i HATE picking up stitches....

so....i hate picking up stitches....i hate it i hate it i hate it

loathe it even
yes, loathe is the right word for it....
but its a necessary evil....well for doing the sweater.....
so i did the neck
pattern called for picking up 130 stitches......i had 114, yet somehow ended up with 124...maybe i just miscounted the first time? but no, i picked up stitches as i was knitting....i wasn't about to rip it out and start again....i HATE it! its so annoying...maybe i just don't know how to do it right, i mean, that's a possibility....i'm still a newbie when it comes to this knitting thing....most, if not everything, i've knitting til now didn't require picking up stitches....something else did...i think the dog sweater...anywho
here's the neck....124 1x1 rib for roughly 1.5"

ok....so neck done...
i had already dealt with the annoyance that is picking up stitches for the arms....i have a big hole in the armpit somewhere...can't see it in the picture.....it'll take some clever weaving in to fix it....but i can do it....
here is the sleeve i have kinda half done already.....i'm close to the end of a skein so i decided to start the new skein on the neck and then use it for the arm....the huge open neck hole was bothering me, now i feel better
but yeah...so here's the sleeve so far that ive gotten done...and here's a better closer up of the armpit
so far so good i think....i'm pretty dern proud of myself for getting this much done at all.....granted its a week after the due date, but whatever....i thought maybe i could get it done for tonite, have him wear it nye, but, alas and alack...i have failed to reach yet another deadline.....but i didn't pick it up at all during the week except for last night, and i've been too busy at work to knit thru lunch....so whatever...
ok soooooooooooooooohere's what the total picture looks like so far
not bad if i do say so myself....

it doesn't look as big as it should on me for some reason...i mean its a men's xxl and technically i'm a men's l....but it really is just hanging on me like a shapeless sack....soooooooo i think it'll fit....i'm not too worried about it anymore.....i hope the neck is ok...maybe i shouldn't have done and inch and a half...i don't know...that too is roomy on me....he's got a big neck...

so as you can see, i have a sleeve and a half left to do...i have to decrease down to 56sts and i think i have 80something....not too much longer to go....uh yeah there is....double pointed needles drive me nutso....not to mention the shooting pain i get down my forearm....i definately knit toooo tight on those things....i try to losen up, but then the stitches slip off....and i'm using the bamboo because i feel it holds the yarn on better...i don't know...
wish me luck...i hope i finish it soon.....

christmas has come and gone....

and the scarves and hat have gone as well.........to their new owners...

all who seem to love them! or at least really really like them.....
one coworker (the bamboo one) is wearing her's today....and apparantly her fave part is the lable....go figure....but she likes it....
and the pink wavy, she said her granddaughter tried to steal it from her.....

and my aunts liked their's....the argosy one.....didn't get the reaction i thought...but oddly enough, she had bought me this beautiful yarn that was very very similar to the yarn i made her scarf out of.....and the sws yarn aunt LOVED it...she said those were her colors, and even my uncle had said that those were her colors when he looked at it....

i'm glad they were all a success

notice how i said the scarves and hat have gone....

the sweater is still in my knitting bag....one sleeve on dpn's and the other sleeve still on scrap yarn and the neck waiting to be finished :(

i'm bummed i haven't finished it yet...but he wanted to hang out sunday, and who am i to deny him me? i mean really....monday night was the first night i went to bed the same day i woke up since thursday night....up to the wee hours of the morn and i still couldn't finish it...i know i'm a slow knitter, but seriously, i thought the sleeves would go by so much quicker then they're going.....ugh......

i didn't give it to him....i had said i was going to give it to him no matter the status of it, but i didn't have the time or energy to wrap it up....so if he comes over tonite then maybe i'll present it to him....then he try it on and i'll know how long to make the sleeves at least, or if it doesn't fit at all and to scrap the whole thing.....i'd much rather present him with a finished product...but whatever....i can't knit it in front of him if he doesn't know about it....but if he knows about it, it won't be a surprise....well it is a surprise, but, the reaction would be better if it were finished....
bummer

remind me to post pics of this unfinished garment later.....

maybe i should tell him about it, so that it doesn't fall by the wayside....i'd like to have it finished while its still cold out.....

making it worthwhile....

so....today is the last day at work before christmas....time to bring in all the gifts for the coworkers.....and see their reactions when they open....and to find out if you're right about whether or not they'd appreciate it....

first off tho, a new addition to the co-worker presents....last night out with louie he was picking up some wine for his coworkers and i thought, "ya know, we usually go in on a gift for boss guy, but i haven't heard anything yet, i'll just pick up a bottle of wine..." so i'm walking around the liquor store, finding out that theire not allowed to sell hard liquor after 10, and i don't know anything about wine....besides the fact that i don't like it and it gives me a headache...but daddy loves it....long story short, i found a bottle of wine called king david....perfect! his name is david (and then i found out today he buys wine using the same selection method, purely on the name, case in point, he bought my boss lady a bottle of wine called evil b/c of the name) and i said to boyfriend "i'll go home and knit a wine cozy for this! there's patterns online" yeah ok, it was 11 by the time we got home....didn't matter, went online, found a pattern, grabbed my size 8 dpns (i hate dpns) and some worsted weight yarn, asked the boyfriend which color, he chose the patons sws in like the charcoal color (not sure the exact colorway) and away i went.....away away until 330 am....and ya know? it was totally totally worth it....no label in it, if it went on the inside, he'd never be able to see it....so i just put the wine in, put it in the bag, and gave it to him this morning....he didn't take it out, i don't blame him, wine gift bags don't leave much to the imagination.....i wasn't sure if he'd appreciate something knitted, or even realize it had made it....altho he does see me knit during lunch sometimes...and during work last christmas time....a couple hours later, i hear my name and i go to his office, he's sitting in there with bitch ap supervisor and they both say "king david that's a great name..." and then he said "and i assume you made this?" (not in a snotty condescending way, but more in amazement) and i said yeah, and he said "that's talent" and i walked out probably glowing....and then later on i was talking to boss lady and she said she was in boss guy's office with someone else and he pulled out the wine, which i assumed to show off the name, but no, to say "she made this. she made it last night" and then he said to the other woman in his office "you should walk by her cubicle, she was knitting a sweater and it looks like something you would buy in a store"

let me just tell you
i don't think i've ever gotten a better compliment (i know it wasn't too my face, but you know, he still said it....) and when he saw me knitting during lunch he stopped and looked and he had an in awe look.....
so...ya know, that got rid of any worry that he wouldn't realize i made it and accidentally regift it with a bottle of wine to someone else....

i think i would have turned beet red if he had said that directly to me.....and ya know, other people have said things like that, like i should sell things and what not, but those are just hats and scarves....this is my first ever sweater.....it felt great to hear it.....

and i have pics of the wine cozy at home....i post later....promise

and here it is:

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the scarves....i realized i didn't take pictures of the final product....i just used some curling ribbon to tie around the scarf and put it in a cute little holiday themed decorative box (christmas tree shops hooray) and i made some care instructions tags....i went to michaels and bought a punch that looked like a tag....and mom has loads of cardstock (she has all this stampin up stuff....) and little punch that looks like a christmas tree....so what i did was i punched out tags in red and green , i wrote the care instructions on the green and punched 3 trees out of the bottom and put the red behind it and tied it up to the ribbon around the scarf....simple and cute....and i put a candy cane in there too, ya know, to be festive....

i gave lena her scarf first (the wavy) but she refuses to open it! even after much pleading and begging....then i gave keri hers (the red/black patons rumor one) and she said "i have to try and keep my mom from stealing it" and she really liked it....i gave susan hers (the bamboo one) as far as i know, she hasn't opened it....then i gave boss lady sue her's, and we had already given her a group gift, so when i handed her the box she said "you're so sweet!" and hugged me, and opened it and it was like that long kind of excited gasp and she said "its beautiful!" and hugged me and said i'm so sweet and hugged me again (ok find so i'm trying to kiss ass for like a promotion or something, whatever) and she said "i'm going to wear it all day!" which she's not, but thats ok, she currently has it hanging on her jacket outside her cubicle....she loves it! (her's is the drop stitch one...) its my fave of the one's i knit....i'm glad she loves it....and! she apparantly crocheted us scarves too! how cute! great minds think alike....

so all in all, the knitting was a big hit! and it makes it worthwhile...esp the fact that i got 3 hours of sleep from knitting the wine bottle cozy....he seems to really appreciate it and like it a lot....and ya know, who needs more than 3 hours of sleep when you can get the best compliment a knitter can get? or at least, a knitter who doesn't think she's really that good....

scarves scarves everywhere and not a drop to drink!

oh....and a hat too....

so i finished up my holiday knitting, well, ok fine, the bulk of it....i finished my scarves.....i still have to do the sweater.....lets start with the finished stuffs....

sooooooooooooooooo i saw on crafster this hat that someone made based on a hat at banana republic...i thought it was so cute....and i wanted to knit something quick for my sister because ya know, she got me these labels....and i thought i should make her something with said labels....so i made this hat....
but, she's got a big 'ol melon head....ok fine, that's kind of mean, but, whatever...her head is a bit bigger than mine, and this hat was kind of short on me....but i loved it with this big button.....we have this huge tin of buttons....but nothing large enough, and now that the rag shop is closed and joanne's is too far away, i tried michaels anyways, and i found this bag with vintagey type buttons, and i looked through and there were a few big buttons, but mainly small ones, but i saw this black one and thought it would be great, and it had a couple of large flat white ones too i thought might work if i were so to choose to make this hat again....and as it turns out, i decided to make the hat again.....for my sister....and i had picked up this blue when michaels had this crazy sale on yarn....and i thought the blue was nice, but what to do with it, so i tried the hat again, made the buttony seed stitch part longer and made the whole hat longer too....and its nice and long and covers the ears quite nicely...and then found a use for the large white buttons that came in that bag 'o buttons....see? big flat white button and it totally works on the hat.....don't ya think?
i think so.....i hope she likes it....she hasn't seen my grey onen yet....and i might admit that i do look so freakin adorable in said grey hat.....so, we kind of look alike, so she should look good in the blue one, and blue is her favorite color.....
i wish i had taken a picture of what the label looks like inside, oh, wait, i have one of the label in my hat somwhere....let me look for it....i found it! its a little blurry....i took it on my cell phone.....but hooray for hand knit! very exciting.....
so, then i had started out wanting to knit for my 3 aunts, and 3 coworkers, 6 scarves, then found out we're not exchanging with one side of the family, so that's 2 aunts and 3 coworkers- 5 scarves, then i decided i really should knit for one other coworker who's cube is right across from mine and we talk all the time and like, she's my sis at work ya know? so that makes 2 and 4......and whilst knitting one for one of my coworkers i decided i didn't like it, and knitted another one.....sooooooooooooooooo i ended up with 8 scarves, well, i only knit 7 this christmas, one i knitted last year but i'm gifting it this year......

ok, so on to the scarves....first up we have the scarves for my co-workers...

this one is the one i ended up making for my boss lady sue...i had started off with the my so called scarf (which will make its appearance later on in the post....) but instead i made this scarf i found on ravelry....just browsing about, looking for something knit with worsted weight yarn and free....did i ever mention i love ravelry? i mean, you can search by yarn and find patterns, its awesome!
anywho, here's the scarf i knitted for bossy lady, knitted with patons decor on size 10s....i fell in love with this pattern....and it went quite quickly too i might add....i made a few mistakes along the way, but, i don't think they're noticable, not even to me, i mean normally i see my eff ups and non knitters can see them....












and this is what i did with the label.....i put a lot of them on an angle


ok and now here's a scarf for lena, one of the ladies in my department....she takes the bus, so i wanted to make her a nice warm smushy scarf, so i used the bernat softee chunky and ever since i saw wavy from knitty i just really wanted to knit it, and this worked out great, i did it on size 11s and it turned out real nice and smushy.....so here's my smushy pink wavy for lena:

and here is the one i made for susan, she rounds out the sales audit department.....she's a short little woman, which is good because the scarf is only like 4ft long.....i used bernat bamboo, i think on size 10s? i think size 10s.....oh yeah just a basketweave pattern, nice and simple....

and this is for the last of the aero peeps...this is for keri....my "work sis"....she's seen me knit for everyone, i thought i'd knit for her too....granted i owe her armwarmers from last christmas.......yeahhh...........its patons rumor in spanish heather, 3 skeins on size 13s........

now the 2 scarves for my aunts.....one is argosy with plymouth encore colorspun and the other is yarn harlot's one row handspun in sws in natural crimson....

so the aunt i made the sws one for lives down the shore on the bay, so i think its kind of appropriate that it looks like a sunrise....

and finally, we got here the my so called scarf i had made and the scarf i made last year.....the my so called scarf i am going to gift to my boyfriend's sister.....

and this one i am giving to la abuela de mi novio.....its made with manos del uruguay....and his grandmother (and mother) was born there.....i hope she likes it.....i have to learn how to say i knit this for you in spanish....

and now, a sweater update................

i have like 5 inches left to do on the body, and the sleeves.........can i get it done in 8 days???????

yipes! stripes!!!

i've been notified that i have failed to post pictures of the sweater with the stripe!

i'm mildly obsessed with the 90's....mainly the music (ie, some grunge and alt college rock (ie, toad the wet sprocket, spin doctors, hootie, better than ezra, etc)) and chest stripe men sweaters.....i myself owned quite a few of them back in the day....so, when knitting this sweater for my man, i thought "hey! why not a stripe too!" because, he has a penchant for chest stripe sweaters hisself....

soooooooo here's where its at with the sweater....i have since done a few more inches of the merlot heather....i'm probably about halfway done with the body now? i don't know....and i think i'm going to keep the stripe to the body, not on the sleeves.....and my fear of it being big enough has subsided...it keeps growing width wise as i knit more....

yeah

here's a pic....

yay labels!!!!

since i decided to knit for people this year for christmas, i thought i'd be fun if i had labels for them....

so, i was searching, and my sister said that the ones i found looked kinda fuddy duddy...and so, since i know she likes to look stuff up, i told her to find and make some for me...and that she did!

the only requirements were that it has my name and that its handmade/knit....

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

they finally came in the mail yesterday! i had no idea what she had them look like, i didn't want to know....so, here's a crappy cell phone picture of them

yayay!!! aren't they fun???
i'm excited!!!! i was thinking of putting them on the scarves caddy corner??
speaking of scarves, found out we're not exchanging with one side of the family!! yay!!! one less scarf to make!!
is that bad? that i'm excited about that? they give crappy presents... ohwell...
i've decided i'm not happy with the scarf i've knit for my boss lady, so when i get home, i'ma frog it and see what else i can do with it....other than that, i'm done with 2, and more than halfway done with 2 others....
and i'd like to knit a hat for my sister maybe or something, on account she got me the labels....and i should finish the armwarmers for my coworker, or knit her something else...oh yeah...she covets my ribbon drop stitch scarf...done, that's easy to make....

someone remind me next time i want to knit for presents, not to do it! rather, don't let me start as late as september....i should start in jan....

ugh...back to work

the sweater curse

maybe the sweater curse has nothing to do with the mechanics of your relationship, but maybe it has more to do with you're trying so hard to make sure its the most perfect garment ever in existance that everything seems to go wrong, or you're so hyper paranoid that it won't fit that it seems like nothing is right....and you get so frustrated about it and take it out on your bf then he dumps you even though he doesn't even know you're knitting him a sweater...
i just looked up what wikipedia has to say about the sweater curse, and it breaks it down into possible reasons why there might be a break up due to knitting a sweater....the main reason for the curse that i've heard most is this:
Catalyst for analyzing the relationship. Giving or receiving a significant gift such as a sweater may cause either the giver or receiver to evaluate the relationship. For example, the gift may seem too intimate, too domestic or too binding to the significant other. It can be seen as a signal that makes them realize that the relationship is not reciprocal, prompting them to end the relationship before it involves obligations.

now, i don't think this applies to our relationship....i mean, he had asked me once to knit him a sweater, and he loves the stuff i've knitted in the past...and we've talked about getting married, so, i don't think the whole domesticity of it will freak him out, so i know that this reasoning behind the curse won't happen, and our relationship will be intact....

but then there's this one:

Misdirected attention. The knitter loves their sweater a little too much, and pesters the significant other about the sweater instead of working on their relationship.Alternatively, the knitter loves to knit too much, and spends too much time with their knitting instead of with the significant other.

i haven't seen him much the last couple of weeks, but not because i've had to knit, i just knitted because we haven't seen much of each other...he works til later than i do, and with other stuffs going on, just hasn't worked out...i haven't said to him "oh i can't see you because i have to knit" but...when i'm over his house i always bring my knitting with me (obviously not said sweater, but i have other things to get done) and he says it doesn't bother him, but ya know, if he's playing halo, what am i going to do? i mean i'd play (he got me a pink controller....) but i'd rather knit....and he made a comment that i think he's boring because i'm knitting, which he quickly retracted....he said he loves that i knit and loves when i knit...i mean i feel like i'm ignoring him sometimes when i knit, but i'm not, and he knows i'm not....and he knows i love him, and he also knows that i'm an idiot and decided to knit presents, but he only thinks i'm knitting scarves....

so, i mean, those are 2 main points of the "curse" that stuck out to me, but i'm like, 99% sure if we break up it won't be over the sweater.....well, i hope we don't break up at all...

right now, my stress over the sweater is that i don't know if it will fit....the pattern was causing me problems from the beginning....when it got to the point with the increasing for the raglan increases (redundant much?) it said to do 36 sets of increases (which i took to mean 36 rows...) and then it said to have 113 sts in the front and 113 for the back, and 89 on each sleeve...welllllll....36 rows of increases does not equal those amounts of stitches on the needles....but 28 rows do...so i did that....and i finally got to the 113/89/113/89 and put the sleeves on scrap yarn, and added the 23 sts for the underarms...and the stitch pattern matched up...but i'm looking at it, and i'm not sure it will be big enough....i mean mathwise (taking the # of sts/5 (cuz i get 5sts per inch)) leaves me with about 54", which, according to Old Navy sizing is an XXL, and he fits old navy sweaters, but, it doesn't look big enough....granted the sts are bunced up on 40" circulars, and i've only done a couple of rows, but, i don't know, i wasn't about to slip those sts on scrap yarn at 1am....so i'm thinking i might do that when i get home, get a better grasp of what the sizing is looking like, then i might just rip out those last 2 rows, put the sleeves back on and increase for a few more rows....but i hate doing that...i'm not very good at it, and i don't want to pick back for 2 rows...that's a lot of sts.....i guess what's freaking me out is i had bought an xxl sweater from old navy for sizing reference (because all his sweaters were away for the summer) and i measured it up against what i had knit last night, and the raglan part is waaaaaaaaaaay longer on the old navy sweater....and that started to freak me out...i mean he's got pretty big arms....he's got pretty big everything, he's a big guy...but he's been losing weight lately, i mean not enough to drop from an xxl to an xl, but, i don't know..i just don't know what to do.....

so, it just looks small...like it would fit me...and i wear a men's l....but then again, i'm horrible when it comes to guesstimating and estimating and shit like that....i have no concept of thigns like that....like i have no idea conceptually how long a mile is or how big 54" should be....i can't do it....so its quite possible it will fit....maybe i just need to take it off the needles just to see....the pattern says this would be a good time to try it on.....

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'M GOING TO SEE MARY POPPINS ON BROADWAY NEXT WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

normally i oppose to anything christmas before thanksgiving, but, i already gave my bf his christmas present (xbox 360...he had surgery and was going to be laid up for 4 weeks with nothing to do, and a new halo game out that he didn't have the system for.....oh and the sweater is for our anniversary which is xmas....) and he got the tix for 11/17 which is before christmas but whatever!

I'M GOING TO SEE MARY POPPINS ON BROADWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm just a little excited, can ya tell??????????
i'ma go buy the soundtrack at lunch....

scarves, chest warmers and thread killing.....

so
nothing much to write to be honest....
i finished 2 of my scarves (now a total of 6 to be done...whatsamatta with me????)
so i have 4 to go...i finished the my so called scarf for my boss lady, and the one with bernat bamboo for a coworker....and let me just say, that yarn is so soft! i was out and about in ac moore one night and i saw it, and i felt it and it was soft and i had to have it...but i only bought 2 skeins....so the scarf is just about 4' long, but i think thats ok on account my coworker is just barely 5' tall....and she's not the type that does the wrapy wrapy with the scarf, ya know just behind the neck...so i think it will be ok....and the my so called scarf, i think it could have been a little bit longer, well, at least for my taste....its for my boss lady, she's only like, 6 years older than me, so she'd probably do the wrapy wrapy, which can be done with this, it doesn't hang that long, maybe to the chest....if she just wears it around once, it'll be ok, but its long enough to go around the neck, plus it is kinda wide....but it came out good....there are a few rows that are totally effed up....they happened when ya know, i put down the scarf for a week or so and picked it back up again thinking i remembered the stitch patter, and alas, i did not....ohwell...its not that noticable.....she won't tell, just me...and then i bought all this extra yarn becuase i didn't have enough sws for this one scarf i was going to make for my aunt, and i wasn't happy with the stash i had to make one for my other coworker, so at walmart i bought some more yarn, but then the next day i wasn't happy with that either, so i went back to michaels, and bought some more sws in one dye lot, and decided to use what i just bought (i bought like 4 skeins) and then what's to stop me from using that receipt to return the other 2 i had bought a while back in a different dye lot? different dyelots don't have different skus....and some other yarn.....so then i had these 2 yarns not knowing with what to do, so i decided to knit for my other aunt and my other coworker (who i owe armwarmers to....tee hee)....ugh...so, 2 done, 1 40% done, 1 cast on, and 2 still trying to figure out what to do.....

for some reason i keep working on the scarves instead of the sweater for louie when i'm not around him....which makes no sense! i mean, he doesn't mind when i knit around him, so i should just knit the scarves when we're at each other's houses, and just knit the sweater when i'm actually home and not with him....but no! i keep picking up a scarf and starting a new one....do i think the sweater is too daunting? like, if i get all the scarves done i'll get the sweater done? i don't know....because they're less of an undertaking? i don't know.....but i've got about 8 rows of increasing to do before putting the sleeves on scrap yarn and just knitting the body.....which i mean, it is going quicker than i realize, i'm back at that stitch marker before i know it sometimes....or so it seems.....so, i hope it stays that easy for me....and ya know, i really think it has to do with the addi turbos....where as i normally prefer bamboo needles, only with the straights though, apparantly....the circulars, i guess i prefer anything but bamboo, so the yarn comes off the needles better...but omg i love the addis....i kind of want to go back and get every size and every length.....but that's just me....and ya know, its true what they say about the yarn....i was making this afghan for my sister's friend, using red heart and omg that yarn sucks! and it took me forever to do it....but i'm totally loving the knitpicks swish superwash....its so soft and doesn't feel like wool at all...i love......will definately use again, and it was affordable...i was going to use the cascade 220, but it was like twice as much, and i'd still need a lot of yarn on account i need to make an xxl, then i checked out the knitpicks superwash....and found the color, got it and i love it....
so its getting colder 'round these parts, and louie says to me the other night that he's going to break out his sweaters, and previously we were talking about the sweater curse and i said that i know he wouldn't dump me, but i'm probably not going to knit him one anyways, and then he said something about wanting a grey cardigan and i said a cardigan? not a pullover? and he says he never wears pullovers...and i go wtf!!! you have a whole bunch of them! and he said "those aren't pullovers, they're chestwarmers..." so then the curse wouldn't apply, because i'd be knitting him a chestwarmer, not a sweater...so, i'm in the clear!

ok, we got a temp at work yesterday.....and so i'm showing her how to do a report that i normally do but don't have time for during holiday, so she's doing this report, and thank God she picked up like it was nothing! our temps last year were wastes of space like you wouldn't believe....so she's sitting here doing this report on my computer, and i have a lot of other stuff to do....her computer isn't set up yet....and after a few hours of just sitting there doing nothing, i look at my knitting back which is calling to me, and i knit....her computer isn't set up yet, and i move too fast through the stuff i do that she wouldn't pick up on anything and she won't be doing it anyways, so i figure, let her do this report and get comfortable with it, and i'll do some knitting! and omg, i don't think i have ever been so upbeat at work...i looked to my work-sister and i said "omg if i could knit every day at work i'd be so friggin happy!" so of course now the temp has her own computer, and i'm sitting here trying to think of how i could knit....stupid me changed the layout of my cube, so now i face out (which was done to prevent people sneaking up on me while on craftster/ravelry/myspace (before we were blocked)/webkinz) but if i was facing in the corner like i had been, i could hide the knitting under the desk....and then last week we had a meeting in nyc, and so they bussed us jerseyites in, and i was knitting on the bus...and i was so tempted to knit during the meeting, but there were too many higher ups around me....but i totally could have gotten away with it....

side note, since ravelry, i've been spending less time on craftster....i was always mainly a lurker there, looking at everyone's projects, but, the few handful times i actually posted myself, i kind of got a rude vibe from people, but then i think it happens to me on most message boards, i'm such a thread killer, it always seems that whenever i post, the thread dies....but not like i say anything really that'll kill, i don't say avada kedavra or anything....it might just be a coincidence? who knows....but threads die when i post.....whatever

ok, i should do work or something......i can't wait for holiday to really start, even tho all the stores do stupid stupid shit all the time, it still keeps me busy.....
should i work? or try and figure out how to do some knitting without getting in trouble...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

1 down....kinda

so, i decided to knit for christmas right?
scarves
for coworkers and aunts, because i never know what to get them, and to be honest, i'd rather not get them anything at all (at least the coworkers that is....)....and i have a whole bunch of yarn in 2 skein quantities that really aren't good for anything but scarves....so yeah....

i started a couple a couple of months ago, just to get a head start and to give me something to do at my boyfriend's while he was playing video games or editing some videos for work....problem is i kept starting new ones....so...i have 3 scarves on needles, and 2 where i know the yarn i want to use, but no idea how to use it (not to mention said boyfriend's sweater....oh and did i mention he asked me to knit him a scarf??? told him it'd have to wait til after christmas, altho he only thinks i have the scarves to knit....)
*breath* anyways
i decided the other day i needed to finish one thing so i feel like i can accomplish this feat in time (last year i was finishing up everything the day i had to gift them....and i only knitted like 3 things and they were a hat, a scarf and legwarmers, oh 4 things, and a dog sweater) so i decided to finish up the my so called scarf for my boss lady.....and i think i have a few rows left...i fell asleep last night knitting...sooo i think i can finish it off....then i think i'll finish the basketweave scarf in the bernat bamboo for my cube neighbor....she's little, so the scarf doesn't have to be that long, i think i've got a few feet done, and she's not even close to being 5' tall herself, so, i think a 4' scarf might be good....we'll see.....then i'll either cast on for my other aunt's scarf (i think i have an idea what it will be, but i know it will be in the patons sws in natural geranium....i only have 2 skeins in the same dye lot, and its hard finding a good pattern for that with only 2 skeins....but i think i found one) or else i'll finish my other aunt's argosy that i started in the plymouth encore colorspun....its awesome kinda variagated kinda not blue/grey....the scarf is coming out narrower than i thought...but it moved along quite quickly that i think that's doable....now my other cube neighbor coworker, i don't know...maybe i'll use up the rest of the vanna's choice i have in black or i was going to use the bernat camo i have in blue frost....either way, i don't have a good pattern for that...i was thinking of one i've used before that calls for bulky yarn and size 13s...it goes quick, so if i hold 2 strands together i'll be good, and there are yarnovers, so if i use the black it'll still be interesting, b/c ya know, black doesn't really show cables or nice stitches....
but i really need to work on the sweater too!
i have time...i have time i do...
i was thinking of gettig some chinese food containery kind of things to package the scarves...yay or nay?
oh snap!
my other coworker....she loves the drop stitch ribbon scarf i made myself....i do have some blackish incredible yarn that i can use to make her one...that'll be quick...but what i really need to do is finish her armwarmers i started a year ago....i'm so close to finishing them....
hi my name is danielle and i need help with time management and knitting
i also ramble alot
and i wouldn't be surprised if noone is even reading this, and that's ok
i enjoy typing and rambling and its fun for me

my first sweater....oh and other ramblings apparantly....

that's right, i'm currently working on my first sweater.....my first real sweater.....ya know, it meets in the front...not like a shrug where its open and put on like a jacket....this is something that needs be pulled over a head and arms put through like a normal sweater that's purchased at a store...
wtf am i doing???

not only am i knitting a sweater, but i'm knitting it for my boyfriend!!!

omg i have a boyfriend! (ok that's a topic for another day and another type of blog...ya'll don't really need to know my personal business...just know that after just about a year, i still get giddy when i realize i have a boyfriend....)

anywho....i don't believe in the boyfriend sweater curse...and neither does he....i told him about it and he was like "oh posh" (he doesn't talk like that, but i don't remember what he said, and that's the first thing that popped into my head) i knitted him quite a few things before we were an "official" couple....i first knit him a hat with some left over yarn i had from an afghan...i was bored and i was telling him how my ex asked me to knit him a hat (after we had broken up) and he never wears it, so he said if i knit him one, he'd wear it...so...i did...and he loved it (still does over a year later)....we went to a diner that night (yeah nj and their 24 hour diners) and he was showing it off to our waiter...

i don't have a picture of it :(

the next thing i knit him was an ipod cozy with the green lantern logo on it...he's a big comic book nut and loves the green lantern....it was kind of tricky...i had knit myself an ipod cozy, but he has a video one which is considerably thinner than mine, so i really had to do some creative adjustments to the pattern and it was my first attempt at intarsia or fair isle, or whatever (see? i'm such an excellent knitter i have full grasp of all the terms!) and ya know, it came out pretty damn good! it came out a little wonky on the one corner there, but, still, not bad at all i must say...i rock! well, he was impressed

then i knit for him a batman hat...which is currently coming apart...i'm not the best at weaving in ends....and the top has come apart...but then again, i think he pulled on it alot...

again i impressed him and myself....but i hate this picture cuz it makes my nose look huge!!!

anywho....

so...now that brings me to today.....he asked me once to knit him a sweater....i told him about the curse...oh now i remember what he said....well, not verbatim....he said something along the lines that the knitting is what kept me around (when we first met, he was dating around...apparently the knitting gave me bonus points, hence i beat out the hoes and landed me a man!) *ahem* i digress....so yeah....i know he'll love it....even if its not perfect, and i know it won't be perfect...but he won't know...

now i go into the story of the sweater....i'm not even near 25% done with it....the pattern is the adirondack pullover from thegarterbelt.com....which i found from ravelry.com....which this site is fucking awesome! i had purchased the yarn (19 skeins of the merlot heather swish superwash and 2 skeins of the camel heather for stripe from knitpicks.com) and i was going to use that random raglan sweater generator pattern thing, but i don't know the exact measurements for what size he'd wear...and his sweaters are put away for the summer...so i bought one from old navy because i know the clothes there fit him....but then i found this pattern searching ravelry for patterns people have used with the knitpicks swish superwash...and that pattern came up (this information comes in handy later on as well)
so....i cast on what i needed to cast on for the largest size (what can i say, i like 'em big 'n beefy....) and so, i did the first 2 rows, and then when it came to the 3rd row, i got all sorts of confused....i had increased on the 2nd row, and the 3rd row had to go back to the pattern stitch...what? how was i supposed to do that! so i sent a message to a couple of people that had already made it on ravelry and i was stupid super anxious and no one was writing back! i mean, how dare they! i have time to spend all day on it (instead of doing work) why doesn't anyone else?? :P so my sister's friend is a knitter and i emailed her, and i even posted on craftster.org...finally i got a response from a raveler and she was such a help! my mom and i had already kind of figured it out, but she definitely helped it make more sense....especially to when i got to joining the work and realized i had 2 extra stitches! can i get a wtf mate? ugh!!
so fellow raveler and i have been going back and forth and back and forth trying to figure out the math of this thing...and wow...its kind of confusing.....right now i'm still doing increases and i don't have much left to do before separating the sleeves and knitting the body....i just hope its wide enough....anyways....here are some progress pics:

this would be after a few more rows of increasing...and joining in the round.....i'm on good pace i think....

and here's some more progress of still increasing....so far so good seriously....i took care of the extra 2 sts and noone would be the wiser (well, unless you're a knitter and scrutinized...i think when i p/u sts to do the collar it'll be ok)

and here's a closer up of one of the raglan seems and the shoulder...yay! and its a little closer to the color? i don't know, its supposed to be merlot heather, but its kinda brownish...either way i love it

now i just need to work on it! which is hard because i spend almost allllllllllllll my time with him...and ya know, its a surprise......but i do have 5 scarves to knit, which i can get done when i'm at his house and he's playing halo 3...and knit the sweater on the rare occasion i'm not at his house....or on lunch break at work....i mean, i can do it, right? just over a month?
yeah...its also for our anniversary.....i hope that doesn't tempt the curse.....

alright, i reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally should get some work done....like work work, not knit work done on the sweater...but i have to do that too....

tee hee...like my sheets? they're disney cuties...got them from target....so what i'm a grown woman with a twin bed buying sheets in the kid section....

post 1 on the new blog

ok, so i had another blog, chickwhoknits....and i never posted on it until the other day....and it was some rambling about how i started the blog a year ago for my knitting blah blah blah and then how my friend was over and i was telling her about how my sister ordered me lablels for my knitted stuff (i'm actually giving knitted things as gifts this year *fingers crossed* and wanted everyone to know and remember who made it ya know?) and my friend goes
"do they say deedle's needles?"
and i said "no....but damn! that's awesome!"
and i though to myself "what a catchy name thing for a blog or even a yarn store....mmmm i already have a blog, i wonder if i can change it...."
turns out i couldn't, and i didn't know i could start a whole new blog until just now....and this is what i've done...
i really want to take my knitting more seriously and i'm always interested in what other people have knitted and what it took to get them there, and maybe, just maybe....other people might be interested in what i've done or am doing.....
we'll see how i well i keep up with it all....

i never quite understood "blogging" in general....i mean, no offense, i don't really care what people do in their normal daily day.....so i don't read blogs....but like, a knitting blog or a blog about someting in particular other than what you ate that day might be more interesting....
but....whatever....

oh, about deedle.....this guy i was friends with, he used to call me deedle...not sure why really, maybe because my initials are dd? i don't know....but it was cute...and it stuck....but only he called me that (and another friend, but i really don't like when she calls me that) and my 2 bestie friends (they're married to each other) apparanlty call me deedle when they talk about me? i don't know, 1 of them is the one that said deedle's needles....and ya know, she's not normally that clever...

anyways....i'm at work and i really should do some of that...work stuff....