I finished 'Shrug This' and I guess it turned out alright... I had to add a few more increases in the arms because there was no way it would fit me (atleast not comfortably) and then I just knit the length until I ran out of yarn. It looked pretty good but small so I figured I would block it and see if it stretched any... but the question is, how do you block a completed garment so that it doesn't end up all wonky with creases and such? I tried laying it out on the spare bed with a towel underneath but it didn't seem the sleeve areas were drying very well at all, so I flipped back the front panels to let them finish drying... what did I end up with? It's still too small and now it doesn't lay right either. Fooey! From reading about a few other people who made this as well, it has become apparently to me that it isn't meant for anyone who has any hint of cleavage if you follow the pattern. Wish I had known that before I started! (it doesn't list size options so I figured it was a one size fits all kind of thing). Now I'm off to try and find a flat friend for whom I can gift it... if I can get rid of that wonky-ness

I cast on for the Josephine top in Interweave Knits Summer 2007. The picture makes the top look incredibly small on the girl so, considering the boobage issue with the last project, I decided to do the next size up. I did a gauge (and then undid it after measuring because I hate to waste yarn on 'silly squares') and it worked out so along I went. Then I stepped back and realized that, for just the back, it was going to be incredibly too large. Another fooey! I wasn't too far in, but frogging can be such a mean hearted bitch... I cast on again for the smallest size, went down a needle size, and decided to try knitting front and back together at once, in the round, as I saw someone mention in a craftster post. So far so good except the boy has restricted me from knitting until we finish the basement so I'm still on the first row... what a meanie!!!! (But I still can't help but love him!)

arg!!! family

Not even 24 hours into our wedding planning and they're already pitching a fit... and that's just his family! I haven't even mentioned it to mine yet. In fact, with all this, I'm almost afraid to tell them and have to start hearing it from both sides. You'd think that after everyone keeps hounding us about when we are going to set a date and actually get married they could be happy for atleast a little bit... oh well... learn to love them, right?

weekend in review

Wow it's flown by! We spent yesterday at P's parents' house hanging out. Actually, I spent most the time off with his sister getting pedicures. Talk about fun times! This was my first time too and I just keep staring at my pretty toes. Then we went to Taco Mac with his parents and I convinced dad to join the beer club thing they have- the Passport Club. I had a couple of cider beers- one was granny smith and the other was raspberry. They were so yummy too. Then I let dad pick one for me and that was a Blue Moon White... it reminded me of cleaning water, like after you just mopped the floor... ehhh... but I choked it all down. I swear, nothing can make you drunker then forcing yourself to drink disgusting alcohol. But he got it bad too. He was starting out with his normal Amber Bock and then we convinced him to try the, no kidding, Tommyknocker Butt Head Bock. I had a sip of it and damn it tasted gross. I mean, I could have forced myself to finish it as well, and he did, but I wouldn't ever order it for myself. ... And that was Saturday.

Today was a slow and humdrum day. When I got up this morning I told P a whole list of things I wanted to do today- take my car to the 3min/$3 carwash, clean up and vacuum the inside and finish cleaning the windows in his truck from when I made a mess of them (thats a whole other story), weed the flower beds so we could lay down the weed blocker stuff, dye a skein of yarn, finish my ankle socks in that "yarn that I hate but had to by another ball of because I didn't have enough yarn to finish the pair and it annoyed me", go ride our bikes for a little while, try to take some more pictures for the "Find me a rainbow" swap on swap-bot, maybe go out for lunch and possibly see "License to Wed".... then it started raining. But alas, I did get some things on my list done! As soon as it stopped raining I went out to clean the car windows, which was after I finished kitchenering the toe on that second sock. Then we watched "Dare Devil" together (so we still saw a movie) and he cooked us some fajitas (so I still didn't have to cook). I tried to take some pictures but my camera battery need charging. And I did dye my yarn! I keep meaning to take pictures to make up my own tutorial for dyeing, but of course, with no working camera that wasn't an option today. It's up drying in the bathroom right now and can hopefully be skeined up in the next couple days.

And now, I've literally just cast on for 'Shrug This' from One-Skein Wonders. I'm using some Nashua Julia in Midnight Blue that I bought on my first ever LYS trip. I knew I'd find a use for it eventually! Progress pics to come.

And in other news, I think we've finally set a wedding date! We still have to call the family who offered us the use of their ranch and make sure the date is good for them and then I have approximately 2 1/2 months to plan a small simple wedding. No problem! I'm feeling that newly engaged excitement again!

yarn swap

So, I LOVE the getstitchy.com forums- it's perfect for any fiber addict out there! And now what has me really excited- they're (unofficially?) doing a handdyed yarn swap!!! WHEEEE!!! yeah, that's the button in my side bar. I think anyone and everyone is free to join so please check it out! if I can dye, anyone can!

So...
GO SIGN UP!!! :)

I got a 'new' car today!!! well, new to me anyway. I'm so excited!!!!

Quick post on what's to come- Pictures added

Busy as a bee here at work but taking a quick break for this... hopefully I don't get in trouble :)

Happy late 4th of July to everyone! Mine was ok. P's sister came up to spend the day and 'party' with us. We went to a cookout and hung out with some cool people and adorable kids and ate some delicious food. Then we came home and shot off a million fireworks- and I only managed to burn myself once! Unfortunately, I had to work the next day so my festivities ended early. Darn those mid-week holidays!

So, I've dyed some more yarn and as soon as I get home I will post a picture. It's blue and green and pink and so bright! The color reminds us of the Baja Starbursts (minus the red ones)- so yummy!!!

Bad thing about dyeing yarn- it can be quite addicting! For example- My partner for the Swap-bot "I love sock yarn" swap mentioned that she likes the colors blue, white, and green. And she hates purple! Well, since there are no LYS that near by and I don't really feel like driving an hour for only one skein of sock yarn (and I really can't afford to go anyway because there is no way I'll be able to leave with only one skein of yarn) I started looking online- etsy and the sorts. She did say she like indie dyers. Well, I just didn't like any that I saw. Correction I like a LOT of it, but it didn't seem right for her. Either it was too crazy bright or not dark enough or, in most cases, there was purple in the color way. My solution? I ordered a 1 lb cone of Kona superwash to make my own... They always say, if you want something done right, do it yourself, right? yeah, well, we'll see how that goes.

Speaking of swaps, look at this gorgeous roving I sent to my Summer Fiber swap partner! I had a hard time parting from it, even though I haven't learned to spin yet. I just kept petting it and wishing I had a spindle, just to play with it. Gotta put that one on my next thing to do list. I also made her some stitch markers last night. I think they were pretty neat and they used the three colors she listed as her favorites. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before mailing them off this afternoon. Blah.

All this swapping is so much fun. Of course, P doesn't understand but who does that surprise? It makes me happy though. And I just signed up for the best swap ever! In case you haven't got the memo, it's time for Secret Pal 11! Finally my chance to get in on the action! The hardest part is waiting to meet my pal, hopefully the month will pass quickly!

So my goal was to finish the Liesel scarf by July 4th. I was cranking it out there at a great pace for a while, but then the weekend hit- and P thinks the weekend is the perfect time NOT to knit... as if I get to knit much any time during the week, between working, feeding him, cleaning his clothes, and sleeping. Needless to say, it's not done, but I do feel like it could get that way in the near future. I had planned on using up the one hank of Cascade Sierra, but now it's looking like it might not be long enough. I do have a second hank, but I'm hoping not to have to use it. Hopefully it will stretch out nicely when it's blocked... *crosses fingers*

Only 10 more minutes until I can clock out and then go home again and get back on the computer to show you my pretties! Smiles until then!!!

Bonus pics: My gorgeous blooms!

(If you can't tell, I do love picture posts!)

Picture post

Here's some of those pictures I owe you... with little else. I think they're self explanatory.

Recent sock yarn acquisitions:

Clockwise from top left- Sedona and Art Deco from The Jolly Ewe, Regia in Clown, Fischer Wolle Corina in unidentified colorway (9160), Socka in bright yellow (9439), Regia in some red color (1953), and Pingouin in a bright blue-ish ; center: Austermann Step in Dune)

Cotton yarn blends...


My jello yarn! see the slight variations? I love it!


Progress on Liesel






More to come after my camera battery recharges.

Uh oh, more yarn! Pattern suggestion needed

Sorry no pictures this post. I know it needs them but I just haven't had time to get around to it recently. Take it as a giant IOU and in the next couple days I'll post nothing but pics. Not that anyone really has even be visiting this site besides myself... If you are out there, post me a comment or something!

I should let you know, up until now most of my stash was free. It was also mostly cheap acrylic, but what can you say when a person hands you a big bin of yarn to feed your fiber addiction? They didn't know any better, and it's great to practice with anyway, right? Still, I really haven't done much besides look at it and make up a few granny squares every now and then.

There is some yarn in my stash that I purchased myself- all the cotton for my dishcloths and the wool used on my felted Jeep hats, and a few other little odd balls here and there like the few things I acquired at my first ever LYS, which of course was during a going out of business sale. I would have bought tons then but the funds weren't there at the time. And now....

Well, now I have my wonderful job which means a wonderful paycheck twice a month. YARN MONEY! Sad to say, my yarn stash grew a whopping 30 balls last weekend. Granted, I got a deal. $50 bought me 20 balls of cotton for a few summer tops and 8 balls of sock yarn. Then I spent nearly $20 on a ball of Austermann Step sock yarn from "Ewe Knit" when I finally got around to visiting the shop I discovered a month or so ago. I would have gotten so much more, but for some reason my paycheck was unaccounted for at work and I didn't get paid until Monday morning. And then, while we were visiting my future in-laws we all went out to eat for Mexican- which I had a huge margarita that I sadly couldn't even finish- too strong- and was feeling a wee bit tipsy- and they decided they needed to go by Walmart while they were in the area so we go over there and I decided to buy some Lion Brand Wool because they don't sell it in my area and while it is cheap (in more way then one) it makes for good practice in dyeing. So, I'm wandering around a Walmart that I've only been to once, in a slightly intoxicated manner... by myself! Let's just say I got more then a few looks. Haha!

Speaking of dyeing, I had my first experience with koolaid/jello dyeing last week. We had a box of orange and strawberry sugar free jello in the cabinet and I had some leftover white Lion's wool from making the last Jeep hat so I just decided to have at it. I think it turned out ok. The colors took magnificently, but blended a tiny bit more then I would like. I haven't knit it up into anything yet- still trying to find the perfect pattern so any suggestions would be helpful. I guess I have about 2/3 of the skein left- maybe about 100 yards.

As far as works in progress, I'm still working on that Liesel scarf and haven't made very much progress. I actually sent it in as my item for the Completion swap on Swap-Bot (my newest addiction, you should check it out). I'm going to training next week away from home and I've decided that it is the only project I will take with me, that way I should get a good bit done on it. My goal is to have it finished by July 4... we'll see!

I also started another pair of ankle socks out of the leftover yarn from my first sock endeavor. Those were some fast knitting socks too. Less then 24 hours after I started the first sock I was stitching up the toe. And once I got around to starting #2 it went pretty quickly too... that is until I ran out of yarn half-way down the foot. That of course left me with a few options- have a permantant WIP (or I guess that would be UFO- unfinished object), pick another yarn just to finish the foot (it will be in shoes most the time and no one will see anyway), or order another ball. Which did I choose? After a quick search on ebay, I found and purchased yet another ball of Magic Stripes in Sea Blue. I must be crazy- I hated this yarn coloring and the patterning almost the whole time I was working with it. But I have hope that maybe I can find just the right sock pattern to justify the purchase- besides being able to finish that UFO sock.

The only other thing I have worked on any is that I "designed" (using some inspiration from random websites) a couple of hackey sacks for Patrick. I signed up for the XY KAL on getstitchy.com and that is what he requested of me. And I do actually have some pictures of those!!!

The P is a little wonky because of course, you aren't supposed to do intarsia in the round, but he insisted and I figured that since it is just a toy anyway so I don't care.

And I know that I was planning on keeping this a strictly "knitting adventure" blog, but I just want to add a big of my other passion- my flowers! They were looking amazingly beautiful recently so I just had to take a picture to share.

That's all for now folks. I swear I will get those pictures soon. Maybe I'll even do a full out stash flash!

(Long Past) Time for an update...

I'd say I've been working on a lot recently, but seeing my project list, I guess I'd have to disagree. I try to spend almost all my free time knitting, but unfortunatly, I have two issues with that, the first being that I have very little free time as of late, since starting my new, first ever, REAL job. The second being that my dear sweet fiance believes it a waste of time and throws a multitude of distractions my way whenever I do manage to pick up the needles. Nevertheless, I have gotten some done.

Mid-May Dishcloth KAL- I still need to tuck in the end and block it, but I love it already. I think it was called Stepping Stones? If you'd like a link to the pattern, leave me a comment or something and I'll get that to you.


I started the Liesel scarf (I can get you that link too if requested- I'm just too tired to hunt them down right now). It seems very similar to the Branching Out Scarf featured in Knitty, but I think I like the look of this one a bit more. I'm about halfway through the sixth repeat and it's nearing 10 inches long. I can't wait to get it done and block it!


This weekend I decided to continue work on that crochet piece I believe I mentioned in the last post- Lion Brand's Four Seasons Bolero using Matrix yarn. I finished the back section a while ago and and doing good progress on the front left panel (when I pick it up to work on it anyway). Hopefully it will look a bit better after washing and blocking, 'cause I'm not impressed as of yet.


And finally, the wrap that I started on the trip to Jacksonville... sadly it has been put aside since that trip since I rarely find myself in a bathing suit nowadays. Just no time. I had thought I would have it finished in no time, but it seems those rows just keep getting longer and longer and I made so many mistakes on the last row and didnt' feel like back tracking so I just put it away. At this point, it's approximately halfway done and getting no closer.


I did try to start another pair of socks this week, but to no avail. I wanted to try my hand at toe up and I just couldn't get the cast on- atleast not while trying to control my DPNs while bumping around in the passenger's seat... I think I'm going to give it another try though before the weekend is over- I need some small project to have with me at work! (only for during my breaks, of course :) )

not much going on. currently I am working on a crochet project... can't for the life of me remember what the pattern is called and I don't feel like searching for it right now. basically, it's a bolero that is originally designed to be done in 'Trellis' but I happened to have picked up tons of 'Matrix' a few months back when Michael's had it on sale for $.99. I figure it shouldn't be too different- they're both railroad/ladder yarns. I think Trellis might be a little bit bigger, but the pattern is basically measures in inches so I'm not worried. and I'm doing a bit larger size then what I would normally wear. I just really didn't feel like swatching- I'm horrible about that anyway, but this yarn isn't exactly fun to work with. atleast crocheting it, it comes together pretty quickly. I had tried to knit with it on a different pattern but that was HELL!!! I'll post pics of the progress, and links to the pattern, soon.