|
|
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Almost a SweaterI should definitely be able to finish Slosh by this weekend... I just have to sew in each sleeve, and then sew each side/sleeve seam. So the end is in sight!
And I must say, all of my extra work regarding the front band has paid off... I'm really pleased with how it turned out! I still have to attach the buttons, and I might need to tighten up the button holes a bit, but I figured it was better to have them slightly too big rather than slightly too small. I can always shorten them with a few well-placed stitches later! 
But the most exciting thing that's happened this week has nothing to do with knitting at all- one of my bonsai trees (that I actually "made" from a MUCH bigger seedling!) is BUDDING! I am so excited, especially since I expected the entire tree to turn brown and die from the shock of me ripping and cutting off over 3/4 of its roots. But no, amazingly, I haven't even phased it! So I present to you the beginnings of new leaves: 
Isn't it adorable? (yes, I know, I'm a big dork. But it's BUDDING!!!) And Cricket reminds you to always eat your veggies... she prefers to make frequent visits to her salad bar. :) 
0 comments || # Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Painfully Slow ProgressAt some point before the end of today, I will have picked up all 290 stitches on the front band of Slosh. I'm not quite sure why it's taking me so long to do it... but I do know that, for maybe the first time, I'm determined to do it really really well. Picking up stitches is definitely a skill that you gain with practice, and I'm still practicing. To that end, then, I've been using scrap yarn to pick up the loops of the selvedge edges, and then I can calculate how many stitches I need to add in (usually every 4th stitch). It definitely takes a lot longer, but this way I can clearly see what I'm doing, and be confident that when I actually pick up the stitches, they'll be evenly spaced, and the correct number.
I also finally photographed the socks I finished over my trip in California- 
And this weekend, I took Cricket exploring- much to her annoyance, she's not allowed to run around without her leash... we have several big dogs (including 1 rottweiler) as neighbors. But as much as she initially complains about the leash, she always manages to have a good time... "dr. livingston, i presume?" 
hint- follow the leash into the grass, and look for the ears! 0 comments || # Monday, June 28, 2004 Quite A WeekendWhew! Although the apartment isn't quite done yet, it's definitely feeling like more of a home. Plus, as an added bonus, I think my new roommate and I will get along fabulously. I'm not expecting everything to go perfectly, but so far it's been REALLY good. Since we didn't really know each other before deciding to live together, this is a huge weight off my shoulders! Plus, she thinks knitting is really "neat," so I eventually might have a student... but we'll see. :)I finished the knitting on Slosh yesterday... hopefully today I'll have a chance to make some headway on the finishing. Luckily, my order of sock yarn has not come yet, so I have a bit of a lull- so maybe I'll actually get this sweater assembled in the next few days! I have so many projects "on deck" that it's very difficult to pick which one to do next, but I think I'll start on my dad's christmas vest... I'm doing a cabled one this year, and I've started swatching for the pattern. Hopefully it'll all work out- I *think* I've got enough yarn, and I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to get all of the shaping done properly. I now have only 6 more weeks of work... it's getting harder and harder to motivate myself to come in, especially now that I have a long commute! They don't seem to be giving me much (if anything) to do most days, so I spend a lot of time trying to keep from going nuts (with varying degrees of success...) 0 comments || # Saturday, June 26, 2004 New Computer :)So I think I've finally gotten everything up and running- I love the freedom of a laptop, and the wireless internet is great! Hopefully once my boyfriend sets up his network, I'll get a better signal at my desk, but it's not a huge inconvenience to have to come to the kitchen table to get a signal, especially since we're using it for free thanks to the woeful lack of security evidinced by one of our neighbors.And I'd like to introduce you to Patrick, my new laptop (patrick star sticker to come shortly!): 
And here's Slosh, in her almost-done-with-the-sleeves-and-ready-to-assemble glory: 
Today should be an interesting one- I get to spend the morning playing chauffeur for my roommate (totally not a problem, but not terribly fun either), but then tonight it's off to a fantastic Tapas restaurant for my mom's 60th birthday celebration. I'm giving her the bluebell socks I knit ages ago- they make me itch, but she loves the yarn and the color, so I know she'll enjoy them, even though she won't be able to wear them for a few more months. And yes, that pot of grass next to the laptop is indeed there only to make Cricket happy, and to hopefully save a few of the houseplants from an untimely death. 0 comments || # Finally Getting Things Working!I'm sitting in my living room, fresh from the excitement of getting to know my new (and really awesome) roommate, and typing on my brand new laptop! Thanks to the lack of security on one of the neighbor's wireless networks, we even have internet. :) Now that my blog is finally back up, and I've managed to get all the settings properly configured (i think), hopefully this'll actually get posted!I'm almost done with the knitting on Slosh... I'm hoping my sock yarn comes soon so I can try out my new pattern! K- off to bed now before my brain completely melts! 0 comments || # Thursday, June 24, 2004 **update- turns out my friend hadn't renewed the domain registration, so we've done that now, and hopefully i'll actually be able to post this soon! ** Grumble GrumbleSo the website has been down for the last 24 hours, and still isn't up, and they say "everything's fine with all the servers"... and I know it isn't just me, because S also can't get to the site. {sigh}. Hopefully once tech support wakes up (poor babies, they're on the west coast, so my support request was logged at 4 am their time!), all of this will get resolved, and life will be happy again. I don't really even know why I'm bothering to write this as I can't actually publish it or anything, but, well, sometimes it's the process that's important.ANYWAY, I'm making tentative progress on the sleeves of Slosh... although I seem to be incapable of actually knitting both sleeves CORRECTLY. So now I've split them up until they learn how to play nicely. I think I should finish up by the end of the day, depending on how many more egregious errors I decide to incorporate into the design! I'm still anxiously awaiting the arrival of my sock yarn, but as it has to come all the way from Canada, I don't expect it immediately... but I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised. :) Especially now that I'm almost to the tedious finishing section of Slosh... I could really use a sock-break. Plus, I have even more motivation to get on a sock kick- S, my lovely boyfriend, casually mentioned that I could knit him a pair of socks... so sometime in July I'll be ordering some yarn for his pair. :) Oh, and speaking of packages, supposedly my nice new shiny laptop will be arriving today... laptops are a requirement for my law program, and the parents graciously gifted me with one for my birthday, so soon I'll have a new toy to play with! Add to that the fact that S's apartment (and his DSL wireless router), are in a direct line of site with my bedroom window, and hopefully I'll be able to get online this weekend from my very own desk! :) On another note, I've just started listening to Middlemarch... I know it's not quite the same as reading it, but for once I've sort of stumbled onto a "read-along" courtesy of Em So far, I'm loving the flow of the dialogue- that's a great advantage to the audio books, in my opinion... you can actually listen to the flow of words... it's amazing how a great author can actually capture the nuances of a conversation and bring the characters to life. 0 comments || # Tuesday, June 22, 2004 Getting the Hang of this Whole Commuting NonsenseAs of a week ago, I had an amazing commute... 20 minutes by foot, or 10 minutes on my bike. Now, alas, for the next 7 weeks, I have joined the dreaded host of car-commuters. Not that I can complain much, as I have a moderately pleasant 25 minute drive. But it does take some getting used to... no more going home at lunch, and I have to stay at work until it's time for aerobics class at 6 since home is in the entirely opposite direction from class. And there are the days like today, when I'm not quite organized enough... I left the house with everything I thought I needed... I even remembered my mat for aerobics! I did not, however, remember to bring shoes, or clothes, or anything else I needed for working out. {sigh}. So I get to "run home" at lunch since the traffic won't let me run home before class. Well, I guess this means that I'll never forget to pack my gym clothes again!0 comments || # Monday, June 21, 2004 Finally!I only have 3 more boxes to unpack (not counting my books, but they don't get unpacked until my roommate and I decide on the location of the bookcases!) So hopefully by the time she gets here on Friday, I'll be done (mostly). It was an unbelievable amount of work, but it was so worth it- I really love the new apartment and new neighborhood! Now I'm just hoping everything will work out ok with the new roommate- but I'm sure everything will be fine.Of course, moving day was one of the hottest days this year- it was miserable. Here I am (with my amazing friend K who made it possible for me to move!)... don't we look nice and sweaty and disgusting? My gratitude to whomever invented the shower. 
Cricket adjusted quite nicely- although she is still mad that I won't let her hang out outside unsupervised... but, well, we have several large (and sometimes off-leash) doggies as neighbors, so she's just going to have to deal. And it's not like she's really suffering- she has MANY more windows and sunbeams to bask in, including these fantastic windows in my bedroom: 
She's already met many of her avian neighbors. She's quite anxious to say hello... and maybe have them over for lunch, or a snack... ;) And last, but certainly not least, knitting... I'm plugging away on the sleeves of Slosh, and attempting to stay awake in the process! 
As you can see, not too exciting... but I'm almost done with the interminable ribbing, and will shortly be starting the much more interesting lace pattern and shaping. After that, I'll be ready to assemble and do the finishing work! I also ordered a good amount of solid colored sock yarn, and as soon as it arrives, I'm going to get started on another pair for my friend daf... I'll be using black, and that multi-color yarn that will get a good blue/green koolaid dunk after I finish the socks. I sketched out a pattern last night (gotta love crayons!): 
Now if only the yarn would arrive in the mail! ;) 0 comments || # Tuesday, June 15, 2004 God Bless the InternetYou haven't lived until you've seen a man in a chicken suit do the moonwalk.hint: tell him to 'dance' 0 comments || # Monday, June 14, 2004 The End Is In SightI would just like to state, officially, that I am extremely tired of being surrounded by boxes. Luckily, on Thursday morning, I'll wake up in my new apartment, and will be able to start UN-boxing all of my belongings. :) These last few weeks have been extremely intense- but as of last night, choir is over for the year (the performance was great!), and by this weekend, hopefully moving will also be over for the year. And then, just maybe, I'll have time to occasionally sit down and knit.Speaking of, I just ordered a variety of different colors of solid sock yarn... I definitely needed some black yarn to contrast with some varigated yarn I have... the original colors just don't work for me, so I'll be dyeing the completed sockies with koolaid (hence the black yarn for contrast!) :) I think as soon as my sock yarn shipment arrives, I'm going to have a bit of a "sock-bender"... it's the summer, and it's hard to be all excited about sweaters. I'll be very scarce (still!) for the next week or so as I will be moving and will have no internet access for most of the week... but hopefully next week all will be back to (mostly) normal! Oooo... I just got a happy birthday wish from an old friend- he included a photo of his nephew with his favorite blanket- apparently he squeals when he gets to lay on it! So I guess all of my "hard-knitting" paid off... 
0 comments || # Monday, June 07, 2004 So... Many... Boxes...Welcome to my life for the next week or so...
Yes, moving day is quickly approaching, and almost everything is now packed. My kitchen officially closes for business on Friday, when I'll pack the last of the dishes etc..., and give it a cleaning like it has never experienced before. Isn't it odd that, for many of us, we find that our homes are cleanest right before we leave them? Cricket, of course, has been VERY helpful during the packing process. She's such a helpful kitty! :) 
While taking a break from packing, I helped my friend Daf decide on her wedding dress... and then she helped me make bonsai trees! It was so amazingly neat... watching this GIANT seedling fit into this tiny little pot! I'm just hoping I don't manage to kill them. First, we made white oaks (the state tree of maryland)... remember, in "real life", these are 60 foot trees... and this is as tall as this one should get! 
Luckily, Cricket isn't into eating trees, so it's safe on the windowsill. She does, apparently, like the taste of the next one, and considering that I spent a good few minutes pruning my little Ficus so that it was all asthetically pleasing and what-not, I don't really want it to become a salad bar. So it's hiding out on the bookcase: 
...lest it meet the fate of some of my other plants: 
Good thing she's so cute! :) And here's a picture to remind me that, not too long ago, I was actually on vacation- we rode the "wine train" through Napa Valley. :) 
In knitting news, there has been a bit of progress- I basically finished the broadripple socks I had been working on, and I was going to start another pair, but alas, the craft store no longer carries black sock yarn. So those are going to have to wait until after the move when I've had a chance to scout some out. So I picked up Slosh again, and am just finished with the lacy section of the back after what seemed like YEARS of doing the 4x4 ribbing. ;) 0 comments || # Wednesday, June 02, 2004 Post-Vacation SlumpSo I was hoping that my week and a half vacation in sunny California would help get me over the "I only have 9 weeks left at work" slump... but, alas, it only reminded me of how much fun I could be having if I didn't have to sit at my desk all day. {sigh}. California was great- I saw my 2 best college friends get married in a lovely ceremony (added bonus- I didn't once even come close to falling out of my strapless bridesmaid's dress!) Then, I got to visit the old alma mater (UC Santa Cruz), and then spend a relaxing several days in Napa, drinking wine and knitting socks. :) Perhaps I'll manage to get to some of the pictures tomorrow!On the knitting front, I finished one stranded sock using the leftover alpaca bits from Sage... I've reknit the top of this sock at least 3 times- the first was too tight, the second was too sloppy, and the third... well, the jury is still out. I'm thinking I'm going to scrap the whole thing and try again- I think I need to use slightly larger needles, and rework the top section just a little bit. But until I can face that sock again, it's going to languish in the bag with the rest of the yarn (and it'll stay there until it's had a chance to think about what it has done!!) ;) I also started and aborted a pair of socks with yarn from the sock club I used to belong to... it's a rather terrible color combination- purple, pink, and yellow, all pastels. It looks like an easter egg basket had a terrible accident. So I left the toe knitted, and think I'll be experimenting with some koolaid after I move. I am almost finished with a pair of pseudo-Broadripple socks... I say "pseudo" as I knit these in my regular toe-up style, and kind of winged the pattern. I did use the stitch patterns, though, so I guess they count as Broadripple socks! I'm hoping to finish the second sock this week, and then get back to Slosh, who is feeling extremely neglected. This weekend, I will hopefully pack up my entire apartment (save for those things I'll HAVE to have for the next week or so)- moving day is June 16, and it's fast approaching! I am very excited to be moving, and getting a new roommate, and starting school, but I do wish it could all just HAPPEN, without all this pesky work. 0 comments || # |
|
