Saturday, December 15, 2007

we are all in some way or another going to reseda someday to die...

the first day of real snow has arrived, and i am listening to a song about los angeles. my toes are cold, my hands are cold because my house, well... it's freaking cold. but snow! i almost bit it on my front porch, which really could use some of those grippy duckies you stick on the floor of your bathtub. i opted for salt instead, but it sure doesn't seem to do a whole heck of a lot. maybe i need to stick grippy duckies to the bottoms of my worn out converse. now there's an idea!

i also made a mix cd for someone that i dubbed "the wintry mix." i am so punny! i know - hardy har har.

i've still been knitting some for christmas and birthday presents, but i'm realizing a couple of things are most definitely going to arrive late, so the urgency has passed a bit.

first, my favorite place to be in the world during christmas - the bloomington square. explosions in the air above our heads.
071210. explosions in the air around us.


071210. fireworks.


the buttery side cable mittens are done! voila! i based the general pattern on the warmest mittens pattern and just played it by ear from there.
071209. mmm... buttered popcorn.


shocking, i know!
071209. buttery mittens! all done!


and another modified mit from the same warmest mittens pattern - this time in pine sol green. note that i did, in fact, manage to get the cables to go down the MIDDLE of the mit this time around. so proud! so lucky!
071214. pine mitten!


this was made with debbie mumm's traditions yarn, which i absolutely hated after the buttery mitten debacle of the twisty-turny-untwisty variety. however, this skein was not so awful, for whatever reason. probably because it is, in fact, cheap and chintzy yarn that you simply can't rely on to be awesome OR awful.
071214. pine sol.


and what else have i been doing? well, i baked a metric fuckton of cookies last weekend. oatmeal, pecan, and chocolate chip; ginger snaps; and oh-my-god-yum mexican chocolate chip, which are my new personal favorite.
071209. oatmeal cookie dough.


071209. mexican chocolate cookies.


and my big baby boombox - his favorite cat bed would be me.
071209. the baby.


and the view out my window this morning was something along these lines. look at my poor, lonely, snowy car, all cold and shrouded in snow.
071215. my snowy, lonely car.

Friday, December 7, 2007

ahem... i said, a-HEM!

to welcome the first real snow of the year, i also got to welcome and become the home to a nice little cold. fun! there are cold bugs having a party in my nose and throat. i wish they'd keep it down a little. those cold bugs sure are party animals.

i managed to sleep until 11:30 this morning. at 10:30, i thought, "i should really get up," plopped my glasses onto my face... then woke up an hour later with glasses marks pressed into my cheeks. a good look for me. so yeah. good times.

on the plus side of the ledger, i finished making and addressing almost all of my christmas cards, watched "batman returns" (it's a christmas movie... really, it is!), and worked on some knitting. specifically, i finished dad's present, the sharfik scarf. i am so in love with this scarf that i wish i could keep it for myself. i guess i'll just have to make my own one of these years. i also didn't take a shower until 3:30 this afternoon. yummy.

first, some "i just woke up and it snowed last night" pictures. this is the view out my window through my sorry excuse for a curtain. note the vw bus that hasn't moved since i moved in.
071207. contrast trees.


me gazing out the window.
07120. looking out the window.


my little lovey, boombox. he's about 2-1/2 years old now, but he was born in the wilds of bloomington, indiana. one day, his mama (monster kitty - the sweetest stray cat i have ever met) just disappeared; about a month later, she showed up on my friend's front porch with six fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand fuzzballs. over the next month or so, i changed my mind roughly 15 times about which kitty i wanted to take home with me, but boombox had just a little extra sass. a lot of personality in that little furball, lemme tell ya.
071207. boombox being cute.


finished! my very own noro kureyon mittens.
yarn: noro kureyon #212
pattern: warmest mittens
needles: US 4 (cuff) and US 5 (all the rest)
071202. noro mittens.


i know, i know... it is SO DAMN EXCITING! first pair of mittens EVAH!
071202. noro kureyon mittens, all done. so exciting!


i decided to explore cables with the warmest mittens pattern. yup, these cables were supposed to be in the MIDDLE of the mitten. however, i kind of like the side-cable look of them. the yarn colors are gorgeous, but let me advise anyone against ever buying this stuff. it twists and unwinds and winds up on itself the entire time you're working with it. in other words, joann fabrics' debbie mumm traditions yarn is a total pain in the ass. don't go there.
071202. butter mittens!


cable close-up:
071202. mmm, buttery...


and drumroll please... as mentioned above (i think? i don't know, i'm delirious), i finally finished the sharfik scarf for my dad for christmas. i don't know why, but those last three cable sets were impossible for me to finish. like pulling teeth. like knitting and walking at the same time. in short, impossible.
071207. sharfik scarf in all its super-long glory.


"i'm a model, you know what i mean," and i wear my little scarf on the catwalk. i also am a total nerd and have no idea why i look so serious here. smile, dammit!
071207. sharfik scarf and me looking very serious about the whole affair.


in other news, the entrelac scarf is coming right along. i really like it, but my picked up stitches are a bit, erm, obvious. ah, well, i'll keep chugging away and see if i can't figure out what the hell i'm doing wrong.
071201. entrelac scarf.


oh, and? i have a football watching date on sunday. wahoo! i am way too excited about football this week. for serious.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

thunderstorms in december? really?

it has been raining all day long - light, misty rain. then heavy, loud rain. then lightning and thunder rumbles. then misty rain again. my parents, bro, and sister-in-law came for a short visit this weekend, and we spent the bulk of the morning in my favorite bookstore on the square, the book corner. really, it houses hundreds of magazines, paper doll books, pop-up books, art tattoos, stickers, stencils... and a few books. which is probably why i love it so. i spent too much money there, but i got a jump on my christmas gifts. so there's that.

what have i been up to lately? let's get the non-knitting stuff out of the way first and foremost, shall we?

exhibit a: hanging out in my house, taking photos of my outfits.
071128. ready for the outside world.


exhibit b: petting my cat in orange tights.
071128. petting the cat.


exhibit c: making lists on my hand.
071119. to do list.


exhibit d: making christmas cards.
071119. christmas cards.


exhibit e: taking silly bedhead pictures.
071118. new hair, new bedhead.


whew! i'm glad i got that off my chest. now for the knitting. first, i had a lacy, gorgeous version of the branching out scarf that i had slaved over for quite a while. it was slated to be a gift for a friend's birthday. i had blocked it on my kitchen counter, then folded it up and set it on top of the towels in the kitchen. i get home from work and, lo and behold, my cat had gotten to it. at first i thought the damage wasn't so bad... then i saw the BIIIIG hole right smack dab in the middle. i still feel sick thinking about it. i have not pulled it out since to see if it is at all salvageable. it breaks my heart, but, hey, lesson learned: no delicates (or not so delicates) near the kitty's reach. damn cat.

so yeah... rest in peace, branching out scarf.
071112. WIP. branching out scarf.


to try to un-break my heart over the scarf, i decided to jump right into a couple of other projects. i got some noro for the first time in years and decided i really needed a new pair of mittens. voila! mittens in the makings!

yarn: noro kureyon, #212
needles: US 4 for the cuff, US 5 for everything else
pattern: warmest mittens

i so, so love this pattern (super easy, super quick) and this yarn. i may do another pair with a big ass cable along the top of the hands. maybe - we'll see. i'm working on mitten number two at the present.
071201. hot chocolate in winter mittens.


and my first attempts at entrelac! i'm not very good at picking up stitches, but whatever. i still think it looks pretty damn cool, if i do say so myself.

yarn: soy wool stripes, natural violet
needles: US 9
pattern: entrelac scarf

071201. entrelac scarf.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

of haircuts, bedhead, and finished objects...

i have the hardest time actually finishing things. does anyone else have that problem? i'll have a bag that's been done for months and just needs a handle sewn in, or a neck warmer that just needs a couple of buttons. well, i finally bucked up and finished two lovely, cozy, wonderful neck warmers today. and by "finish," i mean "sewed buttons onto." yeah, that's the way i roll. but, hey, at least i was finally able to buckle down and just get the darned things done, right? yes, that's better.

the pacific ocean-esque scholar collar!
yarn: moda dea tweedle dee in surf and turf.
needles: 10.5 US
super cute pile-of-log buttons: from jesthestar! thank you, darling!
071118. pacific coast scholar collar.


the color is more accurate in this shot:
071118. pacific coast scholar collar.


and the more stormy version. have i mentioned lately how much i like storms?
yarn: moda dea tweedle dee in thunder.
needles: 10.5 US
071118. thunder scholar collar.


i am clearly sans all make-up.
071118. thunder scholar collar.


so now for the day-to-day, life of me stuff. although it may not particularly excite or interest you, i got my hairs cut yesterday. yay for cut hairs! i really needed it. thank the heavens for my hairdresser. i love, love, love her. i actually met her when i first moved here - she was (and still is) dating one of the kids who lived in the basement apartment in my house. and now she cuts my hairs.

love, love, love.
071117. hungover haircut.


hairs!
071117. hungover haircut.


killer hangover headache. i was up way too late on friday night having way too much fun. oh! and i saw a bouncer put a guy in a choke-hold for the first time ever! crazy gagging and such. yikes. anyway, my haircut was at noon on saturday, and i almost didn't pull myself together for it, that's how bad the damage was. i was sort of like a lost, little, delusional kid last night, yelling out things like, "cheese and crackers! i want cheese and crackers!" yeah... i am not proud. i am a trainwreck sometimes.
071117. hungover haircut.


and new haircut = new bedhead.
071118. new hair, new bedhead.


i really love bedhead. if only my hair would stay like this all day.
071118. new hair, new bedhead.

Monday, November 12, 2007

i just wish it would storm...

i love storms. the news people keep saying it's going to storm here tonight - lightning, thunder, nearly an inch of rain, the whole nine yards. not a whole lot has happened yet. i'm fascinated by the weather. i might have missed my true calling of becoming a meteorologist. i know how hail is formed... just because. if you slice a piece of hail in half, it looks like a jawbreaker (with all of the different layers, not all of the different colors).

storm already!

my friend, mete, just posted some adorable pictures from his party a couple of weekends ago. there was lots of pseudo-belly dancing going on, clapping, running around in circles with hands held high, etc. in other words, it was a most excellent time. although we pulled up into the neighborhood and were like, "wow... this is such a... grown-up neighborhood." we apparently are not used to grown-up neighborhoods.

anyway, here are brian, amelia, me, and mete.
cute! brian, amelia, me, and mete.


the man behind me to the left? he was the most amazing, awesome dancing machine i have ever seen. think hyperactive, ADHD-addled eight-year old dancing to turkish music. like i said - awesome.
mete's party. me, amelia, and brian.


i've started becoming a knitting hermit again with the change of seasons. it's just what i do in the fall and winter. i knit like crazy. with the holidays fast approaching, i have dreams of a handknit christmas. we'll see what i pull off between now and then. my knitting wish list has changed dramatically already, though, that's for sure.

the under water scarf. i started this as an alternative to my my so-called scarf addiction. the yarn doesn't lend itself too terrificly well to the pattern, but it's still going to be cozy, reversible, and nice looking with a little fringe, i think. knit up with moda dea tweedle dee in thunder.
071112. WIP. under water scarf.


branching out, knit up with knitpicks gossamer in caribbean. this started as a nereides scarf/shawl, but the yarn just didn't look *good* with that pattern, so i frogged it and searched for plan b. it took me two times starting this to get it going without too many mishaps, but now it seems to be going well. it does require a decent level of attention (read: don't attempt while drinking whiskey), but you can do one or two rounds at a time and set it down without feeling like you're abandoning the poor dear. i'm realizing, though, that i'm going to have to block the shit out of this little guy once i actually get to the end.
071112. WIP. branching out scarf.


and another version of my so-called scarf. i don't know who is going to get this one or the other in this colorway... i might actually end up keeping one for myself (gasp! shocker, i know). i never end up knitting anything for myself. with all the bags i have sold over the past few years, i don't actually own one. weird, huh? i just get on knitting-for-other-people kicks. once christmas is over, though, i'm setting in on some of my crazy sweater plans. that's a promise.

oh, yeah, on with the last of the current works:
071112. WIP. my so-called stormy scarf.


in other news, my cat sank a claw into my forearm as i was sleeping and trying to push him off the bed last night. ouch.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

creativity of the clothes-horse variety...

i know, this is totally not craft-related, but i had to share my new finds. and clothes and creativity are a beautiful thing when melded together, no? yes!

thomas and i took a little trip to the outlet mall about 45 minutes away from here. i can't believe i have lived here for 4 years and have never been there. it's probably a good thing i haven't, actually. my pocketbook may hurt even more than it already does.

dress from banana republic - only $30. holy crap. i love, love, love this dress.
071110. banana republic dress.


so. stinkin. cute.
071110. banana republic dress.


071110. banana republic dress.


j. crew jeans (that i actually feel cute in) - 1/2 off, so they were a whopping $35!
071110. j. crew jeans, blue sweater.


i've got to get them hemmed (just folded up right now with an old-ish pair of nine west shoes).
071110. j. crew jeans.


me and the boombox-cat and my new clothes.
071110. j. crew jeans, blue sweater.


they fit perfectly, but the crotch does a weird puckery thing. i hope that stops as i wear them - i think it will? maybe?
071110. j. crew jeans, blue sweater.


orange banana republic shirt for $13! crazy good.
071110. orange banana republic shirt.


awesome j. crew kick pleat skirt.
071110. black skirt, blue sweater. j. crew.


and for kicks - just your standard myspace-y photo.
071110. black skirt, blue sweater. j. crew.


in knitting news, i started a new project - a lace weight version of nereides in sort of electric/psychedelic variegated yarn. will post photos soon!