It can't be!

Someone is obviously manipulating the space time continuum. There is no other explanation. After all, how else would it be the 11th of December already when yesterday it was only the 3rd. At least that is the deluded explanation I'm giving myself, because despite my best efforts (insert sarcasm here) my Christmas knitting list is not getting done. I've actually managed to add 4 people to it. So yeah. I'll probably be binding the last project off as I'm handing it to the person it's intended for.

And aside from going crazy with these self imposed deadlines I'm also designing my own flip-top mitts. 'Cause I never like any of the ones I find so I figured "I'll make my own."

Which brings me to this little bunny trail: My Mom had me browse through CafePress yesterday to see if I could find a t-shirt or hoodie or something that I'd like for Christmas. And while I was looking at all the merchandise, I realized that these items are designed by regular people and not big corporations or even well known clothing lines. So then I toyed around with the idea of making some of my own shirt designs and seeing about getting them onto CafePress; if for no other reason then wanting to parade around in a shirt that I designed. So there is that.

On a completely unrelated note, I sometimes really miss the days when Christmas presents really were a surprise. What brought that thought to mind? The experience of going shopping with my Mother-in-Law for a pair of winter boots that will be "From Santa". And while we were in line she plopped down some other things and when asked if they were for the others she said "No, these two are for you...just, you know, act surprised when you unwrap them." *sighs* Can I be 5, please?

Freak out time

Today I was reminded that it's December 5th. That means in only 20 days it will be Christmas. I'm hitting the panic button so hard I'm surprised it hasn't broken yet. Now if I was just buying presents that would be one thing, but somehow I managed to create a sizable list of knitted gifts that I need to get done as well. They are as follow:

Sister: Totoro Mittens (one more to go)
Sister-in-Law: Mittens
Brother-in-Law: Gamer gloves
Mother-in-Law: Thick house socks
Father-in-Law: Convertible Mitts and neck gator (almost done!)
SIL Boyfriend: SuperMan beanie
Best Friend: Heart mittens

And to think that this year I wasn't going to make any gifts for anyone. =.=
But I think I can get it all done if I don't sleep, or eat, or knit anything else, or take on any other projects until I keel over from exhaustion. Yeah...that's a good plan.

It's here, it's here!!

I remembered this past weekend that the oh so lovely Allitrya Spelling send me a confirmation number for my package. So I checked it and you know what it said? "Your package has been delivered." So with an excited squeal I ran to the front door and sure enough there was my package. Not checking my number every 5 hours actually made the waiting time seem shorter, imagine that. But I digress.

I opened the box and inside was amazing spoiliage (is that a word?) times like ten. So, here is a pictures of the overall kit, and then some pictures of the individual things.

So, the gloves are an amazing color, and they are SO warm, that they actually keep my fingers warm! Now if you don't know me you might go "well of course they will" but the thing is my fingertips are always like three degrees away from being frostbitten, so Fingerless gloves are a bit useless to me since they generally don't cover the part that needs covering. But not these babies!! I didn't want to take them off today, they were so nice and warm. They are also a modified version of the fetching gloves. Instead of the cables twisting, they wiggle from side to side to resemble snakes. The lady stalked me well. *solemn nod*

The yarn is a gorgeous monochromatic shade of blue. It's almost too pretty to turn into anything. And it's the Stroll Tonal (Which I keep pronouncing 'Tonelle' for some reason) line from KnitPicks so it's also uber soft. I just want to snuggle with it. I'm thinking it will sit in my bin for a long time before I get practically smacked in the face with the perfect pattern.


The bookmark is pretty neat too. It's in Slytherin colors, and has our snakes on it. Currently the little critter is home between the pages of Mozart's Blood by Louise Marley. I need an actual bookmark for it anyways, so this is great. Oh, did I mention that it's double knitted so it's reversible?


I also got some knitting needles, size US1, so they'll be great for sock knitting. There were some cables for my interchangeable set as well, which was awesome. I didn't have any 40" lengths and now I do! There were also some goodies with knitting patterns printed on them: Pencils, notecards, notebook, magnet notepad, and a pencil case. And of course a knitting pattern! (not pictures above because I'm an airhead) It's the Nagini socks. I can' wait to knit them up. The pattern looks wonderful. =) OH! And hot chocolate as well as some cappuccino mixes. Coffee and chocolate. What more could a girl want?

Of Elephants, Thanksgiving, and Gloves

I once heard that if you lose one too many toes you can't stand straight anymore.

Great opening, innit? But seriously though, I heard that once. "But Nici, why the hell are you telling us (all one of us) this?" you might be asking yourself. I share this with you because my toes had turned into tiny blocks of ice earlier and I worried for a moment that they might fall off. *wiggles toes* but they're all still here so I'm all good.

So Thanksgiving is in 1 hour and 15 minutes for me (it's 10:45pm as I write this word right now...now...now). Which in this family mostly means that MIL is going to do some actual cooking, and at around 1ish (2ish maybe even) we'll all congregate in the kitchen to get our plates, sit around to eat, and then we'll all shuffle off again into our respective little words. Happy friggen Holidays. =.= And christmas isn't much different. Actually, Christmas in this house is worst. But I'll get to that later in the season.

Did you know Elephants are pregnant for 22 months? See, now you can't tell anyone that you didn't learn anything from reading this. You're welcome.

I was very happy today to find my friend digging around in the backseat of her car for the convertible mittens I made for her. Alright, so the fact that she didn't have them in her glove compartment (why is it called that anyways? No one keeps gloves there anymore...it's always a bunch of papers, or half-eaten cookies, or random bits of map from the middle of Brazil that no one has ever gone to) or even in the front of her car was a bit off putting, but she was actually searching for them so she could wear them. Do you know what that means?! She appreciates my knitting!! She appreciates it and searches for it when her fingers get cold! I am a very happy sponge at the moment.

Speaking of convertible gloves: I'm working on my own design as we speak. Mostly because I need a pair of my own (it's funny that I make stuff for others before I make it for myself), and I didn't like any of the designs that were on Ravelry. Not that they weren't great, I just didn't like them. So I'll be using the mystery alpaca yarn my mom gave me 2 skeins of ( I still think it's 95% Alpaca, 5% forest but she won't believe me) and I'll see what I can come up with.

Oh! random thought: On this British car show that I like to watch, one of the hosts will usually say "How hard can it possible be?" somewhere down the line of that particular days challenge, and generally whatever it is they were doing blows up...or catch on fire...or gets run over by a host...or sinks. So between my mother and I, we've come to the conclusion that saying 'how hard can it be' will subsequently cause a lot of damage. So, why not say "This can't possibly turn out well." Just think about it! If mentioning that it's "not that bad" blows stuff up, saying that it "won't turn out well" should make everything go totally fine. Right? Yeah. Try it and get back to me.

[blank]

Because I can't think of a snappy title today...I blame lack of wine for that one.

Anywho, I ordered some wonderful stuff from a wonderful online store for my HSKS partner today. Can't really mention what it is, since she could technically go have a peek around here and find out what's in her package. For my Fingerless Glove package is almost done too. I mostly have to find some hot beverage packs that will fit into the smallish box that I have. And then I'm all good. =3

On a completely knitting un-related note: I heard a song today, called G6 (which by the way refers to the private jet, not the car...so the lyrics "fly as a G6" actually make sense) and one of the lyrics is "sippin' sizzurp in mah ride." Having no idea what sizzurp is, I looked it up. It's friggen Promethazine w/Codeine with Sprite and Jolly Ranchers. Allergy/Cough Syrup and Sprite...w.t.f? Next thing you know people are going to be drinking NighQuill with Flintstone vitamins and Tang. And they'll call it TangQuill or some equally stupid sh*t...gawd...

Also, HARRY POTTER WAS AMAZING!! Like omg you don't even know. *heavy breathing* And to think that I only need to wait until July for the second part to come out. *happy bouncing* If you haven't seen it yet, you need to. Like seriously. I compell you!

I also realized today that my husband is a bit of a creep. He was outside raking leaves up. My room window faces the front yard. I turned my head when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and there he was, nose pressed against the glass, smile of a killer on his face. I screamed. He laughed. I ran outside and screwed up his leaf pile.

Denial!

I'm denying that it's already almost Thanksgiving, which makes it already almost Christmas. I'm denying the fact that I have billion things to knit and do. I'm denying that fact that both Swap send dates are coming closer. And I'm denying that The Nile isn't just a river in Egypt.

Otherwise nothing else is really going on. My FG swap package is almost done, and my HSKS package finally has a theme to it. Which is pretty awesome. Now of course I have to rethink everything that I was going to send my swap partner. Son of a monkey's uncle. Oh well, it's not like I was that far into my package anyways. Off I go to remodel the kit. Now where did I put that blowtorch?

Week 9 Assignment

Aaaand it's another quiz. *headdesk* It's been so long since I've read this book! *whine* And some of the detail I skimmed over so fast I'm amazed my eyes didn't get whiplash. But here it goes anyways.

1. To which prison was Gellert Grindelwald sent after he was defeated by Dumbledore in 1945? Nurmengard
   

2. Who is the first casualty in The Deathly Hallows? Charity Burbage (although personally I count Hedwig, 'cause I don't remember this Charity woman)
   

3. What does Draco Malfoy name his son? Scorpius
   

4. Before Harry gains control of it, who is the master of the Elder Wand? Draco Malfoy
   

5. Severus Snape’s Patronus takes the same form as which other character’s? Lily Evans
   

6. Where do Ron, Hermione and Harry apparate when Death Eaters invade Bill and Fleur’s wedding? Tottenham Court Road

7. Who does Harry send to search for Mundungus Fletcher and the missing locket? Kreacher
   

8. Who destroys Salazar Slytherin’s locket? Ron
   

9. What does Hermione use to destroy Helga Hufflepuff’s cup? Basilisk Fang
   

10. Following the death of Lord Voldemort, who is named temporary Minister of Magic? Kingsley Shacklebolt
    

Day 3 at katie's

Staying at Katie's has made me realize that I really wouldn't have a problem living by myself. As long as I have a cat to keep my company of course. It's rather peaceful being here. Peaceful, but boring as hell. O_O;; like oh-my-god-you-don't-even-know.

We ran out of anything good to watch on TV after being here for 5 hours. And after making dinner, there really wasn't much else to do. The cat is of no help in keeping me entertained. For as "crazy" as Izzy is supposed to be, she's rather mellow. Her favorite thing to do it seems is to lay down next to me in such a way that it makes it impossible for me to knit or do much of anything else.

And despite the fact that I was going to get as much knitting done as humanly possible (after all sleep is for the weak) I haven't even gotten one fingerless glove done. Which is partly because I'd rather read then knit for some reason. Shocking, I know. But the way I see it, it's better that I have the knitting with me and don't get around to do it then not have it at all. Or something like that.

Christ this laptop is annoying. The touchpad is so sensative that the slightest bursh of my thumbs while I type sends the cursor zooming across the page and I end up typing hald a sentence into the middle of a word. Not to mention that it doesn't want to click on things sometimes so I sit there hammering my finger down like it will get my point across to the laptop just how much I don't like it.

I realized that one thing a person should never do while house sitting in an unfamiliar neighbor hood in the middle of nowhere, is watch Horror movies. I love horror movies like no other, but I'm the kind of person that can wig themselves out really easily when a strange noise happens. And usually it's something totally logical, like a can in the trash sliding down, or the toilet tank bubbling, but in Nici's mind the Zombie Apocalypse is happening.

That's another thing, I watched The Walking Dead on Amc yesterday night, and would really like to know why the hell every sudden-zombie-outbreak has the main character waking up in the hospital after a long period of time? like 28 Days Later (decent zombie movie by the way). Why is it always the hospital? Why can't it be "we were on vacation on an uncharted island?" Think about how much that would suck! You come back from a relaxing month long vacation on this tiny island in the middle of the ocean, and while you were cut off from civilization the zombie apocalypse happend. I don't know about you, but I'd pack up a ton of supply and row my butt right back to that island.

I should probably (damn it! there does that touchpad again) find myself some lunch before this entry gets too long and pointless. *looks up* Whoops.

Somewhere in Washington...

I'm house sitting for one of my friends while she and her husband are going down to San Fancisco. The house is nice, and sits in a decent neighborhood she told me), but it's making all these creeking noises which is starting to creep me out just a little bit; it doesn't help that I've been watching horror movies on TV since there is nothing else on. Why do I do this to myself? The only thing that would make it better is the cat; since a cats ears would perk up if there is a sudden noise or presence in the house. But this cat is so neurotic that she runs up and down the hall for no reason, sits against the wall staring intently at something on the baseboard, and jerks her head around when I don't hear anything. Oh it's going to be a fun night. =.=;;

On the bright side I'm sure I'll get a ton of reading and knitting done. I brought two books (Mozarts Blood and Children of the Vampire) with me because I've been struggling to get through them. Their good books, but their the kind that get a little bit boring after a while so you set them down and then don't pick them up again for a while. And their library books, so I have to get them done.

I've also brought 4 different knitting projects; their all small hence there are so many, even though I'll only be here until Monday or Tuesday. There are three sets of fingerless gloves and a hat. I'm thinking I'll finish them all by Sunday, and then won't have anything else to do. Crap.

Week 7 Homework

O.O We've lost a whole week! What did we drink last Friday? Anyways, this weeks homework was to find the 7 Horcruxes that Harry Potter has to find in the 7th book....crap, did I just give it away for someone. *hangs head* But here they are:

1) Harry Potter

2) Nagini (poor Nagini)

3) Ravenclaw’s Diadem
(Harry should have looked at
Comic Con first, me thinks.)
4) Hufflepuff’s Cup
5) Slytherin’s locket

6) Riddle’s Diary

7) Gaunt’s Ring

It's also unfortunately raining cats and dogs outside. Which is great as long as I don't have to go anywhere...seeing as I do, it pretty much sucks. And it only really sucks because I'm a pedestrian, so by the time I reach my destination I'm soaked. Especially when there are jackass drivers that don't bother slowing down when there is a puddle right NEXT to me, so I get buried by this tidal wave of dirty water. Mmmm, charming.

Also, this is a bit random, but I was flipping through channels the others day and stopped to watch the very end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret (the part where Lucius sets Dobby free without realizing it) because there was something else on afterward. But we're sitting there watching Lucius getting hit by Dobby's magic, and DH goes "Damn, that elf is more powerful then Malfoy."
Me: "No he's not. Their magic is just different. And it was their version of a knock-back jinx, if that catches you off guard it'll send you flying."
DH: ".....do you have any idea how nerdy you just sounded?"
So I guess this adds to the long list of I-don't-know-you moments that I seem to be acquiring the longer I'm married.

Netflix rant and other things

I just finished watching a very good German movie called North Face (are movie titles underlined or italizised? I can never remember that). Basically it's the true story about two mountain climbers that wanted to be the first to climb the north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps. The movie drags it's feet just a tiny bit, but it's about mountain climbing so honestly I didn't expect it to be finished in an hour and a half. But I digress; this rant is more about some of the IDIOTS that "review" (I used the term loosely here) movies like the above mentioned.

If you didn't like it, or hated it, tell me why. Did the camera work make you nauseous? Was the dialogue so bad you wanted to groan and head-desk through out the whole thing? Was the movie so low budget that you could have done a better job with your cat and a shoebox? I want to know that kind of stuff. But I don't need to know that watching this movie brought back memories of your climbing experience, or that seeing the Inn reminded you of your dead German grandmother. OH! or this little gem: "The damned program doesn't seem to have any way to correct a typo. I meant to rate it four stars" >.> Are you kidding me? How is that a review?

And it's not just this particular movie. Stupid people give pointless reviews all the time on this site. My overall favorite is still "This movie's stupid." Way to write a review there, Capernicus. I'm sure newspapers will be falling over each other trying to get you onto their payroll.

I'm not saying I don't appreciate the one or two star reviews that some people give. Especially when it comes to horror movies where you just know it's going to be bad. But for christ sake make your review count. Don't tell me "Stupid" ten times in all capitol letters. Or "movie should have been in English." It's a foreign language movie. If it was in English that would defeat the purpose, don't ya think? Oh people are so stupid sometimes.

On a unrant related note, I'm finished with my knitted item for my HSKS swap partner, but haven't blocked it yet. I've been told that various household items are best for blocking the item, but I haven't gotten around to getting them; might have to get a rock or something. Other then that I'm waiting on things to be shipped to me. The kit is mostly thought out already, so there isn't much else I can do atm.

I've been thinking about taking the pattern of the knitted item, and turning it into Fingerless gloves. I really like the way the cable and stuff look together, and figured that it will be a relatively quick knit with worsted weight yarn or even DK. We'll see.

Week 5 Assignment

I'm actually going to do this weeks assignment, 'cause its a lot easier then the questionnaire from last week. Even if I was told by a fellow Slytherin that I was welcome to "peruse her paper." But laziness got the better of me, so I didn't. But this week we get to match wands to wizards/witches. Piece o' cake.

1. Vine wood and Dragon Heartstring - I. Hermione Granger
2. Walnut and Dragon Heartstring - K. Belatrix Lestrange
3. Hawthorn and Unicorn tail hair - M. Draco Malfoy
   
4. Hornbeam and Dragon Heartstring - D. Viktor Krum
5. Ash and Unicorn hair - G. Cedric Diggory
6. Rosewood and Veela Hair - L. Fleur Delacour
7. Elder and Thestral Hair - B. Albus Dumbledore
8. Mahogany and an unknown core - J. James Potter
9. Elm and Dragon Heartstring - E. Lucius Malfoy
10. Cherry and Unicorn hair - C. Mary Cattermole
11. Yew and Phoenix Feather - H. Tom Riddle
12. Holly and Phoenix Feather - F. Harry Potter
    
13. Willow and Unicorn Hair - A. Ron Weasley (although it could also be Ash, according to Mrs. Rowling)
    

Also, my handmade object for my swap partner is going well. It took a little longer then anticipated to get the yarn, but now that I have it I'm very gun-ho about the whole thing. =D And thus far it's also a rather quick knit. Since I still can't make up my mind on which object to give her, and there are 3 that I picked, I might make them all and see which one I like best.

On a seperate note, I got my Fingerless glove swap PACKAGE TODAY!!!! *squee!* >3< Oh I'm so happy. Inside was a super soft cream colored slouch hat with sequins (and while I hardly ever wear slouch hats, I think I'll wear this one a lot, since it's so soft and warm), soft blue crocheted fingerless gloves, coconut flavored lip balm, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and yummy wine colored merino/silk yarn. Woot.

Well, off I go again to continue working on my knitted item. *prances away*

Small post of randomness

My sock design is history. I put the finished sock on my foot only to discover that A) it was too short by a good 2 inches, and B) that with the amount of stitches I had for my medium sized foot, the sock simply didn't work. The stitches were being stretched out too much. So I've unraveled one completely, the other I will give to my Mother (who has a small foot) and see if the measurements work out better for her. 'cause then I'll at least know the stitch count for one size. And then it's back to the drawing board...again.

I'm in the middle of test knitting a baby cardigan and some lacy fingerless gloves for my Mom. Both are really easy and knit up rather fast. If only I could get my butt into gear and stop bouncing from one project to the next. One of the gloves it blocking right now (mostly because I wasn't smart enough to do it the first time around) and I'm working diligently on the second...sort of.

HSKS started Dueling club yesterday. Basically people are paired up with someone, then everyone gets the same knitting or crochet pattern and one tries to finish the project and post a picture before their opponent does. For now I'm still in the race, having posted my picture of the Felicity hat before my opponent did. But seeing the others posting their pictures way before me makes me realize that most likely I won't get in for much longer. I kind of like the hat, but it's a bit tight and I'm not a huge fan of slouchy hats...but that's just me.

This weeks assignment is a quiz and an essay. I'm working on it slowly but surely, and will probably publish the post eventually, when I have answered all the questions. Kind of makes me feel like I'm in school all over again. I was never very good with Essay questions; I'd rather just talk about it.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the mailman is keeping my Fingerless Gloves Fanatics swap package hostage. I still haven't gotten it, and am pretty certain that I gave the right address. O.O;; I hope.

HSKS Week 3

Word Association! *excited arm wiggle thing*

So, for this weeks assignment we're doing word association. I've been given a list of words and are supposed to type in the first word that comes to our mind (or small phrase). So where we go. My answer shall be in red....or maybe teal?

1. Pumpkin Juice
   
2. Owl Mail
   
3. Leaf Tree
   
4. Weasley Ginger
   
5. Quaffle Flying
   
6. Hallow Honor
   
7. Mad Crazy
   
8. Dragon Scale
   
9. Crystal Earrings
   
10. Trees Park
    
11. Hermione Books
    
12. Hogwarts Magic
    
13. Burrow Gofer
    
14. Dobby Elf
    
15. Horcrux Soul-keeper
    
16. Ministry Government
    
17. Magic Stories
    
18. Sirius Harry's link to his parents.
    
19. Apple Orchard
    
20. Juice Orange
    
21. Candle Light
    
22. Ghost Haunting
    
23. Snake Pet
    
24. Wand Magic
    
25. Invisibility useful
    
26. Tent Camping
    
27. Spell Casting
    
28. Umbridge Miserably bitter bint
    
29. Dursely Unkind
    
30. Prophet Newspaper
    

And here you have it, my word association.

In more muggle news, I had to use my WIP (work in progress) basked, which is an old laundry basket, to do a load of laundry yesterday. And when I dumped the whole thing onto the bed I realized that I have way too many projects on the needles. And some of them should have been done yesterday ago. And what do I do instead of concentrating on those projects? I sign up for this swaps Dueling club. *headdesk* For those of you who aren't part of HSKS, dueling club is when people are matched up, given a project to knit/crochet and the first person to post a picture of the finished object wins. And the winner moves on to the next round, until only one person is left standing. Yeah...I'm slightly crazy like that.

Also, I have no idea what is going on with the socks I'm making. Because the cuff is picot edging, it's a tiny bit too tight around the part where you join them, and so far the foot part of the socks it too short...by like 1 inch. Did I mention that the toe is like super pointy? The wicked witch of the west would do well with these socks. I'm adding the after thought heel now and will see how it all look afterwards...hopefully the socks will behave. *goes to have a stern talking to with them*

Week 2 Assignment.

This weeks assignment is to list 5 things that we couldn't live without if we were to go into hiding/camping/running away and explain why. At first I figured that I would add the husband onto that list, but then I realized that he might be the reason I would be doing the afore mentioned. So where is what I came up with.

James - As silly as it may seem, I would take James with me. He's this large stuffed animal monkey that my husband got me when we were first dating. And he's adorable, and large enough that you can cuddle him to you with no problem. And I would need something to cuddle if I was running away.

An army-swissy-knify-thingy - You never know when you need to cut something up, or saw into something, or need to unscrew something. *nods* One of those awesome does-everything-but-your-laundry knives would come in hand at times like this.

A blanket - probably the husbands gigantic fleece blanket. For all I know where I'll be it will be really cold. And I hate the cold.

Harold - Remember Harold? I mentioned in a flew posts ago. I'd have to take him for the sake of taking him. I mean he's Harold! I've had him for years and going somewhere without him in my purse would just be strange.

My baby blanket - Judge me if you want, but I'd totally take my baby blanket with me. It's not big, it's not even all that warm, but it would make me feel better since my Mom made it for me. And if I need to do into hiding I'd want something with me that would make me feel better. Plus I could always salvage the yarn somehow and made something else out of it with like...twigs or something.

Assignment part 2

I realized as I was writing this, that I should have done the whole assignment in one go, instead of taking my sweet time with is. 'cause I couldn't remember my own answers sometimes; like my fav season/holiday. So while hunting people down, and reading through a ton of blogs, I had to have 4 different windows open. That's what I get for not paying attention I s'pose.

Here is part 2 of this weeks assignment.

1. Someone with the same craft as you (either those listed above or another one). Morgianna Defeufaucon, (staroftwilight) we both spin with a drop spindle.
   
2. Someone who was born in the same month as you. Mantacora Crimson (tbeck) We're both June babies. And she shares my Mom's birthday. xP
   
3. Someone from a different country. Poppy Pluot (kauraqt) Now while she's originally from America, she now lives in Germany. Which in my world, counts as "from"
   
4. A new HSKS Family member. Nicky Lovely (ynkchck2)
   
5. Someone who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps. Fleur Sweeting (misslucy)
6. Someone who has a bigger stash than you! (And if your stash is the biggest, proudly say so!) Phelia Ballycastle (SinKnitty) She has over 200 stashed on Ravelry. And who knows how many she hasn't added yet. @.@
   
7. Someone who both knits and crochets. Lexi Lovegood. (DannieBeez)
   
8. Someone who has the same favorite color as you. Winifred Hornswaggle (angel101580) we both like blues and greens.
9. Someone who has the same favorite season/holiday as you. Meladia Starseeker (LAFisher)We both like summer.
10. Someone who has the same favorite fiber as you. Emma Scimgeour (cyancomet) Okay, so she listed specific fibers, and I like them as long as they are natural...so in a roundabout way that counts? right?
    

My overall experience of finding things out was pretty good. I liked bunny trailing over peoples blogs and reading their random posts. And with those who's blog I didn't read, I looked through their project pages and added way to many projects to my own cue list. At this rate, I'll have to find the fountain of youth and live in it if I want to get everything knitted.
I've also noticed that a lot of people have set up a blog specifically for the HSKS swaps. Makes me think that I should have used my HSKS swap blog too. But I have enough trouble keeping up with this one. xD

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a husband to knock some sense into for cursing so much. *grabs frying pan*

HSKS Swap Week 1

I really should start a different blog for these swaps...although this doesn't get any traffic as it is, so I suppose it doesn't really matter...unless of course my regular readers (all one of them....HI MOM!) get annoyed with these. But moving on.

I'm part of the Hogwarts Super Kit Swap (or HSKS) again this time. It's pretty friggen awesome. And gives me something to do while I sit around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for people to get off their butts and get to my paperwork...but I digress.

Week 1 assignments are already up and for this week we're supposed to get to know each other a little bit. So, while I go stalk get to know my fellow swapees, here are some tidbits about me. In bulletin style! And yes, the answers are congruent with questions posted by the mods.

1. I knit, a lot. I would try crochet, but I can't be bothered to learn it, and really, if I started another craft my husband would kill me.
   
2. I was born on June 6th.
   
3. (Someone from a different country.) Does being born and raised for 12 yrs in Germany count? Maybe?
   
4. (A new HSKS Family member.) I'm not really new.
   
5. (Someone who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps.) It's only been 2 for far.
   
6. My yarn stash is kind of small...ish. I need to get another tub actually to fit all the skeins that are flying around the room. Although if you ask DH, he'll tell you that I have more then enough yarn to last me for the rest of our natural lives. But what does he know?
   
7. Well, as stated in Question 1, I don't crochet.
   
8. I have lots of favorite colors. But my top choice is always Blue. But followed right behind are Green, Gray, Brown, Pink, Red, Black (ooh, pretty colors)
   
9. My favorite season is Summer. It's nice and warm, and you get tans, and you can wear skirts, and go swimming without freezing. But my favorite Holiday is Christmas (since my Birthday isn't a holiday...yet). Everyone is full of cheer, and glowyness, and warmth, and I love the Christmas lights/displays that everyone puts up.
   
10. I like all fibers. Well, natural fibers at least.
    

I've gotten into spinning this past year. Although all my plied yarns unravel just a little bit so you have this strange spun/not-spun thing going on. I also love books, but most of them have only torn pieces of paper stuck between the pages 'cause I'm short on book marks *hint, hint*. My favorite books are Fantasy; especially the Vampire related ones. But not the sparkly, vegetarian type of vampires. I'm talking kill-you-if-the-can vampires, and drink blood vampires, like Dracula.
I drink coffee on a regular basis and probably have more caffeine in my blood stream then blood. I also rather like chocolate.

That's pretty much everything interesting that I can think of. I could ramble on and on, but I'm thinking this post is long enough...and my tummy is rumbley for dinner.

What's with all the skinny bitches?

I decided to take the plunge and knit a cardigan. I had a pattern all lined up already, thanks to my Mom and her ever growing stack of knitting magazines, but when I looked at it I thought that maybe I could locate something that was a bit different (the sleeves looked too short for my taste, and the jacket could have been a bit longer too. And yes, I know that I can always alter the pattern a little so it's the way I want, but that's not the point of this blog.) So having decided that I would rather look for another pattern I pulled out my few knitting books that aren't socks, and I happily flipped through them to look for something I might like.
All the patterns were wonderful, but nothing was really knit in the yarn weight I already had but I noticed in one of the books that all the models were these amazingly skinny girls. Like the "I can fit into a size 2 pants" kind of skinny. Wtf?!
At a size 8 I consider myself to be on the average side of things and don't really have to worry about sizing issues with knitwear, but it's still annoying to see something on a model think "oh that is really cute!" and then realize that the reason it is cute is because it's on a beanpole of a girl and that once you add regular womanly curves to it the whole garment turns into something that isn't half as cute as the picture shows.
Or am I the only one that thinks that way?

In other news, my Mom created her first fingerless glove pattern (it shall be on sale in her etsy shop soon) and currently I'm test knitting a pair for her to make sure the pattern is understandable. I rather like test knitting. Make me feel like I'm in the loop. xD Pictures to be posted soon.
Also, the cardigan is slowly coming along. So. Much. Stockinette!! *headdesk*

Ravelympics results

I'm not sure how the results for the Ravelympics works, and I don't really care either. I had fun and that is all that matters to me. =)

I had been down to the wire on my last project, fingerless mitts for my sister-in-law, and I would have made the dead line for 3 more events if only I hadn't been asked to babysit at the last friggin' minute. Any knitting that I had planned to accomplish pretty much went out the window. I was rather pissed. But here are the projects that I did manage to enter on time. And I got spiffeh little avatars for them too. =3

For Felting Freestyle some awesome French Press Felted Slippers. I love these things. I wear them all the time...even if they were supposed to be a gift. Oh well.





For Sock Hockey and Lace Luge I made the Lily of the Valley socks. That's right, two events, one project. You all already know how well that went. *grumbles* But they're finished and look wonderful.
The picture looks a bit silly because the socks are made for a medium sized foot (mine) and the manikin feet are a size small...hence the little floppy bit by the toe.






And the wonderful Odessa Hat that my friend Pinky ended up getting. =) I really like this pattern and am thinking about making it again soon. God knows I have enough beads for at least 2 more.



Also, last but not least I want to show off my latest love affair, Harvey. My slightly neurotic looking fox pup.

I'm not selfish, just picky

My friend Cierra and I went Swing Dancing on Tuesday. She came over my house so we could car-pool to the ballroom and she spotted my Felted Slippers. "So when am I going to get a pair?" she asked as soon as she put them on her feet, wiggling her toes around and strutting back and forth in my bedroom. "Whenever I get around to it," I replied as I rummaged around for the Odessa hat I had made for her (it was my beaded projects for the ravelympics). When I gave it to her she did a happy little squeal, jammed it over her head and walked around my house petting the hat every few minutes. And that is when I knew that I had found someone (besides my Mom) who would appreciate and actually wear anything knitted that I would present to them.

I have my own little one-time-your-out rule when it comes to knitting. I will knit everyone at least one thing; a hat, a scarf, socks, slippers, something that doesn't take a ton of time or money to make. If I don't see them using it a few times I will not knit for them again. Not because I don't love them, or because I wouldn't enjoy knitting for them, but I don't see the point in spending hours knitting for someone only to see the item sit in some drawer for the rest of forever.

I wouldn't say that I am selfish in my knitting, I'm just picky, very picky.

Ravelympics, part 1

The ravelympics are going on at Ravelry right now. Basically knitters and crocheters try to get as many self picked projects done in the 17 days that the regular Olympics take place. Each project can be tagged under one or more "events" and you can even join teams if you want, or be a lone wolf. This is my first time take part in the ravelympics and I am a proud member of Team S.P.E.W. The first project that I am trying to get done in record time is the Lily of the Valley sock pattern, in a very pretty blue colorway called Mermaid. Here is how that sock is going so far:

Day one: Cast on...wrong number of stitches.
Cast on yet again, take sip of wine, start knitting.
Get to the first part of the billion and two lace instructions (the cuff).
Finish the cuff in record time, get another glass of wine.
Switch back to first page to read up on "Horizontal Braid" instruction.
Get confused, drink wine, complain to mother, attempt to find help on Ravelry, set knitting down with a frustrated huff and go to bed.

Day two: Stretch and pick knitting back up.
Follow Horizontal Braid direction carefully, smacking self in forehead when realizing that the instructions are super simple.
Start on the leg instruction, feeling incredibly optimistic.
Realize that I forgot 2 rows on the cuff instructions.
Tink (unknit) while grumbling to self.
Finish the cuff this time all the way.
Work on leg instructions, again.
Mess up on row 3 of leg, unknit.
Mess up again on row 3, unknit yet again, glaring at yarn the whole time.
Start on row 4, realize I've lost 3 stitches along the way, and frog the whole f-ing thing.
Grab glass of wine, and cast on to the whole thing again on DPN's this time around.

I'm hope that this will make everything easier. Since the pattern, erm, called for DPN's in the first place. But hey, I looked at it figuring that if I just place markers I could pretend I'm working with 5 DPN's instead of one circ and call it a day. After all, how hard could that be?

Imma spinnin' fool

Just before Christmas last year I learned how to spin, I even took a class at my LYS and for Christmas my mother got me two spindles, and some roving (which is sitting in a air tight container because it's too precious to do anything with yet), and I've been spinning like there is no tomorrow.

My Mom and I even spent an hour on etsy looking for more roving after I had run out of the super soft merino super wash I had bought from Alpaca Direct. We found really nice roving from a seller called Fiber Yummy. Every time I spin with it it makes me giggle. Not only is the color very nice, but it separates easily for an even yarn (I'm a new spinner so the concept of a producing an even yarn is new to me). And even spun up it looks really nice, wonderful transition between a strange grayish color, lavender, and green. I can't wait to get done spinning it so I can knit it into something. Too bad there are things like sleep, eating, human interaction, and other that are preventing me from just sitting at home and spin.

In other linky news (since this post is full of links, and I like even numbers) a friend of mine has shown me a very funny online cat comic, The Lumps . The comics don't really follow any sort of time line, so you can jump in whenever. Basically it's about two cats brothers, Ebenezer and Snooch, and the little antics they get into. It's cute. Look at it.

Now I'm going back to working on my spinning. I'm sure I can spin and still carry on a conversation with my Mom over the internet. I mean, how hard can it possibly be?

The Project

Last year for Christmas my mother bought me a 365 knitting stitches a year calender. I love that thing. Every day it shows you a picture of a new knitting stitch with the instructions on the side. Lil' old me thought, "I should make a swatch every day and at the end of the year put it all together for a blanket!" What did I do? I made about 20 little swatches and then gave up.
But not this year!
I'm am determined to make a blanket using this calender and nothing is going to stop me. Well...the last 15 days that I haven't been knitting might, but I'm keeping an optimistic view on all this, and will have a nice blanket to cuddle up with by the end of the year.
Hopefully....