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.)