrr

3- I make lists for everything. lists of things i must get done this summer (update FO's on website, submit writing, make baby gifts and housewarming gifts, etc.), lists of upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, etc. lists lists lists! my calendar has a system of my work schedule, hours i have worked, how many days i have worn this pair of contacts and even more.

4- I am super competitive in playing board games and card games, yet i try and squelch it. not that i mind losing once in a while, but i'd rather play a game that i actually have a chance in instead of knowing i will always lose.

5- I notice typos EVERYWHERE! they cannot hide from me. i was absolutely tempted to write to an editor when they used the absolutely wrong word in one book. i had to hold myself back.

who to tag? lots of people have already done this one...lesse, i will do Joeli; Ariel is usually good for a meme; Lisa and Azuredrake, whose name i always forget; and let's go with B'lings alter-ego.

Indeed

vaca piccies!

hey y'all. check this
indiana pictures!
there are two pages. you can see the love of my life in there..hehe. and the sweetest kids ever...the really cool pics that are immediately following the one of me on the silo are ones i took from up at that angle.
i just got done making applesauce from apples i picked!! hehe
enjoy. pics of Mariah later

more my, my, my, my MARIAH

yup. here it is. two whole repeats done. now i am supposed to do a whole 'nother one, which would be be between the pink and purple markers, and then half, which is between pink and blue. the sleeve is already 17 inches long. so instead, i will just be doing that last half, and then the extra 12 rows of 'closure.' but i must now do some serious maths, and see about how many rows the shaping will take, and compare that with my row gauge (6/inch) and figure out where to stop...you just stop wherever in the pattern now, and continue following that last bit when you join it all in the round. hmmm


and if you squint real hard, you can see the loverly new stitch markers that arrived in the mail today, from a wonderful little monkee...even though the USPS took SIX days to make it get here...highly unusual.

Finish It!

lookee! finally wove in my ends. popped on my blue tee...and i have an outfit for school. fantabulous!


Annnd...since i have been begged multiple times for a Mariah progress report, here it is, first of three repeats (between vertical markers on left sleeve, if you can see those) a repeat took 6.5 inches, so i might could fit all three in without it being too long. we shall see...intriguing pattern

LOOK! ENGLISH GOODS!

amazing-ness! cheese gravy, loose leaf tea, spotted dick, cup a soup, and instant custard....


candy goodness!
mini jaffa cake (smashing orangey bits!), Fruit Pastilles, a Kinder Surprise egg (my thumb almost went through it), Merry Berry bar, Yorkie bar (not for Girls!) and a Cadbury Flake bar...


oh umm...i am not so sure if these are supposed to be a joke or not LOL because i don't really appreciate Marmite in it's pure form, so Marmite crisps...hmmmmm

i cannot wait to eat this stuff! a huge, huge thanks to Peri . Check her blog since she will post what i sent her soon :)

minor setback

eh. see...the flat 'line' between top of tube (at armpit) to the 'neckline' is too long...i don't want it to curve on TOP of my shoulder. so i gotta frog back and take out maybe two inches from that flat part before starting the neck. or else i won't ever be pleased with FO.

in other news, Mariah is all set to begin. i have printed the pattern, highlighted my size, and i have two balls of yarn all set to go, and freed up the 40 inch Denise cable. just waiting for shrug to be done :)

NEW SHOES!!!

First ever pair of Chuck Taylors. they are velour!! i love 'em  :) they suit me

one sleeve done!!

the pic is slightly large, so click on this link to see the first sleeve of my turtleneck shrug from scarf style in knit picks alpaca cloud 'sunset.' so lovely and soft! this is part of the "Finish It!" KAL so it has a July 31st deadline. should be no prob :)

what does MIT know, anyway?

so a big part of this survey was that they magically took five links from your blog and asked you about them. 4 of them were parts of webring links. so they didn't get nice answers. stupid survery.

i should write more often...

i feel dumb. cuz i don't post. as often as the rest of ya'll. but then i go leave comments on random blogs and feel odd that they might click on the link by my name and see my month-old not progress.

i swear i have been knitting!

the purple monkee yarn shurg now has a complete back. it's great. now i'm totally lost on what to do for the front to cure underarm bagging...hmmm. help!

the ribbed knitpicks silky shurg has almost a complete sleeve. the 3x3 rib is truly not annoying me. thank goodness. thought it would. the yarn is just such a dream

pics soon. i swear!

such a wonderful day!

first things first, I did a lil behind-the-scenes something just for Missy. Bet she notices right away!

moving on, here is sock #1 finished:


and let's not speak of the evil kitchener toe that went waaaaay wrong. even though i've done it before. it stinks. but eh. it'll be in a shoe, right?

and progress on the shurg of monkee-mystery-yarn and self-pattern from Ana just to prove I really am working on it. i wanna finish it and make another tank to wear since it is so warm out.


and finally, i hear the mail truck, and wander downstairs where my mom hands me a fluffy envelope. she guessed it was mine, as she and the postmistress were a little miffed by the package being addressed to a certain "Waffie Wench" *snicker* thanks to the Bank of Brotherling for supplying that.

isnt' it lovely stuff?? 2 skeins of color-me-own sock yarn goodness and 7 of Andean Silk to make the ribbed turtleneck shrug on the cover of Scarf Style. This stuff is all so soft i just wanna sit in the sun and pet it all day long. *giggles* better colour representation here. I got 'Sunset' yes!

yay for picture overload! hope you enjoyed your visit.

SUMMER GOAL

hey everyone!!! I want to start running. so my main goal is a mile under 9:30 consistently, and over eight weeks working my way down to an 8-minute mile. i am also going to alternate days with longer distances and not timing them at first, cuz then i push myself too hard.

anyway, Ana has sugessted I reward myself with yarn, which is an awesome idea! as long as i use up stash while i am running. I currently have $75 from cutting the grass. so i will keep saving that for eight more weeks as well. then go to the yarn store for some super nice yarn for a gorgeous winter sweater. i'm thinking Noro, of course. seeing as i would never be able to afford Noro (any of them) and this would make an awesome reward for myself. so what are your guys' sugesstions for Noro yarns and patterns?? please share!

Please Pardon Our Dust!

my blog is a mess, code-wise. i am sure Missy and Wendy would both cringe. then again, blogger is cringe-worthy as it is.

so anyway, my friend Trevor is going to mess with it and make it all better.

so don't mind it if things look goofy.

as if that's anything out of the ordinary..

i (almost) give up

this darn sock. last time i ran outta yarn. THIS time, i didn't start the toe decreases early enough and need to rip back maybe 20 rows or so. the good thing is that means less purl stitches and more yarn available. i think i have it covered this time. but i'm definitely saving it for tomorrow. sheesh

where was monkee today??