Happy 4th of July!

Unfortunately it won't feel much like the 4th for me since I have to work all day today. I have been looking for a new job and even went on an interview, but it just didn't seem like the right fit. (I'm beginning to wonder if I'm being too picky!) I have faith that the right thing will come along at the right moment.

Anyway, last time I checked this was a knitting blog and there's been very little of that going on here recently. Well here's what I've been working on.I finished up this pair of Sprial Boot Socks a week or two ago. They just need the ends sewn it. In general, most of my finished objects won't get the ends sewn in until I'm ready to wear it. This pattern called for the spiral to go in the same direction for both socks. I really didn't want them like that so I consulted the internet and found someone else who changed the direction of the spiral for their socks too. (I had unsuccessfully tried to reverse the spiral myself with not luck, apparently my brain couldn't wrap itself around the problem!) I'm very please with the results here and I'm sure they're going to become some of my favorite socks.

I've also started a pair of Monkey socks.I was at a BBQ with a fellow knitter who inspired me to try the pattern. I had some sock yarn lying around (let's face it, most knitters have sock yarn lying around) so I decided to try it. I already have plans to gift them for Christmas. Chirstmas knitting??? Oh yes, it's never too early to Christmas knit.

I was also inspired to knit the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty. I'm so close to being finished.Instead of using ribbon for the handles, I'm knitting my own. I also decided to make the pattern a bit shorter than it called for so it won't stretch as much. Maybe I'll even finish it before I go to the Farmers market tomorrow!

Meme

I've come across this meme a couple of times. You search flickr for the answer to the question and pick a photo then put it in a mosaic. Click on the mosaic to learn more about each answer.

Where have I been?

I don't really have a good answer to that question. For one, I've been settling into my new place. I've been here a month and a half and it still feels like I'm getting to know my apartment. Isn't it funny how we feel like we need to make an emotional attachment to the place in which we live? I feel that's especially true for me now since I'm living here alone. This is the first time in my life where I'm living somewhere without family or friends.

I can't say I'm lonely, because that's not the case. What I have found is that I need to rely on myself for entertainment. I'm the cruise director so to speak. There is no one else playing music, watching a movie or just hanging out, there is only me. I have to decide to play music or watch a movie or just hang out. It is somewhat of an adjustment because I'm usually the one who will go along, add my two cents here and there, but I'm not usually the decision maker.

I will say that I love waking up in the mornings, making my cup of tea and sitting in my knitting room listening to NPR. I love those early morning moments. I also love that when a mess is made, I know it's my own. I don't have to clean up after anyone (aside from the cat who leaves ungodly sized hair tumbleweeds in every corner of the apartment... and of course the occasional hairball) I love that everything is exactly how I want it. Call me anal retentive, but I like things to be tidy and in their places; a trait I'm sure I inherited from my mother though I rebelled against it as a teen.

Aside from the apartment, I've also been doing a lot of life thinking recently. I know my job is going nowhere because there's really nowhere for it to go (waitressing... is there even a career ladder for that?) I feel like it's time to start looking elsewhere. The problem is, I'm making money doing this and I know that if I do what I want to, I won't be able to afford the life I'm living now. So those sorts of things have been on my mind recently.

A couple of weeks ago my best friend moved away. And when I say away, I mean moved to as far away from here as you can get and still be in the same country. She's now on the west coast with a three hour time difference. That has made me have to make some adjustments and has forced me to start actively building my social life again. May I just say, thank god for Ravelry. I've met so many awesome people through our local group on there. This adjustment would be ten times harder without my weekly stitch and bitch.

And of course, there's been knitting... and a wee bit of cross stitch. Who has time to post when you'd rather be crafting?

All settled.... almost

I'm all moved in and it only took three weeks! The actual move took two days, but the settling in has taken quite a bit longer. Everything is pretty much where I want it to be now. I'm almost totally settled in. There are a few things here and there that I'm missing, but I'm sure, with time, I'll take care of it. The important thing is that I start making it my home.

For one thing, I think I need larger wall coverings... my tiny Monet poster is almost comical on my huge empty wall.

My knitting room is only missing a small side table that I think would be perfect next to the chair.After all, notions need to be placed somewhere while you're working. Come to think of it, so does a cup of tea!

As surprising as it may seem, I've actually done some knitting through all this. For one thing, I've finished more dishcloth's than I can possibly count. I made myself some, and then my old roommate wanted some, so I made her about a bazillion.

I also finished up a pair of socks that have been on the needles for an eternity. Ok, not an eternity...only since last October, but for me, that's a long time.

I made them toe-up so that I could have knee socks. I absolutely love them. They're out of Lorna's Laces sock yarn and they're divine!

I also started some boot socks out of some yarn I picked up at Rhinebeck last year. They're the Spiral Boot Socks out of Interweave Knits.The true color of these socks is much less washed out looking than this picture. I really can't begin to tell you how in love with this pattern I am. I just want to go out and buy a mini skirt just so I can show them off when they're done!

Movin'

Ok folks, I'm moving tomorrow. I have no idea how long it's going to take to get internet, etc. so it may be quiet around here for a bit of time.

Wish me luck!

Milestones...

This is post number 300! Wow... and it certainly took me long enough.

I know I've been absent for... oh, a couple weeks now, but I have very good reasons for that. My life has changed dramatically in those two weeks. I have become completely obsessed with voluntary simplicity. I have borrowed just about every book the library has on the subject and have been obsessively reading through them (the best of which has been Affluenza, it's humorous and poignant all at the same time.) It's become obvious to me that environmental degradation stems from this rampant consumer lifestyle that is characteristic of Americans. The more I research this subject, the more I feel like I'm taking control of my life. I think it's stated best with the phrase 'the best things in life aren't things.'

On top of that, I've had another major life event... I've found an apartment. Up until this point in my life, I've always lived with family or roommates. I've always known that living on my own was something I had to do at least once in my life. As things generally go for me, the perfect apartment, in the perfect location practically fell into my lap. It is minutes from my mom, my brother, the food co-op and my all-time favorite mexican restaurant. I could bike anywhere I need to go except work (though, at this point, I don't have a bike.) It's closer to work so I won't have to drive as far. On top of all that... it's in my price range. I put a deposit on it and will be moving in in the next week or so.

When I was there putting down the deposit I took some pictures...This is a picture of the living room into the dining room (I never thought I'd be lucky enough to afford a dining room too!)

This is the bedroom where the windows all look out onto the street.

This is a picture of the study that's off of the bedroom. Guess what I'm using that for? Knitting/spinning room, anyone? I wonder to myself how I got this lucky. Right place at the right time I suppose.

So planning and packing for this move have been taking up my time a bit. I'm just so excited.

These last couple of weeks have had some gorgeous weather also. The monthly meeting of my knitting group two weekends ago was just about the most beautiful day.
One week later, even more trees were in bloom.

With so many things going on, it's no wonder I've had no time to blog...

Happy Spring everyone.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I've been very inspired recently to become less of a consumer (this is all a part of my quest to be more environmentally conscious.) It's an interesting journey I've taken so far. Starting with the animals then moving to the environment and now it seems I've come to the root of the problem. Endlessly consuming stuff is really taking it's toll on our planet and those living on it (including humans.)

So, reduce, reuse, recycle it is! I've stopped using plastic bags, not only at the grocery store, but also other stores (which I have to admit, I haven't been to any in awhile.) I always bring my travel mug with me to the coffee shop. I've started using all natural cleaners for my apartment, ie. baking soda, vinegar, etc (I'm amazed at how well it works!) I use handkerchiefs instead of tissues.

I have been on a major kick of knitting dishcloths. Not only do I want to stop my use of paper towels, but I don't really want to buy sponges anymore. I was inspired the other day to reuse something you wouldn't normally think of....

Those old shower puffs. I had one just lying around.
What's a girl to do but cut it up into one long strip...
And knit it into a dishcloth....
As dishcloths go, they don't take very long to knit (though it can be a bit more time consuming wrangling the puff strip) so I finished it very quickly.I don't care what's stuck on my pans, this thing is sure to get it off!

I also started a ballband dishcloth. So far, so good...

All things baby...

This past Saturday was the baby shower for one of my college roommates. Besides the three hour car ride there and back, it was actually a lot of fun. I know baby showers can sometimes be tedious (especially when the mother-to-be opens a million and one presents and everyone has to ooo and aahh over them) but this one was really nice.

We only played one game in which I did terrible. I think I got the least answers correct out of everyone. I'm actually pretty happy about that and let me tell you why. The game was to name as many children from certain TV shows as you can (ie, the Brady Bunch, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, etc) and I could barely name any. I don't watch TV and even as a kid when these shows were on I obviously didn't pay too much attention to them!

We did have to sit through the present opening but luckily there weren't too many presents. Mine was the first to illicit the "aaaaaawwww" out of everyone!I think mine was the first handmade present she opened. There were a couple of other things that were handmade, mainly blankets that were sewn. I swear that baby is going to overheat with all the blankets that were made for it (I think somewhere in the vicinity of 5 or 6 blankets) The funny thing is they live in Virginia!

I think the thing I liked best about the shower was reconnecting with friends I haven't seen in awhile. After all, it's the connections with people that matter most, right?Me and the mommy-to-be

We have bread!

So after about a month and a half of thinking about baking some bread, I finally got around to doing it today. I used a really simple, easy recipe for whole wheat bread.

Let me put this into perspective here. I did try one other time to bake some bread, but my yeast was dead. I tried proofing it and nothing happened, no foaming, nothing but a bad yeasty smell. Poo. So I gave up for a little while.

I finally realized today that I have a day off and nothing planned, why not bake some bread? I got some new (alive) yeast and I started my first ever loaf of bread. I'm sure some people wouldn't appreciate hand kneading the bread, but I was so excited that the dough actually looked right that I was all about kneading it!

Then there was the rising. I can't believe how much bigger it gets! I knew it was suppose to, but actually seeing it was another thing entirely.

So I'm gonna skip right to the part where I took it out of the oven.It looks gorgeous right? The picture doesn't, however, show the fact that it weighs about 20 pounds! It's just about the densest bread I've ever come across. Sure, it tastes fine, but this one reminds me of the movie "About a Boy" where the kid throws this loaf of bread in a duck pond and kills a duck. Yeah, it's that heavy!

I'm thinking I'm going to modify the recipe next time. Maybe mix the whole wheat flour with some lighter flour. Who knows, I know with bread, the possibilities are endless and it takes a certain amount of practice right?

Niagara Falls

I actually don't have any knitting projects to show at the moment. I started a baby hat (which looks more like a hat that could easily fit my head) but I think I have to re-knit it and the deadline is looming. I have a week. No big deal right? Well, there's work thrown in there, not to mention the cotton/acrylic that I picked out makes my arms hurt if I knit on it too long. I'll get it done though.

A week ago, my friends and I went to Niagara Falls for the day, just as a lets-get-off-our-butts-and-have-a-road-trip sort of thing. It was a gorgeous day, and by gorgeous I mean the sun was out and we hadn't seen it in a long, long time. It was still cold, but the sun totally made up for that.

I've never seen Niagara Falls in the winter. It's actually really beautiful.The mist coming up made this thin, icy layer over everything... including us after awhile! We really didn't wear very appropriate clothes for being "rained" on. So we took a few pictures and headed out.Here's the boy and I (totally blinded by that thing known as the sun.)

We all decided to be complete tourists and went over to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch....Where we sat by Elton John's Pharaoh suit and Madonna's tasseled bustier. They really set the mood!

On our way home we stopped by RockVentures in Rochester. It's the largest rock climbing gym in the Northeast, and let me just say, I've totally missed rock climbing!Though a gym is nothing like real rock, it's still a lot of fun.

I was so exhausted by the end of the day, but it was worth it. Winter seems to get us stuck it a rut of always wanting to stay in and avoid the cold (at least it does for me) but it's good to get out there and enjoy it!

More FO's

Guess what folks? I have another couple of finished projects to show you. There's the socks for the boy for his birthday, all finished (and when I say finished, I mean the knitted part is done, I never seem to sew in the ends until right before I gift them.)I'm glad I finished these early because, it turns out I now have a baby shower to go to at the end of the month that I'd like to knit something for. Apparently I've entered the part of my life where my friends from college start having babies. Funny how life sneaks up on you like that!

Just this morning I finished up the yoga mat bag. It's perfect timing too since I have my yoga class this afternoon.This pattern was really fun. There were some design features that I really liked. For instance, the I-cord bind off on the bottom of the bag...It makes such a clean edge for the bottom. There's also the folded edge at the top which is pretty...It's funny, but I'm really excited to go to yoga tonight just so I can use my bag!

Knitting update.

Just a quick post here kiddos. I'm not dead. It seems that finding time to blog is not tops on my list of priorities at the moment (we all go through slumps, right?) I don't want to totally leave everyone in the dark though.

I've been working on a couple of projects recently. Both have been taking equal amounts of my knitting time. One because it's interesting and I've been wanting to knit it ever since I started yoga and the other because it's a birthday present and it has to be finished by the end of March.

Here's the yoga related project...It will eventually be the lacy yoga mat bag from Interweave knits. The pattern is simple and you'd think that by now I would have memorized it, but I haven't because I've been knitting it while watching episodes of The Office (I never knew I could laugh that hard!)

The other project is a pair of socks for the boy for his birthday.This pictures makes these socks look purple but I assure you they're not. It's a twist of brown and navy blue. I know he'll love them because he almost never takes off the scarf I made him for Christmas. What a good guy! I know he knows I'm making him something because the package arrived from Knit Picks while he was over and he was a bit suspicious of the fact that I didn't tear right into it the minute it came into my hands.

And just because I haven't in a long time, here's a picture of my baby, Ludo, in his typical relaxing postition...He always looks so fed up with my taking pictures of him, but I'm pretty sure it's because he's reacting to the flash... at least, that's what I like to tell myself!

Two Finished Objects!!!

Uggg... *sniff*....blah....*cough*

That's how I've felt for the past four days. I have been down with the flu. I know it's the flu because I have never been this sick for this long in my whole life. I literally couldn't get out of bed to make myself soup or get myself anything. Several of the days were a NyQuil induced blur where I was more asleep than awake which was a blessing. Being awake was torture.

Thankfully, it's on it's way out. I'm a functioning human being once again. That's a really nice feeling.

Right before I got sick I had a post in mind to show you not one, but two FO that I finished on the same day! The first being the Mountain Colors Bearfoot socks I was working on...I'm very happy with how they turned out. There's nothing like adding another pair of socks to the collection in time to actually wear them for part of the season!

Next, as you may have guessed, is the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It's is 99.99% complete. The only thing it's missing is buttons. It just doesn't look quite right from the front without the buttons to hold it closed so I'll show some other pictures.
I'm so excited with how it turned out. I may actually leave the apartment today to go get some buttons!

A mish-mashy post

I have been like a woman on a mission this morning. My mission: clean, clean like I've never cleaned before (only I have cleaned like this before, just not in a long time). It's almost like Spring cleaning though it's not Spring. I couldn't wait for Spring. We still have two months of winter left. For whatever reason, this cleaning is helping to wash away the winter blahs I've had. It helps to have a clean space (and I mean sparkling) to make it seem less drab, less gloomy, etc.

I was up at 7am this morning. For those of you who work normal schedules this may not seem like such an amazing thing, but for me whose earliest shift begins at noon, 7am is the earliest I've woken up in awhile. 8:30am is usually my get-up-and-start-the-day time, but not this morning. I was awake, fully awake at 7am. It's sort of refreshing. I feel like I've been cleaning all day and that it's already the afternoon, but it's only 12:30. There's plenty of day left for other things.

Things like knitting...I've been working on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan ever since I finished up those socks for mom and it's really coming along. Another inch or so and I get to start the cable!

It also leaves time for other things.... like my new found happiness, Netflix. I've known about Netflix for awhile now and I've even known about their online viewing option, but I've just not jumped on the bandwagon until now. Let me say a few things here. I own a television set, but I do not have cable or network TV to watch on it. Most of what you can find on TV is mindless programming with equally mindless commercials inbetween and I refuse to spend my money on things like that. I do, however, watch movies. I love movies, movies that make you think, movies that make you laugh or cry. They're fantastic. As are some well made, thoughtful TV shows, but I just couldn't stand sitting through the commercials. Also one of my favorite things that I've been missing are nature documentaries. I really miss Animal Planet. Now that I have access to these things, minus the commercials, I am really excited. Now I can watch my nature shows and movies while I knit mindless projects.

There's also time for something else I've been meaning to do recently.... bake my own bread. It occurred to me that so few of us even know how to make a loaf of bread. I've been reading up on it and it's actually very basic with huge potential for variety. Having never done it before, this could end up being trial and error, but I'm ok with that. I'm also totally ok with the fact that I'll know exactly what's in my bread... anybody else have no idea what calcium propionate or natamycin are and what they're doing in bread?

Inspiration strikes.

I finished my mom's socks. Boy did those things fly off the needles. I guess when the leg of the sock is only two inches long, you cut down on a little knitting time!I washed them with the hope that they would turn out a bit softer and they did! They're going to be the perfect pair of socks for spring or fall, maybe even a cool summer day. They're not too heavy and the fiber content makes them seem a bit cooler.

I finally got some pictures of that shawl on the recipient.
She wore it this past weekend to our weekly knitting group and it was greatly admired. The wonderful part about it too is that the color matches almost all of her clothes!

So I have to say, I haven't been blogging much recently mostly because I've become inspired by something else. Cooking. Recently I came across the book "In Defense Of Food" by Michael Pollan who also wrote "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and I was so inspired to cook my own foods that for the past several weeks I've been spending a lot of my time planning meals and buying food.

I found it quite interesting that in the book he points out that it's more expensive to buy food that's good for you (mainly fruits and vegetables and whole grains that haven't been enriched, etc) than it is to buy food that's incredibly over processed. Turns out he's right. I really don't mind paying extra because I do have the money. I don't spend my money on purchases I don't need, like clothes, when my closet is already full to capacity, or spending it on the latest gadgetry. My only indulgence is yarn... can you blame me?

Also, I recently started a yoga class which, so far, has been going really well. To be honest, I think it's really going to help me with the aches and pains I get from waitressing. The only downside to the class is that it's so full that it's sometimes a little crowded and with certain poses or maneuvers you're at risk of smacking the person next to you! I guess the bright side of that is that so many people are interested in bettering themselves and that in itself is uplifting.

Even though I haven't been blogging all that much, I am thinking of it and of you. I don't always have time to comment but I'm trying to keep up on everything going on in your own blogs/lives.

Socks for mom...

Have you ever had one of those projects where you're grabbed by it and it just doesn't let you go. I've been working on one of those recently.

It's my mom's birthday in a little over a week and I've had this idea that I'd like to spin some yarn, then knit some socks out of it for her. I've been working on that for the past couple weeks whenever I could find some spare time.It's a merino/tencel blend that I bought at Rhinebeck last year. The colors are perfect for mom. I overspun the singles quite a bit because I wanted a tighter plied yarn.
Plying multi-colored singles like this is always so much fun because you never know which color is going to end up next to another color. It was interesting to see that, quite often, similar colors ended up next to each other. This is easy to see once it's been knit...
One sock down, one more to go. I know she's going to love these!

I also finished up a little something awhile ago. I haven't posted about it because I still don't have any modeled shots of it, but here it is blocking on my bed...
You can see I wasn't 100% accurate in how straight I made the edges... perhaps I should invest in some blocking wires!

A good start to 2008

This is more than a little late but, Happy New Year!

So far 2008 has been rather nice. The time spent down in Virginia was exactly what I needed. I feel refreshed now. All of my knitted gifts went over well, especially the ones I made for the boy. Until this warm snap came, he didn't take off the scarf or handwarmers I made for him except to shower and sleep. I hate to see what would happen to them if he showered with them! Here's a good picture demonstrating the boy and his scarf.
I gave my roommate/best friend, Jill, a WillowTree figurine among other things.I also made her a lace shawl, but it just wasn't quite finished in time. I really tried, but it just wasn't happening see how I spent a good deal of my time with her! It's finished now and waiting to be blocked.

It's a known fact around these parts how much I love tea. I may not have mentioned it on the blog much, but I'm a tea fanatic. I love everything about it. I love the process of tea, of love tea paraphernalia, I love the huge variety, I love the way it warms you up. There's very little about tea that I don't love. Well, it appears my love of tea did not go unnoticed by both my best friend and my boy. The boy bought me something called a T Buddy. It's a pretty nifty little thing that I can take with me camping to make my tea.

Also, Jill bought me this gorgeous tea set. Even though I didn't have anyone to share my tea with, I still made a whole pot.The angle of this picture really makes the cup look huge, but I assure you, after three cups of tea from that pot, there were still many cups left!

I mentioned in my last post that I received two gift certificates from my family to my LYS. This particular yarn shop is closing soon for about three months for renovations and the owner is trying to get rid of her inventory.... that meant 50% off all the yarn. In a way, that made my gift certificates worth twice as much! I ended up buying enough yarn for three sweaters, a scarf and a hat. All but one of the purchases I have plans for.

In fact, I started one of the projects already. I'm making the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from Interweave Knits. I bought the yarn it calls for in a speckled gray color. I'm actually pretty far on it. This picture was taken several days ago and I'm well past it now.
There's nothing like beginning a new sweater project to start the year off right, huh?