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Archive |
It's done!
December 31st, 2006
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You're not going to believe it! I finished Jim's sweater! How exciting is that? He would like me to add some onto the neck finishing, but other than that, it's DONE! Anyway, company's arriving, so I'll tell you more later!
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Christmas Stuff
December 29th, 2006
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So, as promised, I took some quick pictures of some of my Christmas gifts this morning before leaving for work. Many of the things had been put into a home alreay, but of the stuff that was left out, I just grabbed a few things that I felt were blog-worthy. Of course, these aren't the only things I liked... there were plenty more, but as I said… I took this picture this morning before work.
We've got, two books filled with Rumi's poetry; the book "Be Here Now" by Ram Das. I highly suggest taking a look at this book someday, it's got a TON of great pages, each different from the last, and filled with deep ponderings. The VHS of "The Christmas Toy", a movie I haven't seen sinse I was very young, but have searched and searched for. My sister found it, and her husband was somehow able to burn it onto a DVD so I didn't have to pull the VCR out of the closet and figure out how to get it to work again. There is also a cute little kitty calendar, that I now have hanging in my office, here at work; and 2 hanks of yarn! I actually got 3, but one seems to have found it's way away from the other 2… it'll turn up. I wonder what I'll make with it…
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This beauty is now hanging in our kitchen, gracing the wall above our kitchen table. It was made by Jim's aunt Judy, who is a fabulous fiber artist. She's been quilting for years, and has really developed her talents into a beautiful art. I absolutely love it! This image doesn't do it justice, there is so much more texture than you can see here… so you'll have to just imagine it.
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Last, but certainly not least… here's a picture of Jelly's present. Jim and I totally spoil her, so this year she got a leopard print kitty tower. She loves this thing! She's really got a fixation with boxes, and this one has one on the top, that is just her size, and covered with carpet. So, it's nice and warm, and she fits perfectly. Sinse she's received this, she scratches our bed less, letting us sleep later… we'll see how long that lasts. I'm happy to spoil our little kitty though, she deserves it.
Thanks to everyone! I'm very thankful for everything I've received. Merry Christmas to all of you.
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Knitters Gallery
December 28th, 2006
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Dun du du DA! Here's a little treat for you all. I mentioned a little while ago, that I was in the process of creating a "Knitters Gallery" page. Well, the collection of images has been going slow, but there are a few great beret's up on the page so far! Let the unveiling begin!
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Time to relax!
December 26th, 2006
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Phew… as much as I love Christmas, I'm glad it's over! Over the past few years Jim and I have figured out a routine for Christmas. We have 3 places we need to be, so we've learned to spread them out, slightly. Christmas #1 is Christmas Eve with my Mom, step-Dad and little sister. My other sister and her husband were also there, as were my little sister's god-father and his girlfriend. It was a fun time. When we got home and I finished creating the "dessert" for Christmas #2: Jim's Family. All of his Aunts, Uncles, cousins and grandparents get together and enjoy the day together. They assign different parts of the meals to the people who would like to be involved. So this year I got to make dessert for after dinner. It was fun, but we left around 2, so I hope no one died from that cake I made… Christmas #3 is with my Dad, step-Mom, Grampy and my sister and her husband. We arrived there at about 4:30 with a short break in between #2 and 3. Finally, we got home around 8 and I started looking through everything that made its way into our apartment, and began finding homes for things. I had intended on photographing a few of my favorite things, but there is seriously no place for me to spread anything out and take a picture. So, this will need to wait a day or two until I clean up the place a bit… Hopefully I'll get some pic's up in a few days. I'll really try… honestly. Until then, I'm keeping secret what I got.
Oh... and I failed at completing Jim's sweater in time. I told him the other day that I wasn't going to stress about getting it done. He said it was okay, and that at least I'm working on it, and that it's not wrapped in a bag in the corner of the room somewhere… not in those exact words though… but something along those lines. Jim has to work next Saturday, so I'm thinking maybe I can work on it then. I'm really hoping to clean the whole apartment during the week. It needs it. I swear a tornado ran through the place. The sweater needs to wait until the apartment is clean. I just can't take it anymore.
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Well, so far, today's been better.
December 21th, 2006
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I think I've been stressing for no reason. I always tell myself that everything always works out, but I've been tending to stress about things anyway these past few days. This morning, I somewhat dreaded coming to work, knowing that I had (have) so much to do before the trunks get locked up today. The first thing I heard when I got here was that the Staples order wasn't put in yesterday, so the twelve 30" x 40" pieces of foam board that I needed for the posters, etc… weren't going to be arriving today. So, rather than stressing out, I took a ride to the nearest Staples and picked some up. The day's been picking up speed since then. I have 40 of the 64 8 x 10 photos mounted, and 2 of the 9 larger posters mounted. I'm pretty sure they will all be done soon. Either way, I'm not worried. I also need to have 3 of those unmounted posters approved by a woman who called in sick today. So, I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do that… but for some reason, the worry isn't there. I just have faith that it'll all work out. I'm pretty happy that I've re-adopted this mentality, as it's one I usually have, but it must have escaped me over these past few days. I feel a lot more productive, now that I'm not sitting here with my head spinning, knowing I have so much to do. I'm just taking it one thing at a time and it's getting done.
Again, I apologize for my spewing of negativity over these last few posts. I promise, this will be the last negative post you'll get for a while. I'm done being negative.
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"This too shall pass"
December 20th, 2006
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I don't really like when there are 3 or more things on my list of things to do when I get home from work. I usually just enjoy sitting down to knit after eating dinner... but not last night. Today is our at-work Christmas party. So, of course, I had to wait until the last minute to go pick up my secret santa gift. I was stumped this year. I really didn't know what to get. I'm happy with what I came up with though. I decided to do this right on my way home from work, hoping that most people would want to go home and eat dinner before going out shopping. I was right, when I got to the store it only had about 4 people in it, but as time went on it got more and more busy. So, it was tolerable. When I got home, I ordered some take-out, as to avoid adding dinner cooking to my list of things to do. After that I made up little bags of cookies for everyone at work. Then I baked brownies, cut up some hershey hugs and sprinkled them on top until the melted. Of course, Jim couldn't leave the brownies alone. I think he really wanted one, so he just played with the chocolate on top, swirled it around and what-not. So, this morning when I was packing them up to bring to work, I left a few in the pan so he can enjoy them too.
I did eventually get time to sit and knit. I didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked: only one and a half cable repeats. There are still 6 repeats until I get to the cap shaping. So, I'm hoping I can get at least 2 done tonight. This weekend is pretty busy, so I may just need to stay up late to work on this sweater so it's done on time. I really can't wait until January 12. The booklets will be done, TNNA will be over I'll be ready to start a new year... and finish some WIP's.
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Ah… the pressure.
December 19th, 2006
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Sorry about the lack of posts lately, I've been busy in every area of my life. At work we're trying to get the patterns for the booklets DONE and layed out in booklet form by the beginning of the year. I have a feeling in my gut that it's not going to happen that way, but I would really like it to. If it doesn't then we won't have our booklets ready for TNNA, and in that case, then I need to print them out myself and that's a lot of extra work that I would like to avoid if possible. AND, at the same time, we're shipping out our trunks for TNNA soon, so I also need to have all the posters for the new yarns, etc… done and in the trunks ASAP. So, yeah... work's a little insane.
At home I've been trying to get Jim's sweater finished (I'm about 1⁄2 finished with that sleeve), and bake cookies, finish my shopping, and wrapping, all while trying to balance on one hand. So, at the moment, I've decided to take a little breather and write it all down to get it out of my head. Sorry you had to be on the receiving end.
So, on the brighter side, I have 3 different kinds of cookies done already. I have 2 more that I might make, depending on my time. I also found a great idea on the Knit-Whit blog. She melted hershey kisses on top of pretzels then stuck M&M's in them. So, because it sounded so easy, I had to try it. My first batch wasn't super sucessful. I know, right… how does one fail at this? I kept them in the oven too long and the chocolate melted then started getting hard, so I couldn't get the M&M's in, and the chocolate didn't taste too yummy. So, if you try this, only keep them in the oven for about a minute or two. BUT NO LONGER! I only ended up with about 20 good ones from the first bag of kisses. So, I bought another bag and made a whole bunch more.
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Here's a picture
December 15th, 2006
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I finally remembered to take a photo of Jim's sweater. The front, back and 1 sleeve are 100% complete. Last night I concentrated on the neck trim and continuing sleeve 2. I had Jim try it on to see how he liked the neck, and I'm going to have to take out the bind off, go down to an even smaller needle, and work a few more rows. He'd like it a bit tighter, and closer to his neck, I guess.
I really hope this model is bigger than Jim. I know I measured Jim before I wrote the pattern, but it's pretty tight on this model. I'll have to pin the sides and have Jim try it on again before I set in the sleeves and sew it up. I may need to come up with a way of making the sides a little wider. I have an idea, but it seems like a pain, so I'm hoping I don't have to do it. Basically, I'd knit 2 strips in stockinette and sew them up each side after somehow getting the sleeve in there... I guess I'll figure it out if I need to do it.
It's so nice being so close to finished with this thing.
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Yippy!
December 12th, 2006
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Yay! I'm so happy that I finally finished that front piece. It even has its shoulder seams sewn. What a happy little sweater this is becoming. I probably could have finished the neck trim last night if I was able to find my size 4 circular needle. It seems to have vanished into needle heaven. I guess I'll have to get another one. Of course, once I do that I'll come home and the old one will be sitting on the kitchen table mocking me… but that's okay, you can never have too many knitting needles. I've also noticed that my removable stitch markers are slowly running away. I'm pretty sure I had 20 at some point, now I'm down to 6. You can't really hold a sweater together with 6 markers, now can you? Oh well.
Now, this is usually a point during the construction of something where I would take a new picture to show you all. And I know you're just dying to see it… but the batteries in the camera I usually use are kaput. So, we'll either have to wait until new batteries arrive, or I can try to take a picutre at home using my camera. The later option is probably more likely. So, I'll see what I can do about remembering to do this tonight.
I'm really enjoying working on this sweater. Most sweaters I've made have been for Classic Elite, so there was really no enjoyment in them because I knew I wouldn't get to keep them. But this one is so different because it's for Jim and I'll get to see it being worn, etc… What a wonderful feeling.
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I love stuff like this
December 11th, 2006
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I just got a sneak peek at the new Knit Simple Winter 2006/07 issue, and was pleasantly surprised. There is a section where they discuss different fibers and they have 4 scarves displayed on the top of the artical. One of the scarves that I had made for the Vogue Knitting on the Go, Crochet Scarves Two book was one of them! I love being surprised like that. They suggest that this scarf can be made in one weekend, I'm not quite sure I agree with them. I remember it didn't take me very long, but it definitely was not only one weekend. Maybe if you didn't sleep much, and crocheted for a lot of the 48 hours in a weekend.
Oh, and I bet you're wondering about Jim's sweater... well, I got so fed up with the thing, I went at it with scissors and the whole thing is now little bits of string! Ha, I'm totally kidding… I love working on this sweater. The front is very close to being finished. I've surpassed the armholes, and I have 2 cable repeats left before I can bind off the center sts for the neck! Hoo Ray! Now that the armhole stitches are gone, the rows are going even faster, so 2 cable repeats will take very little time, then I only have 2 more until I bind off for the shoulders. It will probably be done tonight, or definitely tomorrow night. Then comes the last sleeve, but I'm thinking I'll sew up the shoulders and put on the neck finishing just to feel like I've completed something. Then Jim can wear this vest-like thing around, with stitch markers holding the sides together. It'll be great, and he'll feel like he has a sweater.
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Babbelly babbelly me.
December 8th, 2006
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Brrrrr. It's pretty cold today… and windy! There's also some light snow falling. Which I think is really pretty. The ride into work this morning was surprisingly really pleasant. There were not too many cars on the road, and the wind made the snow dance on the roads, which was peaceful to watch while sitting at a stop-light. Now, I've settled into my desk at work, sipping on some warm green tea, getting ready for another productive day proofing patterns. I've been mostly relying on others to do the proofing of our patterns, as I didn't have the confidence that I knew how to do it. But as it's coming down to the time when the pattern booklets need to be sent to the printer, and we still have quite a few left to be proofed, I'm beginning to work on some of the easier patterns. As I'm doing so, I'm realizing that I actually know what I'm doing. Today I plan on working on a more difficult one, a cardigan with a lace pattern. I want to challenge myself, just to see if I can do it. I'm sure I can.
So, this brings me great new ideas of what I can do with my future. Jim has a dream of living all over the place, for short amounts of time. But I really like my job, and don't want to leave. However, if I become a "tech editor" it can be something I do from anywhere, as it's something I only need a computer and e-mail address to do. Plus, from what I've seen, they get paid quite a bit more than I do now. It's not like I plan on packing up and leaving tomorrow, but it's an idea I'll be tossing around in my head for the time being.
Last night, again, I completed 3 cable repeats on Jim's sweater. So there are now 11 cable repeats completed for the Front. I'm afraid I won't have time tonight to knit much on it, so I'm glad that I completed 1 extra repeat the last 2 nights. The justifies not working on it tonight. So, instead of knitting, I'll be going Christmas shopping with my Mom. She has no idea what to get for Jim, so she asked me for some help. To be honest, I don't really know what she should get for him either, but I guess I'll have a better idea than she would.
I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I have the urge to go get a Christmas tree, and maybe pull out the decorations. Once the apartment is decorated I'm sure I'll be completely submurged in Christmas spirit. I began enjoying this time of year more, once I got out of retail. So, maybe we'll do that on Saturday.
Michelle has been dying to go into Boston since they arrived in Massachusetts, so we're planning on going on Sunday. I'd like to go to Faneuil Hall, and Jim wants to see the New England Aquaiurm. I was there over the summer, but it's enjoyable, so I don't mind going again. We're going to take the train in because I can't stand driving in Boston, and Jim likes it less than I do. Plus, the train alone can be an experience if it's not something you do every day.
Well, I guess that's enough babbeling for now. I'm sure I'll come out with more later, I'm in that kind of mood today. Happy Friday everyone!
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At this rate I'll have the front done this weekend!
December 7th, 2006
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I am truely amazed at how fast this front piece is going! Last night I completed 3 cable repeats. So, tonight, I'll plan on getting another 2 (or 3) repeats done. Then I'll only have 4 (or 3) to the armhole, then 9 more to complete the front. I've nothing to do all day Saturday, well other than maybe going Christmas shopping for a short time. But other than that, I plan on knitting this front all day. 2 repeats go by fairly quickly, so I'm hoping to get this whole thing done by Sunday night. Then I can begin working on the last piece! How exciting! I will truely be in awe if I somehow finish this thing with time to spare… which I hope I do because there are still 2 people I would like to knit up something small for.
I'm pretty sure that Classic Elite's Fall 07 line is going to fall into my lap pretty soon. I'm planning on only writing patterns this season. I don't want to supply any of my spare time to knitting anything. I have too many of my own projects that I would rather spend knitting time on, and any other time I have could be spent designing for magazines, etc… so I'd much rather do that. I have about 4 ideas floating around in my head that I need to swatch before they vanish!
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My confidence has rebuilt!
December 6th, 2006
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Okay, I know I've been going on and on about how I'm doubting my ability to finish Jim's sweater before Christmas. Last night, I was able to sucessfully complete 2 cable repeats with no problem at all! It was actually pretty remarkable how easily and quickly I was able to whip out those 16 rows. I could have kept going, but we had company, and while I was working those 16 rows I felt like I was invisible, so I figured I would make an appearance while I had the chance. Anyway, shown to the right is the front compared to the back. I've still got a ways, but I finally have the confidence that it will all be okay, and the sweater will be finished in time for Jim to wear it Christmas day if he wants.
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Scary movies…
December 5th, 2006
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Last night, as I was happily knitting along, and Jim asks if I'd like to watch Alien. I said sure, thinking that I'd be knitting anyway, so it wouldn't scare me. About 30 minutes in I became aware that I was really tense and tried to relax by concentrating on my knitting rather than the movie. Not even 2 minutes later I was tense again. Not even knitting could relax me from being scared by this movie. I guess scary movies just aren't as enjoyable to me as they once were. I used to really enjoy the tense feeling that came along with being frightened. I realized this not too long ago when I watched Saw II (shivers at the thought of it). So... from this point on, I'll not be watching any more scary movies, as I'm not happy with the way they make me feel. They seem to have such a negative feeling that goes along with them that I'd just rather not expose myself to that form of negativity if I have the choice. Which I do, because it's a movie, and no one's going to force me to watch a movie.
So, as for Jim's sweater… I need to do 14 repeats of the cable pattern before I can decrease for the front armholes. Last night I passed repeat 3, so I've got quite a ways to go. There are only 8 rows in each repeat, but I got used to working on a sleeve, which has a significant fewer amount of stitches. Needless to say, this isn't going as fast as I had hoped it would. An ideal goal would be to be able to do 2 cable repeats each night. Which would mean I'd have the front finished in 2 weeks, or so. Giving me just enough time to get the next sleeve done, sew the thing together and do the neck finishing… I'm still going to try, even though it may not seem feasible.
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Let the Christmas Projects begin.
December 4th, 2006
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I'm so happy that I've been able to finally begin my christmas knitting. I know, I know... it's a little late, but better late than never, right? This weekend, I sucessfully began and completed 3 things. I'll admit, they were small things, and 2 of them were done on 10½'s so they moved quickly. I'm still pretty happy that I finished them though.
I finally purchased cashmere. I honestly, never thought It would happen, but I found a hat pattern that called for it, so I just couldn't resist. That is it to the right. It's in Classic Elite's Forbidden yarn. The pattern's free with the purchase of the yarn. I started and finished that after work on Friday night. Pretty impressive, I think. Unfortunately, I found many errors in the pattern, so I'll have to fix that when I get into work. I hope it hasn't frustrated too many people. Yes, this is one of the Chrismas gifts, but I'm 97.6% positive that the recipient does not read, or even know about my blog, So I have no issue showing it to you all.
I also finished the first sleeve for Jim's sweater, and began the front! I'm pretty excited to begin a new piece for this sweater. I have my doubts that it will be finished before Christmas, as I've only got the back and a sleeve completed, but I really want to get it done... maybe a few late nights the last few days before will guarantee its completion. We can hope...
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The Shawl is DONE MAN!
December 1st, 2006
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Wow, December already... where does time go? I guess I should really start thinking about Christmas. It'll be here before I know it. I finally have the time to continue working on Christmas gifts, as that shawl is done. Not too many people will be getting hand-made gifts this year. There just hasn't been enough time.
Yesterday when I woke up I still had 50 pieces left to do on the Shawl. I had originally planned on shipping it out on Saturday to arrive on Monday, but I called UPS yesterday to see how much that would cost, and it would have to go out "next day air" costing me around $30! That seemed a bit crazy to me considering that one of the girls I work with will be in New York on Monday and has offered to hand deliver it for free, but I had to give it to her this morning. So, my goal changed and somehow I managed to make all 50 pieces last night. I worked on it for about 4 hours, even while we had company over. They were pretty interested in seeing me finish, so they didn't mind.
I REALLY REALLY want to get Jim's sweater done for Christmas. So, that is my next ongoing project. Last night when I finished the shawl, it was 9:30, and I was still pretty awake, so my fingers wanted to keep going. It reminded me of the character in The Last Knit when she climbs back to the top of the cliff... I just had to keep going, so I picked up Jim's sweater sleeve and continued working on it. Surprisingly, I remembered where I was and it was easy to continue.
I've been thinking about maybe dedicating the beginning of 2007 to finishing some of my WIP's. As you can see, I've got quite a few that need finishing... and they're all SO CLOSE! As with most "resolutions" they don't always last super long, but I'd like to at least finish one or two of them... The Beatrice Pullover would be nice to wear during the upcoming cold weather. So, that one might be first on the list.
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Patterns to Buy
River of Life Socks
Crochet Motif Cardigan
Beatrice Ribbed Tie Coat
Stormy Diamond Eyelet Cropped Vest
Work's in Progress
CEY Knit - Due Sept 10
Secret Project - Fin by Sept 4
Secret Project - Fin by Oct 10
Quilted Toe Up Socks
Mountain (Knee) Socks
Philosopher's Girl PO
Crocheted Raglan
Rasta Hat
Master Knitting Striped Hat
Forbidden Lace Cardigan
Master Knitting Program - Level 1
Hauk Smiley Face Tire Cover
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