Thursday, September 30, 2004
the yarn, my goodness, the yarn.
this is my yarn. brown berries by serendipity in south america. i would purchase yarn from them again in an instant. this is some of the most delicious yarn i've ever worked with. i made everyone at work pet a skein, and my manly man supervisor dude even admitted it was awesome yarn.
this is what i managed to do tonight. i was a little sick, so i spent the night on the couch resting. i wound two skeins into balls and after a small delay with my brain not comprehending the instructions correctly, i was on my way.
i just watched the first presidental debate, which i found interesting. particularly interesting was how the president cannot prounounce the word 'nuclear'. it churns my stomach. i'm a kerry girl. i was a gore girl. i'm a clinton girl til the day i die. i'm a proud bleeding heart liberal democrat. that's all i have to say about that right now.
i'm off to bed now, long day of work tomorrow followed by long drive to canada. but the reward is seeing adam and meg and chris, going to ikea, meeting kelly and lots of other knit strangers at the knit wit party. i'm excited. let's hope my stomach calms down enough to really enjoy the weekend!
i'll be back with updates on monday, and hopefully some progress on the cable scarf and clapotis. did i mention that i am in love with this yarn? because i really am.
have a fantastic weekend. xoxo.
10:33 PM /
update!
my yarn arrived. it is beautiful and softer than i could have imagined. i love serendipity in south america. photos and futher updates when i get home. xo
1:32 PM /
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
sunset
i had hoped to be able to show you my new wool, and possibly the first few pathetic rows of clapotis. unfortunately, my yarn is not here yet (!!) and i am less than thrilled. it should have shipped friday, but as the wind blows, it ended up shipping yesterday. life goes on, but i had so been looking forward to receiving that little package of wool.
again, the good ole cabled scarf looks a lot like it did before, only longer. i hope to be done with it this weekend, or early next week, depending on how my time goes. i'm going to canada this weekend, and, on saturday night i'm going to the knit wit party at lettuce knit with my megs and possibly my friend ashley! i'm excited to meet the people i've been reading about for years, even though none of them will know who i am. and if i'm good and well behaved, i might buy some yarn. ooh yummy.
speaking of bought yarn. i bought a skein of lion brand magic stripes sock yarn with which to knit adam's birthday socks. i realized i just could NOT take the boring colour (which i'll now rip, wind into skeins and dye some fabulously rich purples and reds. someday.) so i got some regia jacquard looking magic stripes and will cast on for those, um, eventually. i bought this at the fabulous ac moore. which really is the best of all the craft shops, in my opinion. they even carry aurancia nature wool. which i thought was odd. i wish there was one closer to where i live. erie, as much as i love you, you're not exactly next door.
i also bought a small project bag and a new set of clover plastic cable needles. i have managed to lose all of the ones i previously owned, probably sometime during my move, and was getting by with a stupid metal lion brand cable needle (i cannot cannot cannot deal with metal needles. they make my skin crawl, the noise and the weight. ugh. cannot deal.) so now i have my clover plastics back and i'a happy cabler. i'd like to join the crowd of those who cable without a needle but the mechanics of it just don't agree with me. it just seems more... fussy. i don't know. maybe i need someone to show me in person.
i'm feeling a touch under the weather, i left work an hour early today. i'm starting new medicine for my migraines and hoping the stomach upset of today is just temporary. i don't have time to be sick anymore. right now i am cuddled on my couch, wrapped in my soft purple blanket and watching felicity season 3 on dvd. have i ever told you how fabulous an invention tv on dvd is? i plan on spending the rest of the night avoiding the phone, knitting, and drowning myself in felicity's melodrama.
xoxo
6:33 PM /
Saturday, September 25, 2004
i do it for the joy it brings.
there will be no knitting progress pictures today, as i have not finished the good ole cabled scarf yet- and it basically looks just as it did the other day, just, you know- longer. i will tell you that it looks as though i'll end up with a five to five and a half foot scarf (final length dependent on washing and blocking). which isn't bad. more than likely won't do much work on any knitting today or tomorrow as i am off to erie, pa for an exciting romantic vacation (i.e. a one night sleepover with adam).
erie has long been our 'halfway' point, the place we visit when we don't have the time or money to do a full visit. since this weekend is the two week point from our last visit, and i'm planning on going to canada next weekend to help him move- we decided today we should go have a sleepover in erie and hang out tomorrow. even with the motel room (39$ plus taxes), it works out to be cheaper than a full weekend vist,somehow. and he's paying, so i'm going! in honour of seeing adam tonight, i give you a photo of us, taken in london slightly over a year ago.
i'm pretty sure we took this in the courtyard outside of the national gallery. afterwards, i think we went to a bookstore and then to the internet cafe and then to get yo! sushi. i think. i could be mixing up the days. that summer (2003) adam and i had said goodbye in early june. i left for new york, he left to backpack around europe for two months. i spent my summer in the suburbs of ny, with a couple weeks in china thrown in for work/kicks, and he saw all the things i've never seen. the week of my 24th birthday, i flew to london and we met up and spent a week having the best time ever. my dad gave me some of his hotel points (he travels a LOT) and we stayed in this totally posh hotel, for what i think came to (after taxes) 40 pounds sterling. adam couldn't get over how expensive of a hotel it was, and we basically stayed there for free! so there you go, adam and i in london, august 2003. be grateful i didn't bore you with my arty photos of the tower that houses big ben ;)
today i am going to do some laundry, clean my kitchen, maybe do some general apartment cleaning and then head up to erie around 7pm. yippie!
thank you everyone who took a moment to comment on that last entry. it made me feel happy! so keep it up! ha ha. i hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.
i leave you with a picture of a sleeping njorah:
8:44 AM /
Monday, September 20, 2004
good ole weblog post
my weekend was quiet and ultimately, too short. aren't they all? i got almost nothing accomplished, aside from grocery shopping and house goods replenishing. i read a book and then started another. i realized i am going to have to rip the rainbow scarf and start over and then felt upset and bitter towards knitting. i ordered the yarn for clapotis and now i have to wait for it. adam's socks are boring me to tears.
did i mention i was grumpy all weekend? because i was. ooh boy, was i ever. last night i decided to just play around with some yarn i've had lying around for a almost two years. four skeins of patons shetland chunky in a rich lovely aubergine. the pattern is rachael's 'good ole cabled scarf'. i'm not sure why the photo doesn't show off the cable, but trust me, it is there:
i'm pretty sure i don't have enough yarn. i only have four skeins (320 yards), and though i'm using a chunkier yarn than the pattern calls for- and larger needles- i fear i'm going to have a short four foot scarf. which might get sent to a little sister. le sigh. at least i'm enjoying it, right? it's the process more than the progress. i need practice on my cables. i'm falling in love with cables. sticks and string and suddenly your yarn is a complicated braid of stitches! it amazes me with every cross.
regarding clapotis- i ordered from the ebay seller 'serendipity in south america'. i've heard wonderful things about their wool. it's affordable and i THINK very pretty. i can't wait to receive it and start clapotis.
it was so chilly when i left for work this morning. i wore a sweater and threw on a light scarf. i love the fall. i love the winter, save for the treacherous driving conditions. i love snuggling in warmth, cuddling under the blankets, watching the leaves (and then the snow) fall. really, i just love this time of year. don't you?
lastly, i wonder why no one ever comments. is it that i'm boring? are my projects not fancy enough? i seem to be averaging a healthy flow of traffic, and yet only a few of my friends ever say hello. sometimes i have to remind myself that i'm a big girl and i don't need validation from others to go on with my life. but sometimes it makes me sad, because i long to be part of this community. so if the spirit moves you, say hello. i don't bite, i swear.
it's time for bed now, and i'm happy to go. xoxo, goodnight.
9:07 PM /
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
please excuse my title, she's not feeling well today.
i'm going to start with the pooling colours scarf:
the problems with the pool are as such: i dropped a stitch and when i tried to pick it up, i made a mess. i've never tried to fix lace before so... well. it looks awful. my choices are to carefully rip back five or six rows (i think i'll try to thread a lifeline or whathaveyou through before i do this. ripping that much of the lace out scares me.), OR, i could start over. i've had a LOT of colour migration, my stripes are stripISH instead of stripy. i've had to tie off colour repeats to avoid really glaring errors in the colour pattern. but i'm not all together sure that starting over will fix this, i think it is just the nature of the skein i'm using. any advice? i'm on hold until i get brave enough to rip or RIP.
next:
greyish brownish sock, patons kroy sock wool. i started this sock probably six months ago. adam bought the wool himself. i promised to knit them. i even started to knit them. and then i started the cloverleaf socks, and then njorah ate four different sets of sock needles. then i got sick, then i started packing, then i moved, etc etc. i thought i was totally out of sock needles. i couldn't afford more. i realized i'm too poor to buy the birthday present i'd planned for him. i said, 'i'm going to make those socks!!'. i went to dig out the wool, and lo and behold- there were sock needles in them there socks! so i picked up where i left off, and by the time i see him (week after his birthday, le sigh) i'll have a nice cuddly pair of socks for him. he loves the socks i've knit for him and wears them all the time. and one day, hopefully soon, i'll buy the actual present.
next order of business, general rachel life stuff: out of the new knitty, i intend to knit blaze (when i work up the nerve, that is), hallowig (how freaking cute is that? my first reaction was more like ,'what the f---?', but then i realized how cute it really is. and lastly, clapotis. i am in LOVE with that scarf, everything about it. except for the price of the wool. but i think i've found a good substitute and for a fraction of the price. if i actually order it, i'll show you next week when i get it! i wish i had more time and money for the knitting. it seems like there is never enough for either. i'm always choosing between knitting and reading, knitting and cleaning, knitting and sleeping, knitting and everything that isn't work, brushing my teeth and showering. though, even if i had the time, i fear i'll never have the money to just- knit. knit everything i dream about. i think i'll always be dreaming. which is okay, i guess. but still, i want yarn! i want a stash i can just dig into when i get the urge to try something new. someday, is what i tell myself. someday.
and for lasts, i have ulcerative colitis. turns out my colon didn't look so hot after all. i'm on medication now, 9 pills a day just to treat this (don't get me started about the eighteen pills i take everyday), and things are starting to look up. i hope. also, i got my hair cut.
here is a sorta picture, this is my morning after hair- i've yet to even recreate this magic- my hair dude flat ironed my whole head and it looked so awesome and slick. and now i'm back to my normal puffy frizzy straightness. also, it is so weird to have bangs!! they make my forehead itch. but i love them. so so much.
and with that, i'm off to bed, for i am one sleepy girl and i have family obligations tomorrow night - it's the jewish new year, don't you know? time for some resolutions. but i never really keep those. so happy new year to those who celebrate, i'll be back soon, give me advice on the scarf, send me your spare yarn, just say hello. whatever makes you happy.
xoxo
rachel m.
8:31 PM /
she's alive, aliiiiiiiiiiive!
there will be photos later today, as well as a lengthy update. aren't you excited? it will include my latest knitting folly, my newest knitting project, the truth about what is wrong with my stomach, what i crave out of the new knitty, and possibly photos of my new sassy haircut! can you stand it? so forgive me now while i go tame my bedhead (showering at night is not always a good idea) and head off to work.
many x's and o's. see you tonight!
6:41 AM /
Thursday, September 02, 2004
on sickness, yarn, weekends, etc.
is this week over yet? i feel like i'm still under the anesthesia from the colonoscopy (which, by the way, didn't knock me out nearly enough. i watched the whole thing and had a discussion with my doctor during). all week long i've either been violently ill, or walking around in a half awake daze. this makes for dangerous driving!
thank you for all the well wishes on my health. the colonoscopy/upper gi showed nothing too serious. my colon was pretty healthy, surpisingly enough. that is the good news. the bad news is, no one knows what the hell is wrong with me. i am so tired of being sick, i just want them to tell me what is wrong already, so badly. you have no idea.
i'm taking this three day weekend off. i'm headed to canada for the first time since may, i got sick right after that last visit and haven't been well enough to go back (and/or i was unemployed and broke). we're going up to the family cottage near haliburton. i am soooo excited. i plan to lay in the sun (covered in sunblock), read, and knit. a real vacation. i'm thrilled.
and speaking of knitting, here is the latest in progress shot of pooling anne.
i know the green and orange are muddled, but i just love this scarf. i love this yarn. i love love love it. i wish it were cheaper!
and that is about it for me. i'll be back on monday night, so you won't hear from me until tuesday, probably. i hope everyone has a fabulous holiday weekend (if you're in north america, that is). xoxo.
7:55 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.
