Things I have been doing when I should have been blogging...

Yes guys. I know it has been awhile. For this delay in information, I am truly sorry. Here is a list of things I have been doing since I last posted.

-Sakuracon 2009
-Concerts (lots of them)
-Taking Pictures at Concerts
-Working SCA events for Pale Dragon Treasures
-Talking to people in TN
-Working my butt off at unnamed yarn company
-Knitting (okay, not so much)
-Going on Vacation (twice)
-Making a surprise trip to TN
-Turning 19
-Fell in love (twice actually)
-Planning a move to TN
-Working my butt off at unnamed yarn company
-Designing all sorts of nifty things
-Spending WAY too much time on FB and Ravelry
-Doing graphic design stuff for everyone and everything
-Getting sickly a few times
-Having the time of my life

I will post a yarn update/review/shop review and such later this week.

I will blog. I will be faithful to my nonexistent readers.

Move Along....

there's nothing to see here. I promise.

I am having issues with my knitting. I am a process knitter and I LOVE to knit long complicated projects (C's Hemmie anyone?), but right now, I need some instant gratification. I want to knit something and I want it to be done NOW darnit.

I've ripped out 2 different socks this week, the entire leg of Moms Birches and the heel flap of my 2nd Greenies sock. I swatched for my stole design but nothing more as I have needles that are backordered that I need to knit this darn thing.

I pick up my knitting and am so restless I cant knit. So Ive been reading. A LOT.

This weekend should help some. I got to hang out with someone new and shiny and amazing last night (which resulted in me coming to work today on 4 hours of sleep) and have a Moneta weekend this weekend with Mom. Maybe some pics would be helpful...

69. (and not in a dirty reference)

***
The Big Read (http://www.neabigread.org/) said that, on average, adults have only read six books on this list. So ... copy this list, remove my yeses and nos, and add your comments (favourable or otherwise) about the ones you have read. Don't forget to include a total.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen – YEP!
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien -6 times from the beginning.
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - YES
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling – YES
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - YES
6 The Bible –YES
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - YES
8 1984 - George Orwell - YES
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman - YES
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - YES
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - YES
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy – YES
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller –
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - YES
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier -
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - YES
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks -
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - YES
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger -
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot-
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell - YES
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - YES
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens- YES
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - YES
25 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - YES
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh -
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky - YES
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - YES
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - YES
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - YES
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - YES
33 The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - YES
34 Emma - Jane Austen - YES
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen - YES (one of my favourites)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - YES
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres-
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - YES
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne – YES
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -YES
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - YES
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving - YES
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery - YES (20 times at least--one of my favourites)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood - YES
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - YES
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan - YES
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel - YES
52 Dune - Frank Herbert- YES
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - YES
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - YES
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - YES
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon -
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - YES
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck – YES
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - YES
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold – YES
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas - YES
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac - YES
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding - YES
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie -
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville - YES
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens - YES
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker - YES
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - YES
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -
75 Ulysses - James Joyce -
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath - YES
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome -
78 Germinal - Emile Zola -
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray - YES
80 Possession - AS Byatt-
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - YES
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker -YES
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - YES
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - YES
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White - YES
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom - YES
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - YES
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton –
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - YES
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupe – YES
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams - YES
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole -
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas - YES
98 Hamlet – Shakespeare – YES
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl - YES
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo - YES

I read altogether too much.

Oh Hemmie, how I love thee.

I know, I know, I disappeared again. Well there has been a trip to Houston, Dallas and Albuquerque, work, roller derby, books and a whole lot more! But, I have an FO to show you guys...

This is my Hemlock Ring Blanket for Caitlin's mom for Christmas last year. I used the extended charts found on Ravelry and did a 3 row bind off since I am lame and cannot crochet to save my life.

Stats:
Cascade Ecological Wool- 2 skeins of 8015 Natural
Knit on Size 9 Takumis and Knitpicks Harmonys.
Finished Size is just under 5 feet across.

I really like the way that this turned out. My first BIG lace project and my first real charted project. I went through a bunch of lined post-it notes and a few highlighters before I got the chart arranged how I wanted it, but all in all, it worked out. It took 6 months and 1 day for it to be completed and since I did over 100 rows and ended up with 700+ stitches per round, not too too bad, especially not with my procrastinating tendencies. Great pattern, amazing yarn, what's not to love? I just hope C's mom liked it.

I may actually have more blog fodder tomorrow!

A bit hectic....

Well it's December again. Wait! What? December? 2008? How in the hell did THAT happen???

Sorry guys. Ive been a bit busy living life.

Well, Ive got some nifty things on the needles!

-Sock two of my first EVER sock pattern!
-Moms Second Birches sock (Rav Link)
-My first Hemlock Ring for Caitlin for her parents!
-A simple garter stitch scarf for me
-3 different squares for my Dolce afghan

And with my current broken knuckle, I'm finding it a little odd to knit. I'm working on stuff slowly, building back into it, because it really hurts. This is my first knit-inhibiting injury.

Before that, I was just busy. Concerts, work at the yarn company, roommates, friends, designing, graphicing, getting inked, and a whole lot more. More then what I could fill the post with. BUT! I have new pictures of my ink!










Left wrist= Love
Right wrist= Hope
Left foot= Indie Stars

So. the wrist tattoos are white ink, done by Mark at Deep Roots at the Seattle Tattoo Convention in July of 2008. I would definitely recommend his work, but trying to get an appointment there is like pulling teeth occasionally. They turned out so well and I absolutely love them. They are almost all the way healed and almost flat. Minimal pain, no bruising. I went to Warped the next day and never had a problem with them.

My foot on the other hand. Ow. I got it done for my 18th at Electric Crayons in Port Orchard. Anne was the one who did my ankle, my roommates back, my moms calf, and my friends belly. My only real bitch is that she takes FOREVER, neglects her customers and she drags the needle through your skin. For me, one of her other artists did my foot and holy goddess I think I put marks in her chair with my nails. I cried, screamed, swore, yelled, all sorts of lovely things, including needing my roommate to hold me down. It hurt. A lot. But, they mean so much to me. I didnt take the ink worth a damn, so they have to be touched up, which Mark said he would do if I let him do more white work on me- which Im planning right now.

There has also been some writing and designing for bands and stuff. More about that next post. For now, I'm just damn glad to be back.

2007 Completions

white hat for EDHS girl
Black hat for me then Mom
2 Cascade socks for mom
2x2 Rib scarf for Kira
3 Garter stitch scarves for charity and Kelly
Kids Harry Potter Scarf for me then to Kaitlyn
16 washclothes for Rabbitch
2 Self Striping Leg down Sock- Patons Pattern and Yarn
Beige Chair Covers (1 of 3)
Squares Jan-August

That was a bit bizzare.

Yesterday it was SNOWING. Seriously, its April guys. COME ON! Despite the weather I had plenty to do with getting ready for Quals and Amtgard and school, so no new knitting except this old FO which I keep forgetting to take pictures of, until now.
Mom's Cascade Socks. I love the Fibertrends Pattern, the Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and everything. The whole sock experience never ceases to amaze me.... and now, a heel and some lace.
Aren't they pretty? I think so. Mom is crazy about them so I am making another pair for her. I'll post on those once I get the damn things at least part way done! Have a good weekend if I dont post before then guys!

Finally!

I know, I know. I'm neglecting you guys. Sorry about that. I promise I'll post more... But between school, Amtgard, taking care of the house, ohholygod work, and trying to get all my crafting done, I have no time to do anything else!

I promise a better post later with more pics and stuff, but here is an update to the 100 stitch scarf. Courtesy of Bridgie. Enjoy.

So here goes the Christmas Recap…

Dennis and Caitlin came over Friday after work and we went out to dinner at the Rainforest Café for Dennis’s birthday and then bummed around Southcenter for a bit. Then Saturday and Sunday were spent moseying around the house, setting up for Christmas, working on The Dreaded Christmas Knitting, catching up on Private Practice, etc. and then all hell broke loose.

7am Sunday, my roommate came in and said he was sick. As in, really-good-friends-with-the-toilet sick. So Sunday was spent making sure he wasn’t dying, walking to the store for Pepto-Bismol and PowerAde, and watching movies with said dying man. He went to work Monday, I went to work with my mom for a few hours, and then BAM- I got sick.

Mom came over to open presents at 8am on her way home from work, and that was about as far as we got. She went home, I slept all day, Mr. Roommate slept and watched movies all day. I took Wednesday off since I wasn’t feeling well in the AM, so we eventually did errands and went grocery shopping, I did some dishes, and wow look, its Thursday already.

This is what I got for Xmas:
- 8 piece bakeware set from Mom
- 26 piece utensil set from Mom
- 3 Hallmark Ornaments from Mom
- Bath Stuff from Mom
- Chocolate Oranges and the usual from Mom
- Notebooks/pens from Mom
- Blender from Grandma Jamie
- $50 from Grandma Marcy
- $100 Bed, Bath and Beyond Gift Card from Delores

Mr. Roommate got an atomic wall clock from Mom, as well as a chocolate orange. Yeah, he’s part of the family now. Its kinda creepy. On top of that, he says we are just like Joe and Christina- a not married, but together older couple that he knows… Yeah, Merry Christmas to me!

As for the Xmas knitting, dont ask. None of it got done due to the sickness. The 100-stitch scarf is a WIP and is just under 3 feet long x.x

Still Alive.

Yes, I am alive. Honestly I have just been BUSY. School, work, commuting, looking for apartments and a new job, you name it. Im just plain freaking busy. Even so, I still have some FO pics and some fun pictures to share! Here is the Patons sock in progress next to the Showbox at the Market sign held up by Heather (shown at right)

The pic of Heather was taken at the original Starbucks in Seattle, which I had never been to, even though I practically live in Seattle. I know, it was blasphemy. So I sat outside and knitted like a geek until it got cold enough I couldnt feel my fingers and then we trekked to Starbucks and Subway while some friends of hers held our spots in line.

The show itself was just amazing. Moneta, the lead singer from Forgive Durden, The Classic Crime and Holyfield (formerly known as Tyson). It was an acoustic set, which I loved although I normally don't care too much for them. After the show I went home and vegged out on the couch with my merch that I bought and worked on the second Patons sock.

On sunday, it was finished. Here they are- my first pair of cast on socks, but not the first finished socks. Im still waiting for pics of my moms Cascade Socks, but these were my first pair for myself too- which makes them even more special.




Right now, they are keeping my feet nice and toasty in the cold Pacific Northwest winter and while I am sleeping. The sizing isn't quite right on my injured ankle (a little loose and baggy) but still warm. The yarn was a present from my grandmother (dads mom) who bought 2 skeins of it in Cambria in 2006 (don't ask me what store- she can't remember, I already checked). I knitted them on size 2s and they took me five months.

I started them on July 3rd after I had had a copious amount of rum and was braving the fears of both knitting on dpns and knitting socks. Turns out, I can do it. I can teach myself to knit on dpns and to knit socks. I am slightly amazing in this feat. Im working on the blog header and everything, since school is almost over I should have more time soon.

Also, holiday knitting doesn't exist for me. I am continuning to knit as planned and not stressing. lets see how long this lasts, shall we? Have a good week guys!

Good, the bad, and more good.

I now have a camera at my disposal, but alas, I am on my way to Wyoming today. I wish it was to see the awesome knitters of the flat windy state, but it is instead, to take care of my great grandmother.

I brought plenty of knitting, its just a matter of knitting sock in the car.... which I have NEVER attempted to do before. I also brought the snowflake lace sock yarn and needles, but I cant find the pattern anywhere. The depths of my apartment ate it. So yeah, I should have some FOs and stuff to post when I get back, or maybe even while I am there.

BTW- Ravelry is AMAZING.

The search is *somewhat* over!

So I found a pattern... But I would make them uber shorty socks so that they would look cute with a skirt or something... in Falcon's Eye. And if I have enough I will be making a matching pair of Fetchings to go with.

I cant figure out the colourways for the RPMs but its the blueish-purple-y colourway from Blue Moon. I need to find a 4 or 5 DPN pattern for it, instead of two circs.

Im knitting up some other kid scarves and stuff, maybe stuff to throw up on ebay so I have some cast or something... I dont know yet. Its using up some scrap yarn leftover from Moms Aubergine scarf and some scarves that her mom made awhile back. I need to seriously downsize on the amount of scrap yarn I have laying around.

Sock addiction

So since I am almost done with the second sock (no not really, but Im about to turn the heel....) I want to pick a new sock pattern to use up some of my Socks That Rock yarn I have stashed around. I have 3 skeins of it, two Multicoloreds that I have NO clue what the colorway name is (Note to self: Contact Tina and ask if I supply pictures if she could possibly make more or at least tell me what the colourway is?) and one skein of a shaded solid. So I have been through hundreds of sock patterns but I cant find anyone that fits my requirements...

-Uses only 1 skein of STR (dont ask me what weight, I dont know... )
-top down
-4 dpns used, preferably in a 1 or 2 or 0 size.

Until then, I guess my bus knitting may consist of a pair of Fetchings.

Oh.... Sleep Deprivation.

Well I am back sooner then I wanted to be, and without the nifty page header I have been working so graciously on whenever I have the chance. I do not have FO pics or any other sort of inspiration, other then I finished my first sock finally. It looked like crap until Caitlin showed me the utter brilliance for three needle bind-offs, and I will officially start my second one while on my way to Bumbershoot tonight to see Anberlin and then back again for Kill Hannah tomorrow morning.

Saw Gogol Bordello last night, have no pics yet, but I may next week courtesy of a friend I met in the pit, as well as some from the next two nights.

Meanwhile, I am crocheting washclothes for Rabbitch in some cotton that Caitlin gave me a bunch of, and I still have to get all my squares out in the mail on Tuesday (I hate holiday weekends. x.x)

Otherwise then that, all the knitting is getting packed outside of the sock and stuff since Mr. Roommate and I are moving even closer to Seattle. Too bad it wont be before Stephanie hits Seattle on the 14th to talk. Ill have links and more information up for you guys soon!

Stay Tuned.....

My new blog is under construction- Hang in there. I'll have it up ASAP.