it's a bright and shiny day!

i finished the bright and shiny grandpa cardigan! i am pretty much in love with it. i modified the pattern for the anthropologie-inspired capelet, so i'll go ahead and just post my pattern (after the pictures, of course) in case anyone wants to try their hand at it.

oh, and don't mind the bedhead. it's saturday - i haven't actually managed to shower yet today, between the wandering about town and button sewing.


the back:


details, details. i got tired of doing nothing but stockinette stitch, so i added a bit of checkerboard knitting, too.


i love the bright, saturated colors i picked. when i first started knitting it up, i thought i'd never wear it due to the extreme brightness. yeah, no... i pretty much love it.


okay, and the pattern. the original pattern is here. here are my edits/updates to make the full-sized version:

Full-Length Version of Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet
Yarn used: Plymouth Encore (worsted)
Quantities: About 1.5 skeins of pink, .5 skein of light yellow, .5 skein of orange
Size: Small/Medium (to fit about 35-36" bust)
US 10, 4 sts=1 inch

Set-Up
CO 100 st. Knit in 1 x 1 rib for 2 inches (or 18 rows) to create neckline. Start buttonholes on second row of ribbing.

Buttonhole Info
RS: On buttonhole rows: On last k6 stitches, k2, k2tog, yo, k2. Repeat buttonhole row every 16 rows.

Raglan Increases: (you will need 4 stitch markers to separate the body into 5 sections: left front, left sleeve, back, right sleeve, right front).

Row 1, RS: Buttonhole row: k6, p12, yo, pm, p1, yo, p14, yo, pm, p1, yo, p32, yo, pm, p1, yo, p14, yo, pm, p1, yo, p12, k6
Row 2 and all WS rows: knit all stitches
Row 3 and all RS rows: k6, *p to next marker, yo, sl marker, p1, yo* repeat from * 3 more times, p until last 6 st, k6.

Continue raglan increases until sleeve measures the circumference of your upper arm. End with a WS row.

Split sleeves and body:
RS: k6, p to 1st marker, move all st from 1st to 2nd marker onto scrap yarn (right sleeve). P to 3rd marker. Move all st from 3rd to 4th marker onto another piece of scrap yarn (left sleeve). P to last 6 st, k6.
WS: Knit all st.
Continue in reverse stockinette stitch.
Continue with buttonholes every 16th row.
Knit until nearly desired length. Switch to 1 x 1 rib for last 4-5 inches. BO all st.

Sleeves:
Pick up all st, one sleeve at a time from scrap yarn. Pick up 4 extra stitches in the underarm. Knit in the round or work back and forth in reverse st st until nearly desired length. Work in 1 x 1 rib for last 4 or 5 inches. BO all st. Seam ribbing on sleeves if not knitted in the round.

i also added a little checkerboard pattern at the bottom of the sweater, just because i got sick of the continuous KNITknitknitknit, PURLpurlpurlpurl. this could be easily modified to make it bigger - just keep doing the raglan increases to make the body and sleeves wider.

would you get back to the knitting already? sheesh.

what with earthquakes and changing jobs and general craziness, i haven't posted much about the crafting aspect of this journal. which is, of course, supposed to be the whole POINT of this thing.

i'm making a top secret housewarming gift for my friend, carrie, who bought her very first house and is closing on it... today? friday? i can't remember. that's horrible. anyway, can't post pics yet, of course, in case she happens upon them. take my word for it, though - the final product will be awesome beyond awesome.

in other crafting news, i have nearly finished the bright and shiny grandpa cardigan. i based it VEEEERY loosely on the anthropologie-inspired capelet (as you can see from the pictures... really quite different end product). maybe i'll post the pattern notes once i get it all done.

look! just a few more inches to go on the arm. huzzah.




and, because i can't resist, here are some other pictures from life lately. this is how my cat, boombox, sleeps on a regular basis. look! it's like two kitties in one! this would be him resting up for his nightly ritual of pawing at my hair, meowing incessantly, and walking across my ribs as i try to sleep. he's lucky he's cute.


last friday was my last day in the biology department. i am currently "between jobs," which is really fun to say. unfortunately, it's beautiful outside, and i'm supposed to be putting in tons of hours working on job number 2 stuff from home. yeah... anyway, last wednesday, i went out for lunch with the little work lunch crew one last time as a fellow employee. my friend christian saw me walking to work that morning and has since threatened to break my legs in order to steal my coat.


for some reason, i love this photo. face? weird. hair? looking good! and jeremy and ryan look cute.


we also went to the rock and roll prom last weekend. i won't overload you with pictures - suffice it to say, they're on my flickr account. we're waiting on the photo booth shots to come back. those are usually far more awesome than i could have ever hoped to shoot myself. prom recap? i danced. i drank beer. we snapped silly pictures. i got all sweaty. i lost my wallet. i also really wanted to hear "double dutch bus." heath was dj'ing, so i ran up and placed my request. he goes, "you mean this?" and holds out the record that he was just about to put on. great minds, lemme tell you.


okay, i totally lied - i'll post one other picture from the prom.


finally, i purchased the last of my europe trip stuff. overnight train tickets! a new pack! a rain jacket! a plug adapter! a little wallet!


i also decided i needed to start training for my crazy european walking tour. i plan on walking everywhere while i'm there. however, i've been really lazy about staying in shape for the past, oh, six months or so. since last week, i've been walking 3-5 miles a day. today i accidentally went 6 miles! i'm not too proud to admit that i'm tired. walking affords such a clear idea of what's going on in the world around you, though, such as the realization that things are finally, suddenly turning green.


also? today i had the most gigantic wasp/hornet/scary looking, flying, buzzing thing in my apartment. they're getting in somehow, i just have no idea how. i took out my vacuum, nearly hyperventilated a few times, and finally managed to vacuum it up. i also killed a gynormous spider last night. wanna know my method for killing spiders? they psych me out so much that i pretty much have to mutilate and totally incapacitate them before my hand gets anywhere close. so i sprayed him with hairspray first. i am a huge baby when it comes to large insects. and oh, man, was that bugger ever fast!

i felt the earth move under my feet...

earthquakes! now, if i still lived in california, you'd be like, "yeah, big deal, christie." however, we're talking indiana here, people.

i was awakened at 5:36 this morning. i live in the upstairs apartment of a historic house that was built in 1850. for anyone who has never taken a science class, you might not get this reference, but my bed felt like a beaker would feel on a shaker - just swirling around and around. it seemed to last for about 15-20 seconds? maybe a little longer? nothing fell off the walls or anything, but apparently that first one was a 5.2 on the richter scale, and the epicenter was not very far from here (100 or so miles from here, i would guess? maybe less than that).

with the distance at which a 5.2 scale earthquake was felt in this part of the country (michigan? atlanta? FLORIDA?! really?!), it boggles my mind to think what would happen across the midwest if a big one hit.

also? it was LOUD. i heard a lot of rumbling - don't know if that was my house itself or the ground or just everyone's houses up and down the block shaking or what.

then at around 11:15, i felt another one from my office. that one was *just* a 4.5 in the same area. a 5.2 and a 4.5 earthquake? in illinois? huh? i always knew that there was a fault line in the middle of the country, but in my 18 years of life growing up in the midwest and the last five living in bloomington, i've never felt a thing.

(that red one is the one that happened at 11:15 am... the big blue one is the one that woke me up at 5:30 this morning). i'm in bloomington, for reference. not too far, eh?


on an even stranger note, on my last day of work in the bay area, i really wanted an earthquake to hit. i felt them often in arcata, but hadn't experienced one in the bay. well, lo and behold, i'm standing at the front desk, and suddenly the floor was shaking. today also happened to be my last day of work at the biology department. coincidence?

obama takes on kirkwood...

i wish i was there! this was on his way to nick's - takes a lot of effort to get from the corner of kirkwood and grant to nick's when you're barack obama.

in the general vein of, "life is good..."

i left work early on friday and went for a long walk in the sunshine. this was little 500 weekend (crazy bike race, see "breaking away"), so it was crazy pretty much all week (undergrads partying like tomorrow's the last day on earth). DMX played at some local frat, and a bunch of people got maced by stupid security guards. can we say "lawsuit," frat boys? friday night, thomas and i went to an art opening. mia beach is my new favorite person after seeing her photos. some of my favorite biology faculty were there (which means almost all of the plant guys... the plant guys are cool). this one guy's wife was showing some of her stuff. after that, we headed over to the irish lion - we figured it wouldn't be overrun with little 5 party-goers, and we were right. had a couple of beers and some french fries, then went back to my place.

then it turned WAY cold and gray and rainy, but the farmer's market just kicked into gear last weekend, so we had to go. of course, there's really not a whole lot yet - eggs, honey, bread, meat, but no produce yet. we got coffee and shivered our way through, then took my broken glasses (the red ones that i LOVE) to this fancy glasses store on the square to see if they can fix them. they're looking into it. i think i'm going to go back after my europe trip (i.e. once i see how much money i have left to live off of) and get some new glasses and contacts. i need new lenses, and i think it's time for a super fantastic pair of frames. i have a hankering for some lafont frames.

after that, we went to the yarn store, and thomas bought me new yarn - di.Ve autunno in 25741 colorway.


he had gotten me some tweedy stuff for christmas - i made a rad scarf out of it, but it was SO boyish, i never wore it. well, thomas loved the scarf, so i gave it to him. he wanted to pay me back by going and getting me some yarn i loved for myself. true to form, as soon as i got home and got some work done, i started up a clapotis scarf of my very own. but i digress... after the yarn store, we went to the bakehouse to get bagels and more coffee, and my friend christian was working. i love christian - big "hi's" and hugs and kisses on the cheek were had the second we walked in. it was crazy there, but we managed to score two seats and eat our bagels in relative peace.

today, i've been planning more of my europe trip (which, inevitably, means spending more money). i bought my train tickets from barcelona to paris, paris to venice, and venice to rome. then i headed over to rei's site to get a day pack, a rain jacket, a skinny wallet (mine's HUGE), and a plug adapter. yeah... roughly $300 later, i think i am officially done buying stuff for the trip! hallelujah. now to figure out what to pack and what clothing will actually fit into my one big backpack.

just so this isn't all words, my friend, manjeet, just posted some adorable photos from their party a few weekends ago. here's this super sweet italian kid, giuseppe, thomas, and me. i look skeptical.


manjeet and i. manjeet is the sweetest - at one point, he goes, "christie, i love how you talk. you say things in such a cute, comfortable way, but you still sound cool when you say it." awww...


posing for the camera and trying to avoid the dance floor.


thomas and i.


me, will, and amelia.

american girl in bloomington photo shoot...

as follow-up to my post yesterday, thomas agreed to take photos of me in the late afternoon sunshine in my newest sweater (he was also probably humoring me and my intense joy at creating an article of clothing i LOOOOVE).

this tube is on the old part of the elementary school across the street from my house. according to the manufacturer's sign, it was made by some fire escape company. there's a fire in the building, and you get to escape through a big, metal slide?! fun!


it's very exciting. believe me, i know.


this would be the limestone wall across the street. i live in a sea of limestone.

orange + sunshine + tortoise shell buttons = lovely, lovely.

i finished the mrs. darcy cardigan, and i am seriously pleased. seriously! i have redubbed it the "american girl in europe" cardigan, because i fully plan on living in this while i'm in europe. i can hardly believe that i will be setting sail, as it were, on may 19. i have a feeling it won't really sink in until i'm in the air.

the details:
needles: US10
yarn: knitpicks wool of the andes, pumpkin
modifications: not very many modifications, actually. i added four stitches to each front panel and to the sleeves. i also extended the buttonhole band to make the neckline not quite so deeply v'ed. the armhole shaping on the back and front panels was wonky in the pattern, so i short of just winged it.

on to the photos already! relaxing in the sunshine on the floor of my kitchen. because, hey, that's what i do.


here she is! so pretty. oh, and note the boombox appearance.


i just like this picture.


here's one of me not in the sunshine. i love the rich color of this yarn. it's a little itchy on the skin, but that never bothers me too much.


i think i've officially gotten over my fear of buttons and buttonhole bands with this sweater. look at how evenly it lines up! awesome.