music i can't stop listening to RIGHT NOW.

ignore the videos on some of these.

lavender diamond, "you broke my heart."


mates of state, "goods (all in your head)."


arcade fire, "rebellion (lies)." why do all these bands do the parentheses titles? i mean, come on, guys.


cold war kids, "hang me up to dry."


palace brothers, "come in."


yacht, "see a penny pick it up."


definitely DON'T ignore this video. this is one of the best things i've seen all month. beyonce, "single ladies."

and how could i forget... the space invaders scarf?!

goodness, what with my secretiveness and the lack of posting photos over the last week or so, i forgot to post one of the more awesometastic things i knitted this christmas. i give you... the space invaders scarf! i used the brilliant charts right here. thank you, photophilic_jen!



double-sided for super duper warmth.

christmas = massive success.

oh me, oh my! christmas was a good ol' time. i gave away all my knitted things and they (more or less) fit the gift recipients! hallelujah.

so i bring you a picture-laden post, full of warmth, friends, family, and, of course, knitted objects of various shapes and sizes. a few days before i left, we found this little gem - a snowman throwing gang signs! mitten side, yo!


the clown nose from halloween (part of my operation game costume) is still in my purse. it comes in handy when waiting for food.


the night before these photos were snapped (a week ago?). this is me and my favorite new person.


and this one is just fab, too.


all right already, on to the knitting. well, on to christmas, at least. this is our family tradition: muppets christmas music. "FIVE GOLD RIIIIINGS... ba-dump-bump-bump."


it was quite the snowstorm in chicago on the 23rd. i didn't leave my parents' house a whole heck of a lot. i did, however, watch a good dose of "what not to wear."


my dad in his new sweater and posing with his new golf club covers!


dad's fab sweater.


mom's sweater - i couldn't have been more pleased with this, and she loved it, too. my dad opened his sweater first, and she was like, "but where's MY sweater?!" she got to open hers a few minutes later. :) like i would knit my dad a sweater and not one for mom!


my favorite gift of all wasn't really a christmas gift - it was my great-great-aunt's charm bracelet, which my mom bought from the estate for me. it is amazing.


and because i cannot resist these shoes (and the temptation to show them off at every chance i get), behold! my new, most awesome shoes, which make me roughly three inches taller than usual!

i am so in love...

seriously... i have a schoolgirl crush on this band, collectively. and i just happened to do a little youtube search and found this gem. drakkar sauna, one of my favorite songs that has yet to be (and likely never will be) recorded. the last time i saw them play (a month or two ago), they showed up at our local drinking establishment. and i did the whole walk past, gush about how awesome they were and thanking them, and hightailing it in the direction i had been previously moving. i'm such a nerd.



everyone you love is damaging their kidneys!
really? really! really? really!
they're going to need dialysis eventually!
seriously? seriously! seriously? seriously!

really? really! seriously? seriously!

shhhh....

whispered quickly before anyone else hears...

i just developed a mental image of my final christmas knitting project... shhh, don't tell. space invaders meets scarf. knit in the round, seamed ends. i know it's been done before (in fact, i know this because i stole a chart for the little buggers). the invaders themselves will fall in stripey bands on dark and light gray stripes at both ends of the scarf. the rest will be charcoal gray.

it is going to rock.

end whispered secrets. and just so this isn't words only, i finished a very special pair of mittens for a very special gal - a gal who first requested a pair of mittens from me roughly a year ago. complete with bad lighting, yoga pants, and monkey socks, i give you... the give a hoot mittens! left:


and right:


finally, i put up my christmas tree last night. ever since i was about three years old, i've been collecting ornaments. i had a little, three-foot high, plastic tree in my room until i was a little older (and got more ornaments). time for a new tree - i graduated to a five-foot high or so tree. now, the tree is bigger than me, and there really isn't any room for more ornaments (even though my mom just brought me some hand-quilted and hand-cross-stitched ones from home). every year, unpacking the ornaments, i remember where i got them, how old i was, how cold it was outside at that one christkindl market in downtown chicago, etc. etc. i get so nostalgiac putting that tree up.


the glass hamburger i got last year at chicago's very cold christkindl market and one of my baby booties, which my grandma knitted!


you know - seahorses and penguins and disco ball apples. nothing says christmas like disco ball apples.


boombox taking a break from batting away at all the NEW SHINY, SWINGY THINGS!

an addict.

this is likely one of the most addictive patterns i have ever done. after reading the needle size for the selbu modern hat, i thought i must be going insane to think of making myself one. however, after eyeing others' finished hats, i decided to go for it. i ordered the needles and yarn from knitpicks, and when they arrived... oh, lordy, let's just say i nearly had a heart attack over the size 0 circular needles and the teeny-tinyness of them.

once i got past the ribbing at the lower edge, though, and started the colorwork, it really was addictive and seemed to go far faster than i had anticipated. i started the hat on november 26. here it is, four days later, and it's blocking away as we speak.

since i'm so proud, here are some pre-blocking shots:


me looking rather odd... but whatever, the hat looks cool. i was afraid it would turn out far too large, but i actually like the fittedness of it (and i hope it doesn't stretch out to much with blocking!).




the next "am i crazy" project will be the squirrely swedish mittens in the same colors as the hat. yippee!

sick of being sick...

i started getting under the weather on tuesday. here it is, saturday, and i really don't feel a heck of a lot better. a little bit... but not a lot.

right now, i'm watching "home for the holidays," my favorite holiday movie (along with "love actually"). robert downey, jr., is hilarious, although clearly high on something. oh, rdj, you are ridiculous.

i've been busy with the knitting, of course, in preparation for christmas and just, you know, in general. i went to the yarn store yesterday to get some more yarn for a sweater i'm knitting, but i neglected to pick up the yarn i need for one of my dad's christmas presents. d'oh! oh, well - guess i'll just have to go back!

anyway, here's a general "making stuff with my hands and two sticks" listing of the current/recently completed projects: first, another copycat hat and a christmas present for someone near and dear to me.


next, a sweater i'm making for myself. i had leftovers of both colors from my pseudo-ski sweater, so i figured, eh, why not. i'm very loosely following my version of the anthropologie-inspired capelet pattern, only i'm making this in pullover form. and, of course, i'm keeping notes, so if it works out, i'll post the pattern notes soon!


and, finally, i started the genius, new give a hoot mittens pattern! one down, one to go. again, this is a gift for someone who has been clammering for me to make her mittens since, oh, last christmas or so. these'll get little buttons for eyes, too.


that's all for now! time for some cold medicine and coffee... and "home for the holidays" and probably some more knitting on the couch. oh, and perhaps some napping.

point me towards the ski slopes!

when i finally got my copy of elizabeth zimmerman's "knitting without tears," i jumped right into that sweater for my dad... but the whole time, my eye was being drawn again and again to the fair isle yoke sweater. it reminded me of being a little kid, of vintage, early 80's winter, mittens, and hot chocolate all wrapped up in sweater form. so i decided it was high time i made something for myself.

i just finished the underarms and weaving in all the ends, and i am SO FREAKING PROUD of my pseudo-ski sweater! like, i haven't been this proud of a knitted object in quite some time. i think it's mostly because i followed the zimmerman "recipe" for a yoke sweater, but you know how that goes... it could turn out exactly as you had hoped, or it could turn out all wonky, too long, too tight, etc. i purposely made the body quite fitted and, wouldn't you know - it worked! fitted in the body, long arms, and the shoulders even fit my big ass girl shoulders. hooray!





look! fair isle!


and more details and me looking, erm, dreamy? spacey?

halloween recap...

okay, this is purely photo/costume-based. i was really proud of my costume. me as the operation game guy!


and me and my favorite married man, james (who was dressed as the bearded lady).


in knitting news, i'm making myself a ski sweater. you know, crazy, ridiculous, snowflake pattern around the top and all. only i don't think i'm going to do snowflakes... it'll be more awesome than that.

let's break it down, okay, people?

presidential election results:
is mccain president?

is obama president?

november 4!

so nervous! so excited!

also? i heart daylight savings time...

but only in the fall. i HATE spring daylight savings time. indiana just started doing daylight savings time last year, so now we're on eastern time year-round.

i got up early and went for a walk. it's beautiful out, and i know it won't be beautiful out for much longer. things i love this morning: coffee and leaves and scarves and sweaters. and my cat, boombox.


our cemetery is pretty amazing.


elizabeth fell down.


burning leaves.


favorite doorway(s) in town.


a sea of color.

part deux...

i had some leftover forest green yarn from my dad's christmas sweater, and i LOVED the slouchy copy cat hat pattern... so i had to make one for myself! voila, people.

a knitting machine!

i started a new hat yesterday for a dear friend's birthday. and i finished it today. i used the slouchy copy cat hat pattern, but went down one needle size for the main part of the hat to limit the slouchiness. i LOVE the fake cables, and i think i need to make myself a sweater using this same stitch pattern. yes, indeed.

look! so pretty! i had leftover yarn from my mom's february lady sweater, so i used that - cascade 220 heather in spring. it reminds me of lettuce.




time to send it off in the mail to denver!

first bit of christmas knitting DONE!

DAD, if you happen to read this blog ever - stop now!






okay, that's the warning. i've been MIA working on this sweater and, at the same time, my mom's christmas sweater, which is also almost done - i'm on sleeve two as we speak. anyway, back to the sweater in question. i kind of love it... but i hope it fits him. like, i REALLY REALLY hope it fits him. the neckhole is a little tight... we'll see, i guess. i just have no idea, and probably won't until he tries it on christmas morning. so it goes.


he's tall, thus the length in the body and arms.


i really love this design. it's the elizabeth zimmerman "pattern" for the seamless saddle shoulder pullover, which basically is a recipe for a sweater. you enter all the measurements, gauge, etc., and voila! you have a sweater that (hopefully) fits! i'm definitely planning on stepping it up and making the seamless hybrid for myself one of these days. or a nice yoke sweater with some fancy neck decorations - like little birds. or geometric shapes in a riot of colors. although i could probably use a plain old sweater more than i could a crazy ski sweater, well, knowing me, i'll make the ridiculous ski sweater first.

sweater weather has arrived, my friends...

i love sweater weather. i love the smell of fall, dead leaves in the breeze. and sunshine that's still a little too warm, but suddenly there's a crispness to the air, a lack of humidity that tells you things are changing. i went to the farmers market yesterday morning, attempting to reinvigorate my taste buds. those pesky taste buds have been lulled to sleep as of late. i bought an acorn squash, locally made bratwurst and chorizo, goat cheese with fennel and dill, and a purple pepper and light green pepper simply because i liked their colors. this morning's breakfast was chorizo, eggs, and purple pepper with a little salsa and sour cream on the side. not too shabby.

in knitting news, i have undertaken the rather ambitious project of making my mom and dad a sweater each. i'm not so worried about mom's - i'm making the february lady sweater in a crisp, light yellowy-green. it reminds me of lettuce a little bit. i think the pattern will be fairly forgiving as far as sizing goes, so no prob, right? that's what i'm hoping, at least. i'm nearing the end of the body and only had one slight mess up, caused by bringing in to craft night at christian's house and somehow losing my place in the lace pattern.

my dad's sweater makes me a bit more nervous. i've never made a sweater of any sort for a man. i'm going to keep it simple, stupid, and either go with the vanille pattern or the seamless hybrid. the yarn came in the mail the other day - a dark forest green heathered wool. the color, at least, will be gorge.

i also FINALLY finished and sent off jes' san diego-friendly hat (using the pi topper chemo hat pattern). god, i don't know what my mental block on that one was, i just couldn't seem to get it done and in the mail. but here be it:


i love the way the top of the hat turns out with this pattern. ceeeyute.


also? i've recently gotten addicted to sol seppy, specifically this song. sol seppy was in sparklehorse, who i also love and adore. so yeah, here's the musical pick of the day: sol seppy, "move."

february lady sweater... all ready for fall.

i finished the february lady sweater, and, oh, does it ever rock. i love the sweet little thang so much (as did my mom when she saw the pattern and the half-finished bits) that i started another one for her for christmas. holiday knitting begins, my friends. oy. i've got my work cut out for me. in all seriousness, this pattern is terrific. it gets the christie stamp of approval.

made using size US7 needles and cascade 220 heathers in rainier. i think i'm in love.






me being silly and pose-y.


and it's actually sweater weather again! i wore my mrs. darcy cardigan out the other night, and i was actually comfy-cozy. i love fall.