This is the worst photo I've possibly ever taken...

This is the worst photo I've possibly ever taken and let other people see - don't judge me for it - it's all I have to show you the progress. I'm dedicating myself to better picture taking. Promise.

Yep, horrible picture but it's of the finished sweater/vesty thing. It is supposed to be my size but it looks like I pushed down some smaller person and stole thier vest - which is why I don't really care that it's a bad picture cause it hides just how small the thing is. So, I'm thinking it's going to one of my friends who is slightly smaller than me.

This past weekend we loaded up the dogs and headed west. By west, I mean Alpine/Ft Davis area, to Camp Mitre Peak. CMP is a girl scout camp that is the best thing since sliced bread. And you know how much I love bread! It is between Alpine and Ft Davis and it looks like this:

See? More beautiful than sliced bread!
This was Jamie's first time west of SA and he loved it - mostly that there were less people crowding up the place and the openness. This was the second year we met there for climbing and the annual Artwalk. One of Jamie's best friends lives in the area and joins us, so it's extra special because we get to hang out with him.
We are looking for some acerage in the area. Too bad there aren't very many jobs cause I think we established on our drive back that we'd both pick up and move out there in a heartbeat. It's lovely.
We also purchased a small piece of artwork and found some fantastic pottery mugs. There was good food and good company. It just wasn't long enough.
I took knitting with me and every intention to get some knitting done, but with three large dogs making the trip with us I didn't knit a single stitch. They loved exploring and hanging out with everyone. Here's Copper, cause Jamie couldn't get the other two to look at him long enough to get a good picture.

I did get to play with my camera a bit off 'Auto' mode. That was lots of fun. I am making an effort to learn how to use all the functions of my Canon Powershot. 'All' is a little audacious.

I owe Kat a pair of socks and I plan on having them done ASAP. They are what I took with me this past weekend and didn't work on at all.
I'll let you know how they progress.

Beginnings

Holy cow batman, it's been almost a month since I last blogged!


Lots of stuff has been going on and I'll do my best to cover all of it.


I made an unexpected trip to Michigan at the end of October. It was not for a happy reason, but it was a fantastic trip. While I was packing, I really wanted to bring multiple projects with me. Airplane time is great knitting time! I was not checking a bag. Jamie asked with knowing behind his eyes what I was taking to keep me occupied on the plane. I eargerly produced a sock project and the lacy scarf, excited as could be.
"Emily," he says "don't you have any less scary looking needles? Perhaps something not metal?"
I deflated slightly - I was seriously looking forward to knitting on the plane, but I only have one set of non-metal needles. I haven't been doing this very long and have never had to worry about stupid airport policies before. I produced the one set of wooden needles I own.
"Those are even scarier! Do you have any that are less sharp?" he asks.
No, I don't and I don't think that should stop me from taking the needles with me. I researched this - they told me I could take an envelope just in case they won't let me through so I can mail my needles back to myself. And it starts sinking in that the precious small amount of space I have would be taken up by yarn that I couldn't even do anything with serving as a reminder that some stupid non-knitting TSA person took my needles from me because they 'looked scary' and they couldn't understand why someone would knit in the first place. I played it safe and left the knitting and yarn at home. It sucked. I was gone for five days - even spent time in a car and knitting would've been really nice to have with me.

I will be getting plastic/wood needles for Christmas. Mark my words.

So after I returned home, I had lots of baby stuff to make because I had two baby showers the following weekend. I had to do a mad dash of two (yes, not one, but two) baby blankets for the showers. And in my mind I was making booties and hats to go with.
I started a crochet blanket after not being able to properly start a knitted pattern I picked out. Also, after looking at the yarn I'd picked I wouldn't have enough to complete it.
Wednesday I realized the shower I was crocheting for was on Sunday and I needed something for Sataurday (which is a day closer!), so I dropped the crochet and started knitting this simple garter stitch blanket. I used  (believe it or not) the Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn called for in the project, but used pink and brown. I forgot to take a photo before I gave it to the mommy-to-be. I also whipped up a little beanie for the tyke, but forgot to take a photo of that too (bad blogger). Both were well received.

I wore the sweater to the Sataurday baby shower. I got lots of compliments and amazed looks that I actually made what I was wearing. I was very good and did not point out the errors that I did not fix. There was another crocheter there, who also gave a blanket (like the crochet blanket I picked out for the other baby shower - good thing I didn't do that blanket for both babies!) so I didn't feel like such a freak. Then I was asked something I haven't been asked before - "How long did it take you to learn to do that?". My initial thought was 'huh?'. I'm still learning to do this.
Fortunately, I had the gumption to form 'huh' into "What do you mean?". It was clarified: how long did it take you to learn to knit/how did you learn to knit?
I just picked up a book and did it.
Appearently, that is rather odd for someone to do - thank god my sister was there to translate and saved me by formulating an appropriate sounding response for me. I really have no idea what she said, but it sounded better than what was coming out of my mouth, which was awkward as usual.
This got me thinking - how did I learn to do this?


I was crocheting, and it was good. I found some knitting stuff of my mom's so I went out and bought this knitting book - from Walmart and everything. I made a simple knit scarf out of a single ball of yarn. Baby shower #2 mommy-to-be, loved the scarf and bought from me cause she wouldn't let me give it to her (cause she's crazy!). Then, I wanted a challenge! So I made this:

It's a stitch 'sampler' type of project that was supposed to turn itself into a pillow, but never did.  It was easier than I thought. And I've been knitting since.
But I'm just following instructions. I don't feel like I'm doing anything spectacular. Even the stitches that look really complicated were not that bad. So, I figured I'd just learn as I went and started projects I thought were interesting. 
And then I knit a sweater. 

Does that sound any better than 'huh'? 

At least now I have compiled an answer for the next time I'm asked.

And here's the crochet blanket:

For baby shower # 2 that I didn't actually make it to cause I felt like crappo and didn't really want to puke on anybody. No one needs that as a family memory - yeah, I'm the girl that puked on you at your baby shower...ugh, no. I'll take it by her work and present it without puking on her.

Friday, when I went to buy actual gifts from Babys'r'us*, I was in the area of a Hobby Lobby - it's like Christmas ya'll, there is only Walmart in my local town for yarny items and the selection sucks, think Planet Acrylic - so I made my sister go with me to see what was on sale. Lo and behold I bought a little bit of sock yarn:

Okay, so I might have bought a LOT of sock yarn. But it was a really good deal! Seriously. Like $34 worth of good deal. 

After I finished the crochet blanket last night, I started sewing together the black sweater/vest thingy I talked about here and it's coming right along. I should have a completed photo next post.

I promise it won't be so long between the next post. 

Happy knitting!


*The Babys'R'Us I went to was a horrible, awful place that was unorganized and had dirty bathrooms. The gift registry did not correctly point non-baby people (like me) to the location for unknown alien objects placed throughout their stores in no logical order which blend into Toys'R'Us without notice even though they have different entrances. I will not be going there again.

 

Titles are overrated...

I've reverted back to crochet and decided to crochet this in a different yarn than suggested (of course). I'm using I love this cotton from Hobby Lobby in black. I did not swatch, as usual. After completing the back, I scared myself into thinking it would never fit and decided to loosen up my work on the first front panel. I now have a front panel that is in 100% cotton that is two inches longer than the back. The 100% cotton part is very important - that's whay I italisized it - because as knitter/crocheters know, cotton loves to enlarge itself to monstorous proportions. It looks like it's supposed to be a bit loose on the model in the picture and we all know after reading this that magazine editors strive to ensure photo shoots for hand worked items acurately represent what they really should look like.*Please note the sarcastic tone in the sentance above* I am contemplating just going ahead with it as is, but I have a feeling that I'll be frogging the front panel and working it tighter because I know in my heart of hearts that it will stretch.

A quick lesson on submitting a pattern for magazines that everyone out there should fully understand (but often lost to knitter/crocheters mind by overwhelming mental processes triggered by a beautiful 'must-make-now' item involving mental pictures of perfect yarn, texture, and color which may or may not be represented in the actual photo) when one submits a fabulous pattern, it is only in writing and some of the original intent may be lost by editors who send chosen submitee a yarn the magazine is supported by and the said item is created in whatever those editors believe it should be created in. I know this because despite the fact that I have not actually written a pattern, I have looked into the submission process with the full intent to submit a future pattern that I will one day write.
So, when I automatically change something in a pattern, I just can't help it. It's the mental image of me looking fantastically tall and thin in whatever item I'm chosing to make. And the fact that I have five skeins of that yarn in my stash I've been dying to use because it's unbelievably soft and fantastic. I don't care if a vest'll end up like the Harlots' Michelen Man Sweater (scroll to the bottom - you'll see it - and give me credit she worked the item in that size it did not grow). It'll be soft and that's what's important.

Speaking of tall and thin, I seriously need to join the gym. We got word last week (maybe the week before last) that my best friend Erica and Jamie's best friend Loren are getting married! The world is a fabulous place when your best friends like each other so much they decide to spend the rest of their lives together.
It'll be better than cheese!
And even though this event has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them, I cannot help being terrified by appearing in the wedding in April in front of lots of people at my current weight and blubberiness due to the massive amounts of muscle that was once attached to my skeleton. I should be able to join the gym at the end of October. I have six months to get some muscle back - that should be long enough.

More good news is my friend Lydia, who received the Girl Scout socks, said she wore them the other day and they were comfy! Woot!!! I just hope my handiwork will hold up to washing and wear well. We'll see. It is my first gift that is in use!
I still have not mailed the small sweater to my cousin in Michigan. I will look up her address now and write it down. I will mail it tomorrow. I wonder if Michigan is still in fall. Texas is very curious with seasons and one must remember that the rest of the country experiences other seasons and summer is much shorter than here. I try to keep that in mind. But the coldness in the morning reminds me that as it become fall-like here it is getting to be winter-like north of here.

So, I love hearing about a whole lot of people living in a bubble (follow me people it has to do with being cold)- it was reported the people protesting the stock market in NY needed sleeping bags but couldn't decide to knit their own (to follow the 'protest of consumerism') or buy sleeping bags.
Someone needs to walk up behind them and give them them a Gibbs-slap to the back of the head.
Where do they think yarn comes from? And the needles? And darning needles to weave all the ends in? Hello! - you have to buy them. And you'd need like 800 skeins of yarn to make sleeping bags - even cheap yarn at $5 a skein would be $4000 - I mean you're at the stock market someone nearby should have a calculator. Do the math. Go buy the $10 sleeping bag from WalMart and continue your protest without involving knitters of the world who have enough problems with stereotypes being pressured onto them without you piping your craziness into another stereotype.

I've been cleaning the house in the evenings so this crochet vest (originally supposed to be done in a weekend) will probably keep me busy for the next two weeks.
Do not hate me for wasting precious knitting/crochet time - my house is squashing my creativity with its clutter. I... must... clean...
Thank god my sister's neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend - I've decided to get rid of some furniture I was holding onto for emotional reasons and not looking at the practicality of how the furniture functions in the house - it's got to go. I must have order and flow in order to be creative. And it must happen quickly.
I also have to burn more piles while we have a lifted burn ban (I burned four piles last weekend and we have about a bigillion more) to quell the nightmares about trees falling over into 20-story high brush piles that are burning in my house. The burn ban is likely to be re-imposed next week.
Yes, I understand no one else thinks about these things but I must explain the importance of this small window of opportuinity if you do not have forrested property plagued by hypoxylon canker - which in a matter of months cause perfectly healthy looking, gorgeous trees to die and pile up right where they stand. Plus a burn ban that drags on almost all year long because the rain clouds are scared off by the heat of the place.
Alas my knitting/crochet will have to be put aside until the weekend evenings if I can muster the brain power after working outside all day.





I'm putting this at the bottom of the page to see if anyone actually reads all the way to the end of my blogs and if you don't then I probably don't want you to see this part anyway - but I have decided after reading the Yarn Harlot's blog that I must be more like myself in the blog-o-sphere - that's the self-reflective part of my personality - and stop being so boxy and controlling. I am very hard on myself and releasing the edit button on this online world opens myself up to other people's critical analysis of ...well, me. So, be warned, from here on out that there may be more randomness, rambling, and my perspective on things. You're welcome to leave objections/critiques in the comments or stop reading my blog. (HA! like I have readers!) The only way to let this be a true reflection of my new found obsession hobby is to be myself. Spazziness and all. The final push to this decision involved standing in line at HEB picturing myself in place of Miranda Lambert on the cover of some music magazine - which my fear of being the center of attention will never allow to happen - and realizing that an opportunity exists online that allows me to overcome some of the fear if I just let myself be. So there.
Happy knitting!

Learning a new skill

I have completed the little sweater for my cousin's son. I'm going to put in the mail this week (hopefully) since they actually have fall up north and he can probably use it now. I made it in the 18 month size and he just turned one in September so I'm hoping it'll fit over a base layer.

I learned it's easier to learn new skills on child-sized garments and decided I'm going to make a little sweater for all the small people I know before attempting a second adult-sized garment.
I have learned and mastered the mattress stitch. I have The Knitter's Bible by Claire Crompton and typically this is my go-to guide for skills, but in the instance of the mattress stitch - not so good. I kept trying to understand the written instructions and the pictures (or lack thereof) just do not cut the mustard for someone who doesn't have a clue what the stitch is supposed to look like. Thank god for Utube! I found a very helpful video (I didn't save the link so I can't share it) that made it a cinch. Considering the simplicity of this stitch, I am not even going to share just how long I attempted to learn this stitch from the few books I have and written instructions. It's embarrassing.
The sleeves look great though!
I have also learned that my rib stitch is kinda tight and I should use a between size needle for ribbing or add some stitches to make it look normal. I had to be creative at the arm holes because of this and did not close them completely but left the ribbing unsewn so his little hands will fit through them.
In addition, I need to add to my button stash! I had a hard time finding buttons on hand that would look good with this little project.

In other life news, we've been adjusting to Jamie's new job schedule and it's been hard. But it will pay off in the end. We're both adjusting well.
I believe I have been reinfected with the very same cold I had two weeks ago. It's very strange considering it has been so long that I cannot even remember the last time I was sick and now, not once, but twice I come down with some crappy cold?! Horrible.
We got some rain last week and the burn ban is temporarily lifted so I plan on working outside this weekend trying to get some of the piles taken care of.

I am throwing around getting back onto the lace project. I need to make some socks too. Who knows? You'll just have to wait and see what I cast on!

When projects aren't what they seem

I've been putting off posting because I have restarted the same project four times. I get about 20 rows in and it all falls apart - either I don't like the way it looks, or I messed up and go to unravel it stitch by stitch and mess that up, or I just completely mess up.
I am working on the lacey scarf project I told you guys about forever ago on and off these past two weeks and I have nothing to show for it. It's currently waiting to be frogged...again. This time around I missed a stitch, backed up stitch-by-stitch, and somehow messed up my backup and now I'm going to have to start over because I don't think I can fix my secondary mess up. I will complete this project. But it's helping my 'cannot have more than one project going at a time' issue.

I cast on last night for a gift for my cousin's son in Michigan. It's a little raglan sweater. I have a little beanie made for him, but I'd like to send something more. I pulled the pattern off Ravelry - it's the Toddler Raglan Hoodie by Megan Goodacre and looks like this:


Photo is Megan Goodacre's from the Ravelry website listed above.

I have a few rows done in a light grey color, but I'm thinking I might undo what I've done and cast on with some wool I have in my stash. I'm using acrylic right now (Lion's Brand) and I'm thinking for the sake of softness and cost effectiveness I may stick with what I'm using. We'll see what I decide.

Last weekend I decided in a flash that my fun self striping socks I made for our Girl Scout meeting in November needed to go to another home - a good friend of mine had a birthday and it seemed perfect for her. I have a feeling this will be the case as I complete projects - they have a particular intent but find better applications. She was very very happy to receive them and thought they were fantastic. We did a small girl's night (by small I mean three of us, but not small in the amount of fun we had) out. It was great.

Minus the fact I was sick. Late last week, we had a conference for work and I picked up some super-duper cold bug that is still sort of kicking my butt. I spread this super cold to Jamie and he was super grateful considering he just started his new job. 

So, that's what I'm doing. I'm working away on stuff, just not with lots of results. I'll keep ya'll in the loop when something gets finished.

Slacker

Last week was rough. There's a lot going on in life and the blog got kicked down to the bottom. So, I have not been posting everyday until you guys are caught up and I apologize. (Not that I have a huge following, but still, I put a promise out there to the world and dropped the ball)
So, we're going to catch you guys up.

During the search for things that don't exist, we were driving by a store that sells yarn (yes any store that sells yarn is a reason to stop) and I was feeling despair and I was weak and Jamie felt bad for me. So he sat in the car while I went in search for a pick-me-up of the wool persuasion.

 I found this. Perfect for the November meeting project. I know a particular someone who'll love this Girl Scout Tie-Dyed color yarn.

 And here's number one almost finished. I have completed this pair and they are currently being stored with the helmet liner until November. When they'll make the trek to a distant land.

I also found this for a scarf project that I plan on making for my Aunt. It's her favorite color. And she's one of the few people I know who live in a cold enough climate to knit something like this for.

 It's going to look like this when knitted:

(I stole this photo from Google - linked from someone's flickr account)

I have also cast on for another coaster for the nerd room. It's not very far along. It is sitting on my couch still looking just like this:

I will make this last one and maybe a makeup one that is more squarish to make a set of four. Then I will start knitting the other logo. Set of four for those also.

I also bought some wool on my depair trip to the yarn store. It was on sale and it was all I could do to keep myself from buying every skien they had. But I didn't. I bought two. I believe another pair of Girl Scout socks will come out of one of those skiens.

Other than that, I have been organizing our stuff in boxes around the house. Including the yarn stash box. It has been upgraded to a 56qt tote. I see another upgrade sometime in the future. Should work for now. I have just a bit of room at the top of it. Must knit faster to justify adding to the stash.

In search of things that don't exist

This is a non-knitting post.

Just thought I'd get that out there.

As I've mentioned before, I am in the process of attempting to update/redo our master bedroom. I have started laying flooring and trim in the closet as a practice piece.

Background on why I needed a 'practice piece': In 2006, when Jamie and I moved from NB to my childhood home, after my father passed away, we did a mad dash re-do of my old room because I refused to move into my childhood room let alone let a grown man live in a girl's childhood room that was decorated in sort of a horsey theme. It was the first major redo I've done as an adult (this redo thing comes from my mother and she did as much as she could to every room in the house) and needless to say things were less than perfect. We payed someone to lay the flooring but did the wallpaper, painting, panelling repair, and trim work ourselves. Hanging trim is sort of an art and I was a very novice artist. We are still living in this room until we get the master finished and it is less than perfect. I'm sure no one notices immediately the flaws in my trim job, but I sure as heck do. I also hung a small amount of trim in our kitchen when I repainted 1-2 years ago. It was an improvement from my childhood room, but definately not ideal.

So, all this being said, I want this project to look like someone who knew what they were doing hung the trim. And I started in the closet. We picked up two boxes of flooring, you'll remember. I needed one more to finish.
Weekend before last, Jamie and I went into town to pick up another box of flooring to finish the closet. Typically our local HD carries an entire pallet of the Pergo flooring that most closely resembles the flooring we put in our current bedroom (Pergo has since discontinued the exact flooring we used). We got to our local HD only to find there was no pallet and there was not a single box of flooring. We asked, someone called in to purchase the entire pallet.
So we went to the next town over to buy the single box we needed there. They had nine boxes, but all of them had crunched corners. I am not putting crunched corners into my 'perfect' remodelling job. The flooring gentleman was kind enough to explain that Pergo was discontinuing this flooring and it was on sale and being scooped up by the second. He offers to call around to find us an undamaged box.We waited about 30 mins while he called around.

All the while, Jamie and I are discussing what to do with the flooring in the rest of the room that is supposed to match the closet. I have already laid two boxes with the assumption that I am going to lay continuously into the bedroom with the same flooring. Do we buy the flooring we need for the entire project? Do we wait and see and hope that whatever Pergo comes out with also closely matches the other bedroom flooring because eventually the hall between the two bedrooms is supposed to also get the same flooring?

The closest store has six boxes in good condition and it's another 30 minute drive away. They'll hold them. We go. They aren't holding them, but we found a single box for me to finish the closet. We have to figure out what to do later. We can lay tile...cork...something else that is close...Jamie can call a local contractor to have them match what we have as closely as possible...none of these options are what I want to hear.
They are not what I was picturing in my head when envisioning this room. The flooring is SUPPOSED to match.
Match as in be the same.
My heart was crushing.
I was pouting like a little kid.
Jamie, bless his heart, was doing his best to assure me it was going to be okay.
We went home with one box of flooring.

And I finished the flooring in the closet.

I am a lover of closets. The place we rented in NB was the best rent house ever because it had an insane amount of closet space. Freaking loved it.
Jamie and I have been sharing a very small walk-in closet and it is seriously starting to wear on me. Things are hanging on shelves throughout the entire room this closet is in. Did I mention the said shared closet is not in my childhood room that we currently sleep in? No? Yeah, it's not.
I need a closet that sings to me when I walk in. The order and beauty of it brings calmness to my heart. I love closets.
I want my closet, this closet, to sing to me.

This past weekend, I finished the closet project. The baseboards, a small crown molding, and cove in the corners are hung. It is as close to perfect as humanly possible with super crooked walls.
I hung the Elfa system and Jamie was moving his stuff into it before I even had the system together on the other side. I think he was feeling a bit cramped in the shared small closet too.
Here's the finished product. It's a beautiful thing.