whatever you need to make you feel like you've been the one behind the wheel...

i'm back home! i have been out of town for work for the last week - i left last friday and just got home yesterday. of course, i started getting ill the day before hopping on a place to miami. yeah... so i've been really, really sick the whole time, which also included a flight from miami to san antonio. by my flights home yesterday, i literally could not get air to go through my nose. combine that with the joys of flying, and you can see i have not been a happy camper.

i'm still feeling really quite awful today, but i at least got meds. the doctor at the emergency clinic told me i had a "raging sinus infection" for which he would prescribe "hardcore antibiotics." i also got steroids for my nose. weird, huh?

today, i have managed the doctor and a little bit of finishing/button sewing on my latest completed item. and, oh my goodness, i love this cardigan! i have dubbed it my apple cardigan. i knit it up with drops alpaca held doubled. after trying three different patterns and being unhappy with them all, i decided to just go my own route with this yarn. this was a simple top down raglan with random purled sections and a 5-stitch garter stitch button band. around the waist at the back, you can see some ribbing to pull it in a bit, then i did a few rows of 2x1 ribbing (after adding 1 stitch per knit stitch in the 1x1 ribbing section). once i got through with the ribbing, i ended up making 1 stitch for every 4 in order to give the bottom a little poofiness. i'm pretty thrilled with this little guy! i can't wait to throw it on over a poofy-skirted summer dress. some day...

also? BUTTONS!


back ribbing.


more buttons!


just look at how yummy this yarn is.


also, i've got to catch up with self-portrait thursday. i kind of cheated a bit this week - i was just too sick to even think about it until today, but it still follows the same theme of whatever sad, pitiful photo i would have taken on thursday.

2.19.09. this was when i was just starting to get sick and falling asleep on the couch.


2.28.09. and here's the honorary thursday one - me with all of my drugs this morning. i still feel absolutely horrid and have developed a nice headache on top of everything else, but the drugs give me hope.

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.


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.


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.


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.


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:


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.