Bead Along Update - Oh, We're Halfway There

I finished the first glove for the Bead Along over the weekend between cars, trains, and subways.  I'm not really happy with how it turned out... I like it, but it's not wearable for me.  The first reason is the knuckles - it doesn't cover mine!

A few other irks and grumbles I have about this pattern.

1.  It doesn't cover my knuckles!! I don't know why, but this bugs me so much!

2.  It's a bit confusing after the thumb.  I assumed that it wants you to start the ribbing, but I could be wrong.  I just did what the pattern said so I could blame someone else when I didn't like how it turned out.

3.  The yardage is off.  Never, never, in a hundred million years will this pattern use 200 yards of yarn.  I haven't measured, but I'm willing to bet money on this. That's just a pet peeve of mine.

I keep finding reasons to grumble about this pattern, but honestly, I'm just mad at myself for spending $4.99 on this. $4.99 for Fingerless mitts? I thought surely I would be getting some sort of amazing, quality pattern that would change the way I feel about making fingerless gloves. That was not the case at all - I've learned my lesson, that's for sure.   Eventually, I'll get over it - eventually!

And to top it all off, I found a ladder.

There you have it, honest to goodness proof that I am not perfect.  I've never had a ladder happen when knitting before! After using DPN's for ... almost 5 years, now that I think about it.  I'm wondering if I can fix it by tightening every little stitch by hand?

Anyway, at some point this week I'll find the rest of my beads and get ready for the second round of this pattern.  They really are pretty - but, I think I'm going to pawn this pair off on someone as a present and make my own pair, making a few mods to make it more "me."

Anyway, if you're interested consider joining the Summer 2011 Bead Along! I was nervous about beading at first, but it really is easier than it looks. Check out other Bead Along Posts here!

My Random Monday - August 1st

1. Whew, my weekend was crazy! Through a combination of personal and family craziness, I found myself in NYC, Towanda, Troy, Sayre, and then... back in Elmira, happily.

2.  I also finished a mitt for the Summer Bead Along - but that's another post :P

3.  Here are photos of the Troy Fair.  I'm sad that I only made it to one day - I love people watching at the fair! That's hours worth of entertainment :)

4.  I actually got to enjoy Pinkberry in NYC! It lived up to the hype, I'm happy to say!

W mentioned how much it tasted like yogurt - I kept saying "Well, duh." One of my favorite breakfasts is vanilla yogurt with fruit mixed in, so I loved it!

5.  Some more NYC aquisitions:

Hedgehog erasers! I wanted to go yarn shopping, but sadly I had some problems with my wallet (the main problem being, I left it under the seat of the car that gave me a ride down to Maplewood to see W) so I'll just have to cope by purchasing a plethora of cute hedgies for my shadow box.

6.  Speaking of shadow box, here it is!

If you click on it, you can play a game of "I Spy." Though, some of the stuff (Like the condom!) were added by my mom... I have no idea the story behind those.  But most of the other things are just little trinkets that I've picked up in the past four years.  My shadow box isn't filling up as fast as my mom's, but each little thing has  story behind it, so I think that's better!

7. Also, my Pink Lemonade Socks pattern was sent out to testers today... I'm so, so, so excited :D

Beading Along

Time flies when you're purged, so I meant to post these up a while ago... but just got around to it today.  May I introduce you to my Summer Bead-Along Project!

The pattern is Garnet Mitts by Sarah Marsden, and I REALLY like the combination red beads + yellow Frog Tree Alpaca Fingering Yarn.  When I look at this project, I think of the scene from the animated Hobbit movie, where the red dragon is lying on piles of gold coins and rubies (along with other treasure, I'm sure).  I'm happily working on these, along with my other project that I should blog about soon.

This is my first time knitting with beads, and I'm confused why I was so scared! The beads on this patten are pre-strung, so whenever you want to place a bead you just pop it in place - really easy! I would definitely recommend this pattern, though there is no sizing advice or detailed photos, so I'm a little miffed about paying $5.50 for it.  I thought I would have some good advice for a beginning beader, but it really doesn't :P

Anyway, I'm psyched to be part of the Summer Bead Along, hosted by Revelations of a Delusional Knitter.  If you're interested, check out her post here! There's still time to enter, and there are some super cool prizes at the end :)

My Random Monday - July 25th

1. The past week has flown by.  I've moved, cleaned out my apartment, gone into Boston... phew.  I feel like an itty bitty dandelion seed floating around in the wind.


2.  I'm surprised how well Lilac took the move.  She has definitely downsized, from my 300-square apartment to about a six square foot pen.  I think she's also a little transfer shocked.

3.  I went into Boston on Friday with W and my brother.  It was a seriously awesome experience! I have to admit, that's something I may miss about New Hampshire.  It cost quite a bit for the four of us to go in, then there was the food, tickets to the aquarium... but I didn't regret spending a single cent! :)

4.  In the same vein, I'm going to NYC this weekend to visit W and see the studio he works at.  I feel like such a globetrotter!

5.  Back to Boston... I saw this fish at the aquarium.



Doesn't he seem so happy? I dunno, for some reason his face reminds me of a baby's smile. Maybe I'm going senile.

6. W got WAAAAYYY better photos at the aquarium with his fancy DSLR.  He's really turning into a camera buff.

7.  Last but not least,  picture of my brother and his friend goofing off on 88 Saturday.

My Random Monday - July 18th

1.  Have you ever seen unwords?  That has been a fairly recent timesuck of mine.  Neologisms are great - I honestly think that the English language would be dead without them.  Seeing a word that goes from something that makes most people say "huh" to something everyone understands is pretty cool!

2. With that, I present my own neologism:

"chaussadisproprotiophobia" - n. - the fear that your socks are not the right length.

I have counted rows so many times I might be insane, but the row counts were the same yet the measurements were off between my two socks! So, I said the three magic words that every knitter says at some point:

3.  "It'll block out" - Knitterspeak for "I seriously can't be bothered to bother with this right now, I'm going to finish these up anyway because I'm probably not going to notice this mistake in a year (or twelve)." See also: "Giving up", "Picking battles", "Another glass of the nice wine, please"

4.  Another neologism:

"abstraphotomania" - n. - the intense desire to take artsy-looking photos of your F.O. 

These photos may be in black and white, but it is not necessary.  98% of these photos will be deleted, and 0% will actually end up in the pattern for said F.O.


5. "Congratulations?" - What you say to a student whose co-op has ended unexpectedly as she spends her fourth straight day in sweatpants.

Hello, Hoomans!

Hello there! Lilac here, updating everyone on how I am doing since my lazy slave is too busy keeping to herself.  She spent all day today above my lair, staring at these things that she calls "soaks!"  Then, a while ago, she jumped up and held them up, and put them on her feet! Since then she's been walking around the room, pointing the orange light at herself and then looking at the photo-taker, saying things like "They aren't even!" and "Oh! I'm so pale!"

Anyway, I'm a rabbit, and I don't care about that stuff.  So I'm going to post up some pictures that I found on the compooter of ME!

This is me. I am not shy.  I pretend to be shy when the orange light shines near me! It's quite scary.  The orange light shines, and the photo-taker makes funny noises, and my slave goes "OH! SO CUTE!"  I don't think anyone can ever figure out why this happens, but it always happens in that order.

This is me going to hide in my lair.  My slave sleeps on top of my lair, but only I get to sleep in my lair.  If my slave tries to reach under my lair, I will tell her what's what and grunt and jump like I'm going to bite! I would never bite my slave, though, she is really a good slave, just not very smart.

This is my basket.  Grass goes inside of it.  I dump the grass out and my slave picks it up.  It is good, clean fun.

This box is mine.  A man knocked on the door and gave it to my slave, and I ran in circles and my slave set the box on the floor and emptied all these things out of it and now it's mine. Only I am allowed inside my box.  You are not allowed inside.

This is one of the pictures that my slave was taking of her soaks.  I did not approve of this, because my slave was not playing with me.

I told my slave what's what and tugged on her fur.  My slave sighed and said, "Oh, you're right, I'm going to have to block them out because I don't think the cuffs are even... I'll do that tomorrow."

Then my slave went back to sitting on my lair, and I allowed her to pet me while I snoozed.  She is quite the best slave a rabbit could ask for!

Irresistibly Sweet!

Last week, Jordan from In It To Knit It gave me this really cute award! Thanks, Jordan!

As part of the award, you have to give seven random facts about yourself, so I'm going to try and give some facts that aren't in my 100 things... I'm not going to check though :P  If someone feels cheated, I guess I'll add something.

1. I have low latent inhibition.  Every time I tell someone about this lately, they've said something like "Like that guy in Prison Break!?" - I've never seen prison break, so I have no clue!
2. My favorite thing to do when not knitting is watch Hulu - I'm considering getting Hulu plus just for the reality TV shows!
3. My favorite genre of books is Distopian - Lord of the Flies, Oryx and Crake, 1984, We, Brave New World.  I don't know why, I just really love them!
4. My grandfather tells a story about how, the first time I spent the night at their house, he came to the breakfast table and I was eating toast with marmalade and reading the obits to my grandmother from the New York Times.  I have no memory of this.  I was three or four at the time.
5. I have a folder on my computer of funny photos that I've pulled from the internet of have had sent to me.  I highly recommend this practice for cheering oneself up! I have a bunch of EHS related ones, too, for presentations.
   

   

   This was emailed to me by W - no idea if it's real.

6. Everytime I hear the word "applesauce" I smile.  I don't know why - it used to be a lot worse.  I would laugh everytime someone said it!
7. I sleep walk and talk,  Severely.  I'm comfortable with the fact that I won't harm myself or divulge any horrible secrets, mostly I babble incoherently and keep people awake.  I have a lot of good sleepwalking stories.

The second part of the award is that you have to pass it on to 7 other blogs/bloggers, so here it goes!

1. Yarn Miracle - This blog is REALLY sweet, from the adorable toys to the adorable toddler, Emily has the market :)
2. Tiny Angry Crafter - I love reading about Carla's WIPs, her posts are quite sweet - I mean, really, you can't think up a better word to describe these headbands (besides fantabulous, but I've been told that's not technically a "word.")
3. Kit's Knits - I love seeing her knit and crochet stuff! Since I don't crochet, I get my fill of amigurumi eye candy here :) And, she's just a sweet person
4. Skirted Fleece Farm - Oh, not really a knitting blog, but I can't help it! I love living vicariously through their posts, and seeing pictures of their farm as it starts up.
5. One Word Down, Millions More To Go - What can I say? I'm a sucker for reading! Rachel hasn't posted in a while, though.
6. Knitting with Olof - Also hasn't posted in a while, but she has some great F.O. pics, and some really adorable kiddos.  Oh, and her reviews are great - honest, well-meaning, and sometimes accompanied by giveaways ;)
7. Sessilifolia - I like seeing her FO's, and she's just a sweet person! So, award for you :)

Wow, finding seven blogs I like was a lot easier than thinking facts about myself!  Thanks again, Jordan, for the award!