2011!

I am terrible at updating this but it doesn’t stress me out anymore! It’s a gift when I update. :)

Here’s a neat survey about the past year:

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
I went to Ohio this year which was wonderful. I started to stretch my ears, gave up, then began again. I made baked ziti and hamburgers on my own. I saw a friend in a film and cried. I tried new things with knitting like fair isle, toe-up socks, finished lace shawls (instead of frogging them), made mittens and actually finished 25 projects!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I probably didn’t. Here’s my resolutions blog post last year. The only things I really did were knit more and actually knit 10 things for other people and 10+ things for myself.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A few coworkers. I feel like everyone is pregnant right now, too.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
I stayed in the US. I’ve never left the continental United States in my whole life.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Some money in a CD, some money in my savings account, a house (renting) instead of this apartment, another pet (kitten or dog, please), a smaller pant size.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
My birthday because I got my bees knees tattoo, the week in April that I spent in Ohio, the week in July that my mum came to visit me, the week Stacy came to visit, the day we had Go Big Via Day at work and we all dressed as comic book characters. All of these were fun memories with good friends.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not murdering crazy holiday customers, haha. But seriously, I think finishing 25 knitting projects was pretty fantastic. It all really kicked off after my trip to Ohio, I became a knitting machine.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not losing the weight I wanted to.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I’m pretty sure it was this year that I had killer flu. No idea what it was but I was useless for about 5 days. I always injure myself because I’m the clumsiest person I know but nothing requiring hospitalization. I did have about a month and a half where I constantly had the gnarliest black and blues on my knees from slipping and falling down at work almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. Oh, and I broke some knuckles. That was fun, too.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
TONS of awesome yarn, my tattoos on my knees, a billion cute little owls, moccasins for Gus, awesome yarn for Meredith that I haven’t sent yet…and maybe some awesome tshirts for Gus, too.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Gus for dealing with me when I was so angry about work/customers. Heidi and Liz in listening to me when I didn’t know what to do and helping me make decisions to better my life. Mine in not killing any customers this year. :)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A lot of customers who strongly voiced their opinions on things that had nothing to do with them. An acquaintance who refused to take anyone’s advice or help and instead dug herself deeper and deeper into a hole that she can’t get out of now.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, food, yarn. That’s basically it.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting moccasins for Christmas, going to Ohio, Stacy coming to visit, my mum coming to visit, finding out Heidi wanted to rent her house to us when she moved :)

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2010?
Laughing at God by Regina Spektor, About A Girl by City and Colour, Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons and anything by Alison Weiss’ first two albums.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer?
Happier, fatter, poorer. Haha.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Been sad over things I couldn’t change, been depressed over things I COULD change but didn’t know how.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent Christmas with friends and family, but away from my biological family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
I fall in love with the same boy over and over every day. It’s cheesy but true.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Bones, House, Dexter, Nip/Tuck, 30 Rock and I rediscovered Buffy. SO GOOD. I love Netflix for enriching my year.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I doubt it. I have a very strong distaste for a few customers that I loved last year but nothing too ridiculous.

25. What was the best book you read?
I didn’t do much reading in 2010 (shame on me!) but I loved The Stranger by Albert Camus and re-read Lolita. 

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? 

Mumford and Sons, Alison Weiss, City and Colour, Broken Bells, re-discovered my love for Modest Mouse…there’s so many more!

27. What did you want and get?
The promise of a new place to live. Some awesome yarn and my moccasins.

28. What did you want and not get?
Awesome new friends (I mean, I got closer with friends I wasn’t close with before but nobody brand new).

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I don’t even know. I couldn’t tell you 5 new movies I saw this year.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 23, went to a casino, ate junk food and got a tattoo for five hours.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More hanging out and less stressing out, learning more things, going back to school. That’s three things, but whatever.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Tshirts, skinny jeans, cardigans, dirty hair and comfortable shoes (ie: Toms and moccasins).

33. What kept you sane?
Friends and Gus.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Fell in love with Gerard Butler this year haha.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Marriage equality, LGBT rights, people’s skewed views over the Mosque at Ground Zero.

36. Who did you miss?
All my friends in NY, my family, Stacy.

37. Who was the best new person you met? Why?
I don’t really know that I met anyone new this year.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
People are jerks and there’s nothing I can do to change them, they shouldn’t get me down. I need to stress a lot less and realize that life goes on after a few tiny mistakes.

39. A Quote that sums up your year.
“…and those who were seen dancing were thought to be crazy by those who could not hear the music.”

—	Friedrich Nietszche

Hats Part 2

Somehow, I have succesfully posted three blog entries in a row! What is this world coming to?

Funny story first: Gus came to work the other night to hang out with me while I took my lunch. We had been wondering if we were getting a new neighbor soon because we’ve seen a few girls looking at the apartment in the past few days. Then he told me about this ridiculous scenario he thought up. “Wouldn’t it be funny if our new neighbor was moving in and he/she was wearing a cool hat and I said, ‘Hey! I like your hat.’ and then they said. ‘Oh, thanks! I made it myself.’ I would obviously think they were lying and then tell them that my girlfriends knits, too. Then they’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah?’ and I’d say, ‘Yeah, Knitting A Love Song.’ and then they would freak out and say, ‘Oh my God, Knitting A Love Song is my neighbor?!’ The end. I really imagined that whole thing.”

It’s cute that he thinks I’m actually famous on the internet. Though, I did have a girl come to my job and whisper to her husband like, “I think it’s her! Ask her!” and she actually had read this blog. That made me laugh. On to the hats!

I’m a huge fan of Jane Richmond’s knits, especially her Jane hat. I wasn’t sure about the folded brim so I opted to leave it off and knit 2″ of ribbing instead. This yarn was SO silky, it’s Cascade Yarns Venezia worsted. I love the color but I’m not sure I’m going to keep this hat, either. I’ve procrastinated blocking it but I think it might make me like it more. We’ll see…regardless, it’s still a gorgeous hat.

[rav link]

Ever since I bought a skein of Malabrigo Twist in Ohio, I’ve been itching to make something with it. It’s a nice contrast to their worsted and silky which are single plies, Twist has several plies. I LOVE it. It’s like buttery clouds wrapped in kittens soft and the stitch definition is awesome. No lie. I made Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre. The pattern is fun and I definitely want to make more as soon as I can. I see this hat getting a ton of wear this winter.

[rav link]

Finally, with Christmas fast approaching and winter coming even sooner in the north, I whipped up this Spring Beret for a friend back in NY with some Mission Falls 1824 cotton. I was worried the nubbly texture of the yarn would overwhelm the pattern in the hat, but I quite like how it turned out. I opted for cotton over wool because I want it to be a hat she could wear at least 3/4 of the year, if not the entire year. I also wanted it to be easy for her to wash it if need be. I’m in love with this and wish I could keep it for myself.

[rav link]

Tomorrow, I’ll post about a few lace shawls I’ve knit.
I hope you’re all having a fun weekend!

xx

Hats Part 1

Hats are probably my favorite thing to knit, especially for gifts. For the most part, they’re easy to size and they knit up quickly. I’m familiar with the typical increases and decreases used and have a few go-to patterns when I’m stuck on what to knit next. It’s no wonder I’ve knit seven over the past few months and have another on the needles right now.

This first hat is just about the cutest thing I’d ever seen. The Berry Baby Hat is too cute for words. It’s simple, cute and perfect for using up those odd balls of acrylic in my stash. I knit this purple version for a friend at work with a new baby girl. Her mom loved it and sent me a few photos of her wearing it but I don’t have them uploaded onto my computer.

[rav link]

In an effort to use up more of my Malabrigo in Frank Ochre, I decided to make a Star Crossed Slouchy Beret. I messed up on the pattern in some spots but I don’t really mind. It makes it my own. It only took half a skein so of course I had plenty of yarn left for other projects.

[rav link]

As part of my effort to buy less yarn, I decided to whip up a hat using some of the abundance of Vanna’s Choice in my stash. I picked a pretty red-orange color and searched high and low for a project that would tolerate this acrylic. I stumbled upon the Trinity Stitch Hat and decided to give it a try. I’m not sure how I feel about the hat and the decreases were confusing in the pattern. Maybe I’ll give it away…

[rav link]

Stay tuned for part three (more hats) tomorrow!

xx

Five months have passed…

since I have posted a single finished project. Would you believe in those past five months I have finished seventeen things? SEVENTEEN! What happened? It used to take me ages to finish a project. True, I was always busy with work but lately I feel that whenever I’m not working, I am trying to fit knitting into every spare moment.

I’m going to break up these posts into types of projects and try for one post a day this weekend so that you all aren’t bombarded with projects.

First up: COWLS

I am obsessed. Living in Louisiana, it doesn’t really stay cold for long, at least not for my standards. But when it is cold, it is a bone-chilling, soggy, miserable kind of cold. Cowls are the perfect things for those days when you don’t want to be bothered with scarf tails hanging all over the place. I’ve knit three in the past few months in the coziest most scrumptious yarns.

I knit the Eternity Scarf by Michelle Wang in April when I went to Ohio to see a friend. We had both bought the yarn back in December and she made hers in a few days, while I procrastinated casting on despite how gorgeous hers was. The pattern was a dream to knit, easy to remember and made for awesome knitting while sitting outside little coffee houses, drinking ice coffee and people-watching. I used around 250 yds of Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Frank Ochre (which is now one of my all time favorite colors). This is probably my favorite cowl of the three.

[rav link]

The Aspen Neck Cowl by Andrea Tung has been on my to-knit list forever. I think this might actually be a finished project from 2009 but I never posted about it. I had seen one from a fellow Raveler knit in Blue Sky Alpacas Melange (which is a DREAM) in a yummy honey color. When I went to my LYS, I searched high and low but only found a few colors, one of which was an equally delicious looking pumpkin orange. Of course, I snatched 3 skeins up and quickly got to work on this cowl. The yarn was fantastic to work with and I absolutely love the long soft fibers of  alpaca. I want to snuggle in this cowl all winter long, weather allowing. It is the coziest cowl I’ve knit so far. If I ever find the honey color, I’m more than likely going to knit another of these up right away.

[Rav Link]

Early on in my knitting career, I bought two skeins of Malabrigo yarn Gruesa in Lettuce, not knowing what I was going to knit with it. I started a stockinette scarf and soon learned about how stockinette curls. I frogged that scarf and didn’t touch the yarn for almost a year. Then I made a boring k2p2 rib cowl that was too big and stiff to be used practically. What was I going to do with this yarn?! Some surfing on Ravelry lead me to the gorgeous Dolores Park Cowl and I knew it was the perfect project for the yarn. I wanted to use up every last inch. Upon finishing, I knit up a coffee cup cozy to gift to one of my favorite customers and of course gave to her without taking a picture of it first. I’ve been known to wear this cowl while sitting at home watching Netflix and knitting. It is perfect aside from the color. What do I wear it with?! Regardless, I love it.

[Rav Link]

Stay tuned for parts 2, 3,4and 5 this weekend featuring hats, more hats, shawls and mittens.

xx

I’ve disappeared but I have promises and something neat to share!

I have the promise of a HUGE roundup of summer knits (April-August) and lots of photos of new yarn and new yarn room goodies. BUT NOT YET!

First, I feel it is my duty to share my discovery of what I think is possibly one of the most practical things any knitter (or crocheter) could use. Knitting/Crochet Journal Templates via Kathryn Ivy. These are free to download and print out and super helpful. There are pages to organize your needles, stash and finished projects. But on top of that, there are pages for the crazy obsessive knitter like me for future yarn purchases, future project queues and even pages for notes, sketches and graph paper for charting. I am so thankful for Kathryn’s contribution to the online knitting world. I always see patterns and think, “I have just the right yarn for that! I can’t wait to make it” and I’ll jot it down on some scrap of paper only to lose it when I finally want to knit! I always try to keep things organized (even though I am quite cluttery, I KNOW my clutter) and love anything that will help me stay organized.

Come to think of it, I could totally make mini-journals for some of my knitting friends for Christmas! I wish I could give Kathryn a big thank-you hug for making these adorable templates. I’m going to get so much use out of them and I hope you guys do, too.

Just a quick check in!

Just checking in real quick to say Hello! I’m alive. I’m here, I promise.

And to let you know that my very best friend (who happens to be 1300 miles away) has created a new blog and you should check her out at The Sea Anemone In Me or at her art website Oh No Nicole!

Love love love.

Just a quick post…

Just checking in real quick to say Hello! I’m alive.

And to let you know that my very best friend (who happens to be 1300 miles away) has created a new blog and you should check her out at The Sea Anemone In Me or at her art website Oh No Nicole!

Love love love.

The Tweed Run

I stumbled upon this video on Habu Textiles blog and had to post it. I am pretty positive that Meredith and I need to get ourselves to England next year for this.

The Tweed Run

I stumbled upon this video on Habu Textiles blog and had to post it. I am pretty positive that Meredith and I need to get ourselves to England next year for this.

http://www.youtube.com/v/DjuRU5HdxcU&hl=en_US&fs=1

Granny Squares Galore

image via weheartit

Lately I have become OBSESSED with granny squares. They’re so easy to crochet and so quick. I decided to de-stash a bit and make a huge granny square blanket. I found eight skeins of Noro Kureyon that I had originally bought to make a Lady Eleanor Entrelac Scarf (Rav link) but never got around to it. I love the colors, but decided they just weren’t right for the entrelac project. I whipped out a hook and in a few days I had this! I took a little break from it, but 6 skeins in, it’s about 3.5 feet across. I absolutely love it. I plan to make into a full size blanket, but I refuse to buy more yarn for it right away.  I absolutely love it, though and I am so excited about it!