Milestone

I seriously can't contain my excitement.  Last night seemed uneventful, I went back to my hotel room, propped up my sore knee (I guess I jumped a little too hard on Saturday), got frustrated with a secret project I'm working on, and pulled out my Rock Island. And do you see it!? Do you see it in the picture below!?

No, not the latest episode of Haven... Guess again! I'll give you another clue!

I'm done! I finished the edging.  I finished it.  It's finished.

I'm not even a large percentage of the way done, but it feels like I finished a huge project. That's the joy of breaking up big tasks into smaller milestones, I guess. And it doesn't even seem like I used up any of the giant skein that I got from BitterSweet Woolery.

Happy Tuesday!

Obligatory Post of Photos from my Trip

So, my first week of training has been AWESOME.  I've had a few moments that I would describe as "adventurous," where I almost had panic attacks, but that's par for the course when I travel far, end up in a completely new place, and meet a ton of people.

The biggest of those moments was a week ago, when Dan's car broke down on the way to the airport.  I'm happy that I took the time to immortalize the event with my camera, because now it just seems really funny. Did I mention that my flight left during a blizzard? They got about six inches of snow between 6AM and noon.

You can click through to see my other photos (I figured I would break up the post so that people with feedreaders didn't have to suffer through a long string of photos that they didn't want to see.)

Big and Little

Taking part in the production of this short has been one of the most rewarding creative things that I've done so I really wanted to share it with someone.  I've been kind of hesitant to do so because it still makes me sad when I think about it. But, I felt like I should include it for the sake of continuity.  I blogged about making and designing these puppets for W here and here but things kind of got quiet as things starting to get awkward in our relationship. The world deserves to know what happened?

I think I'm at the point where I'm still sad because I won't be able to do fun things like this anymore, but I'm proud because some of my doodles in a notebook turned into this.  When I originally drew the very first design for Big, I never thought that it would be a character in someone's film.  I never anticipated actually giving it a three dimensional, tactile form.  I never dreamed that someone else would take that form and shape it, make it something as beautiful as this.

I Want to Knit a Sweater

So, I have a few sweater's-worth of yarn in my stash.  Not that I have "enough yarn in my stash to knit a few sweaters."  No, it's different than that.  I have several bags full of skeins in ziploc bags, that I bought with the express purpose of knitting this or that kind of sweater.  I have a giant bag full of cascade 220 superwash that was supposed to be part of a knit along.  I have two gorgeous skeins of worsted weight that I bought at Rhinebeck two years ago, thinking "I know exactly what a sweater will look like from this!"  I have a mixed pack of Berocco vintage and handspun (also purchased at Rhinebeck) that would make a great cardigan with a contrasting yoke... 

We're not going to talk about the cozy cocoon sweater that I knit last year, ok? I gave it to a drag queen, because he was the only person who could wear it well.  I'm serious.

My point is, I have so many plans to knit sweaters, and so little experience actually making them.  So, when I got a very large endowment of very nice yarn, I thought - sweater!

Then I filled my knitting basket with it and looked at it for three months...

Then I convinced my boyfriend to hold a bank of it while I spun it into little cakes...

Then I knit a gauge swatch...

Then I found a perfect pattern that will look nice on me, seems practical, and looks quick...

I'm all set, right? ... Right?

No.  I need circular needles.

So, everything is set up for me to knit a sweater.  The mise en place is done.  I just have to jump the hurdle and start. Maybe after I get back from my business trip...

One Sock Down, One More to Go!

I finished my first watermelon sock late on Sunday, watching Dan beat the latest Dead Space game.  At work, I have been scrambling to finish all of the things that I have due during my training trip, so my days have been work - sleep - work. Hopefully once I churn out this giant report I won't have to work late on Friday.

But, that's just me complaining! My sock is fun, I love the colors and the fit of the heel - but it is a tad too tight.  Not uncomfortable, just two stitches short of perfect.  Most of my socks have relaxed a little bit after wearing and washing, though, so I'm sure these will too.  In which case, they'll be perfect!

Sweet Nothing Swap!

I've had a busy week, and next week will be even busier because I'm going to Minnesota for work from the last week of the month to mid-March... but I wanted to share my package for my swap partner and the awesome stitch markers that I got!

I'm really proud of the tiny tin that I made. It's a little lopsided, but the top can be used as a pincushion! It took me an afternoon.  I loaded it with chocolate, those little posits that are really good for flagging patterns you like in a magazine, and some stitch markers that I made.

Then, I packed it with a funny Valentine's Day card, some beads that I had left over from my gauntlet mittens, and some tea.  I'm psyched that my partner liked it. 

I got a nice letter and these handmade stitch markers from Kitsune of Kit's Knits. I love swaps so much!

You can see all the swap results at the roundup over at Yarn Miracle.

Watermelon Waltz Socks

I started on a new project with a pretty zauberball that Ash gave me for Christmas.  I did some two at a time toe up socks, and then I realized...

... they looked kind of boring.  So, of course, I frogged them - even though I was about to turn the heel - and started again! This time striping the sock from both ends.

It went along great! I love the look of the two stripes! And then... this. Are those stripes!? They don't look like stripes!

I can just get over it.  It doesn't look too bad! And then I noticed... you can see my "jogless" jogs! You have to look pretty close, but they're there.  And I can't unsee them.

I mean, my life is going pretty well if the biggest problem I have today is the fact my jogs are showing. 

Oh! And the name! I picked watermelon because the socks are green and pink, and waltz because each stripe is three rounds long.  I'm really proud of my wittiness here :B