deedle's needles

wow

2011-12-22T19:11:00.003-05:00

i didn't realize how much i've neglected this blog
i re-named my other blog....i started invisilign in july, so the web addy is still nowimdanielleg.blogspot.com, but instead of wedding stuff, and photography stuff, it's all about my invisilign
and even that i'm neglecting!

i really meant to try and keep up with it
and i meant to try and keep up with this too.....but i haven't knitted anything in a while and i know i was going to try and keep this all about knitting
sigh
i didn't get to finish my 365 project i started last year, so i started a new one this year in january, and i'm almost done! yikes!
http://365project.org/dkg/365

i'm going to do it again.....starting jan 1st of course....maybe i'll blog about it
who knows

but, i have knitted some things for christmas.....a cowl, a slouchy hat, a couple of pony tail hats, a scarf and these cutest little tree ornaments from yarn miracle

i love them!

i made a bunch as gifts, and i'm going to make more....they're easy and don't take very long

anyway

maybe when i start the next year's 365 i'll blog about it

i really wouldn't mind being a clever blogger

*sigh*

ok so

2010-04-13T16:41:00.000-04:00

i need one hobby and i need to stick with it
but, i'm going to try and do my knitting AND photography
we'll see
right now, i started this 365 project that i've decided to blog about on my other blog
and post here
http://365project.org/danielleg/365

but, i hope to work on my sock soon, and have it finished, and work on the afghan for lissa...i guess i put that down b/c i'm not too excited about it...i'll have to revisit it and rethink the pattern....if i change my mind, i'm only out 3 skeins of cotton ease...there are worse things in life...
i got a 10% off coupon for knitpicks...perhaps i should find a pattern and use some of that yarn instead....
hmmm

(way to bring the blog back to knitting!)

my wedding!

2010-03-06T16:35:00.002-05:00

i blogged about the wedding with pictures on my wedding blog

now back to our reguluary scheduled programming

still de stashing

2010-03-06T12:46:00.002-05:00

i'm reposting about the de stashing...
all the yarn i was looking to get rid of was in my car for a while, then i had to clean out my car, and then it was hidden somewhere in my parents house....i had given some of it away to a coworker....
and now i finally have the bag 'o yarn in my house, and i've gone through and updated my stash for sale/trade page on ravelry
knittingchick's ravelry sell/trade page

but i'll post here too

so from left to right
red heart soft yarn- black- 1 skein
vanna white- black- 2 skeins
vanna white- navy- 2 skeins
bernat camoulage ombres- blue frost- 2 skeins
patons classic wool merino- forrest- 2 skeins
patons shetland chunky- harvest- 2 skeins
patons bohemian- indigo indulgence- 2 skeins
patons classic wool merino- wedgewood- 1 skein
bernat cashmere natural blends- snow- 2 skeins
lily sugar n' cream- dark pine- 1 skein
patons shetland chunky- everglades variagated- 2 skeins
bernat brealla "4" afghan yarn- brown- 1 skein
red heart soft yarn- cherry red- 1 skein
caron simply soft tweed- autumn red- 1 skein
patons shetland chunky- winter moon variagated- 2 skeins
bernat alpaca natural blends- charcoalish?- 2 skeins
bernat cashmere natural blends- earth- 2 skeins
bernat alpaca natural blends- navy/blue- 2 skeins
bernat softee chunky twists- tawny twist- 1 skein
lion brand incredible- black/grey- 2 skeins
bernat softee chunky solids and marls- navy- 1 skein
patons soy wool stripes- natural slate- 1 skein
patons shetland chunky tweeds- dark forest green tweed- 1 skein

i don't remember how much i paid for them, but, we can work something out
if someone is interested in the whole lot we can work that out too....

thanks!

my medals!

2010-03-02T10:23:00.008-05:00

i already posted the ones i got yesterday, but i just got 2 more!
so here are all my medals for the ravelympics

for my sock

for my hat

and for my frogged scarf...

i am done!

2010-03-01T09:04:00.006-05:00

with the first sock...
and it only took me 2 weeks!
w00t!

sweet!
it's like, a real live wearable sock!
i could have finished it thursday night, but, i got to the point of grafting the toe, and well, i was so freakin tired...i'd never done the kitchner stitch before, and didn't want to do it half asleep...
so....i thought then, bummer that i wouldn't win a ravelympic medal for it...i mean, it was a lot of work, and it looks really good and it was my first sock! so somone from team i did, suggested that i enter it in the free dance event....this is where a project you knit doesn't fit any of the other even descriptions...and well, since i only knit 1 sock and not 1 pair of socks...i did!
and i also entered it in the cable cross country event...
here are my medals :)

sweet, no?

then friday i decided that i HAD to have at least 1 completed project for the ravelympics, so i cast on the koolhaas and i finished it yesterday

i entered this one in the cable cross country, the event hat half pipe, the single skein speed skate and the stash compulsory dance (where you've had the yarn for more than a year)
they haven't gotten thru to awarding all the medals yet, but, for this one i have already got the stash dance one

and i guess i already have the cable cross country one from the sock....

then i thought, why not knit a pair of mittens! i thought i could get them done in a day or so...but no....we went out last night, so that didn't happen...
but i still want mittens....so, i'll finish those and then make the 2nd sock....
or maybe i'll finish those and start the argyle scarf for me...
or the afghan for lissa's new baby girl due in july

i'll just frame my first sock...yeah...no need for a 2nd one....

this is the sock that never ends...

2010-02-22T11:03:00.005-05:00

yes it goes on and on my friend, i sorta started knitting it not knowing what it was
and i'll continue knitting it forever just because....this is the sock that never ends...

yikes
how i ever thought i could finish a pair of knee socks in 17 days be beyond me....and how anybody let me think that too for that matter....

i am on day 11 of sock knitting, and i JUST turned the heel last night! i'll be lucky if i finish this ONE sock before the end of the olympics!

if i had picked a normal height pair i'd be on the 2nd one by now..or even just a plain knee high sock....but noooooooooooooooooooo i had to go and pick a knee high sock with this crazy cable pattern and seed stitch....cuz i know i'm a slow knitter...esp when it comes to knitting and purling in the same row!
my mom taught me to knit, and the first words out of her mouth were "it may not be the most proficient way, but this is how i do it...."
so, i'm not proficient, and i'm slow

but, i must say, i've become very good at picking up dropped stitches....that's for sure
UGH! i can't even tell you how many times i dropped a stitch or 2, or 3 (or 4...boo)
but! i can tell you,and point out, how many times i've screwed up...but then again, if i didn't screw up, it wouldn't be something that i knit....

i should have just stuck to normal socks

anywho

i do love the way it is coming out though, mistakes or no
and, i can fit it up over one of my calves at least....
why oh why would tall big footed me decide on making knee highs within a time limit

who knows
so yeah, i just turned the heel last night, and i feel a great sense of accomplishment....like, now it looks more like what it is supposed to be, instead of a leg warmer or some sort of tube of knitting....

here are some pictures
(i haven't taken a picture yet with the heel)

i didn't get to knit on lunch, so hopefully i will get some pictures taken tonite with the heel...and hopefully some of the foot...i think i have about 10 more rows to go before the foot?

it started to go faster after all the decreasing, because there are less stitches....and i started to memorize the pattern...hopeully that will help when doing the 2nd sock

i hope i don't fall prey to sss....

the ribbing at the top is tedious to me....and the seed stitch is killing me

but, this will not stop me from ever knitting another sock again!
i will do plain just knitted around knee socks...or short normal heigh socks....
but turning the heel was actually quite fun...i enjoy doing short rows...wish i had more patterns that called for that...

i wish i could knit during work, i'd be able to get the socks done before the end of the olympics...i didn't nearly get as much done this weekend as i had hoped...we had a surprise visit from lou's sister on saturday, and i had a lot of laundry/ironing that needed to get done yesterday....but at least i was able to watch the first season of pushing dasies! best.show.ever
and lou watched an episode with me, and then later inquired why they cancelled it...good question louie, good question...

alright, back to work!

let the games begin!

2010-02-13T10:44:00.005-05:00

so this year, i've decided to take part in the ravelympics....
the knitting olympics....
ravelry has set up many different events, that you can knit a project for...
i've always wanted to knit socks, so, i thought, why not!
i'll finally get my clessidra socks that i've been drooling over....
and i just bought some malabrigo sock yarn for the occaision....w00t
so, the point is to cast on during the opening ceremonies and then finish your projects by the end of the olympics so you can medal....i'm very excited

oh, i forgot i just blogged about that....ok then fine

i cast on my 76 stitches on my size 1 dpns with my sock yarn....yikes! my big man hands are having a hard time with it! i got to the end of the first row of ribbing, and the last 2 stitches slipped off :( boo
so i took it all off, and re-cast on.....lost a stitch somwhere in the middle, but recovered....and made it through the first row, and then did the 2nd....etc
i love knitting in the round, but, ribbing is very tedious to me....esp on such small needles.....i haven't gotten much done, but i only need to do an inch more, or maybe less, i didn't measure it....
this is what i had after 2 rows

haven't gotten much done since then....well i did, but, we'll see
i woke up "early"
830 is early for me
and i'm sitting here with my pink snuggie and my needles and my yarn logged into ravelry watching the live coverage

and now there is a commercial for knifty knitter? wtf?

ok, back to my real knitting!

wow....its been a while

2010-02-08T21:01:00.006-05:00

ok....so, a lot has happened since i last posted, no?
i got married, did you hear?
i wish i had some fancy neat professional pictures of my square cake bags, but, alas, i do not
they came out great though, and all the girls used them, and ilissa still uses hers
i left mine in the bridal suite all night....so much for carrying it around to put the cards in...
(i will post some pictures on my soontobemrsg.blogspot.com)

wow. wait
june was the last time i posted anything???
well, i hope to get back into the knit of things, and post more knitting wonderfulness

this year is the year of the winter olympics, and with the olympics now brings the ravelympics....which, this year i have decided to take part in....because, well, i really want to knit something
i finally brought most of my yarn (only the 'good' stuff, ya know, the lys stuff, not the acrylic stuff from michaels) to my house....still a good amount at my folks, but, whatever....
picked up the my so called scarf i was working on,

and realized i have 3 skeins of the malabrigo....so, since i'm only about halfway through the first skein, i think i might frog it and make something more substantial, but, i don't think i can get a sweater out of only 3....so, who knows.....or maybe i'll make the clapotis with it....i was going to make the clapotis with the 2 skeins of the manos silk blend that i have

but maybe i'll knit something else with that
problem is, i don't know what
i'm also going to, dare i say it, knit my first pair of socks!
i saw this pattern, clessidra , and well, the ravelympics are about challenging yourself.....so....never done socks before....i'm exited!
i went and got this eggplant color malabrigo sock yarn

i'm dying to knit with it already! ugh!
oh well, i suppose i should explain the raveylmpics
its a ravelry thing....where you cast on during the opening ceremonies, and then there are different category events, that you can knit projects for, and you have until the end of the olympics to knit them
i want to knit 2 hats, the socks and the clapotis
ha!
i'm going to start with the socks, and then go to the clapotis
i can knit hats with my eyes closed in a night, so, i will wait and do those last if i have time
luckily i am off on presidents day so i can spend all day knitting, and we'll probably only spend valentine's day at hooters (long story, but cute)
or i can just knit the hat now
no
now i have to find a pattern to use the manos silk for.....
oi

de-stashing

2009-06-18T08:54:00.003-04:00

i need to get rid of my stash

you can check out my ravelry stash page (in the trade or sell section) my rav name is knittingchick

i'm not sure exactly what else i want to get rid of...i plan on keeping my malabrigo and some of the cascade i have (stuff i've all ready made into yarn cakes)

here is my flickr set of yarn

you can leave me a comment or find me on ravelry

i've also filled a large bag with like, 40+ skeins of yarn....its a grab bag of acrylics and some other stuff....i have more yarn than i do pictures....i didn't get around to taking pics of everything....and some of the skeins i have might be partial skeins....
i should probably update my stash list on ravelry....ohwell...

so yeah, everything but the malabrio, manos, tilli thomas (i'm using it now), cascade 220, and some other random stuff, its up for grabs

try here instead

2009-04-23T14:24:00.003-04:00

curious about my wedding plans?
i've kind of stalled on my soontobemrsg blog
i've made a google site where everything is
http://sites.google.com/site/danielleandlou/

so try there

on the crafty side of things...
i'm knitting bags for my bridesmaids....
square cake from knitty.com
and i've got the tilli thomas disco lights and everything for it
oh shit!
i think some of my bms know this site
whatever
i'm also making one for myself
theirs in black

and mine in off white/ natural

2009-01-23T13:02:00.002-05:00

http://soontobemrsg.blogspot.com/

i'm ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-17T10:02:00.004-04:00

that says it all i believe!

the boy proposed in disney world on wednesday night, 9/10 at the california grill restuarant at the contemporary....it was perfect....

our reservations were for 9:30pm...and this place is at the top of the restuarant and they have observation decks to see the fireworks....so we got there at 9 to see the fireworks, and so we went out on one of them, but it was too crowded, so we went to the other one....and we watched the fireworks and it was awesome...and then finally everyone left, and we were taking pictures of ourselves

and looked out over the magic kingdom, we could see cinderella's castle, but it was too dark and foggy (it POURED earlier in the day) but space mountain was right there

so after all that, we were just cuddling up next to each other standing there, waiting for our table to be ready, and he asked me "did you make a wish?" and i said "yeah, but i can't tell you, cuz then it won't come true...did you make one?" he said "yes, but i can't tell you either" and then he said "oh, i think we're buzzing" so i moved so he could get to his pocket with the buzzer, pulled it out and said "oh, i guess not.." and then reached back into his suit jacket and said "but...i do have this" and he pulled out a ring and got down on one knee....and according to him, i leapt about 5 feet in the air and about 3 feet back...and i started freaking out and crying and he was telling me how much i mean to him and how much he loves me and will i marry him...and what seemed like forever, i said "of course!" and he stood up and we hugged and kissed and hugged and said i love you and he then said (after a while of doing that) "so, can i put it on you?" and i said yes and he slid it on and all i could think about is if it will fit and is it too hot are my fingers swollen and omg...it fit perfectly! (so i may or may not have told him what size i am....just for the sake of making sure it fit when i got it...i didn't want to not be able to wear it right away ya know)....so then after lots of crying and love you and hugging and stuff our table was ready...and we could barely concentrate on anything...the restuarant took pictures for us,and just emailed to us....

it was a great disney vacation....and an amazing ring!
behold!

he designed it himself...i knew he wanted to pick it out, but i knew he'd be nervous if i would like it...so i had, randomly dropped hints, maybe not so subtly, but i let me known i do not like yellow gold, and i like the princess cut, and i just want simple...just one will do...oh, and i'm a size 8....and...he did wonderfully! its the most amazing ring i've ever seen...its almost as if it were made just for me! (yea well, i know it was really made just for me, but you know what i mean) its perfect...he's perfect....i can't wait for the wedding!
and NO we have NOT picked a date yet! but we are hoping for fall 2009!
YAYAYAY

its done!!!

2008-08-30T19:37:00.003-04:00

i finally finished my rusted root....my first sweater for me! 2nd sweater ever...i hope i don't break up with myself...

took me a while to finish it, but my goal was to finish it before disney world. we leave a week from today, so i'm good...

again i reiterate what i have said about my hate for picking up stitches.....HATE IT!!! i can't seem to get it right....this time i seem to have a ridge inside which is making the neck line kind of fold out....but its not that noticable when wearing it....which is good....

so yay its finished....what? you would like to see more pictures? okay
the pictures in the post before before, taken from my phone camera i think indicate the color better....its a little too shiny and bright from my real camera....i'm not a bright kinda person most of the time...

altho this one doesn't look that bright...

and this one looks a little too dar

and here you can kind of see what i mean about the neck...the sleeve kind of does it too, but not really...after binding off the bottom, i realized i bind off too tight...its a good thing i didn't switch to the smaller needles like the pattern called for to do the ribbing...i kept with size 7 through the whole sweater...except i learned my lesson and for the sleeves (which i prefer not to be too snug thank you very much) i used size 8 to bind off....for the neck as well...

this is me wearing it...

and here we have the full outfit...i had purchased the skirt before i even started the sweater, but i purposely bought it to wear with my rusted root....i think it looks cute...

this is me wearing it...

and now some more random pictures for you

knitting lessons...

2008-08-17T22:12:00.006-04:00

so, yesterday was my bff's son's first birthday party....and whilst at her house i found a stack 'o stuff i believed to be mine...how i knew? one, there was a supersized box of fun dip....and ya know, i love fun dip, and i had asked her once does she know where i could get some, because like an idiot, i forgot michaels and ac moore has it...but she found a box at bj's and bought it for me, also on this pile was my "i am sam" dvd that i loaned her eons ago, and well, now she's giving it back...and last but not least was this tin bank, that said on it "i'm savin' up for knitting lessons" that made me know for sure, that it was for me....this is like, one of the awesomest things...

this ^ is the picture on the front and the back of it

this^ is where the money goes in

this^ is one side of it, and below is the close up..

it says "i need half a gram of wool and quick! i'm starting to come down..."

and this ^ is the other side of it....its blurry and part on the top is scratched off..

but i believe it says "ever fantasized about knitting your own work (of art)? or instantly whipping up some winter mitts and a matching scarf? don't fool yourself. it's gonna take some serious money to learn how. That's where we come in with our easy-to-use magic wool fund (tm). we'll have you savin' up before you can holler 'knit one purl two!' You love wool? that's your problem. our problem is helping you find the funds"

and then underneath that is a government warning: sharing knitting needles can be hazardous to your health!"

how freaking awesome is this??????? best.present.ever. i told her i'm going to put money in it, when i get enough for a good skein i'm going to use it to knit her a scarf or something....

i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and now for something a little different....

2008-07-20T23:33:00.007-04:00

i know i haven't posted anything lately and really, does anyone even really notice? does anyone read this? ah whatever....all i've been doing latey is working on my rusted root...i gots some progess pics on that one...

hooray that it looks like it fits!!!

since that one picture does not make for an interesting blog, i have decided to bless everyone with my sister's talents....
so....today was my neice's 2nd birthday, and yesterday was her grand party...my sister outdid herself again....the theme was princess....and the cake, was a castle...based on courtney's little people toy castle...(which i have no picture of...boooooooo)
this is the cake

and here's another front shot

and here's a close up of the unicorn....oh, did i mention this is the first time my sister used fondant? and she actually made said fondant!

and here's the back

(and of course, a pic of the neice and nephew!)
how awesome is that cake? oh, and here's some cupcakes she made too

oh, and how can i forget my mom's cookies! her sugar cookies!

oh, and her little cake for her real birthday

oh what's that you say? what other masterpices has my sister put together? ok, we'll go backwards to jake's first birthday...
next we have jake's 3rd birthday...theme was, dinosaurs...she made 2 cakes for this one, one for his real birthday and one for his party...they were pretty much the same

then, before that was courtney's 1st birthday...theme was the beach...yet another awesome awesome cake...

she also made cupcakes, but i don't have pictures of those....

now we have jake's 2nd birthday...theme was airplanes...

and the whole thing that started it all......jake's first birthday...theme is football...

so yeah, these are my sister's awesome awesome cakes...and apparantly she's got something up her sleeve for my 30th...i can't wait...

oh yeah!! she also made these cute fishermen's hats for the kids favors for the party...i got one too

they're child sizes...so yeah...a little small for my head

pictures of stuffs....

2008-05-22T10:30:00.003-04:00

ok so, what did i write about last time....the lovey?
i finished the lovey, but i don't have any really finished pictures...i did 2 inches of each color twice...it was a little smaller than i thought i'd make it, but carly said it was a good length....now whether or not it's helping courts sleep, no idea....they call it stripey...

so then i started on the stegasaurus for the jakes...omg worsted weight on us 3's give me crampy hands :( sad face...but it came out a lot cuter than i thought....it took me about a week or so, but that's cuz i didn't see louie much that week....so i had time to knit it...the body part took me forever, and the seaming wow took me forever....

so i told him i go, "jakey, i have a surprise for you! close your eyes" and i go to open the door to upstairs becuase i have it on the stairs and i give it to him and he's all excited!

and then courtney covers her eyes...opens them and goes to the stairs...and i go "ohh noooooooooooo! ok i'll start yours today...." and asked her what colors she wanted and he said "peeenk and wewwwo"

so since this picture, i've done the other 2 legs and the gusset...working on the other half of the body, and the spikes....which will be yellow....saw louie more this week....
i always wanted an awesome super terrific boyfriend, but, didn't realize how much that cuts into my knitting time!

but he's not that bad...
look what he brought me

i like carnations (white) and the daisies (purple) and the sunflowers (omg please don't tell me i have to tell you which ones they are)
and here, just because i love the macro and my new camera and the fact that it takes awesome pics without the flash in the iso:

yayayayayay!!!

and now me in a gratuitous (omg spell check anyone?) shot of me in my rav gear

yeah my boobs look huge! (its the angle...and the uber padding....)

too many wips, not enough time...

2008-05-02T11:10:00.005-04:00

ok so i last posted about all this great yarn i gots, right? for my rusted root and for the argyle scarf i was going to make my dad.....and my new yummy malabrigo...

and that was a while ago....

i think i have about 5 things on the needles now?
yeah...that sounds about right....add to that another rutgers blanket i have to make for my sister's friend that just had a baby....i do have a while for that, she (the friend) doesn't know i'm going to do it, so she's not expecting it, and the baby will be a baby for a while....

anywho, what i've been up to...

i was uber anxious to try out this mmmmmmmmmmalabrigo, so i started up the my so called scarf

OMG YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but its not important to finish, so i moved on to other things...

the boy wanted a hat, i wanted to try koolhaas, i had left over knit picks from his sweater, and i never took a finished pic

then i started the argyle scarf for my dad, i was really anxious to figure out this double knitting thing...omg so so much fun!!!! and a lot easier than i thought....

this is the green side....

and this would be the black side

and here are close ups of the diamonds

then, with the double knit kick i had going on, i decided to start a ny red bulls scarf for the boy...he's got season tickets....and so i started it and dad goes "its ok, i don't need the scarf til it gets cold again anyway..." kind of sad and dejected, but not entirely....but its ok, i haven't gotten much done on the red bulls scarf either, i'd post it, but the only picture i took was like, an inch...i'm doing the double knitting with that too...using a skein of white caron simply soft and a skein of red simply soft....going to do red and white stripes, then in red letters (going the right way) RED BULLS and then stripes again, and then obviously reversed on the other side....its a pain in my arse, that's fo sho....

then i saw the mosey on the knitty...i'm not much of a leg warmer person, but omg are they cute!
i did the first 9 inches of ribbing, then realized i was 4 stitches short! somehow i didn't cast on enough...but here's a pic of the ribbing i had done, before i ripped it all out...

its no where near this long right now either....i keep getting distracted!!

then the weather got really really nice, and i bought this cute white foofy skirt, and thought how cute the rusted root would look with it....so...i started the rusted root
its hard to get a fair representation of the color, i just took these pics last night...i should have tried for natural light....i'd say its a bit lighter than this

and a little darker than this

and here's a close up of the lace work

and lastly but not leastly
the other day i was out "sick" from work, and while carly and i were at the mall, she was trying to find something for courtney, something to help her sleep through the night....ya know? so when she wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, she can go back to sleep....so we're looking at stuffed animals and what have you, and then all of a sudden, she whips around and goes "I KNOW! YOU SHOULD KNIT HER A LOVEY!!!!!" so we were going to go to mihcales and get some yarn, but didn't so we went the next day....something inexpensive, and of course machine washable...looked at the lion brand cupcake cuz ya know, i love cupcakes so i thought about the yarn, but then we checked out the cotton ease...i know i like working with it and how it knits up because i used it for my shrug that one time...and then i picked a few colors, asked courts which ones she liked...then carly saw the knitted swatch hanging there and decided she wanted those colors, like that....so i got:

i cast on about 65, just about over 12" and i'll repeat 2" of each color, 3 times, so it'll be about 18" long....she didn't want anything big...here's another pic...i went with just a seed stitch border and stockinette the rest of it

oh, and i highly reccomend seeing IRONMAN
it was really really good

deedle and the yarn crawl (and my new toy....)

2008-03-05T20:01:00.003-05:00

i got a yarn ball winder and a swift for christmas this year! from my aunt who always gives me not so great presents....so that made it awesomer! i've been dying to use it...but i haven't bought hanks of yarn in like forever.....

sooooooooooooooooo

not last week, but the week before...i was having a shitty week....and on saturday my mom came with me on a yarn crawl....

there are a whole bunch of yarn stores in the area that i just became aware of and had never been to....so i wanted to go! and we did!! i was going to go that friday because i had taken a mental health day, but as it turned out, it snowed real bad and well, me and my non 4 wheel drive didn't leave the house (and yay! work decided to not take a day away from me and left it a regular day- the office wasn't closed, but a lot of people didn't come in so...yeah)

annnnnnnnnyways

as it was, the only lys i had been to was yarnware and the skein attraction.....but yarnware doesn't exist yay! oh, did i say yay? i was not a fan of their brick and mortar store...i found they were a lot nicer to deal with via their web store....i had ordered online with them a couple of times, and they were so nice and helpful....when i went into the store, they seemed, i don't know....like, i don't know...i don't want to say condescending....but when i didn't know what guage the project called for it was like "ugh, well do you have the pattern with you?" and like, its a blanket....i need yarn...i'm going to give you gads of money because i want to use nice real yarn, not stuff from michaels....don't treat me like i don't deserve help with stuff...

sorry....didn't mean to rant....that wasn't even a full rant.....

then my mom saw an article about a yarn store in teaneck....the skein attraction, which i love the name....and i went to check it out, and they had some manos del uruguay and i was sold (the bf's fam is from uruguay....) and they were so nice and helpful...didn't make me feel like less of a knitter for not knowing much about guage and not having anything specific in mind.....and they offered to wind it for me! (yarnware didn't offer it...) and they're super helpful and close and yay!and oh i've also been in majestic yarns in ridgewood, but i didn't know really what i was looking for so i left....

but yeah, i need more than just one lys ya know? every store offers something different....

so back to the yarn crawl....first we went to creative knitworks.....looking for a good substitute for the yarn for the rusted root....i want to knit myself a sweater and ya know, a nice short sleeve sweater i should finish in time for the right season....so i went in there and seriously its like a kid in the candy store....i don't know the name of the woman who helped me, but she was very helpful helping me find a suitable yarn for the project.....and we looked around and they have a great selection of yarn...and omg they have the cutest buttons! so they offered to wind up my hanks but i said "no thanks, i got a winder and a swift for christmas and i can't wait to use it!"

so this is the yarn i got for the rusted root, its cascade sierra in ruby...the color isn't that bright in real life...i'm not a red person really, but this color struck me

on the way to that store, we passed by a new yarn store, yarn diva....and ya know, i felt like we should stop in, it's the right thing to do....noone was in there but the owner and her mother.....so i was looking around, and i felt like i should buy something, cuz i didn't want to just go in and leave....and then after some perusing, i found malabrigo! after reading how much everyone who's used it loves it and i needed to get my hands on some to see what the big deal was...so i grabbed a skein of this beautiful green color and omg! it was love at first touch...i bought 3 skeins....i started up with the my so called scarf with it...then maybe i'll make a matching hat? i don't know....i never buy enough for a large project...but whatever....mmmalabrigo love! and then mom and i started chatting with them and found out that it was a mother and daughter and they seemed really nice....and i hope things work out for them...its like a block or so away from creative knitworks...but ya know, they carry different yarns, so it should be ok...they too offered to wind it up, and i told them the same thing ;)

how pretty is this green?? i mean really......and more uruguay yarn! i can't wait to go there and get yarn from the source...hot!

from there, we went on to closeknits in ho ho kus.....there were quite a few people in there....they had a good selection too, but seemed a bit cramped....didn't buy anything there....but i'd definately go back....i used my gps to tell us how to get to and from all these places....and so we were looking at the directions....and then i realized how close it is to me! and there's a sale going on now....so i think i might be going there on saturday....i don't need more yarn, but...soooo tempting!

soooooooooooooo then i was looking up online more yarn stores in the area, and modern yarn in montclair, i plugged in that address to mapquest and found that it is only 15mins from me at work...uh oh! soooooooooooooooooooo i went there during lunch....and well, they have malabrigo too!! so i bought one more skein of a different color there....i guess i make a hat or something with it? some fetching? i don't know....i love it.....i'm going to one day seriously buy enough and make me a sweater out of it...promise...i also bought some cascade 220 in green and black to make the argyle sweater from the son of stitch n bitch book for my daddy.....its not good to know i can make it to a lys during lunch.....danger!

yum! more mmmmmmmalabrigo!!!!

omg yay!!!! winding yarn is so much fun!!!!!! i know i know i look tired, but i was infact tired...but omg! look at how cool the swift and the winder and what not is! i love it! must.buy.more.hanks.

sweater curse shemeter curse part 2

2008-02-15T12:18:00.005-05:00

so
i just had a txt convo with boyfriend and it went like this:

bf: i don't think i can wear this sweater to work anymore. too many people are sweating it

me: really??

bf: they are mega impressed

me: yay! is it comfortable?

bf: very and warm

me: i've got a big stupid grin

bf: i wish it was colder so i could wear this everyday

me: me too

yayayayayayay!!! he loves it!!! and he's showing it off!!!!!!!!! stupid sweater curse.....i squish you!

sweater curse schmeter curse

2008-02-15T08:26:00.003-05:00

hi. my name is danielle and i knit a real live wearable garment for my boyfriend, who is still, in fact, my boyfriend.

poo on you sweater curse!

you are a myth and nothing but a myth and something some knitters came up with one day to try and explain why their relationship ended.....

i mean it could be true of gifting your man anything....anything from a handmade sweater to a fancy shmancy something or other....if your relationship is doomed, its doomed.....you should probably take stock of how things are going before deciding to knit him anything.....or knit him something smaller to test the waters.....if you knit him a hat and he doesn't wear it, who's to say he'll wear a sweater?

i knit for my man in the past, a hat (first thing i ever knitted him) he loved it...didn't take it off that whole night (not for anything!) and i knit him an ipod cozy...not sure if he uses it anymore...he did get a new ipod since then....and then i knit him a few more hats.....and he wore them all...and appreciated all the work that went into it and thought they were all great...he loves when i knit....he told me, that when/if we get married and get our own place, i get to have my own knitting room! of course, he gets to have a yankees room and a gi joe room....and after much consideration and reviewing available funds, looks like all 3 rooms will have to be the same room....ohwell....

back to the point of the post....i knit him a sweater, and he loves it! and we are still together...altho, i must say, the night before i had my doubts....but was still pretty sure the outcome would be a good one....

remember how i thought he knew? because he overheard? well, he swears he didn't over hear anything, and he swears he didn't find my blog.....and then later on, he reminded me that he kinda thought i'd be knitting him one when i was randomly taking measurements one day.....yeahhh...forgot about that....he was over, and i was knitting, had my knitting bag out and i grabbed the measuring tape....and i thought i was being slick....i didn't even use those measurements.....and then he reminded me how he asked me for one...but i kept saying "no i don't want you to dump me"

sooo then the other night, we were texting, and something came up about llamas and i said i'm using their fleece to knit you a sweater and he goes "just knit me a sweater, i can't wait to see if i'd dump you" and i go "oh i can wait" he thought the sweater curse was silly, and he's right....but it was a fun excuse to not knit him anything....

so his eyes like lit up like a kid at christmas...he was so excited....and he put it on...and it fit!!! it fit real well....the sleeves were a good length..he always seems to roll up, rather fold up, the ends of his sleeves...but i think these are just long enough....and the neck hole is big enough...i was worried about that too....and its definately big enough around his chest...i thought it'd be stretched out completely and maybe clingy...but its not!!!! its perfect!!! the only thing tho, is that its not quite a chest stripe like i had hoped it would be...its a little lower then i thought....and i go "i shoulda made it one solid color, the stripe is lower then i hoped" and he goes

"baby, its your first sweater! its awesome! i love it!" followed by how talented i am and he's impressed yadda yadda definately wear it, wear it to work tomorrow yadda yadda

anywho

without further ado

front and back....i was sitting down....no flash cuz when i do i get like, little spots? i don't know if its something on my flash or something on the view thing (technical term, i know)

see?? i don't know what those spots are from...annoying....plus its a bad angle...makes it look like he's got some flattop hair action thing going....

and ugh! it bothers me where the colors change!!! why would the pattern call for the new row to start in the front!! fine, i know, i shoulda gone with my gut instinct and started the new color under one of the armpits..i know i know.....

and one more gratuitous shot 'cuz he's sooooooooooo cute! and the sweater looks awesome

i think he's wearing it right now as i type!! altho its supposed to be like, 50 out, so i don't know if he'll think its cold enough.....

booooooooooooooooooooooooooooored

2008-02-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

i'm bored

i went with my friend lissa the other day to get her tattoo covered up....(looooooooooooong story, but, to sum it up, she got a tattoo similar to this "friend" she had, who ended up sueing her for half a mil, and so she decided she did not want to have this reminder anymore) and i thought i'd bring a little something to knit....i had finished the sweater (huzzah!) but i wouldn't have wanted to bring that with me....
so i searched ravelry for something little and fun and decided the willy warmer, because really, what willy doesn't need warming....and granted i knitted my man a sweater already for the v-day, why not a sweater for his, ya know, willy....
yeah yeah i KNOW! i have to finish keri's armwarmers! maybe i'll have them done for her birthday this year....i had one done for her birthday last year....
anywho...i started with the willy warmer and, well, umm...i don't know if it'll be big enough?
yeah....tmi whatever!

speaking of my man...he had picked up the comic life program for his mac...because he thought maybe we could make up a comic book for my neice and nephew about our fam trip to north carolina, but we never got around to it....then he thought we'd make up some knitting comic book...where i'd be the heroine....and the name of my store would be nelly's knits....or knelly's knits...ya know....to keep with the alliteration.....my brother in law calls me nelly, and so my nephew (can't quite say his l's right) calls me nenny and now my neice is starting to call me nenny....on the random occasion she calls me anything....and ya know....i wish i could have a real yarn store....i know nothing about yarn like all real yarn store owners do...i just want to own a yarn store....so i can knit all day....and play with the yarn.....i'd hire people to work for me who actually get guage and understand what kind of yarns can be substituted for each other...and who can finish off garments well and who can seam sleeves....see, i'd need to hire these people so they can help me with it all....cuz ya know, i don't know any of that shit...i just want to hang out in a store full of pretty colorful yarn and do stuff....like chill on ravelry or read or knit! ya know? and i'd definately call it knelly's knits...or deedle's needles...but i think the later would make people think i sell like, sewing stuff maybe, or just needles....i don't know...it won't happen though....
come to think of it though, one of my friends wanted to open a coffee shop years ago....maybe i should try and talk her into that again and we can make it like, a knitting/coffee shop....she had this location in mind anyways and she was going to give me the top floor for like, musicy stuff....but i think i'd rather turn it into a yarn store..... *mental note* must talk to cory about this...hmmm...but no....she's making good money where she is....if i was making good money where i am, i wouldn't be thinking about leaving....what? i don't know
i'm just bored and felt like rambling instead of doing my boring work...

i brought my sweater in to work today to show it off....and everyone is very impressed, saying how talented i am....and really? yeah i'm impressed by it.....but i guess they're impressed by it because they don't knit, so they're impressed by it the same way i'm impressed by other knitter's who do amazing intarsia and stuff....i don't know

next thing i knit after i finish keri's armwarmers that is, is either socks or a sweater for me...oh shit! i told bf i'd knit him a red bulls scarf....ah crap....fine i knit him the scarf then i knit me a sweater....good because i have 2 on my list that are short sleeved...i have to decide if i want to use the reccomended yarn or use something else....b/c they don't sell either at my lys (which is having a sale this week) but i think they sell it at another one i have yet to go to? i don't know

i ramble
ramble ramble ramble

2 hours left of work...suppose i should be productive

eep!!

2008-02-09T01:28:00.000-05:00

it's finally done!!!!

a little less than 2 months late, but its done!!!!
(ok fine, i have to add one of my labels, but its done)

so it is now a valentine's day present.....i was going to get him something else, like a new watch or something, but.....i don't want anything detracting from the awesomeness that is the sweater!

after much turmoil (omg could that pattern have been any more confusing???)
i've got 2 and a half skeins left of the mc, and less than a skein of the cc....
all ends weaved in

the only thing, i thought i could fix where the colors started/stopped, but you can kinda see....i did the joggles thingy, but, whatever....its minor...not the end of the world....nothing that ripping out would accomplish....also, the bottom rolls up....after doing a purl bind off on the collar and sleeves, i realized i should have done the same on the bottom....but...i kind of like the way it looks rolled up....

right now all i want to do is call him and tell him, but i can't....i have to wait til thursday
i hope it fits...
i think i will cry like i've never cried before if it does not fit
no joke
it fits me...but like, big and loose and its not stretched out...so with the ribbing, it should have more give...and it should fit him....

wait? what? you wanna see pictures?

oh ok..... :)

folded up and ready to go!

i used a strand of the camel color to mark the back of the sweater...i don't want to ut my label there incase it irritates him....sometimes i don't like clothing labels...i think i'm going to fold it in half longways and sew it into the side of the sweater towards the bottom....

omg yay!

i knit a fucking sweater!

how fucking awesome is that?????????????

GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-04T08:47:00.001-05:00

yeah!!!!!!!!!!
bein from jersey yo...gotta represent!
yeah yeah ny giants, but their stadium is in new jersey....
i don't care much for football, but, my dad sis and bro in law love the giants....and the bf hates the pats....so yeah. GO GIANTS!!!!
and even tho i don't care much for football, that doesn't mean i can't appreciate an exciting game when i see one...i mean omg! did you see eli getting pulled everywhere yet still get out of it to pass and then the other guy catch it with his helmet? what a pass! and then that one touch down? and then the last one to win it? holy shit! could he have been more open then that? like i said..i don't know much nor do i care much about the game....i try....but a year of being forced to watch while in marching band kept me from enjoying any little part of football.....
so i think i've seen 2 games the whole season....yesterday and then the playoff giants game a couple of weeks ago while on the boat......man oh man....bf and i had just finished saying how that kicker is going to be FIRED and then he turns around and redeems himself.....like i said....not a huge fan, but i can most definately appreciate an exciting game......

but, it also would have been a great time to get the sweater finished!
i was working on it saturday night and when i woke up in the morning, but, like, i had to stop because lou was coming over...i have about a foot left? i have 90 sts....have to go down to 56, decreasing 2 sts every 4 rows...so what, 68 rows left? then switch and do an inch or so more? i can definately get it done by v-day
sweet

anywho
i brought up the cruise again....suppose i should 'splain
the rock boat is only the greatest thing ever in existance.....it is, in a short explanation, the greatest rock festival ever! not only is it the greatest, its on a boat, how awesome!
its this cruise with sister hazel and like, 20-30 bands/singer.songwriters on a cruise ship...cruising the carribean playing music all day....seriously, what could be greater then that? the first one i went on was in '06, their 6th cruise....and i only went on it because of glen phillips who was/is the lead singer of the greatest band ever, toad the wet sprocket......and it was awesome! we got to go snorkling with glen at playa del carmen mexico...i mean really, how awesome is that? and i got to meet a lot of people i had known for a while, but only online.....it was great.....then in '07 i took one of my bestest friends to go....there was no glen, but still some bands i liked.....better than ezra, ingram hill, collective soul, cowboy mouth, and of course sister hazel.....it was fun, not like the first year though.....but it was fun spending time with my friend who i hardly got/get to see, and it was good to see everyone i had met the year before.......and then there's this last one i went to, rock boat 8.....well, i hadn't planned on going, but there was quite a rumbling going on at the glen message boards about maybe, just maybe toad being on the boat! (they broke up in '97, but did a couple of reunion tours since) and omg if the're on the boat, i'm so freakin there! so they were confirmed, and my room was booked....and then, my bf came with me! how awesome! i had so much fun with him...just chillin in the room or laying out or just wandering the boat....and it was the first cruise he had been on, and it was the first time he heard toad in concert....he only knew a few of his songs (like most people, all i want, walk on the ocean, fall down...) and he really enjoyed them! and that really means a lot to me....and what means even more to me, i went to see one of glen's solo sets, and when it was done, i turned around, and lou was there :) he came to see the end of his set....it was really sweet.....

now to bring this back around to knitting.....i know he won't dump me when i give him this sweater....i just hope it fits....and that its still cold enough to wear when i give it to him.....

omg, the best part of the cruise? when brenna asked me about guage for her knitting....it was awesome....she knits weird though :P
(better??)

i think he knows.....

2008-01-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

sooooooooooo

i think i last posted on my birthday?

and he did eventually call me and wish me a happy birthday, but i mean really, it shouldn't have taken him all day....

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd

he's taking me to see the little mermaid on broadway!!!!! tickets still yet to be purchased, becuase the only upcoming times were weeknights, and a weekend is totally better for us....

anywho

i think he knows about the sweater

one night he was over, and he went to the bathroom and i was talking to my mom about it, i was in our backroom which opens into the kitchen where my mom was, and all of a sudded i saw his head pop through the hallway that leads into the kitches from our dining room (behind my mom)then he quickly ducked out....then a few days later, i was on the phone with him and he asked "whatcha doin" and i said "talkin to you!" and he asked if i was knitting and i said i have no knitting to do, so he said "knit me a sweater, i mean a chestwarmer" and i said "no i don't want you to break up with me"

but part of me thinks he knows...

i have more than half the 2nd sleeve to do...i weaved in all the ends, well, not all the ends...i didn't weave in where there's a color change, and i did not weave in the color or the armpit of the finished sleeve....

my new goal was valentine's day, then i changed it to groundhogs day....because he always says he'll keep me until then...so what better than to gift him with a sweater the day he claims he'll break up with me?

am i the only one who sees the irony? is irony the right word to use here? whatever

he won't dump me then anyways

the superbowl is sunday and we have a nice high def 50" widescreen tv....i got him on that one....

anywho

that's all really

for good measure here's a pic of us on the rock boat (now if there were a real blog where i write about random shit, i'd talk about it....but alas, i post not of the awesomeness that is rock boat...i mean noone reads this crap anyways) maybe i'll post about it

sigh

2008-01-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

today is my birthday
i've gotten all but 1 important birthday wish so far....
i haven't given up hope

i don't want to be at work
i can't tell you the last time it was anywhere near 50degrees on my birthday, or if there ever was a thunder storm on my birthday

i'm 29 now
such a waste....might as well be 30, ya know?

i have to go get a new license...which rocks because i think i'm one of the only a-holes left with the old crappy blue nj licenses....they started jan of 04, but, of course, they didn't know when, so i didn't want it to all of a sudden be the 31st and me with an expired license, so i just got it renewed...and lo and behold...the new ones were started to be given out days later it seemed....so the last 4 years i've had to deal with "oh you still have one of those" on the rare occasion i was carded....

i leave for my cruise sat the 19th...i can't flipping wait....

i know i said this was just to be like a knitting blog....
so here goes
i love knitting, knitting rules...i wonder if i'll get any knitting related items for my birthday...probably not....maybe i can get the 2nd sleeve done tomorrow, doubt it....
back to work
joy of all joys

huzzah!

2008-01-10T12:05:00.001-05:00

i have finished 1 sleeve!!!!!!!!!

ugh
now i have to do the other one

that means picking up stitches

it took me a month to do one sleeve!!!

new goal: valentine's day

i HATE picking up stitches....

2007-12-31T00:30:00.000-05:00

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....

2007-12-26T10:02:00.000-05:00

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....

2007-12-21T15:47:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-12-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2007-11-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

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!!!!

2007-11-20T11:01:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

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.....

2007-11-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-02T11:56:00.001-04:00

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....

2007-11-01T10:12:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-31T09:14:00.000-04:00

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....