too many wips, not enough time...

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....)

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

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

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

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!!

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

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??)