when air and water mix
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day 105 -- from wendy's yard. no such loveliness in my yard. but hey, just the other day i saw a ground hog come out of one of the dozens of sink holes we have in our yard. and man was he huge. big butted huge. as soon as he saw me, he flew back into his hole.
yesterday was day 1 of the next project spectrum element -- AIR. AIR is colorless and takes on the colors of whatever particles are suspended within. since i'm kind of a lover of bold, intense colors, i was at a bit of a loss on how i would approach the next installment of project spectrum.
until i saw this.
this is 9 skeins of debbie bliss dksilk in a beautiful light stone color. i know what you're thinking. "holy shit woman! did you win the lottery? did you finally meet your sugar daddy? have you cashed out your 401K?"
no. before i got sucked into the evil that is packrat, i worked saturday morning at Graceful Stitches and they were having their end of season sale. 50% OFF BABY!!! (sorry i didn't let you all know but i forgot).
so you know, i splurged. (and yes even at 50% off, it's still a bit of a splurge especially since i'm not really much of a silk person.)
i have no idea what i'm going to do with it.
it's quite possible that i will just pet it.
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day 46 --this time i have no one to blame but myself.
so i finally finished the scarf that i started earlier in the month. i had some issues towards the end, wanting to use as much of the yarn i had left without running out mid-row. that's the problem with crochet. it eats yarn.
anyway, i'm rather happy with it.
it came out to be about 68 inches long. i like my scarves to be at least as long as i am tall and i made it with almost 2 skeins of malabrigo in rich chocolate. it's been named Pringles by a flickr friend. and when i get my act together, i'll post the pattern.
in the meantime, i've raveled a few details here.
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day 44 -- it was exciting enough when my first scarf pattern ended up on whip it. imagine my surprise when my little old scarf got noticed by the folks at craft.! thanks beth for the head's up.
so lately i've been feeling uninspired and i don't feel like knitting or writing blog posts or taking pictures. this is the 5th time i've started this stupid post. how do you all find the time or have the energy to do what it is you do every day? TELL ME!!! ( i'm doing that thing that i do. i've been comparing myself to others again and falling short. i've got to stop that. )
anyway, earlier in the week when i saw kristen's wonderful crocheted scarf, i thought it might be fun to change things up a bit and do a little crochet too for a change.
i looked for a suitable pattern and finding nothing that caught my eye, i just started crocheting.
and it sucked. like a hoover. so i frogged it
and i've got nothing.
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day 29 -- a post about sucking and wips that aren't anymore.
so for today's post i've got another FO.
ta-daa! another scarf!!!
i know, i'm getting kind of boring with the scarves and the socks. yeah whatever. and this is my second gathered scarf. this time around i used berroco ultra alpaca (2 skeins) in pea soup and instead of casting on 48, i cast on 40. i raveled the details here.
i also made the stockinette ends longer in this version, giving the scarf a bit of a mermaid tail look. well it looks like a mermaid to me anyway.
that's it!
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day 22 -- a girl can never have enough scarves
so a couple of weeks ago, i started another pair of socks. green ones, for project spectrum.
the yarn is Opal Rainforest in Chameleon. so i knit one sock. put it aside, and started the next one, confident that the second one would match if i started the cuff at the same color repeat. because opal is a machine dyed yarn and all that. and sure enough. see how the stripes match up? i'm not normally OCD about striping, being ok with wearing fraternally twinned socks, but this matching made me happy.
la la la. i'm knitting along ... look how the heels match! excellent.
and then something weird happened.
WTF!!! see that aqua colored stripe? (and yes, i counted and recounted stitches).
my matchy socks RUINED!
DON'T GO THINKING THAT I'M NOT OUTRAGED! see? i'm even using double negatives!
but clearly not outraged enough to frog and reknit. stupid aqua stripe.
want details? i've raveled them.
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day 21 -- foiled by a ball of german sock yarn.
starting today i'm going to have a regular wednesday feature called WIP Wednesday where i'll post about a project that i'm working on that week. this may degenerate to WTF Wednesday or Whatever the Hell I Want Wednesday but today i plan on playing it straight.
a few days ago i started another version of my gathered scarf. this one is for me and knit from berroco ultra alpaca in pea soup. this time, because the yarn is thicker than the yarn used for the original, i only cast on 40 stitches on size 8 needles (going down to size 5 for the garter stitch sections).
by the way, it's been so cool for me to see all of the different variations of this scarf knit by so many people. who knew that you all would like it so much. not me anyway.
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day 7 -- here's to more WIPs than WTFs.
like many of you, i try to do my best to save the environment.
1. i've given up plastic when grocery shopping and now bring my own bags. i still haven't gotten it in my head to avoid plastic when shopping for things other than groceries but i'm working on it.
2. i'm replacing all of our lightbulbs with CFwhatevers as they burn out. (i can't figure out if it's more environmentally aware to just get rid of perfectly good bulbs before they've burnt out or not. but it's certainly more maryse-miserly aware to do it that way).
3. i do not water my lawn nor do i use artificial fertilizers. mostly because our lawn is crap. and to fertilize and water would only encourage the dandelions to grow even taller. plus, norma says dandelions are good for eating so i'm killing three birds with one stone. saving water, using only organic fertilizer (ie. wild bunny, bird and squirrel poop) and eating locally.
4. . i try to recycle but i have yet to decipher the double-secret code of proper recyclable preparation and only manage to have my recyclables taken away 50% of the time. i think the recycle truck driver guy is a control freak AND a megalomaniac, deciding at the beginning of his route whether or not he'll be emptying our blue recycling box or not that day. too many cans? NO! not today! five inches from the curb? NO! not today! our regular garbage guy on the other hand is a gem. i love him (and i reward him handsomely during the holidays with a dunkin donuts giftcard delivered by me in my gnome pajamas.) if he were in charge of the recyclable pick-up, i'm convinced that my town's carbon footprint would be reduced by half.
and finally,
5. i reuse yarn. yep. i do. a little over a year ago, i knit these toe-up green lace socks. i was pretty happy with them, being that they were my first toe-up and my first lace socks. unfortunately though, they never fit right and one day when i tried to slip one on, it ripped at the cuff.
so, i frogged them.
and knit a pair of twinkleberries instead.
still a little lacy but a better fit, these were a super fast knit with an easily memorized pattern. i knit a heal flap instead of the short-row heel. you know, because of the giant peds. i've raveled the details.
so happy earth day to all of you. go out and enjoy the day.
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day 6 -- a reminder that this is sometimes a knitting blog and good for the environment
a few days late, but that's ok, since i'm setting the rules here. the project spectrum months of february and march were busy ones for me. in those two months i managed to knit 3 scarves, 1 cowl, 2 pairs of socks, 1 hat and spin some fire-y colored fiber.
since my last update, i finished a pair of monkey socks.
i made a few modifications such as adding extra stitches to accommodate my giant peds, and changing the heel and toe. details are raveled.
then because i had some fire-y colored colinette point 5 in the stash and i hadn't knit anything in pink, i whipped up two quickie projects: a simple garter stitch scarf out of point 5 in berry.
and a cowl out of point 5 in cezanne. is it cheating knitting on size 17 needles? because it certainly feels like it.
the next element is earth with greens, browns and metallics.
god this post is lame. sorry.
yesterday, a woman at work rudely asked me why i was wearing a scarf in the office. (i didn't consider the question rude. just the woman. trust me. she's very rude. always. and unstylishly scarfless) i told her that it was freezing in my office, which it is. but the other reason i wear scarves is because i have lots of them.
and here's one more.
this is the wavy scarf from knitty, knit in malabrigo worsted in sealing wax.
i added a slip stitch edge to give it a more finished edge. details raveled.
and having nothing to do with scarves but a sure sign that spring is just around the corner (despite the fact that this morning i woke up to snow falling).
the geese are back! (although how great would they look with a little red scarf around their necks). see how close they are? they were really that close. i must have had "snack" written all over me.
so i'm sick. nothing too serious but sick enough to have kept me in the house and in pajamas all weekend long. last night i slept 14 hours. i haven't done that since college! craziness.
so i don't have much to talk about except that i've got a couple FO's for you.
first on the list is larissa brown's mabel scarf knit in malabrigo worsted in tiger lily. its orangey goodness makes me very happy.
and just finished earlier today is jared flood's koolhaas hat also knit in malabrigo in vermillion.
sorry, no model shots of the hat for you since i've got serious sick face today. details on both can be found in ravelry.
anyone who was with me at Spa, i hope you aren't sick.
does this happen to you? you get so overwhelmed with everything that you end up doing nothing? yeah that's what's going on with the blogging these days. i've got a lot of updates but don't know where to start so that explains why i haven't blogged in almost 10 days.
so it's time for a list.
1. the elisa's dad blanket square contest is going strong and my guest bedroom bed is covered in packages. this weekend i'm going to enter everyone's information into a handy dandy spreadsheet. the deadline for squares is tomorrow but i'm not going to have time to award prizes until at least the weekend, so if you're running a little late, not to worry.
2. it's project spectrum time again. PROJECT SPECTRUM 2008!! this time lolly has organized the color palettes around the themes of the essential elements: FIRE, EARTH, WATER and AIR. and i'm ready ...
i know, i'm almost 2 weeks behind schedule, but i couldn't embrace the colors of fire until i had finished ...
3. this pair of neon colored socks for one of my nieces.
she was born in the 80's which is the last time these colors were part of my wardrobe, but i think she'll like their stripey goodness. these are basic top down stockinette socks. i raveled the details.
ok, i've got more but i'm going to save it for another day. don't want to do too much in one day. might hurt myself. wouldn't want that, now would we.
yes, this year's Project Spectrum is officially done and so it's time for my final two-month retrospective, with the stars of the show, Orange, Purple, and Brown.
funny thing is that until very recently in my life, i didn't care for orange, purple, and brown.
then i discovered chocolate. mmmm. not the candy, but the color. dark woods, rich chocolate leathers and suedes, all inspire me, and make me want to touch them, and move them into my house. (ironically, my love for chocolate, the food, is not nearly as strong as it used to be).
my obsession with orange is impossible for me to explain as well. i used to hate orange. maybe i grew up with too much orange, being a child of the 70's and all. maybe, its brightness called too much attention to itself. but for the past few years, when forced to choose, i've been drawn to orange. i carry an orange wallet, i have orange shoes, i even wear a bright safety orange puffy coat (yeah that's an excellent look for me). orange makes me smile.
finally, there's purple. i'm very particular about my purple. it's got to be deep, and regal, and intense. not for me the lavenders and lilacs (although i say that now. watch 2008 be all about lilac).
project-wise on the other hand, the months of september and october were relatively lame: one scarf , one frogged sock. and a crocheted bag without a lining.
oh well, you can't win everything.
hi!
so i noticed that my blog stats indicate a distinct drop-off in the viewings per day. makes sense. my posts have been erratic. my projects a little lame. pictures thrown in nilly-willy just because i've got nothing else.
see? nothing's changed.
i kicked ass on my exam wednesday night. thanks for the good luck wishes.
i am not in love with this sock, and even less so with what the second sock is looking like. there will be some frogging.
oh, finally some sale news. Graceful Stitches is having it's Fall Sale, today and tomorrow. 10% off all yarns, 50% off novelties. I'll be there tomorrow from 10-1.
remember this? it's blocked.
started: sometime in august 2007
finished: august 11, 2007
approximately 66" long
"nightshade" coopworth homespun singles from spunky eclectic
size 6 32in lace addi turbos (that i love by the way. the pointiness is so nice!)
pattern: branching out by susan pierce lawrence
another two months have passed and it's time for my june-july project spectrum retrospective. for these two months, the colors showcased were red, black and metallics.
i thought that working with this color triad would be easy since black and red are two of my favorite colors. but they're also winter colors to me. i don't even wear red and black in the summer. i did manage to finish a "red" project though: the boteh scarf from the spring '07 issue of interweave crochet.
yeah it's kind of a dumb picture but i didn't feel like modeling it. anyway, the pattern called for two skeins of lorna's laces sock yarn, so i used a 100g skein of sock yarn (of unknown pedigree -- i just know i bought it on ebay) and a size F (3.75 mm) crochet hook. i think my "petals" or whatever you want to call them, were smaller than in the original pattern so i was able to make 20 of them rather than 16 as written in the pattern.
yeah i didn't check gauge but it's a scarf. a scarf always fits. this one ended being 76 inches long. anyway, even if you're a relatively new crocheter, i think you can give this a try (just check for the errata first). it's deceptively simple and very fun to make. honest. kind of cool looking and a great way to dip into your sock yarn stash. go on. i know you want to make one.
i'm not much of a techie. i don't have an ipod and i record my favorite soap opera on a VCR because we don't have tivo or other digital recording device. and until yesterday, i had the oldest phone in the greater boston area. hey, if it ain't broke, why upgrade?
that red nokia phone on the left is 10 years old. and pulling it out when it rang, especially when i was on the T with a bunch of snot nosed BU undergrads was slightly less embarrassing than if the phone had been the size of a shoebox (watch any movie from the 80's-90's if you don't know what i'm talking about). but at the same time, i was/am kind of proud of it. i mean, who else has a 10 year old working phone? the sales guy even admitted that they don't make them like that anymore.
last month i received a letter from my cell phone provider informing me that it was time to trade it in because at the end of the month, they would no longer be able to provide me with service. something about not supporting the technology. fuckers.
so i bit the bullet. although the phone cost me nothing, my new plan will cost me at least an additional $15/month. fuckers. and they don't have my favorite ringtone so that's kind of annoying. i'm going to have to download a ringtone. and of course now this phone has all sorts of fun features that of course if i use i will have to pay extra for. fuckers.
and yes, i did contemplate getting the iphone, but after playing with it for awhile and reading a couple of reviews, i decided to postpone. besides an iphone costs as much as a good macro lens.
anybody need an old nokia phone?
yep, june's here. which means i've got another 2 month project spectrum retrospective for you. in april and may, it was all about pink, yellow, and green.
the next two months will be about red, black and metallics. i don't know what i'll do yet, but i'm ready!
i've lost my voice. well not entirely, but when i do try to speak, i've got this 2 pack a day for the past 20 years, smokey, lounge singer sort of voice. it kind of sucks, although the guy across the hall kind of thinks it's sexy. hey, i'm all about "sexy." hahaha. (ouch that hurts).
anyway, this post has nothing to do with my voice, or lack thereof. except that maybe the way my voice sounds right now might have something vaguely to do with the title of this post, in that i sound like an old whore.
so about the hookin'. i've lost the knitting mojo too which seems to be going around. i think i'm in a rut. well i know i'm in a rut. but i didn't think my rut would infiltrate the knitting. but i guess it has. so i've been crocheting instead.
using the big giant t-shirt ball and a giant size Q hook (i think) i'm just single crocheting a couple of kitchen mats/rugs.
although insanely simple, i find single crochet here to be very satisfying. much like garter stitch can be.
and because my baby niece needs a spring/summer blanket (that's what her mom says) i pulled out my sugar 'n cream cotton stash/scraps and started a giant granny.
finally, because i get anxious if i have less than 3 projects simultaneously in the works, i have some simple socks going. these are knit. you know, for the commute. the t-shirt yarn ball is just too big to fit in my bag.
it's barely 9:30 and i'm already agitated. on friday, i was notified by someone who shouldn't have notified me -- as it's not her job -- that i would be sharing my miniscule office with another person -- actually two other people -- who are theoretically only going to be in the office when i'm theoretically not in the office. i say theoretically because in actuality i can guarantee that there will be overlap. and i plan on noting when there is overlap in a little notebook. what really gets up my ass even more is that this office -- although no one will admit to it -- was a bit of a bribe to get me to take on additional responsibilities without the benefit of a raise or an official promotion (you can call me queen of the world but if it's not indicated in my HR file, and i don't get a crown and throne, i'm really only a loser). anyway, the person who was supposed to notify me on friday, just did this morning. and the additional responsibilities that i took on? those were hers when she bailed. finally, because my boss doesn't work here, i'm additionally at a loss because i have no one to look out for my interests.
if i weren't such a pathetic fool, a coward, and afraid that i couldn't get another job, i would quit. that's how pissed off i am right now.
also what's not helping is that two tires on my car need to be replaced post-haste. this is my fault. i've been driving around on practically bald tires for months now. (although in my defense, J is in charge of the cars and he's known about the tires as well -- i mean why have a guy around if not to take care of the freakin' cars!) and i'm lucky that i actually made it to and from the NHSW without an incident and only had the flat tire monitor come on 8 miles from home yesterday. but for the rest of the week, this means that J needs to drive me to the train station at 6:45am and can't pick me up until 7:45pm, which means i won't be getting home until 8. i don't recommend talking to me for the next 5 days or so.
oh, and some asshat is trying to spam my comments. FUCK YOU LOSER SPAMMER FUCKER!!!
and now for some new finished projects.
spunky eclectic's may fiber, corriedale in strawberry fields, about 100 yards.
new socks in bernat hot sox in "i don't remember the name right now" colorway. i made these in less than a week.
i'll show you my NHSW haul soon. you know when i'm actually home again.
the first two months of project spectrum 2.0 are over. i haven't posted nearly as much about this year's incarnation as i did about last year's, but it's not as if i've been idle.
here's my Eye Candy for today ...
my latest FO is the ingenius bainbridge scarf written up by minty of pepperknits. when i saw this scarf on her blog i thought "how does that work?" and "i must make one immediately". she generously shared the secret and it became my first project spectrum 2.0 project.
here's what it looks like ... well half of it anyway ... when it's just laying around.
here's what it looks like when it's hanging out around my neck. i made it with one skein of knitpicks andrean treasure in summer sky, trimmed in mystery. i cast on 172 stitches to make it a bit bigger because i have a bigger neck but i'm not sure the proportions are right. minty's scarf looks so much neater. it could be that the 100% baby alpaca although supremely soft, doesn't have enough body. but whatever. i really like it anyway.
thanks minty!
if you'd like to seem some of my project spectrum pictures you can check out my flickr sets ...
Project Spectrum 2.0 has begun! And as usual, I'm behind. Project Green Socks is still not finished. Soon though.
don't forget to enter my contest. and please, follow the directions. i want to see shoes, socks and your pants (or skirt). now i know why so many people have trouble with knitting patterns....BECAUSE KNITTERS ARE VERY BAD AT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!!!!
finally, baby bookish is on the way! yay!
here are my bitchin' mittens.
i know, they aren't pretty. and i haven't even bothered to weave in the ends. but i made them from my very first homespun on my louet. yes, this is the monster yarn. ha! they're crazy looking, but they make me smile.
so does this guy.
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totally unrelated, i'm cleaning "house" by unloading some books and such. i'm going to be posting some old crochet books on ebay -- i don't think most of you would be interested (except maybe stitchy) -- but someone might be interested in this.
if you're interested in the book, just write me a comment. if more than one person is interested, i'll put names into a hat. let me know by friday noon, ET.
and i'm already aggravated.
j was supposed to go work overtime today but decided at the last minute not to. this is annoying for two reasons.
1. i was looking forward to having a saturday to myself to do stuff around the house, clean up clutter, do some spinning. it's impossible to do that kind of stuff with him around.
2. he sleeps through alarms, so i have to get up at the crack ass of dawn in order to wake his ass up. fine whatever when he actually ends up going to work. annoying, when he gets up only to call in and tell them that he's not coming in. YOU MEAN I WOKE UP AT 6:00 ON A SATURDAY FOR NOTHING???!!!
3. miss-i'm-getting-out-of-the-house-don't-expect-me-back-for-another-two-months had me running around in our weed infested backyard looking for her after she escaped. once they've seen the next street over, there's no keeping them on the farm.
4. our printer/scanner is out of black ink. it will not scan without replacing the black ink. YOU DON'T NEED FRIGGIN' INK TO SCAN!!!!
ok, i've gotten that out of my system.
here's my new favorite spot in the house.
the table and chairs were picked up yesterday. it's such a bright and sunny spot. (and the windows are filthy -- don't look at them).
remember this? this is what i'm making with it. i'm on the sleeves now. two at a time. hope to finish it (and actually like it) by labor day. and then become blond and thin by the following tuesday.
and last but not least, this week's saturday sky.
it's august, and in project spectrum world, that means "neutrals."
just so you know, i'm not good with neutrals. but i'm going to give it a go.
remember this?
i was going to finish it, and then i start thinking about it, how i didn't want to finish it, and how i was just not excited about it, and it wasn't the type of sweater i actually wanted, so....
i frogged it. heh heh. i feel so much better.
and another reason i feel better after today.
yep, it's blocking. i've got to weave tons of ends in but LOOK HOW CLOSE I AM TO FINISHING!!!!
i've neglected project spectrum in the past month or so. it's not that i don't like purple ... i do ... but july just flew by and i'm still trying to catch up.
a high of 100 degrees is in store for us in the north east on wednesday. yet i just finished a knitted cap. a coworker of mine, recently diagnosed with breast cancer, is undergoing chemo and will more than likely lose her hair.
so i made shedir for her (the pattern is one of the patterns from knitty's breast cancer awareness mini issue)
i used a little more than 1 skein of lionbrand microspun in lilac. it's a wonderfully cool and soft feeling yarn although insanely splitty. my gauge was slightly off, but the resulting hat i think will fit her better. i hope she likes it.
oh and my project spectrum project in progress.
i have remarkably little knitting to show for my time in france. i had plenty of metro and car time to knit my june project spectrum socks but for some odd reason, could not for the life of me remember how to do a picot edge. so i did a lot of casting on, knitting, fudging the picot edge, ignoring the fact that it did not look right, kept on knitting, stopped being able to ignore that it did not look right, kept on knitting anyway, then threw down my knitting in disgust, then frogged.
i did this at least half a dozen times.
finally i did what i should have done from the beginning, i looked it up. duh.
here are my project spectrum socks for june (yeah i know i'm way behind) -- the second sock knit almost entirely during our flights back.
i also knit up AND FROGGED and knit up again the saturday market bag from magknits. although a simple project, it took me 4 tries to "get" the pattern stitch. no it's not hard, but my hands HATED knitting yarn overs in worsted weight yarn on size 15 needles. i ended up going down a needle size because i was not going to let such a simple pattern BREAK me. and i needed another bag to bring home stuff in. (of course i could have just gone out and purchased a string bag for very few euros, as an older lady pointed out to me when she saw me knitting in a cafe, but what would be the point of that....LADY!).
i also didn't kitchener the two ends of the strap together, because i couldn't believe that would hold once i had stuff in the bag, but instead bound off each strap and tied them together in a big knot.
finally... what's this? finished i-cord?
for chris ....
what a lame ass day. if it weren't for the encouragement i've gotten, i would have definitely thrown the color on color scarf out the window.
i spent over 6 hours knitting this....
why? because i had to redo it 3 times. this has been a problem with this pattern. lots of frogging. not all my fault. not always my mistakes. anyway, i have one more section to go.
tonight, i'll relax by working on my project spectrum june sock.
about a month ago, claudia blogged about this relic her mother had found stashed away. a crocheted stole, carefully crafted by claudia's adolescent hands, she was ready to throw it out like an old rag. "crochet!" she exclaimed. blech! in blue, no less! double blech!
so i told her i'd give it a good home. this blue stole had lasted this long, it deserved to be finished.
check out the change in gauge though. on the left, are the first few inches. did she use a different sized hook? were her hands relaxed and happily crocheting? on the right, are the last few inches. was she hating the stole? hating the crochet? was her dislike of blue so overwhelming that she would forever associate it with crochet? were her hands clenched so tightly in crocheting hating frustration that her stitches were half the size? was this the beginning of the end for the crochet? and why she's a knitter today?
who knows?
if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. and you might finally win anjo's project spectrum CD contest, like i just did. woo-hoo!
wrapped within the cobalt blue tissue and the polka-dot fabric (which i love -- i love dots)
was a "blue" CD
and matching handmade gift tags 
check out the "blue" tunes. i'm a big dork when it comes to music. i don't know what the kids are listening to these days. and most of the time i really don't care. but the mix has opened my ears to sounds that i normally wouldn't have considered and it's been fun.
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"the mug's too gay, but the word "kitty" even without there being a cat around ... apparently not!"
it's june people!
that means 2 things.
1. it's a month of blues for project spectrum .... i started the month off by winning anjo's june blue music mix CD. yay me! i've only been trying to win these things since march. anjo's a brilliant and inspirational crafter, and generous woman. go say hi and check out her stuff.
it'll be nice working in blues again.
2. i'm going to france! for the first time in 4 years, i'm packing up and heading home. it's j's second trip and i know he's more excited than i am. and we're taking our 17 and 18 year old nieces. it's their first trip overseas. i'm so excited to show them my other country. june 29th can't come fast enough.
another pair of socks, with a smidgen of green. but i'm afraid that's it for may.
a few days ago when i noticed that may was almost over, i ran around and took some snapshots of the green around me and "archives."
but i'm afraid that's it.
i did make some progress on my dyed t-shirt project though.
mmmm t-shirt fettucine ...
turned into a giant yarn ball weighing in at 5.2 lbs
my yard wouldn't be such a nightmare if someone hadn't decided that dandelions were weeds and not wild flowers.
coleen finally received the postcard i sent her APRIL FRIGGIN' 29TH!!!! IT TOOK OVER TWO WEEKS!!!!!!
the coast is clear.
there's some paper, and glue, and a little stitching.
i'm doing a little catch up here again. first of all, in honor of project spectrum, more green with cats.
cats guarding the fledgling herb garden.
and some FOs (finished objects, not "fuck offs")
another pair of socks. there's some green in there. so maybe that counts? no? yes?
and here's my finished orange scarf from april.
i began by creating a provisional chain which i later removed once the fishnet pattern was established. this allowed for both ends of the scarf to have this scallop edge. i finished off the scarf by edging it with 1 row of single crochet. unfortunately i still have some of this yarn left. had i known i would have made the scarf wider.
it's clearly rocky's favorite scarf.
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and in honor of spring, i lightened the look of the blog. what do you think?
basil that i'm growing in my kitchen.
another sign of spring.
isn't it cute?
one last siren song for the colors of april. although not as ubiquitous in my life as red, i noticed that i had a lot of orange and yellow in my world. the common areas in my house are painted a pale yellow. my bathroom is a brighter yellow. i carry an orange wallet and wear a bright yellow slickah when it rains. i collect copper pitchers and pots and have a copper sun hanging in my office. my yard is covered in yellow dandelions (not on purpose though). i still have an orange mohair scarf on the hook. i purchased a beautiful skein of yellow/orange sock yarn from sundara at purly whites. and you can see a hint of what my postcard to coleen looks like in the collage above (full disclosure once she's received it. yes i was behind schedule this month. SUE ME!)
finally, look what caro sent me.
a cozy sleeping bag for my sunglasses. i offered to take it off her hands because she didn't care for it. i know... such a sacrifice on my part. and she threw in a stitch marker.
check out her etsy shop for other wonderful things she makes. thank you caro!
work's been busy and when i'm not at work, i've had trouble concentrating on fun life stuff. so i've been a little remiss with my thank yous.
here's a little lamb/basketball stitch marker that kat sent me for participating in her march madness pool. isn't it cute?
and here is the project spectrum postcard for april that i received a week ago from coleen. i sense a theme.
i love this postcard. it's so pretty in real life. i'm afraid that my photo doesn't do it justice. coleen is self-labeled "theater geek" and a talented and obsessed sock knitter who lives in maryland. go check out her beautiful socks.
and on the topic of socks, here's my latest pair. some pink in there, but mostly orange and yellow for april. 
and check out my picot edge (thanks claudia for the directions).
am i the only one who is a little sad that march is over? i think i'm going to miss red and pink a little bit ... won't you? not that i don't love orange.
the last few days of march were spent knitting up another pair of socks in march/april transitional colors. (it's been confirmed. i really like pink and orange together.)
and i just started another pair. this time i'm trying claudia's picot edge.
again, lots of orange, a little bit of pink (there's yellow too).
and for sandy, some project spectrum april sky (taken at the crack of ass AM -- can't say i'm not committed).
now i need a little help. any ideas for what to do with this yarn i snagged from claudia awhile back (imagine that. orange yarn from claudia. so not like her.)
