Friday, October 31, 2003
i've had a doozy of a week, i must say. now i get a few days vacation before the REAL fun starts. this weekend, i'm going to canada to spend some time with the boy and my friends. next weekend, i'm off to new york to spend the weekend with my dad and his family. i hope that after next weekend, i'll have a better idea where i stand with life (you know, in general). so yeah. i might be slightly quiet or i might post a lot. who knows. anyway- i've made some good progress on the secret blankie, i've added another inch or so on the novelty nightmare, and i decided i deserved a treat yesterday and purchased two skeins of lamb's pride that are destined to become some multicolour fuzzyfeet (i missed the bandwagon last year).
i fudged the pattern a bit and did a short row heel, but i'm not sure if i'm going to keep it, or switch back to following the pattern completely.
for weekend knitting, i'm taking the novelty nightmare and the secret blankie. and no visits to romni wools for me, my wallet says no. oh well. and i'll leave you with one last thing: the weather was lovely, yesterday, so i had the sliding glass door open. the kitten decided that meant she should spend the rest of the day climbing the screen, getting wedged between the glass and screen. here is a visual.
happy halloween, and happy weekend, all. xoxo.
8:05 AM /
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
first order of business: i love the denise needles. my hands don't hurt, my arms never get icky- everything moves along quite nicely. good investment, and one that i am totally thrilled with. next? as long as you don't count the border, i am officially at 50% on super secret baby blanket project. i blocked last night and am now ready to begin the other half.
as a side project, my mum has asked me to knit her a scarf. we saw a scarf in a store, a few weeks ago, that mom liked very much. it was about 25$, vertical striped chenille scarf in shades of blue. she asked if i could make her a similar scarf. on sunday we went to michaels to pick out some yarn. she chose lionbrand homespun, lion boucle, and lionbrand funfur.
i cast on 360 stitches and started knitting on what i now call the 'novelty nightmare'. truthfully, it really does look nice, but it is such a pain to knit. one row takes about a half hour.
ah well. i love my mom and it is a pretty mindless knit. so how are things for everyone else?
11:52 AM /
Friday, October 24, 2003
i did it. i broke down and bought the denise needles. much knitting mayhem may ensue.
10:34 AM /
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
i had the best weekend ever (which i tend to say after any weekend with the boy). we saw 'intolerable cruelty', and i nearly laughed my tooshie off. i'd recommend it to anyone who likes oddball humour. i finished another square of the secret baby project, and the finish line is still so far away (and no photos for jenn, sorry).
however, i was all sad and bummed after adam left, so i took some time to knit a mindless project for myself. i used my friend sara's pattern for a drop stitch scarf, knit myself up 30 inches of homespun and then dropped. voila. instant soft long floopy scarf. excellent fashion accessory, and hey- my grandma liked it!
me as model.
a stitch closeup.
anyway, i'm going to award myself an hour to knit, and then i'm doing a little apartment cleaning. i have no idea how it gets so messy, but i blame the crazy kitten.
11:22 AM /
Friday, October 17, 2003
sadly- once again there will be no photos. i'm concentrating on one project and the person it is for is known to happen by these pages (hi jenniper). i have to say that after finishing 1/4 of the project, i'm really pleased at how my brain is starting to intuitively understand the charts. my fingers understand the shapes i'm attempting to make and it certainly is flowing a lot faster now, much to my happiness. now, i wonder if i have the cognitive skills to follow a more complicated aran chart or even a mulitcolour chart (though, i've never done colourwork, so...). either way, i am totally enjoying this knit- it is so much more challenging than socks and hats and scarves (oh my).
thank you EVERYONE for you excellent feedback on the denise kit. i've decided that early next month i will purchase said needle set. i think it would end up being a really good investment, in the long run. and when i win the lottery? i'll buy addi turbos in every size available.
that's all for now- i have to finish straightening up in honour of a weekend visit from my sweetie. we don't have much planned, other than a visit to my mom's tomorrow for some dinner and movie watching. thanks again for all the excellent feedback, that was the most comments i've ever received on an entry in my entire online existence! someday, if i really try- i might just be popular!
xoxo- happy weekend!
3:39 PM /
Friday, October 10, 2003
i'm still thinking about my unhappiness with lo-tech. i spent the morning looking through my ever growing archive of knitting magazines and fell in love with the retro preppy pattern from the fall02 interweave. problem is this: if i went and bought the needles i want (ahem. addi turbos), i would be spending about 60$ at the yarn shop. for needles in a select few sizes. so i says to myself, says i- how about them there denise interchangeable needles. at 45$, they'd get me all the needles i need, and then some, and keep me knitting for years to come (quite happily from what i've read). so i then spent the next half hour calling every yarn shop within a 40 mile radius of both my house and my mom's house. ONE store carried them, but they were out. so my choice is to wait, see if they get them in and then go buy them from a shop, or, order them and have them sent to my house to tempt me while i have other projects to complete (not to mention, school to finish). my mom offered to buy them for me for chanukah, so i'm considering that option. please, if you have an opinion on the denise set- let me know. 45$ isn't a LOT of money, but it's a lot to me and i want to be sure i'm buying something that is really worth it. anyway. i think that i'll be a lot happier with retro prep, in the same cranberry yarn i was using for lotech. for now, i have a major baby blanket to get done (based on a pattern in the 100 afghan squares book) by the first of december, which has officially taken priority. and thanks to a flare up of this stupid illness i have, my knitting time is limited. bah. i want to be perfectly healthy, just for ONE year of my life. anyway.
i updated my links page, slightly, to more fully reflect my morning website check routine. i'm at my mom's for the weekend for some mommy tlc, which i so badly need. i'm updating wirelessly from her couch, while we flip back and forth between hockey and baseball (we are HUGE colorado avs fans in this house). it's kind of nice being taken care of for a few days, even if i had to leave the kitties behind. and with that, i bid everyone goodnight and a pleasant weekend. xoxo.
9:53 PM /
Thursday, October 09, 2003
every day i intend to update this sucker, but then i get sidetracked or busy and let it go, so here i am, updating. i'm still a touch sick, don't know if it is only allergies at this point or if i am just going to die ;). i did finish the monster scarf a couple of days ago, and have yet to take a single decent photo of it. i'm thinking i might lightly block it, it's shape is a touch funky. anyway, the first photo of the day is of the winter03/04 scarf.
last night, my hands got a little bored and i made a few stitch markers to add to my collection. i started to make these as gifts for knitting friends last year, sometime. i, of course, kept a million for myself. the inset are the few i made last night, while watching a movie with a friend (i have to keep my hands moving or i get restless and bored).
the weekend is coming, and those closest to me are very busy, so i'm not sure what i'll be doing. hopefully making some progress on my matching mitt/gloves. lastly, here is a shot of my girls (separate of course. the big one still hates the little one).
1:45 PM /
Friday, October 03, 2003
i'm knitting my scarf, slowly but surely, two strands of worsted in a 2x2 rib on size 15s. the olnly problem is that i like really really long scaves, and the longer my scarf takes, the later i get to make my mitts (half fingers w/ a mitten shell). i'm sick (again), and trying to motivate myself up so i can clean my apartment a bit, but it just isn't working. i'm soo tired of feeling crappy.
so i've been thinking about what to do with the sweater currently known as lotech. i'm thinking maybe tinking her out and changing her into some kind of a top down raglan, maybe with 3/4 sleeves and a slightly shawled collar. of course, this plan in my head could far exceed my knitting abilities, but i think once i'm done with my winter set and the baby blanket, i can get a move on.
and lastly, before i go for the weekend- a photo of the baby kitty, who always wakes up just as i'm about to take the photo (the mean old cat doesn't stick around much for photos these days):
12:24 PM /
i'm rachel m, i'm 26 and i live in cleveland, ohio. i knit, spin, and read. i have a steady sweetie, two chubby cats, a full time job
and a messy apartment.
