I had an engagement party and no one died!

Adorably(?) bad kerning

I was very nervous about our engagement party. It helped to set a goal - when asked about my expectations, I just said "As long as no one dies, I'm happy." So when things when inevitably wrong (the CD that was playing party music skipped, high winds tore down handmade bunting, I forgot one of Dan's relative's names) I just told myself "no one is going to die" and was able to float through the party with something that was close to zen.

Of course, that probably didn't seem zen to some people. I was really hoping everyone had a good time, and so I tried to get the two families to mingle. Eventually I realized that I should have at least taken some photos, so the only photos I have are kind of grainy 8PM post party stuff.

Yes, these are the LEFTOVERS.

We had a great dessert table, with all sorts of sweets! Sadly only one cake was gluten free, and that ran out fast. At least I got some before it was gone, but at 9PM when the last few stragglers were eating cookies and milk I felt a little awkward munching on veggie tray leftovers.

I test drove my homemade bunting that I put together, and I learned two things. First, I need at least 10 times more bunting for the wedding. Second, wind and bunting don't mix. Wind and decorations don't really mix in general. Most stuff had to be brought inside, where my hard work went pretty much unnoticed - oh well. No one died.

My favorite detail of the party? This thing.

Yeah, the gift table is not really pinterest worthy, sue me.

It's a cloud peeing rainbows. We saw it at the party store and I bought it on a whim. I love it. We brought it home with us, and I spend the entire drive like this:

Overall, I had an awesome time and would do it again. Oh wait... I am, and it's going to be even bigger and I'm going to get married at it. 

Yikes.

Better just knit some more and not think about that.

A Project Diversion

Sometimes you get pulled into knitting things for people. Usually I can resist, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the folks at my knitting circle. They are so nice, and mean so well... and well they're really persistent.

Here's how the conversation went:

Her: "Oh I'd like to knit my new great grand-daughter a baby blanket. Do you have a pattern for that?"

Me: "Sure! Here's a really easy one!"

Her: "Oh lovely! Here are the needles and yarn! Can you start it for me?"

Me: "Ok! It's a really easy pattern."

Next week

"Oh, this is so tough, my hands just aren't the way they were when I was younger. Can you show me again?"

"Sure!"

Next week

"Hey, I noticed you haven't really worked on your baby blanket. Everything ok?"

"Oh, it's just your work looks so much better than mine! Can you work on it today?"

"Sure!"

Next week

"Again? Listen, is it ok if I take this home and work on it?"

And now I have this pretty thing.  Made with Red Heart! Hopefully the new owner likes it.

I'm Engaged!

Ok, I've been engaged for about two weeks now, but I've been so overwhelmed talking with family and friends offline, that making the post here slipped my mind.

So, obviously, my 16 in 2016 goals might be... not met? I'm not sure what I'm going to craft for this. Dan and I got the book A Practical Wedding and the workbook as an engagement gift from Alysia, so we've been using that to plan things. It's really been great!

Our date is set - June 3rd, 2016 - and we have our photographer/videographer already booked! We're also planning an engagement party, engagement photos, and all the trappings. I'm really excited!

Oh - of course, I should tell you how he proposed! It wasn't a surprise. (Can it really be, when you've been living together for almost four years?) I knew that he had the ring, but I didn't know what it looked like. I knew he was going to propose to me on a weekend. He really wanted to go to Maine, so I kind of figured he was going to do it there. We had a great day at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, then pizza for lunch before going out to the island.

Before dinner, he suggested we take a walk along the beach and watch the sunset. We did, looking for sea glass and just having a good time. Once, he bent down on one knee to pick up a piece and there was an incredibly awkward moment where I thought he was going to propose and I felt myself crying with happiness. He just looked up at me confused and we had a good laugh. I said "You know when we reached the point in our relationship when you couldn't get me any jewelry in ring-sized boxes? Well, now I guess we're at the point where you can't bend down on one knee for things." So he pointed out the seaglass and I picked it all up.

When we had walked up and down the beach, we sat down on a big fallen tree that was turning into driftwood and went to compare treasures. When they were all on my lap and we had come to the traditional decision that it was "a pretty good haul," he stopped and gave a cheesy gasp.

"Oh, wait, I have something here in my pocket."

It was a suede jewelry box, that was slightly sandy. I opened it and the ring was inside.

I said yes, of course :)

Oh, and here's a closeup of the ring. It's a little big, so I have to get it resized this weekend.

WIP Wednesday Week 16

Lots of progress! I'm almost finished with my Matchstick Socks! Like, 2 rows and a bind off is all that separates Dan from his socks!

And, I already have a next project. I'm going to keep it a secret though, because it's an original design and I'm really proud of it! Here's a sneak peek:

On the blanket front, I've almost finished the quarter I'm on! That means that I'm going to soon be 75% complete :)

So, I'm feeling pretty good this week! A little progress, but it feels like a lot.

Check out the other posts at Life and Yarn or Yarn and Life.

Virginia Beach Photos!

I'm back from vacation! Though the flight back was a little tiring, I had a great time. I didn't knit much, but I read a lot and took some great photos, so here they are!

Of course, there's got to be sunrises on the beach... :)

And beach creatures:

 

But, I didn't spend much time on the beach... it was pretty windy. And cold. Here's photo evidence of me being sandblasted:

I got some great photos at the Virginia Aquarium:

Oh, and I've gotta share the food that my family and I got at Citrus, which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives!

Citrus pancakes:

Obviously, I didn't get the delicious, glutenous pancakes... but I wasn't stuck on the backburner! I had a chicken salad plate, and it was AMAZING :)

To end it off, here's a pic of JT cuddling with our neighbor cat, Kurtis (I took it when I got home so I guess technically it's still a vacation pic?):

Stitch Along Wednesday - Week 14

I worked from home today because I'm getting a cold and want to rest up before my VACATION in Virginia Beach next week. I'm lucky that today was slow, and I got to sleep in, work on stuff that I normally don't have the bandwidth to do when I'm in the office (with people coming through and interrupting me) and catch up on reports. (Ok, I don't like to catch up on reports, but you really have to do it... so it's nice to do it in pajama pants with my cat on my lap)

Anyway, it also meant I had daylight to photograph my WIPs in! So here I am, participating in Gracey's Stitch Along Wednesday :)

My Hue Shift Afghan is coming along square by square. I work on it in the car on the way to and from work, when Dan drives. 

Dan's Matchstick Socks are flying off my needles! I'm so happy with how this pattern is. I think I'll be making these again :)

I'm having trouble picking my next project after I finish Dan's socks. I have one that I really want to do (it's a design, so I wouldn't blog about it) but I'm wondering how to make it fit in my 16in2016 Challenge criteria...

Well, those are my knits. Join up your blog here!

Birdie Sanders Knit Intarsia Pattern

Ok, ok, I'm feeling the Bern :) I really like all the art that's come up around the campaign, especially the bird-inspired stuff! The folks at the SandersforPresident subreddit are really cool. 

Anyway, I saw this post and got inspired to make some intarsia. So, I did!

Anyway - you can find a spreadsheet of the pattern here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lNc5_0h3hjaPdnRxM5JfI19_GLgUpFuJA0FOLnml48s/edit?usp=sharing

I like saving it as an excel doc, since it's easy for you to tweak the cells to match you gauge. The design is 64 stitches over 40 rows.  But I can always export it as a PDF if people want. Just leave a comment.

Also, if you'd like it in a different gauge, just let me know and I'll whip one up for you :)

If you make something, please let me know! :)

Do you ever just wish you could go back in time...

... and smack your past self upside the head?

Also, I had to untangle it.

I've had this mystery yarn in my stash for a long, long time. I could have sworn that I bought it at my first Rhinebeck, but it's not in the post where I took pictures of my haul. Then I remembered I used it for a project in summer 2010. But I never posted where I bought it! I'm so annoyed. I could've sworn this was good stuff - I remember winding it from the hank. But since I can't PROVE to myself  that it is, I can't get a twofer for this project!

Late night progress photo on our kitchen island.

It's going really fast, so I can't complain! I'm making Matchstick Socks, by a lady that I've followed for a long time, Sara at knottygnome. When this pattern came out in 2010, I remember thinking "I wish I had the money to spend on this..."  Well, now I do! :)

The pattern looks so nice with the painted part of the yarn. It's just ok for the stripey part that's solid, but that's kind of what I expected. It's going great, and I love it. Like I knew I would!

My past self... I could like a little more.

In other news, it's spring! The lilac at my back door has baby leaves! And last night, we had a thunderstorm! It was so nice to sit on the porch and watch it roll in. 

16in2016

1. Knit something for charity.
2. Knit something just for yourself.
3. Knit something you can finish in a weekend. Then spend the weekend working on it!
4. Knit something that's been in your queue forever. (Can be a Ravelry queue or just something you've been wanting to try.)
5. Knit something and then yarn bomb somewhere! (Be sure to get permission. I'm going to do something on my own property.)
6. Knit something that uses a technique you've never done before.
7. Knit something silly. (There are so many possibilities!)
8. Knit something to give to someone as a thank-you. Everyone has someone that they can thank for something!
9. Knit something useful.
10. Knit something that uses a vintage pattern. 
11. Knit something that uses game knitting. 
12. Knit something from a pattern you tried before but gave up on. I have a lot of these!
13. Knit something from a pattern that you tried before and loved. I have some of these...
14. Knit something that uses indie yarn.
15. Knit something with someone else (through a knit along, mystery knit, etc.)
16. Knit something from a pattern that you buy. Spend money on a book, magazine, or independent pattern!

Something Useful

For those of you that we're up all night yesterday wondering what I was making,  here you go! Classic dishcloths.

I've had the Sugar and Cream in my stash for ages, after I got it in a swap package. It's the perfect yarn for dishcloths. I can't even imagine making dishcloths out of anything else. Just like I couldn't imagine making anything else with this stuff. It's cheap, yeah... but it hurts my hand to knit with it. Thankfully, the skeins are small and I can use one up on two hours or so (or two dishcloths or so!)

Anyway, no good dishcloth photos. We were on Rt 88 in Upstate NY, which is not a very good highway. Plus, the fact the sun was setting didn't help much.

P.S. - Happy Easter!

Oh My Goodness I Finished Something!

My socks are done!

We're heading home to visit family for Easter, so that means knitting and listening to audiobooks. And I finished my Marlene socks and they fit! I changed the second sock a bit,  since the first was a little loose. But you can hardly see the difference.

I just love this pattern.  Love the way the ribbing turns into swirls when you pull them onto your leg.

And now I'm starting a new project, something quick to make up for the 3 months I spent on this one. :) I'll probably be done with them before we get to Binghamton! Guess what it is...

16 in 2016: something just for myself. 

http://aly-oops.blogspot.com/2016/01/16-things-to-knit-in-2016.html?m=1

My weekend in photos

Remember when I used to take photos ALL THE TIME? Now I carry a camera around with me 24/7, and I seem to be taking less photos. I think it might be a lack of wonder and awe. Which is a huge shame, I think. I'm constantly surrounded by amazing things, but I don't stop to take a photo. I don't take that second to separate myself from the event and commemorate it with a photo. In a way, it's more zen... but it also is a little sad. I don't have a scrapbook worth of photos at the end of the year.

Anyway, Dan and I went to Maine for the day, and hiked out to a really nice lookout point with his family. It was great. After that, we had dinner and napped and then went home. I did some knitting - but this post isn't going to be about that :P

The view from the lookout point

This basset hound, Hinga, lives at the start of the trail and if you want to go to the cliff you have to stop and say hello to her.

Family huddled on the dock to say goodbye to us as we took the ferry back to reality.

JT the cat was happy to have us back. He sat down on Dan's legs and then fell over and went to sleep.

Anyway, hope everyone else had as good of a weekend as I did! :)

Stitch Along Wednesday - 2016 Week 5

Oops, I skipped week 4 because I was just SO DONE with everything. I had really bad carb flu, and was just miserable. But now I feel great! Yay, Whole30!

Anyway, here are my updates:
1.) Most of my Bunny Mittens work has been technical - writing the notes down, adjusting the charts. I'm going to try and get some people to test knit it on the Ravelry forums when I think I have all my ducks in a row (and when I think that I have the second sample done!) I did make a cute little fork pom pom for it though!

2.) Another square on the blanket! I'm almost at the point where I've caught up all the work I had to tear back.

3.) My Marlene sock's heel is turned and I'm decreasing the gusset. I'm really surprised that I can knit this while reading! Well, until my hands get tired and I just read.

4.) Yeah - I have a fourth project (kind of) - my next 16in2016 is going to be Purple Baby Hats!

 

I really liked making these last year, and my friend gave me some very fun purple hand dyed yarn, so I figured "easy come easy go" and that I should get some karma back by donating it to CLICK. I found out that you can send in hats any month of the year, so I can work on one at a time. (The improvised pattern I do is really easy, and takes about 2 hours to make a hat)

There's my update! Make sure you check out the other updates here!

My First 16in2016 Project!

... It's a hurricane hat!

I made this hat almost 6 years ago, and remembered how easy and fast it knit up. When I was frustrated with my Marlene socks last week, I was fantasizing about an easy, quick knit, so I banged this out in a day. I used some nice Madelintosh that I had in my stash from a failed design.

The only problem? I have no idea what to do with it.

I need to send W a package, I have a series of books I think he's like and a flash drive of hedgehog photos. I guess I'll send him this, too. If he's still wearing his old hat, it might be a little worn by now. Maybe he needs a new one. Maybe he'll just throw it out. Doesn't mean I didn't have a good time knitting it.

Anyway, I'm happy to cross off something from my 16in2016 list!

1. Knit something for charity.
2. Knit something just for yourself.
3. Knit something you can finish in a weekend. Then spend the weekend working on it!
4. Knit something that's been in your queue forever. (Can be a Ravelry queue or just something you've been wanting to try.)
5. Knit something and then yarn bomb somewhere! (Be sure to get permission. I'm going to do something on my own property.)
6. Knit something that uses a technique you've never done before.
7. Knit something silly.
8. Knit something to give to someone as a thank-you. Everyone has someone that they can thank for something!
9. Knit something useful.
10. Knit something that uses a vintage pattern. 
11. Knit something that uses game knitting. 
12. Knit something from a pattern you tried before but gave up on.
13. Knit something from a pattern that you tried before and loved.
14. Knit something that uses indie yarn.
15. Knit something with someone else (through a knit along, mystery knit, etc.)
16. Knit something from a pattern that you buy. Spend money on a book, magazine, or independent pattern!

Stitch Along Wednesday - 2016 Week 3

3 Weeks into the Year! Whoa. Here's the status of my projects.

1. I finished my first 16in2016 project! I'm going to post about it later this week.

2. My little design is coming along well... Bunny mittens! (In the same vein as Kitten Mittens, hehe)


3. Added a square to the blanket! If I knit a square a week, I will some day finish. That's the level of project management on this baby right now. I just work on it when I can in the car.

4. My first sock is growing! Hoping to turn the heel this week.

I'm doing Whole30! Here's how my first week went...

 My friend Alysia and I decided to convince our significant others and eachother to try the Whole30 challenge. It's 30 days of clean eating - and it supposedly changes people's lives. I figured I'd record my experience somewhere, and why not here?

Stitch Along Wednesday - 2016 Week 2

I really like reading Gracey's Stitch Along Wednesday, so I figured I'd link up! :)

Right now my three projects are:

1.) A new design for mittens! I'm really excited about it. I haven't really started. But I have the plan!

2.) My color block blanket that I got into a bind in. I laid it out and did some frogging. It hurt. I wish I could say it was like lancing an abscess, and the hurt was fast. But it was more like peeling the bandage off a bad cut that should've gotten stitches, but instead you decided to wait until the clinic was open the next day and now you feel like a dummy. Not that I recently cut my thumb cooking or anything...



3.) My first 16in2016 project!



I decided to start the year off by knitting something for myself. I've had this knit.1 magazine since I first started blogging, because it had all these designers that I looked up to. Well, I went to ravelry page and... there's errata?

But the website doesn't mention any errata!

But the pattern page says there's errata!? I'm so anxious. Am I doing something wrong? What do I do? The projects are not helpful in this regard. So, for now, I'm at an impasse. Will update as new information becomes available.