Listen to the first season if you haven't already. And you don't need an iPod to listen!
Yay!!
Friday, May 16, 2008
CRL - Second Season!!!!!!
CRL is coming back! With any luck on the 22nd of this month! How exciting! This is one of my favorite podcasts. Everyone should go subscribe right now so you're ready!
Listen to the first season if you haven't already. And you don't need an iPod to listen!
Yay!!
Listen to the first season if you haven't already. And you don't need an iPod to listen!
Yay!!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Hoodies, Sock Yarn-to-Mitered Squares, and Late-Night Spumoni
A good friend of mine decided she had too much yarn and gifted me a bag of Paton's Classic Merino in Rich Red. It ended up being 10 skeins worth, which is more than 2,000 yards.
I've decided that this is an opportune time to attempt the Rogue hoodie, and I've cast on, finished the under-hem, and have started the body. Here's the problem: one of the increase instructions is crazy and I am obviously not doing it correctly, because there's a little hole that I doubt I could fudge. So I'm trying to decide if I should frog it and make something else, but I really want to make this hoodie; it's so pretty.
To keep myself occupied on the knitting front, I have dug out all of my leftover sock yarns. Because I have such small feet (5.5 US at the end of a long day at the salt-lick with no water), I don't use as much yarn as a "normal" person would, so I always have a fair amount left on the ball when I finish a pair. I usually tell people that I could make a third sock out of the leftovers and that it's a pity that I don't have a third foot.
So, to remedy this problem, I dug out all of the leftovers and started working on the Sock Yarn Blankie from the Heathen Housewife. I can already see that this project is going to be ongoing for probably at least a decade at the rate I knit socks. It's not that I knit them slowly, but rather that I don't knit socks at a constant rate. It is this fact that will probably prevent me from finishing a decent-sized blanket any time soon.
On a non-knitting note, I got a really rather raging (I love alliteration) craving for ice cream tonight. I want to get something approximating that fabulous Red Velvet Cake flavor that they had at Publix, but since my only available "cash" was a Target gift card, I had to go there. They didn't have Red Velvet Cake...but they did have Spumoni, which I looked for a couple of weeks ago after a trip to Buca di Beppo's didn't yield any for me. So I got a box of that and some good ol' strawberry.
I'm now full of ice cream and plotting the errand exploits of tomorrow. But I have a question for any readers out there...if there are any at all... if I can't make the aforementioned hoodie with this large stash of red merino wool, which pattern would you recommend that I check out? I need to get on this whole sweater-making thing since I'll desperately need them in a few months. So what do you think? Any must-haves?
Have a good weekend all!
I've decided that this is an opportune time to attempt the Rogue hoodie, and I've cast on, finished the under-hem, and have started the body. Here's the problem: one of the increase instructions is crazy and I am obviously not doing it correctly, because there's a little hole that I doubt I could fudge. So I'm trying to decide if I should frog it and make something else, but I really want to make this hoodie; it's so pretty.
To keep myself occupied on the knitting front, I have dug out all of my leftover sock yarns. Because I have such small feet (5.5 US at the end of a long day at the salt-lick with no water), I don't use as much yarn as a "normal" person would, so I always have a fair amount left on the ball when I finish a pair. I usually tell people that I could make a third sock out of the leftovers and that it's a pity that I don't have a third foot.
So, to remedy this problem, I dug out all of the leftovers and started working on the Sock Yarn Blankie from the Heathen Housewife. I can already see that this project is going to be ongoing for probably at least a decade at the rate I knit socks. It's not that I knit them slowly, but rather that I don't knit socks at a constant rate. It is this fact that will probably prevent me from finishing a decent-sized blanket any time soon.
On a non-knitting note, I got a really rather raging (I love alliteration) craving for ice cream tonight. I want to get something approximating that fabulous Red Velvet Cake flavor that they had at Publix, but since my only available "cash" was a Target gift card, I had to go there. They didn't have Red Velvet Cake...but they did have Spumoni, which I looked for a couple of weeks ago after a trip to Buca di Beppo's didn't yield any for me. So I got a box of that and some good ol' strawberry.
I'm now full of ice cream and plotting the errand exploits of tomorrow. But I have a question for any readers out there...if there are any at all... if I can't make the aforementioned hoodie with this large stash of red merino wool, which pattern would you recommend that I check out? I need to get on this whole sweater-making thing since I'll desperately need them in a few months. So what do you think? Any must-haves?
Have a good weekend all!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
It's summer again...
Classes are over again, but this time I can say that I'm completely done with my current school.
While I graduated last Spring, I kept taking classes because I need something to do, a way to practice my French before starting graduate school, and also because there is a minor financial benefit to taking classes in that I can keep my student loans from going back into repayment without needing to file for a formal deferment or forbearance. It's terrible that I abuse the system that way, but I couldn't have made the payments anyway, so perhaps it's just better this way.
Now though, my classes are over. I get to file for a deferment for the summer until I can enroll in my chosen graduate program. In the interest of anonymity, I won't reveal where I'm going other than to say that in August, I'll be moving to Massachusetts.
I was accepted into all three programs to which I applied, and the best deal is coming from that beautiful state in New England. So, I guess I'll no longer be a "warm-weather knitwit"...but I'm going to keep that byline because I've lived in Florida for nearly 20 years.
I'm in the process right now of planning the move. Most importantly, I'm picking furniture that's going with me and my FBH (Fiancé-Boyfriend-Husband). My parents are coming to visit tomorrow for the weekend, and my mom and I are going to be boxing books and packing up the paintings by my grandmother that aren't on the walls, but rather occupy closet space. Whatever we don't take with us is going to be stored in my parents' house until I can finish my education enough that I can settle somewhere more permanent.
Ok, so enough update stuff, and more knitting fun!
My friend, RetroGeekGirl, and I took a leap and started a local knitting group. There were a couple of groups in existence that were close enough that we could have gone to them, but we felt the need for another one that met closer to the school. So we started the East Orlando Fiber Therapy group. It's slow-starting in that the first meeting had two ladies other than us in attendance, and the fourth meeting had one. The second and third was private knitting time/dinner for RGG and I... not that I'm complaining; I love spending time with her, especially since I'm leaving so soon. I just wish there was a more dedicated and more active presence in this group. I'm afraid it won't survive past August.
Right now, I have two active projects. I'm working on a pair of the Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Wild Cherry and the current Dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloths yahoogroup. I really want to start another sweater so that by the time the winters begin, I'll be good to go.
I finished the Boogie Vest...and a couple of other projects...since I posted last. I had to frog the vest twice, but I finally finished it. I decided ultimately to knit it in the round so I could avoid seaming and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I would love to make more, but I just haven't found another bulky weight yarn that makes me as happy as the late Knit Picks' Panache.
I'm working on the Harry Potter House Fair Isle Pouch which I'm doing in Red Heart Soft Yarn. I'm still trying to decide if opting for cheap acrylic was a big mistake that I'll end up regretting during the finishing and blocking. But I just figure I could always knit another in wool if I need to. Oh, and I'm making the Slytherin one.
I pulled out my Rowan RYC Cashsoft to start my Rogue Hoodie only to realize that I have 8 balls of Cashsoft 4-ply...not Aran. Which means, I've got 8 balls of fingering weight instead of worsted. So... no hoodie. But, it might become a Clapotis if I can get the patience to do the setup rows.
My mom bought the three summer cotton-blend yarn sampler packs from Knit Picks. When she gets here tomorrow we're going to cannibalize the packs and decide who gets what. The colors are beautiful, and it's so nice to have touchable samples of more of their yarns. It might help me to finally decide what I want for these sweaters that I keep trying to make. Knit Picks is pretty cheap yarn, which is great when you consider how high the quality is for their prices.
I think that's it right now on the knitting front. My magazines keep coming in and I see lots of nice summery sweater patterns, but since I'm really broke right now, I have to beg off and since this post is really long, I'm going to hit publish, and sign off. I promise I'll try to be better about updating this thing.
While I graduated last Spring, I kept taking classes because I need something to do, a way to practice my French before starting graduate school, and also because there is a minor financial benefit to taking classes in that I can keep my student loans from going back into repayment without needing to file for a formal deferment or forbearance. It's terrible that I abuse the system that way, but I couldn't have made the payments anyway, so perhaps it's just better this way.
Now though, my classes are over. I get to file for a deferment for the summer until I can enroll in my chosen graduate program. In the interest of anonymity, I won't reveal where I'm going other than to say that in August, I'll be moving to Massachusetts.
I was accepted into all three programs to which I applied, and the best deal is coming from that beautiful state in New England. So, I guess I'll no longer be a "warm-weather knitwit"...but I'm going to keep that byline because I've lived in Florida for nearly 20 years.
I'm in the process right now of planning the move. Most importantly, I'm picking furniture that's going with me and my FBH (Fiancé-Boyfriend-Husband). My parents are coming to visit tomorrow for the weekend, and my mom and I are going to be boxing books and packing up the paintings by my grandmother that aren't on the walls, but rather occupy closet space. Whatever we don't take with us is going to be stored in my parents' house until I can finish my education enough that I can settle somewhere more permanent.
Ok, so enough update stuff, and more knitting fun!
My friend, RetroGeekGirl, and I took a leap and started a local knitting group. There were a couple of groups in existence that were close enough that we could have gone to them, but we felt the need for another one that met closer to the school. So we started the East Orlando Fiber Therapy group. It's slow-starting in that the first meeting had two ladies other than us in attendance, and the fourth meeting had one. The second and third was private knitting time/dinner for RGG and I... not that I'm complaining; I love spending time with her, especially since I'm leaving so soon. I just wish there was a more dedicated and more active presence in this group. I'm afraid it won't survive past August.
Right now, I have two active projects. I'm working on a pair of the Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Wild Cherry and the current Dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloths yahoogroup. I really want to start another sweater so that by the time the winters begin, I'll be good to go.
I finished the Boogie Vest...and a couple of other projects...since I posted last. I had to frog the vest twice, but I finally finished it. I decided ultimately to knit it in the round so I could avoid seaming and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I would love to make more, but I just haven't found another bulky weight yarn that makes me as happy as the late Knit Picks' Panache.
I'm working on the Harry Potter House Fair Isle Pouch which I'm doing in Red Heart Soft Yarn. I'm still trying to decide if opting for cheap acrylic was a big mistake that I'll end up regretting during the finishing and blocking. But I just figure I could always knit another in wool if I need to. Oh, and I'm making the Slytherin one.
I pulled out my Rowan RYC Cashsoft to start my Rogue Hoodie only to realize that I have 8 balls of Cashsoft 4-ply...not Aran. Which means, I've got 8 balls of fingering weight instead of worsted. So... no hoodie. But, it might become a Clapotis if I can get the patience to do the setup rows.
My mom bought the three summer cotton-blend yarn sampler packs from Knit Picks. When she gets here tomorrow we're going to cannibalize the packs and decide who gets what. The colors are beautiful, and it's so nice to have touchable samples of more of their yarns. It might help me to finally decide what I want for these sweaters that I keep trying to make. Knit Picks is pretty cheap yarn, which is great when you consider how high the quality is for their prices.
I think that's it right now on the knitting front. My magazines keep coming in and I see lots of nice summery sweater patterns, but since I'm really broke right now, I have to beg off and since this post is really long, I'm going to hit publish, and sign off. I promise I'll try to be better about updating this thing.
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