sorry i’ve been absent for a _long_ time. but i’ve been doing things.
1. i got to house sit a lovely birdy, frankie.
look.
and then i house sat a dog. violet. she is good. she doesn’t like children but does like car rides. this is good.
then i got bored and did this:
tandem and less exciting than i thought. maybe i’ll try doing it myself or halo next.
as always sorry about the huge random peroids of bordem. i’ll work on it.
so…i failed a bit in the lots of posting, but i’m back so i don’t feel too bad. work was way hectic these last couple of weeks, but it’s kinda over for now. i’m moving to a new job early march so i’m sure the hectic feeling will be back then as i try to figure out what all i’m supposed to be doing. because i rarely know in advance.
i did get the finishing bug so i finished a few more things. like my fetching gloves. kinda. no pictures, because now that i knit the second one i can’t find the first. i’ll work on that.
i also finished 2 pantas before christmas. this is an awesome pattern.
i think i saw it a year or so on craftster making the rounds under the wrong name. panta. but i found it again on ravelry and Drops design. the real makers of this thing. it’s a quick knit, looks great, and makes you feel good that you’ve actually accomplished something. i made the gray one for me out of lion brand cashmere blend and when i went home for christmas my mom saw it and loved it so i made a blue one for her. (blue’s her favourite colour) sorry about the junky picture of the second, but i took it as i was dashing off to give it to her. terrible light and i didn’t check it before it was gone.
i did fall in love with the cashmere blend so i’m trying to decide what to make with the skein + that i have left of it.
finished my monkey socks. nothing exciting though. the pattern is ok. i’m definitely not in love with it like some other people, but it was easy to memorize. it’s done so i’m glad. i’m sure some of my issue
s stem from the yarn i used. trekking 131. the colours are terrible. it’s black, wedgewood blue, white, lime green, and yellow. there’s just one colour too many. one colour needs to be taken out of the combination. either the black, the blue or the green. it’s just wrong looking. and i kinda hate it still. as you can see in the picture i didn’t bother to match up the colour repeats because they’re soooo long, but they managed to pretty well still. if i just always hold my feet about an inch off they look great. but as i said i don’t really care for this so meh. i got the yarn because i really wanted to a. knit some socks and b. try some trekking. the shop had a few colour ways and i know i didn’t like the brach’s colour way so i went with this. wasn’t the right choice.
oh someone asked about baby blanket patterns i’m considering 2 hard and 3-4 because i like them, but probably don’t have time for them.
the ones i really like are the ‘Speed Hook Baby Blanket‘ from lion brand. the pictures on the link are less than great, but i’ve see pictures that make the pattern look amazing. i really plan on doing this one i think. it looks good, should be fast and i think it’d be fun to make. the other is this ‘Ragged Squares Quit‘ from Crazy Mom Quilts. i can so so that’s not a problem for me. also if you’re just looking for amazing quilts or good tutorials she’s got them. i see today she’s put up another tutorial for a baby blanket. she’s just amazing. i wish i could be so productive.
the ones i want to make but don’t have time is Hemlock Ring from Brooklyn Tweed it looks great but the amount of detail is too much to do in a short time for me at least. the other is the pinwheel blanket. i know i’m a fast-ish knitter, but i want to enjoy making this blanket. i don’t want to become resentful or spiteful towards it. so both these blankets are probably out. oh well, i’ll get to them some day. right?
ok now, well i’m off to the rest of my day. only 0830 and all ready i’ve done laundry, taken photos of my kniting, knit on a hat, and written a blog post. go me! ok. i’m off
so last night i had this really wierd dream that i was putting on some theatre show that also involved mad, crazy publicity. whatever it was i was in charge of making sure that we went though everything and sealed up the plastic items after everyone was done messing around with them so they still held their shape and could inflate when necessary. (these were mostly things like windows, boats, giant sea monsters, etc.) this was hard to do in the wind, on a bridge 200 or so feet in the air. moreover, people (actors and other techies) spent most of their time watching me work and taking the piss out of me. not because i was doing something wrong, but becasue it was my job to fix it. and because the director was dumb enough to want life size (i.e. freaking huge) knitted replicas of the loch ness monster, jaws, any other sea creature you can make into a 50′ tall terror.
i wonder about myself some times.
on a totally seperate and unrelated note i’ve been having trouble sleeping lately so i decide i should take an ambien last night. i had the impression that ambien put you out like a light something like anesthesia where you start counting back from 100 and by the time you get to 95 you’re out like a light. i took it and laid down to read as is my normal bedtime habit. i didn’t really feel tired at all so about an hour later i put down my book and went to sleep. on the good side i didn’t wake up unitl 830 this morning so it seems to have done it’s job. yea.
last week was a bit rough at work. nothing completely imploded, but the sound system and various cds had some issues working at the right times. thursday we had a ball/gala for work. my only job for this thing was to make this slide show play when they said ‘now direct your attention to the 4 screen around the room’ and the live band was supposed to play. They said that, the slide show started playing, the band started playing. after about 9:25 the band stopped playing. at 10 minutes the slide show stopped. (good thing it was made, by someone else, to be 10 minutes exactly) then they got on the mic again and said ‘well, it’s been a long week for a;lksdfj (a;lksdjf being my awesome alies for me)’ i hate my job. (well, not really, but it’s incredibly frustrating at times)
to make matters better we have a ceremony next week. a huge one. we wer scheduled to do a full dress on tuesday morning and the real one is curtain up at 1000. found out last night from the band that was supposed to play for us, that they can’t make our dress because someone else’s curtains up is at the same time. they didn’t mention, but it’s also ture, that it’s supposed to be in the same place as our dress. this is a problem. i mentioned this issue to my boss and he said ‘oh.’ glad we found this out on a late friday afternoon. nothing’s going to get accomplished. awesome.
back to the knitting front:
1. i’m lucky enough to test knit the chile ristra socks. the 
pattern (Ravelry) is lovely and i’m incredibly honoured to be allowed to test knit these socks. the cuff is this brillant chevron pattern and when i’m done posting today, i’m going right back and working into the leg. hopefully i’ll get to the heel tonight. i’m all ready impressed with the logic used to create this sock. the designer (Grace Anna) definately rocks the house.
also in my time off blogging i made a few baby hats:
from up left and around clockwise they are: Elfin, Victorian Baby Bonnet, Propeller, and the old stand by the Umbilical Cord Hat.
i need more too, people are having kids at an amazing rate. also, my best friend got his wife pregnate. i could never let that poor kid go though life with nothing hand knit or sewen so it’s just gonna get worse. i apologise in advance.
ok. i’m off for now. i’m definately getting in the hang of things now with posting so it should become regular-ish soon. yea!
so….yeah i uploaded some photos.
first off we had an ice storm here. it was no where near the storms i’m used to in iowa, chicago, or germany, but apparently for the area it was _terrible_. not only did i get to start work late 2 days in a row, but i got several weather warnings about ‘heave snow.’ to let you know how heavy this snow was here’s this. ‘heavy snow expected, up to 2″ in 12 hours.’ you tell me heavy snow and i expect 2′ in 24 hours. not this piddly stuff. on the down side, no one told me there were weather delays until i was at work so i didn’t really get time off. (and does that tell you how not bad the roads were? i drove to work with absolutely no issues or concerns.)
the trees did have a few problems though. they’re not used to the extra weight. they managed up uproot themselves and loose lots of boughs. it looks like someone went by and trimmed all the trees, but was too lazy to pick up what they cut off. heres a few pics.
i did visist chicago over the holidays. i miss the place bad. it’s wierd going to places i used to frequent and now feel like a 
tourist. i miss feeling like i belong in the city. i don’t like being a visitor. however, i did get to have the boy drive me around so i got to take a few photos of the iconic chicago. sadly the photos i love to take of places i can’t right now. i need to feel like i belong and then take photos that i guess express my wonder at the little things i notice about the place i feel comfortable in. but i need to feel like i belong and fit in to a place before i can take photos i like. so for now, you just get junky pictures that don’t quite express what i need to about a place i love so much.
i also made homemade marshmallows for several relatives for christmas gifts. i should have taken pictures, but alas, i forgot. they turned out quite well though and were far easier than i thought they would be. i did get a new kitchen aid mixer though. thanks to the boy being quite chivalrous and probably getting frostbite on his fingers. perhaps i shouldn’t have wanted to go shopping on michigan avenue when the temperature without windchill was negative 2. but he was amazing and carried if for me quite a long way in the cold. i love that boy. he also got a crock pot where we cooked all sorts of things. it was fun and i like cooking.
i started knitting a scarf for a friend. he’s a guy, but i figure the pattern’s a pretty manly pattern. i showed it to him a few weeks ago and he loved it so i ‘m pleased. he has 1 incredibly large dog and i think 4 cats at last count. (he just got a new one) so any cat hair i get on it here or in chicago is totally un-noticeable and ok. yea! the yarn in bamboo spun i think and is incredibly soft. i didn’t think it would hold the cables too well, but it does far better than i thought it would. i think if the cables were more intricate there would be more problems, but these large traveling stitches work perfectly.
i also hooked up (or more accurately will hook up) my boy with a knitted heart for 
valentine’s day. it knitted up incredibly fast so it was a fun knit. i wanted a good variegated yarn, but hobby lobby was not helping out in that department. i found this colour and a bright red. initially i was going to use a second colour as suggested, but looking at the other finished hearts, i decided i didn’t like the look of the harsh colour change. i wanted something softer. so i went with all one colour. a few things i should have done. i should have stuffed it as i knit it rather than knitting
most of it then realizing i needed to stuff it before i finished it. i also would have stuffed the bottom part of the heart fuller. i think the boy will like it because it’s pretty stupid and he’s way into studying his anatomy so it should fit into that niche quite well. the yarn, hobby lobby i love this cotton, is incredibly soft. i absolutely love it. i plan to get more and make some baby hats out of it. thank god for it being washable. i can’t give new parents gifts that require hand washing. it makes me feel too guilty and generally just seems like a terrible idea. so yea for cotton and yea for acrylic.
if anyone cares i did not watch the super bowl. i’m a girl and i pretty much live by myself. receiving no social invites i stayed at home. i watched the food network and cake decorating. i finished socks. i ripped out all sorts of things. i re-knit them to the point they were before the knitting. yeah, i have no life. but i’m sure i’ll get made fun of for it more when i go in to work. so don’t bug me about it.
now off i go. i got the finishing bug and the self pity bug. so i finish things, but feel bad about it. who knows what’s up with my brain. but i have more old fo’s to show people so i should post again soon. i need to get back into the habit.
so i tried to make a resolution that i’d post on time and often and so much more. apparently i’m only kinda following though on it. i think of things all the time and that it’d be a great thing to post on my blog. but then i never do. i’m either tired, or lazy, or trying to spend time with the boy.
this last month we actually lived together for almost a month straight. that’s the longest time we’ve been together since august of 2007. and now we’re apart again and as far as i can tell, we’re not going to be toghether any time soon. so chalk that up to disappointment.
on the plus side for both you readers and my crafty obsession, i’ve had a fair amount of alone time so i’ve knitted. a lot. it’s almost rather scary. however since ravelry decided we can upload pictures from our computers directly i’ve been terrible on actually uploading my pictures of photobucket or flicker. i need to work on that.
ok. so the pictures i need aren’t on this computer. perhaps this will have to wait even longer. until then…..
so as i look at my blog i see i’ve been absent for around oh say 4 months. in that time i’ve moved around 3 times and inhabited 1different state and 3 different countries. so to say that i’ve been preoccupied is perhaps a bit of an understatement.
let’s see. what would the major highlights of the time gone be?
1. i learned how to insert an iv and did so to someone.
2. i learned that while everthing i really care about can fit into 1 large duffel bag and 1 smallish book bag those 2 bags are incredibly heavy.
3. i really enjoy playing katamari with the character ‘daisy’.
4. horrible windows viruses ruin my life. (everyone should use mac)
5. getting lots of inoculations on one day makes me feel like a bio hazard.
i’ve recently settled again and started knitting like a mad-woman so i have some fo’s to show too.
also, getting comments is amazing. i generally figure that i read this for me, but then all of a sudden someone says something and it’s just a wonderful feeling. (i keep thinking that no, i won’t rip out the monkeys cause someone said they look ok) (i also keep thinking that i need to get some confidence in my work but that’s another story)
ok.
pictures.
i found this in the grocery store. it was called ‘dragon fruit’ it had a mango-like skin and then was kiwi-like inside. tasted….ok. not sure how one would use this.
finished those a while ago.
finished these more recently.
and this which is the awesome-est thing ever.
yes, i’m a nerd, but it’s still _way_ cool.
now on to the idiots i work with. they actually thought that crazy gluing a cable into the socket was a good idea. then when it stopped working were confused as to why i was a. annoyed and b. unable to fix it. (i have photographic proof)
fun with some canned beverages:
1. pull tabs. it’s like i’m back in the 70’s.
2. i need to drink more things that have awesome warning labels.
i thought this was pretty:
and randomly, anything will make the green grass grow.
ok i think that’s all for now and hopefully i’ll be better at updating this again.
fyi. sorry about the pictures. wordpress updated how one imports photos and i’m not so down with it yet. still working on it. bear with me here.
yeah i’ve got nothing.
i found out that apparently u.s. airways is terrible. should they, oh say, cancel your flight due to weather they won’t put you up in a hotel or do anything for you. even if it’s sunday afternoon and the next available flight isn’t until tuesday morning.
going with this theory let us assume that i subsequently rented a car and drove 3.5 hours to my final destination. the weekend was more eventful than i intended it to be.
i finished another baby hat
and started another dish cloth
also i think i hate my monkeys. i like the colours, but i hate how they’re combining. i think i’ll finish the sock and see what i think.
if anyone has any thoughts on this let me know.
other than that i need to get some yarn so i can start a pair of cigar gloves for a friend.
hope everyone else is having a good time.
i used to hate moving. it made me nervous. what was to come? would i find a place i would enjoy just existing as much as i did in that special place here? would it be hot in the summer and cold in the winter? was there a gas stove? did i get a window with sun?
as i move more and more i find that i’m looking for different things. and that there are certain things that i need to make a place feel as though i’m living there. now i hope for a microwave and a fridge. a good size bathtub. a wireless internet connection. a cloths rack and a dresser.
what makes it home? the lappy, the mobile/cell/handy, my nalgene bottle, the book i’m currently reading, my wallet, a real mug, and real cup.
there are some comfort things too. my ds; some mash, simpsons, monty python; knitting; digital camera, nice undies; shoes.
strange that so few things are all i really need, but i go around with a car filled to the brim with stuff. i guess some of it comes from stuff i actually need, but don’t want. cloths and gear for work. a horrible printer, stuff i feel bad throwing away, but don’t want. i wish i was less attached to things.
but then i wonder, if i’m not attached to anything, then what am i doing? i’m attached to the boy, some friends, the world’s best cat. yet, i’m near none of them. if i don’t have people i care about and i don’t have things, then what am i doing. i’m just existing in a void. it’s rather isolating. and metaphysically confusing.
but then, perhaps it’s just late and i’m tired and spending yet another night alone. i’m glad i’ve been doing this for almost a year, and will continue to do so for probably several more.
at least i’ve acomplished some things.
-i found a picture that uses an imac in a cisco course
- i’ve been getting 90’s on my tests.
-i haven’t had to study
-several baby hats
and now. pics of the baby hats. people keep having kids. who knows.
i think that’s all for now.
yea.
you really start to question your image of america/the place you live when people use the term ‘yankee dollar’ in general conversation. and then complain that there’s russian on their coke can.
it makes me nervous. and i don’t feel so safe anymore.
so today brought 2 things to the forefront. one good and one less so. bad first cause who doens’t like to end on a good note.
heard on the radio today. “an out of the closet homosexual flamer” in reference to some of the production crew of <<sex and the city movie>> now, overall i’m pretty liberal. (hell, i worked in theatre and the arts for years.) but i figure people are entitled to feel as they do. however, i thought we were beyond the retarded/pointless/bashing stage. i don’t know. hearing this on national media made me feel lost in a country where i’m no longer sure i belong. (there’s more adding to this, but that’s a longer more complicated post that i don’t want to get into right now) so there’s that.
secondly is the good thing. this awesome video. i love that people made this.
Tricot machine_Les peaux de lièvres from David Valiquette on Vimeo.
