adventures of a southern belle… July 1, 2008

Not really. Me? A Southern belle? yeah, right. Though I happen to be living in the south, so I guess that’s close enough. Still, no excuse for why I seem to fall off the face of the earth. But I’m still around, I swear! I’m knitting and reading and working and all that fun stuff. Needless to say, it’s been busy.

I’m working at a yarn store one day a week and it’s wonderful. Though I don’t make much money (however, i do have  some fabulous new yarn . I get to hangout for 8 hours, knit and talk to people about knitting. Not too bad. Thanks to that job, I have some new projects, too.  Here’s a list, but no pictures just yet. Sorry.

- The cropped cardigan with leaf ties from knitting out of Noro Silk Garden Lite. I’m making a button closure instead of the ties. I love it.

- A bulky cropped cardigan from Fitted Knits out of Malabrigo Gruesa in a pretty aqua color. I needed something instant gratification. Did I mention I finished half the project yesterday? Yeah, it’s pretty instant. Though I need to buy one more skein of the Gruesa, a skein of the worsted weight for the border and 3 big buttons. Fun and very silly.

- I’ve bought 2 skeins of UrbanGypz sock yarn in fun colors.

- I still have countless pairs of socks that I’m working on and shawls and other fun stuff. I’ll have pictures soon!

I’ve been working with my Wicked Step Mother on personal assistant stuff, so that’s fun. That’s job number two.

Tomorrow I start job number three at a cute little bakery/cafe in town. I’ll be working there a lot, so that’s fun. Apparently their hiring me to work full time. Insane, isn’t it? Yay busy summer!

I really have to start looking into scholarships and things for study abroad. I want to go to Italy for a month or two next summer, so we’ll see how that pans out. I’ve got to start researching for my thesis. I need to write my proposal by September, so wish me luck! For now, I’m back to the super busy summer schedule!

California love May 24, 2008

I got back from Cali on Tuesday night after a week of sun, dogs, sea lions, wine and fun. Needless to say, I loved it. I flew into San Francisco last Tuesday and stayed with my aunt about an hour out side of the city. We went to Sonoma, did water aerobics (with lots of old lades, but it was fun!), saw movies, played with her dogs, went to Berkley and the city, and spent a day going to Monterey, Carmel and 17 mile drive. Google it. It’s beautiful.

While in Berkley we went to Stash. A cute little yarn store with lots of beautiful sock yarns, even some dyed only for them! Of course I bought some.

The colorway is Orange Spice. It’s adorable. Dyed just for the store. Apparently they have more colors, but this was the last skein, hiding in the back corner behind lots of other sock yarn. This yarn was the whole reason for going to Stash, so it was meant to be.

These are Shi Bui knits sock yarn, and I love them! This picture isn’t true to the color at all. In person it’s a much richer color of teal, and beautiful. I can’t wait to make these socks. I don’t know what pattern I’m going to use yet, but I’ll figure it out.

I’ve got a ton of projects going on how. Mainly birthday socks, but there’s also a mystery brown thing that I’ll post pictures of later. Good times, really. Time for me to get back to knitting the far too many things I need to finish ASAP. Have a good Memorial Day weekend and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!!!

i’ve been knitting!!! May 5, 2008

so, i’m almost done with finals. Luckily they haven’t been that bad this year. I move out on wednesday, and so the last summer before college is over begins. EEK! In other news, I have pictures of a lot of knitting. I’ve finished some things, some are presents and some are just for fun. I don’t feel like taking the time to explain what they are, so here they all are in random order. Enjoy!

design your own sock, you say? April 20, 2008

Brit Knits went to the yarn store of our founder today for a “class”. Really, we hang out and get yarn, and try a new technique. Today we all learned how to do a magic cast on and knit socks with the magic loop technique. We also designed our own toe up socks. Needless to say, I’m in love!

isn’t it pretty? I can’t wait to get to the heel and the leg. I like magic loop, too. It makes knitting in a pattern a lot easier. Though for plain socks I’ll stick to my trusty double points (that, and I have more of them. hehe).

As for other knitting news, I have a bunch of socks and such to take pictures of at some point. They’re all in progress, but I’m back to that point of having about 5 pairs of socks that are half done. Goods times. I’ll post pictures once I take them. For now, I’m off to knit my pretty new socks.

And another picture for good luck…

Yarn! March 10, 2008

So, I was supposed to post these a while ago, but then midterms happened. Here’s an update on my knitting though.

I dyed some yarn a weekend or two ago. Here’s what I made:

That’s all the yarn I dyed. Libby and Jenni were there, too. Jenni didn’t stay long, but man did we have a good time. Here’s a run down of my yarn:

Two skeins of red lace weight:

I over dyed the skein of merino/silk lace weight that I used last year:

Self striping sock yarn (short stripes):

And, the whole point of the day:

Self striping Albion sock yarn. yay! Libby made 2 skeins, one for her and one for the one and only Yarn Harlot. Good times.

Last time we had a lot of pictures. This time I only have 4.

We didn’t have gloves, so our hands turned funny colors:

Jenni was shocked.

Libby re-wound the skeins to prepare for self striping yarn:

Look at her go…

We even got the guy working at the Nature Center to dye yarn with us.

He made his mom a Mother’s Day present. It was very sweet. Converting the muggles, one non-knitter at a time…

I’ve been knitting stuff, too.
I finished the Noro socks.

I’m in love.

I started another pair of socks for class/movie knitting. They’re pretty cute, but aren’t very far along. I have lots of other stuff to work on over spring break, and not just knitting. Gotta love homework. The good news is that
MOUSE COMES HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picture update February 25, 2008

So, here are the sock and yarn pictures I said I would post. First, the finished RPM socks

Pretty, no?
And a detail shot

Not exactly necessary, but they’re pretty.

And here is a picture of the “I can’t go see the Yarn Harlot so I’m going to self medicate by buying yarn” yarn

Beautiful, isn’t it? Noro Kuryon sock yarn. I have dreamed of this day. I bought a little thing of wool wash so that they will be properly cared for. As much as I should wait to start these, and work through other stashed yarns, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist. I may just break down and start them…

In other news, I have a cute new hair cut. and it’s short. yay!

horrible revelation February 23, 2008

I have just realized something truly horrible. Due to being in a play, I will not be able to see the Yarn Harlot when she comes to Ann Arbor on April 11th. This is totally not cool. I have decided to send a WIP sock with my friends who are going as a stand in (along with cash for a book, of course). The sock will be as close as I can get, seeing as I’ll be on stage while she’s telling funny knitting stories. I’ll be doing curtain call when my friends get their books signed… Alas, this is tragic (a little overly dramatic, yes – but you have to understand that this is serious. This woman is like a knitting Guru. The Mick Jagger of knitting, if you will (thanks to a fellow college knitter).

In knitting news, I finished the second RPM sock. I’ll have pictures later. The scarf is coming along nicely, and the second England sock has been cast on and is in progress.

Update:

As an attempt to recover from the shock of not being able to see the Yarn Harlot in April, I bought a skein of Noro Kuryon sock yarn today… This is a weak moment for me. I will post pictures soon. It’s beautiful.

like, rocks and stuff… February 21, 2008

I had an exam this morning in my geology class. Yes, it’s true. I’m taking oceans and atmospheres this semester for one of my science requirements. It’s not too bad, actually. Mostly cause I’m kind of a dork (in case you can’t tell by the fact that I have a knitting blog… which is not only dorky, but super awesome… but I digress) and enjoy learning about the atmosphere and really can’t wait for the section on weather. Yep. I’m a dork. BUT I think my exam went pretty well this morning. I won’t know for a little while but I didn’t fail. Which is exciting. Especially since I haven’t taken a science class in three years, but hey. I’ll survive.

In other good news, I have all kinds of rehearsals. Rehearsal for a play I’m in now, rehearsal for a directing scene for class, and in a couple weeks rehearsal for another play I’m in that will overlap with the play I’m already in. Did I mention there will be more directing rehearsals, too? Yay for majoring in theatre! It’s super fun. This does give me some pretty decent knitting time though. With all the classes and the time spent waiting to go on stage and while learning lines. I think I’m even starting to recover from the SSS

(sorry it’s blurry. I didn’t notice until it was on my computer. I’ll take a better one next time) I’ve made progress on two second socks! I’ve decided that I have to finish at least 2 pairs of socks before I can start any new socks. That may not work out as well as I plan, but at least I have good intentions. I do have at least 2 second socks that are at the point where they make good class knitting, which is helpful. They’ll get done a lot faster that way. Which reminds me, I should ask my geology prof if it’s okay for me to knit. I’ve hinted at it and talked to him a little, but never got a real answer. So we’ll see soon. For now, it’s time for me to get ready for a directing scene. Good times, right?

p.s.
I may have broken my own rule a little…

and started a scarf. oops.

21 in a freshman dorm… February 11, 2008

I do have pretty new wine glasses though! And by new I mean new to me. Gotta love the Salvation Army

$2 for the two glasses, and 99 cents for the cork screw (and it’s juice. not a delicious but cheap Pinot Gritio…). Gotta prepare for living off board next year… so excited. Anyway, I’ve been getting some knitting done too. I finished the Endpaper mitts

They’re pretty warm for not having any fingers. I’m working on a late birthday gift. Hopefully I’ll finish them soon. They make great class knitting though.

I bought the yarn at Ally Pally in England. It was 3 pounds, which is wonderful. It’s super soft too.

Time to get back to homework and working on my shawl. Gotta love designing a pretty pattern. And there are large groups of sorority girls screaming outside my window… good thing I have a lot of work to do tonight and don’t need to sleep early.

New arrivals! February 5, 2008

So, last week in a moment of weakness (okay, two moments of weakness, but they were in the same day, so I count them as one) I bought yarn online. Well, today the yarn arrived and made my day! This is what I bought:

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Birches. It was on sale on the Simply Socks Yarn Company website. They are amazing and have the best customer service ever (they refunded my shipping for my second order and combined the shipping… amazing!).

I also bought this:

Claudia Handpaints fingering weight in Tea Cup. These were so cute, I couldn’t resist. And in case you didn’t know, I love tea and tea cups. I aspire to someday have a proper tea service… lame, I know, but it makes me happy. Here’s a picture of the yarns together

YAY NEW YARN!

Okay, so I don’t just order yarn, I still knit with it. I started some fingerless gloves last night, and I’m about half way done with the first one now (I’d find the pattern and link to it, but I’m too lazy at the moment. The designer is Eunny Jang. the pattern is free from the blog).

I also started designing a lace shawl with the Colinette Parisienne that’s been in the stash for a little while

For now I’ve figured out the body of the shawl, and possibly a transition to the border. That’s where I get lost. But I’ll figure that out later. Who knows, I may need another skein of the yarn. That’s one way to buy time…

I should probably try and get some homework done rather than knit and order yarn… Time to step away from the computer for my own sake… Good thing I have new yarn to distract me!

…

oops.