etod_knits

Everything has been crazy! I'm just glad my spring semester is almost over. I'm ready to do lots of knitting to be quite honest. Movies and knitting. That's going to be my break. :)

I'm working on some swap projects right now--the Hogwarts Sock Swap and the Hurricane Sock Swap. I'm not too sure if I'm 100% liking the Hurricane sock pattern Here's what I have done so far right now:



I just don't think the pattern is the right one for the yarn I'm using. It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and I love knitting with it. I just wish I loved the pattern a bit more. :\

What I am loving is coming up with a sock pattern for my Hogwarts swap partner:


The owls kill me! I think they're so adorable. I hope the socks come out the way I envision them. I'm going to redo the yellow at the top though. I ended up ordering the wrong yarn and so the gauge just isn't working with the cranberry colored yarn. Both yarns are Lorna's Laces only one is the Shepherd Sport (cranberry) and one is the Shepherd Sock (yellow). I reordered the right yarn and I'm just waiting for it to get to me to redo the ribbing on this sock.

The last time I mentioned some nesting birds... Here's a photo of one of them:


The eggs the bird was incubating hatched and have already flown the coop I guess you could say. :) It was fun seeing them grow up. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get some photos of the baby birds before the took off. And also unfortunately my pea plants died in the process of letting the birds hatch. I wasn't able to go out and water my plants as often because I didn't want to scare off the mother and leave the babies vulnerable and cold. The heartier plants survived thankfully.

Anywho, I just wanted to check in and update my sock making progress for the swaps. I really, really, really hope I can update my journal more frequently than I have been.

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
  Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size?
Size 8 (US)

3. Foot Length?
10 in.

4. Foot Circumference?
8 1/2 in.

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
Inox DPN US1, 6 in.
Brittany DPN US3, 5in.
Boye Aluminum DPNs US 2, 7 in.

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? Definitely!
If so, which brand? Preferably anything made of wood or aluminum (I'm allergic to nickel plating so sadly I've never been able to use Addi Turbos or KnitPicks' DPNs). I'm also game on trying out plastic DPNs if the tips are pointy!
Size? I knit a ton of socks so most of my needle sets tend to be in the 1-3 US size range.
Length? Not too long. I like to use DPNs between 5 and 7 in.

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
I don't have a strong preference as far as book or film--I love them both!

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
Absolutely!

I joined yet another swap. I couldn't help myself--I've really been in a Harry Potter mood lately and I thought this would be an excellent swap to join up for. As you can tell, I was sorted into Ravenclaw, which suits me just fine. My dad, who is the supreme Potter fan in our family, thinks we'd both be Ravenclaws if we weren't muggles. We sorted our whole family one time based on our personalities and Price and my brother were Gryffindors, we were Ravenclaws and my mom would be the lone Hufflepuff.

Anyway, I suggest that if you're a Potter fan you should join in the fun, too! The swap is for a pair of socks and stitch markers in your partner's house colors and a set of needles (whatever your partner uses for sock knitting). You can find the swap here:

1. Repeat after me "no hurricanes, no hurricanes, no hurricanes" . Okay we just had to get that one out of the way first. We needed to created a bit of "good weather karma"! GRIN


2. If your pet(s) wrote a paragraph about you to describe you to us what would they say? (If you have no pets then just pretend you husband or best friend wrote it! This is a 3rd person writing exercise that is always fun.)

Mymomisthebestmomintheworldshegivesmeallkindsofsnacksandstuffandi
cantgetenoughofitallbutsometimesshegivesmeyuckypills
andbathsandmedicinetokeepfleasoffofmeandicantstandthatbutiknowshedoes
itcauseshelovesmeandwantsmesafeandsheletsmerun
wildaroundherandsheplayswithmeandijustgetsohypedupicantstanditilovethe
kissesshegivesmeandthatshedoesntgettoomadifibark
atthebirdnestingoutsideonthebalconyandilovethatshetakesmefortripswithher
inthecarwhichiabsolutelyloveandilovecurlinguponherlap
whenevershesknittingandwatchingaprogramwithnotalotofcommercialsihate
commercialsbecausethereisalotofmovementwhenshes
tryingtofindtheremotecontroltospeedthroughthemandienduphavingto
repositionmyself.
-obi-wan

Obi-Wan gets a bit hyper sometimes. It's part of his chihuahua tendencies. I guess it was also a bad idea to give him a nibble of graham cracker, huh?

3. What is your favorite hurricane supplies snack?

Fruit snacks are my ultimate weakness. I load up on them during hurricane season.

4. Do sock patterns normally fit you "as written" or do you usually modify them for size in any way? (other than foot length)

I haven't worked a pattern that hasn't fit me (aside from kiddie sized knits).

4a. What are your foot measurements, not just shoe size? (Measure the length of your foot from heel to toe, then the ball of your foot. )

Heel to toe: 10 in.
Ball of foot: 8 1/2 in.
Shoe size: 8

5. What one city abroad would you visit and why if money was no object? (and terrorism was non-existant)

London. It is the one place that I have dreamed of visiting since I was a kid.

6. Do you wear socks all year round or just during the winter? Do you prefer them tall or short or regular height?

I wear socks all year long (especially since the Obinator chews up my flip-flops frequently). I like my socks to be tall to regular heights. If the leg of the sock is too short, it falls into my shoe. :(

7. The last time the power was out during hurricane season (or bad weather of any kind) did you knit by lantern or were you lucky enough to knit to the humm of a generator? Or did you knit at all?

I didn't knit at all. This is my second year of knitting and thankfully last year there wasn't the need for hurricane knitting!

8. Make a wish for your favorite sock yarn that you've already used once. What would it be? Dont be shy about listing an exact colorway or two if you'd like.

Wow... That's hard to answer--I don't have just one favorite! Lately my mission has been to try out new sock yarns whenever possible--including hand-dyed yarns. I recently got my hands on my first skein of Socks That Rock which was my elusive yarn get. But I love supporting indie yarn dyers (and finding new ones!). Some of my favorites are Scout, Sunshine Yarns, Yarntini, Yarn Pirate and WhiteWillow (all on Etsy except Scout).

9. What is it about sock knitting that keeps you wanting to knit more and more socks?

All the beautiful sock yarns available are just too hard to resist! I love trying to find the pattern that is perfect for what ever yarn I'm going to use. I've been known to be well into a sock and not be satisfied with the pattern/yarn match up and rip the whole thing out and start over. Sock knitting in and of itself is addicting as well!

10. Make a wish for a sock yarn that you are dying to try but haven't bought for yourself yet. (be specific,even colorway if you'd like)

All Things Heather or Mamma E's C*EYE*BER Fiber Yarns in whatever colorway isn't too dark.

11. What size needles do you knit socks for YOURSELF with the most? Are they circular or bamboo needles? What brand?

Size 1 Innox 6" DPNs. I absolutely love these and use them for almost all my sock knitting lately because I don't knit as tightly as I usually do with other needles for some reason. Love these.

12. If you could only take 3 yarn related books and one previously knitted project that you love with you when you evacuated what would they be?

I'm more likely to take all my magazines rather than my books. The books would be easier to replace than the magazines, I think... But my project would be my Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid Sweater.

13. What knitting notion do you wish you had that you just keep putting off getting for yourself?

The Chart Keeper from KnitPicks.com

14. What is your favorite tv show?

I can only pick one?!?!? I have many--The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Law and Order (all of them!), Grey's, Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds, Bones, House, Dexter... There are tons more. I'm a bit of a TV freak. My favorite new show is Tori and Dean: Inn Love on Oxygen. And I'm re-watching BH 90210 on SOAPnet (I grew up watching that show!) and The Wire on BET.

15. Do you want a lacey sock or a "solid fabric" sock from your hurricane partner?

I love them both!

16. It's midnight and the power has been off for two days, its hot, and you have a craving for something sweet! What would it be? (This is a FOOD related question ladies! LOL)

A Snickers Ice Cream Bar. It would be roasty-toasty in my neck of the woods (and HUUUUMID!) and something sweet and cold would be what I would be craving. It would probably be like in the cartoons where everyone turned into food--I'd see my husband and he'd look like a huge, wrapped-up Snickers Ice Cream Bar.

17. Tell us a story about any of your hurricane weather related experiences.

I think it was during Gilbert in 1988 when my elementary school (I was in 3rd grade) let us out because it was supposed to hit Corpus. It moved off a bit and all we ended up getting was rain and wind, but nothing damaging--I don't even remember the electricity going out. But my entire family on my mom's side came to our house to weather the storm and we spent the day playing board games together.

18. What was the one thing you wish you had remembered to get last year for hurricane supplies that you swore you wouldn't forget this year?

I can't think of anything I didn't pick up. I wish I had stocked up on the tuna kits instead of the individual tuna cans.

19. What color sock would you like to recieve from your sock partner? (if you don't have a pref just say so otherwise give us a hint!)

I don't have a preference.

20. Well surprise, this one isn't a question at all, it's a THANK YOU for filling out this questionnarie and posting it.


More posting to come! I have socks that are finished, more sock yarn enhancement and nesting birds to share!

So... My university's basketball team made it into the NCAA basketball championship. I'm not the biggest of basketball fans, but I find it humorous that they're scheduled to play Wisconsin, normally the family's favorite during March Madness due to the fact my dad is a former Wisconsinite. The majority of his side of the family still resides in the Badger State. So who is our family going to be rooting for come Friday afternoon? Probably Badgers, Badgers, Badgers, Badgers, Badgers, Badgers, Badgers... TAMU-CC will probably be crushed beyond any chance of winning within the first few minutes of game play anyway. Wisconsin is ranked #2. TAMU-CC? #15.

Onto other things... I'm getting slowly freaked out about my phone interview scheduled for Thursday. It's a "I want this so bad!" kind of freak out though. Don't know if that's good or bad. I've been keeping up with NASCAR news and reading online tips to conducting a good phone interview.

I've used knitting as a way to calm my nerves this weekend. I started some socks using the Astros colorway that Scout dyed for me. I'm using the Pretty Petals Socks pattern by Jeanie Townsend. I loved knitting up the Petals part of the pattern and I think it's coming out pretty good myself.





I'm also thinking about buying a pattern off of Zephyr Style. I'm torn between Glee and Rusted Root. Knowing my will power, I'll probably end up buying both. I'm so weak. ;)

And as far as The cure on my apartment... I'm trucking along on that. The Living Room is almost 100% de-cluttered. Still need to take some bins to my in-laws for the big garage sale they plan on having, but other than that, Price and I are loving how it looks right now. I started on the kitchen and have about half of that done. It's great when you're facing one side of the kitchen. Then you turn around and it's still cluttered. But that will be taken care of tomorrow. I will probably take pictures when that's done with. By the way, for those that are curious, here's my Flicker account with the photos of the apartment before the cure. It was horrible, I know.

I decided to start on the Apartment Therapy's The Cure on our apartment. I'll be setting up a Flickr account for it in the near future and then everyone can see the shame that is my apartment prior to The Cure's completion. So far I think it's going really well. I love the flowers (gerbera daisies) I bought for the apartment so much that I bought more of them today (in a different color) for the new week. I decided to do The Cure because I think all the clutter in my home is clogging my mind. After taking such a long time in writing my essay for the internship I applied for, I realized something needed to be done. It's been working so far.

And speaking of the internship... I got a phone call from NASCAR yesterday to set up a phone interview appointment. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself while talking to the nice lady from NASCAR who called. After I hung up, I started dancing and jumping around my bedroom. So excited! So send good vibrations my way if possible on Thursday morning. I'll be freaking out a bit probably all Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. Working for NASCAR has been my dream for the past two years and this is definitely a step in that direction.

Well, after that call, I decided to wind up some yarn to inspire me to spend some time knitting this week. All of these skeins (most recent purchases) and then some were wound up yesterday:



Definitely made me want to knit up dozens of socks!

Haven't posted much this month. With classes kicking me in the butt I haven't had much time for anything--even catching up with my TV shows! But mid-terms are over for the most part and now I can breathe a little bit better. I tried to get as much off my plate early this semester by volunteering to go first on whatever I could as far as projects go, so I could relax more the second half of my semester.

I also worked on a huge personal FO that I sent off in the mail yesterday--my internship application to NASCAR. I started watching racing as something both Price and I could get involved in together since he spent most weekends watching Cup races anyway. Two years later, I think I might have fallen in love with it more than he has. So when I found out about the Diversity Internship program, I decided I was going to submit an application for it in hopes of getting a PR internship. But I've been so nervous about it that most of the little free time I've had the past month has gone to working on the application. The essay was the most problematic for me--I had to, in 200 words or less, explain my reasons for applying to the program. 200 words! I could write them an epic masterpiece, but to narrow it to 200 words? Well, I managed to do it and yesterday put the finishing touches on it all--application, sealed transcript, essay and resume w/ references. And now, according USPS.com, it's in Daytona Beach, FL on it's way to NASCAR's offices. The excruciating wait to see if I made it to the first round of interviews begins.

And now that everything is situated, I can concentrate back on knitting which I haven't been able to do at all this month. It may explain why I've been super stressed out, though.

Anyway, just a quick message to let people know I'm still trucking along. I hope to have some knit projects underway this week since not much is going on class-wise because Spring Break is the following week!

For: Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading

Who: My favorite poet--John Keats

When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charact'ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;
When I behold upon the night's starred face
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love!-then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

(How I spent Friday through Wednesday--like Cameron, saying, "I'm dying." Certainly felt like it.)

My January went from bad--getting my wisdom teeth pulled--to worse--still dealing with the teeth situation *AND* getting super sick. Last Friday I was cleaning the apartment and watching Freaks and Geeks and started to get a sore throat and really tired. I laid down to take a nap before Price got off of work and when I woke up, I had congestion and a serious sore throat. The rest of the weekend it got worse until Tuesday when I went to see my doctor. Now thanks to antibiotics and a nice cough syrup to help me get to sleep, I'm back on the mend. I didn't get a chance to however thank my Secret Pal properly. :(

Meg, thank you, thank you, thank you! I got your reveal package and love everything! Now Sensational Socks is *mine*! :D And the snacks! Those are going to come in handy during the Super Bowl weekend--during which I intend to catch up school wise while movie-ing myself out! And you sent little Soak washes in my favorite scents, too! Thanks again to Secret Pal and fellow Texan, Meg!! ;)



And for those who want to know, my Secret Spoilee was Erin, The Bookish Knitster. My reveal package is on her way to her from a fantastic Etsy seller and I hope she enjoys it! I had tons of fun finding things for her. :D

As far as knitting goes, I haven't done much lately. I have been attempting to do some things with the yarn I ordered from Knit Picks, but I never get very far. Maybe this weekend, too. I have big plans for this coming weekend. Especially with Target releasing their next line of Go designers (who I love) Proenza Schouler on Sunday. I'm going to be there with bells on--I already have preshopped it in my mind.

Oh! And I had an email from my previous post on Jinky, the Dog of a Hollywood Wife! Carole Raphaelle Davis, the author of the book sent me an email saying that a chapter of the book deals with knitting. I am intrigued now... I'm going to try to get a copy of the book at Barnes and Noble (and confirm my Harry Potter reserve) tomorrow and check it out. Especially since I'm a big fan of knitting up outfits for Obi Kenobi (who I have a little Noro sweater to seam up for from before I got sick). If I can get it, I'll post about it after I read it.


FYI - Tomorrow the prognosticator of prognosticators is going to reveal if he sees his shadow or not. As per the annual tradition, I will be up super early to see the festivities at Gobbler's Knob on the Weather Channel and begin the viewing of Groundhog Day and the eating of flapjacks at my parent's house. When my friend Angela married in Pittsburgh in 2005, Price and I went there for a week and made a day trip to Punxsutawney to pay homage to the groundhog and it wasn't an easy trip to make I'll tell ya. But we ate at Punxsy Phils Cakes & Steaks, got nose-to-glass-to-nose with the actual groundhog, and stopped at Gobbler's Knob. Punxsutawney is a great little town and we had a blast--



Price at Gobbler's Knob


My Groundhog hat which I will be wearing to my parent's house. I love the little tail at the top! Here's a better picture of just the hat--


For some Groundhog Day fun check out GroundhogCrossing.com.

Like everywhere else in the US, we have had the GREAT FREEZE! Okay, not really, but you would have thought we did since the area school districts cancelled classes or set back the start times. Sadly, area universities did not alter their scheduling and I had to drag myself to classes regardless of how much I wanted to sit on my couch, knit, drink hot chocolate and watch my numerous recorded TV shows. :(

I did however, make a new scarf to show off my mad crochet skillz--



I started it while watching the Golden Globes on Monday night and finished it while watching My Super Ex-Girlfriend tonight. Although my crocheting is slow just like my knitting, it did not take me four days to crank out this scarf. I did have a false start--I made it wider than I liked when I first started it. I had double the amount you see chained up and was about twenty rounds in so I just tore the whole thing out, halfed the chain, and went back to work on it. Then I worked a few rounds on Tuesday before I left for class and then finally finished in about 30 min tonight. It's just alternations of double and treble crochet. No frills crochet. That's the full amount of my crochet skillz. The yarn was Classic Worsted Impressions by Universal Yarn Inc., color 494.

My next project I'll probably start on today after I get out of class--I'm going to give toe-up socks another shot. I really want to learn this technique and I thought I might try to learn it before the semester really gets going and I won't have the time. I'm going to crack out the hand dyed yarn I had Scout dye for me before Christmas. She dyed the Houston Astros' team colors onto a skein of sock yarn and I was going to use it in a project for my dad but it never came to fruition. But I'm determined to make him a pair of socks, so this might be as good a time as any. Here's the yarn already wound up (I forgot to take a picture of it skeined, I think, which kind of sadness me because it was such a beautiful skein of yarn.)--



Though I have quite a few skeins of yarn dyed by Scout, I've never used them. It's almost as it's too precious for me to use--like I have to have the perfect pattern for socks to happen out of that yarn. Same thing for my Sunshine Yarns yarn. I've attempted, but it just never happens. To me, they're like little pieces of art work and I can't bring myself to knit them. :\ But I'm going to try this time.

And speaking of Sunshine Yarns, I bought a skein of her Fiesta colorway in her last update. I read about it on The Blue Blog and after seeing the colors there, I absolutely wanted it. I'm excited about getting it in my hands! The colors just scream spring, which is definitely needed after a week of dreary weather in South Texas.

Well, on Sunday, I cancelled our Tivo service because, frankly, it never would connect to our wireless. So, after much thought and deliberation, we reallocated that money to start a Netflix subscription, thus the viewing of My Super Ex-Girlfriend tonight. I've loved Rainn Wilson since watching him on Six Feet Under (he's the reason I started watching The Office when it first came on), so it was a must to put in my queue. And I have to say that reserving a movie in the queue is addicting. There's just so much available on Netflix that video stores in Corpus wouldn't even begin to offer that now my queue has an embarrassing large amount of films on it--I'm at 342 right now. Having this will be good for us I think because we really don't get the movies much anymore and I've been a bit bummed about missing out on some pretty great films recently. We keep saying we'll wait until they're on DVD, but then we never go to rent them or buy them. So this will keep the cost of buying DVDs down (well, except for The Departed which I loved and absolutely have to buy--hello, Matt Damon!) and now I can see what we've missed at the theaters in terms of large release films and what I've missed in terms of independent films (which I adore) that never show up at our theaters.

And now, to end my entry, I thought I'd start putting up some home decorating things like I mentioned in my previous entry. I first saw this in an ad in Metropolitan Home magazine and I fell in love with how they had the piece set up. They had two of the piece indicated below pushed together like a sofa/bed thing. I can just imagine having something like this (because I probably couldn't afford the real thing) in the bedroom as a place to knit in (and I only mean one of these because it looks huge!). It'd be like a super luxe chaise.


The photo is from the designer's site - Frighetto. It's an Italian company which translates to $$$, imo. If I can get a scan of the ad I'll post it up. The picture of it in the ad makes it look super comfy. Hopefully I can find a look-alike more within our budget when we have a home.

Oh! And I finally put up the print I bought at the Patton Oswalt show I saw in December. I had it framed and I love how it turned out--



I have it up in my little knitting nook in the apartment that I never use (I end up knitting on the couch). Maybe it'll get me knitting there... Yeah, probably not, but it still looks good where it is!

I still haven't knitted since my I had my wisdom teeth pulled, but I do have pics finally of my felted box! They aren't the greatest pictures in the world. I was going to take some out on my patio, but today was really cloudy, plus my mom and brother came over to the apartment to watch this weeks episodes of Beauty and the Geek (I really love this season) and Boston Legal.

So here's the felted box from Mason Dixon knitting--


For my first felting project, I used Plymouth Galway in color 31 which is a beautiful dark teal. I loved the coloring so much that when I realized I had enough to knit the baby kimono from the book, I cast on and started knitting (prior to my wisdom teeth being pulled). I am almost half finished with it. I might work on it and finish during the Top Chef marathon on Monday morning. Anyway, back to this project, I knitted this up fairly quickly, using two strands of Galway to try to make it stiff. Didn't work too much since it is still fairly floppy at the top. I might try to figure out a way to work some wire along the top of the box or just felt it some more and make it smaller. I didn't measure it prior to felting, so I don't know the percent of shrinkage, but it didn't shrink as much as I thought it would. I actually put it through about four agitation cycles before I let it finish through a rinse. Total felting time took me through half of the movie Patriot Games, so about an hour. I think I might have caught the felting bug and I do want to do more. I may end up with more felted boxes than I can contain in my small apartment. I might buy the book that I saw Grumperina mention on her blog--Men Who Knit & the Dogs Who Love Them--because the pattern she sample knitted for is was a knitted dog bed that was felted.

Anyway, leading into the pet world, I noticed on MSN, the story of the cat Hercules (the shelter he was at named him Goliath) who was a stray who got caught in a doggy door trying to scrounge for food. His face was adorable (the pic is with the article) and I couldn't help but share it with you-- Food-filching fat cat reunited with owner.

Also, looking for the Amazon link for the book I mentioned above, I ran across this-- The Diary of Jinky: Dog of a Hollywood Wife. I read the little excerpt and cracked up. So, I noticed in the comments about it that there was a blog--and I found it. It's absolutely a great read for pet owners. Jinky's Blog
And here's Jinky's blog entry about his hand knitted duds--totally classic for those of us who knit outfits for our pets--Couturophobia


Adorable, no? Obi would definitely not approve of that outfit. He prefers things like his knitted baseball jersey.

Well, lately in lieu of knitting, I've been thinking about home buying. As my sister-in-law's move to New Orleans begins to get closer (we're thinking she'll be there by June. My in-laws will probably go to help her move in.) the sooner we are going to have to begin to think about our purchase of my in-laws home. They have been thinking of selling their house and moving to a smaller place for a while since it's just the two of them and my nephew (who they homeschool and often care for him when my sister-in-law is at work) and they travel a *lot*. Then when my sister-in-law received her orders for New Orleans, they decided that they would move into her house which is vastly smaller and keep the house for her(my sil really wants to keep the house incase she's able to get orders that would bring her back to Corpus). So, when she leaves for New Orleans they will start doing renovations to get it up to the standards they want and since my father-in-law wants to do the work himself, they're going to take probably the rest of the year to work on the improvements. So this time next year, we may be in the process of buying their house (at a family reduced price) which is a great house and closer to my parents, our church and the schools we would want our children to go to. And a cousin of mine moved in right behind them, so we have that, too. So I've been looking at some magazines from Half-Price and dreaming of how I'll want my home to look. I'm keeping a notebook so that I'm able to keep track of ideas (decorating & renovations) or things I want to keep an eye out for (or keep an eye out for a look-a-like). I think I might starting posting some things either here or on my other, non-crafty journal, provided I can find pictures online or can get access to a scanner. Most likely, I might just tack them onto journal entries here since I would classify it as crafty-ish. I've been magazine scouring (from Half-Price) and HGTV watching like mad. It helps me to keep my eye on the prize--a home--to keep me from wanting to shop, which I love to do (though, I love a bargain and rarely buy full price). This is especially important right after the holidays which is when I often pick up the best deals. So this weekend will be alot of cleaning and selecting things to sell at my in-laws' garage sale (they're clearing house, too, along with my sister-in-law). Last time we cleared out our stuff, we made big bucks in about two days on non-heavy garage sale days. It will be nice to get that money into our savings for a down payment. We'll really be paring down and decluttering.

Classes also started on Wednesday and I'm excited about two classes--TV Crit and Ad Crit. Two things I absolutely love. My TV watching is astronomical. If there were a gold medal for TV watching, I'd probably get a gold medal for it. My DVR is always jam packed with stuff (yesterday was bordering on ridiculous for the amount of stuff that was recorded on it). I think the DVR is the greatest piece of technology in my life at this moment (especially with another 18 hours of classes--mostly night ones).

So that's about it for now. Price's videogaming has provided me with blogging time, blog reading time and podcast listening time. Before I end this, I do want to thank you for leaving me messages of kindness in my last entry. I did go in on Monday to check-up with my dentists and they (yes, the two that worked on the teeth removal) said that they believe that feeling will return to the left side of my chin, but there is no telling when it will fully heal. May take anywhere from 3 to 6 months. I can live with that, but I do have to admit it has really made me feel self-conscious about my appearance. Mainly because the left side of my chin feels about 100 pounds and the more I talk, the larger that whole area begins to feel, though it looks no different. But I just can't seem to convince myself that it isn't huge when that happens. Plus eating is a whole event because it prevents me from eating with out making a huge mess around my mouth because I can't open it properly and eating also makes my jaw begin to ache something awful. Okay, enough of the self pity party. It could have been worse than it is, and I'm thankful that it isn't. Though I really do miss being able to drink things out of a straw.

And so, to end this entry, I realized someone had asked about the maker of my Soylent Green is People necklace (which I absolutely love and feel totally geeky when wearing), the maker is Kathryn Riechert. She has an Etsy store and it is always jam packed with fabulous jewelry that is so tempting that I have a hard time not buying it all up. I'm really thinking my next purchase from her Etsy might be her Answer to Life earrings or maybe one of her hand-stamped bracelets. It's all so fantastic!

I kind of disappeared without really meaning to. I've always had this fear of dentists. I always get bad news when I go to the dentist and so, embarrassingly, I have let quite a bit of time pass since last visiting the dentist. But, last Tuesday, the shifting (I guess) of my wisdom teeth caused me to start biting the inside of my cheek and really tore it up--so much so I had a hard time eating--so I broke down and found a dentist that takes my insurance. I went to see him on Wednesday and he told me I had to have my wisdom teeth--3 of them!--out ASAP. So Thursday, I went in at 10:30 a.m. to have them out. I didn't get out of there until 4:30 p.m. That's right. It took two dentists and one assistant to get all three of the wisdom teeth out. They said that the roots of my teeth were twisted so they had to be super careful when getting them out. I'm still numb on the left side of my face from the corner of my mouth to about the mid point of my chin and I'm having a bit of a Brando from the Godfather thing going on with my cheeks. The dentists were a bit worried about possible nerve damage along my jaw and if the numbness is the same come morning, I'm going to have to go in to see them Monday afternoon. I'm hoping for the best on that and on the swelling. Classes start on Wednesday and I've got a killer bruise somewhat dying down on the right side of my mouth.

Sorry this is a bit gross sounding, but I didn't want to let my secret pal think I bailed on my blog. Especially since one of my new year's resolutions is to blog more regularly about my knitting and other craft attempts (I felted for the first time on Jan. 1!). But up until today, I was recuperating at my inlaws (Price was working, my family is all sick, and I wasn't walking up the three flights of stairs at the apartments) and wasn't able to spend much time doing much else other than sleeping. I'm hoping that this weekend I'll have some photos up of my felted box that I made from the pattern out of Mason Dixon. I loved how it actually came out and am probably going to spend the $20 gift certificate to the LYS to buy more feltable yarn and go crazy making felted boxes to spruce up my computer/crafting space. I also hope to put up a list of knits I picked out to work on this coming year.

And though it's a bit late, I hope everyone reading had a great holiday season and a great New Year!

Obi and his people had a great Christmas holiday (that's a pic of Obi while Price unloaded his Christmas stocking from my parents--both sets of parents spoiled him rotten). I haven't knitted aside from using up some yarn scraps on never ending type projects. Instead, I have rotted my mind (according to my grandmother) reading chick lit romance novels. So far, I've read two in the last two days and now I'm anxious to go to Half-Price for more. I'm just in that chick lit kind of mood.

It may have a small thing to do with seeing Ewan McGregor everywhere promoting Miss Potter which I'm hoping will make it down to Corpus.

I now must rot my brain further by watching those endless lists that Bravo seems to air during the end of the year and scour my knitting magazines to find some projects for 2007. I hope to have a list of those for posting before the 31st. A to-do list for the new year, if you will. And it will definitely include something I can use my gift certificate to Knotty Girls on.

Wanted to shout out a Merry Christmas to everyone! I'm hoping to have pictures of knitted Christmas gifts with their recipients later in the week. I'm still in a rush because there seems like so much to do and Christmas Eve just flying past! *eep!* Only one sock left to go for tomorrow's gifting at my inlaws, so I better hop to it.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

So, my break so far hasn't been as relaxing as I hoped it would be. It's been crazy crafting here at Chez Sarah. Most of our Christmas gifts have been made--only four people will be getting gifts that aren't made. I bought books for my nephew, wine glasses for one sister-in-law, Scrabble game for the other sister-in-law (who is currently residing in Italy), and I bought a CD for my brother who I found out won't get much use of the gift I was working on for him. I'm giving him both gifts, but I didn't want him to feel ripped off because he wouldn't be able to enjoy the crafty gift.

I took pictures of most of the gifts, but some ended up wrapped before I remembered to take photos. Here they are minus the socks I knitted for my mother-in-law, a pair of fingerless gloves for my uncle and a fake, fair-isle hat from knitty for one of my cousins.


A We Call Them Pirates hat for my dad. We (my mom, my brother, me and Price) all went in on buying him an Ipod, too. He'll get a kick that the screen of the Ipod on the box has Jack Sparrow on it. I knit in a lining along where the hat will rub against his forehead in Lion Brand's Cashmere Blend. I think he'll like it.


Some Sweet Mary Janes in progress from a pattern I bought off of piddleloop.com. I probably won't finish these until after Christmas because I really need to check sizing before I put the finishing crochet border and strap. They can't be too tight or constricting because of her diabetes. I bought suede soles to add to the bottom of the slippers so she also doesn't slide on the tile at the house.


A Center Square hat from the current issue of Knitty. I love this hat so much. I really don't want to give it up to my cousin. But sadly, I must. This was a super fast knit, too. I polished it off while finishing the last two discs of Criminal Minds. (Dig the Star Wars Christmas Gift Wrap in the corner!)


One sock completed for my father-in-law. It's a slip stich pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and I managed to finish it in one day. I'll be working on the second one whilst waiting for things to bake tomorrow. I have until Christmas Day to finish it, but it shouldn't come to that.


This is a hat for my cousin's wife. It's the Bobba hat I bought the pattern of. It ended up super wide at the bottom, so tomorrow first thing in the morning, I'll be ripping off the bottom and knitting it a bit tighter. I may even end up knitting a ribbed bottom for it.


And this is the project I've been working on for my brother-a Star Wars scrub top. However, after talking with him yesterday, I found out that where he works, he's designated to wear one color and one color only. And Solids only. So, unless he becomes a clinical instructor soon after graduating from his respiratory program, he won't get much use out of it. I'll be finishing it and will give it to him along with the fabric that I was going to make two more tops out of. He can decide if he wants me to make him the other two or we can find a pattern for me to make him something else with the fabric. I also bought the Tenacious D CD set so it's not so much of a bust. :\

The holidays have made it pretty hectic around here--more than I had anticipated. So much for a relaxing break. I haven't updated like I've wanted to, but that should change come Tuesday after break-neck Christmas knitting has ended. Sorry Secret Pal. I haven't been a good updater and I apologize for that. I hope everyone has been having an enjoyable holiday season so far!

I have been a busy little bee this past month. Within these past two weeks, all I finished all the major semester projects and did presentations and what not and now it's just downhill from here. I feel so free and I absolutely can't wait until I take my only final on Dec. 8th (my other classes counted the project presentations as a final exam). I have a pile of TV on DVD to watch and knit to--Commander-in-Chief, Threshold (still haven't had a chance to watch this!), Nip/Tuck, How I Met Your Mother-Season 1, and Bones (which I got for a steal at Circuit City! $19! It was advertised for $34.99 in this week's ad!).

And I've been firming up the Christmas knit list and buying patterns for certain gifts. I bought Wooly Wormhead's Bobba Hat to make for my cousin's wife. I kind of wish I could give it to her early when I finish it (which will probably be tomorrow) because the temp is supposed to seriously drop soon and she's a bell ringer for the Salvation Army this holiday season. Here is progress on it so far:

Because I'm sort of stash busting my yarns if I think it will work, I'm knitting the hat in Lion Brand Landscapes that I bought before we had a LYS and before I started splurging on yarn online. I'm hoping it will get a tad bit softer after a wash, but I think the colors will suit my cousin's wife. And it will be easier for her to clean should she need to.

I've also been working on a wrap for my grandmother. I don't know if this will be her Christmas gift or her birthday gift. I may knit up a scarf for her birthday and give this for Christmas--she'll get use out of both because she is always cold. Even in our 100 degree summer heat. I'm knitting it off a Paton's pattern for ease and I knit it in the recommended Patton's Decor so that, again, it's easy for her to wash should she need to.


Now on to purchases--
In punk_knitters, one of the members posted that she was closing her yarn shop and posted a lot of her stock up for sale. I scored 5 skeins of soysilk sock yarn, 15 pairs of bamboo straights in various sizes and some other things for my secret pal for the whopping total of $32. And I placed my first ever order with Knit Picks. Part of that order is for a secret Christmas gift that I'm excited about starting. I may stop whatever it is I'm working on at the time to start working on the secret project when the yarn comes in!

And this weekend I'll be heading up to Austin! As an anniversary gift, my husband bought tickets to see Patton Oswalt (who is my geek crush) at Cap City Comedy Club on Friday and my brother is coming along with us because we couldn't leave him out (Patton does geek comedy and, well... we're all geeks). I'm working on getting the guys to let me stop at Hill Country Yarns on Saturday so that I can pick up some Noro and Lamb's Pride so that I can knit Fake Isle Hats for my two cousins.

Now for the best part of this post--I received my first Secret Pal Package!

My pal set me some SplitYarn goodies, which I'm excited about. I love indie crafts and this one's Texan! And so is my secret pal apparently... *hmmmmm* ;) I'm already using the stitch markers which my pal selected using the Obinator as inspiration. And I love, love, love the scent of the lotion! My husband loved the way it complemented my Stella perfume when I paired them together on Thanksgiving. And the yarn! When I saw it, I immediately knew I was going to knit socks out of it and what pattern I am going to use. Thanks a bunch, Secret Pal!

Finally, as part of the Christmas season and to feature Obi a bit more, I decided I'll feature some great gift buys for dogs--all Obi approved! Now, Obi is a fantatic tester. Seriously. If it is able to be ripped to shreds, he'll do it in a matter of minutes. We have spent so much money on puppy beds, toys, collars and blankets... and much of it is torn to bits in seconds in front of my eyes. Oh, the yarn I could have bought with that money. Anyway, here is the first gift suggestion for the season (I really wish that I could think up something witty as a title, but I'm way tired just can't)--

The Chewgar!


Nicole sent Obi a Chewgar in a swap package during the Hurricane Party Sock Swap and he absolutely loved it. Usually we give him Flossies, but they are gone within a day. But the Chewgar Obi savored. I'm serious. He carried it around with him everywhere in case a snack was needed. He lovingly chewed on it at his sunspot in front of our balcony door. It lasted for days. Maybe over a week? So can you imagine his joy at realizing that I was able to find more for him at World Market?



Here's Obi giving me a wet nose kiss after realizing all those Chewgars were his:

The Chewgars retail for around $3 a piece and an internet search shows you might even be able to find them packaged in a cute wooden "Chewgar" box at some retailers.
Obi gives the Chewgar 4 wet nose kisses out of 5 this holiday season.

I haven't journaled as often as I'd like due to a slew of projects that have due dates within the next two weeks. I've been swamped with so much and I feel that I will quite possible lose my mind within the coming week. Please bear with me.

I have been working to try and complete the Central Park Hoodie. Like I've said before, I'm the world's slowest knitter. But I have managed to complete the main body pieces and am working on a sleeve right now:



I'm hoping to get some time to work hard on it by the end of the week--quite possibly knitting during my Thursday shows.

I'm also looking forward to cracking down on some projects I need to complete. Here is a stash of Sugar 'N Cream just waiting to meet their destiny:



And I'm about to embark on my largest sewing project to date--two scrub tops for my brother for Christmas! He has a hard time finding scrub tops because of his size--they all end up too short! So, these special fabrics are going to end up as the scrub tops... hopefully:



My mom will probably be holding my hand through this project since she's the sewing wiz in the family. I'm pretty confident I can do this, though. And I know he'll love it!

And I have some special Scout's Swag yarn headed my way in the very near future. I had it specially dyed for my father for Christmas and can't wait to see it!! :D And some Sknitches yarn that was on sale, too!

I can't wait until classes are finished so that I can catch up on all the movies I've bought throughout the semester and to catch up on Christmas present projects--just need to make it through to the last week of Nov. Most of my classes will be finished by then--no finals! Exciting times. :) Also, I made it into Lambda Pi Eta at TAMUCC at the beginning of Nov. It's pretty cool since it's the Communication Honor Society at the university. TAMUK didn't have that at all.

Well, hopefully tons more knitting content in the near future!

How could I resist? SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE, PEOPLE!

Will be taking photos of wips after tonight's TV viewings of Earl, The Office, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and ER! I'm working on quite a bit lately, just swaping a different project with each show--like I'll work on one while watching Earl and The Office, another while watching Ugly Betty and so on. Hope everyone who's reading my blog and working on Socktoberfest projects are having better luck at it than I am. I've only done one pair of socks this month and they don't incorporate short row heels or were done toe-up. So I may not learn techniques I had anticipated learning this month. :( Maybe I'll figure them out while Price is on vacation and it's just me, The Poops and my TV. :)

I thought that today was really going to be a stinker because I stayed awake all last night to finish a portfolio project for my English class and register for the Spring semester at 7am. I ended up with maybe 2 hours of sleep in total.

But I found out I have a strong A in my English class and my professor really liked my portfolio. Then, while I was fishing around for references in the COMM department for my resume, I received my invitation to join Lambda Pi Eta, the COMM honor society. And I found five references to apply for the Media Assistant job with the local minor league baseball team. Score!

I also aced my exam in Persuasion and today was a freebie day in the class, so no late class today!

And to top it all off, I received my package from my Hot Socks Swap partner!

I can't wait to try out that chocolate and tea and I may have to fight my husband for the chocolate piranha! And look at these stitch markers!:

I think the little spoon is my favorite of the markers--it's so tiny and cute! The yarn is absolutely fabulous and I can't wait to wind it up and start knitting with it! :D Thanks so much, Ruth!

So, all in all, a pretty awesome day. Well, aside from the fact I'm absolutely pooped. Can't wait to watch Veronica Mars and knit. I may have to treat myself to some of my new hot chocolate! ;)

Things are starting to wind down, school-wise. Projects are ending, mid-terms are finished (took my last one Monday morning), and Spring semester registration starts this morning. I plan on being on top of that because I don't want to have a repeat of what I went through to register for this semester. I'm finally starting to see the finish line of this blasted Bachelor's degree.

I've been working on quite a bit knit-wise to try to relax a bit from the stress of everything. I finished the Dublin Bay socks for my aunt and started on a pair of Knucks for my uncle who works for a local electric company. I figure they would keep his hands somewhat warm in the winter months and have his finger tips free to work safely. I finally wrote up my Christmas knit project list this weekend and it's a long one. But it will keep me busy while Price is doing Space Camp with our nephew and my father-in-law (or keep me out of trouble as Price said when he looked at it). I want to try to whip up a Weasley sweater for my nephew who loves the Harry Potter books. I felt inspired to work on one after reading an article on knitting in the Potter series in one of the recent knitting magazines. The only person who I can't decide on what to make is my cousin Omar who lives in Arizona. I'm sure something will come to me, though.

Some knitting related purchases for the past week were sending out some treats for my secret pal. I really hope she enjoys what I've sent her. I also just bought the recycling shirt from Threadless tonight in their $10 sale:

I knew waiting for it would pay off!
I'm also stalking an item from one of my favorite Etsy sellers--I really want her Soylent Green is People necklace. That movie was crazy. If it's still available on Friday, I just might buy it. :D And Sknitches and Yarn Pirate are updating their yarns this week while Sunshine Yarns is updating next Monday. Yarn goodness, here I come!

I hope that sometime later this week, I'll update with some wip photos!

This was posted on the SP9 hostess' blog that is in charge of the grouping I'm in. I thought it seemed interesting, so here are my answers!:

1. Where is your favorite knitting spot?
On the couch right next to the window in the living room. With The Poops curled up next to me napping.

2. If you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you do instead?
Um... In terms of crafting, I guess cross-stitch. I love doing those and was one of the first artisan crafts my mom taught me to do. I love trying to keep the back of my cross stitch orderly and clean. I'm a little OCD about that. In non-crafting terms, I would veg infront of the TV. Oh, wait! I already do that.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why?
To Paris or London. They're pretty much tied for me and I've wanted to go to them for as long as I could remember.

4. When you were little - What did you want to do "when you grew up?" Are you doing it?
Some people find it weird, but I always used to read books, both fiction and non-fiction, about extremely contagious diseases and I always wanted to work with them at the Centers for Disease Control, specifically diseases that have been affecting the population in Africa. Sadly, :( I don't do that. Right now I'm studying to go into Sports Public Relations. It would be pretty awesome to work for the CDC, though.

5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Pumpkin. I used to get this fantastic pumpkin ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery, but they changed their recipe, so now I buy pumpkin ice cream from Cold Stone.

And now I'm hungry for ice cream.