Sparkle Moxie

2006-12-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

What's this?

Part of this. In my Entertainment Weekly, I saw a similar hat for $75. $75! For a baby hat! I decided that one, that was ridiculous, and two my impending neice NEEDS one, with a Sparkle Moxilicious twist, obviously.

I took some of the yarn that's being used for her mama's Christmas present (Malabrigio in Purple Mystery), and knitted this up with some more Mal in a lavendar color for contrast. I just kind of made things up as I went along whilst watching Futurama until 12:30 last night when in all honesty I should have been studying for my Logic final that's tomorrow. Kind of like I should be now. But I moved the heart motif (in the original, it's on the hat and not the earflap), and I started the mohawk further back. D thinks it should be trimmed down, but I'm loving how big and crazy it is right now. Should anyone want the pattern, let me know and I'll draft one up.

2006-11-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

So, I realize I haven't necessarily been blogging, per se (and I say per se, because I would have an entry ready to go in my head and then just kind of not get around to it (I also partially blame the new video game goodness in the house, D and I have been playing the wii and Guitar Hero II so much that our forearms hurt)).

But I have been knitting. And finishing things, which is even more of an accomplishment. First off are my two new hats, both in Malabrigio. The pink is from Handknit Holidays, and the teal is for the Meathead Knitalong, which was baby's first knitalong. I love how the tip of the teal one is so pointy, even though I thought the pink one was pointy when I first finished it. And how the brown stitching on the cream Q monogram makes the hat look particularly elifin. Plus, it knit up perfectly according to pattern. I subbed the Malabrigio instead of Lamb's Pride, but my guage was spot on, and I think I have enough left over to knit a plain, single strand hat. But now that it's FINALLY gotten cold around these parts (seriously, yesterday I was in flipflops, and today I'm freezing. I love you, Houston!), I can start wearing them with abandon.

I also managed to finish D's scarf, that doubled in size after blocking and still curls up on itself even though there's hardly any purl stitches and again, has been blocked. I'm confounded. And I finished the third attempt on S&S's baby blanket. But, in pure me mode, I forgot to take a photo of it before the baby shower.

Currently, I'm working on Christmas presents, but don't dare mention them here, otherwise they'll never get done, and finishing up my Digital Imaging project in Flash (!). Should be an interesting couple of weeks.

2006-10-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Made me a hat.

D's going to be the Mad Hatter for this Halloween party we're going to, so yesterday we went to Frankel's and found a cheap top hat. (As an aside, that was my first time at Frankel's and D and I are enamored) This is what I started with:

And turned it into this:

I really like this part:

Kind of makes me wish I was going to be the Mad Hatter instead of Alice.

2006-10-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

Craziness abounds.

I don't know what it is about this semester, but it is kicking my ass. I'm taking Logic (it's a math credit), and I have to say, it's probably my favorite, non-major related class. That, and it's taught by this guy who looks like a total hippie and who rides a motorcycle. And, all of his examples involve jello and/or illegal substances or alcohol.

If Janet likes jello, then Janet likes malt liquor. Janet likes jello. Janet likes malt liquour.

Anywho.

I'm also taking Digital Imaging, and I am loving that class. Today I finished up a panorama of the traveling carnival that's set up in the parking of the ghetto mall I used to work at. But, while I love the class, I am spending at least four hours or so outside of class working on things.

I'm knitting like crazy cakes, including my mom's purse (finally!), mountains of baby stuffs, and a something I'm thinking about contributing. If I don't, I'll publish it here, I think it's kind of cute, and working on my Halloween costume, which I'm pretty excited about. D's going to be the Mad Hatter, and I'm going as Alice. Both costumes are heavy on the plaid, and other graphic prints. Although, if I had it my way, D's costume would have centered around this great lilac plaid I found. Jay McCarrol likes it! D should, too.

I'm going to try to get some pictures up later.

Peace Out!

2006-09-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Odessa! That was a quick knit.

I had lunch with D's aunt (who I love, love, love and am appropriating for myself) since I was having a rough couple of weeks and wanted her advice on things. To cheer me up, she took me by the Hen House, the yarn store she goes to in Spring. While there, I found a skein of Karaoke in this gorgeous colorway and had to have some. Although, at ten dollars a skein, I could only afford to have to have one, so a hat it was!

While I love the yarn, I hate the way the company skeins it. There was a knot near the beginning, another in the middle, and a very awkward color jump near that second knot, causing me to have to switch which end I was working from and then splice them together. Eh.

Yesterday, I wound up stranded at home instead of at school (long story), and in a foul mood because of it. I decided to make my mom's Noni bag, since it was for her birthday and that was oh, the beginning of August. But when I pulled out my Cascade to wind it, the purples didn't seem to match. At the store, I thought I had picked out a cool purple and a cool heathered lavender, but at home, the purple seemed more red violet. So my mood got even funkier, and I started working on the Zia shawl that I was supposed to have finished to have taken on my vacation (as an aside, the only time I would have wound up using it would have been in the car on the way to and from to shield myself from the sub-Arctic temperatures at which my uncle kept the air conditioning). Then today, when I took the yarn outside to photograph it so I could complain about it here, et voila! it matches again. Some days, you know?

But, in fabulous news, a week ago, D's brother and his wife announced that they were expecting triplets. In fact, the way N decided to tell me was by calling my sleepy self up and telling me to start knitting. In triplicate. That makes FOUR babies on their way into this family. So on the right, the pink/green/orange/yellow log cabin is for S& S, and the blue/turquoise/purple log cabin and the one and a half baby Odessas are for the triplets. They don't know what they're having yet, but I'm doing these colors because I know they're N's favorites.

Next year will undoubtedly be interesting. Stay tuned.

2006-09-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking. More freaking booties! But I couldn't help myself. These are for the incubating neice, so I absolutely had to.

And, as a warning, I have been sitting on this post for half a week, so, dated info is a-coming.

As happy as I was that Angela finally got kicked off Project Runway, and am even more happy that Vincent got kicked off. That man is a complete nut, and not in a fun, quirky, uses the phrase 'piss and vinegar' while he shells roasted peanuts and ruminates on his porch kind of way (I'm using my grandfather as a model, can you tell), but definitely in a creepy, grosses you out everytime he said that one of his crack-ass designs gets him off kind of way. Whatever Vincent, happy trails. But don't let us know about them.

Anyhoo, Natalie and I took a cabling class last weekend at Yarntopia. Much cabling fun was had by all. We were using Malbrigio, and I do believe that's my new absolute favorite yarn. So fucking yummy. So yummy, in fact, that I've already finished my scarf, I just couldn't put it down. I need to weave in some ends, and then block it, but I should have pictures up within the week.

The class was taught by Brynne Sutton of Samus. How cool is that? Brynne was very nice, very patient, and very funny. I highly recommend taking one of her classes.

But now I'm off; have to go to school to work on a project (on a Sunday, gah).

2006-08-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

I totally broke my own edict about not casting on for anything new before I finished up my Un-fo's. But these booties are so mutha-frickin-cute I think it's ok. Made with Knitpicks Shine, they are so squishy and cute that they even reduce D to an incoherent goof. They're for a co-worker's daughter, and match the blanket I made for her.

And can I say

--PROJECT RUNWAY SPOILER--

I am so fricking happy that fricking Angela finally got kicked off the show. Girl was absolutely crazy, and I so wish that Alison were on in her place. Well, if I'm making wishes, I wish that creepy Vincent had gotten kicked off the last three times he's been on the chopping block, but whatever.

And in fantabulous news, this blogger is the future auntie of a future niece! I'm so excited.

I had my first critique for my digital imaging class, and I think it went well. In the PR vein, I find that completing my projects for my art classes is much more bearable/less stressable when I just think of them as PR challenges. Make it work!

This weekend I should be taking a cabling course, if someone else signs up for it. My SIL said she might, if she's feeling better by Friday or so, so we'll see. And Ok Go is doing their treadmill thing-a-thing tomorrow night on the VMA's. Go forth and watch the synchronized goodness.

2006-08-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Lookit! Actual knitting content! (As an aside, that sentence was rife with typos -- I'm blaming the wicked bad cold I've had for the last week for those and any other mistakes that might slip by)

Anywho, this is the Noni baguette purse and camelia flower. This pattern is super easy, and really fast. So fast in fact that it was supposed to be my vacation knitting, but I got started early and that kind of didn't happen. I'm glad did it early though. I bought more yarn to make one for my mom for her birthday, intending for that to be my vacation knitting, but there was no way it would have fit in my luggage the way I packed. But I highly recommend the pattern, even if I did make the flower too big and had to felt the hell out of it.

And thanks much to my Secret Pal! Right before I left, she sent me a big box of goodies, including some Mission Falls cotton that I can't wait to get started on, even though that's going to have to wait (more on that in a bit). And when I got back I got an envelope with some old knitting magazines. I'm having fun going through them, and some of the names are particularly funny after having been on a cruise.

Anywho. I've taken stock of my Un-FO's, and decided that there are far too many of them. They include (and I knowI'm forgetting some here): my mom's Clapotis from last Christmas, D's green scarf I started a while back, the baby blanket for S & S, the Print O' The Wave Stole, not to mention the fact that I promised my brother a cover/case for his PSP. So I told myself that I wouldn't cast on for anything until those pieces were finished.

This, to say the least, should be interesting.

2006-08-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'm fucking international. As in I've been places. I can now truthfully say the phrase "I've been tubing in Belize." Woot.

D and I just got back from vacation, I've got the land legs back (seriously, for two days I felt like I was still on a boat (sorry, dad, I know you said you can't feel the boat move, but I so could)), and I've wrestled free from the hell that was a 16 hour drive in a minivan stuffed with seven people and their luggage on a drive from Houston to Port Canaveral. Never. Doing. That. Again. I don't care if it saves me money, leg room is something to be valued.

Our cruise hit Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya, and Nassau, and D and I had a fucking amazing time. I saw, in no particular order, Mayan ruins, a barracuda!, drunk sorority girls, dolphins, a hermit crab in my cabin, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The Noni bag is coming along; I'm in the process of sewing on handles, the flower, and then I do the lining. But for now, I'm tired, and off to play video games.
Wuh-oot.

2006-07-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

So, I was going to have photos of my Noni bag, the unbaptized, yet speedily finished supposedly vacation knitting, but I was having issues with the flower embellishment. In that it was far too big. I, knitting goof that I am, made the flower per the instructions, without considering that it might need to be smaller to go with the bag (which I had felted to be one inch less than the specifications). That mofo got felted 2 1/2 times, and then I kind of had to pin it in a way that made the petals curl in, making it seem smaller.

But that will be up when I get back, for yes, I am going on my first REAL vacation, out of the country and everything. D and I are going on a cruise, baby. I'm so fricking excited. And when I'm back, I'll have photos, knitting, and more likely than not, a sunburn.

Holla!

2006-07-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Somehow, whenever I mention a project here, it languishes in knitting libido. Which is weird, because you'd think that mentioning it here would be like baptizing it, but nope. I started what was supposed to be my vacation knitting, and I'm almost done with it. I just have to felt something, and I'll have pictures, hopefully tomorrow.

Peace out and Goodnight!

2006-07-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Naive Knitting is gone! I'm really kind of upset about that. She hadn't posted since February, but I kept checking just in case. That's where I got the tweedy pattern that I used for MattyJ's birthday scarf, and, in general, she just made cute stuff.

Today I was working on the shrug for Y2E, and noticed a mistake in the pattern. So I ripped it out. When I took it off the needles, it looked a little big. And when I say little, I mean at least two sizes too big. You know, like the Grinch's heart. I took a break, but I just don't know what to do about it.

But I did see The Devil Wears Prada, and let me say this - I actually had to restrain myself (multiple times) from leaning over and tellling Natalie "I LOVE those shoes." And that pleated skirt she wears at the end. And dear god but that was some pristine make-up. Positively drool-worthy.

In tribute to the loss of Naive Knitting, here is MattyJ's scarf, which is entirely too short on his six foot self. And Hailey, looking hawt.

2006-07-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Buh-jeebus but I didn't mean to go so long without posting. The laptop went all a-wonk yet again because of this stupid virus. Tonight, by total chance, I checked it and everything seems to be working for the time being, so blog, baby, blog!

My birthday was a week ago, and for whatever reason, 26 makes me feel old. 25 didn't. But 26 does. Eh. I got yarn money, woot, and went to Yarntopia to spend it all. Since D and I are going on a cruise at the end of the month (!), I decided to make a shawl. Actually, I decided a shawl would be perfect when I saw French Girl's Zia pattern. That thing is gorgeous. I didn't want to buy the recommended yarn, but I found colors that matched pretty much perfectly in Nashua's wool and alpaca blend, so I've been working on that. So far, it is very yum. I was working on it at S-Bucks today, and as I was leaving, the baristas started asking me questions about it. They also asked me if I was a Knitta, and while I was very flatterered, I was also very sad to have to say no, I am not a Knitta. I'd rock it if I were, though.

2006-06-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had entered Glampyre's Design Contest. When I sent in my idea, Stefanie told me that she thought it was a cute idea in the return email. Being that I'm not exactly one to get my hopes up over things, I just kind of thought that she was telling everyone that.

But I took second place! I'm so fricking excited. What's even better, in the post about the winners she mentions that she'd like to make patterns for all four winners, as opposed to just first place as was mentioned in the beginning. Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe this deserves a woot.

Woot!

This is the center of the baby blanket, two wedges from completion. I know the color choice here is a little odd (already I've gotten two "Did the parents pick those colors out?" remarks, but one, they don't know the other colors next in line (apple green, butter yellow, turquoise...it's not as crazy or as big top as it sounds), but I really think its going to turn out well in the end.

And do you see what I'm talking about with the garter stitch? I love how all the little rows look, and how slipping the first stitch before you turn around makes those slash marks. Go. Buy. The book. Seriously.

2006-06-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm kind of feeling better. Partially due to this book. It came in the mail on Friday, along with the yarn for Stephanie and Seth's baby blanket.

This book is so fun, and so lighthearted. And it has done something that even Debbie New could not -- it has made me appreciate garter stitch. There are some really beautiful, simple designs in here. I'm doing the blanket inspired by those rugs, but as soon as I'm done I really want to make one of the log cabin blankets. And one of the bathmats.

Pictures of the baby blanket soon; tomorrow I go to drop off the car to be fixed (fast, I know, but you have no idea the amount of pestering it took).

2006-06-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, when things go well for D and me, they go really, really well. And when they go bad its just terrible. Yesterday afternoon, some crazy old hag of a socialite hit my car. I've gone over the story so many times I just can't do it again, but what kills me the most is that she thinks she didn't do anything wrong. Today I took off work and D was already scheduled to be off, so we spent the day driving around, getting the car appraised by someone my dad recommended, getting it appraised by her insurance people, dropping off photos of the intersection....bluh. Especially when you factor in how hot it is here. Air conditioning is awesome, but that doesn't stop the sun from coming in and beating down on you. Like when you're stuck in traffic because of some kind of spill on the freeway.

But back to yesterday. After we finally got everything sorted, and the car-wrecking gadfly left (and what did I see as she drove away? Her committing another traffic violation, changing lanes in the middle of the intersection), D and I got an accident report form from a police station, and headed to my mom's for dinner. We were there kind of late, and when we got home at 11:30, we found our ferret Jippie lying on the floor of her cage, barely breathing and cold. We knew she was sick (she had tumors in her belly), but she had been so happy the last couple of weeks, playing with our other two ferrets and just generally being excited whenever we came into the room. She died this morning sometime after we went to bed at two and before we woke up at eight. She was the first pet D and I ever got, for our one year anniversary. I don't think you could ask for a sweeter little ferret.

2006-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be an Auntie! D's step-sister is expecting. Naturally, the first thing I did when I found out -- and I mean first thing, before I finished the congratulatory response email I opened another window and started picking colors off of Knitpicks -- was start planning out the baby blanket I want to make them. I had planned on making another pinwheel blanket like the one below, but as I searched for something to get me over the 40$ limit to get free shipping (yeah, I'm terrible about that), I saw that they had Mason Dixon Knitting on sale. I'd been toying with getting it, but looking through it again, I saw these rugs. At a glance, it seems like it could be the same construction as a pinwheel blanket, or something similar, and I really want to go crazy with it. I got a ton of colors in Shine Sport, plus I still have some left over from the first blanket to add to it.

But I am so excited about being an aunt. S and her husband had been living in California, and just moved down here. In fact, I found out about the baby when she let me know that they had finished moving down!

This is the blanket I made for my friend Pat's grandbaby. I know Pat's daughter, but not terribly well, so I tried to be more conservative than I would have normally.

Woot!
Future Auntie Blogging!

2006-06-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Two and a half jobs will really yank the spare time out from under your feet. But things are going well. I've been put back in my regular office at the school (today's adventures included overdramatic mother/daughter tag team theatrics, and attempted bribery, woot!), and the internship is going well.

And the half job? I've got another sample to knit for Y2E -- Glad from the new spring Rowan. The store owner picked out this Kidsilk Spray, in this pretty, heather-y/pale violet color. I swatched, and apparently, I don't knit on guage like I thought I did. It's like being the last puppy picked from the litter. For not being on guage. Instead of getting 11 stitches to the inch, I got nine on size sixes. Threes are the next guinea pigs, but I really think I need the fours. The fours that are currently being used for the lace shawl (on which progress is being made, albiet slowly). And I really want to leave that alone, since I'm fairly certain I'll get bored of all the stockinette and will want to shake things up.

Oh, and have you seen the new spring Magknits? I almost ripped out the sock I'm at the heel on just to convert it to Tropicana.

2006-05-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

This Secret Pal is good. Today, after a miserable and frustrating day back at the old job, I got (insert joyous music here) the pattern book with the Urban Aran in it. I was so excited that it actually elicited an out loud "Holy Crap!" as I opened it in front of my mail box.

Thank you so, so much, SP!

Reading over the pattern really makes me appreciate how talented brooklyn tweed is; some of the modifications he did are stumping me a little, but I hope that once I get going, I'll figure it out.

Thus begins the quest for a good yarn for this sweater!

And I've got the internship! Woot. It's going to be about twenty hours a week, doing a whole hodgepodge of stuff that may eventually lead to bigger things. I'm pretty excited, but the downside is that I don't think I'll have time to work at the yarn store (which sucks -- during my shitty day at work, all I could think was "They better not make me fill in at this office again, I've got another job offer!" (I work in a school attendance office, but today they put me in an office full of angry, rabid parents to fill in for I don't even know who, since there were able-bodied people who could have done what I was doing (namely, playing word games on Shockwave when I wasn't being assailed by aforementioned rabid parents))).

Anywho.

As we segueway from May to June, I thought I'd post this picture for Project Spectrum. It's one of my new baskets that I got to organize my craft wall. Geek that I am, I now have my yarns sorted by color. Its fanfuckingtastic, I tell you.

Now I'm off to measure and cut paper (I told you it was a hodgepodge).

One last time:

Thank you Secret Pal!!!

2006-05-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I tried to get a good picture, I promise. This is the first and least blurry picture out of five (seriously, the more still D and I tried to be, the more blurry the photo. I don't get it.).

This is the shawl twelve and a half repeats in. I think I said in my last post that it was going along swimmingly, but it seems as though the lifeguards have put out the yellow flags. For whatever reason, I keep ending up with not enough stitches by the time I get to the end of the row. So I frog til the end of the row (or close enough that I know I did the first few stitches correctly, even though that doesn't always work as one row I ripped out three times only to find that the problem was the first stitch -- I had knit three toghether instead of two). On the whole, I am enjoying this, and the yarn. Especially the yarn. I love pulling a length from the ball and watching it flutter down.

But I am pissed about my not being able to keep track of stitches. Bleh.

In other news, I have been offered an internship and a part-time position at Y2E. The internship is with a woman who does wedding invitations. I've done assembly work for her for about two years now, and I go to talk with her about it tomorrow. I'm really exicted. And, depending on how that works out, I'll talk to Wendy to see if what little time I have left will be of help to her.

We've re-arranged the apartment and (several trips to Ikea later) I now have a craft wall. Oh the joy.

After all of that, the rest of the weekend was filled with seeing the new X-Men movie (twice, although both viewings were so horrible (one with talkers/kickers and another on the Very. First. Row. because D's brother couldn't get his act together and get to the theater on time) that we don't even count them), starting a pair of socks for myself out of that gorgeous Fleece Artist (my new favorite sock yarn), and watching Robot Chicken on dvd.

Oh, Robot Chicken. Both D and I are very much enamored by the dementedness, and we watched so much of it yesterday that both Mila Kunis and Danny Masterson were in my dreams last night, wherein the three of us were some kind of crime fighting team.

A demented one, of course.

2006-05-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

Sooo, the laptop has a virus that has decided to not let us on the internet the past few days. I have broken through. Don't you dare lose the connection before I post this post, laptop!

Some kook is on the telly trying to sell me a juicer. Looks like pondwater, but I suppose this is what I get for blogging at one in the morning.

Anyhoo.

These are Natalie's socks! And her huge rottweiler. I swear I had a picture that didn't make it look like she's all floaty (which I don't necessarily think is a negative), but Blogger kept putting it in sideways.

Gah.

I'm really exicted about these socks, though. Made with one skein of Knitpicks Memories and the Corded Rib pattern out of Sensational Knitted Socks. And I have a ton of yarn left over. Probably one and one third skeins. Granted, Natalie does have tiny feet, but still.

I have now made a pair of real socks!

And, yeah, those are the socks drying out on the dash of the car on the way over. Don't knock it til you've tried it, baby.

One fifteen makes me kind of loopy, apparently. I've just become terribly amused that Jack La Lane (he of the pond water juicer) is married to Elaine La Lane.

The stole is coming along quite nicely; on Saturday I had done one repeat and was totally not seeing how what I was knitting was going to turn into that beautiful shawl, so I went down to Yarntopia to see if they could either reaffirm me or point me in the right direction. As a testament to how nice these ladies are, hear ye this: I got there almost an hour after they closed, but Sheryl was still there, so she let me in to pester her. Thanks, Sheryl!

I was back today, because my head decided I needed more of the Fleece Artist sock yarn, to make a Clapotis. And I am not going to say no to that. I got one more skein in the colorway Vintage to go with the one I have already, and a skein in Paris to make socks with.

Even though there's more I want to post, I'm a gonna go to bed. Theoretically, I'm going to the gym first thing in the morning.

2006-05-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

One thing that anyone who reads this is bound to find out sooner rather than later is that I cannot stick to one project at a time. I get all ansty.

I have finished Elyse (she's at Yarns 2 Ewe, go check her out). And that is MattyJ's scarf not too long before I finished it. Once I meet up with him, I'll get a picture of him modeling it. D's scarf is coming along, and I started on a pair of socks for my sister out of Knitpicks Memories in the now discontinued colorway "Grandma" (let's hope she never finds out the name of that yarn).

So what do I go and do? I decide to tackle another project. Specifically, something lacy for my cousin who's graduating from college. I went back to Yarntopia to get more of the Handmaiden mohair, this time in blues, to make Eunny Jang's Print O' the Wave Stole. So I look at the yarn, in all its blueberry glory, and I look at the pattern, so delicate and airy and visions appear in my head. Of her loving it. Of her one day wearing it at her wedding as her 'something blue.'

Delusions of Grandeur? What's that?

Now I know lace takes time, and I know it can look like senseless crap before its blocked, but let me tell you - I don't see it. I do not see how what I'm knitting is going to end up like that beautiful stole. And since I'm trying to do this on a deadline, it only makes it worse. I'm going to keep knitting, but....there may be tears.

2006-05-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

How fun is it to get mail that's not a bill, junk, or stuff about your student loan?

Very very. (Which reminds me of an episode of one of my absolute favorite cartoons, Rocco's Modern Life, when he's on a home renovation gameshow (!), and in order to win a huge new kitchen, he must answer the question "How big is Really Really Big Man's kitchen?" to which Rocco tentatively answers "Really really?" Love it.)

Anyhoo, I got my first little package from my Secret Pal today! Woot! Thanks Secret Pal! I can't wait to try out these bath salts, they smell yu-mmy.

Today I started working on D's scarf again. I had decided in my head that while the two rows of plain stockinette among the seed stitch did stand out wonderfully, they looked like they should be cabled, or something. And I don't know that D's a terribly cable-y kind of guy (except for the Urban Aran, because like it or not, D would look hot in the Urban Aran (if I could find the damn pattern)). So I went hunting through my new book, and found this pattern.

Not too fancy pants, just a little bit of texture, and, I think, it masculinizes the silk. And fast. The pattern is worked over two rows, one of them just purling, and that's it.

I'm hoping to finish this up soon, so I can finish up MattyJ's now very late birthday scarf, and because (and I swear this should be some of the last purchasing for awhile, but even then I only went shopping because we got our tax return, and D and I have an agreement where we each get to spend $100 on ourselves and the rest on whatever important thing is going on at the thime) I went back to Yarntopia yesterday. I got two more skeins of that lovely merino from Uraguay to make some sort of cropped sweater/cardian thing, and more Handmaiden! A huge skein of mohair to make my first lace project.

And, finally, here's my project for Color, the Four Elements. I'm very pleased with the way it came out, and definitely want to try this again. I'm not very happy about the set up. From the begining I'd wanted to do soemthing like this, in particular because of Debbie New's Duet with a Theremin from Unexpeted Knitting. I love how the frame invited you to touch it. This however, stretches out "Air" way too much, and falls over at the first suggestion of a breeze. People have suggested I frame it, but then you can't touch it.

Something will have to be done.

And I lied. That wasn't the last thing. I submitted an entry for Glampyre's new contest! I'm very excited about it, and even if she doesn't pick it, I still want to see it made, so it might be my first foray into designing.

2006-05-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

Talk about having your socks fucking rocked. D and I drove up to Austin to go see Ok Go and the Lashes (She Wants Revenge also played, but to quote myself when I got so bored during the show that I texted my sister, they sucked yak ass). Waiting in the heat for over an hour was so worth it because this was one of the best shows I've ever seen.

This band is everything I think a great band should be. They are so fucking on top of things, and not just music-wise, but stylistically, too. Tim Nordwin and Andy Ross do little choreographed moves, and good god but I love their clothes. And at the end, they do the dance for A Million Ways. I got to talk to Mike from the Lashes, and he said that watching it every night was like the best night of his life every night.

And I've got to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the Lashes. They're great live (which is huge to me, so many great bands suck live), and honestly, how can you not love a band whose keyboardist has a sticker for Hall and Oates Maneater on his keyboard? The aforementioned Mike plays like a motherfuckingdrummingdemon, WHICH IS HOW YOU SHOULD PLAY! Play like you mean it, play like you love it, play like you'd never, ever get to again. He broke several of his sticks; one splinter even flew out into the crowd. I bought their new CD at the show, and am now looking for the first one.

So today, D and I walked around Congress. I went to Hill Country Weavers, and got some great Diakeito, which I have yet to find in Houston. We also went to Monkey...crap I can't remember the name of the store, but it does have monkey in it. Twice. Anywho, I got these Afro Kens! And if you were wondering, you should NOT stick one to your head as it will leave a perfect circle of a hickey on you forehead. I know because I've been staring at the perfect circle of a hickey on D's head all night.

The other big find was a copy of Barbara Abbey's The Complete Book of Knitting. I am so excited to try some of these patterns. Woot.

2006-05-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

All this week I've had a problem. The prognosis? Yarn Store Wanderlust.

Now, please, bear in mind: I love my LYS. No questions about it. The staff are always friendly, especially the owner who bends over backwards to help. But I was reading a review of the other yarn shops in the area and I got curious. And being that I am a girl who's only ever cheated on her homework in high school, I threw yarn store fidelity to the wind.

Nancy's Knits I just skipped, beacause that's where I used to go, and....ehh. Then I went to Nimble Fingers, where I got all of these magazines to the left for a dollar (yes, I realize that lots of stuff from Vogue is the stuff that You Knit What? is made of, but I did find at least one pattern per magazine that I want to make) and the Erdal for 75% off. The shop is mostly needlepoint stuff, and the only things I found that Y2E doesn't carry was overpriced.

Next I went to Mary Charles Yarn. Cute set up, and I may wind up going there for the odd thing or two I haven't really seen anywhere else, but I do have to say I was underwhelmed.

But, the big find was Yarntopia. At first I had dismissed it because it was all the way out in Katy, but I called up my friend Jennifer and we made the trek out there. They have so much neat stuff. I got that absolutely gorgeous sock yarn, and some of the cushiest merino wool I have ever, ever felt. No clue what its going to be, but it doesn't matter.

And may I say My husband has impeccable taste? He picked out Hand Maiden wool and silk blend that is fucking delicious. I did right marrying this guy. I started up a simple seed stitch scarf to show of the luster and texture with two columns of stockinette running up the middle. I think this will be my May Project Spectrum thing-a-thing.

So, the wanderlust has been sated, and I've decided that Y2E will still be my "home store," but Yarntopia is without question worth the trip every now and then.