Yarn hangover

I am sooooo tired today. Joe and I went to Baltimore for Stitches East over the weekend. We went down Saturday morning, shopped for a while, then went to Robin's blogger meetup across the street from the convention center. It was Robin, her husband, Marjorie, Heather, Joe, and myself. Several beers later, Marjorie and Heather needed to head home so I convinced Robin & her husband to walk with us to the waterfront (because it is just WRONG to go to Baltimore & not visit Inner Harbor). We had more beers, some crabs, and lots of fun. OMG, I don't think I've laughed that much in a long time. My throat still hurts from laughing! I didn't manage to take my camera out of my purse the entire weekend, but I did get some pics of my haul this morning:
Knitting Pure & Simple hoodie pattern from WEBS,
Socks that Rock, even though I SWORE I would not buy any,
Some really nice Aussie wool from a vendor I can't remember right this second,

And some of the new grapefruit scented Eucalan, also from WEBS. The Aussie wool is to make the sweater Hermione is wearing here:

I've been pretty obsessed with making it since I saw the movie, so it was such a relief to find the right color wool for it finally.
I took a Steeks class Sunday morning, but I don't think it's worth recapping here. My mommy taught me to keep my mouth shut if I don't have anything nice to say, so that's what I'm doing.

Weekend Recap

It was a pretty quiet weekend. Joe had to work, so we didn't do anything too crazy. We did go to the local fair Saturday night. I was a little put off by the $12 admission, but I wanted a pulled pork sandwich in the worst way so I was not turning back. They have a baking, quilting, sewing, knitting & crochet competition every year (which I always seem to forget about until it's too late). I was looking at this pair of blue ribbon winning socks and admiring them when I noticed the name on them said Karen C! OMG OMG OMG! Yay Karen! I actually saw more of her stuff (all with ribbons!), but I don't want to steal her blog fodder. Plus, all the items were displayed in huge chicken cages & my camera kept focusing on the chicken wire & not the knits. Ugh!
I had started my Mirepoix bodice on Monday, but the ribbing was starting to make my left eye twitch, so I decided to take a break & start on Tree Jacket. I never really liked this pattern until I saw it on Green Apples blog a few weeks ago. Hers came out so cute; I just had to make it. I ordered yarn for it, but it didn't arrive on Friday, so I just bought some Cotton Plus from AC Moore's on Saturday. The Zephyr Gals suggest Cotton Ease as a good sub, so Cotton Plus should work too.
I'm loving it so far. I needed some instant gratification BADLY after hours and hours of never-ending, never-growing ribbing & this was just the ticket.

Knitting in Advertising

Joe got home late last night. Another too dark picture:

But, we went to the mall & this huge store-blocking wall piqued my interest:

It's for a store called Martin & OSA. It looks like another version of Banana Republic. Like a grown-up American Eagle. Anyway, that chick is totally knitting in that picture! What's up with that?

Making up for last weekend

Last weekend sucked. This weekend ROCKED! I got so much done & we went to Jersey for the day on Saturday too! Joe's godmother/great aunt turned 85 last week, so we all threw her a surprise party Saturday. She is in very good shape (works out every day for 2 hours), so we weren't too concerned about her having a heart attack or anything. She is always complimenting my knitting, so I had to make her something:

I used the waffle stitch that I used in the Back to School Vest, and what I'm calling the "dunkin donuts" colorway of Sugar n Cream. We also gave her some DnD coffee & a mug to stay with the theme. She was ecstatic. She is such a great lady.

On Sunday, I did all the laundry, cleaned our bedroom, made a pie, made stuffed peppers for supper, and finished my shrug from the Fitted Knits book. All without Red Bull!

(Sorry for the crummy pic-it was getting dark). I am really loving this book. I want to make the Cozy V-neck sweater next, but I have too many other things I need to make first.

Shrug details:
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (7 balls) purchased from Needleworks during their going out of business sale. I actually bought it specifically to make a shrug like this & could never find a pattern worthy of such great yarn.
Needles: Knit Picks Options size 9
Started: Sept 16
Finished: Sept 30
Mods: Sleeve length; that's it. It's a great design. Just don't kid yourself with your measurement. Mine was 17, which was the 5th size up. I'm usually the 2nd or 3rd size in patterns, but I went with my measurement & am so glad I did.

What a great weekend. I got tons done, had fun, and even cranked out a FO!

Ridiculously Unproductive Weekend

So, I made the mistake of surfing the internet on Saturday morning. I clicked on some ad for Old Navy so I could peek at their fall knitwear. That's where I started my downward spiral. They have this scarf that I figured I could make for Joe's daughter for Christmas. All I have to do is figure out the lace pattern & I'll be all set. Yeah, right. I spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday trying to figure out that damn lace pattern, perusing stitch pattern books, making charts, testing swatches. I finally ended up going to Old Navy so I could get a close up look at it. Good thing I did. There is a knit SEVEN together in the middle of it, then those 7 stitches magically re-appear on the next row, and there's no holes there either. Luckily, I'm pretty sure I have it figured out now. Sometimes I love my obsessive nature. Sometimes I want to take it out back and beat the shit out of it. This weekend was the latter.

Sunday afternoon I took a break from the insanity & went to the Coventry farmer's market so I could see my SnB buddy Kris at her first fiber festival (well, first one as a vendor, anyway).
It was a really nice little festival, and from what I could tell, it went really well for Kris. Another SnB buddy, Paula, was there helping out with the booth & she made the most awesomest banner for the shop:

P, I know I keep going on and on about it, but I am constantly impressed with your talent & creativity. You rock!

A few FO's

I went to a baby shower this weekend for Joe's cousin (his Dad's sister's daughter, if you're curious), and I made her one of those Zodiac sleeping sacks. It might just be my standard baby gift for a while. It takes about 3 days to make, plus one day to make the chart at the bottom, screw up the duplicate stitch, rip it all out, start over at least 2 times, then finally get it right. But, if you know how to count, you can skip that last part. ;)
The new mom & dad both went to the University of Notre Dame. They loved it! The only problem I had was figuring out WTF to do with the remaining 5000 yards of this:
I also got around to blocking & getting a pic of my Back to School U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits. Before I blocked it, I tried it on and absolutely hated it. It sat in a pile in the floor for WEEKS until yesterday. Of course, after blocking, it looks fine. Why I haven't learned this yet, I can't tell you.

And, ---AND--- Joe finally modeled his Cheezy Puffs sweater for me:

You say tomato.....

I finished this one so quick, it made MY head spin. I finshed most of it in about a week, then spent the next week trying to figure out what to do with the sleeves. I decided to go with 3/4 sleeves, but chickened out when I got to the elbow because I was terrified of running out of yarn (this yarn has been in the stash forever, so I knew I wouldn't be able to find more in the same dye lot). I ended up having enough anyway, but am too lazy to rip back & fix them, plus I really like them the way they are.

I only knitted this to get practice with fair isle, but I totally love it. Wendy Bernard is just an amazing designer. Her patterns are so simple, yet so detailed, and so basic, but always have that little special touch that make them LOOK complicated. What can I say? I'm a fan.

If anyone wants to know, I lengthened the sleeves like this: I picked up 6 stitches in the underarm, knit one plain round, decreased 2 stitches in the underarm the next round and every 5th round thereafter. When I got to 1.25 inches before my desired length, I decreased my stitches to get to a number divisible by 4, then did 8 rounds of ribbing & bound off.

Latest me-me

Stolen from Robin's blog, this one mimics the "Are You Experienced?" game I'm sure we all played as teenagers. I always won at that one; let's see how I do now. hehehehee.

Here’s what the formatting stands for:

Bold = have already tried this
Italicized = Plan to try this
Unemphasized = Have no desire to try this

• Afghan (haven't tried Afghan knitting; but have knitted an afghan)
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl (made one for my niece before I knew I had to take pictures of my knitting)
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting (didn't mean to, though)
• Participating in a KAL (oh,yeah)
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting (had to google this-it means modular knitting)
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn (love!)
• Two end knitting
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn
• Cardigan (I made my mom a vest that buttoned up the front, so I'm counting that as a yes.)
• Toy/doll clothing (I made a scarf for a gingerbread man decorating contest at work. I won.)
• Knitting with circular needles
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun (Quit pressuring me! I don't want to spin!)
• Slippers
• Graffiti knitting (I don't knit clothes for trees. Just gingerbread men.)
• Continental knitting (Thank GOD!)
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit (I helped teach my mom how to knit, so I'm counting this one. We're pretty much at that stage where I become the parent and she becomes the child, so I think I'm justified.)
• American/English knitting
• Knitting to make money(I made scarves for a craft fair and all the money went to Alex's Lemonade Stand)
• Buttonholes
• Knitting with alpaca (I love it, but it's just too warm for me)
• Fair Isle knitting (finally!)
• Norwegian knitting
• Dyeing with plant colors
• Knitting items for a wedding (don't get me started)
• Household items
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars (I no likey)
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with dpns
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dyeing yarn
• Steeks (so nervous about this!)
• Knitting art
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting (meh. I returned it.)
• Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting (it was crochet, to be honest)
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine (Knitty.com)
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair (I don't know if Rocco would like this or pee on whatever I made him)
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public (probably too much, actually)

Well, that was a fun way to spend an afternoon. Better than working, right?

Tomato Season

I got started on my Tomato over the weekend & made a LOT of progress!
Since this is now a free pattern, and I'm a free pattern ho, I just had to make it. I wanted to get practice with the scary fair-aisle, so this was a perfect way to start. I love that since I learned to knit "throwing" and then switched to continental, I can do that two-hand method easily. The only hard part is the tension, which is really hard as a tight knitter.
I also finished my vest from Fitted Knits over the weekend, but the pictures of it are just a green blob, so I'll have to get Joe to take some of me in it.

Mitred Square Source

Since I got a couple requests for the pattern for my little blankie, I figured I'd go dig up the magazine I got it out of. It was a Knit It magazine that I bought from Joann's. I have no idea where you can get this now that it's out of print, but here it is anyway:



I'm sure this is absolutely no help at all. Again, sorry.

FO: Mitred Square Blankie

Our company picnic was this weekend, so I dragged out the blanket (that has been languishing in my cedar chest for MONTHS) to give to our VP's newly adopted daughter. They were accepted as her parents before the adoption ban went into effect for Russian children, but it took FOREVER to get her. I made the blanket back in February right after I heard they got accepted, and just never wove in the ends or put the border on it. They picked her up from Russia and brought her home in June, but this would be the first time I met her, so I had to get that blanket ready. I whipped out the fray check and my darning needle and finished it just in time.
Another satisfied customer:
She loved it! She also seems to have good taste in friends, because she hung out with me all day. The VP came in this morning and said she didn't stop talking about me all weekend. [AWWWWWWW!]
When we got home, this was on my doorstep: It's for the Mirepoix bodice from the new interweave. I guess I needed a challenge? Or maybe Robin is just a bad influence! Either way, I love the colors & I think it's going to be soooooo pretty.
Sunday we went to another Yankee game where we listened to this guy scream his head off the entire time.
He has to be related to Sam Kinison. They could be brothers. Seriously. I made some progress on my other WIP's, but I think they might be disasters, so I'm not showing them until I know for sure. Whoever wrote that Teva Durham's new crochet book was a good coffee table book is starting to look really smart right now.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday, Joe!
I know I promised I wouldn't post this picture, but it is SO cute; I couldn't resist!

Jenny Simpson

No, that's not my real name, but I've been Simpsonized.
I just checked my Ravelry status & I only have 22 people in front of me today. 'Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow!' I am SO EXCITED!

Weekend Shenanigans

We went to Virginia over the weekend to see my parents & stopped off for a quick visit and to deliver Sahara to my friend Aimee. I forgot to take her picture in it, but it looked so great on her and she really loves it! Then, we went to my parents' house where I found this on their stove: I love love love home grown tomatoes. I tried to eat all of them, but I only managed 4 (Yes, that is a little pot of bacon grease behind the tomatoes. -I used to have one on my own stove because I thought everyone did- until I realized just how WRONG that is). On Sunday, we went to G Street Fabrics in Falls Church where I found these little treasures:
The green print is Marc Jacobs cotton with some sort of stretchy content (I forget what), and the white was a remnant I couldn't resist. Both are destined to be skirts.

Sahara Returns

So, I was stupid enough to show off my Sahara to my best friend a few months ago and she said she would like one too. I said, "great, what color?" She said, "same as yours. Same yarn, same everything. Just a little smaller and shorter sleeves." Um, WHAT? Knit the same exact sweater again? Well, she is my best friend.......
I think it came out better than mine! Bitch!

I'm leaving in 15 minutes to go personally deliver it to her in Virginia. Have a good weekend!

Pictures, Finally

So remember that little dress I crocheted last year that was going to be my wedding dress, but then I chickened out and bought a different one, then took a lame picture on a hanger and then never mentioned it again? Well, lookie what I wore today:



Ha! Just kidding! Here it is:

And a close up:

We also went to WEBS this weekend where I got yarn for my Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits. I also got yarn for my crocheted skirt from Teva Durham's new crochet book, Loop-d-loop Crochet. Wanna play? Join the KCAL!

(Cascade 220 Superwash, Classic Elite Star & some fun stuff)

Joe fits right in with the ladies.

No Knitting, Just a Shameless Advertisement

I have got to stop reading knit and tonic. Every time I go there, I swear it costs me 50 bucks. This week's wallet sucker was the Furminator.
It's some fancy pants pet brush that supposedly gets all your pet's 'dead fur' off of them and makes them shed less and get less furballs. I was skeptical. But, now I'm a believer! This thing is really (REALLY) awesome. But really (REALLY) expensive. Rocco actually gave me thank you kisses after I brushed him with the thing. We got at least 4 kittens' worth of fur off of him. He had us cracking up--he was turning around and around so I didn't accidentally miss any spots. He likes!

I love that they call it the antsy page

Because I am so antsy right now!

I have most of my pictures done & ready to upload. Just need that key little piece of the puzzle a.k.a. my invite. I'm being patient, though. Other than checking my email 90 times a day, that is. If you're antsy too, here's the link.

Lovely Leaf Lace Skirt

Yay! It's done! This was definitely one of those "Are we there yet?" type of projects. I would swear I had done all of the repeats, and then I would count to be sure and I would have 2 left (this happened twice! Clearly I can not count. Please don't tell my boss--I'm an accountant.). Then, I when I actually was done, I tried it on and realized I wanted it to be longer. Anyway, on to the pictures!


The neighbor's cat walked up just as Joe was taking this picture. Rocco was in the window seething at him to get away from me. It was too funny.


Notes:
Pattern: Lovely Leaf Lace Skirt by Lana Knits
Yarn: Allhemp6 in Cinnamon, 4.5 skeins
Needles: Knitpicks 4's & 5's
Size: Well, my hips measure 39", so I took Wendy's advice & made the small. It was a wee bit snug until I wore it for a few minutes and then it fit fine. Weird fiber, that hemp.
Mods: I did two extra repeats of the stockinette section because I wanted it a bit longer than it was when the pattern said I was done. Because of this, I needed an extra skein of yarn. I would have JUST barely made it with the 4 skeins if I hadn't made that mod. I would have had to rip my swatch out to make the i-cord. I also changed the drawstring-I crocheted a chain, then did one slip stitch in the butt of each chain. I think this is much less painless than I-cord and looks almost just like it.
Thoughts: Although the hemp is "different," I actually liked working with it. Out of 5 skeins, only one had a knot in it, but all of them had several knots in one ply every now and then. You can't see them unless you look really really closely, so it was no biggie. As for the skirt-Love it! Love it! Love it!

New Email

I decided to jump on the gmail bandwaggon since they blocked aol at work & I have to wait til I get home to respond to pretty much anything anyone sends me during the day. My new address is jenerationx74 at gmail dot com. I hate to add yet another email to the stable (we're now up to 6!), but I just had to because of stupid work. I'll put it on the sidebar too as soon as I figure out that little trick.

I was 2 rows away from being done with the Lovely Lace Leaf Skirt & I RAN OUT OF YARN. I'm kind of happy though; I wanted it to be longer than it was, so I really needed that 5th skein anyway. I swung by the LYS on my lunch hour, so hopefully I'll have a FO by Sunday!

Have a great weekend!!

ETA: I just set up gmail to check my other emails for me, so whatever one you have in your address book will work. Woo hoo!!

What I'm Up To

I'm officially obsessed. I can't wait to finish it.

Losing Focus

I don't know if it's something to do with the weather or what, but I have crazy focus issues lately. I start something, abandon it, start something else, feel guilty about the first thing & then the cycle starts over at the beginning. Maybe it's not the weather; maybe I just found some really cute new things to knit. Case in point: Zodiac. Don't get your hopes up; it's for a guy at work.

Yes, another Knitty pattern. But, look, I actually BOUGHT a pattern too. Do I get any credit for that?

Zodiac stats:
Yarn: Bernat Satin from Joann's (2 balls for the 3-6 months size)
Pattern: Zodiac from Knitty
Needles: I tried to get gauge on 9s & 10s, but ended up using 10.5s to get 4.5 sts per inch (and the pattern called for 4 sts per inch). I just made the larger size to compensate for my wrong gauge. It worked out fine.
Model: Olivia's Build a Bear Monkey (so cute!)
Mods: Um, obviously I didn't go with the whole 'zodiac' theme & decided to make my own NY Yankees symbol chart. I don't know if it was necessarily BECAUSE of the Yankee logo (Audrey), but it took me 3 tries to get the damn thing right. But it is done and it is so cute and I just pray it fits over that baby's head (cause me & monkey had a little struggle with it). Oh, and I put in a strip of snap tape instead of a zipper.

Now, must resist knitting skirt............
Must finish other things first.............
Yeah, right!

Summer of Sequels

I hate to blog when I don't have much to say. And, just like at the theaters, there's just repeats of the same ol stuff going on here. I'm making my friend Aimee a Sahara. In the same exact color I made mine in. BO-RING!

And, we went to another Yankee game just like last year. They won again. Yawn.

I guess there is one important thing to say to the moms out there; please remember to tell your kids to say no to crack.

Ewwwwww!

A pretty happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend is typically a long, boring, lonely affair for me. Filled with movies and knitting and wanting to go to a party really bad, but being supportive of the Lowe's employee I married and not going to such parties. (Poor Joe; he had to work 5 AM-5 PM all three days this weekend-and it's not like he had a day off in the last week either!). I have learned to deal with the days, but the zombie that comes home in the evenings is the hardest part. I want to go to a barbeque, and he wants to sleep on the couch. :( Oh well.

So, this is how I 'dealt' with my days this year:

Saturday, I went to the Mass Sheep & Wool Festival with Amy, Audrey, & Karen. This is me & Amy from Spunky Eclectic. She's so awesome. She was definitely the biggest hit at the festival.

That's a skein of her Purple Haze sock yarn in my hand. After the festival, we went to a little fabric store in Northampton (thanks for stopping, Audrey!) and I picked up the Cabo Halter pattern I've been wanting to make.

Then, we went to Webs (!) and used up whatever energy we had remaining.

Sunday, I had my spa day that Rocco got me for mother's day. He's such a good little kitty. Here's my pedicure & finished socklets:

Then, Monday I made the halter top & took totally silly pictures of myself in it. The neighbors must think I'm insane.



This was my first Amy Butler patern, but it will not be my last. It was painful to pay $13 for a pattern, but all the details & little hints in the pattern were worth it. I can't get over how well written it was. I even got the zipper right on the first try. That NEVER happens!

Glampyre ROCKS!

So, a few weeks ago, I was reading Stefanie Japel (Glampyre) 's blog and she asked if anyone had taped her episode of Knitty Gritty. Of course, I still had it in my Tivo, so I sent her a copy. Look what she sent me as a thank you present! Her book Fitted Knits, her mini sweater pattern, and her waist pack pattern. She sure knows how to make a gal's day! I think I'm going to make the top on the cover of the book first. It is sooooo pretty. I really like a lot of the patterns. There's a little shrug in there that might grab my attention before that gold top, though. I'll let you know which one wins!

Seven Random Facts

The latest me-me floating around the blogosphere; Kasia from Morgiana's Manifesto tagged me for this me-me. I figured why not. Gives me something to blog about.

Seven Random Facts:The Rules:

The way it works is as follows: each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves along with the rules of the game, as well as tagging seven others by listing their names as part of the blog post and leaving a blog comment for the tagged individuals to let them know that they’ve been tagged.

My Seven Random Facts:

1. My college degree is for Physics but I am an Accountant. I sort of lost interest in Physics somewhere along the way I guess. (Like accounting is interesting).
2. Touching cotton balls totally skeeves me out & makes my skin crawl, yet I love to knit with cotton yarn.
3. My mom got me into crafting and sewing. She is the QUEEN of UFO’s. I can’t think of more than 4 or 5 things she ever finished. She would take a class for a certain craft (stained glass, basket weaving, etc.), then finish her class project, buy a ton of supplies, start a bunch of projects & totally abandon them. Mind you, she still has all of these supplies to this day. I am still waiting on my bedroom curtains, quilt, and sheet set from 4th grade. I did, however, receive my dust ruffle.
4. My dad is where I get my obsessive nature. He is very organized and always puts things back where they go. For those of you keeping score, that’s 1 parent who is a packrat, unorganized, ufo committer and 1 parent who is borderline OCD. They spend most of each day trying not to kill each other.
5. I missed a month of school in my Junior year of high school because I had bronchial pneumonia. I have not been sick since. (I have pretended to be sick, but never actually been sick; hangovers, headaches and tummy trouble don’t count)
6. The only celebrities that share my birthday are Jimmi Hendrix and Bruce Lee.
7. I can’t F*CKING stand when people leave their pets in their car for more than a minute or two. If your pet likes to go for a ride, take them for a ride. Then take them home. Don’t take them to a F*CKING wool festival or to the hair salon or Target with you. They don’t need to accompany you while you run your errands. They could be sitting at home in the nice air conditioning instead of sweating and panting in your 150 degree car while you get your nails done. If I see a dog in a car on a hot day, I give the owner 60 seconds before I call the cops. Who ever drove the yellow Mini Cooper to the MD Sheep & Wool, I hope they had to break in your car to get your dog out. And I hope it cost a bundle to fix your window. And I hope they took your dog away.

Ok, I’m done venting about that. I’m not going to officially tag anyone. Just do it if you want to.