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I’ve decided that this year, I’m going to do more adventurous things to get out of my comfort zone. During the last few weeks in 2011 and the first few weeks of 2012, I stepped back from things, people, the internet (deleted some accounts and started over) and examined the things I didn’t like about 2011. I felt that I could’ve done more creatively, and it wouldn’t have hurt to become more active physically. Yes, I knit and I can sew pretty decently when I take my time, but there’s so much more that I want to do! I figured I’d list them to help me to remember them and to hold myself accountable.

• take a creative writing class
• take a photography class
• blog more, and about things other than knitting
• develop a brand
• design more knitting projects for my own brand
• make a queen-sized quilt
• make a baby quilt
• knit up/sell/donate all of the yarn currently in my possession
• make more things from scratch. This includes cleaning supplies like detergent, carpet cleaner, as well as foods i buy mostly for convenience like iced coffee, muffins, salads, etc.
• focus on building friendships and repairing the ones that aren’t as strong
• make at least one new friend
• decorate my apartment by using my creativity
• execute one IKEA hack, one already posted or one I come up with that works for me
• get adventurous with my ‘fro!
• go on a weekend road trip to another state, not including New York, New Jersey and Delaware
• join a class (pilates preferably) to improve & maintain good health as a lifestyle

If you’re thinking of some goals you have for the year, definitely leave a comment and let me know. I think it’s good to have something(s) to look forward to!

Ideas, ideas

Thanks to Matt, I got an iPad for Christmas. He heard me mention it months before and kept it a secret. I’m still figuring out which apps I want, but I did manage to get a couple of cool photo editing apps, Phototoaster and PS Express. It’s quite fun to fiddle with and I’ll be fiddling more with it since the hard drive on my laptop ate it a week ago. (Can we get companies to STOP PUTTING INTERNET EXPLORER IN COMPUTERS?!?)

Bah. Anyway, I’ve got to do something with these two balls of yarn. Not together, but something simple and sweet with each of them. I’m thinking of a pattern that’s not to complicated, but with some oomph. I’d like to think that it’ll be a pattern that I can knit while watching Downton Abbey, but who am I kidding here? I lose rhythm knitting stockinette with that show with all of the twists and turns it takes.

P.S.: Thanks to Danita for supporting a friend and buying the Harper pattern. When she publishes her first self-help book, preferably entitled, “A Cuppa and a Side Eye”, I’ll be the first in line to procure my signed copy.

Bridgewater

After finishing up some projects and starting and ripping out projects, it feels good to have something that I know I’m going to finish. I tried to finish the Acer I had going in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, but I got well into the armhole decreasing before I realized that it was way too big.

I tried to knit the Basket Yoke Pullover, but my gauge was way off for that. There were about 2 more misses in the form of hastily begun projects, so I just knit a cowl and a pair of socks. Usually when I knit some instant gratification, I follow up with a more intensive project.

Bridgewater was in my queue for a while. I started it before about 2 times and I guess the third time’s the charm because I haven’t stopped working on this since I started it last week. I’m using Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Composition Book Grey.

It has a bit more purple than pictured and looks amazing. It feels lovely as well; the garter stitch square has a crisp but soft feel and….I’ve changed my mind about garter in lace. Usually stockinette stitch is the background I go for in  a lace pattern, but sometimes you just need to knit (or purl) every row. Life seems a bit simpler that way.

 

Harper Socks

These socks were a long time comin’, but they’re finished and I love putting a pair of freshly grafted socks on my feet. It wasn’t hard to realize that I was going to need some sort of pattern to break up the craziness that is Koigu, especially this particular color. I wasn’t going to do anything too special when finishing the pattern, but as I was knitting it, I kept thinking of a close friend.

V has had a crazy 2 years, and one of the positive things to come of her adventure was that she decided to go back to school and pursue her dream/goal/destiny of becoming a pastry chef. It wasn’t the easiest thing she’d done, and there were definitely times when she needed a push. Despite her having a job and a life and school and friends and …you get the idea, she was still available as an awesome friend. Watching her do what she loved and get her degree served as a nice little fire under my butt to do what I love and not think twice about it. So here’s Harper!

The socks have a twisted slipped stitch pattern, travelling down ribbed panels, in the form of a V (her first initial). I’ve knit these socks during brunch with her, in the passenger seat of her car when we got stuck on the highway in Virginia (and decided to take a coffee break in the Starbucks in Tysons Corner Mall), and any free time in between. I hope you enjoy these socks as much as I have.

Available through Ravelry for $4.00

old habits die hard

If you live in the Philadelphia/NJ/Delaware area, you know we’ve been getting rained off and on for a couple of weeks now, maybe longer. I lovvvvvvvvve the rain and welcome it every time. A cup of tea, knitting and maybe a book are always nearby, so as long as i’m inside, i’ll enjoy the storms for as long as they go on.

The Beekeeper’s Quilt, by Stephanie of tinyowlknits, gave me an excuse to start another sock yarn blanket. Let’s face it: after that hexagon blanket, I wanted to make another and another. The join-as-you-go appeal sucks you in and makes it easy to work on a blanket for 2 years. Heh. I originally planned to make mine unstuffed, but seriously, how awesome would it be to have a puffy, squishy, soft quilt for the winter? According to the yardage estimate she gives, I’ll need about 64 skeins of yarn to make a quilt that’s around 6′ x 8′. I guess we’re talking next winter in my case.

Aereon

Not too long ago, I designed a sweater! I hadn’t been up on blogging at the time, so here it is. It’s called Aereon and is available for purchase here through Tunney Wool Company.

Last summer, Rosie’s was having a sidewalk sale and one of the specials was a 5,044-yard skein/hank/behemoth of O-Wool Classic Worsted that had a bit of vegetable matter in it. I checked all of the colors that were available, and the robin’s egg blue wanted to be friends with me. (The picture looks to be a bit more blue than it actually is, but it’s all good.)

I’d worked with Balance before, but never the Classic Worsted until it came time to knit the sweater. It. Is. Amazing! It has a very woolly feel to it (duh). There was very little VM in the hank, but I don’t mind VM in my yarn. I feel that the soft-as-a-cloud yarns have coddled knitters to be averse to trying other yarns that don’t immediately give them an overwhelming sense of luxury. Try this yarn. It’s 100% merino so it is a soft yarn, but once you block it, it really becomes a beaut. I knit the swatch for the sweater and tossed it into my bag to see how it would perform with everyday travel and it felt better the more I touched it, the more it got tossed around a bit. And get this….it didn’t pill! The way it’s combed during the yarn-making process dramatically reduces the possible amount of pilling that could occur from a 100% merino yarn.

I say this to say, if you haven’t tried O-Wool Classic Worsted, do so. If you’re interesed in making a warm-weather garment, try the Balance. 50% organic merino and 50% organic cotton would make for a great short-sleeved or 3/4-length sleeved cardigan for chilly offices during the spring & summer.

Read up on Tunney Wool Company, O-Wool’s distributor, and the standards they uphold in processing their yarns here!

Book purge!!!!

Click on the picture to buy some books from me!!! I’ve got to clear out a nice amount of stuff before moving into the new apartment, so here it is. I’m a bit surprised by the books that I had when I found them again, but hey, you grow & change. Well, it’s all there and it’s super cheap. I’ve tried to give an accurate description as well as I could for each book.

Yarn purge coming soon. I’ve been whittling it down and down and down, but I think there are a few more on-the-cusp yarns that I haven’t made a decision about yet. Also, I’m thinking of donating some of the scarves I’ve knit. I’ve just accumulated way too many triangular knit scarves. I know exactly, they’re super easy to make. However, it’s not a thing I make intentionally most of the time; I make it because I have variegated yarn and don’t know what else to do with it.

We’ll see how it goes, but I do feel really good about going through all of my books. I must say that the Interweave books look really good stacked together!

oh, hey

I’ve opened quite a few posts on this blog with the words, “It’s been so long since I last blogged”, or “I’ve been so busy but still want to blog”, etc.

I just don’t have as much blog interest when it comes to knitting. It’s my job now and, while I do enjoy it, there’s something missing about knit-blogging. Also, Ravelry has made it super easy to list all of the things you’ve done, needle size, mods, yarn, etc. associated with a project and so you don’t really have to describe much. I do still want to blog, just about life, so I think I’ll keep this blog up. There’s also a bunch of cool people who have wordpress blogs that I know and want to keep up with their blogs.

I’m not one for huge announcements or big surprises, but in a couple of months, I’ll be getting married. Matt & I got a supercute apartment for a great price. (It also has a nice new carpet in a lovely shade of grey, but that’s neither here nor there). A great deal of my time is spent making lists of everything we’ll need so that we don’t try to cook the first week and realize we have no can opener, pan, spatula, forks….you know. We’re both nervous, but more so excited. We’ve known each other since we were 19 & 20, so a lot of things that people in our socialization (young Christian kids) go through aren’t really issues for us. I’ve heard some doozies of reasons why people get married!

I can see myself blogging more in the future, especially when we move. I got a new camera this past Christmas, so I’ll play around with it and document the apartment settling. It’s. Going. To. Be. Awesome. I’m going to sew curtains, do some decorating….ahh. Mid-May, get here!

I’ll leave you with some pictures of lingering projects. Here’s to finishing them soon.

Noro blanket

Avignon

DESTASH!!!

I’m getting rid of some yarn. Here’s my ravelry page link; you can see all of what I’m trying to get rid of here.

I also have a few books that I’m trying to get rid of here.

This is what happens when you watch Hoarders, then get a Nook.

work, knit, work, knit

I’ve been busy as crap lately at work, which is fun, but omg.

I do still knit and crochet and spin. Weaving may come into the mix. Sewing is taking a backseat.

I miss blogging here. I can’t say I’ll do it more, but I’ll sure as heck try.

The hexagon blanket is finished.

Like finished, i-cord edging done. I crocheted over the ends as I went, but I’m still a bit paranoid about them so I might end up weaving them in a bit more before cutting them. I do not want to spend the better part of 2 years on a project and have it unravel on me.

Why do people say “the better part of….”? The time frame is still the same. Is there a worse part?

I am going to enjoy watching WWE Smackdown tonight. Monday night is RAW and NXT is on Tuesday nights. Leave me and my wrestling alone.

I have had a milkshake after leaving work 3 days this week and tonight is gonna make it an even 4. I have a habit, but I think this one will be harder to break than my m&m habit during church.

I got rained on today and it felt like TNNA all over again.

Thanks to the TNNA trip, my friends now know I have a drinking problem. Coke & grenadine. I can stop whenever I want, I swear.

The TNNA trip was saved by the following:

I started this blog post with some sort of hope to catch up but it wound up being some rambling.

I ramble.