faeriedreamz

I am being relatively productive lately! It's rather a relief to have them done, completely. But I will say that this method of sock making is wonderful! I really hope I get the Cat Bordhi book for my birthday, so i can make socks like a mad woman. I am severely tempted to start a new pair... but before I go on about that... here are some awful pictures of the finished products. Do me a favor and just enjoy that the socks are done.... cus the pictures really suck. I am also contemplating making myself another cardigan. I love the blue one, but it is such a particular color that it doesn't match many of the clothes I wear. I am considering this cardigan from Knitty. I have some lovely plum colored yarn from China, my friend Arpad brought back for me. The only problem is that there is only 500 yards... and the pattern is calling for about 565. My assumption is that it won't really end up mattering all that much... but who knows. I have to get gauge (and then maintain it) fir...

Feeling pretty crappy right now. Missing my trucking beau a bit more than I would like. It's good that I miss him, but I wish I could turn off the loneliness feeling sometimes. Right now, I am letting school and knitting and work keep me busy. My boss is working on a new book right now, so I am very excited because I get to put it all together, and get templates set up for InDesign and make the equations pop in the right spots... :) So that is generally a thing to be excited about. My Tolstoy class is making me fall in love with Leo Tolstoy. The short stories were not fun, but Anna Karenina is rather interesting, and shows what an excellent writer Tolstoy is. Long winded, to be sure, but excellent, none the less. And knitting has been actually accomplishing something recently. This is a gift for Brian's friends, they just had a baby girl. She was born about a month ago, but it will still be useful! I have to contact them to get together and give the blanket to her. Hopefull...

I would really like to be more accountable for my atrocious knitting habits... I was listening to the Lime and Violet podcast and realized that I probably have at least as many UFO's as Violet does. I think that is... impressive. Maybe "impressive" isn't the right word. I should probably do something about that... but I just keep putting it off, and casting on new things. (for instance, last night I wanted to make socks. Now rather than just pick up the yarn for a mate to sock 1, completed in September, I think; I just found new yarn and started a new sock.... yea, that is smart) i haven't spun in ages either. I could blame it on a number of things that are going on in my life, but it is probably mostly due to laziness. When I am free, I just want to veg out and watch TV or peruse the internet. I will probably pick it back up soon... because I do miss it; but I also want to take a class or two so that I feel more confident about what I am actually doing. In o...

Ok, so random blogging, but I really like this idea... Julie from Moth Heaven posted about it. It's called Mission: Possible 2008. I guess you figure out what 12 ufo's you have, and you get to it; committing to one UFO per month. I guess you can do more with this... learn new skills and all, but I prefer just to stick to the UFO problem. I have plenty of those. 1. Amigurumi Doll... I have 2 legs, and the start of a body. 2. knitted gloves posted on ravelry 3. mom's jungle socks (One is almost done... ) 4. Judy's Celtic shawl... started but not worked on recently .... Right now that is all I can think of that I actually intend to finish; however, I know that there are many more. I will post them as I come up with them!

A few weeks ago, when i was sick, Brian brought me some Bananas. He got funky little bananas; they were cheap, and there were a lot of them. They were called Nino bananas. Now bananas are not something I enjoy a lot, and I tried this banana, and it was just too sweet for me. Brian wasn't happy with it either, thinking that it was a grassy banana. It didn't take long for the bananas to darken, so we decided to make banana bread, and it is highly praised. There were about 12-14 bananas on the bunch, so I made a big batch. fabulous banana bread! 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 2 cups margarine 4 eggs 8 cups of flour 4 teaspoons of baking soda 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice grated cinnimon (off of a stick) shake or 3 of salt 3-4 cups mashed nino bananas 1/4 cup milk Cream sugars and margarine. Add eggs and mix in. In a separate big, big bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and spices. Mix together. You can mash banana's by hand; or you can use a blender or magic bullet. Add...

but don't think that means you'll get pictures. because while I have all that awesome stuff, it's not with me. Maybe you'll get a shitty computer-camera pic.... I'll check and see what I can find. Anyway let me explain what I am showing you. First up is the hat I made using the StepYou are so lucky! You get halfway decent photos today. But only half way- don't be expecting too much! I'm having that time of the month. hanie Pearl-McPhee pattern . It is the second hat dubbed "tele-tubby" by friends (read: jerks). I got a bunch of heavy thick acrylic yarns from Jen, and honestly what better way to use them then to make big pretty hats and give them to charity. I only wish I could dye acrylic... the white is so... boring. Second up we have a picture of the poncho/prayer shawl I am working on for a friend of the family. She requested a poncho eons ago, and I agreed to make it... but the yarn is aweful, and I can't bear to work with it. So,...

Thanksgiving was wonderful, and I have much to be thankful for. Firstly is Brian getting a job, and secondly is finally moving out, and thirdly is rent money! The knitting front has been good. Made two quick hats out of the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee hat I linked to in the last post. The second hat I added earflaps and a loopy top too... My friends decided it looks like a teletubby. I hope that it will fit whomever gets it better than it fits me tho. I must have a "large-ish" head for a woman. The Flower City Raverly group is having a meet up on Tuesday Dec. 4th at SPOT Coffee. I hope I can make it. I would really love to meet some of the other knitters in Ro-cha-cha. I forgot to go to the WestSide Knitters group on Wednesday because I was busy baking pies and apple crisp. I remembered about 8:15, and by then it was too late to think about trying to attend. As it turns out, however, I don't think anyone else ended up going either. My roommate works on campus in the ...

Wow, look, I forgot to blog! (BTW, the super kitten on the knittin' is Kaylee, my sister's baby kitty.... I just had to throw some love in there!) Big surprise... anyway... It's finals week. Brian is over the road officially. He came back for a week to visit (YEA!) and then went out again. I expect to see him around Thanksgiving; should be fun times. Things got so much easier after those first few days of missing him, and school got MUCH more busy (or did I loose my focus?). I finished an entire project, but took pictures with the wrong camera, and don't have copies to share. I also did a quick chunky hat thanks to the Yarn Harlot, and am onto a second one. I am also working on a small prayer shawl for a friend. It is fashioned after the Interweave Holiday Gifts Candy Stripes Kerchief . I can't wait to finish it. I also pulled out some socks for me to work on. They were supposed to be for Brian, but it has been so very cold that I would almost prefer to be selfi...

Ever feel really really sad when you know you should be happy? Well, that is how I feel today. Brian left yesterday for N. Carolina. He was hired by Maverick, and while I am so excited about him driving and going around the country... my heart is sinking because I already miss him so much. i feel like someone has ripped a hole inside me. A big hole. You know what sucks the worst... he is doing this for me. For us, so we can have a future... and I can't get a hold of myself enough to shake the sense into me and remind myself of that. this job means that we have a future. It means that my husband will be able to marry me and become my husband. It means that he loves me enough to leave all his comforts and do something that he can enjoy and be paid well for.... and instead of being grateful that things are moving, and that we can move forward, I am crying my eyes out because my gut hurts were I feel empty. I feel like an ungrateful wretch. i feel like i want to die. And he mis...

Brian passed his CDL-A today! He is officially a trucker! He sent out an email with all the details to our friends and family today and I helped him. At this point I am just so grateful that he has passed, and can now take one of the jobs he has been pre-hired for. My hope is that he will get the Rochester area job, but honestly I don't care. Either one will work. In knitting news, I am almost done with my mom's birthday sweater. I think I forgot to post a picture, but it was almost done on her birthday. I sewed in one sleeve on Sunday and half of the other. All that is left is the inset neck adn weaving in ends. When I have access to a camera and halfway decent light, I will take a picture. For school I have been working on 2 socks on one long circular needle. I have done two mittens before, but this is the first time for two socks. As you can see I haven't gotten far, but far enough. I did top down this time, and worked with the heel gusset, usually not my favorite typ...

September is one of my favorite times of year. September is when the weather breaks. This happened on Saturday. Friday it was 85/90 degrees, and on Saturday I don't think it got over 50 degrees. This, while sad in a summer sense, makes me happy in a fall sense. I like the cooler crisper air, and the fact that the leaves are chanign colors and falling. I like watching the beauty of the season unfold around me; and there is something wonderful about that first cup of Hot Cocoa or first spoonful of homemade soup that warms you right down to your tippy toes. Am I sad to see summer go? Not really. Not this time. It was a beautiful hot summer, but me and my friends took full advantage. We went to the beach at least every other weekend. We had parties at the boys apartment, we spent the lazy evenings lying around in the A/C... It was a good last summer. But this new academic year promises to be exciting, full of adventure and fun. My friends and I moved out our parents homes and ...

Bee Shawls all around! I just received my kit for Knitspot's Bee Shawl ! So wonderful! The pattern is super detailed, and the yarn from Wooly Wonka Fibers is heavenly. What a lovely color (I went with Anne the designer and chose Tupelo Gold)! I am so excited. I don't have pictures, but perhaps tomorrow I will snag some. I am definitely putting this up in my ravelry account. I was invited recently, and have started making friends and posting. I doubt I will have a chance to get projects up in there until I am closer to moving out/in. The new apartment deal is exciting, and soon, very soon, I will know when we are moving in. Ok. I lied. I took some pictures with my "ibooth" built in camera. They aren't the best ever... but they are pictures and everyone likes pictures of wool! (What, you don't like pictures of wool? Well, what's wrong with you?) MS3 is well... I was going to say coming along, but the truth is, right now it is at a grinding halt,...

Surprise surprise, I am actually working on my Mystery Stole 3. I should be working on a million other projects, but I decided to work on MS3 exclusively. I think that part of my determination is that I feel I should be much more proficient at lace than I am. In order to make myself that way, I decided that I could only carry around my MS3 stole materials from now on. (Making life much more complicated for me! ) I have to have devoted knitting time to get this done. However, I have been at least mildly successful. I just completed the first chart, and rather than tempt the knitting fates, I decided to wait until tomorrow to start chart 2.

My last purse was such a success that I am raring to start a new one! I have the colors gathered, and that is start, but I'm not sure how I am going to handle it, or what the pattern will be. I am in love with the chevron look, but I want beads too, andMy last purse was such a smashing success that I can't help but make another! I have some yarn to I think that might be too much. I will keep you updated as I work, I might decide to go for something altogether different! I also decided that I need more tank tops, because I am severly limited in my choice of cool summer tops... and I have the yarn for it. I am still in the swatching phase, and I have decided that I am going to make this pattern my very own, including the idea that everything is going to fit me. No standard pattern, but some useful information from Knitting Daily about bust darts, and I should be all set. And actually, as I wrote this post, I realized I could use the chevron pattern on this! It might just work!...

so just check it out here

Swallow tail shawl on hold for a few days... err weeks. I just knit a purse out of single ply left overs... I need to get the pics off my camera before I post it. I also just realized how easy it is to put buttons in the side bar in the blog! I could swear that it wasn't that easy before now... maybe it wasn't. Now I just have to figure out how to set up an RSS feed and blog on a bi or tri weekly basis, and we will be all set :) Oh wait, RSS is automatic... so now i just have to post regularly! I am currently working on a dishcloth (easy smeasy simple pattern) and some jaywalkers from ages ago. I am glad I started the second one as quickly as I did, it will make getting the set done easier. I haven't actually finished either sock, however. I also recently finished a green sock with blue stripes. I have the yarn ready for the second sock, but I haven't cast it on yet. I am dying to try Nona's new Sidewinder pattern , which is tempting me to buy more sock yarn... b...

Last year, I bought the Fall 2006 Issue of Interweave Knits. I immediately fell i n lo ve with Evelyn A. Clark's beautiful Swallow Tail Shawl pattern. A few years ago, visitin g Df (d arling fiancee?) when he lived in Ohio, we took a short driving trip to Erie to go to a nice yarn shop there, Cultured Purl . It was one of the nicest yarn experiences I have ever had. We got there just after she opened for the day and we got to visit a bit. Df is always so good in yarn shops! I had a credit card or money or something, and I purchased expensive yarn, that I w ould proba bly not be able to afford now! However, I treated myself to 3 skeins of Blue Sk y Alpaca. I think it is the DK weight. I no longer have the ball bands, but I recognized the yarn in another shop, and realized why I had only bought 3 skeins. I always wanted to make a shawl with the perfect blue yarn, and when I saw Swallow Tail, I thought it would be the match... But I never did cast on for it. Instead, recently...

I was just in Canada with friends. We left on Friday and stayed until late on Monday. We had a really good time at Anime North, an anime convention. (true nerds). I got to hit up Lettuce Knit difficult.) I bought some Lorna's Laces, my very first, and some lovely rovings on Monday, which is a pretty short walk from Toronto's Chinatown district. (Pictures to come soon). It was a really cute store, small, but well stocked and well managed. The owner was so nice, and she let me use the bathroom! (Maybe that sounds silly, but finding bathrooms in a city can be verying. Both were incredibly reasonably priced! I have also been working on various pr ojects. I didn't get much "travel" knitting done, despite the long drive, but I did finish (err, almost finish) a sock during the convention. I will have to add pictures of all this stuff when I am done with work! I am frustrated with the baby sweater that I was working on; and I am not sure if i am going to rip it and star...

So I think I am going to go for the blog titles that have nothing to do with status! I am lacking pictures :( BUt i have finished stuff! - Brian's stripey socks are done! - Baby Gabe's hoodie is in zipper process - Baby Charlie's hoodie is awaiting washing, blocking and zippering I am working on a hand towel for the new apartment. Oh, what I didn't mention it yet? I am moving out soon! I am very excited. My sister, boyroomie, and girlroomie are all moving in together in the complex that my boyfriend living in. Its a super nice townhouse, and the landlords seem like a really good company. I believe they are part of Natapow management. We are going to move in, hopefully, in August. Anyway, given that this will be a shared apartment, and for me, home, I wanted to give the apartment some things that would be for everyone, like hand towels for the downstairs bathroom. (and maybe the upstairs too.) I think I am also going to make some curtains for my room, out of yarn,...