The Knitting Elf

Still Here

2006-12-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Wow

It's been quite awhile since I last posted...sorry about that.

Holiday's are over now so slightly less busy. However my time is being eaten like candy by my other job. I work at a Chick-fil-a restaurant that my cousin owns. At first I was just helping with the lunch rush during the holidays but she asked me to stay on and switch to full time. So I did and now I'm still busy.

I've also been very distracted by a cute boy :oD

Hmmm as far as knitting goes I'm still working on the same projects, almost done with the red wrist warms (the ones that were supposed to be socks). I also ordered and received some yarn from knit picks for a few new projects I'd like to start.

Pictures coming next week, I promise!

She's alive!

2006-11-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Finally over whatever it was that wiped me out, I was down till about a week ago. So why did I wait to update till now you ask?? Well I've started at a new job and have been kinda busy with that. My insomnia's been worse too which hasn't been helping :oP

But this isn't a poor me post, it's a knitting update! So on to pictures :oD

Knucks - finished one, will be casting on for the second tomorrow. I had some woolease in my stash and liked the color so that's what I'm using :o)

Ripple Weave Wrist Warmers - remember my sock I wasn't speaking too?? Well I "fixed" it...now it's a wrist warmer!! I LOVE this thing and have cast on for the second one (no pictures of it yet...I'm only about 5 rows in)

And I've started a new project...a hat for me :oD The pattern is from the book "Weekend Knitting", here's what it looks like

and here's mine so far

yes, that's an insane number of ends to weave in...but I adore this hat so much I'll willing to do it.

So...yeah, that's what I've been up to. And I bet you're still wondering about my new job huh (of course you are..haha). Well here's my boss and his wife (and me)...

yep, I work with Santa Clause!! I'm working as a photographer, so much fun :o)

Slight Delay

2006-11-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

I know, I didn't update when I said I would...and this is just a quick post :o(

I've been hit with a bug or something...am sooo drained, and not really feeling up to taking time to make a real post.

So quick mini update:
I've updated my WIP list:

took off the counterpanes to go handbag....cause I'm really not interested in working on it at all, haven't decided yet if I'm going to frog it or just stick it in a box somewhere and forget about it for awhile
added knucks, I've really grown attached to fingerless gloves and decided I need another pair...they're green :oD

I haven't really been knitting much lately; my hands are VERY dry and having yarn over under and through my fingers irritates them greatly.

That's all for now, I've gotta go take a nap and recharge :o(

Success!

2006-11-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

I did it; made myself finish with the knitting of Nautie

As you can see he's not quite finished yet...still need to give him eyes. I couldn't find my felt this morning though so I'll be adding them sometime later when I locate it :o)

I promise I'll make a "real" knitting update tomorrow (including updating my sidebar)

Nautie

2006-11-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's the Nautie I've been working on...poor thing's been like that for almost a week now. I'm sick of looking at it but am going to try and make myself finish it today...

I'll post another picture tomorrow, might not have eyes but hopefully will have all it's tentacles :o)

Healing

2006-10-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

My apologies if you've already read this over at my LiveJournal. I am trying to keep this blog strictly craft related but this seemed such a significant turning point in my life I could not help myself :o) The picture at the bottom is my sweet sweet kitty (Korat) who has seen me through all the happiness and the despair as I've ridden this emotional roller coaster. I love my kitty!!

This is what I wrote in my journal yesterday over at dailystrength.org:

So last night I found out there was a problem; turns out that the photography studio didn't get my application and when I tried to send it again yesterday the job listing had been taken down so I was unable to submit it :o( I guess it just wasn't meant to be...but that's ok.

I've now realized that I am doing rather well. Yes, I've been out of school for more then a year. Yes, I've been out of work for about 8 months. But I've also been adjusting too and learning how to cope with having Celiac Disease.

I've now realized that I am exactly where I need to be. Most of the people I interact with don't understand because they don't have to deal with having a lifelong condition like this. They don't have to follow a strict diet and worry all the time about getting sick...but that's ok too.

I've now realized that I have no reason to feel bad about not having a job or being in school. I am still learning to cope. I have come a long way and should be proud of what I have accomplished.

I am crying as I'm typing this (never realized how hard it is to see the screen through tears..haha), they're good tears, tears of joy :o) I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can be content, now my inner turmoil will end, now I'll no longer feel bad when someone asks me where I work or if I'm in school.

Work and school will come when it is time. Right now I need to take care of me, I need to work on healing, I need to focus on wellness.

I almost feel reborn, like a new person...a happier person :o)

This is very good :o)

All summer long I've been feeling more and more despairing and pathetic because I'm not in school and I don't have a job, I just exist. When I meet new people they always ask what I do or if I'm in school but when I tell them I'm not doing either I feel bad and somehow ashamed. I have cried many tears over this and had many dark days because of it. I've hidden most of my despair from all that know me in real life...some knew I was occasionally down but not the full extent of it. I tried to hide my feelings because I didn't want to alarm anyone and would've felt more pathetic had anyone known why I was so down...I have a hard time trusting anyone with my deepest feelings and thoughts.

But now...I've accepted. I thought I had come to terms with having celiac disease but I hadn't quite fully accepted it. Now I feel like I can move forward. I have realized that even though this is hard it's ok. My having a hard time with this does not make me weak or less of a person. I am going to have to live with this condition for the rest of my life! Of course it's going to be hard!

I still have healing to do. My body has been healing for a year but I am only now starting to see signs of repair. This is normal :o) I just need to be patient and keep moving forward. My celiac was discovered early enough in my lifetime that I will most likely make a full and complete recovery, it just takes awhile.

I haven't felt this happy in months. I guess I really was depressed after all, I just didn't realize it because it creeps up so slowly.

But now I am overwhelmed by joy :o)

Fetching again

2006-10-28T11:28:00.000-06:00

Here I am, stuck at home :o( Saturday's usually my day to get outta the house and do what I please, but today Mum and Daddy had a dress rehearsal that started very early this morning and will go until about 4 o'clock this afternoon. So being the oldest child (aka built in babysitter :oP) I get to help out (at least I get to go to their concert tonight, supposed to be awesome)

I wasn't going to update today because I didn't think I'd have any knitting updates to make but that was before my insomnia kicked in...I now have a new pair of fetching:

You can see I decided to continue the cable all the way up. They hug my hands a lot more then my last pair...kinda nice :o) Last week I discovered that if I wear some of these all the time, my fingers are less frozen (they're always cold!). I think this has something to do with them covering my pulse points and increasing blood flow to my hands?? I don't really know and don't really care so long as they help my fingers remain a more normal temperature and not be so stiff and achy from being frozen all the time.

As David correctly stated yesterday, my hat says "Damn I'm cute" :oD This is something you would not normally hear me say in real life; mainly because I don't (usually) use profanity*. FYI - If you know or ever meet/speak to my parents or any of my relatives...it says "I'm so cute" ;o) I came to decide on this phrase when I was discussing this hat with some internet buddies. It was suggested I do something like "Smile Beautiful" or something to that affect...I liked this version better :oD

*I don't use profanity because IMO when it is used in excess it does not give the impression of intelligence. There are so many other words we can use to express ourselves, why use the same four letter words, that all mean basically the same thing, over and over again?? And BTW I'm fine with others using profanity around me, you can curse so much it would make a sailor blush for all I care, just don't expect me to join in :o) Of course the exception is when I've been glutened...for the first few days I am in a VERY foul and bitchy mood; so much so that I usually hole up and keep to myself as to avoid deeply offending those close to me...I say a lot of things I don't mean.

Finished hat

2006-10-26T19:30:00.000-06:00

I've finished my Morse code hat!!

Any guesses on what it says?? I've give you a big hint:

-.. .- -- -. .. .----. -- -.-. ..- - .

The first person to guess right gets...umm...a big cyber hug :oD
Or you could just wait a couple days for me to update again and I'll reveal what it says.

Hats and Tigers

2006-10-23T12:20:00.000-06:00

I was hoping to be able to update today with what message I'll be knitting into my hat....not so.

I had made up my mind...but it's wrong...I need something different. I was going to have it say "humina humina". Long story short, this reminds me of a late friend. I thought it would make me smile. I thought it would be a good way to remember him. I thought it would help me. But it just makes me cry and I'm not a crier :o(

I had knit "humina humina" into my hat....ripping it out as I type this :o(

I don't want to leave you with out a picture...that's boring. So here's water color and ink piece I did a couple of years ago...rawr!

Hat Weather

2006-10-20T11:15:00.000-06:00

I've decided I need a hat. Today I CO and am sort of making it up as I go along...kinda nerve racking for me, this'll be the first time I've ever knit something with out a pattern. I was inspired by a Morse code hat I saw awhile ago on Craftster. Their message says "I am stinky" :o) I'm not yet sure what I want mine to say (yes I'm planning to knit a Morse code message into it). I want it to be something that will make me smile every time I wear it.

Here's the start of my hat

I'm doing the cuff/brim (what do you call that part of a beanie?) in 2x2 rib; it's about an inch long now.

FIXED!!!

2006-10-19T03:43:00.000-06:00

My lap top is back!!!! I haven't quite finished installing all my programs yet, but I do have pictures!! Before my hard drive crashed I didn't like having my picture taken...now however, I've turned into quite the picture whore :oD It's about 4am, I can't sleep, and what am I doing? Taking/uploading pictures of myself. hahaha

So enough talk, get ready for a picture overload!!

Let's start with my lovely cardigan

And here's a hoodie I made out of a Tshirt. I used a tutorial from Craftster (check it out here). Notice the two-way zipper and thumb holes; pretty spiffy! :o) David pointed out that it's Slytherin colors, I'm more of a Ravenclaw girl, but I may put a Slytherin crest on the front anyways. The '50' on the back combined with the Harry Potter coloring makes me think of it as my Quidditch jacket :oD (can you tell I love this thing? I've been wearing it pretty much nonstop since I made it on thursday!)

Here's the sock that I'm not speaking to. I'm less frustrated with it today...I might even finish it....maybe

And the coiled shell for Brother's Nautie. About half-way now

So there you have it, a picture overload :oD

I have a feeling there will be more of these soon....

Waiting

2006-10-16T09:22:00.000-06:00

Um yeah so I haven't updated in two weeks....

I've been waited for my computer to be fixed so I could upload pics. Yes, it's still at the shop (grrr). The guy that fixes computers for them lost the paperwork and they're having a hard time getting a hold of him now that they found it (the paperwork I'm referring to explains/proves that my lap top is still under warranty; he won't touch it unless all of the paperwork is in order).

My sock and I aren't speaking. I made a stupid mistake and haven't felt like ripping back to fix it yet. I wasn't too thrilled with how it was knitting up anyways, I think I'll probably frog it and start a better sock. If I do I'll take a picture first :o)

I started another stuffed nautiloid. It's a Christmas present for brother. I'm knitting it out of simply soft (acrylic. Don't look at me like that, he's 5 years old; I'm not going to make his something out of natural fibers until he's old enough to care for it). I'm about a third of the way through it's (coiled) shell.

I picked up my bag that I've been knitting (remember this?). I'm not too fond of it anymore. It kinda hurts my fingers to work with the cotton yarn and I screwed it up somewhere and can't figure out where. I'm kinda starting to hate it....might frog this too :oP

*sigh* I need to find a new project that I'm excited to work on. Something that inspires me and makes me want to work on it. I really like the Heere Be Dragone shawl; but I'm not sure I could pull it off (I know I could knit it, I'm just wondering what I'd do with it after it's done...I'm not really a triangle shawl girl). Hmmm, maybe I'll browse knitting patterns today, see if I can find something that screams "KNIT ME!" :o)

Happiness!!

2006-10-03T12:27:00.000-06:00

Guess what I am wearing right now!? My finished cardigan!!

And more goodness: my lap top is at the shop right now, turns out I was right and they were wrong (it was still under warranty after all)! hahaha :oD The guy I talked to said I would have it back in about a week, depending on if they had to order replacement parts.

First thing I'm doing after getting it back (after reinstalling my OP system and programs of course)? Upload pictures of my lovely cardigan!!!

I am in such a good mood today it's disgusting :oD

Not much going on

2006-09-30T17:30:00.000-06:00

I haven't been knitting much this week. I turned the heel on my sock and tried it on....it's doesn't fit very well and I don't like the feeling of the fabric. It's ok when I'm holding it, but on me? Not so much. So that was a bit discouraging. Later today I'll work on it a bit, after I block my cardigan (yes you read that right, I'm blocking it as soon as I'm finished blogging!).

Another reason I've not been knitting is I've been sewing! This summer I've lost quite a bit of weight* so a lot of my cloths are way too big. I've learned to resize Tshirts and am slowly making my way through my stash of them.

I figured out what to give Sister for her birthday! She was complaining that we're almost out of black and yellow paint (she and her friends paint their faces for football games) so I'll be giving her some of that, and I figured why not throw in some wash out hair dye as well. And I know she wants nail polish so I'll give her some of that in the same colors. So I guess it'll kinda be like a "show your school spirit in a box" type thing :o) It needs something else though...hmmm

Oh yes, I'll be able to attend S'n'B this coming Tuesday!! Yay!! I've missed two weeks in a row now (boo!) and I can't wait to come back! I'll bring my shawl to show off as you guys haven't yet had the opportunity to fondle it :o)

*I don't usually keep track of my weight because I don't really care as long as I feel healthy. But this summer I suddenly dropped about 30 lbs! Before you all think I've got an eating disorder, let me explain: I've been off gluten for almost a year and my body is finally starting to heal (the damage sometimes takes years to heal and in some cases never completely reverses itself). I am finally able to absorb the nutrients from my food so my body is no longer in starvation mode and holding onto whatever it can (I've never really been fat but I have been above the "optimum"). I've also been eating healthier aka pure/unprocessed foods. And I've been eating less, not on purpose, my stomach has shrunk. I was glutened pretty badly a few months ago and during that time I subconsciously started associating food with pain, I had to literally force myself to eat and usually couldn't manage much, I lived off protein shakes. Thankfully, once the gluten left my system (it took a few weeks) eating became easier.

Birthday Panic!!

2006-09-25T21:48:00.000-06:00

I just realized Sister's Birthday is only 9 days away!!

So what do you give someone who likes to fit in yet not be the same as everybody else?? She's very into the latest trends but still likes to express a bit of individuality. Our tastes are so different I never know what she will and won't like....

Sometimes she'll try to find a meaning behind the gift as well. Like if I gave her some yummy smelling lotion or soap she might take that to mean I think she smells bad; but she only does that sometimes. *sigh* A gift card seems too impersonal, she doesn't do any type of crafting (and doesn't want to learn), she plays the violin and various other instruments (but mainly the violin), she's into the whole school spirit thing and loves stuff with her schools name/colors, she loves "girly" things (you know, hair stuff, make up, nail polish, etc.), and she's on the preppy side.

Hmmm.....I don't dare try to give her anything related to cloths (tried that last year). Or jewelry (that didn't work either). She mentioned in a rather direct way that she'd like a car, a new cell phone, and some nail polish. I can't just give her nail polish though, it needs something to go with it. A joke about giving her a matchbox car was already made so I can't do that either. And I can't afford the phone she wants....

Any ideas??

Fetching

2006-09-24T19:55:00.000-06:00

I meant to post this a few days ago but my insomnia got really bad all of a sudden I didn't really feel like it (yeah I know, lame excuse, too bad it's all I've got :oP)

I used leftover yarn from my cardigan (no I still haven't blocked it, I promise I will this week!). I like that they help keep my hands warm but I can still knit with them on. I BO a bit too lose for the left one, it's starting to bug me so I'm going to fix it.

And I've fallen in love with another shawl pattern (check it out here)

**Edit**
Oh yeah, forgot to mention I've started a new project. These socks from the current issue of Vogue Knitting. I'm using some wildfoote sock yarn (the red stuff in this picture) but I only have enough for one sock so I might end up with a pair that doesn't match...oh well :o)

Mittens!!

2006-09-20T15:30:00.000-06:00

Front/Back

In action!

I used Lion Wool and the pattern is from Folk Mittens. This was my first color stranding project! I want to string them together but I'm not sure how long I should make it. I would guess that it should measure about wrist to wrist but that seems kinda long. I also don't know what to make it out of. I-cord? A crocheted chain? Finger knit cord (this was used to attach the tassels in the original pattern, I'm not a tassel person so I omitted them)? But then all of these stretch so that would affect how long I should make it too. Hmmm.....

Grown-up Blankie

2006-09-19T12:14:00.000-06:00

It's done!! I am soo pleased to tell you all that my shawl is complete!! I finished with the knitting on Tuesday (12th), finished grafting and weaving in all the ends on Wednesday (13th), and blocked really late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. It was killing me not to post but I wanted to wait till I had some pictures to show off. So Friday (15th) Aunt Vintage* and I were finally able to get together for a photo shoot:

Sort of folded in half -

And unfolded -

I love how this picture really brings out the lace pattern -

And another picture for good measure :o) -

The final measurements of my finished shawl (ok, estimates cause I'm too lazy to really measure) are 6' x 3 1/2'. I used yarn from knit picks (shimmer) and the pattern is from this book.

Bother loves this thing and calls it my "grown-up blankie" :oD

*I chose the name Aunt Vintage because that's one of her favorite things....she loves vintage everything :o)

**Edit**
We also took pictures of my finished mittens, pictures coming tomorrow!!

Finished Objects

2006-09-05T14:52:00.000-06:00

I've finished my Lapland mittens; both of them :o) I've also located a relative with a digital camera who is willing and able to take pictures for me. However, we're having a hard time getting together to take dirty pictures of said mittens and other knitting projects. Hopefully I'll be able to snag some this week.

I've also started and finished a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves/mittens. I decided to make these because:

a) I needed something to do with a skein of leftover yarn from my cardigan (which I still need to block btw).
b) I've wanted to try my hand at cabling for awhile. I've understood the concept well enough but was having a hard time finding a project to start with (yeah I know, I could've just made a cable swatch; but really, where's the fun in that).
c) I was avoiding working on my shawl. I was using these as a reward for myself (you know, finish 8 rows of the shawl and then you can CO for the other one). I am soo tired of my shawl, I wish I was finished. I'm close...kind of; I'd say I'm just over 2/3 finished with the knitting. But then there's the weaving in of ends, grafting the two pieces together, and finally blocking the whole thing (which I have no idea where I'll be able to accomplish, this thing is going to be HUGE)

I've worked it out that I can attend S'n'B tonight (yay!), I'll bring my mittens (fingerless and otherwise) with me if anyone wants to see. Hopefully I'll be able to get at least a few rows done on my shawl :oP

Cute Picture

2006-09-01T10:55:00.000-06:00

Sorry this is a bit random.

Knitty had a photo contest for their 2007 calendar; I wanted to enter this photo but as it was on a disk somewhere and I'm not a very organized person, I couldn't find it in time for the deadline. Oh well, I'll just have to enter it next year.

This is Baby Sister and Brother, aren't they just so cute!?! :o) This picture is from round about last Christmas. I made them both fuzzy feet slippers (thank goodness they were to be felted, soo many mistakes :oP) and when they saw them pre-fulled they immediately put one on their heads and begged me to take a picture. This is my favorite picture of them; not only are they adorable but they're both smiling, their eyes are open, and Brother is actually looking at the camera (he usually looks off to the side)!

So sorry for the random showing off of family. I was just glad to have found the photo disk it was on. And it's been awhile since I put a picture up, so I thought I might as well :o)

Wow, that was fast

2006-08-31T13:54:00.000-06:00

I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night; so I finished my first mitten! I LOVE it and it fits beautifully; I'm going to CO for the other one later today! I'm still unable to upload pictures from my camera, but I'll try to work out a way to get some up here (maybe a digital-camera-owning-relative will take pity on me).

Last night I got an email from one of my gluten-free newsletter groups telling me there is a new Yahoo! group called UtahSillyYaks!! Fabulous bunch, I can't wait to interact more with them; it's nice to get in with a local group. Not only do you get recipe ideas, you also get local restaurant reviews and tips on where to shop from people with a lot more experience than you!

I also came across The Silly-Yak Shirt Company (not affiliated with the group above, they kindly allowed the Yahoo! group to use their name). I love the tshirt that says "wheat sucks" :oD They also have a fantastic link page with a TON of awesome information/helpful sites.

And you know those yellow rubber bracelets everybody was wearing for awhile?? Well now there's green ones to promote Celiac awareness! Nifty :o)

Knitting Update

2006-08-30T08:32:00.000-06:00

I've finished "re-knitting" the cuffs and button band on my cardigan! I was going to block it yesterday, but I'm chicken. I've never blocked an entire assembled sweater before and am not quite sure how to go about it. When I block it I'll be stretching/lengthening it a bit; up to this point, my stripes have matched up and been fairly straight but I'm paranoid that when I do block it, it'll go a bit funky. It wouldn't bother me too much but it'd be nice if I could make them match you know?

I've CO with the real yarn for my mittens!! Yay!! My tension is much better now and I'm quite pleased with the way they're turning out :o) I'm about 1/3 through the left mitten (in case you need a refresher, here's the pair I'm doing).

My shawl and I haven't spoken for a few days, I'm starting to grow weary of this project. Every time I work on it I have to tink or rip back, it's amazing I've made any progress at all! I'm excited to finish, but I want the magic knitting fairy to come speed things along for me :o)

Bridal Shower Fun

2006-08-27T23:06:00.000-06:00

Friday I went to a Bridal Shower for my cousin; we'll call her Cousin Italy (Italy is one of her passions; she's been there several times, just for fun, and her entire condo is Italian themed).

I usually enjoy these things, but this time I just didn't want to go. For every other bridal shower we all work together and tie a quilt during the party but this time my Aunt Peacemaker thought it would be fun if we painted dish towels instead so she just did the quilt. I really missed the quilt, this was the first bridal shower I can remember that we didn't tie a quilt. When I was little, I'd help Mum by sitting under the quilt, pulling the needle down, and pushing it back up to her and when I was about 9 Aunt Peacemaker taught me how to do it myself.

Mum was over the dish towel thing so I was nominated to stitch a decorative border around all of them. However, I didn't know this till 2 days before the event. The dish towels were on the large side and each one took 30-45 minutes (and that's with the machine going full throttle)!! My (ok, it's really Mum's sewing machine, but I call it mine) machine was also having tantrums and I ended up fighting with it and lost quite a few rounds.* I managed to finish in time but was sewing right up to the last minute before we had to leave to go to said event. Mum ironed on some vintage days-of-the-week designs (you know, each one had a different day on it with some flowers or something) and at the party we were supposed to color them. Mum tried to get some sort of special paint pens but was unsuccessful so we used Sharpies instead. The upside of this is Mum bought the hugest Sharpie pack I have ever seen and now we have ever color of Sharpie ever made, in regular and fine tip (yay!! I love Sharpies!!)! It also came with some 'clicky' Sharpies (like click pens but it's a Sharpie) and some metallic silver ones.

At the actual party I worked on my shawl, avoided coloring dish towels (I had already spent enough quality time with them while sewing the borders), and helped the groom-to-be figure out his new digital camera. Yes, at the bridal showers Mum's family throws, we invite the groom too. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be; I was able to actually eat some of the refreshments, wasn't too intensely grilled by other family members, and being a bit of a technology geek I very much enjoyed figuring out groom-to-be's camera (sorry I don't yet know him well enough to give him a blog name).

Something else we always do is play "The Cookie Game". Mum and I get to think up a bunch of random questions (we usually aim for 50-60) to ask the groom-to-be. We call him up ahead of time and ask said questions; then at the party we ask the bride-to-be the same questions and see if she can guess what the groom answered. If she gets it right, she gets a cookie to put in her new cookie jar; if she gets it wrong, the person who asked the question get to keep the cookie (we individually wrap each cookie and attach a question to each one, everybody at the shower asks a few).

Just because I feel like it, here's a sample of our favorite questions with my answers:

When dressing, do you put on your pants or shirt first?: Pants
When licking an envelope, do you lick from left to right, right to left, or another way?: I usually ask someone else to do it for me or use a sponge (gluten hides in envelope glue, it would make me ill to lick it myself)
If you were an animal, what kind would you be?:** A cat of somekind
When brushing your teeth, where do you start?: Back teeth, usually the right side
Does the end of the toilet paper go over or under the roll?: I really don't care, but I usually put it under; if I don't, my cat likes to unroll the whole thing
What color should socks be?: Argyle!!
Concerning pens, what color ink do you prefer? Blue, black, or another color?: I like red, or green, or maybe purple. I guess I just like pens that aren't a "normal" color.
When taking off your shoes, do you untie them first or just pull them off?: Just pull them off
Do you prefer butter or margarine?: Unsalted butter please
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do with your winnings?: Finish paying for my violin and pamper it (it needs new varnish, a good cleaning, new strings, a check up, and I want to get the finger board/pegs replaced. They don't need replacing but it'd be cool of they matched my chin rest)
How many 1st cousins do you have?:*** 53 (no I'm not kidding, I counted)
How many Aunts and Uncles do you have?:*** 26 (this includes spouses of the "original" Aunts and Uncles)
What kind of chocolate do you prefer? Dark, milk, or white?: Dark, around 70% is perfect
When relaxing at home, what do you have on your feet? Socks, slippers, nothing, something else?: Usually nothing; unless I was wearing shoes earlier that day, then I wear socks (I always take off my shoes but sometimes I'm too lazy to take the socks off too)

*When I won, I was able to go on sewing. When the machine won, I'd have to either stop and re-thread it or stop and unpick a few inches of stitching.
**The actual question we ask is 'If you and [insert brides name here] were both animals, what would you be?
***We also ask 'How many 1st cousins/Aunts and Uncles do you think [insert brides name here] has? Also, please keep in mind that these numbers include both sides of the family.

It's been a week?!?

2006-08-23T14:37:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a week. It seems like I just blogged yesterday, weird.

For the past couple of days I've been cleaning up toilet paper. Sister, and her girl friends, started a toilet papering war. Last week they got all their guy friends and a couple people from church but now it's payback time. In our front yard we have a couple of tall trees...they got the very top of all of them. I have never seen such a magnificently toilet papered house, it almost looked like it had snowed! We've all spent a lot of time climbing trees and ladders but still can't quite get all of it. It's raining right now, hopefully that'll help.

I've re-knit the cuffs on my cardigan!! I'm going to block them/re-block the body of the cardigan later today. I'm hoping to finish with all the re-knitting this week but we'll see.

*sigh* It's entirly possible that I'll be unable to attend Tuesday night S'n'B anymore :o( My Tuesday nights are threatening to fill up again; I'm trying to work it out, but I'm not sure if it's possible.

My insomnia is starting to get worse...again. For awhile I was able to get about 6-7 hours of sleep, now I'm averaging at 3-4. I've usually been able to cope fairly well; but this time I'm really starting to feel it, I'm so tired.

What to do??

2006-08-17T19:49:00.000-06:00

So I'm finally feeling motivated to fix my cardigan. However, I have no idea what is the best way to go about it. I wish I lived next door to a knitter (well, ok, I do live next to a knitter; but she only makes dishcloths. No, really, that's all she's ever knit or had the desire to knit). And I wish my lap top was up and running because then I could upload pictures so you could all tell me what I should do....

I can't make it to S'n'B this Saturday, maybe I'll have to wait till Tuesday's meeting. *sigh* Till then, here's a description of what's wrong. Maybe somebody will know what I'm talking about and have some ideas:

1) It's too short. I'm thinking that I can block it again and get a bit more length out of it but should I "un-seam" it first?? I guess I could pick up stitches from the bottom and add a stripe, but it's only about 2 inches too short. Also, if I wanted to add a stripe I'd need to rip out the button band first (which I might do anyways, see #2).

2) The button band ruffles. I used the same size needles for the button band as the body of the sweater; maybe I should rip it out and use a size or two smaller? Or perhaps I bound off too loose?? Part of me thinks this might also be something that blocking could fix but then the button holes (which are already too big) would get bigger.

3)I changed colors on the wrong side for the collar. I was trying to be all tricky and knit the first row of the new color and then continue with 2x2 rib (which really does work, it's soo cool!!) but the way the collar sits when I actually put the sweater on makes it really visible. In order to rip the collar out and fix it though I'd have to first rip out the button band. I think if I block it again and make it sit right I could live with it; but if I'm going to be ripping out the button band anyways I might as well right?!?

4)I completely screwed up the cuffs. I love really long sleeves. So I was thinking I wouldn't need to fold them back; I was wrong. I changed colors on the wrong side (again doing the tricky 2x2 rib thing) and when I seamed them I didn't do as the pattern suggested (seaming the cuff on the other side so you don't see it when you fold them back) I just seamed the entire sleeve the same way. They're knit starting at the cuff but they really bother me so I'm thinking I'll undo my CO edge and rip out the first 2 or 3 stripes.

I have no idea where to start. If it helps, I used Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks and the pattern is Sesame from MagKnits.

It'll probably be another couple of weeks before I can get a new hard drive for my lap top. There's a slight possibility that it's still under the manufacturer's warranty (rather then the warranty from the bloke that sold it to me). I've been investigating that but as of today have not been very successful. If it isn't, Daddy thinks I should just spring for a better hard drive but it would be about 3 times the money and I'm kinda broke right now.

I'm making fabulous progress on my shawl! I've just passed the half-way point (yay!)!! The way it's constructed is: you knit one half, do it again, and then graft them together. So I've finished one half and have (barely) started on the other.

My mittens have been neglected. I need to sort out my tension problems (I keep pulling too tight, grrr). After I have that worked out, or at least better, I'll CO with the real yarn :o)

Catching Up

2006-08-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are pictures of my finished socks (sorry about the weird angle, it's hard to take a good picture of your own feet. I swear I'm really wearing both of them) and boogie time:

I picked the wrong style of watchface for boogie time. It was a huge pain to stitch it on (I ended up making a needle out of floral wire to pull the yarn around the bar; had to make a new one almost every single time) but I really liked this one and am very pleased with the results. With my luck, I bet the battery will die before the year is out and I'll have to do it all over again to replace it :oP

I'm starting a new project!! It's the Lapland mittens from Folk Mittens. This is my first stranded color project so at the moment I'm practicing with some cheap acrylic. I'll be making them with some Lion Wool that David gave to me (poor guy just broke his wrist and won't be knitting for awhile) in red, white, and (darker) blue.

And finally here's an 8-strand hollow braid I've been messing about with:

As it's a hollow braid, you need to use a core to get proper tension (well, in theory anyway; my tension is a bit wonky). For my core, I'm using a 3-strand braid of jute, and I'm braiding with embroidery floss. I'm using the card method and a pattern from Braids: 250 Patterns from Japan, Peru & Beyond. I have absolutely no idea what I'll do with it when I'm done; right now I'm just enjoying making it :o)

Lake Alice Pictures...again

2006-08-09T10:26:00.000-06:00

Now it's time for pictures of the lake, yay!!

This is the first view you get of Lake Alice as you come up the trail. Oh, the guy on the right? That's Daddy :o)

As you walk around the lake you see that it just keeps going. Daddy and I tried to hike all the way around it but stopped and turned back when we had been walking for about 5 hours (his estimate, I would've said 4) and probably only reached the halfway point. We'd turn a corner and the lake kept going! Turn another corner, same thing! It was crazy!!

Here's a shot of the lake right before we turned around. The lake curved around the mountains and created a lot of little bays like this one. The trail we took went (obviously) quite a bit higher then the lake, I love seeing the different colors where the water gets deeper :o)

Something interesting that happened after the dreaded reunion: I was at my local library, there's a shelf that has a bunch of old books, CDs and such for sale. I usually take a quick glance just in case there's something good and I found the coolest book! It's called When Difficult Relatives Happen to Good People!! It's a very interesting read, I wanted to take it with me when I went to the good reunion because I wasn't finished reading it (still not finished either) but I didn't. I was a bit worried that they might all get the wrong idea :o) I wish I had found this book before the dreaded reunion!!

One of the "exercises" the author recommends is writing a "Thank you for being so Unpleasant card". You do not send it to the person (the author stresses this several times) but you basically write them note thanking them for being such a good example of what you don't want to be like :o) So, in honor of Cousin Hate-his-guts's visit (he and Uncle Rubiks are coming to visit this Saturday, I'm planning to leave home as early as possible and be out the entire day), I've decided to write one!!

Dear Cousin Hate-His-Guts,
Thank you for being you. You have been such a perfect example of what I don't want to be like. You illustrate so clearly how I should treat people if I want them to all hate me. Because of the time I've spent with you I have learned to think before I speak, not say every thought in my head, chew with my mouth closed, and respect other people's property. I will always remember you in my heart and utilize your valuable example for the rest of my life.

Cheers, Jess

Lake Alice Pictures

2006-08-09T10:11:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from the dreaded reunion (part 1, part 2). All of the pictures get bigger if you click on them.

Our camp site - on the left you can kinda see the fire pit (it's the pile of rocks next to the log), the big blue thing is a mesh shade (it was so nice to sit in there and knit, it was a lot cooler and it has mesh walls that kept the flies out :o) Brother has dubbed it "The Death Star"), in "The Death Star" is our picnic table, through "The Death Star" you can kinda see our tent, and that's the car Grandpa let us borrow while he fixed our car (Grandpa fixing our car and lending us this one was one of the reasons Daddy felt guilty for considering not going)

These are from the hike to Lake Alice. In the first one you can see how green it was, and in the second you see one of the rocks slides (Lake Alice was formed thousands of years ago when a HUGE landslide fell into the river; Supposedly it was named after a girl that drowned here in 1900).

On the hike Daddy and I took around the lake, we saw this amazing dead tree. I love the twist of the roots (you must click on this picture, it looks so much better when it's bigger)!

Blogger won't let me put all my pictures in one post (I usually link directly to photobucket but I'm having trouble editing/resizing pictures without the software on my lap top and blogger resizes automatically so I'm uploading them here; I guess they have a limit for each post) so I'll post a few more picture in a couple of minutes. I know, it's a lot of pictures, but you haven't even seen the lake yet!!

The "good" reunion

2006-08-07T14:51:00.000-06:00

As the good family reunion didn't have anywhere near as much drama, and was two days shorter, I have considerably less entertaining material to work with. So I'd like to apologize in advance for the relative dullness of this post. It's also kinda long.....opps.

Day 1 - Thursday
We (my family and I, with the exception of Sister, who stayed home with a friend because she wanted to go to a church activity instead) of course didn't leave home till much later then planned but we managed to arrive before dark and just in time for dinner. I couldn't eat most of what was served (for dinner everybody brings something and we all share) but Mum made some excellent chicken salad and somebody brought a bunch of fresh fruit. Ooo and I roasted some coconut marshmallows, mmmmmm they're regular marshmallows covered in shredded coconut; soooooo good!!

After dinner Daddy and I set up the tent and figured out where everybody was going to sleep and I approached Aunt Crafty about teaching me to tat in the morning to which she happily agreed (yay!!). We all sat around the campfire and chatted (I worked on a sample of an 8-strand braid I've been messing around with); at about 1 I went to sleep.

The place we pitched our tent was quite close to the creek and the sound of the water kept me awake for most of the night till I got out my CD player (Sting - Mercury Falling; if you must know) though I still didn't sleep very well.

Day 2 - Friday
I woke up at 5:30 and laid in my sleeping bag enjoying being warm (it wasn't too cold but I was feeling all warm and snuggly in my sleeping bag). I finally got out of bed around 6-6:30 and sat by the fire to watch my Uncles make breakfast.

Cooking is something Mum's side of the family loves and does really well. They especially love Dutch oven cooking and do a lot of it when camping. Our traditional breakfast is called "Mountain Man Breakfast". It's comprised mostly of eggs but also has a lot of cheese, bacon, potatoes, onions, sausage, and peppers. I wasn't sure if it would be gluten-free* or not but I didn't care; you cannot go camping with that side of the family and not eat "Mountain Man Breakfast", it just doesn't work. At times, it's almost like eating "Mountain Man Breakfast" is the reason people come to the reunion, it's that good. My Uncles also love making Dutch oven cobbler. On the first night at dinner they made apple cobbler and peach cobbler....I couldn't have any. *sob*

Anyways; so I watched them make breakfast. Like I said, we had "Mountain Man Breakfast"; we also had fruit and pancakes. Uncle Hot-Cakes always make the pancakes and when he's ready to serve them he says (at the top of his voice, which is considerably loud) "HOT cakes!! Come and get your HOT cakes!!". He does it every year and Cousin Runs-a-lot (his daughter) says he never makes pancakes at home, but he sure loves making them at our family reunion :o) When we were at the dreaded reunion we also had pancakes for breakfast but brother (keep in mind that he's only 5 years old) was so confused; he kept telling me that they forgot to say "HOT cakes!!" heehee :o) Uncle Hot-Cakes was also feeling a bit silly; every time Aunt Cleans-a-lot (his wife) would walk by he'd shout "HOT wife!!" :oD

After breakfast Aunt Crafty started teaching me to tat. She's attempted teaching me a few other times but I never really caught on till now. It only took maybe an hour till she was confident I could do it by myself (success at last!!)!! Over the next couple of hours I worked at it and slowly improved; I had to run and find her about every 10-20 minutes to ask if I was doing something right or have her remind me how to do it properly. She'd patiently show me how to do it/answer my question and watch me for a minute or two to make sure I understood.

This year it was Uncle Techno's turn to plan the reunion and he brought a couple of activities for the kids to do. They did something called "diving for dollars"; there was a big pile of sawdust that had about $10 in change hidden in it and on "GO" all the kids dove in and started looking for money. I don't think they found all of it; after awhile they got bored collecting dimes, nickels, and pennies and just started having a sawdust fight :o) Uncle Techno also brought a candy gun (it's like a mini cannon). You stuff it with candy, light the fuse, and it shoots it's contents into the air so when it all comes down it's raining candy (every child's dream)!! We shot it off twice but then someone from the host campground came and informed us that it was illegal and if we did it again she would call the police.

Another thing we always do is jigsaw puzzles. This year we only did one (we usually do 2-4) but it was pretty big. It had a bunch of Looney Toons characters all over it! I worked on that off and on through the day, alternating between that and working on my shawl (which I finally figured out where I made a mistake, the last time I had to rip back I didn't put my stitch markers in the right place so I only thought I was missing a stitch).

I also took a short walk so I could take a few pictures. We go to this same camp site almost every year so I revisited all the places I used to play as a kid. At one point by the creek there's a wooden bridge that I liked to play under. We (meaning the cousins around my age and I) used to find the coolest pebbles there (lots of different colors!) and trade them, or pretend they were money for other games. We also used to try to build a dam; it never worked but we had a great time getting extremely wet and muddy :o) There's a campsite with a cement platform to put your tent on (which I never understood, wouldn't you want to stake it down??) and we'd pretend it was a stage and make up plays or have talent shows. And there's a volley ball court that has a mix of sand and dirt that was perfect for sand castles and mud pies (or just getting extremely muddy, which we always liked to do). If you walk up stream in the creek, there's a little island made of small rocks and pebbles that was our "raft" as we "sailed down the river". And there used to be a tree that fell down across the creek that made a great log bridge (We'd pretend it was suspended over a huge ravine and we had to get across as fast as we could because there was a bear chasing us, I was never the fastest one but I was in the top 5).

That night I had Dutch oven potatoes (cubed and roasted with bacon, mmmm), bean salad, fruit, and cooked vegetables (cabbage, and cauliflower). There was also potato salad, some sausages (I had a bite of Daddy's; a bit disappointing as it was more like a hot dog :oP), chocolate chip cookies, some jello fruity stuff, and cake. My Uncles also "Dutch ovened" more cobbler (chocolate cherry, my favorite), turkey, baked beans, and some pork but I wasn't sure if they were safe :o(

After dinner we sat around the fire and sang. I've always hated singing by the fire (we never sing anything good) but it means a lot to my Grandmother so I do it anyways. Music is one of the only things my Grandmother responds to anymore; she has dementia. She doesn't know my name anymore, and the only conversation that goes on is her telling you how much she loves you and her family (I love my family, I love you love you love you, I love all my children and grandchildren, etc.). Last time I saw her she still knew my name....It was a huge shock when she didn't know it (she still knows I'm her granddaughter though). It's been so hard watching her get worse and worse. We used to be very close.

After most everybody went to sleep (around 11), Cousin Runs-a-lot and I went up to the (paved) parking lot, laid down in the middle of it, and watched the stars. I am very much a city girl. But the one thing I always miss is the stars. I think we laid there in the middle of the lot for 3 hours. We talked and swapped jokes/corny pickup lines :o) Then we sat against a car and talked some more. I don't think I went to bed till around 5.

Day 3 - Saturday
I woke up at 6 and enjoyed being warm again :o) We had "Mountain Man Breakfast" again :o)

After breakfast everybody started packing up; around 10 we had a family meeting where we tried to work out a schedule for us to help give Grandpa a break from taking care of Grandma. When you hear the same comment (I love you) every 5 minutes it starts to wear you down. Grandpa never gets any time to himself because Grandma just follows him around asking what he's doing/what he'd like her to do. The idea is, each family would have a week where they would do a couple of activities with Grandma so Grandpa can have some time to himself and do things he enjoys. I always feel bad talking about someone in front of them; Grandma didn't know or understand what we were talking about, and even if she did she wouldn't remember it 5 minutes from now, but it still felt really awkward/rude discussing this stuff with her sitting right there.

Around 1 we finished packing up and started for home. I tatted and listened to music on the way home (Bright Eyes, Natasha Bedingfield, Eminem, fan_3, and Snoop Dogg). When we got home I promptly took a shower. It feels good to be clean again :o)

So all in all I guess it sounds like it was a bit on the boring side (esp. when you compare it to the dreaded reunion) but I really did have a blast! It was smaller this year, not as many people were able to make it. When I was young(er) I always had lots of cousins to play with but now they're all married and wrapped up in their own lives/families. Which is how it should be, I believe that once you bring a child into this world, they should be receiving most of your attention; but I missed having them all there. Cousin Runs-a-lot is a lot of fun, but it's just not the same; I don't think we would've spent as much time together if Sister had come(they're the same age and best friends). And I don't mean to imply that I was glad Sister didn't come, she's gets really hyper at night and it would've been more fun to have her there as we swapped jokes in the parking lot :o)

*My gluten-free worries were not about the ingredients, but about the cookware. Sometimes residual traces of gluten can be found on certain kinds of cookware that have been previously used to make something containing gluten.

Back home and tatting!!

2006-08-05T23:57:00.000-06:00

I'm really doing it!! Aunt Crafty has finally succeeded in teaching me to tat (go here if you don't know what I'm talking about)!! Right now I'm just working on a sample so I can work on my technique and even out my tension. In some places it's a bit wonky (like when I skipped 4 stitches) but I'm getting better :o) It still feels really awkward but I guess that's to be expected when you try something new; still, I hope I get a better hold on it soon.

Aunt Crafty recently started tatting little hand bags and said she'd show me how when I'm ready (I've got to make a few little projects first)!! I'm not sure I'd ever use one as they're meant to be evening bags and pretty much just hold your phone, keys, and credit card (where will I put my knitting!?). But the idea of making something so elegant/delicate makes me want to at least attempt it.

I'll update more about the "good" reunion tomorrow; right now I'm going to bed (last night I was too busy looking at the stars to sleep).

Good Night

Life Line

2006-08-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

Life lines are a beautiful thing. There I was working on my shawl when Aunt Gossip comes over and asks me what I'm working on. I tell her about it and she asks to see it. I carefully move all the stitches to the cable part of my needle, hoping to avoid any dropping of stitches, and let her take a look. She somehow managed to drop like, 10 stitches. I tried to fix it but it was hopeless, I ended up ripping back to my last life line (about 14 rows back!). I'm back at the point before I had to rip back (the red arrow is where I ripped too) but I think I made another mistake, I'm missing a stitch :o(

You can't see my life lines but trust me, they're there. I'm using a dark thread and it kinda blend in with the background.

Today I'm leaving for the "good" family reunion so no updates for a couple of days (I'll be back Saturday evening). My Aunt Crafty is going to (try again) teach me how to tat!! Hopefully it'll click this time around :o)

Have a good weekend everybody!!

Bad Mood

2006-08-01T10:30:00.000-06:00

I'm still in a bad mood so if you don't want to hear more ranting than stop reading now.

I wish my crazy relatives were a bit more dependable. Like when they say "we'll be there around 7am" they should arrive at about 7!! Yes, I'm glad they're not here yet, but we all woke up at 6 so we could get the house at least somewhat straightened and I for one would've really enjoyed a bit more sleep.

I don't mind Uncle Rubiks; he accepts me for who I am and likes to do puzzles with me (I've given him the blog name "Uncle Rubiks" because he taught me how to solve a Rubik's cube....I can't remember all the moves now; maybe I can convince him to give me a refresher course). He's a bit of a pessimist but I can handle that.

Aunt Gossip on the other hand I don't really like being around. It was a toss up between blog naming her Gossip or Shopping. That's all she finds joy in; gossiping and shopping. She likes to buy me stuff but unless I can get her over to the bead store it's usually jewelry/shoes/makeup that I would never use or even like. It's always given me the impression that she's trying to "doll me up" or turn me into something I'm not (girly). And if she's not buying something she's taking Mum and Daddy out to dinner or whatever and expects me to drop everything and take charge of Baby Sister and Brother. Even if I find a way to get out of it she spends the rest of her visit making me feel guilty. She had better not do that this time; I didn't go to S'n'B last week, there is no way I'm missing this week too.

And I feel sick again. I think it was something I ate at the neighbors last night (how on earth can gluten hide in fresh green beans, corn on the cob, and a plain baked potato?!?).

I need to go knit. Knitting always helps.

Blech

2006-07-31T21:34:00.000-06:00

One of our neighbors invited our family to dinner today.

I couldn't have any green salad, salmon, fruit salad, or dessert. I ate green beans, corn and a plain baked potato. It wasn't too far from what I would've been eating at home, but sitting next to everybody else, watching them eat much more interesting food was hard. Usually I don't mind, I'll have lunch with friends or go hang out at their house and I really don't care that I'm eating differently.

I think part of it was that after we had finished eating we stayed sitting around the table and talked. I could smell the leftover salmon (it smelled soo good!) and watched the Oreo dessert stuff slowly get devoured. It was soo boring and my knitting was in the other room. I would've gone to get it but was sitting on the opposite side of the room and would've had to climb over 4 different people to reach the door; not to mention the trip back. *sigh* You can only play with a bracelet/ring/watch/Tshirt hem for so long.

Then they started talking about how I don't have a boyfriend and am not dating anyone (this family has 2 girls about my age who are currently engaged) and started coming up with a list of people they could set me up with. To my horror, Mum was thrilled with the prospect of them finding me a date (I think she's worried that I'll never get married, come on Mum, I'm only 20!).

Why can't people keep their noses out?! Has it not occurred to anyone that I like not having another person to screw up my life?! Yes, someday I'd like to settle down, but notice I said someday!! I am nowhere near ready to commit to someone and I quite like being free of emotional entanglement. Now sometime next week they'll call me about a movie they want to go to and would I like to come?? If I can't come up with an excuse not to go, I'll end up sitting next to some guy they think will be perfect for me. Eww, no thanks.

And to top the night off; Daddy's brother Uncle Rubiks and his wife Aunt Gossip are driving all night and will be spending tomorrow at our house. We got home from dinner and found a message on the answering machine that said they were coming. Yes, it was completely out of the blue. At least they're not bringing Cousin hate-his-guts (my feelings towards him are completely justified and the feeling is mutual. We just do not get along).

**Edit**
I just realized how angry I sound in this post. I'm just in a really bad/pissy/depressed mood. Today I was going through some old CD's and found one given to me by a late friend (just barely passed the one year mark) and I've spent the day worrying about the possibility that I am literally going insane.

I also wanted to give a bit of background to Cousin hate-his-guts (it felt weird to say I hate someone without saying why). He's a year younger than me and has always felt the need to compete with every little thing I do. He always has to have the last word in and "top" every story (if I only slept for 5 hours that night he only slept for 3, etc.). He is the most self absorbed, cocky, rude, annoying person I have ever had the misfortune of coming in contact with. He feels the need to constantly ridicule anything and everything I believe in, admire, or am remotely proud of. About six years ago he and his Dad (Uncle Rubiks) were living with us and he destroyed, ruined, and stole/resold many of mine and Sister's belongings. During this same time he often tried to hit on me or set me up with his creepy friends (keep in mind that he and I are first cousins, eww!). He's an only child, very spoiled, and grew up with the world revolving around him. He is truly a despicable person.

And he when he eats he chews with his mouth open and breathes though his nose at the same time (which, in my opinion, is the most disgusting noise in existence).

Words cannot describe how happy I am that he's not coming with his parents.

Socks!!

2006-07-28T16:28:00.000-06:00

Today I finished my first pair of socks!! I was scared of running out of yarn so I made the cuffs really short (like, 2 inches total) but now I figure out that I would've been fine making them "normal" length.....oh well :o)

You may have noticed I changed my avatar (click on it to make it clearer); that's about the color my hair is now (in the sun it looks a bit more red). Today I'm liking it more but I'm not sure if I'll keep it this color. I still might go for something a bit brighter.

Next week I'm going to take my camera's memory card in and have the pictures burned to a CD. After I do that I'll be able to post WIP pictures of my shawl and finished pictures of my socks/boogie time (I fixed it yesterday!!). Oh, and I'll be able to post pictures of Lake Alice (where I went for the dreaded reunion) so you can all see how gorgeous it is :o)

Ummm, that's it really. Kind of a boring post.......

Old Jewelry

2006-07-26T17:37:00.000-06:00

So as it doesn't look like I'll be able to upload any new pictures for at least another week I decided to start posting old projects. The first was inspired by Otto (my violin bow), the second by Johnny (my violin):

I made this pendant to look like the frog* on my bow. It's constructed mainly of brass tube and an 18 gauge sheet of silver.

This necklace is made of tiger tail wire and (broken/very used) violin strings. At the base of each string is the "knob" you see at the top of each "dangle". This is used to attach it to the violin tailpiece** and helps keep the string nice and tight. Each brand wraps their strings with different colors of thread (I collected strings from my own stash and also received some from violin playing friends and teachers). The little white bead-like thing at the bottom of each "dangle" is hot glue (I was worried about the ends coming unraveled after I cut them).

My hair is red now.....I'm not sure yet if I like this shade. It's a bit more purple than I was hoping for. Tomorrow I'm going to get it cut, maybe it'll look better then? I suppose part of it is the shock; I've only ever had brown hair. I think I'll leave it for a week or two and if I'm still not happy with it I'll try it again :o)

*The frog is the part of the bow (long stick) that the performer holds in their right hand (picture)

**The tailpiece is where the base of each string is attached to the violin (or viola, cello, and string bass). It is usually located next to where the violinist/violist would place their chin; on a cello/string bass it is at the bottom of the instrument (picture)

Close Call

2006-07-25T18:09:00.000-06:00

Daddy read my blog last night.....

I emailed him the link when I first started, knowing that he'd glance at it and probably wouldn't follow. Lucky for me, he has a sense of humor and thought my take on the dreaded reunion was funny (*HUGE sigh of relief*). I think he was a bit surprised by the way I "talk" on my blog. In real life, I am painfully shy, and usually very quiet (until I get to know you).

Tonight I was going to go knit at S'n'B but I think I'm getting sick. I've had an almost constant stomach ache for two days :o( I was hoping I'd feel a bit better tonight but as I don't it would probably be better if I stayed home and didn't infect everybody ;o) <--winking smilie, if you can't tell (I've always thought they looked a little weird)

I'm having picture posting withdrawl. Starting tomorrow I'm going to post pictures of old projects.

I miss my computer....

2006-07-24T17:15:00.000-06:00

I miss my lap top; this keyboard is driving me crazy!! You have to push the keys a lot harder and it's bigger then the one I'm used to. And it feels like the mouse is HUGE! I also miss being able to upload pictures from my camera. On my lap top there's a slot where I can just stick in my memory card but on this computer there's not even the right port to plug it in with the cable!! Maybe I'll start posting old projects that I already have pictures for......

Today I was going through some old craft supplies and found a couple of silver rings I was working on and forgot about!! One of them is cleaned up enough to wear but the other still needs a ton of work. I love it when I find old projects I've forgotten about (and still like); It somehow feels like a new project yet it doesn't take as long to finish :o)

- Knitting Update -
I've finished one sock and am about half-way through the other. The shawl is at a halt because I screwed something up and haven't quite figured out what I did. I got some elastic to fix boogie time (the watch thing) and will hopefully finish repairs on it by tomorrow. I still don't feel like fixing my cardigan; I think once it cools down I'll feel a bit more motivated.

I've finally gotten so sick of my hair that I'm going to change it this week. Today I went shopping for dye (I'm going red; not fire engine red, a nice auburn). I have really sensitive skin so I'll need to test it to make sure I'm not allergic to it but by Thursday I should be a red head! I'm also going to trim my hair a bit. The last hair change I went through was getting rid of my dreadlocks (if I had my way I'd still have them but my scalp couldn't handle it; I miss them terribly!) and when I finished combing them all out I had million different layers but it looked ok and I haven't changed it since.....I'm getting really sick of the layers :oP

The Family Reunion (part 2)

2006-07-21T12:38:00.000-06:00

- Day 4 (Thursday) -
After breakfast Daddy and I went to the lake together, just the two of us (Baby Sister and Brother got so bored at the lake the first day they wanted no part of it). We fished for about an hour and then tried to hike all the way around the lake....it was WAY too big. We hiked for about 5 hours and only made it about half way, I think. Coming back we found a better trail and it was a lot faster.

While we were at the lake we missed the "war". The "war" is a natural occurrence whenever Aunt Crazy and Aunt Psycho are together for more then 72 hours. The "war" is not your usual fight (Crazy and Psycho had many other little fights each day of the reunion); the "war" is an all out screaming match that usually ends in either Aunt Psycho making herself faint, Aunt Crazy leaving, or the two of them vowing to never speak to each other again. Daddy and I thought it would actually come on Wednesday, causing Aunt Crazy to go home, and we would have a peaceful rest of the week. But they surprised us and were able to last an entire extra day (they arrived at Alice Lake on Sunday). I guess Aunt Crazy didn't approve of Aunt Psycho's recent divorce and told her she was a terrible person for marrying the guy in the first place (Uncle Star Wars, actually a very nice guy, a bit odd, yes. He and Psycho fought constantly so it was good they split). Aunt Wishy-Washy took her side and told Aunt Psycho what a bad mother she was and that her kids were horrible brats (mind you, they were saying all this in front of the poor kids). Aunt Crazy, Aunt Wishy-Washy, and their families left. Then came the task of building up the self esteem of Aunt Psycho's kids and trying to explain to them that the things Aunts Crazy and Wishy-Washy said weren't true.

It was odd to talk with Aunt Psycho later and hear her account of the "war". All of the things Aunt Crazy said to her (not counting the whole divorce/bad mom thing) were almost word for word what she had screamed at me last October. Aunt Psycho didn't know about that but felt better after I told her about it. I mean, she felt better that Aunt Crazy had used the same script which meant that she hadn't thought up all those insults just for her. My theory is that Aunt Crazy just doesn't know how to express anger/worry/frustration/fear in a healthy way. Uncle Controlling (Crazy's husband) had forbidden her from coming and I think she was scared to go back home because he gets mean (and abusive, though she won't admit it to anybody). I think she looks for someone else to blame all her life's problems on. Last October she was upset that she had taken her kids out of school so they could come to Disney Land and they weren't having as much fun as she had hoped they would so she accused me of ignoring her daughter. I wish someone could convince her to get help but I doubt that will ever happen.

- Day 5 (Friday) -
We left at about 12:30 and got home around 7. Mum had thought we were coming home on Thursday and had literally worried herself sick thinking we had been missing for a day (she tried mine and Daddy's cell phones but we didn't get any reception up there). When I got home the first thing I did was take a shower. It feels soo good to be clean again.

- A couple of other random things -

To get to the Camp Site you have to drive for 30 miles on an extremely rocky/bumpy dirt road (it was soo bumpy I couldn't knit!)

There were about 23 billion flies at Lake Alice; I'm certain they had not eaten for an entire year. We would drench ourselves in 3 different kinds of bug spray and we were still bitten.

I finally told Daddy's side of the family about the possibility of them all being gluten intolerant

One family member in particular (Cousin Zelda, daughter of Aunt Crazy) I'm pretty sure has it. She's been tested for everything under the sun and they can't find out what's wrong. A lot of her symptoms are similar to what mine were. When I started telling her what she needed to look out for I started to feel really bad for her. Aunt Crazy kept interjecting favorite foods of Cousin Zelda's saying "oh, that means you can't have ____ anymore! How awful!" You could just see all hope draining from Cousin Zelda's eyes.

The first 3 months of trying to rid your diet of all gluten are soo hard! It's common to become depressed because you start to feel like you'll never enjoy food again and everything that tastes good is off limits. When I started eating gluten-free (GF) I was severely depressed; I've always been, well, a happy person; and it was really hard for me to feel so awful all the time. I don't think I would've made it if it were not for my parents. They treated each discovery of a new GF food as something to celebrate and were constantly on the lookout for GF substitutes of my favorite foods. At my lowest point my sweet, sweet Daddy went and found a TON of GF pastas, soups, bread, and a cookie mix! I cannot tell you how incredibly happy that cookie mix made me. I know it sounds stupid that a cookie mix could make such a difference but to me, it brought me back to reality and made all the difference in the world. Now that I'm used to it, I'm perfectly happy eating GF! Yes, there are still a few things I haven't yet found a substitute for (like licorice, ice cream cones, and good hamburger buns) but life is a lot better now.

Once in a while I'll be "glutened" (meaning I've eaten something containing gluten without realizing it); most recently it was Powerade. While camping I get really dehydrated so we bought a bunch of my favorite powerade (Arctic Ice) and I drank a lot of it during the reunion and when we got home. All that time my stomach was really touchy and I had a hard time making myself eat or finding things that I thought my stomach would be able to handle. A couple of days ago I was randomly reading the label of my powerade bottle and I discovered it had gluten in it! I should have checked before I started guzzling it but who would've thought there would be gluten in Powerade!? I gave the rest of it away and feel a lot better now.

The Family Reunion (part 1)

2006-07-20T17:19:00.000-06:00

- Day 1 (Monday) -
We didn't leave till about 4pm; I didn't mind (I was all for delaying our departure as long as possible but I wasn't the reason we left so late, honest!) but this meant we didn't arrive till 11:30 that night. Grandpa left a lantern on for us so we knew where to go (glad it didn't burn down the forest!). We searched around for a free spot and found the perfect one! It was around 250-300 yards away from everybody else so we couldn't hear or see them but Brother could still walk over there by himself to play with cousins; we had our own fire pit and picnic table; and we were close to an outhouse (yet far enough away that we couldn't smell it). So we set up our tent and finally all crawled into our sleeping bags at about 1. It was freezing; I don't think I slept for more then 2 hours.

- Day 2 (Tuesday) -
I was the first one up (around 5). I couldn't stay in the tent any longer, it was too cold. The first thing I did was build a fire. I discovered that whomever it was that took care of the camp sites had cut down a bunch of dead trees and left them about 20 feet from our site; so I didn't have to search at all for firewood (yay!).

After everybody woke up we went to the lake (Lake Alice); you can only get there on foot (an easy hike). We hiked with Uncle Boring, Aunt Boob-a-phobic (so called because when she gives you a hug she's afraid to let her chest touch you. It's like bowing and mashing your shoulders together while patting the other person on the back), Uncle Glasses, Cousin Normal and Tiki (Cousin Normal's dog. He's the most adorable and well behaved black lab ever!). Everybody was going soo slow, it was really annoying myself and Cousin Normal so we managed to break away from the group and arrived at the lake about 45 minutes before everybody else. We played fetch with Tiki in the water and chatted/made fun of relatives (I know, we're horrible).

After everybody finally arrived I went fishing for the first time ever! I found the act of fishing to be quite enjoyable, at first....till I hooked a fish. It was a beautiful fish, about 16 inches, but I felt soo bad watching it gasp for air.....I let it go. I love fish but I don't think I'd ever be able to eat the ones I catch unless I was starving....poor fish. It was Baby Sister and Brother's first time fishing too! They had fun for the first hour or so but by then it was extremely hot and they were tired and bored.

That night I witnessed my Grandpa trying to start a fire. From a young age, I was taught how to properly build a fire and how to keep it going (I was taught by an Uncle on Mum's side of the family). Grandpa put a HUGE log in the pit, added a couple of news papers and some lighter fluid, and threw a match in.....I was speechless. What would they do if they ran out of lighter fluid (probably freeze to death)??

- Day 3 (Wednesday) -
On Wednesday all the adults decided to go fishing and leave me to watch their kids. I didn't have any say in the matter, they just left. It was like, because I don't have any kids of my own it was my responsibility to watch everybody else's. Just because I love kids, and I'm really good with kids, and they all seem to like me, does not mean I'm dying to do it just because you don't want to take them fishing with you!! Surprisingly, they were all very well behaved and I was able to use this time to finish my cardigan. After they got back Uncle Boring and his family went into town (they didn't get back till we were all asleep) and Aunt Boob-a-phobic and her family went home (which included Uncle Glasses, Cousin Normal, and Tiki; boo!)

Wednesday evening, Daddy and Uncle Chicken-Fat (so called because that's his favorite part, ewww) went back up to the lake so they could take advantage of the great fishing at dusk; so Brother, Baby Sister, and I were left with the Grandparents, Aunts Wishy-Washy, Psycho, Crazy, and all their kids. Aunt Crazy decided that she was going to be in charge and tried to make everybody sit still and listen to Grandpa tell us how he found out about Alice Lake. As you can probably imagine, none of the children were even remotely interested (not counting myself, they're all under the age of 12) so Aunt Crazy starts yelling at everybody.

At this point the sky suddenly lit up with lightening which was immediately followed by rolling thunder (meaning it was really close). All my Aunts flipped out, they were like chickens running around with their heads chopped off! This made Baby Sister freak out and she immediately broke down into tears which in turn caused Brother to do the same. Great; Daddy's at the lake and I'm stuck with 2 crying kids and relatives that don't know how to keep their cool during a storm. I somehow got us back to our camp site and we climbed into the tent. Now that we were away from the crazy/freaked out relatives Baby Sister and Brother were a bit calmer but still really scared. After we had been in the tent for all of 30 seconds it starts hailing, HARD. Yeah, this didn't help them calm down. We sat on our sleeping bags and I held them while they plugged their ears. It hailed for about 5 minutes then began to rain. So we played cards (old maid :oP ) to keep their minds off the storm. It was getting late so I put them in bed and told them a condensed version of the Hobbit (their choice, it's their favorite). Daddy got back about halfway through and we moved a bunch of our stuff back into the car (the rain was starting to seep through the bottom of the tent). He also borrowed a bunch of blankets from Grandma (I swear she brought enough blankets to start her own store) so we slept a lot warmer and drier then we would have.

- The things I missed most while camping -

My computer

Craftster

Blogland

My bed

Showers

Flushing toilets

All the CD's I didn't bring

Part 2 coming tomorrow......

Computers are dumb

2006-07-19T20:46:00.000-06:00

So you know how I had my lap top kinda working?? Well now I need a new hard drive.

Yeah, I'm really pissed.

Things were looking up; I managed to back up everything and decided to wipe the hard drive (it's been running a bit slow lately anyways and needed to be done). I wiped it and starting reformatting/installing programs when suddenly I get a blue screen that said a bunch of stuff that basically meant 'you're screwed please try again'. This is when I started whining to Daddy (I love having a computer nerd for a Dad!); he does a some tests, tries a bunch of stuff, and says "well, I think we need to replace the hard drive". So we try to get it out so we can see what kind it is and go buy a new one and we can't get it out. Call the company; they won't tell us what kind it is but will ship us a new one for $400 plus shipping (it would cost me about $800 to buy a new and better lap top)!!! So I guess we're going to take it in to Daddy's friend to have the hard drive removed and it'll be around $50 to replace it. Daddy set up his old work computer but when I try to upload pictures from my camera it makes funny sounds and turns itself off so I'll be making pictureless posts for awhile.....This means it wasn't really Sister's fault that it crashed; something was already a little funky and it just gave up (she's soo relieved; she was really beating herself up over it).

In not so depressing news I went to see my ear doctor and he says the infection that I've had for about 2 years is finally just about gone (yay!!). We've been able to keep it at bay for the past year but haven't been making much progress till now. My doc is so weird. I swear he has a different color of hair every time I go see him. He's been through white, black, auburn, grey, sandy blonde, brown, and light blonde.

As far as the knitting thing goes -

I've finished my cardigan but there's things about it that I'm really unhappy with and need to fix.

I've started and finished boogie time (the watch thing) but it doesn't stay where I want it to; so it's going to be fixed too.

This week I also started my shawl and my first pair of socks!

I'm scared of running out of sock yarn so I made the cuffs really short; they're going to be like ankle socks. I'm using a simple 2x2 rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I was showing the shawl pattern to one of my neighbors that was wondering what I was doing and she said "you're making that? Now??". I tried to explain that lace looks a lot different after you block it but she just looked at me like I was crazy. The way she was talking to me made me feel like she didn't think I was capable of making it!!

Stupid ignorant person.

Oh, yes; I know you've all been dying to hear all about my reunion (in case you can't see it; that sentence is dripping with sarcasm). That particular update is still coming but won't be posted till tomorrow or perhaps Friday.

I'm back!!

2006-07-15T16:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I arrived home from the dreaded reunion. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it was still pretty bad.

When I got home I was greeted at the door by a sheepish looking Sister....she somehow managed to totally crash my lap top. So for about 5 hours yesterday and 4 hours today I've been trying to figure out what's wrong. I've got it kinda working but the reunion update will have to wait for a few days till I'm completely up and running. Hopefully I won't have to resort to wiping my hard drive and starting over.

As today is Saturday here's a picture of the sky. I'm really quite amazed my computer would allow me to upload it.

Random Stuff

2006-07-10T01:45:00.000-06:00

Once again, I'm up so late this says Monday but pretend it's still Sunday :o)

As promised; here's a picture of Sunday's Sky (Saturday looked pretty much the same but with more clouds)

And I'd like to introduce you to Johnny

Yes, I named my violin; Johnny is 5 years old and was made by John Moroz. Poor Johnny was tortured today; this guy in my neighborhood begged to sing a solo in church so as Daddy's in charge of that sort of thing I had to play the obbligato for him. I didn't mind except he was impossible to follow! He had absolutely no sense of rhythm and was kinda tone deaf. He also took a HUGE pause in the middle of the last word! He sang it like that when we practiced too; it drives me insane!!!

The Grandparents came today; the bad news is they decided to bring Aunt Wishy-Washy, Aunt Psycho, and their families. Then Aunt Crazy (the one who was yelling at me in California) showed up too. The good news is they left about an hour after they arrived rather than stay the night and drive with us in the morning (yay!).

I still haven't finished the button band on my cardigan; I didn't get to knit at all today :o(

Today was the last day of the Jazz Festival; I got to work with Sister today! She's soo funny :o) For some reason drunk guys have a need to tell her their life story.

As it's now the time of the dreaded reunion I won't be updating till I get back. Originally we were going to come home on Thursday but now Daddy's thinking of coming back on Friday instead.....I'll be doing my best to convince him otherwise.

Long Day

2006-07-09T00:48:00.000-06:00

So I know this says Sunday but to me it's still Saturday because I haven't gone to bed yet....

Today I went to SnB at the Farmer's Market. It was just me and Gwen till she left for lunch, then it was just me. Oh well; at least I didn't have to help prepare for the Grandparents arrival (turns out they're not coming till Sunday). I finished the collar on my Cardigan and picked up stitches for the button band. I might end up not finishing knitting it till Monday; boo! While at the market I looked around for rings. About a month ago I lost my favorite ring and my finger feels really weird not having one on it. I've finally given up hope of finding it but I haven't found one that I like yet (I'll try again next week).

At the Jazz festival I had more fun then yesterday because I got to work with funny people. I also got to work the register, which in a weird way I think is kinda fun, and I found out that I get paid for working the register (not much, but still; I thought I wasn't getting anything)! Here's the back of the shirts we wear:

I love them! On the front it says (in the top left corner) 'SLC Jazz Festival 2006' and has a picture of a Saxophone. Cool stuff :o) Oh, and I ran into David and he got to meet Sister (she loves your hair too!!).

Um, I know it's Saturday and I'm supposed to post a picture of what the sky looks like; but I've been gone all day (I just barely got home) and forgot to take my camera with me. I could take a picture of what the sky looks like now but it's all black and my camera won't focus (I tried). So tomorrow (or later today, if you're going by what day my blog says it is) I'll post a picture of Sunday's Sky.

That's all for now; I'm going to bed.

Interesting Day...

2006-07-07T22:43:00.000-06:00

Today I started knitting the collar of my cardigan!! I am so excited to have it finished! I should finished with the collar tomorrow and start on the last bit of knitting (button/buttonhole bands) yay!

I thought I'd be able to finish said collar today but a bunch of CD's came in for me at the library (Bright Eyes, Radiohead, Sugar Ray, U2 and Reel Big Fish!!) so I cut into knitting to go pick them up. I also decided not to take it with me to the Jazz Festival. It was soo weird riding the bus and not having my knitting with me! And my CD player batteries were dead (yes, I am one of the few that do not own an ipod) and I didn't have any extra batteries with me. So I had to listen to some lady yak really loud on her cell phone.

I took a book but it just wasn't the same....

At the Jazz Festival, I worked at a Coke Truck. We were right next to a food place that was selling Navaho Tacos...they smelled soo good. Things were really slow but I'm told they will pick up tomorrow and on Sunday it'll be insane.

We're also right next to the beer booth. There was this guy that stood in front of it (he had already had quite a few drinks) and kept yelling F**k You! at every person that passed by him. Cousin Runs-a-lot (15 on Mum's side) was quite shocked!

As a volunteer, I got a free Tshirt (yay! free stuff)! If I have time I'll post a pic of it tomorrow night.

Tomorrow's going to be a loonng day. In the morning, I'm going to the Farmer's Market to knit; then I'll just be hanging out for 3 hours till it's time for me to go to the Jazz Festival again. If I took the bus home I'd only be here for about an hour and then have to leave again, which is why I decided to just stay downtown. An added bonus for staying is I don't have to clean in preparation for Daddy's parents to arrive (on Monday, they're driving up to the dreaded reunion with us), and when they get here I won't have to entertain them!! Hopefully, by the time I get home (around midnight), they'll be asleep so I won't have to see them till Sunday.

You'd have to know my Grandparents to understand my reluctance to spend time with them. Grandma Too-Sweet is just so, well, too sweet, that it drives me up the wall (like when I just get up, am barely half awake, mane of hair flying, still in my grungy PJs, all she can say is "You're so beautiful!!" *gag*). And Grandpa (still can't think of a good blog name for him) is very...I don't want to say creepy, because it's not quite that; I just don't feel entirely comfortable around him. I don't know why, I just don't. He's also very manipulative and treats Daddy like he's still about ten years old (and me like I'm about five).

Wow, this is getting to be a long post so I'll shut up now :o)

Bracelet Swap

2006-07-06T13:02:00.000-06:00

Friendship bracelets that is! I just finished up with the Friendship Bracelet/Anklet Swap on Craftster. We were put in groups of 5 and sent/received 4 bracelets (or anklets). Here are the four I made:

And here are the four I received (I unintentionally put them in the same order as the picture above; the top one is from the person who received the top one in the former picture and so on):

One of the people I was receiving from felt bad because it took her a bit longer to send out so she also included some craft thread as a bonus:

I've never used this stuff before; it’s a bit different then the DMC floss I use for bracelets. I'm not sure yet what I'll use it for.

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy making these. I used to always have "in progress" ones pinned to the knees of my jeans. While I was browsing patterns, I came across a few that I love and will probably make for myself sometime soon...I'll probably start pinning them to my jeans again :o)

Rotten Day

2006-07-04T13:37:00.000-06:00

I'm in a bad mood and I don't know why. I should be really happy because I found some buttons for my cardigan and I'm blocking the majority of the pieces today (still have to finish the second sleeve). And it's Independence Day, my favorite holiday. I even had a good night and actually slept.....yet I'm still in a rotten mood.

Anyways, here are the buttons I chose; they're a tiny bit smaller then the pattern recommends but I'm hoping I can make them work.

And Mum found this in the parking lot at her work yesterday -

I think it was part of a necklace. I'm going to see if I can fix the top "loop" so it'll hang better then I'll wear it as a pendant.

Pictures!

2006-07-02T23:13:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are in progress pics of my cardigan

Finished pieces (the green is where I will add the neck; I haven't blocked them yet so the edges are still rolling badly, I straightened them as much as I could.)

Sleeve (almost done)

As you can see, I haven't quite finished the first sleeve (I need to do one more brown stripe and then I'll shape the cap). Yesterday it was going so fast but then it seemed to get slower and slower; this morning I figured out that this is because I'm steadily increasing on each side so the rows are getting longer (duh!). Lately I've been overestimating my knitting prowess; I'm hoping to finish before the dreaded reunion but I'd still be overjoyed having the pieces all knit and blocked so I can seam it during the car ride (we're going to Wyoming).

I've also been meaning to post pictures of the orange shirt I finished over a week ago. The color's a bit wonky; the 'truest' color is on my left shoulder. My left, your right :o)

Detail

It's the shirt from this post; I hand painted the spork family using acrylic paint mixed with stuff to make it fabric paint; for some reason I can't remember what it's called...oh well. I saw a shirt like this on the net somewhere (and loved it!) and I needed to do something to improve this shirt (before I attacked it, it was white with a stain on the front). So put them both together and bam! I've got an orange spork shirt :oD

This morning, when I woke up at 4am (not my idea, stupid insomnia), I decided to create a livejournal account so I could post about things that don't really fit here. If you're interested, you're welcome to come visit at Ramblings of an Insomniac. As of this moment, there's only one post that I posted so I could see what it would look like. I doubt I will be updating regularly but I guess you never know (just look how good I'm doing here; I'm amazed that I've updated four days in a row).

It's Saturday!

2006-07-01T15:36:00.000-06:00

Today's Saturday so that means it's time to post a picture of what the sky looks like today (if you have no idea what I'm talking about go here); here's what I see from my backyard:

Oooo, Aahhh :o)

At SnB today everybody learned about my deep dark secret. Well...ok, it's not really deep or dark; and I guess it's not really a secret either. So I guess they just learned a bit of random trivia about me: I am dyslexic. It usually only reveals itself when I write (reading's great and I enjoy it!). I am a horrible speller and have a really hard time with grammar. Because of this, my favorite program on my computer is Word. Whenever I type up a blog post (or craftster post, or email, etc.), I copy and paste it into a Word document so I can use the 'good spell checker' and it also checks my grammar. I also proof read so many times I often memorize the text. I am very self conscious about my spelling abilities and hate writing/typing without using my spell checker.

Sometimes it makes me feel bad because my pen pals have to wait so long to hear from me. When I write to them, I first type my letter in Word, then spell check, and finally write it out. Sometimes it takes me a few days to finish a letter that I'm happy with and then when I write them out I often make stupid spelling mistakes and start over. I'm usually able to deal with it but it's still a bit embarrassing and I was teased a lot as a child. I used to have a friend that loved to write me letters but I never wrote back because I was so self conscious. We fought quite a few times about it till we made the arrangement that she would write and I would call on the phone. It worked quite well until she moved, stopped writing, and I lost her address....I've been thinking a lot about her lately....I wonder what she's up to and where she is...

-Cardigan Update-
I'm about half way through one of the sleeves! I'm hoping to be finished with them both by tomorrow so I can start on the neck and button band (which means I need to go button shopping yay!). Tomorrow I'll post 'in progress' pictures!

Oh, and I changed my list of favorite songs. My favorites change a lot so I'm probably not going to mention it every single time I change them.

Knitting Update

2006-06-30T18:55:00.000-06:00

So yesterday I didn't finish the right front of my cardigan. I meant to, I really did, but I remembered that I have a hat to finish (for a personal swap) and I've started searching for small projects to work on at the dreaded reunion. This is what I have so far:

A pair of socks - yes they're simple and maybe even a bit boring; but I like them and wanted a simple pattern for my first pair
Boogie time - I've been without a watch for almost two years. I've had a hard time finding one that I like; I'm not really picky, I just like having one that's unique and screams "I BELONG TO JESSICA!!" :o)

I'm hoping to finish my cardigan before the dreaded reunion but if I don't I'll take that too. Does that sound like enough knitting for a week?? I'm also toying with the idea on taking my shawl (the one I need the needles from my cardigan for). Here's a picture of the yarn I'll be using for the above projects:

From left to right; Wildfoote sock yarn (for boogie time) - I've had both of these for awhile, I'll going to be using the color 'Master Grey' (the other one's 'Geranium', I have no idea what to do with this one; I have just over 200 yards of it, any ideas??). Shimmer lace yarn (for my shawl!) in the color 'Morning Mist'. And Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn (for my socks) in the color 'Green Mountain Madness'.

It feels so great to finally be finished turning all those hanks into balls! I was so scared that I would turn them into a giant mess but it was much easier then I thought :o)

After yesterday's post I decided I might one day need a "blog name" for some of my other relatives so I've started a list*. I must say it has been very therapeutic :o) I think it's presence will make the dreaded reunion a bit more bearable. I'll be able to look at them and think "Aunt Wishy-Washy, Uncle Boring, Cousin Hate-his-guts, Aunt Gossip" etc. I haven't thought of names for all of them yet (I have a HUGE extended family) but I'm happily working on it!

Tomorrow I'm going to the "Candy Parade" and then over to the Farmer's Market to knit! Last week I couldn't go because sister's quartet was performing (they did a wonderful job but I missed my knitting!)

I'm excited; tomorrow's going to be fun :oD

*I just wanted to clarify that none of my relatives will ever know about the list, nor will I ever tell them their "blog name". I may be thoroughly enjoying thinking up names but I'm not mean enough to tell them that.

Today is a Good Day!!

2006-06-29T10:07:00.000-06:00

I bet you're wondering why today is such a good day; well I'll tell you! I just found out that the family reunion I have been dreading isn't till a week from Monday (I thought it was this Monday)!! Do you know what that means?! It means I get to go volunteer at the Jazz festival!! You see, this particular family reunion is going to be a camping trip that lasts an entire week. At first I thought it was the same week as the Jazz Festival so I wouldn't be able to volunteer (because I already told Daddy I'd go) but I was wrong!!!! I never knew how good it could feel to be wrong :o)

Now I bet you're wondering why I'm dreading this family reunion so much?? Of course you are; so I'll tell you why. This reunion is for Daddy's side of the family (dun dun dun!). It's not that I don't get along with Daddy's family (well I get along with most of them) I just don't like being around them. They're all so manipulative and negative and close minded it really brings me down. At first we weren’t going to go because of gas prices and the rest of my family don’t like being around Daddy’s family for the same reasons but Grandpa came and fixed our car, and lent us a better car, and offered to come pick us up in their motor home so now Daddy would feel really guilty if we didn’t go. The entire family ignores us until they need or want something (like Aunt Psycho that needed a place to stay, we let her, now she pretends she still lives here and puts our address on all her bills, we have people come try to serve her legal papers all the time; Then there's Aunt Crazy that lives in Arizona, comes to Utah quite frequently but never tells us. Last time she was here she called to say her daughter really wants to play with Baby Sister, who was in school, and could she come drop her off? What she really needed was a baby sitter).

I also really don't want to go because of what happened last October. We went to California to go to Disney Land with Grandpa and Aunt Crazy. Things were ok till we spent a day at the beach....One of Aunt Crazy's kids (who is one of the few people on that side of the family that I actually like, we'll call her Nice Cousin) was feeling bad because she and I hadn't been able to spend a lot of time together so Aunt Crazy accuses me of ignoring her. I had thought that Nice Cousin was ignoring me because she and Sister are better friends then we are and Sister didn't come (she couldn’t miss school). I tried to explain this but Aunt Crazy suddenly blows up and starts YELLING (almost screaming) that if I don't like her daughter and don't want to spend time with her then I should just say so, and how does my family live with me I'm so emotional, and why don't I just stop being a jerk and grow up and lots of other horrible things that have absolutely no basis is fact but still made me feel really, really bad......I’m still not quite over it and really don't want to spend a week with Aunt Crazy. I wouldn't go, except Daddy needs help keeping an eye on Baby Sister and Brother (Mum can't get work off and Sister refuses to go).

Bleech, crazy relatives.

Enough with all that depressing stuff; today I'm probably going to finish the right front of my cardigan (Yay! Now on to the sleeves!)! And last night I started winding the yarn for my shawl from hank to ball! I'll be using the same needles for my shawl that I have been for my cardigan so I'm extra excited to finish because that means I can start my shawl (wow, I hope that sentence made sense)!! Oh yeah, something else fun, this Saturday is the Candy Parade (that's what some of my cousins, on Mum's side, call it)! It's a parade for Taylorsville Dayz. For the past 3 years we've gone with my cousin. It is truly amazing how much candy is thrown at this parade, every single float and band and group that goes down the street throws buckets of candy (last year the fire department threw stuffed animals).

I love candy :oD

Oh yes, I almost forgot, over on the sidebar is a new "section" called 'Top 5 Favorite Songs'. I love making lists and reading such things on other people's blogs so I thought I add one to mine. I've made links to the lyrics of each song (well, I couldn't find a site with lyrics for Gold Mine) as well as links to the artist's official page so if you're curious you'd easily be able to check them out. Enjoy!

Oxalis is home!

2006-06-27T16:06:00.000-06:00

So I was planning to post this yesterday but was distracted by something shiny and forgot until I was to tired to care :o) And today I feel more like knitting than blogging so I'm pretty much just going to copy and paste what I posted on craftster. Later I might come back and change a few things....maybe

Oxalis was a bit homesick when he first arrived so Haylie bought him a kitty! Oxalis named him Shamrock and Haylie's sister made Shamrock a pillow and blanket (which is brilliant because my room is always freezing!) ;o)

The day Oxalis arrived at Haylie's they left for vacation in Florida! One of the fun things they did was go to the beach and they found this shell. They brought it home and Haylie painted it (notice the tiny Oxalis under the palm tree)

Another thing they did in Florida was go to Medieval Times for Haylie's birthday (Happy Late Birthday!!). They had dinner and watched Knights joust; they cheered on the red Knight but sadly he didn't win. Oxalis brought home a cup and a red flag.

After returning home Haylie took Oxalis to dance competitions and recitals in which she, her sister, and cousin preformed! They're dance studio is called "Gotta Dance" so Haylie made Oxalis a Tshirt so he'd feel more like part of the group (he's still raving about what good dancers you all are!).

Oxalis also got to experience the Detroit Zoo! He brought home this awesome mug (it has footprints from an elephant, lion, raccoon, gorilla, bear, and frog)

And here's Oxalis's scrapbook! Haylie faux screen printed a picture of Oxalis on the cover (which is fabric). Haylie also had specific times when I was supposed to open all of the individually wrapped souvenirs. I'd be reading the scrapbook and there'd be a note saying "open present #4 now" :o)

Here's a couple of my favorite pages from inside:
Here you see Oxalis's room and his new friend Froggy -

Oxalis at the movies (notice his glowing red eyes in the top pic; this made me laugh ;D) -

Oxalis sunbathing on the beach in Florida (this also made me laugh :D) -

Haylie took so many pictures they wouldn't all fit in the scrapbook so she also sent me a picture CD! The CD has all the pictures she used in the scrapbook and a bunch more; it also has a couple movies :oD (it's just occurred to me that I could've gotten that picture of Oxalis sunbathing off of the CD instead of taking a picture of the picture, duh! I'll be fixing that later)

Group Pic -

Saturday Sky

2006-06-26T12:50:00.000-06:00

I was browsing knitting blogs and came across Sandy's Knitting. Sandy just started something called

Basically, to participate, you post a picture of what the sky looks like every Saturday; Sandy's also going to draw a random winner (the prize is yarn!) in July. So I thought "Hey I can do that!" and promptly joined :o) (Sandy explains it all much better than I, click on the link to read more about it)

You might've notice I changed my name in my profile; my real name is Jessica but as it was listed as Melannen (my Sindarin Elvish name) it was causing confusion for several people that read my blog and know me in real life.

I've also been toying with the idea of putting little lists of my favorite books, music, and movies over in the sidebar. No particular reason; I just like to make lists (and I like reading that sort of thing on other blogs).

I'll be updating again later today; Oxalis has arrived home (my turtle stuffie who went away for Craftster's Little Visitor Swap)!!

End of Marathon

2006-06-24T23:29:00.000-06:00

The weeklong ISSI marathon is over! Sad, yes, but also good (it completely wiped out Mum and Sister and interfered with my attending SnB ). I got lots of good ideas on how to improve my skills and I'm excited to start practicing again (I've been slacking for a few months). Because all I did was sit and observe classes all day I was able to finish the back and half the front of my sweater (it's a cardigan, I finished the left side) and I finished the hat part of another kittyville hat! A few days ago, in Sister's orchestra class, there was a mom knitting; she was making the coolest sweater! It had elephants and some traditional fair isle patterns on it. I wish I had taken a picture (forgot my camera that day).

It's just occurred to me that when I refer to Sister you probably don't know who I'm talking about. I have 3 siblings; I'm the oldest, then there's 'Sister' (15), 'Baby sister' (9), and 'Brother' (5). I'm hoping you'd be able to deduce that when I refer to Daddy or Mum I'm talking about my parents :o) So a blurb about each of them:

Daddy also has Celiac Disease (it's genetic, we're still trying to figure out how to break it to his family that they should all get tested). He's a people person; you can't help but like him :o) He likes to "fix" things (he's one of those dads that does more damage then fixing but he tries) and clean. He's recently discovered that cleaning and gardening go a lot faster if you listen to a book on CD/Tape; sometimes he goes through a book a day! He loves to swim, bike, and wrestle with Brother.

Mum is the best accompanist ever (no really, she is). It's amazing how she can play for someone and make them sound good even if they're not. She is very generous and giving and has a hard time saying 'no' to people (like when they call and say "My son is playing in a recital tomorrow, when can we get together to practice" <-- this really happens; it's amazing how people can be so inconsiderate. Things like recitals are usually planned at least a week in advance; you'd think they'd call earlier). She loves to help with anything and everything she can and also has perfect pitch so whenever Sister or I practice she'll yell from the other side of the house "That B sharp isn't high enough". Sometimes this can be very helpful, others, it's very annoying. She loves snowflakes, paper, and pens.

Sister also plays violin. She's at the age where she knows everything and everyone over 18 is stupid (well, not always). Last week she went camping with a church group and a log fell on and fractured her wrist! So all this week she's been playing violin with a fractured wrist (it's her bow/right arm); she was not going to let it hold her back but today she's paying for it. Mum and I are going to try to talk her into getting it cast (they wanted to do it before but it would've been impossible for her to play at all so she refused to let them). In addition to violin, she also plays the clarinet, trumpet, viola, and a bit of piano (she also has a lovely voice).

Baby Sister has the world's biggest imagination. She wants so bad to grow up faster (she's always saying "I'm almost a teenager")! Mum tried her on the violin but it wasn't her thing; neither was the piano. So we tried swimming and bam we've got a fish (or a mermaid). Tomorrow she's leaving for Girl Scout camp (first time going by herself); she is soo excited but also soo nervous! She loves to ride her scooter, hunt for snails, and jump rope with friends.

Brother is a Jedi (or a Sith, Ninja, Knight, Army Guy, or Spiderman depending on what day you catch him). He is very much into weapons of every kind but his first love is light sabers. He is very good at video games and can literally talk for hours (he makes up his own "video games", acts them out, and narrates so you know what's going on). He loves to wrestle with Daddy (or me if Daddy's at work), ride his bike, and jump on Mum and Daddy's bed :o)

Last night I finished the orange shirt I blogged about awhile ago (go here to refresh your memory). It had it's first public appearance today and nobody noticed it (boo!)! So in a few days when I post pictures of it I need you guys to tell me if there's something weird I just don't see (of course, maybe they all did notice but were just blown away by it's amazingness).

I'm also just realizing that I never posted about a swap I did awhile ago. It was the Menstrual Care Package Swap. If you'd like to see what I sent go here (there's also a link in the Craftster post to see what I received).

Knitting Update

2006-06-20T13:18:00.000-06:00

So remember this project? Well, I've finished the one side of the bag and have started number two (of four) *the first picture gets bigger if you click on it*

However, this project has come to a full and complete stop due to me starting my first sweater!! I CO Friday night and since then I've been working on it every spare moment that I can (this is the back of said sweater, it looks funny because I'm using circular needles and am in the middle of a row)

In the next couple of days I'll be starting a Kittyville hat for a personal swap (She's going to make me earrings!! Lately I've discovered I have a bit of an earring fetish :oD )

On a not so joyous note, I can't go to SnB tonight :o(
Mum's taking Daddy out for dinner (late Father's Day gift) and I agreed to be a good daughter and watch my youngest siblings. So I'll just be knitting with myself...

Weekend

2006-06-19T04:28:00.000-06:00

So this weekend I went to knit at the farmers market. There were only 3 of us (Myself, David, and Erin - hope I spelled your name right). About an hour after I arrived, Erin had to leave so it was just David and I. I worked on my sweater (it now has multiple stripes!!). After David left some creep came over and started grilling me. At first he was just asking about knitting (which was fine) but the idiot didn't know when to quit. Finally he said "so I bet your boyfriend likes to watch your hands while you knit huh" to which I said "no, he knits too". After that he finally got the message and left me alone. So thanks for coming David, he thought I was talking about you :o) (in reality I only wish I had a boyfriend).

For Father's Day I cleaned (every time I ask Daddy what he wants for Father's Day/Birthday/Christmas he always says "a clean house and a family that doesn't fight") and we went over to my Aunts because my Grandparents were going over there (our extended family is too big to all visit at their condo). I took my sweater and got a lot done (I'm almost to the half way point on the back!!). I don't have pictures right now but I'll post some either later today or tomorrow.

So you may be wondering why I'm up at this hour (it's about 4:30am). I have some swap stuff to finish up and Craftster won't let me log on (I need the address to I can send Tortue back home!). My new allergy meds (which are great, I can breathe now!) are keeping me up too :oP So if something doesn't make sense it's because I haven't slept at all tonight.

In a few hours (after Mum and sis wake up) I'm going to observe at the "Intermountain Suzuki String Institute"*. I used to go when I was younger but I'm now old enough to be one of the teachers so I'd feel really weird taking classes. So I'll be tailing my sister (she plays the violin and is taking classes, it'll probably be her last year) and sometimes I'll tail Mum (she'll be accompanying various classes on piano). I could take Teacher Training classes but I really don't want to end up teaching music; for me, that would take the joy out of it. I guess those classes could be fun too, but I think I'll stick with what I already love :o)

*ISSI is a weeklong event where teachers and students from all over the country (and some from other countries) all come together and teach/take classes. As the official title suggests, they're all string players (violin, viola, cello, and string bass). It's an absolute blast and really jump starts you (when I go I'm always excited to practice!). I also love getting input from other teachers; it makes me feel more “well rounded” and gives me ideas on how to improve my playing .

New Yarn!!

2006-06-15T21:51:00.000-06:00

Today I received my first order from Knit Picks!!

I'm going to make my first sweater (Sesame from MagKnits) with the Wool of the Andes (Blue Bonnet and Maple Syrup) and a lace shawl (this one) with the Shimmer (Morning Mist). The Shimmer is soo soft!! I can't stop petting it and I can't wait to knit it up! I'm going to start the sweater first because to start the shawl I'd have to wind the hanks into balls first and I want to do something with this yarn now :o) (I'm swatching as I type this)

This summer I'm planning to take a break from swapping on Craftster. At first the reason was I kinda overloaded myself and was stressing over it; but I think even if I hadn't overloaded myself I'd want to take a break anyways.

I have been so frustrated with my latest partners!! For the last two swaps (Secret FOC, and Amazing Tshirt) I've had to post pictures of what I've sent (the person receiving is supposed to post them or at least request that the sender does). Maybe it's just me but I think that's rude!! After putting a lot of work into a package everyone deserves to have their partner rave and gush over their stuff. It feels so awkward to post your own pictures, kinda like your showing off or "tooting your own horn". I always make it a priority to make a big deal over what I receive even if I don't adore every bit of it.

I just finished another swap ("Menstrual Care Package Swap", pictures to come in a few days) and it looks like I'll have to post my own pictures again!!! That's three in a row!! This has also happened to me three other times (Harry Potter Swap, partner left out pictures of the big item, I posted pictures a few weeks later; Friendship Bracelet Swap - partner never posted pictures, neither did I; Chocolate Swap - I posted my own, partner finally posted some almost two months after the swap ended).

Maybe the stuff I make isn't really as cute as I think it is?? I really do my best to "post stalk" my partners and tailor each package to their likes. I love swapping, but maybe I'll just do one-on-one swaps from now on :o(

Worldwide KIP Day

2006-06-10T19:53:00.000-06:00

That's "Knit in Public" for all of you who don't know :o)

Today I went downtown to the farmer’s market and knit for a lovely 4 hours with a bunch of people from the SLC S'n'B. I was hoping to get there a bit earlier but last night my Aunt and two cousins came to visit and stayed the night. I had some crafting I needed to finished but I was trying to be good hostess. So I waited till they were otherwise occupied (asleep) and stayed up till around 2; than my insomnia kicked in and I was unable to fall asleep till at least 3:30 (that's what time it was when I rolled over and couldn't see the clock anymore). This led to me hitting the snooze button a few more times than I should've this morning....

I worked on "Counterpanes to Go" (Bags: a knitters dozen) and am about to the point I was at before I frogged it:

I'm in the middle (ok, only about a third) of a row of a bunch of bobbles (they take forever!). It was kind of a pain to frog it but I'm glad I did, the edges are much better now (before they were soo tight).

*David - It was cool to meet you in person (at first you thought my name was Melissa...I'm guessing that's because on my blog I'm Melannen), I'm sorry I'm too shy (offline) to say "Hey you've commented on my blog; I'm Melannen from 'The Knitting Elf'! I've also commented on yours and I said you had cool hair!". Your hair's even cooler in person btw :oD*

One of the shirts I blogged about last time is finished!! I saw a shirt kinda like this on the internet somewhere and really wanted it but didn't have the money; so I put my own spin on it and finally pulled it together last evening:

Sorry about the flash, my camera wouldn’t focus otherwise -

And the way I had to hold my arms to take this one made it wrinkle funny at the top -

Later I may go back and thinken the lines of the Heartagram or fill in the letters of HIM. But for now, I love it!

After knitting, I went sightseeing with Tortue. I don't think I've blogged about Tortue so let me explain...

I'm doing a swap on Craftster called "The Little Visitor Swap"; basically we sent our partner a stuffed animal and they send us one in return. When we receive our "little visitor" we have about two months to take it around our city; we take pictures, buy it little souvenirs, and make a little scrapbook documenting their adventures with us. So today I took Tortue around town and took a bunch of pictures at the Library, the Salt Palace, Gateway, Temple Square, the Delta Center, and Abravanel Hall. We also went shopping for postcards and other touristy things. :o)

Here a picture I took of Tortue awhile ago when we went to visit Mum at the hospital (it's in a little garden, Tortue's sitting on a dry fountain):

So that's what I did today....I wish everyday could be like today; today was fun :o)

Tshirts

2006-06-06T22:41:00.000-06:00

Remember the purple froggy shirt?? Tenika sent it to me for the Amazing Tshirt Swap; I ended up sending her shirt late but she's had it for awhile (according to my DC#) and hasn't posted anything. :o( I've even messaged her about it.....

I swear I took a million pictures before I sent it off, but my computer ate them and they're nowhere to be found. So I have a picture of the back, two detail close ups of the front, but none of the entire front; I sketched the layout so you'd at least get an idea though.

My idea was to have two flowers from which a dragonfly and a bee took off; the dragonfly and bee would then fly from the front of the shirt to the back, make a heart, and return to the front:

"Front" -

Back -

Close up of bee -

Close up of dragonfly -

It was all hand painted except for the "flying trails" which were drawn with a fabric marker. I hope she likes it....I do; I may just make one for myself sometime.

Here's a Tshirt that used to be white (sorry I forgot to take a before picture):

This was my first dye job and I think it came out rather well! In the picture it looks a bit too neon. I'm going to stencil something on it later this week (or maybe next week). I'm not saying what, you'll just have to check back later to find out :oD

This shirt will stay white but I'm going to draw something on the front of it. This one will be done this week because I want to wear it on Saturday for 'Worldwide Knit in Public Day'. No, the "stuff" going on the front has nothing to do with knitting.

And last shirt; I've had this for about a year (found it at a second hand shop) but I have no idea what it says! I love the fit (so comfy!), and I think it's cute, but I'm a bit self conscious wearing it out in public because I don't know what it says. I've reason to believe it's in Japanese (sorry about the lighting in the first one, the shirt really is white....and clean):

So if you have any idea of what the Japanese characters might say, please let me know :o)

I love stickers!!

2006-06-01T19:22:00.000-06:00

Today I received a package from Ember77 (for the Unconditional Swap May)!! I wished for stickers but she also added in a few other goodies! *the ones with a star by them get bigger if you click on them*

*Animal stickers:

*Hello Kitty stickers:

Jelly Stickers (they're squishy!)

Music related stickers (I had said that I was searching for some tiny music notes for some magnets I'm making. She was unable to find any but thought I would like these instead and she was right!):

*And more music related stickers:

Disney Stickers:

*All the different ones (there's a couple of each):

Two books of stickers (links to see all the different pages under the pic of the book they are in):

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

A sticker dispenser:

Here are the stickers that are in it:

And now the extra goodies!

Blank Card (I've played the violin for about 15 years, I think that's why she chose to send one with violins on it, same reason for the violin stickers above):

1" buttons (I love dragons and this mushroom is so cool!):

Pencils - *from left to right* sparkly green (one of my favorite colors) with feathers, purple and silver piano, black and green music notes, and yellow with bears and rabbits playing the piano with a treble clef on top:

And a CD (I haven't listened to it yet, it says "Aida" on it but I don't know if that's the name of the album or the group??):

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go play with my new toys :o)

Knitting Bag

2006-06-01T11:40:00.000-06:00

So because I figured out that I need to take my own chair to S'n'B I made this bag to hold my knitting:

As you can see, the straps go around the handle of the chair. What you can't see is that I've attached them on the other side with snaps. I wanted to do buttons but didn't have any good ones on hand and was too excited to try it out. I think I'll probably remove the snaps and put on buttons later if I can find the right ones. It has two pockets that are about 10" wide and 8" deep (one on the outside, one on the inside). This morning when I went to take pictures I discovered that I had made it reversible! So here's the reverse side:

I've been kicking this idea around for a week or two but yesterday I finally decided to try it. It was my own design but I used several techniques from various tutorials to help with the construction. Originally I was going to put a third strap (it would've been on the side) to prevent it slipping off the handle of the chair but I bagged it because I didn't know how I would attempt it and wanted to finish.

Yesterday Mum and Daddy went for a walk, ran into a neighbor getting ready for a yard sale, and brought me home this surprise:

A SNOWBOARD!!!!! Sad but true I've lived in Utah my entire life and I've never been skiing or snowboarding. I've always wanted to learn how and this winter I'm finally going too!!! My neighbor, who's having the yard sale, used to sell skis and snowboards for a living; He and his family are moving so he's trying to get rid of all his old inventory and was selling them at his cost! He had a bunch of new or like new equipment and he's letting it all go for under $30 a set!!! The boots are just a tad small so later today I'm going to go trade them for one size bigger :o)

I can't wait for winter!!!!

Knitting

2006-05-30T23:43:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went to Stich'n'Bitch! It was so nice to sit and knit with other people who were also knitting!! My back is killing me (darn those stools and daddy's genes!) so next week I'll be bringing my own chair.

So I've finally gotten around to taking pictures of all my knitting WIPs. I also thought I'd post some pictures of what's at the top of my "must knit list".

We'll start with the WIPs:

^ This is the "Om Yoga Mat Bag" from S'n'B Nation. I've finished knitting it but when I went to seam up the side I somehow sewed up one side faster than the other. I got extremely frustrated with it and chucked it across the room but I think I'm just about ready to try it again.

Here's what it's supposed to look like when it's finished (except I cast on extra stitches so it would come up past the top of the mat):

^ This is the "Soft Drawstring Pouch" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's my "on the go" project; I keep it in my bag and when I'm in the car, walking to the library, at the movies, or just need to keep my hands busy I work on it.

Here's what it'll look like:

^ This is my leftovers project. In a few years it'll be a huge blanket. I'm knitting it on US8 29" circular needles in garter stitch (yes I said circular needles, yes I'm knitting it in one piece, and yes I'm insane). Right now it's about 10" long

^ Here's a picture of what I was working on tonight at S'n'B. I was about half way through one side (it's knit in four pieces and than seamed together) but my edges were so tight I decided to frog it and start over. I'm going to make it with the same color as my yoga mat bag. It's from Bags: A Knitter's Dozen

Now for the top few of my huge must knit list:
I've been wanting a shawl for awhile...these are my favorites - they're both from Shawls and Scarves

I love this sweater!! I don't know why I like it so much, I just do :o) It's from Loop-d-Loop

I also really like these:
Green Gable
Argyle Headband
Calla

Unconditional Swap May

2006-05-29T22:29:00.000-06:00

Today I realized I haven't posted pictures of the stuff I made for jaami and hertrigger in the "Unconditional Swap May". So here's what I sent:

Hertrigger - She wanted a birthday surprise! Reasons behind the goodies - she loves Marilyn Monroe, giraffes, and on her wists the was a zebra print purse.

Magnets (I saw some similar to these on her wists too; click to make the picture bigger)

Giraffe Stuffie - he turns into a pillow!! :oD

Zebra purse

Jaami - She wanted a knit nautilli (pattern from Knitty here). The pattern shows you how to make one with a coiled shell and one with a straight one; naturally I had to try them both. :oD These were kinda fun to make (well, I didn't like making the tentacles...I'm not fond of I-Cord) and my 5yo brother loved them so I think I'll be making one to live here :o)

Side view of Mr. Coiled Shell

Daddy's Banquet

2006-05-28T19:52:00.000-06:00

So last week (Tuesday) was a HUGE banquet that my dad was in charge of. It was an end of the year thing for a choir he and Mum are in (Salt Lake Choral Artists); everybody that had ever had anything to do w/the choir all came and brought their families.

Originally I was going to help daddy plan/put up the decorations, and during the actual event watch my youngest siblings (5 and 9). However, daddy's even more indecisive than I am (and that's saying something!) so I ended up running the cantina!! I looked after the two chocolate fountains near by and made/served drinks. We served soda (boring) and virgin margaritas (strawberry and lime). I had never made a margarita before but now I'm really good (I should be after making them non stop for 3 hours).

Let me just interject here to say how much I love margaritas. When daddy asked me if I would help at the party I said "as long as I get an endless stream of margaritas". We have a TON of leftover mix so I've been having them almost everyday...heaven!! I'm sipping one as I type this :oD Oh yeah, I think I should clarify that I'm not quite old enough to legally drink and even if I was I wouldn't; so every time I mention margaritas know that I mean virgin ones.

It was an awesome party but I felt really sick the day after (too many margaritas and trips to the chocolate fountain). Daddy let me keep a few bits of the decorations (he wasn't supposed to but he knew that I've had my eye on these ever since the first moment I saw them):

Here we have the coolest feather boa in the world (I think it'll serve as trim for a purse), 6 spools of fabric ribbon, and some fake flower leis.

Ribbon all untangled

And a cool candy dish (it's really all pink but the edges always look like they're glowing orange)

Tonight I'm going to watch King Kong w/my dad; he gave me the DVD for my birthday but I still haven't seen it. I think we're also going to have a couple margaritas (his idea, he loves them almost as much as I do). I don't get to spend a lot of one on one time w/my dad; I'm excited!!

Revealed

2006-05-27T12:57:00.000-06:00

I did it...I revealed my identity in the FOC 2 Swap. I just couldn't stand it being a secret anymore!! If you'd like to read my post on craftster here it is. So anyways, here's what I sent to leelee:

1st package - Fabric lined jewelry box, magnets (to go with her wine/Italian themed kitchen), and I also sent the rest of the fabric I used to line the box.

2nd package - a "tinafish hobo purse" (tutorial here), clutch purse, and two bracelets (the hobo purse is lined w/the same fabric as the clutch's exterior and the clutch is lined w/the same as the hobo's exterior).

3rd package - Knitting needle roll and knitting stitch markers.

For the 4th/reveal package I sent one yard each of the fan fabrics and a large box of dots (my favorite candy). I had a hard time finding things for the 4th package....the guidelines were that we shouldn't spend more than $5-$10 because it was supposed to be a small store-bought item. I just figured as a crafty person she might like some new fabric to play with and I don't know a single person who doesn't like dots :o)

I get to go knit!!!

2006-05-26T09:11:00.000-06:00

I get to go to the SLC SNB meeting this tuesday!!!!! I joined about 6 months ago but have been unable to go knit because they mainly knit on tuesday nights (which has been the busiest night for my family since forever) so I've just been lurking. However, starting this tuesday my evenings are free!!!

I found a couple more projects to put on the list of things I'm working on but have yet to take pictures and don't feel much like adding them now, hopefully I'll get to that in the next couple of days. I still haven't been "outed" by my partner in the secret FOC swap.....I'm going to wait till tomorrow but if nothing has changed I'm going to post.

A few days ago I received some fabric for the Ongoing Fabric Swap (round 2)!! The lovely jaybirdiscrafty sent me more than the original 2 fat quarters; I can't wait to start playing w/this new fabric!!

Sidebar Changes

2006-05-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

You might notice the new section in the sidebar called "Projects I'm Working On". I've seen on other crafty blogs people sometimes put a list of projects that they're working on and I thought I'd join in too :o) I wanted to do some of those cool little percentagee bars but I haven't had much luck yet (it'll happen sometime but I think I'll need to learn more about html coding first). So for now you just get a list. In the next couple of days I'm sure I'll dig up other "in progress" projects and I'll also post pictures of my currently listed ones.

I'm starting to get a bit frustrated with my partner in the Secret Friend of Craftster Swap; they've had my package for over two weeks and haven't "outed" me yet.....I think I'll wait till Thursdayy (third week mark) but if she hasn't posted by then I'm just going do it myself; I'm tired of waiting!

kittyville hat

2006-05-18T11:24:00.000-06:00

The Noodle Princess has received the hat I sent in exchange for the fabric (click here to refresh your memory)!! I had her pick the color (my camera messed w/the color a bit; the real color is more like the one ysolda used for her doll hat). I used Red Heart worsted in light fuschia, and I worked from the kittyville hat pattern (featured in Debbie Stoller's book Stitch'N'Bitch).

Here's kinda what it'd look like on someone's head -

On my bed so you can see the ties and pom-poms -

Mother's Day

2006-05-17T17:14:00.000-06:00

The tote bag and pillow case I was venting about this past Saturday have finally had their photo shoot so here they are:

First the Pillow Case - I ended up just starting over. The original fabric was a bright blue w/lots of tiny flowers. I let Mum pick this fabric (I had to tell her what it was for)

And here's the tote - It's reversible!! I used a tutorial on Craftster (found here) Mum helped me fix the pockets after I gave it to her.

She loved them both and took them to the hospital with her. She was able to come home today and is doing wonderfully!! While at the hospital her blood sugar went through the roof so they kept a close watch on it (both her parents have diabetes) but it's been better so far. She was sent home with a equipment to check it twice a day and in about a month she'll go back for a check up.

Before she had to go I'd never realized how much I depend on her opinion and insight. All the time she wasn't here I'd think to myself "I've got to ask Mum about ______; oh, yeah she's not here, dang". I am so happy to have her back and she seemed quite pleased to hear how much she was missed :o)

Craftster Swaps

2006-05-16T09:14:00.000-06:00

Alrighty, so remember the Secret Friend of Craftster Swap I've been doing?? Well it's reveal time and we're all finding out who has been secretly crafting for us!! I was going to wait and do one post about the FOC swap (w/the stuff I sent and this latest package) but my partner hasn't revealed my identity yet so I'll just post the latest package I received.

My secret Craftster was Tristitia!! For the reveal package she sent me some gorgeous sock yarn (it's so soft! I can't stop petting it!), and a set of knitting needles (DPN US2)!!! The pretty paper under them is what they were wrapped in.

I still have yet to make my first pair of socks (part of my problem is I can't find a simple sock pattern that I like) as does Tristitia so we're both going to (hopefully) tackle that this summer.

This was the last package for this swap. Now all that's left is to send a Thank You!

On another note; I'm probably the worst partner Tenika has ever had (We're partnered in the Amazing Tshirt Swap, she sent me the adorable frog shirt)!

For some reason I got the send out date mixed up (it was the 10th, I thought it was the 15th). And I forgot to get a certain very crucial item at the store and still haven't sent (tomorrow I will!). So here it is a week after the send out date and she doesn't even have a DC# to look up let alone a shirt to fondle.

I think I just spaced it because of all the extra things going on. Mum had surgery yesterday, Daddy's been planning a huge banquet for the choir he and Mum are in, I've been fighting insomnia, and I kinda overloaded myself w/projects (most for swaps some for mother's day).

I think after I finish the swaps I'm already involved in I'm going to take a break from swapping....at least for the summer (except for the Ongoing Fabric Swap and maybe the Unconditional Swap).

Venting!!!

2006-05-13T12:24:00.000-06:00

I am so frustrated!!!!! On Sunday (tomorrow) it's Mother's day. So for the past couple of weeks I've been planning various things that I want to make for Mum. However, I'm the biggest procrastinator in the entire universe so of course I didn't put any of these plans into action till yesterday. Mum's going in for surgery on Monday so along those lines I wanted to make her: A cute new tote bag to carry stuff to the hospital, and a bright colorful pillow case (She has to stay overnight so she's taking her own pillow).

But from the second I started sewing I've run into so many problems!!!!!

My bobbin ran out of thread.....three times (I have no idea where all that thread went)

I sewed the handles (for the tote) wrong and had to spend an HOUR unpicking them

I burned myself with the iron and poked myself about a bazillion times with pins

The feed dogs on my machine decided to stop working

My machine decided it was only going to sew in one place and refused to move

I cut the fabric for both projects horribly not straight!

Because I didn't cut the fabric straight I had to sew a HUGE seam across the bottom of the tote

Even with the huge seam anything you put into the pockets will disappear into the lining

And for some reason I forgot to double the width of the fabric for the pillow case and have to buy more fabric for the other side!!!

I also have to finish a few swap items and will be gone all evening because I'm helping my Aunt with a catering job so I'll probably be up all night and I'm already really tired because I was up almost all night yesterday too!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Secret FOC Swap

2006-05-05T17:53:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are pictures of what I've received so far in the "Secret Friend of Craftster" Swap:

-First Package-

For the first package I received a small covered journal, a pair of knitting needles w/turtles on the ends, and a little red bag filled with knitting needle point protectors and stitch markers. They all came wrapped in gorgeous tissue paper which has since been made into envelopes.

Inside of Journal:

Close up on stitch markers:

Close up on turtle:

-Second Package-
For the second package I received a springy green colored crocheted capelet, a lovely pin to fasten said capelet, and an awesome handmade postcard (which now lives on the door to my bedroom).

Capelet and Pin:

Close up of pin:

Postcard:

-Third Package-
I received the third package yesterday! My Secret FOC sent me a beautiful messenger style bag!

Full body shot:

Pocket and dark purple lining:

After all the packages I am sending have been received (and my identity revealed) I'll put up some pictures of what I sent but until then you can view the gallery here and try to guess what I made :o)

New Fabric to Play With!!

2006-05-04T15:20:00.000-06:00

I came across an Classified ad on Craftster awhile ago; it was posted by "the noodle princess". She was offering various fabrics and looking for someone to trade with. I offered to make her a kittyville hat - she accepted! So yesterday the mailman brought another package for me!! If you click on them you can see bigger pictures and better detail.

Aren't they beautiful!?! I'm soo excited, I'm going to use them for my "I Spy" quilt! Today I'm sending her hat (just finished it yesterday evening). I'll post pictures of it when she receives it; I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise if she happens to stumble upon my humble little blog :o)

Today I also received my third package for the "Secret Friend of Craftster" Swap! I want to post pictures of all the things I received thus far for this swap so I probably won't post till tomorrow (first I need to track down all the various pictures)

Blogthings

2006-05-02T21:51:00.000-06:00

Today while browsing various blogs I came accross this fun website Blogthings. I had soo much fun trying out their various quizzes!! Here are some of my favorites:

Your Theme Song is Beautiful Day by U2

"Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away"

You see the beauty in life, especially in ordinary everyday moments.
And if you're feeling down, even that seems a little beautiful too.

What's Your Theme Song?

You Are Emerald Green

Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you.
Inside, you are very emotional and moody - though you don't let it show.
People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate.
But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There's something naturally harmonious about you.

What Color Green Are You?

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick.
You're always willing to lend a helping hand.
In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going.
"15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experienced soul who appreciates tradition.
Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone.
Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient.
A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people.

You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends
A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others.
Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone.
But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away.

Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere.
And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you.
But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft.
You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily.
You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Meatball Pizza

Unusual and uncompromising.
You're usually the first to discover a new trend.
You appreciate a good meal and good company.
You're an interesting blend of traditional and modern.

What's Your Pizza Personality?

Your Eyes Should Be Brown

Your eyes reflect: Depth and wisdom

What's hidden behind your eyes: A tender heart

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

A lot of the quizzes I took got me partly right but not all the way. A few were just weird. And others were completely wrong (and not wrong in the sense that I didn't like what they said. I asked someone else if I was really like that and they said I was the opposite). Still I had fun wasting an hour :o)

Another Swap Package!!

2006-05-01T18:31:00.000-06:00

Wow, three posts in one day!! It took me a couple hours to put together my last post (partially because it was so long and also my computer didn't want to cooperate); if only my computer had held out a bit longer. I would've combined this swap package and the last one into one post....oh well.

About 30 min after I finished my last post the regular mailman came and brought me my package from "The Amazing Tshirt Swap"!! My partner, tenika, was the first to send. I'm a little intimidated by the fact that she makes and sells Tshirts...I'm supposed to make her one too!! It's still in the works; I hope she likes it.

Ok, enough talk. We want pictures!!

Full body shot - my camera washed it out slightly; it's a tiny bit darker purple in-real-life (Please excuse the messy bathroom).

Close up on Mr. Frog - Isn't he's soo cute!?!

The mail man also brought a four-page medical history I'm supposed to fill out ('cause I'm switching doctors and I'm going in for my first physical with the new guy next week :oP). Blech, I don't like going to the doctor :oP

Ding Dong the UPS guy is here!

2006-05-01T15:16:00.000-06:00

It's not often that I'll post twice in one day but I received a swap package in the mail and couldn't possibly wait until tomorrow! In Craftster's Unconditional Swap April I asked for some coasters. I was picked by alwaysinmyroom and my goodness she is one generous craftster!! So on to the pictures....

Coasters - She said these are vintage Japanese bamboo coasters. And though they have some sentimental value (they were given to her by her mother) she's not a coaster person and wanted me to have them. I had to take the picture at an angle to avoid major glare; they're actually the same size.

Japanese Picture - She made this using origami paper for the frame. I'm not sure yet where I'm going to put it. It should be somewhere that I can see and enjoy it's beauty but haven't yet decided on the perfect spot.

She wasn't sure if I had ever tried origami but she had seen my tutorial on Craftster about making tissue paper envelopes (available here) and figured out I love paper! I have tried origami (and love it!) but I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to fold these!

The coasters were wrapped in the tissue paper on the left; the Japanese picture was wrapped in the wrapping paper on the right. These are from Japan!

Lucky Cat - His little paws are raised to ask luck to come here. He's soo adorable!! I'm going to put him in the window sill of my bedroom. Hopefully he'll make friends with the little dog (currently living on my window sill) that my sister gave me for Christmas.

Kitty Stuffie - She said this absolutely adorable stuffie was her first!! I wish my first stuffie came out this good! And I love it's little purse!! If you can't see, inside it says "I wuv u".

Hello Kitty Purse - I love purses!! And I adore Hello Kitty! I think I'm going to use this one for my church books and notebook; it's exactly the right size! The back is the same as the front except no pockets.

Buttons! - I collect buttons :o)

CD - Her husband is a musician and she knew I love music so she included his CD. The cover/insert art is amazing!! I'm not very good at classifying music as this genre or that genre; but if I had too I would describe this as Jazz. I popped it into the CD player and my 5yo brother started dancing; he loves this CD!!

She also included a hand bound book in which she wrote a lovely letter explaining why she included all the different items; and also told me a bit about herself. I love this idea and I think I'll be using it in the future for my swaps (it'll also give me an excuse to practice book binding!). In the purse there were two pennies. I think this is to ward off bad luck?? I'll have to ask her to be sure :o)

And here's a shot of all of them together!!

alwaysinmyroom: I don't know if you'll ever read this but I want you to know that I love and adore every bit of what you sent me! Thank you soo much!! I think I love you :o)

Breakfast and Quilting

2006-05-01T08:02:00.000-06:00

Last night I couldn't sleep.

I lay awake till about 1am (I went to bed around 11) and finally fell asleep; but I woke up at 5:30!! I don’t feel at all tired now but I hope I don’t start feeling it later in the day.

Since I woke up early I made Hot Cocoa. I’m not a morning person so this was a real treat for my family (I always make extra ‘cause I know someone’s going to beg for some). I also had a blueberry muffin! You might not find that very exciting but for me it is. I have Celiac Disease (it basically means I’m gluten intolerant. For more information on Celiac Disease a great website to check is Celiac Disease Foundation) and haven’t had a muffin for breakfast for almost 8 months. This past week a local store was having a sale on gluten-free food and I discovered the best GF bread, doughnuts, brownies, and blueberry muffins!! They’re all made by Kinnikinnick Foods and are sooooo yummy.

While I was trying to fall asleep last night I got to thinking about some quilts I'm making. I've been working on these two quilts for around three years (not working on them everyday, just whenever I get the urge/new fabric).

This is my "I Spy" quilt. Each finished square is 5x5” and they're all different. I have around 30 squares to go till I'm done w/the quilt top. I still have no idea what to back it with or how I'm going to quilt it (I may just tie it; for awhile I was toying with the idea of buttons...). I’m still not certain about the finished size. What I’m aiming for now will be big enough to cover my (queen) bed but I love big oversized blankets. However I’m not sure I’m patient enough to wait and collect that many more different fabrics.

This is my "Grandma's Flower Garden" quilt. It's all hand pieced. I have a bunch of smaller pieces of it floating around but the biggest one is about 4’x2’. I’m not sure about the finished size of this one either. I’d love to be able to use this one on my bed; but at the rate I'm going I'd be working on it for the rest of my life!

When these are done I'll post more pictures (esp. close ups of all the adorable fabrics I used for the "I Spy"). I'd post more now except I'm doing the Secret Friend of Craftster swap and a couple of the fabrics I used might give me away.

My first post!!

2006-04-28T16:10:00.000-06:00

Just about everyone I know has a blog so I decided it's time I join in! I'll be using this space to document my crafting obsessions and record various things that happen in my little corner of the world. If you’re reading this I hope to entertain and amuse you.

Incase you're wondering; I love knitting and I love The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (by: J.R.R. Tolkien). Pretty much all my favorite characters from LOTR are elves. And my name in Elvish (according to The Council of Elrond) is Melannen. Because of these things I decided to name my blog The Knitting Elf and sign it "Melannen".

The Knitting Elf

Still Here

She's alive!

Slight Delay

Success!

Nautie

Healing

Fetching again

Finished hat

Hats and Tigers

Hat Weather

FIXED!!!

Waiting

Happiness!!

Not much going on

Birthday Panic!!

Fetching

Mittens!!

Grown-up Blankie

Finished Objects

Cute Picture

Wow, that was fast

Knitting Update

Bridal Shower Fun

It's been a week?!?

What to do??

Catching Up

Lake Alice Pictures...again

Lake Alice Pictures

The "good" reunion

Back home and tatting!!

Life Line

Bad Mood

Blech

Socks!!

Old Jewelry

Close Call

I miss my computer....

The Family Reunion (part 2)

The Family Reunion (part 1)

Computers are dumb

I'm back!!

Random Stuff

Long Day

Interesting Day...

Bracelet Swap

Rotten Day

Pictures!

It's Saturday!

Knitting Update

Today is a Good Day!!

Oxalis is home!

Saturday Sky

End of Marathon

Knitting Update

Weekend

New Yarn!!

Worldwide KIP Day

Tshirts

I love stickers!!

Knitting Bag

Knitting

Unconditional Swap May

Daddy's Banquet

Revealed

I get to go knit!!!

Sidebar Changes

kittyville hat

Mother's Day

Craftster Swaps

Venting!!!

Secret FOC Swap

New Fabric to Play With!!

Blogthings

Another Swap Package!!

*Ding Dong* the UPS guy is here!

Breakfast and Quilting

My first post!!

Ding Dong the UPS guy is here!