Saturday night was kinda a bust. After work Yannick made me watch Saw with him while we had supper. I agreed only ‘cus we were supposed to go out to Bingo after, so I figured watching a creepy thriller during daylight hours while eating with the lights on wouldn’t be so bad. It wasn’t, and talking about stupid plot tricks that make no sense helped too. But then we had one of our usual fights about how things aren’t always perfect, and instead of trying to make them so we both get pretty stubborn, so instead of going to Bingo I read knitting books while he did laundry and then went to bed. Ok the night didn’t complelely suck- I did get inspired to do some knitware designs from Nicky Epstein’s Knitting on the Edge. I made some sketches…we’ll see what happens.

Sunday was somewhat more fun. We went over to my LYS and I changed my 11 skeins of Alafoss Lopi for 11 of Patons’ Classic Merino so I could start my felted bag. I have to figure out something though, ‘cus I returned 11 sk at 7.49$/ea minus my disco, and bought 11 sk at 6.99$/ea minus my disco, but still somehow owed $1.22 at the end. It wasn’t much so I’m not complaining….but the math doesn’t work in my head.

I have a lot more to write but have to leave ‘cus I need to get a flat tire patched before my 9am class *groan* so I’m off!

I think I’m going through a bout of food poisoning. Either that, or I ate waaaaay too many foods with oil in them yesterday, ‘cus I’ve been sick since the minute I got home. Or it was the leftover Greek salad I ate a day late. Or the stale cheese croissant. Or the movie-theater popcorn. Or- ok, I see it could be many things that I did to myself. Why does everything I like have to be fried or oily or greasy? If only I liked chocolate…… lol

Wednesday night Yannick came home to have supper with me, so while there were nice steaks in my evening, there was no knitting. I made up for it Thursday night for an hour or so, and yesterday morning too.

Last night we went to Montana’s for dinner then to see Be Cool. I don’t know why it didn’t get great reviews, ‘cus it was a lot of fun. Well, except for the 5 obnoxious teens who wouldn’t shut up one row over. I don’t know what it is with the Collisee, but every time we go there people won’t stop talking. And I try to be nice, I really do. I’m 27, not sitting there talking about “young whippersnappers”. But please. I won’t shush you if you talk during the previews even though they’re my favorite part. And I’ll even ask you nicely the first 4 times or so, to “please stop talking” or “do you mind not talking, I can’t hear the movie”. My previous worst time was when X-Men had just come out. The man behind me was explaining every scene to his 3 year old. “Now Wolverine just burst through the door. Ooh look, he’s got his claws out! Isn’t this scary……etc…” But last night…whew. I asked nicely. I was polite. About 14 times. Then I started shushing them. Then I had to resort to saying out loud “Please stop talking!” After the 30th or so request I finally looked over and said that if they wouldn’t stop talking I would get the manager. They didn’t. So I got up and walked out. You know the part in the commercial when John Travolta and Uma Thurman are dancing to the Black Eyed Peas? That’s the scene I missed. I figured I was safe, I’ve seen them dance already in Pulp Fiction. 🙂 I didn’t find the manager, but I did find 2 “customer service” teens. Very scary. *snort* They followed me in and spoke to the kids. I felt like a narc, but seriously, it was now over an hour into the movie and I’d asked them to be quiet many, many times. Of course, they didn’t. By the time I actually disturbed other movie goers by almost yelling “shut up!” they were turning on their cell phones for light and giggling. Thankfully, about a half hour before the end of the movie, they got up and left, one by one. I don’t know why, for all I know the “customer service” guys told them that if they were good and left they’d get movie passes. I was just really thankful for the silence! I was a little nervous though when we left the movie and they were all outside. After the mob-type movie I’d just seen you know that I was certain they were all packing weapons and would follow us to the car…and I won’t fill in the details my morbid brain created next. When one young guy started walking towards us from the far end of the parking lot, one hand reaching into his waistband under his coat for like 3 minutes, I was positive he was reaching for a gun. I know. Like we’d get blown away over a movie ruckus. I know. *sheepish grin* What can I say? I’m creative…my brain is always working up these stories.

On a more positive note about last night Yannick surprised me with a very generous present! When we’d gone to Fourquette Fourchette a few weeks ago Laura, the birthday boy’s wife, was wearing a very interesting bracelet, and her mom had a similar necklace. It was kinda like the Zoppini charm bracelets, but instead of interlocking squares, these were 3D beads that went on a rope-like chain. There were “locking” beads that meant the beads between them could move freely, but not past the locks, so even if the clasp undid you wouldn’t lose anything. Plus the beads were gorgeous. And adorable. A cat, for example, wasn’t just a picture of a cat, it was an actual 3D cat sculpture with a hole through the side to pass the chain. But, due to the quantity of the beads available, it could be like the Zoppini charms in that you choose beads with special meanings, or for special occassions. I fell in love with it right away. It’s more “grown up” than the Zoppini ones that are now available even at dollar stores. Plus most are real gold and/or silver, and are more expensive, which is the only downside. They’re called Chamilia, and have a website: http://www.chamilia.com How do I know what they’re called? :] Because my lovely boyfriend surprised me with a gift certificate to Laura’s mom’s store where she sells them! Yesterday was “kinda” an anniversary (Dec 1 was 6 years, so April 1 was six years, 4 months), plus he’d never gotten me a Valentine’s Day gift. He wanted to pick out actual beads for me, but wasn’t sure which chain I’d prefer, gold, silver or stainless steel, so we’re going to go back together. I can’t wait!

Now back to the knitting!

I have to say that I’m SO GLAD I started working on this cardi! It is such a pleasure to knit, and I love watching each row bring the picture out more. And it’s pretty fast too, since I only started it this week and I think by Monday night I’ll have at least finished the left front piece…which doesn’t sound like much until you remember that I have to follow a pattern with no repeats at all for every single row.

Here’s LC now:

And, since I wasn’t planning on making such a long post, I also took a pic of the chart I’m using for this piece, to show how I color-coded each chart symbol. I laughed at myself for doing this in a previous post, but omigod does it make it go so fast! I don’t even have to count, nothing! Just looking at the chart shows me instantly where I am and what to do next. I love it!

Hi! I’m glad to remind you of the sweater lol. I loved it when I first saw it, then returned the book to the library. When I spent 3 days thinking of it I knew I had to go back for a photocopy. I’m so glad to be making it, it’s such a pleasure to knit, plus it’s fun seeing the picture appear. You’re not the only one to like it, since I posted the pic I’ve had a few emails from people asking where it’s from, so I’ll clarify: I think the book is called Vogue Knitting, it is the big (12″ x 16″?) hardcover book that tells you how to cast on, inc, dec, etc… In the back are about 6 patterns by famous designers like Calvin Klein. This one is by DKNY but I think it is only referred to as “oversize cardigan”. Someone else told me they found it under the name Enchanted Forest, but I can’t confirm that.

For the first time in 3 months I don’t have any knitting commissions outstanding. This means I can knit *gasp* whatever I want! I’m in heaven!

Yesterday my dad wasn’t feeling well in the morning, so we went in to work a bit late. Wanna see what I did in the morning? I took out my bead and started to make some stitch markers! Yay! I want to make a whole bunch then send out some RAOKs ‘cus I haven’t sent that many yet. Here’s what I did so far:

They’re a bit hard to see, but I made an assorted bunch of knit-related terms. Since they’re all similar, this whole lot will go to one lucky FiberRAOK member! 🙂 I had so much fun making them! I wish I actually owned some myself, of any kind, since my current project is using 12 stitch markers and I’d love to put “jewlery” on instead of my little plastic rings. This Sunday I’ve asked Yannick to make some with me, since his brain works differently and I want to see what he’ll come up with to do with the beads. I think I’ll keep some of our efforts, and send out all the rest.

Wanna see what I did last night? A SELFISH project! Yay! It’s the DKNY-designed one-size-fits-all cardigan in the back of the big Vogue Knitting reference book, and it uses cables to make trees, flowers, a fence, etc…

Here is a (horrible) pic of the pictures from the book:

This shows the front (in my handly little plastic document holder).

This is a close-up of the little pic up there showing the back. You can’t see it well, but trust me, it’s cute.

This is what I’ve done so far. It’s the Left Front piece of the cardigan. After the ribbing you see some grass and a little meadow with flowers. 🙂 I’m right at the point to start the different trees, which is why I decided stitch markers would help. There are no repeats, but I marked off my chart with similar divisions to break down the long row into more manageble sections. I also spent 3 hours coloring in each different key in the chart a different color with 24 colored pencils but that’s not something we need to talk about. 🙂

Now let’s see if I can squeeze some knitting time into this morning before my dad calls to say “leave now!”.

For the first time in 3 months I don’t have any knitting commissions outstanding. This means I can knit *gasp* whatever I want! I’m in heaven!

Yesterday my dad wasn’t feeling well in the morning, so we went in to work a bit late. Wanna see what I did in the morning? I took out my bead and started to make some stitch markers! Yay! I want to make a whole bunch then send out some RAOKs ‘cus I haven’t sent that many yet. Here’s what I did so far:

They’re a bit hard to see, but I made an assorted bunch of knit-related terms. Since they’re all similar, this whole lot will go to one lucky FiberRAOK member! 🙂 I had so much fun making them! I wish I actually owned some myself, of any kind, since my current project is using 12 stitch markers and I’d love to put “jewlery” on instead of my little plastic rings. This Sunday I’ve asked Yannick to make some with me, since his brain works differently and I want to see what he’ll come up with to do with the beads. I think I’ll keep some of our efforts, and send out all the rest.

Wanna see what I did last night? A SELFISH project! Yay! It’s the DKNY-designed one-size-fits-all cardigan in the back of the big Vogue Knitting reference book, and it uses cables to make trees, flowers, a fence, etc…

Here is a (horrible) pic of the pictures from the book:

This shows the front (in my handly little plastic document holder).

This is a close-up of the little pic up there showing the back. You can’t see it well, but trust me, it’s cute.

This is what I’ve done so far. It’s the Left Front piece of the cardigan. After the ribbing you see some grass and a little meadow with flowers. 🙂 I’m right at the point to start the different trees, which is why I decided stitch markers would help. There are no repeats, but I marked off my chart with similar divisions to break down the long row into more manageble sections. I also spent 3 hours coloring in each different key in the chart a different color with 24 colored pencils but that’s not something we need to talk about. 🙂

Now let’s see if I can squeeze some knitting time into this morning before my dad calls to say “leave now!”.

For the first time in 3 months I don’t have any knitting commissions outstanding. This means I can knit *gasp* whatever I want! I’m in heaven!

Yesterday my dad wasn’t feeling well in the morning, so we went in to work a bit late. Wanna see what I did in the morning? I took out my bead and started to make some stitch markers! Yay! I want to make a whole bunch then send out some RAOKs ‘cus I haven’t sent that many yet. Here’s what I did so far:

They’re a bit hard to see, but I made an assorted bunch of knit-related terms. Since they’re all similar, this whole lot will go to one lucky FiberRAOK member! 🙂 I had so much fun making them! I wish I actually owned some myself, of any kind, since my current project is using 12 stitch markers and I’d love to put “jewlery” on instead of my little plastic rings. This Sunday I’ve asked Yannick to make some with me, since his brain works differently and I want to see what he’ll come up with to do with the beads. I think I’ll keep some of our efforts, and send out all the rest.

Wanna see what I did last night? A SELFISH project! Yay! It’s the DKNY-designed one-size-fits-all cardigan in the back of the big Vogue Knitting reference book, and it uses cables to make trees, flowers, a fence, etc…

Here is a (horrible) pic of the pictures from the book:

This shows the front (in my handly little plastic document holder).

This is a close-up of the little pic up there showing the back. You can’t see it well, but trust me, it’s cute.

This is what I’ve done so far. It’s the Left Front piece of the cardigan. After the ribbing you see some grass and a little meadow with flowers. 🙂 I’m right at the point to start the different trees, which is why I decided stitch markers would help. There are no repeats, but I marked off my chart with similar divisions to break down the long row into more manageble sections. I also spent 3 hours coloring in each different key in the chart a different color with 24 colored pencils but that’s not something we need to talk about. 🙂

Now let’s see if I can squeeze some knitting time into this morning before my dad calls to say “leave now!”.

LOL! You always make me smile! If you want to be half the knitter I am, then you need to be 13.5 years old with 3/4 of a year knitting obsession, plus a few months of knitting at 4 years old. (Ha, double all that for my stats). Really, I’m no expert! I just do a lot. It was kind of funny in my knitting class, we’d taken a 2 week break for Thanksgiving or something last year, and after the break Nicole asked everyone what they’d done. Everyone proudly showed off the completed sleeves and such of their class projects. I showed pics of my completed class project, and the mittens for my dad, and the felted bag for my mom, and…. It doesn’t mean everything was any good, it just means that I can squeeze a lot into my time. :] I have an advantage too ‘cus I’m not married yet and have no kids, so my free time is still my own. Yannick’s out a lot for work or bowling and stuff, so I have every Monday all day, every Tuesday night, plus free time during the week and weekend to knit. I also bring it everywhere and I’m not shy to whip it out say in the bowling alley if I don’t feel like bowling and I’ll just watch everyone else. But a million thanks for the compliment! :]]]]]]

Um…what are “hoons”?

Hey! I just checked out your blogger profile to find your blog address, and you’re a Virgo too? Cool! I’m born year of the Snake, how cool is it that a knitter is year of the Sheep? Lucky!

I just “plucked” your blog so I could read through on my Palm later. After a quick look your knitting looks great! I’ll be stopping by more often, promise! 🙂

:] I’m glad you enjoyed the surprise of the mag! Don’t feel bad, I was the one who didn’t think about the digests. I hope you knit tons from it, or at least enjoy the articles!

Thank you for stopping by! I am feeling much better now, thanks for the well-wishes. 🙂 I don’t know what’s with the weather lately, but I’ve been getting tons of headaches.

Thank you for always leaving a little note. It really feels good to know people actually come and read this thing I try to update, and even if it’s just a “hi”, your little notes always bring a smile to my face. 🙂 Happy Easter to you and yours too. I don’t celebrate but passed on the well wishes to Yannick when we celebrated with his family. (I’m Jewish)