bag 'n' trash

My First FO for 2010

Ooof.  Being back at work has been a bit of shock.  Funny that it's so easy to get into that nonworking mode but after 10 days out of the office, it takes forever to get back to working without feeling like a big giant anvil has landed on your head.  Have I mentioned what a cramp in my style my full-time job is?  Heh.

Anyway, I have managed to finish something.  Back when i started knitting/crocheting again a few years ago, I was like a magpie when it came to buying yarn.  "Oooh pretty!  Oooh colorful!  Oooh shiny!"  And I bought a lot of random skeins of stuff without any project in mind leaving me with a stash filled with pretty yarns that I will never ever knit.  Since this has been making me feel a little twitchy lately, I had to come up with something where i could use a dozen baby colored balls  of Tahki Cotton Classic Colors -- a line of variegated mercerized cotton yarns.

So following the sirens' call from ravelry and flickr, i made a giant granny square blanket.

well maybe not so giant.  more like 38 inches square or so.  and the perfect size for my niece.  she's been watching me work on it and i'm not sure she completely understands what it was i've been working on, but last time i saw her she did ask if i was done yet.  she's 3.

yeah i don't know what i was thinking when i bought these yarns, but overall i'm happy with the finished product.  i alternated one row of 5 different colors until i completed 4 repeats then did two rows in the black than another 5 row repeat then 2 more rows of black and then one more 5 row repeat until i didn't have enough yarn in any one colorway to finish a row.  then i finished the edge with a row of single crochet in the black. 

ta-daa! 

it's not half bad if i do say so myself.  need more details such as which yarns i used, etc.?  it's in ravelry. 

Rhinebeck Here I Come!

In a few hours, i'll be on my way.  I hope to see you all there!  Say hi if you see me.  I may look mean, but really, i don't bite.  usually.  heh.

Autumn is Here

there's no denying that fall 2009 is now upon us.  there's a nip in the air in the morning and the colors around here have been magnificent.  october in new england is why i live here and why 15 years ago i didn't end up moving out of the area.

i'm going to try and blog more often by the way.  i kind of feel out of it these days and a little disconnected. 

Eye Candy Friday

it's been warm and humid the past few days, feeling more like early july than late september, but it's started looking like Fall.

the acorns are back. 

Squares and Strips

So the plan last weekend was to finally finish my secret project #2.

yeah unfortunately, i really can't show you more.  but it's done.  finally.

Eye Candy Friday

hi! it's been awhile, i know.  we got back from france almost 2 weeks ago.  damn, time goes by fast.  vacation was good, but exhausting.  visiting family can feel like that you know.  and now i've also got an extra 5 lbs i need to lose.  that's what i get for eating croissants and baguettes with butter and jam until my head exploded every morning for 2 weeks.  oh well.

anyway, i'm almost done with secret project #2.  I have to hand it over on sunday.  and then i can get on with my life.  (seriously, it hasn't been that bad, i've just used that project as an excuse to be a total slacker.) september always feels like the beginning of the year for me, so i'd like to do some dyeing and maybe learn (or relearn) how to sew.  and knitting. and maybe fit some exercise in there.  and blog more.

until the next post though, i leave you with this little image from my time in france.

 

have a happy friday!

Eye Candy Friday

have i mentioned that i'm working on some secret projects?

Could Summer Be Here?

i'm really old, so it's been decades since i've had a summer off.  you know what i'm talking about.  days of no job, getting up whenever i want, reading books, hanging with friends, the beach. DECADES.  and yet, i'm still cranky about having to get up and go to work every day.  i mean, really.  if i can't have at least 1 month of loafing over the summer, then what is the point of having a summer?  do you hear what i'm saying? 

j and i do have a two week vacation planned for august -- we're going to visit the 'rents in france -- and i'm glad it's planned for august because at least i have something to look forward to, but still... 2 weeks?  WTF is that?  bah!  and then before you know it, it'll be christmas!

aren't you glad i blogged today?

heh.

i'm still busy working on secret projects.  if i weren't on a deadline, i'd be perfectly happy working on them.  but because i have a deadline, my ravelry queue is getting longer and longer because i keep adding things that i want to DO RIGHT THIS SECOND!!!  i want to do some embroidery for christ's sake!  i'm spinning again!

i spun this worsted (i think) and very thinly.  intentionally.  ha!  it wasn't just an accident.  the fiber is a mix of scraps from poppy flower fiber and it reminded me that i should really stop saving all of the good stuff for when i get better.  because dudes, i'm better when i spin the good stuff.  who knew?  i'd like to leave this as singles and make something simple with it.  i was thinking of making a Lavalette (it's free but kirsten asks that you make a donation to Alzheimer's and dementia research -- she's got a little button in her left hand sidebar so it's super easy) but i don't think i'll have enough.  before i decide, i'll have to see how balanced the whole mess is. 

that's all i've got for today.  happy friday.

Hi!

i have a work "to do" list, a home "to do" list and now a blog "to do" list.

1. award prizes to those who played along in my contest  almost 3 MONTHS AGO!
2. make my potholder pattern available (it's been tested.  now i just need to clean it up a bit).
3. post about the socks i finished a month ago.

let me at least get item 3 taken off of the list.  it's the least interesting of course, but it's all i can manage for now.  see, my day job has been kind of sucking the life out of me, so when i get home, i end doing crazy things like going to bed at 8:30.  or maybe it's just the incessant rain that we've been having that makes me want to cozy up in my bed with my cats and read a trashy novel (i'm on book 4 of the sookie stackhouse series.)

i've also been working on a secret project.  i would tell you about it except that then it wouldn't be a secret.  now would it.

so, enough with the blah blah.

i call these my troubadour socks because that's the name off the colorway.  i love these colors.  the yarn is sundara sock which i bought before sundara became super crazy famous and when she was still dyeing varigated yarns.  how i love varigated yarns like this. 

the pattern is my basic 2x2 rib pattern, top-down, heel-flapped.  i love the 2x2 rib.

i've raveled the details here.

have a good weekend everyone.  happy  and healthy july 4th.

Eye Candy Friday

so one of the reasons why i haven't been blogging so much lately is because i've been a little more obsessed with flickr and by extension with photography. 

more specifically with a technique called Through the Viewfinder.   i'm having a lot of fun with it.

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don't forget about the blogiversary contest.  i'm going to close it sometime tonight.   leave a comment on the blogiversary post and you'll be eligible for a prize.