Nature's First Green

So, I am home for the weekend and having a blast.  This morning I volunteered with Friends of the Chemung River Watershed.  It was great weather for trash picking!

These people are enjoying a nice Saturday under the pretense of picking up trash.

The leaves on the trees in Upstate New York are gorgeous this weekend.  I was driving home yesterday and I couldn't stop thinking about the poem:

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leafs a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay. 

The trees look like they're ready to burst full of leaves, and so many plants are out.  On our cleanup, we came across a huge patch of trout lilies, coming up out of the soil. The garden at my Dad's has Forget-Me-Nots blooming, my favorite flower! Here are some of my favorite pics from today:

I got to sit in the backyard with Jackson, who is super huge! Do you remember him? He's like a tiger now.  I got to take a bunch of photos of him, which I like.  I will probably be taking a bunch more photos in the future, the weather has really raised my spirits! Even now, the night is mysterious and drizzly, like in an old fashioned crime radio show.

A regal tiger cat.

I'm making earrings, and knitting tons more hearts for Karen's Walk this weekend! Gwaaaaahhh. Back to work! *whip cracks*

Navigating a Cubicle Maze

That's what it feels like I do whenever I leave my desk when I'm at work! Really, they should have signs like shopping malls do, with bright colors to indicate what department is what.  That would be really helpful to me, "short blonde co-op who has no idea where she is going."

Anyway, I don't like to blog about work because I just KNOW that one day, I'm going to be working somewhere, and someone is going to want me to work on a super secret government project because I am FABULOUS at my respective field (you can giggle here)... then they'll do a quick google search, read this blog, and discover that I'm not trustworthy! I've leaked super secret company secrets on the internet! Oh NO!

So, I guess I'll share some general thoughts on how my co-op is going.  I've only been working for a month, but I've done a lot of stuff and I feel like I've actually accomplished things, which is good.

1.  Living alone isn't so bad, especially because I don't have to worry about anyone tripping over my things.  My apartment isn't a sty (well, maybe that back room... and under my bed...) but everything is where I know I will remember.  There are no siblings or parents moving my things around.  My keys are always hung over the door, so I never leave the house without them and lock myself out.  

2.  Being far away from my sweetie isn't so bad, because:

              a.  I can hide all my stuffed animals that he gave me under my bed.  Stuffed animals, I cannot stand you, you clutter my bed and stare at me, asking to be hugged.  But, they're gifts... I can't throw you away! Now, you all get to live in lovely harmony under my bed.  If you stare at my feet, it's okay, just no eye contact please.  Thanks.

             b.  I can make him cute things without him knowing! Who's that Pokemon!?

Urm... he's not finished of course.  Otherwise you would recognize him, dammit, I know you would!

3.  I am sensitive to the soap in the bathrooms.  I don't know why.  I spend most of my work-day on the computer, and for some reason this really makes me need to pee at least once every 2 hours.  I noticed I was getting a pretty gnarly rash, but figured it was from Lotus. Then my fingers started to swell, and it interfered with my typing (at work) and knitting (not at work.)  I now present a definition:

problem (n.): Something that interferes with knitting.

Oh, not to mention my mom has Palmar Pustular Psoriasis, which started as a similar thing.  That also worried me, so I went to see a doctor, who said "It's probably the soap" and made me extremely thankful that I had health insurance and could be charged that much money for that answer.

Since Monday of last week, I've brought my own soap to work.  Weird, I know, but it worked! No more itchy, burning rash on the back of my hands and no more puffy fingers that don't want to bend.

4. Lotus is starting to adjust.  Last night, she stretched out on the floor of her cage and let out a ferocious yawn! Did you know hedgehogs can yawn? I sure didn't. Heck, I didn't even know they liked to stretch.

I also bought her mealworms over the weekend, and she is too happy.  I wish I could adequately capture her joy on my camera after she devours one! It's impossible! 

t= 0 sec.

t= 0.1 sec

This one of her licking her lips might do it though, hehe!

 

Let's boost my blog readership by putting up some cute hog photos, shall we?

Okay, that one's kind of fuzzy... can't win 'em all.

What's Up Right Now

As of Sunday, I have a new apartment mate! Lotus came to live with me, and we are experiencing a typical roomate-falling-out.  She's nocturnal, I wake up during the day.  She likes bland food, I like onions, garlic, and pepper.  She can tolerate sitting on my lap, but god help me if I pester her when she's napping on top of her hot pad (another thing that bugs me-- she likes to be super warm, even for a hedgie, even at 82 degrees F she sits on her hot pad and snoozies!). This is evidenced by her angry face, as shown above.

We both love sitting on the couch, though.  I don't know what's up with her and my leather couch, but she likes to crawl under the fleece pillow and nap.  Which is cute :)  She's a bit camera shy, so maybe I can get some cute head shots at a later time.

Oh, yeah, I've been knitting too.  Behold, one sock of two that I'm making for my Uncle Mike, a guy who could use some more socks.

The pattern is improvised from these socks (ravelry link) I wanted to do a toe-up version that was easier to fit, so basically it's just a toe-up sock with the pattern repeat.  I think it's a really nice, mellow pattern that's easy to memorize and looks impressive without a lot of work... just my type :)

I'm also making a bit of a surprise.  This is going to be a free pattern up when I finish it, because it is... blatant copyright infringement... hehe. I think people will be excited when I post this.

Anyway... have a good week :O

ROCHESTER! AWESOME!

So, I'm in the Flour City for my three year anniversary with my sweetheart, and I just thought I'd share two of Rochester's finest places to go.  If you're ever in Rochester, check these places out!!

Artisan Works --   http://www.artisanworks.net/

Basically, this place is Warehouse 13 for art.  They've taken a bunch of old warehouse spaces and crammed them full of every cool work of art they could find.  There are artists working on pieces, and a bunch of stuff for sale.  They also have a rooftop garden, and you can reserve spaces for parties and such -- though I'm not too happy about that because we missed the ENTIRE second floor because of a godforsaken party.  When they're only open to the public three days a week, you'd think they'd have the courtesy to post that a large portion of the place is inaccesible due to an event.   But anyway! Overall, I'd give Artisan Works 9/10, and say that anyone who visits Rochester should see this place! It may not be the best place to bring small children, but, hey, what art gallery is?

Dogtown --    http://www.dogtownhots.com/

They sell hot dogs.  Delicious, gourmet hot dogs on baguettes.  I have eaten here at least 7 times now, and I've never gotten food I didn't like.  Even their veggie dogs are good, really, fake hotdogs... good! If you don't go anywhere else in Rochester but Dogtown, I doubt anyone that's eaten there would give you funny looks.

So, I had a good anniversary. :)

Charity Knitting

Aside from my knitting curse (being unable to make anything for myself...) I'm not usually an active charity knitter.  The knitting club I'm in, RIT Hooks and Needles (which I'm the president of- urk! People laugh when I tell them this!) does a different charity project every academic quarter, and I usually take part in that along with whatever else I happen to be working on.  But, this year, I'm working with a fraternity at school to raise money for the Karen Decker Cardiomyopathy Fund.

We're knitting the Hearts pattern from Mochimochi Land, with permission of course.  I'm doing my best to make a heart every day, and before the day of the walk, we're all going to get together and attach key rings to our little hearts, then sell them at a table.  We managed to get the yarn and key rings donated by club members and family, and the table space is donated as well! All of the proceeds will go directly to the fund, Hooks and Needles doesn't keep a cent (I know, I'm president.)

But this post isn't about tooting my horn or asking for help. (Though, if you'd like to knit a heart, feel free to e-mail me and I'll give you a contact address to mail it to!) This post is a general WTF.

I've probably knit a dozen of these little hearts with some Red Heart I had leftover from... I don't know what.  Maybe the yarn is from my early years, or maybe it was a gift from a family member, that is also not the point of this post and I don't want to go on a tangent!

The strange thing about the yarn is that whenever I sew up the hearts, it's a little different each time.  Sometimes the sizes are slightly off, sometimes the shapes are kind of wonky... and sometimes I just screw up. I don't know how I do it!

 Here's one: my second heart, it kind of looks like Mickey Mouse.  I think this mistake is cute, and maybe it'll make it to the table, maybe it'll get little whiskers embroidered on it and and up being a different keychain, haha!

Here's another: WHAT IS THIS!? How did this happen!? I don't even know. I'm ashamed, really, I am.  The only explaination I can give is this was the last of a long line of hearts that I sat and made while sitting in front of the TV. Obviously, I wasn't paying attention when I sewed it up... or stuffed it.... or both.  I'm usually pretty meticulous, and don't tolerate mistakes, but when I finished sewing this up and looked at it, it just put a smile on my face!

I think it kind of looks like a bird, what do you think?

A tale of a stolen hat

I don't know how keen your memory is, or if you've been following me for a while or not, but in September I realized that I needed a hat to cover my head when I didn't feel like washing my hair in the morning (I'm blonde, so my hair constantly looks greasy if I don't wash it!).  I put it up on my 2009 knits, though it was only linked to ravelry.

I wore this hat home for Thanksgiving break, where I staying with my mom.  Now, my family is odd, and has gettogethers where the women combine food, drink, and strange clothing.  After my grandmother died it was muumuus. Now, it's funny hats.  Everyone in the house MUST wear a hat and MUST pose for an endless stream of pictures together. These parties last for HOURS, and I'm sure that they would amuse me much more if I was old enough to drink.  Sadly, I'm not, so I dart away to spend time with the other, non-drinking members of my family, and we band together in someone's room as if we're rebels hiding in a bunker.



Anyway, one night, my mom found my hat and wore it to the shenanigans. Everyone was delighted and complemented her on the new hat, since, if you were at the Funny Hat Club every week, you notice that there are only so many hats that someone can own. After about two months things become normal.

One of her friends, Jo, fell in love with it. "Your daughter knit that? WOW! Can she make me one?!" I'm sure that many of you have been in a similar situation, but of course, I was hiding in a closet with my cousin at the time, playing Drawn to Life on her Nintendo DS, so how could I respond? How could my mother respond?

With "Of course she can!" ... of course.

So, the next day, mother dearest nonchalantly mentioned. "Oh, Jo wants a hat just like mine, except in an earth tone.

I of course, had several qualms.  One, I am not a hat factory. I have things that I plan on knitting and I actually, in fact, probably have quite a long waiting list of things to make for people.  Second, that's not your hat! Of course, I couldn't argue to the latter, because when I did I was met with "But I love it! It's so beautiful! Can I keep it? You can have one of mine, we'll trade!"

As for the second, well, enough pestering can bump anyone to the top of my waiting list. So, I decided that in leiu of some sort of repeat of last year, where I was speeding to finish Selbu Modern and ended up blocking it to such an ugly shape that I nearly cried, I decided to take it easy and make something in a day.

Of course, when I told her my plans, she only said "We have to match!"

 So, here I am with the first hat, with three days to make the second.  I think it will work out, though, it's not exactly backbreaking to do. I actually like this yarn, it's "Lion Brand Wool Ease," and it was on sale so I bought a bunch :)

Also, I thought I'd throw in a picture of my studio, in progress. The papers are all of my ideas, doodles, etc. As if this post wasn't long enough! Have a good week!

When I came home from work today, I thought "That's just a nice photo" :)

Lovely but PITA Socks

Here they are! I finished these socks a while ago, before I moved, but I wanted to wait until I actually had pictures before I posted them. My sweetie took them and e-mailed them to me! Aren't they good? Isn't his camera nice? I like them.

Anyway, this pattern is Rapunzel Socks from Knit.1, and I fell in love with them... but there's something wrong with the heel. I knit the heel of the first sock up, got to the end, and was like "ERM... what is this?"

So I looked for errata. There were, on the internet, go figure. Fool me once, I should have looked that info up since I was working from a magazine.

So I make the heel again, 100%, my gusset stitches are decreased and... WHAT!? The pattern didn't line up! It was, like, 10 rows off!!

I'm honestly knitting retarded.

So, then I frog back at club, do the heel again, but with a rib instead of a cable so that I don't have to worry about rows lining up. So I'm at club, and Ash says "I want to try it on!" Of course, that seems like a good idea...

It wasn't. The sock was like, an inch and a half too short. So guess what I did, again?


Eventually, I just turned a heel that I found on the internet, which Ash loves because it's comfy and I love because it was so easy to do, and it looks easy to darn. I did a rib up the back heel, and I think it looks fine. Overall, I am pleased.

May I knit these again? Yeah, maybe, if ten years from now I really wanted these socks. Once I figured out the heel, the going was easy. I might make these in a knee-high with a picot heel for a little girl. Would I recommend the pattern? Noooooo.

On an unrelated note, I love how it's so fun to blog when I have to drive to McDonald's to do it, and I'm surprised that I can amuse myself without the internet.