Christmas Vacation!

Well, things got a little crazy this weekend.  We were driving through Vermont when this happened:

 At 6 o'clock on a Saturday night, no one was open to even look at the car, but the person that towed the car said he would come in and look at the alternator the next day. 

So we stayed at a hotel, the Paradise Inn, and ate some bad pizza, bought some souvenirs, and were on the road by noon on Sunday.  It was fun and I took some nice photos, but I'd rather PLAN a weekend getaway and suddenly find myself having one!

Merry Christmas!

I finished my socks! So things are pretty merry here!

I will post more later when I have time. The holidays are hectic :(

WIP Wednesday!

It's almost the end of the year, and I'm almost done with my projects!  All I have to do is the button band and buttons on my sweater.

Dan's sock is going okay - it's a little slow because his feet are so big! But I think I've figured it out.

And my Pomatomus socks... well, coming along slowly! But they might be done before the end of the year.  We'll see.

Well... have a good rest of the week.  I'm going to go paint my nails.  That photo is almost embarrassing.

White Sunday

I woke up this morning and all the windows were frosted over... and there was a foot of snow on the ground! :)

It was actually fun shoveling our 3 flights of stairs.  I'm sure in early March it'll be obnoxious when we're gearing up and trudging through the snow for the ninetieth time, but today it was like a celebration!  We even walked down to the corner store and bought the paper and some beer.

It was nice just sitting around knitting and watching movies and stuff.  We also made Christmas cookies... but just baked them.  Hopefully we'll ice them sometime this week... maybe not.  We decorated for Christmas, got a tree, and put up some greens in the flower boxes, but didn't so much.  Our big Christmas purchase was a cute little snow globe with a fox in it.

And, even better news... my orchid that Dan got me for Valentine's Day last year is blooming again! It even has some new little shoots coming up. Did you hear about the color of the year? It's Orchid! The color of my orchid, the color of my sweater and the color of my socks.  I'm actually a little sick of seeing this color with two projects with it!

Busy Busy

I'm working a lot lately... trying to finish stuff for the end of the year! At home, I'm doing the same thing.  I washed and blocked my sweater this weekend, all I have to do is sew in all the seams and make the button bands!

I'm really excited.  Thought I realize that I would have helped myself out a lot by blocking sides that were supposed to be sewn together next to eachother so I could make sure they were the same length... live and learn! Next year, my new year's resolution is going to be to have less projects going on at once.  I can't keep track of everything.

Busybody

I've had a good Sunday.  I woke up, painted, mended a blanket that mysteriously got a hole in it:

(I was going to patch it but I don't think you can tell where the stitch was, so I'm just going to leave it there.)

And... I dealt with this:

I wanted to clean stuff out of my Dad's house, since I don't live there anymore and it's not doing any good way up there.  I got a BIG laundry basket of old clothes and miscellany; an under-the-bed tupperware of fabric; and these three containers of yarn. The entire trunk of my car was full!

So I spent the day sorting yarn into "Future Projects," "Misc. Arylic Yarn," "Misc. Wool-Slash-Animal Fiber Yarn," and "Misc. Sock yarn."

So... know anyone that wants some acrylic yarn?  I'm not going to use it... pretty much ever.  I just don't like the way that Red Heart looks when knit up, and I don't like the way it feels.  Some other Acrylic, like Caron Simply Soft or Vanna's Choice, are ok... but Red Heart is just not soft enough for my picky hands.

I think I'm going to take the Misc. Yarn to my knitting group and give it away there, then maybe post some of the stuff here and see if anyone wants it!

Foolproof

 

During my Thanksgiving travels, I told myself I would work on the socks.  There is now NO WAY that they'll be different sizes... Right?  Oh I hope so... I'd like to finish them this year.  I think that nine months is a long time to be knitting socks. 

How I Spent My Weekend

When I was in elementary school, we had to write in "journals." A lot of times the writing was prompted, like "What is your favorite dessert?" - and a very common one was "What did you do on the weekend?"

I'm some people can't really answer the question "What did you do on the weekend?" in an interesting way.  They say something like "Oh, just stayed in, didn't really do much..." before the conversation turns to sports or the news or the weather.  I can't be like that.  Even when I stay in, I still have to do some sort of project or I will just have so much energy that I can't hold it in and I'll have to do yoga or go to the gym.

Don't ask me how vacations are.  Dan thinks I'm obnoxious!

This weekend has been a weekend in.  And I'm really enjoying it - my sweater is on track (only had a sleeve and the bands to go!) and I've baked and walked around Target and watched Friends for the first time.

But most importantly... we had the first snow!  Our cars were covered in it when we woke up! I'm sure it'll be all melted before noon, but... it's here! SNOW!

I am Actually Making Progress on this Freaking Sweater

Okay, so not much progress, but I have now sucessfully identified which side is the left and the right.  This has been a pretty big source of problems, since, as you can see, THE RIGHT IS ON THE LEFT AND THE LEFT IS ON THE RIGHT.  

There was something in the Bible about how during the end of days, North with be South and South will be North.  That is how I feel with this freaking sweater.  It's the end of days. 

So, I didn't actually do any knitting, but I have paved the way to do knitting more efficiently.  Seems like an excuse that you'd here from a process engineer, right?  I have had to rip back both sides at least twice because I can't figure out the difference between them, so I knit the left side like the right and then... ugh.   I'm getting frustrated just remembering it!

When Okay Ideas Go Wrong

Did you ever get an idea that just didn't work out well when it was executed? I got that a lot when I was drawing a lot - One day I would be working away furiously at something that I thought was the bee's knees, then the next day I would sit down in front of it and think "What was I thinking!?" 

The worst ones would be the ones I actually finished.  I would step back, so proud of my accomplishment, then look at what I'd wasted so much time on... and my pride would shatter.  It would be crap!

Well, this project happened like that.  

I bought some nice yarn at Stitches - I liked it, it seemed warm and floofy... and I liked the color combination.  It just looked good to me.

On Tuesday, I couldn't find my knitting bag so I grabbed these two balls of yarn and started a hat for myself.  

Today, I finished said hat and tried it on.   First minus, is that it's too small.  The second minus, though, is that I couldn't help thinking that this hat was familiar.  I showed Dan.  "Don't these colors look familiar?"

He looked at me like I was crazy.   Then I realized.

My hat looks just like Cartman's from South Park!

So, I will probably weave in the ends and donate it somewhere.  It really is a nice hat... if you have a head the size of a cantaloupe and don't know what South Park is.  Or maybe some kid that's a big SP fan will get it and be excited. Because all my excitement for this hat is gone.

I'm sure everyone has a story like this, though!

Too Big Sock? No Problem!

I have not been posting or reading lots of blogs, but I have been knitting.  I got halfway up my foot with the rainbow socks that I started at Rhinebeck and I felt that they were just a little bit too big...

Thankfully, instead of frogging back to the toe, I'll just re-adjust my goal.

Oh, honey, you want me to knit you more things? BAM.

Socks are "fixed" and the boyfriend gets presents.  Two birds, one stone!

Stitches!

So, I also went to Stitches East yesterday with Ash.  We both brought along our boyfriends (hers was unexpectedly in town, mine was just curious.)  I think they did well:

Note the hands full of bags, the phones browsing reddit, and the "I don't even know how to contribute to this conversation if I wanted to" faces.

I had a really good time! We saw a lot of yarn that I really, really, really wanted to knit with (but didn't buy because you have to draw a line somewhere and if I bought all the yarn I wanted, I would be bankrupt.)

Some stuff that was tempting but I have to share is this:

It's yarn that glows in the dark! It's hard to tell because the convention center was really well-lit... but it's still cool!

I also saw this shawl:  It's a pattern called "Starry Night" on Ravelry.

This sock yarn: UGGHHHHHH... want so bad.

Anyway, I had a good time and was glad to find stuff to add to my wish list! I also found lots of not-wool stuff to get my friend Alysia for Christmas... :)

Meet Moby

Let's not talk about socks today.  Let's talk about this post I put up a while ago.  Remember this thingy?

I finished him!

I wanted to make a stuffed animal, because I haven't made one in a long time.  I used the leftover's from Dan's hat that I made last year (which is also an original pattern that I never wrote up...)  I'm calling him Moby the Whale.

Here's a picture of Moby playing in the leaves.

My plan is to publish this pattern, but I'd really like some test knitters.  If you're interested, leave a comment or email me (my address is on the sidebar) and I'll send you the rough draft of the pattern! I would like to have at least 6 testers.

Please spread the word if you know anyone that likes to knit toys.  The pattern uses size 5 dpns or circular needles and calls for worsted weight yarn such as Cascade 220, Caron Simply soft, or red heart. Skill needed include: knitting in the round, sewing seams, and picking up stitches.

Thanks in advance!

Some pretty photos from Rhinebeck

I figured for the sake dof having posts obsessively labeled, I'd do a separate picture of my favorite pictures that I took last weekend.  So, here it is! Hope you like them.

Sunset over the Hudson at Dinner with my Mom and Ash

Sheep dog Demo

The three sheep from the sheep dog demo, huddled together and looking hustled.

A wall of Penny rugs - these are a recent obsession of mine.

A photo of the view from Vanderbilt Mansion on Sunday, when my mom and I had a breakfast picnic.

Random photo of my feet.  Remember when I used to do this kind of photo all the time? 

Interesting grapey things

I fell in love with this sheep. I think his name was Nemo.  He let me pet him!

Tree at Vanderbilt Mansion

Leaf on the ground at Vanderbilt Mansion

(I think that you can click any picture to see it in it's full glory on Flickr.)

Rhinebeck Recap 2013

I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with my mom and Ash this year and go to Rhinebeck! My mom is a travelling nurse, and she's staying in Hyde Park... so naturally we said "Hey, mooooomm... would you mind letting us stay in your apartment and doing nothing but talk about knitting for the weekend?" And, weirdly enough, she said yes!

So, Ash and I met up on Friday, ate dinner, and we blocked our Rhinebeck projects out on my mom's carpet while watching really bad horror.

 

Then, on Saturday, we realized neither of us had a yarn needle, so we ended up kitchnering the armpits of her sweater and weaving in the ends with a bobby pin.  I felt the most clever I had ever been, and she took this picture of my hands that "look like the light of god is shining down on you." Not my words!

So, we perused all the crafts and yarn and demos, and I didn't really see anyone famous, sadly.  The past few times, I've seen someone that I've known online (whose blog I follow) but have been too shy to say hello.  I don't want to be a creep! I did meet some lovely sheep though.

I spent more money this weekend then I have any month this year on personal stuff.  I feel almost ashamed! In addition to yarn, I bought:

1.) A 2013 tote bag

2.) A basket (I'll use it for other stuff besides knitting!!)

3.) Boy scout popcorn

4.) A hat that my mom and Ash said looked cute on me

5.) 2 project bags

6.) A bouquet of sweet annie, whatever that is - it smells so good!

7.) 3 magazines

Ash and I also started on some socks.  There was a booth that was winding yarn into skeins for a fee - it was awesome! 

And I managed to finish the toe - it's Rainbow by Steam Valley Fiber.  Here's a closeup:

Have you ever been to Rhinebeck? What did you get? Did you go this year? If you did, why didn't we meet up!? I'll kick myself :)

I. AM. AN. IDIOT! (The reprise)

Sock toes were finished out, nice and even.  I laid them out to admire my handiwork, and I felt something was wrong.  It wasn't like when I tried them on before.  No, this was much, much deeper.

I was taking the photos, and the thought surfaced in my head like a sunrise.

Wrong sock.

Wrong sock.

It was like the big reveal of a thriller, where scenes flash really fast across the screen and you in the theatre seat realize it as the leading actor's jaw drops. Picture some voice echoing here.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong sock sock sock sock

Guys.

I cut the wrong sock.

Should I be laughing or crying? Dan laughed at me.

I took this picture but it sums up how I feel pretty well.  I think these things are going to sit in the knitting basket for a bit.