Holiday Goodness

Here are some holiday pics! Enjoy!

Lengthy Holiday Update

Ah the silence, that’s the silence of boredom. Not with you, of course, but of my boring life. I am now in the countdown to finals. (First one is on Tuesday the 11th, ask me if I’m ready. No, don’t ask.) This is what I like to call my cranky time, the time where I’m snappy and miserable and not much fun to around. It is also around this time that my laugh acquires a little undertone of mania. Of course, let’s not forget that it is not just me who is going through finals at this time, but also Ry. Ry has his own particular crabbiness at this time too, and together we’re like…like…like that bomb in the school in the Die Hard movie with Jeremy Iron, where once the two liquids mix any little thing can detonate it…that’s what we’re like during finals. Ry gets super worked up and then wants to tell me about his outlines and how much he has done and all of that. Meanwhile, I work full time and go to class at night and can only take so much time from work for preparation of my finals, so I always feel like I am way behind when I hear where Ry is at in his studying. Now I know we all study in different ways, but hearing him be so self-satisfied about where he is in his outlines is like eating half of a filet mingon in front of a homeless person and then giving the remainder of the filet to your dog. Not cool. (Then again, during this period of time I am a cranky, shrewish, witch; more likely to rip your face off than look at you, so I guess it evens out.)

In other news, however, we got ourselves a tacky tree this year, we had a choice between white & silver. I’ve always wanted silver but I let Ry pick and he picked white, it’s cool though because it’s got sparklies on it anyway. We got it at Target for $24.99, it came packaged in a clear plastic tube, and nothing says class like a clear plastic tube. It’s pre-lit and about four feet tall, we also got a star to go on the top, which is so supremely tacky and cheap that it didn’t even have a way to affix it to the top of the tree! I ended up wrapping the tip of the tree on top it and then wrapping the cord tight around the tip of the tree, underneath the star. I actually really love it. It’s so kitsch and tacky that it’s awesome. In fact I think my goal will be to start collecting really schlocky ornaments to decorate to hang on it, it will be my Christmas kitsch. So the POINT is that since neither of us will be home for Christmas there’s no point in buying a Christmas tree stand and a tree if we can even enjoy it, but a tacky white plastic tree is the perfect way to decorate and we can put it up every year that we don’t have a real tree. (And some years that we do!)

That’s my holiday update, that and I’ve been inspired by blogs that I read and some friends to try and give, make and buy at least a few handmade gifts this year. Hopefully I’ll plan better for Christmas next year so that the majority of my gifts will be handmade. I will probably not post again until after finals or I receive my Mitten Swap package, whichever comes first, but I will be responding to e-mails and comments, so keep in touch!

p.s. Thanks to my mitten swap partner for her words of encouragement. That means a lot to me. Thank you.

Thanksgiving and Mittens

Well, this Thanksgiving Ry and I had the pleasure of hosting the big meal at our place. Ry's parents went to Colorado for Thanksgiving to be with his sister, so we invited some friends who couldn't go home and see their parents for Thanksgiving and voila! Thanksgiving at our place! Ry and I made the Turkey, mashed potatoes, appetizers, and pies. Our friends J & M made the dressing, sweet potatoes and brought bread and pumpkin pie; and our friend C made a traditional English trifle. We had so much fun! The food was wonderful and I made bacon turkey
with maple flavored bacon on top and pear gravy. YUMMY! Ry and I and all of our wonderful friends had a great time, and it made Ry's first Thanksgiving away from his parents very special.

In further news, I finished one mitten for my swap partner, and am diligently working on the second one. It's turning out nicely, although it's a tad snug to put it on, but once on, it's absolutely perfect! Here's a picture of my progress:
I am really enjoying this project!

Well, I hope all your projects are going well, and that your Thanksgiving was full of much love, joy and fond memories.

Gramma

So, a couple of weeks ago my Gramma felt a Lump. She went to the doctor, and he scheduled her for a biopsy. Last week she was diagnosed with breast cancer. it sent my world into a tailspin. Now, my Gramma is one strong lady, but I just kept thinking about my Grampa all alone. It broke my heart, they've been married since they were about 18, right out of high school, they became grownups together. I can't imagine losing someone that important to me. Well yesterday Gramma had surgery to see if the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. Grampa sent out a family e-mail last night, apparently after ten hours in the hospital she got a pass. No cancer in the lymph nodes. She'll be starting an aggressive radiation treatment next week, and we'll see from there what will happen next. So go hug your mom, sister, aunt, cousin, gramma, and friends and be thankful that you have them, because you never know what is going to happen next and where the next Lump will be.

Mystery Swap Package Goodness!

I received my Mystery Swap package the other day and Barbara really did a wonderful job. The theme she chose was "Coffee To Get Through School And Knitting". Included were coffee bean stitch markers, a coffee cozy, coffee yarn hand dyed by Barbara, chocolate, Caribou Coffee which donates money to the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer foundation, highlighters and tags for my textbooks. It is really a wonderful package and I can't wait to get started on the sock pattern she gave me for the yarn. Anyway, without further ado here are some pictures of the package!

Happy Halloween (Belated)

Halloween rundown:

We had 3 bags of candy + 2 dogs in costumes (pics to follow)+ One eager-to-hand-out-candy female

result? NO trick-or-treaters. None.

But we did have these:


(And candy, scary movies and beer. Yum!)

Secret mitten

Well, as promised, I cast-on last night for the revamped mitten. MUCH better. Not only are the colors working together in a more cohesive way, but I was able to get the tubular cast on correct in only two tries this time! woo-hoo! Now I just need to hustle my butt and try to get it finished by next Wednesday. Why Wednesday? Because then I can cast on for the other one and hopefully get the pair done in two-ish weeks, so I can work on all the other projects in my little queue!

So I’ve been reading a lot of blogs about knitting recently, and a lot of those blogs are being written by either expectant mothers, new mommies, or moms. It’s giving me The Fever, to which an old (male) friend of mine said “What is about women our age that constantly talk about the clock ticking or wanting babies? Is it the age?” (I told him yes, and unlike men we are constantly aware of the expiration date on these little eggies.) So back to The Fever, I want kids, Ryan knows this and we’ve talked about it, we’re all set and have a Plan. The problem is I don’t have any friends with babies (yet), thus depriving me of the one thing that will help alleviate The Fever, access to a baby. See, I’m not even an Auntie, so I can’t even baby-sit a niece or nephew to get a dose of reality, nope I’m relegated to reading the blogs about babies with pictures of babies sleeping quietly or gurgling happily. When what I need is one screaming colicky baby, and I’ll be all set until the enactment of the plan. If I had friends with babies (or friends in this area for that matter), that would be one thing. All I can do is hope that when Ry’s cousin’s baby is born, we can sit for them and she screams the whole time, because if she's sweet, I'm done for.



In other news, I completely ripped out the mitten for my Swap partner. It wasn’t perfect, and I don’t like to give shoddy gifts, so I ripped it out rewound it, rethought the color scheme and have made some changes. The Great Re-Cast-On will begin tonight after a quick trip to Webs! I keep meaning to get started in this knitting group that meets once a week on Wednesdays in Noho, but I haven’t mustered up the courage to walk in alone with nothing but a bag of knitting to guide me. I used to be so bold about things like that, but I find that since moving to this state (and having been here for basically three years with no girl friends), my courage has deserted me. Which just perpetuates the situation, I know. I have tried, but law school is not the best place to make girlfriends. Most girls where I’m at tend to be mean and catty, with only a few exceptions. The nice ones are all married and living far away from me. I think, however, next week will be my week to attend. New month, new start.



In other knitting news, super-top secret gift #1 is almost complete. Unfortunately I can’t blog about it until after Christmas, but when it is done, I'll let you know so you can see it on ravelry.

Mittens, Mitten Buddy & One Sweet Guy

As you may know I'm knitting mittens for Ry. They are grey and red and turning out quite nice. Well, last night the big sweetie turned to me and said "Would you mind making these for my sister? She doesn't have anymore winter stuff since the fire." (I'm paraphrasing)Well, how could I refuse, I love his sister and she does need more winter stuff, so I'm knitting away on them with the ultimate plan to shrink them a little bit before packaging them and giving them to her for the holidays. Is he the sweetest or what?

Mitten buddy: You posted a comment on my page & I posted a return comment, I'm not sure if you saw it, but it's there! I can reply to you that way or I can do it on my regular posts, let me know what's convenient for you!

Tubular What?

I think I have reason to believe that I may be an idiot. Hear me out, I wanted to do a tubular cast on for the mittens I am making for my partner, so I looked it up on Google and found this cast-on. Now the first time that I cast on, I read the directions all wrong and ended up with only two stitches spinning around and around, and then a tangled mess. But I persevered and re-read the directions and cast on again, this time I got it, but when I did the set up rows, I totally screwed up. I ripped back and cast on again (3rd time here people) this time it was perfect, I even removed the yarn and the whole thing...then I realized...WRONG SIZE NEEDLES! Idiot! I ripped it out and cast on gain...apparently 4th time's a charm. This whole process took about 2 hours! Yes, two hours of wasted time because I, like an idiot, cannot read directions. Lovely.

Nightmare Before Christmas + 3D = LOVE

So, on Friday we went to see the re-release of Nightmare Before Christmas. Now this movie is a favorite of mine, and had been from the moment I saw it but THIS time it was in 3D!!! When I told Ry that come Hell or high water we were going to see this movie, he gave me "the look", the "I-don't-want-to-see-this-dumb-movie-but-if-I-don't-I'm-never-going-to-hear-the-end-of-it-so-I'll-just-agree" look. When I was done ignoring "the look" he then said, "I can't see 3D." "What do you mean you can't see 3D?" "I can't see it." "Are you talking about those red and blue glasses 3D?" "Yeah, I can't see 3D with them." (rolling my eyes) "Of course you can't. Those things don't work, nobody can see 3D out of those! They have new ones that are clear, you'll be fine." "Oh." "We should go, you'll like it." "Mmmhmm."

So, he appeased me and when we went to see the movie, he saw 3D for the first time. Which was, of course, adorable because he kept pulling his head back when things "jumped out" of the screen. When we left he said he really enjoyed the movie and that it was better than he was expecting, since he does not like Tim Burton. (I know.)

All in all it was a good night, and if you can, go see Nightmare Before Christmas! It's only a 3 week engagement starting on the 19th. It's completely worth the money, I highly recommend it, especially if you liked the original. If you live in Western Mass, it's playing at the cinema on Route 5 in West Springfield!

Done and Done!

Well, that is it, my little Chickens! I am done with Ry's Socks and my Beret. Although I have a little confession to make. It's a little big...the beret. I made it with needles one size up so it would be a little big, so my hair wouldn't get mashed or a hat line or anything. However, it doesn't feel all that secure. Oh, well, at least the plan for no hat hair is in full force and effect! Ryan's socks fit him quite well, and he does love them even though some of our friends saw them in progress and thought the colors were "gay". First of all, what does that mean? That they look like drag queens with too much makeup and glittery bits? They're SOCKS! And second of all, when did blue whit and green become "gay" colors? Ugh. They are male fashionistas, and couldn't get around the fact that socks are rarely seen, except with dress pants, and these socks are too casual for dress pants. Idiots.

Anyway, moving on...I was sick all weekend and accomplished almost nothing, except I did finish my reading for classes and Ry's sock. So I guess I did something. I am feeling a bit better now but, still not great. I was also assigned my mitten partners! Yahoo!!! Let the mitteniness begin! I am excited to hit the stores this weekend and pick up the yarny goodness. I also finished up the shopping for my Mystery Swap partner and will be mailing that package out this weekend...I hope she likes it!

No More Humdrum Mittens (Re-post)

NO MORE HUMDRUM MITTENS QUESTIONAIRE

1. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?

I have been knitting for a little over a year now, and I am self-taught. I learned through the videos on the internet and the back instructional sections of knitting magazines.

2. Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I would consider myself to be an intermediate knitter that accepts challenges.

3. What are your favorite colors? Any you dislike?

I LOVE reds and turquoises and purples, the only colors I don't really like are olive greens and mustard yellows.

4. Do you like Latvian type patterns? If so, what are your favorite patterns?

I do like the Latvian patterns, however I do not have a favorite style. Although I can say that I do not like the fringed bottoms I see on some of the styles. I'm a no fringe kinda gal.

5. Do you desire mittens for yourself, your "special someone else" or your child?

I know it sounds a bit selfish, but I'd like the mittens for myself. I've never really owned mittens before, mostly because until recently I lived in VERY warm states.

6. What other things do you enjoy knitting?

I enjoy knitting socks and sweaters and hats, of all kinds. I have been on a sock kick recently, but I am also enjoying the sweaters that I have going on as well.

7. What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum)

For socks I like working with DPNs, for sweaters and hats I work with circulars. I recently purchased some Brittany wooden needles for my socks and fell in love with them! Although, I have been trying to hunt down some swallowtail casein needles to try them out.Usually ai Work with my Denise needles for the Circs and Pony needles for my DPNs.

8. What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make?

The embossed leaves socks from IK, possibly something entrelac, the lace leaf pullover by Teva Durham. Something entrelac or fairisle. Umm...that's all I can think of. I really just enjoy knitting anything, except shawls.

9. What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with?

I have been dying to work with Alpaca, cashemere or a wool/silk blend. I also would like to try working with some Socks that Rock yarn from Blue Moon, I love their Christmas themed colorways.

10. What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? Cook?

I enjoying baking, cooking, photography and sewing. I also love to entertain and go for hikes with our dogs when the weather is nice, and this year is the year I am going to learn to ski and snow shoe!

11. Besides yarn, do you collect anything?

I like to collect oddities, kitschy/tacky things that I can place in various places around the house, they make me laugh. I have a poodle ornament that hangs around and is all coated in feathers. It's so tacky it's cute!

12. What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to?

I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I love cupcakes and candies and chocolate, and sweet combined with salty things too! I'm a food nut!

13. Do you have any kids? Pets?

I have no kids, but I do have two dogs and a live-in boyfriend.

14. What is your favorite part of Winter?

The mugs of hot chocolate while you're inside watching the snow come down, warm fires, the holidays and time with family.

15. What is your least favorite part of Winter?

Finals and the never ending grayness that lasts until April!

Vermont Weekend

Well, I am about 97% done with my little beret! Just in time, too because the weather is finally starting to act normal again, so I can wear my sweaters and hats now. Hooray! In other news Ry & I went to Woodstock Vermont on Sunday. What an awesome day! Vermont was so pretty, the leaves were all turning and Woodstock is such a quaint little town. To begin we walked through a little park area where people could walk their dogs. As we were walking through there I smelled something odd, but ignored it. Then we wandered in and out of these little art galleries admiring some of the works, agreeing on some things and disagreeing on others. Ry really made the effort to talk to me about what he did and did not like, and why that was so. I continued to smell something weird, so I asked Ry to check his shoes. Nothing. So we wandered on. We had lunch in a fabulous little restaurant we were fairly ravenous so we both finished our plates, and we had some Long Trail Blackberry Wheat Ale. Delicious! There was an old covered bridge that was still in use and some gorgeous old houses that we both wished we owned.




Later we had ice cream from an overpriced little shop (ahem, $5 for a cone), then sat on a bench looking at a babbling brook and eating out ice cream. Later we went to Quechee and saw the Quechee Gorge and a HUGE hot air balloon.



It was at the gorge that I discovered the source of the weird smell. It was MY shoes. Not Ry’s, mine. Did I think to check my own shoes? Nope, I just assumed it would have to be Ry’s shoes, because my shoes are so cute, they would never have stepping in something as gross as poo. Boy, was I wrong. Well, I managed to scrape it off on a rail thing and there wasn’t any in my tread, thank God, but I wonder how much was tracked in and out of those galleries…Anyway, the gorge was awesome and we saw it from both sides of the bridge. Apparently Ry had been passing over the gorge to go skiing since he was a kid, but had never stopped to see it, so it was a first for both of us. We also stooped at a cute little place that sold local cheese, handmade furniture and all things pickled. For instance there were pickled eggs, regular pickles, pickled cabbage. You name it they had it, and it was pickled. They also had flocks of sheep, bears and cows. Ry and I took photos in the midst of each! On the way back we stopped at a rural gas station/general store and there I saw the BIGGEST apple pies in my life. I ended up buying a blackberry pie, which is now gone, but was delicious. That pie must’ve weighed ten pounds, it was delicious and worth every penny we paid. All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

Fall Festivals and Pot Luck Dinners

Well, in the end I could not decide what to give to my friend. Apparently, though, that was for the best because she is going home in a couple of weeks and is going to ask her mother to teach her to knit. So she'll just get her needles and yarn while she's there.

For the pot-luck dinner we made chicken wings with 4 different dipping sauces, and bought a chocolate cream pie from Whole Foods for dessert. J & M made miniburgers and BBQ Chicken Chili. Now I don't know if you've had BBQ chicken chili, but let me tell you what it contains: BBQ Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Shredded Chicken and Elbow macaroni. Got that? Process it for a moment and let me remind you how acidic tomato sauce and BBQ sauce is...see where I'm going with this? I couldn't finish. It was like someone was pouring a vat of acid down my gullet. It has a good flavor, but it was really soupy, so the soup was tomato & BBQ sauce and I just couldn't do it. Apparently, this chili was something of a comfort food. J said they used to serve it at school with peanut butter crackers and it was delicious! Hmm. Ok, well either way, they cooked for us, and that always rocks! And we had pie...even better...yummmmm....

So Saturday Ry & I went to the Fall Apple Harvest Festival in the town common. It sounds like it was pretty cool,right? Like Gramma Ethel's famous Apple Spice Bread, Grampa Joe's Cider, and Aunt Tilly's Apple Pie were all being sold at little stands from different farms. And there was bobbing for apples, and bushels of apples so you could buy different varieties that you haven't tried before. Seems like that's what the festival would be like, right? Right? WRONG. It was lame. There was only one stand with apples, and none of the fall festival stuff that I was expecting. It was a complete let down. It was like being told you're getting a really exciting, super-cool gift and the fact that this super-cool gift is coming has been built up for weeks and then getting a roll of Scotch Tape. It was a fizzle rather than a bang. Still, it was nice to be out of the house. We walked around the town square and I went to a little yarn shop I had been wanting to check out and got some yarn for mittens for Ry. Then we ran some errands, and went home and decorated for Fall. Later that evening we took the dogs to the field to play with the frisbee. Well, Sam played with the frisbee, Molly just ran around and rolled in the grass.



Meanwhile I turned the heel on Ry's second sock! Hooray! I think that counts as being nearly done. I don't know what it was about this project, but I has SSS really bad...I kept thinking "Why do I want to do the same project all over again? In really want to do something new!" So I cast on for the second sock in May and didn' pick it up again until August. I guess i figured, Ry only wears sandals in the summer, why bother with the sock, if he won't wear it until cool weather sets in? It proved to be true, Ry rarely wore shoes all summer, and now the weather is just barely getting cooler so I still have time to finish it. (Barely)

Rainstorms, Knitting and the Dogs

So last night I finished the leg on Ry’s sock, and just as I was getting ready to start the heel Ry lured me out on the porch to listen to the rain and enjoy a drink with him. By the time we came back inside it was almost midnight. If the painters hadn’t removed the porch light, I’d have probably brought the sock out with me, but it was not to be.

It’s been a long time since I’ve sat outside and listened to the rain and thunder. I forgot how soothing rainstorms can be, especially since in the summer the rainstorms are harbingers of humidity, nasty weather and mosquitos, but in the fall they are perfection. The dogs, however, did not like the rain as much as we did. Molly and Sam hid behind our chairs whenever there was a little thunder and Sam kept walking to the edge of the porch and looking in wonderment at the rain pouring down. He absolutely refused to go potty before bed; the rain was too much for his delicate sensibilities; so he woke us up barking this morning to go out. Molly didn’t go out before bed either (she too has delicate sensibilities), but she’s a camel, she can wait until we’re up before going out.

Tonight we have a potluck dinner with some friends, one of whom has been asking me about knitting. I was thinking of giving her one of my books, some yarn, needles and a pattern and letting her experiment. The thing is…what yarn? What pattern? I have to figure that out first. I have some stuff in my stash that I bought before I became a bit of a yarn snob, which I can’t bear to get rid of because it seems like a waste. So it has been relegated to hats, dog sweaters and experimental uses. I hate to give her some of that lest she think that’s what all yarn is like, but I can’t see giving her some of my more expensive stuff, because it will probably not be appreciated for a first time project, or she’ll have a heart attack if she messes up or breaks the yarn (I almost did). I have multiple colors of one brand, but it’s kind of scratchy and stretchy and I wonder if stripes might be too challenging. Although, I think something like that is fun to learn because then you have something to change up the mindlessness of garter or stockinette stitch. Hmmm…I may have to ponder this further…I’ll have to decide by tonight though! I have some Lionbrand…that’s soft, and it tends to be good for beginners because it’s easy to work with and there will be no heart attacks if you screw up royally….maybe that’s the way to go?


p.s. Do you like my new fall theme?

Mystery Swap

Ok, like an idiot I didn't really "get" what my ideas should be, so here are a few more:

1. Italy (I am in love with Tuscany.)
2. Arizona and the desert. (I grew up there, it's still my home.)
3. Pumpkins and the fall. (My favorite season.)
4. First snowfall
5. Christmas (I used to have red & green Chuck Taylors and broke them out right after Thanksgiving...I should get another pair...)

That's a little more along the lines Kim was looking for, I think!

The Weekend

So, Friday night was "date night"! We went out to dinner and we were going to see a movie when a sudden and vicious pain began attacking my neck. I didn't sleep on it in an unusual way, because it hadn't been hurting since the morning. I think I strained it, here’s why:
Monday through Thursday I carry around a laptop bag at night. It’s easily the cheapest laptop bag that money can buy. It has a narrow strap, no padding for your shoulder and it distributes the weight unevenly. In addition to this monstrous laptop bag I carry a giant purse. Seriously it’s giant. In this purse I carry my lunch, my pens a law book or two, my planner, about 5 lipsticks, a change of shoes (if I am wearing heels) and my knitting…just to name a few things. The weight of my purse is probably about 25 pounds, and it can only go over one shoulder, it’s not a messenger bag type thing. It’s a one shoulder, two strap purse. The weight of my laptop bag (with assorted documents) is probably about 35 pounds. So between the two I am carrying about 60 pounds, unevenly distributed onto one shoulder. Is it any wonder my neck was hurting?

Anyway, back to date night…My neck was killing me by the time we were going to see a movie, so I had to beg off and we compromised by renting a movie from the local video store so I could lay down. We got home, I popped 4 Aleve and we watched Death Proof. Let me say Tarantino ALWAYS makes a good movie and an even better soundtrack. So after the movie I went to bed and crashed out.

On Saturday, Ry & I went to the fair! The first thing we did when we finally got there (3 hours of traffic to get in, thank you very much), was have corndogs and fresh lemonade. Yum! Then we hit the buildings, saw the exhibits. There was a butter sculpture,


a cow that had the same coloring and marking as Sam,


and of course the FOOD! We had cream puffs, lobster rolls, quahog clams, seafood, blueberry crisp, and of course, beer! My neck was still bothering me, but 3 Aleve and 2 beers made me forget all about that! We had a ton of fun, even though Ry turned a little green on one of the rides. (Too much food!)



Sunday was a gorgeous day, so I studied on the porch and pseudo-enjoyed the day.

I only did a little knitting over the weekend due to the neck pain, but overall it was a fantastic weekend!

Quickie

Weekend in review:

Friday: I hurt my neck :(
Saturday: Loaded up on Aleve & went to fair
Sunday: Studied & cleaned house.

...More on the fair tomorrow...

Ravelry

Ahem.

"Your invitation was sent on Yesterday."

Hot Damn! I knew I should have logged on-line yesterday, instead of knitting Ry's sock and doing the copious amounts of laundry! WooHooo!!!! I am extraordinarily excited about this. This means all day Saturday will be spent shooting the stash! This also means that all hopes for paying attention in Crim Pro tonight have just flown out the window. Yaaahhhoooo!

Package Delivery!

So my package from The Loopy Ewe arrived yesterday! Hooray! I have been wanting some Cider Moon Glacier yarn forever and when I had finally decided what to buy, they closed up shop! (The blog says that's temporary and due to a legal matter, so hopefully this won't be too long.) So then I began a quest for Cider Moon, and wouldn't you know? The Loopy Ewe had it! So I ordered two skeins of Taos and a skein Superman. I also ordered a skein of Perchance to Knit in breezy. YUM!


Taos is on the left, Superman is in the middle, and Breezy is on the right

Score!

Here's where I am on Ravelry....

You signed up on July 6, 2007
You are #14529 on the list.
589 people are ahead of you in line.
18893 people are behind you in line.
41% of the list has been invited so far

I am sooooooooooo excited! Can you tell how excited I am? Can you? Can you!?!?!

Ok, I'm out, but I did get my awesome package from The Loopy Ewe yesterday, so tonight there will be sockporn!

No More Humdrum Mittens Questionnaire

HA! I joined the "No More Humdrum Mittens Swap". I am really excited, I've never participated in a swap before, mostly because I always found out about them too late! Well, not this time, baby! Below is the Questionnaire. Lalala! I'm so happy!

NO MORE HUMDRUM MITTENS QUESTIONAIRE

1. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?

I have been knitting for a little over a year now, and I am self-taught. I learned through the videos on the internet and the back instructional sections of knitting magazines.

2. Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I would consider myself to be an intermediate knitter that accepts challenges.

3. What are your favorite colors? Any you dislike?

I LOVE reds and turquoises and purples, the only colors I don't really like are olive greens and mustard yellows.

4. Do you like Latvian type patterns? If so, what are your favorite patterns?

I do like the Latvian patterns, however I do not have a favorite style. Although I can say that I do not like the fringed bottoms I see on some of the styles. I'm a no fringe kinda gal.

5. Do you desire mittens for yourself, your "special someone else" or your child?

I know it sounds a bit selfish, but I'd like the mittens for myself. I've never really owned mittens before, mostly because until recently I lived in VERY warm states.

6. What other things do you enjoy knitting?

I enjoy knitting socks and sweaters and hats, of all kinds. I have been on a sock kick recently, but I am also enjoying the sweaters that I have going on as well.

7. What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum)

For socks I like working with DPNs, for sweaters and hats I work with circulars. I recently purchased some Brittany wooden needles for my socks and fell in love with them! Although, I have been trying to hunt down some swallowtail casein needles to try them out.Usually ai Work with my Denise needles for the Circs and Pony needles for my DPNs.

8. What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make?

The embossed leaves socks from IK, possibly something entrelac, the lace leaf pullover by Teva Durham. Something entrelac or fairisle. Umm...that's all I can think of. I really just enjoy knitting anything, except shawls.

9. What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with?

I have been dying to work with Alpaca, cashemere or a wool/silk blend. I also would like to try working with some Socks that Rock yarn from Blue Moon, I love their Christmas themed colorways.

10. What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? Cook?

I enjoying baking, cooking, photography and sewing. I also love to entertain and go for hikes with our dogs when the weather is nice, and this year is the year I am going to learn to ski and snow shoe!

11. Besides yarn, do you collect anything?

I like to collect oddities, kitschy/tacky things that I can place in various places around the house, they make me laugh. I have a poodle ornament that hangs around and is all coated in feathers. It's so tacky it's cute!

12. What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to?

I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I love cupcakes and candies and chocolate, and sweet combined with salty things too! I'm a food nut!

13. Do you have any kids? Pets?

I have no kids, but I do have two dogs and a live-in boyfriend.

14. What is your favorite part of Winter?

The mugs of hot chocolate while you're inside watching the snow come down, warm fires, the holidays and time with family.

15. What is your least favorite part of Winter?

Finals and the never ending grayness that lasts until April!

Sabbatical

After a long sabbatical, I am officially back. There was time there when it was touch and go. When I wasn’t sure I even wanted to continue with this blog, not because I don’t like having a forum on which to “let it out” as they say, but because it seemed like such a useless commitment. Let’s face it, nobody really reads this blog and there’s the commitment of writing on it and taking photos of my knitting and various other things going on in my life. It just seemed like…a waste of my “me time”. However, the realization struck me that the blog can be part of my “me time”. With that in mind I have returned to you, my non-existent public.

What may not be known is that in the interim of this break several things have happened. The first of which is that I had a birthday. Ry, Mom, and Stevie did everything in their power to make it very special for me. It was the nicest birthday I have had in a long time. Among the gifts I received were a sewing machine from Mom and Seinfeld DVD’s that I take such delight in I watch them nearly every night. My brother got me a jewelry box from his travels in Europe that is apparently made from Camel bone, but the dogs seems to think it’s made of the most delicious kind of doggie crack on earth. In other words, all Molly wants to do is sniff and lick the jewelry box and all Sam wants to do is eat it. I have sewn a few blouses on the sewing machine and I love it, the patterns are fairly simple, but they are lovely. I have already committed myself to sewing curtains for the bedroom, and a friend of mine has inquired as to whether or not I’d be able to sew her a Snow White costume. Ummm…we’ll see on that last one.

Another big occurrence is that I am able to afford law school again, so I will be able to continue my education. I have mixed feelings about this. I am still not sure that this is my path, but on the other hand my pride will not let me be a quitter. I have done some research, and I can pursue an alternative legal career or perhaps just maintain my hobbies to be a well-rounded person.

My major difficulty this summer has been Sam. I am having a hard time adjusting to having a puppy in the house, particularly one who is still not fully house-broken nor crate trained. Let it be known that I did not want a puppy, I wanted a dog. To be more specific, I wanted a dog between the ages of 1.5 and 2 years, the same age that Molly was when I got her. I’m not going to fool you, Molly was tough when I first got her, there were accidents and chewing incidents, but I crate trained her and the accidents and chewing stopped. I hired a dog trainer and taught her most commands. She is now a good girl, she can be left in the house with no accidents and no chewing, unless an errant cotton swab finds its way out of the bathroom. She behaves. Sam on the other hand wakes me up in the night to go outside (3:00AM people) he chews everything, he barks his fool head off in the crate (yes, even when we’re right there with him), he pees if left alone for any extended period of time. He kind of knows his commands, he does come when called, he does know “inside”, and he knows “No”. But he needs his shots he needs to be fixed and he needs to be trained, both crate trained and command trained. It was my hope that we could have accomplished this before classes began, but that was not to be. So now we have Sam, and it’s like having a difficult child. Ry, of course, thinks the world of him, which is wonderful. I wanted him to have a dog to love and bond with, and now he does. We just need to work on the obedience aspect of Sam. He has potential and all we have to do now is get him fixed and hire a trainer. Ry & I discussed it and decided that those things need to be done asap, because neither of us want to continue to worry if Sam's incessant barking will cause us to be evicted, nor do we want to walk with dread into the house wondering what he has destroyed this time.

The next big thing that happened is that I paid a surprise visit to my Mom over Labor Day. She had no idea that I was arriving, and was shocked beyond imagining when I waltzed through her living room door. It was a wonderful weekend, and my brother and I got a wheelchair for her (because she has a lot of leg pain which prevents her from doing most things) and took her to the Farmer’s market, the craft store, and lots of other places. We all had a lot of fun.

And last but not least, Ryan had a birthday. It was his 31st and among his gifts were some books, picture frames and a few other little things. I am also having party for him this weekend, which should be perfect, the high is only going to be 68 and we’re going to have a bonfire. How exciting!

In knitting news, I have finished one of Ry’s socks, I have cast on for a Beret and I have the back piece of Simply Marilyn done! I have a thousand other projects in mind, but I realize I should pace myself, 3 projects at a time is probably enough, especially with the sewing I want to do. However, I do need to get some more Christmas gifts onto needles. By the way, does anybody out here have a cool, basic pattern for a hat and scarf with sock yarn? Well, I guess I have some projects to think about!

Here's a pic of Molly and Sam. They are cute together...

Here's What's Happening

Well, I'm almost done with sock #1 for Ry. I tried it on him last night to see where I was on it and make sure everything is turning out ok,not like the last sock disaster! When I tried it on him he made two comments, #1 "Ooohh, that's comfortable, I like it," and #2 "Is it going to take you this long to finish the other one?" Whhhaaaaaat?? I just looked at him and said, "Yes, it's 88 stitches around and you have a BIG foot." So I promised him he would have a set by the end of August. (I sincerely hope that holds true.) Anyway, it's summer and all he's putting on his feet these days are sandals or gym shoes when we take walks, so he'll be fine with gym socks until it gets cool out.

In other news, I was hired at my job (YAY), and will now receive a LIVING WAGE. Can you believe it? I was so excited when i found out I bought myself a little "Congratulations" cake and waited up until 12:30am (when Ry got home)to eat it!

The search for a new pupperoni continues (and will do so until we have some moolah to pay an adoption fee) and I sometimes worry about Molly and if she'll adjust to a new addition very well. I guess I'm mostly worried about dividing my attention evenly between the two doggies, and I don't want to neglect Miss Molly...I'm sure it will all work out for the best. I mean, ultimately she’s getting a companion so she’ll have someone to play with during the day and hopefully they get along like a house on fire, which will ease my worries considerably.

So I have a birthday coming up. I'm a little excited and a little anxious about it. Something usually happens on my birthday, and it’s usually never good. I am trying to be positive, although I am a little sad that I don’t hardly any people that live in the area that I could invite to a party, or that I haven’t had a birthday party since I was a kid. I guess it’ll just be a quiet night, which will be nice, too. Especially because a big birthday bash requires a lot of clean-up before and afterward.

I have a gift already waiting for me…it’s from my Dad…it’s been in the house for almost a month now…I REEAAALLY want to open it, but my willpower is pretty strong, so I am resisting the urge. (barely)

I have some new sock yarn from Chameleon Colorworks...but no photos yet, and I still haven't felt presentable enough to take a photo of the Anthropologie Shrug. I will take & post those pics as well as the sock progress pics soon, I promise.

A few Pics

Ok,ok, here are two pics, one of the fingerless mitt, and the other of the slippers for Mom for Mother's Day. More updates later!! Happy Fourth (a little early)!




This picture is terrible. I assure you they look much better on my mother's feet than in this photo AND let's not forget that the color is all funky because I was using the craptastic camera! Ugh. Sorry about that.

Grunge ruined Wrap

I have been sitting here wondering about the knitted shawl/wrap. Here’s my problem. I kinda love them, but only when they are simple (i.e. Glampyre’s City Shawl). When they are this confection of laciness, I think of sweet little grannies all wrapped up in their shawls ready for church. I can’t shake the granny image of these lacy things. To be sure, they are masterful pieces of knitting…but they do seem a bit…old. Perhaps it’s me…I’ve had an aversion to all things lace since I was able to make fashion choices. It always seemed contrived and most of the girls I knew who wore lacy things were always trying a bit too hard. I can’t do it, even to this day when I see lacy blouses I can’t help but pair it with shoulder pads, big hair and the 80’s when all prom dresses had fountains of lace. (A co-worker frequently wears a black acrylic lacy ruffled blouse that smacks of white trash; not in a good “tongue in cheek/kitsch is fashion” kind of way, but in a “this is seriously what I wear” kind of way.) The second part to this is the fact that I’m just not sure I could pull it off even if I wanted to. I have a pashmina, I love it, I bought it in Italy, but when I wear it, I fiddle. I fiddle with the arrangement of it, so that it has the “I just fashionably threw this on” look to it like then women in Europe had. But then after I throw it on it inevitably slips down one shoulder or I feel as though I am being pretentious. (I’m a snob, but not a pretentious one.) This uncomfortability keeps me from a few projects that I love, such as the City Shawl or the Clementine Shawlette, both of which I admire (and own the patterns for), but neither of which I am sure that (a) I can pull off or (b) would even wear. I’ve always been a cardi girl. It’s chilly out? No problem, throw on a cardigan, no biggie. Maybe it comes from being part of the grunge generation (Nirvana hit mainstream when I was either in 8th grade or a Freshman in highschool)? Having kept my flannel tied to my hips and throwing it on when there was a chill in the air reminds me of throwing a stylish cardi over the handbag and putting it on when the chill sets in. Anyway, just to sum up, I won’t be knitting a shawl or wrap anytime soon, unless it’s requested as a gift for someone…it’s just not me. (yet)

I'm baaaaaaack!

Well it's been a long time since I posted. In that time I took my finals; cast on and finished a sock only to realize that I should have done a gauge check because it didn't fit the foot it was intended for; I went to K’s graduation with Ry; Webs gianormous yarn sale; found out that after Mom’s cardiac angiogram, she collapsed, was treated by some incompetent doctors and nearly a week later was diagnosed with a hematoma and a psudoanuerism; Ry and I then traveled to Indiana to take care of Mom for Memorial Day Weekend because Little Brother went to Austria to visit Dad (to date, Mom is still not better); cast on and finished a shrug; cast on for another pair of socks (and knit about 2 inches); cast on for Wicked (and knit about an inch); gauge swatched for Simply Marilyn; gauge swatched for Thermal, and have been working; spending QT with Ry and playing with Molly.

So…I have pictures of the Mother’s day Gift (a pair of slippers), and some photos of the basket my Gramma made for me for Christmas…and of the shrug I finished. You'll have to wait to see them though, I don;t find any of them particularly flattering, so I have to re-shoot! I promise to post them ASAP, though. (Really, I mean it this time.)

Besides all of the above there have been some other developments in my life, one of them being the realization that I will have to take a year off of law school because I actually can’t afford to go! HA! Actually it’s rather depressing and I’ve sort of been cutting myself off from friends because I don’t want to talk about it. The other thing that has happened recently is that we’ve decided to get a second doggie. When school is in session, Molly is alone during the day and we both think it would be nice for Molly to have a friend. So we are currently looking at little brothers for her at the local shelters. We’ve decided not to get a puppy (they’re always the first adopted anyway), but a dog that is between 1 and 5 years old. I’m letting Ry make most of the decisions while maintaining veto power on names and breeds, although I don’t plan on exercising it unless he wants a Pitbull and wants to name it Muff. He’s never owned a dog or named a dog, or even trained a dog, so I think this’ll be a good experience for him! However we’ve decided to wait on getting one until we know if I’ll still be employed at the end of the month. (I’m temping and they’re interviewing for the position I’m in, but I’m scheduled for an interview…we’ll see, I guess.) If I am still employed it’ll be a nice raise and we’ll be all systems go on the new pooch! In other news, I have decided that I will be posting every weekend, even if it is just a quick brain dump. I'd like to really get going on the blog thing, but it sort of reminds me of a diary...and I have never been good with diaries, but I'm giving it the old college try!

More Stuff than you can shake a DPN at! (a big one)

Hip hip HOOORAAAAYYY!!! Yes that was cheering. I finished the Mother's Day Gift that I was working on. Yes that's right I finished it! But no pics...why? Mom reads the blog! In other news I finally receive Sensational Knitted Socks (SKS) in the mail and I am diligently working on my first pair of sockies. I am very excited about this, even though I had to frog the whole darn thing and start from scratch b/c I did a knitted cast on which SKS says is insubstantial...so I frogged it. I cast on again and even though I only have about an inch of ribbing, I'm still really excited about working on the socks. I am working from the pattern in the Spring '07 IK 'Roza's Socks' The pattern should keep me from getting bored and my recipient likes to have plenty of ribbing so the socks don't slouch down...the best of both worlds! In other super-fabulous news I finished the fingerless mitt, although I ran out of yarn and had to use some pink sock yarn to finished the thumb...but it looks like a cute little thumb ring...and it was just for fun anyway. (Pics to follow, of course) I went to LYS on Friday and bought MORE SOCK YARN!!! While I was there the knitting ladies complimented me on my Sexy Little Sweater(even thought the sleeves suck butt!)So big ego boost for me. (yay!)And THEN I called Mom and asked her if she could use her mad sewing skills to make me a DPN case, and she said ok! Not only that, but she went and bought funky fabric and even found some patterns for them online AND insisted on making some pockets in it for my circs! How much do I love Mama? TONS!!! So that's the stuff. (I told you it was a lot.) I promise to post pics soon!

SWTC Sock Boot Camp

So it occurs to me that I may have left out some of the details of my first ever visit to Webs, in my haste to update you on the past two weeks. On Sunday was the SWTC Sock Boot Camp from 12-4. I signed up and had been anticipating it for weeks. However, due to the fact that I had a medium sized emotional breakdown the Thursday (or Wednesday) before the Sock Boot Camp, I was filled with the dread you feel on the first day of classes at a new school. Will I meet anyone? Will anyone talk to me? Will I be an island in the middle of an LYS sea? Will I be the only beginner? What if I don’t knit “correctly”? All of these things and more were running through my head, and with a great deal of nervousness I made it out the door and to the Boot Camp, without getting lost. I arrived with a) no needles b) no sock yarn and c) no idea how to knit socks, but I did arrive with a very firm grasp on how to knit with DPNs and Circulars. (Ry tried to convince me to take my beach-now-knitting bag with me, and I said, “No, no, no, besides I don’t have any sock-type thing to knit anyway!)

So I arrived (friendless) behind two ladies that were obviously very good friends. “Here we go,” I thought. “Here I am the only with no knitting friends.” Well, I walked in and the the ladies that work there were wonderful, thery made me feel very welcome, friends or no friends. They directed me to the beginners table with my wee skein of yarn and my new Pony needles and when I looked at the table, it was full. So I wandered around for a bit and then when I checked back, halleluiah, there was an empty seat. So I took it! I sat down and immediately the instructor asked me if I had worked in the round before and I said yes but never with such eensy-weensy yarn or needles before and she said fine & I got started. Well as we were all knitting away, we were (of course) chatting and people asked me how long I had been knitting, and I said since September of ’06. And then they asked me how I learned to knit.

Me: “Ummmm…I taught myself”

Lady#1 :“You did? How?”

Me: “Well, I just Googled ‘how to knit’ and it came back with instructions and videos and all kinds of things so I just read all of those things and then just practiced.”

Lady #2: “Oh, that’s terrible.”

Me: “What?”

Lady #2: “That’s just awful, teaching yourself how to knit on-line. I tried that and found all those tutorials to be such garbage, you can’t learn anything right on there.”

Me: “Well, it seems to be working out…”

Lady #2: “Why didn’t you just have a friend teach you or a grandmother or take a class, so you could learn it properly?”

Me: “I don’t have any friends in Mass, my Gramma lives in Arizona, and I think I do alright at it…I mean it’s not perfect…but I seem to be doing okay.”

Lady#2: “Well, as long as you’re all right with it.”

I take a special kind of glee in saying that the lady who learned how to knit properly did NOT know how to do a knitted cast-on. Ha-HA!!! So anyway, I also spoke with 2 other ladies that were really nice (I only remember one’s name) and completely ruined my foundation row of K2P2, seems easy right? Apparently I can’t chat with people until the first 2-3 rows have been knit, or I’ll get too caught up in talking and end up with four purl stitches all together. I can, however walk and chew gum at the same time…so I’m getting there. (I ended up ripping the whole damn thing out & starting over, even I can’t live with that much imperfection.) I also realized that I am a slow knitter. Everyone reassured me that with practice I will get faster, I certainly hope so…I have a lot of projects in mind and I’d like to be able to finish them before Christmas (for the gifts) and next summer (for me). That was about it for the LYS visit. However, when I came back I felt pretty good, and Ry is encouraging me to go back and maybe take a Saturday class, or just hang out and knit with other people. So, after finals, that’s my plan. I like the idea of meeting people who share in this newly acquired addiction of mine, and being able to ask questions of more experienced knitters. The whole thing appeals to me. The next event I plan to go to is the Tent Sale, which I will be saving for. I plan on increasing my stash, much to Ry’s chagrin, I’m sure. Oh! And I have completely fallen in love with knitting socks! The tiny yarn, the little needles, the transportability of it all…I just LOVE it!

Roasted Poblano Recipe (as promised)

How to roast chiles

Before chiles are stuffed, they must be roasted. This gives them an earthy flavor and eases removal of the tough skin.

1) Place fresh chiles on a rack over a hot gas flame, on a grill or under a broiler. Cook on all sides for 3 to 5 minutes, making sure all the skin is blackened. Be careful not to overcook. As soon as the skin turns black, turn the chile to blacken another portion.

2) Place in a paper or plastic bag. Allow the chiles to sweat until they are cool enough to handle.

3) Pull off the skin, or scrape it off with a blunt knife.

Shrimp Salad Chilies Rellenos

1 pound shrimp
2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted (divided use)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup corn kernels (from 1 or 2 ears of corn)
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and julienned
Corn vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Salt, to taste
4 poblanos, roasted, peeled and seeded

Toss crabmeat with the serranos, half of the pumpkin seeds, the basil, corn kernels, bell pepper and half of the corn vinaigrette. Season with salt. Fill each poblano with one-fourth of the shrimp mixture.

Serve each chile relleno on a plate with the remaining corn vinaigrette and garnish with remaining pumpkin seeds.

Makes 4 servings.

Corn Vinaigrette

2 ears corn, shucked
1/2shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt, to taste

Boil corn for about 10 minutes (until cooked) or you may roast the corn in the oven, but this takes MUCH longer. Cut the kernels off the cobs. Combine corn kernels with shallot, garlic, vinegar and chicken stock in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive and corn oils until emulsified. Season with salt.


Recipie taken from AzCentral.com

Laziness

Well! First and foremost let me just say that I have delaying the blogging until I could get my pictures uploaded! Why did it take me so long? Laziness, pure unadulterated laziness.


Now, that I’ve fessed up to that, a lot has happened since I last blogged! First there was Easter. I decided to make roasted poblano peppers with a shrimp filling and shrimp fajitas for dinner on Good Friday (Ry is a Catholic so no meat!). It was delicious, roasting the poblanos gives them this beautiful smoky taste which contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the shrimp an corn filling. (I’ll post the recipe, relax!) The shrimp fajitas were pretty darn good too, if you like fajitas. If you don’t, the poblanos would go well with a nice steak cooked on the grill. After we digested for a bit, we decided to color eggs for Easter.



I have to admit, I was a bit surprised that the last time Ry colored eggs was when he and his sisters were little. Where’s the childlike joy and enthusiasm for Easter? Well, anyway we had a lot of fun and got creative with out little wax crayon and 3 colors of dye. (I messed up & bought the wrong kit, oops!)





Saturday was a day of rest and relaxation followed by a trip on Easter up to his parents’ house. Ry’s two sisters were both there, S & K. The visit was a lot of fun and very relaxing, K & I started in on the wine early, and I forgot (as usual) that when in the M household, you have a bottomless glass of wine. So needless to say I got a little toasty, and poor Ry had to drive us home! (again) The week that followed was not a good one for me mentally. Let’s just say I’m questioning some life decisions right now, and due to various circumstances I’ll be taking at least a year off of law school. I’m still not feeling so great in my mental processes, but I’m doing better.


Spring

On Saturday I noticed that the crocuses were in bloom and felt like it was actually starting to turn to Spring and then on Saturday we got rain followed by slush followed by snow and then finished off with some more rain. But I did get these great pictures of the crocuses. On Sunday I went to the SWTC Sock Boot Camp event at Webs. (Ahem, that means that I finally found Webs. As in, I did not get lost this time) It was awesome to finally be with a group of knitters!! I sat at the beginners table and chatted with the ladies there. Although it was a sock knitting event SWTC did not send enough sample yarn of the new TOFUtsies line, so we all ended up knitting a fingerless mitt. Still, it was nice to get the hang of knitting with sock yarn and on small DPNs. I was at the thumb gusset of the mitt, when I realized I could not live with so many imperfections in my knitting, regardless of the fact that it was only for me, so I ripped the whole darn thing out and started from scratch. I’m done with the ribbing & so far have no mistakes (knock wood). While I was there I explored the warehouse (LOVE IT), the front of the store, and their selection of needles. I must go back! Especially since there are some patterns that they have, that I want/need/must have. I also bought some sock yarn so I could finally make something for Ry, he was very excited about the prospect of having some lovely hand knit sockies! So that is a quick as a bunny rundown of the past two weeks.

In other news I finished the Sexy Little Sweater, tried it on & decided that a) I am a chub-a-lub and b) I’m not in love with the sleeves on it.


Sleeve Gap


Close up of sleeves

I think I might have to rip it out and re-do the ribbing on them. Ry thinks the sleeves should be shorter too, so that it’s almost a sleeveless top, I’m not so sure about that. (I have upper arm issues.) I wanted this to be a Spring/Fall Sweater, something to wear on the kinda-warm-but-not-really days here in New England. I was thinking about an inch of 2x2 ribbing done on smaller needles and decreasing the total number of knit stitches for a snugger fit. Any suggestions?

Spring Break!! Woo Hoo!!!

So last week was Spring Break, and for the first time in a long time I actually did something, thanks to my lovely grandparents. This is how it went down: I got an e-mail from my Gramps asking when spring break was, so I replied and told him it was the 17th through the 25th of March, then he replied by saying that he & Gramma really missed me and would I like to come out to Arizona for a visit during the break, so I replied “YEEEESSSSS!!!!! Of course!!!!!” So he booked my flight to leave on the 16th and to return on the 23rd.

Now, let me just remind you that New England weather hates me, it really does…I plan for a hike and it rains, I want to go for a bike ride, ditto and on and on. Well the 16th was no different, the nigh before they said to expect flurries and snow on Saturday, so I went to bed thinking “Haha, Suckers!” I woke up with the weatherman telling me to expect 1”-2” of snowfall per hour starting at about 6:00pm. So, I thought, well maybe my flight will be fine. Nope. Flight was cancelled. Cancelled! So I tried calling the airline, big mistake, big HUGE mistake. I was on hold for about an hour before Ry reminded that I was on my cell phone, during the day, and not a weekend. I quickly hung up and told Ry to hop in the car, so we could go to the airport ticketing counter and get my flight rescheduled. We zipped on down there (it’s only about an hour away) screamed up to the curb and I FLEW out of the car and up to the ticketing booth and guess what? It was devoid of almost all human life except for one lonely airline chica who gladly and helpfully scheduled me for a flight leaving out of Boston on Sunday. So Ry & I went back home and settled in for the snow, and did it ever snow! It was buckets (or so it seemed) and we went out with Molly into it and played around and then watched a ton of movies, and went to bed.



As it turns out we got about a foot and a half of snow; it was pretty, but I was ready for the Sunny Southwest, not dreary New England! Ry and I made arrangements for Molly (he was going to Florida to see his Nana) and spent Saturday packing, then headed up to his parents house in the Boston area, so we could have a short trip into Logan in the morning. We arrived at Logan at about 6:00am so I would have 2 ½ hours to check in, and it was a total zoo. Everybody flight had been cancelled on Friday and most of Saturday so everyone was flying out on Sunday morning. Well I rushed and rushed and even rushed my good-bye to my sweetie so I could make the plane on time. I rushed to my gate, threw myself down and heard it “Due to a maintenance problem your flight has been delayed…” AAGGGGHHHH!!!!! They wouldn’t even give us an estimated time of departure so that I could go and have coffee with Ry or anything, but every hour they pushed it back another hour, it was awful. Finally at 1:30 we boarded and left. The flight was easy and it was a direct one, so no connections. The girl sitting across the aisle from me had about 10 beers on the plane, and she was tiny and she seemed fine!

I arrived in AZ intact and very happy to see the Grandparents; we had Mexican food and relaxed in the evening. The week I spent there was wonderful, we went to the pool. I got to drive the golf cart around, we saw a concert (The Guseman Family, pretty peppy group, the son was the most talented though) had Chinese food went shopping. Interspersed with all of this my Gramma showed me the picture of the pine needle baskets she makes and the decorative gourds she makes and designs. She showed me pictures of her when she was little, and where she grew up, pictures of my dad when he was little. We had heart to heart talks about my Dad my aunt and my uncle (God rest his soul), and life in general, it was the most amazing thing. I felt like I really got to know my Gramma in a very real way, in almost the same way I got to know my Mom over the past few years.



Towards the end of my visit I was able to get together with some friends from highschool, Danielle, Sarah, and Mark. Sarah was one third of our trio (Sarah, Stephenie & Me) in highschool. The three of us went everywhere together and did everything together we were the Three Musketeers. And then senior year, Sarah & I had a huge fight and did speak to each other again. Steph kept us up on each other lives and eventually the loss of the friendship faded from my mind and the Steph got us all back in touch with each other. Until I arrived in Phoenix, I had only e-mailed Sarah, and had not spoken with her. So, at my Aunt’s she returned my phone call and it was the first time I had heard her voice in 11 years! Well, Dani, Sarah, Mark and I all decided we would go to Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Phoenix. The wait was ridiculous but the Pizza was the best I’ve had in my life!

After getting together with my friends, Gramma, Grampa & I went out to the mine claim she used to live in. On the hike out we passed by some bleached out coyote bones. I took a picture of them (it didn't turn out) and wanted to pick up one and take it back with me, but then I thought I might have to answer some tricky questions to TSA. So I left them where they lay, and hopefully will be able to see them again when I take Ry out there with me.


Mine Claim


It was very cool to see where my Gramma lived and summered as she was growing up in Arizona. They just had a shack on the claim and a collapsible trailer that she, her sister and her parents all slept in. They had no electricity and had to drive about 10 minutes to get water. It's amazing to think that her mother and father moved from the "luxuries" of Pennsylvania to absolutely nothing in Arizona and made a real go of it. It impresses me immensely that these are women that I am descended from.

All in all my visit was lovely, and I miss my Grandparents already. But I am slowly trying to convince Ryan to take the bar in Arizona and move out there. Hopefully I'll be going back to AZ soon and making a permanent life out there!

Did ya miss me?

After a brief hiatus, I am finally back! "Where were you, Jenny?" You may wonder..well, here's the deal...First, I generally only post on Monday or Tuesday during the week, because I tend to have some free time before classes on those days, and then I have to wait until Saturday or Sunday to post. Well, last week a work-friend's father died on Monday and I couldn't think of anything to say. It was so much like when my Grampa Dominguez died that I got a little depressed. So then the week goes by and Friday there was the viewing and Saturday was the burial, reception and what I thin of as the wake (lots of drinking and fond remembering.) And that took up the whole of Saturday. "OK, so what about Sunday and Monday and TUESDAY??" Well, I'm not gonna lie to you, people...I got sick. Yup, it was almost like getting a bout of exhaustion, I was achey and tired and out of breath and just felt like garbage. I spent Sunday laying down and not even knitting!(Shocking, I know.) I spent Monday laying down and knitting. I spent half of Tuesday at work and then went home, laid on the couch, and finished up a gauge swatch so I can begin a new project. (By the way, the gauge swatch was spot on!)

In other news, I am almost done with the ribbing for the sexy little sweater and then I start the sleeves. The bad news is, I was knitting this for St. Patrick's Day in Arizona, and then I checked the forecast...it'll be 90 DEGREES!!!!! NINETY!!!!! I'm super excited, but the little sweater it a wool blend. Wool, WOOL, as in warm, as in sweaty, as in not meant for 90 degree weather! So there goes that, but it'll be nice for spring here, anyway (if it ever arrives).

Now that I'm not going to be wearing the sweater for St. Pat's and the weather will be in the nineties, I'll just to have to go shopping. Awwww...too bad for me to have to shop and buy pretty things...awww...hahaha.

So that's the update, I'll be sure to post my progress on the sweater this weekend, and show you what I'm starting on now. (I'm already planning for the summer!)

Boredom

So the other night I was watching television, and I was attacked by a vicious boredom. I became bored. I mean really really bored. I was bored of t.v., bored of (prepare yourself) knitting, bored of being on the couch, just plain bored. So what to do? Well I got up and went to the make-up kit. Well, it's not a kit so much as it is a toolbox filled so full of make-up that it will no longer securely close. (37 lipsticks the last time I counted, which was 2 years ago.) So anyway, I went to the toolbox and selected my M.A.C. Blue Pigment and a brush, and then hauled myself back out to the living room, picked my canvas, and painted...



Isn't she beautiful?? Ha ha ha, I only wish I could've found my white eye pencil so I could have given her eyebrows. (In case you were wondering, Ry just laughed & laughed and called me a nut.)

Peculiar Obsession

Is it normal to be so uncontrollably addicted to knitting? Sometimes, when I'm sitting in class all I can think about is whether or not Ry would let me eat cereal for a month so that I can buy some yarn and start new projects. (He definitely would not, since we split the grocery bill!) Or at work all I want to do is read the blogs and see whats going on out there in Knittingland. Of course they really do not keep me busy enough at work...so maybe that's their fault? Once my mind wanders off, it's very difficult to reign it back in.

So here I am on Monday thinking that I should have finished 5-7 more inches on the Sexy Little Sweater, and I only finished about 2-3 inches. I don't know what happened! Molly wanted to go for a trail hike on Saturday (because it was finally warm enough.) Then Ry & I had a friend over. (I played drinking games for the first time ever.) Then on Sunday we slept late, and I had a TON of studying to do, so my T.V./knitting time was cut way down. Today all I can think about is that little sweater, and that fact that I could probably do my legal research at work and knit at the same time...but I'd probably get fired. I can't afford to get fired. (Unfortunately, otherwise I'd quit! ha ha ha)

Of course it' more difficult now, because I got my Denise Needles. I LOVE my Denise Needles, they are pink and cute and I'm able to go a bit faster on them when knitting in the round because I can make the left needle smaller than the right, the gauge stays the same and the stitches just slip right off! So I sit in work and I daydream about those needles and my knitting and all the FABULOUS projects I have lined up! Oh to be a kept woman...I could stay in a paid for apartment and knit all day...Ha ha, who am I kidding? I'd die if I couldn't work at least half time, but it's nice to fantasize...

So, lately I've been in this sort of funk. It was grey and cloudy, there was no sun, and the temperature alternated from "so cold cold I'm gonna die" to just "I think my face will fall off from the cold" cold. I grew up sort of all over, but mostly in Arizona and Florida...I'm used to sunshine and heat. (Although, in Arizona it does get cold, but nothing like up here.) I was feeling so crummy that I didn't even want to knit, or walk the Molly, or even snuggle with my guy! It was touch and go for a while there, I'd come home grumbling to Ry about how much I hated it here, and I just want to stop law school and go back to Florida or Arizona. Suddenly the humidity and hurricanes of Florida were forgotten. The scorpions and black widows of Arizona, a fading memory. All I could recall was the beautiful heat and sunshine. The beaches in Florida, the hikes in Tucson Mountain park. Riding my bike, swimming in the pools, wearing short sleeves...Oh! to be in the southern part of the U.S. again. Well, I woke up Friday morning and the sun was SHINING!!!! I looked again and saw that it had snowed the night before and it was still snowing, coating the trees and houses, it looked like powdered sugar had been dusted over everything. It was glorious. On my way home from work, it was the most beautiful sunset, orange and pink and gold. To top it all off, Ry & I had decided to make some pizza. We got some organic pizza dough & sauce, we chopped up some veggies and made some pizzas.



We had some good old-fashioned quality time together. We watched movies and I promised not to knit as long as he promised not to tune into the internet, and snuggled up together on the couch and watched The Prestige. I felt like I had come out of hibernation. My sour attitude was gone, and my funk had disappeared. Finally, the Seasonal Depressive Disorder is over, I feel like a normal human being again. Thank God!