Making a dent.

I finally finished the cotton cabled scarf! I am so proud. I actually finished it about a week ago, but I wanted to finish the project at the bottom of this page before posting. I really like it, it is the perfect length, about 5 feet, and cool (as in not hot) and soft. I was making it for my friend Nan, she even picked out the yarn. However, I haven't seen her in over a year, so I guess I will keep it. I could try to get in touch, but I don't know.

I really like it. I need a scarf anyway, and hate making them. Yeah, I think I will keep it. On a less positive note, after I finished this, and before I started my next project, I went through all of my stash and sorted it. I found TWO MORE BALLS of this yarn. Dammit. I don't know if I want to swap it or maybe make some matching fingerless gloves...yeah, that would be a good use. Then I will have matching gloves. :)

I found these pictures while uploading my FOs, I took them when I made sopapillas about a month ago. They were SO GOOD, our friend Cozzie was calling them "crack", and everyone burned through both gallon sized ziplock bags full of them in about a day. Yummy!

To go through some Vanna's Choice I had left over from making my sis a tudora, I decided to make Fetching. It turned out I didn't have quite enough, so the edge of the right hand was finished with some leftover Vanna's Choice Sylvie had from making her grandma an afghan last summer. I like it, Sylvie said it looks indie. I don't care, I am just trying to get rid of yarn. My mom saw me working on the second one and said she likes it. So, the next time I see her they will belong to her. I really liked the pattern, and recommend it.

We kept laughing while taking this picture.

The yarn is pretty bulky, and was knit size 6 dpns with yarn made for 8's or 9's...and I am a tight knitter. Therefore, my hands are kind of swallowed by them. However, they are cute and will be really warm this winter.

Well, next is my Manos de Uruguay. I frogged the rest of the Reverie today, and will maybe start on the Hermione hat tomorrow. Hooray for knitting, especially hooray for stash busting!

So Exciting!

Still not quite done with the scarf; I have about half a ball left. I am going to try and finish that up today. I have just been perusing Ravelry and have found two new projects I want to do!

The first is actually the way to get out of a dilemma. I was making Reverie, a beautiful hat out of the Spring issue of Knitty. Unfortunately, I was using the beautiful Manos de Uruguay Silk Merino blend I bought over a year ago, picture here. The colors were working out beautifully, the Reverie was off to a great start, so pretty, so easy!

So what do I mean by "unfortunately"? Dilemma? What the hell am I talking about?

Well, do you see that tiny tiny ball of yarn that is being used? THATS IT. That's all I bought. I haven't even made it to the decrease on this hat. And I bought it a year ago, so when I went back to Yarn Mart, my lys, they didn't even have that colorway anymore, let alone the same dyelot.

So instead, I will make this. I found it on Ravelry when looking at what some local girls have been making lately. It is a facsimile of a hat that Emma Watson as Hermione Granger was wearing in a movie teaser photo last summer. The designer, Jackie, calls it Hermione's Cable and Eyelet hat. I think its great and hopefully there is enought of the Manos to make it. If not, it looks like I will be cast back into the pit of depression. It just goes to show you, this is what I get for not paying enough attention to the amount of yarn I have and the amount of yarn it takes to make something. Oh well.

The other wonderful thing I found was a sweater...I am finally going to try and make a sweater. I feel that as a knitter I need to make a sweater, sort of as a "thesis" or something. Of course I am pretty weird. I decided on the Cabled Cardigan by Margaret O'Leary, it was in the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting. I am not going to cast on for this until after this summer, as it will require more yarn and I won't buy anymore until my stash is whittled down. But it is very nice to have something to look forward to. And there are so many great variations on the Ravelry page, I can't wait to make it!

In other news, I watched the new Star Trek movie last night. I have been a fan of TNG since I was 9 or 10, and a fan of TOS for 5 or 6 years. I think that I am mostly a "trekkie". And I can tell you, they did a GREAT job with this movie. The actors they cast were great. The only possible improvements were that Anton Yelchin as Chekov didn't look the same, but his acting was pretty much great. Also, the story line of Spock and Uhura wasn't my favorite, but it's not a big deal. It was awesome, I cannot recommend it enough, for Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. It was a great action movie either way. After I watched it, I just wanted to sit and watch it again. I told my friend that after watching it I felt like we needed to yell "Alright!" and do a chest-bump. She said she wanted to clap and cheer at the end. And as for the guy playing Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Karl Urban, he must have studied footage of DeForest Kelley for literally hours. He just walks into a room like Kelley, talks like Kelley, moves like Kelley. Awesome.

What are you doing? Go watch Star Trek.

Knitting!

So now, hooray, classes are just about done. I have one more semester, and will graduate in December. Yay! Better yet, I have this summer as a great big break. I have begun to celebrate by knitting!

I told Sylvia yesterday, I want to bust through a good bit of my stash. My stash isn't as big as a lot of the knitters I know, but I am not one for the clutter so I want to cut it down before I buy more. Also, I don't really have the money for buying yarn and it is easier to justify as a *necessity* if I have no yarn to knit up. The yarn I have should keep me busy for a while; I have enough yarn for 4 or 5 sock projects and then lots of random balls of yarn waiting to be something.

I also told Sylvia that if I can shave down my stash pretty well so there is actually space in my "craft cabinet", I will reward myself this fall by buying, you guessed it, MORE YARN. I'm pretty excited about it all.


Right now I am working to finish a scarf that I started in 2006. It's a funky boucle-ish cotton yarn in white with a denim-y blue streak through it. It's already pretty long, about 4 feet, but I like l-o-n-g scarves. Also, I only have about a ball left which will add about a foot to the length. After I post this I am going to work on that. I am not putting up pictures, because frankly it's old news (did you read the "2006" part? this is 2009) and I will post pictures when it is actually finished, which I hope will be a couple of days from now.


As for F.O.'s, I have two to share. The first one is a "Dittoro" that I made based on a Totoro pattern. It is actually a crocheted project, but I do not discriminate. The first link is to the wiki page for the Totoro movie, the second link is to the actual pattern. The only thing I really took from the pattern was the body and the belly, I just made up the ears, arms, and tail. I really like it and everyone thinks it's too cute. Here is a picture of me and Dittoro:



And here is a picture of Ditto the Cat, my inspiration for this project, with her toy-self, the Dittoro:

They totally look alike. Ditto even has a round orange belly. She really didn't care about it, although when I was working on it, she liked to come up to it and attack and try to eat it's whiskers. I haven't seen her do that since I finished it though.

The Dittoro was actually started a couple of months ago, I just never had time to work on it. I have been super super busy with school and all. The socks I posted a few posts ago need to be frogged, somehow they are way too big. I would like to blame this on the stretchiness of the socks, but I am pretty sure it is a gauge mistake that I made. The one I have is nearly to where the heel should be started, so it won't be a tragedy to rip it out. I would just salvage it, but I don't have cankles and I don't want a sock that falls down all the time--I would never wear it and that just defeats the purpose.

The next project was actually finished in about a day or two. I started it after my busiest school day to relieve stress, and will give it to one of my friends tomorrow. She just loved the Dittoro so I made her this:

No, not the cat. I am talking about Mousie. His pattern was about $3, but well worth it I think. I used some yarn Sylvia had in her stash for him. I liked the gray stuff, which I think was some type of wool blend meant for socks, but the pink was a very light pink baby yarn. I think this is actually the remainder of some acrylic I gave her a few years ago. Because it is acrylic it looks a little stiffer and less organic than the gray but I think only a fiber snob will notice, or a knitter with a really discerning eye. I still think it's cute. The pattern was created by a Scottish designer named Ysolda Teague, I have always loved her stuff but it takes a lot for me to want to actually purchase a pattern. There are so many free ones out there! But when a pattern is this much genius, you can't pass it up. The best part of this pattern was that it was all one piece. At the end of the i-cord tail you switch to gray and knit the body. You then pick up stitches and knit for the feet and ears. It's a really awesome pattern.

Mousie fits in the palm of my hand, but you don't have to make him this size. Sylvia and I were discussing the possibilities of making bigger Mousies out of some gray and pink Vanna's Choice.

Speaking of buying patterns online, I have started reading the Yarn Harlot, and she was knitting a sock that captured my heart. The pattern is called Viper Pilots and I love it. I am going to buy it as soon as I am ready to cast on. It's $5, which isn't too shabby. Pearl-McPhee was using some kind of yarn that is blue with silver (yes actual silver as in the metal) to knit them, and they look awesome. The pattern writer, Glenna, used a deep, dark blue that is also very beautiful. I picked up yarn at the lys, Yarn Mart, about two days after I saw this pattern. It is Crystal Palace bamboo in a beautiful white and blue, it was on sale for $4.50 a ball, and thus I could not resist. I will post pictures as soon as I start the project. I am not sure if I will start that after I finish my scarf or if I will do something else. Needless to say, I am excited.

So excited, in fact, that I am going to go and add the pattern to my queue on Ravelry, and also show off Mousie and Dittoro. Its about time, I don't think I have actually posted on Ravelry in months although I still log in at least once a week.

Procrastination Alley

Okay, I'm not in an alley, the title just popped in my head and it amused me...I am easily amused. I should be reading the last 10 pages of my reading for Senior Seminar, in the book "Examining Cultures Scientifically". Now, don't get me wrong I like this book a lot. It has been making me think. Specifically, it has been making me think about what theory I adhere to in Anthropology. Also, some essays we have been assigned are pushing me in the direction of thinking about these things. It is really making my head hurt, and I can't stop thinking about quantifying culture, what is it that changes when cultural changes happen, etc. I guess that it is probably a good process, albeit painful, because I am coming into "professional" thinking, and no longer look in a book for information. Mostly because I am becoming very critical of some of the things I look up. Here's hoping that the pain of professional development doesn't last too long. And here's a random cartoon to distract from the fact that I just wrote a blog about not just nothing, but a lot of boring nothing.



You may laugh, but Orangutans are pretty damn smart, despite all that they lay around like hairy deflated footballs.

In which I return to the blogosphere.

I have been doing stuff. I have been busy. This semester has been crazy. I am just going to start with last week, and try and keep updated from now on. For example, on Saturday I went to a performance of Carmina Burana, and it kicked ass. Last night Sylvia and I went to "Viva Violins" which was a quartet of lady violinists from the National Symphony Orchestra. We had to drive to the Conway library, but it was well worth it. Programs are below. I have fallen in love with the piece by Ravel that they played. I'll look for it at work.




Yesterday afternoon, I climbed Pinnacle Mountain with my friend J.P. We were going to go in the morning, but it was wet and nasty. About half of this week (which is spring break by the way) has been nasty, rainy, and stormy. Its supposed to be severe tonight. Back to the point. We were going to go early but it was gross so we cancelled. However, by noon I was super bored, hadn't seen a drop of rain despite the overcast, and told him I was going despite the weather. He agreed and joined me.



It was pretty difficult climbing the mountain. I am not in the best shape, but I run 2 or 3 times a week. I had to rest on the way up, and today the front of my thighs (especially the left one) are killing me. I need to make tackling this hike a weekly thing, definately. I really really enjoyed it though, and the hour we sat at the top was the best, the landscape was beautiful.

Back at mi casa, Spring is in the air. Here is our dogwood, which is in full bloom:


Our azaleas are beginning to bloom, and they will be super pretty very soon.

While I was taking the previous pictures and the upcoming sock pictures, nosey Ditto watched me.

Here are a couple of shots of the socks I am working on now. The are Paton's stretch socks, a cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend. The color is 31306, so creative, right? I am looking forward to being able to wear them not just when its chilly. I was so excited when I heard about this cotton blend. They are actually going really fast. I started them (from the cuff, which I did months ago) on Wednesday, and they are already pretty far along. Hopefully it won't take months to finish. I told J.P. I wouldn't be finished until this summer most likely...he was suprised how slow a process knitting is. I'm pretty busy so not everyone is so slow, but yes it is relatively slow...

But totally worth it.

It has come to my attention that I have no organization in my knitting stuff...so I have decided I need to go through the yarn stash AND the WIPs...and I am going to frog what I won't finish and organize the rest. I may take pics...either way it seems like a good idea.

Finally, the gloves come off (the needles)

I have been working on these things since about July. I had to completely re-knit the second one, as the first time I knit it it looked as if it were meant for webbed fingers. I am pretty pleased with the result. He still needs to come and get them of course.

I felt pretty bad as I was taking so long, and we've already had some pretty cold weather. However, the friend I made them for has the worst memory in the history of the world and they were almost like a new surprise for him when I was finished. I'll see if he will model them when he comes to get them.

And, since it is the new year, I have had resolutions on my mind. I am not one of those people who makes a resolution for the year, I make them as a lifestyle change. For example, "loose weight" is not a valid resolution. My only resolution last year, however, was "be healthy". I have done a pretty decent job of that, I try to make sure to get plenty of vegetables and whole grains in my diet. I also starting going for multi-mile walks in June, and have been running since September or October. I have not really lost much weight, about a pants size, but I feel SO much better and my clothes fit better, and I have way more energy. I also feel less stressed and depressed, especially compared to last year at this time.

So, I will list a few resolutions that I would like to incorporate into my life.

1. Try new things, and try things I tried before and didn't like again.

2. Knit more.

3. Enter and run in a 5K before the end of the year--I can already run that distance, but I want to build up speed and of course officially enter one. I am hoping to do that by November.

4. Whenever possible, anything I need to buy I will buy either used, locally, or handmake. I have already started on this, as I spent a little extra yesterday to buy honey made in Arkansas instead of cheaper Kroger brand honey that has been shipped across the U.S. This means that I will have to make the effort to go to the Farmer's Market every week this summer (which will contribute to healthy living as well), and will need to make sure the sellers are the growers, not just distributors of stuff from places like Georgia or Washington. Today we went to the thrift shop to get a canister for our coffee (we have been using a paper sack!) rather than get a new one from the dollar store. In the end, the situation was win-win-win-win-win because A) Canister cost 75 cents, rather than a dollar B) The used canister is way cuter than anything at the dollar store C) Did not buy a new product that was manufactured and shipped from overseas D) Thrift shop donates all proceeds to a charity called Our House which works to keep families that find themselves in poverty and bad situations together and E) Sylvia found a really nice two-piece suit for $6.50, it was an Isaac Mizrahi for Target that was probably originally $50 to $60. It looks like it was worn once.

So I am already trying to live by my new resolutions. I think its a good thing.

This is what saving money and creating less waste looks like. Pretty cute, huh?

Yes we did!

I am so proud of my country. The great majority of Americans banded together yesterday (and in the previous days of early voting) and sent the message that WE are the ones with the voice, and no amount of scare tactics or mudslinging can distract us, WE decided what direction we wish our country to go in the future.
This country can now get back to being the great nation it is. Hopefully we will regain some of the respect other nations once had for us. And we can get a little self respect as well. I proud to say that my president is Barack Hussein Obama.