etod_knits

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!

I'm not a terribly fast knitter, especially when it comes to socks. Thus, it took me episodes of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, ER, Kidnapped and the movies Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, Imitation of Life, and Four Daughters on TCM to finish this sock. I did take a few breaks here and there, so it wasn't all knitting, all the time.



As you can see by his ear in the above photo, Obi wanted to get in on some of the action:



Now, off to start the work on sock #2.

I am a buyer. Since I learned to knit, there has been one thing thing I splurge on almost as though it is a religion--sock yarn. And I absolutely love handpainted sock yarn. I often buy from Scout or Sunshine Yarns, but in the spirit of Socktoberfest, I decided to try out other sock yarn artisans and splurged on some this past week. So while there hasn't been a lot of knitting, there has been a lot (and I mean *LOT*) of buying (all pics are uploaded on my photobucket account but they're from the website I bought the yarn from):
From Scout's: Okay, so this is someone I usually buy from. But look at these colors! How could I not pick this yarn up? Colorway - Socktoberfest


From Pure Knits, YarnPirate Yarn!: This looks so beautiful! I've really wanted to buy YarnPirate yarn for a long time. Now I finally have some on it's way! Colorway - Vincent


From Sknitches: I've ogled this for quite a while. These two colorways jumped out at me first, and though I told myself that I'd only buy 1, I caved and bought 2. I'm weak.
Colorway: Rugby


Colorway: Planetary


And here is the meager sock yarn stash I already have, just waiting to be used this month:


Now, onto the sock knitting! I started a pair for my aunt yesterday and worked on it at the Thursday Knit Night at Knotty Girls. Only, the pair I was working on there I thought would end up being way to big, so I ripped back and started again. My aunt's really petite, so I think these will work for her. A night of watching ER, Grey's Anatomy, Kidnapped and Ugly Betty:



The pattern is what it seems like everyone's knitting lately in blogland. Well, okay, I've only seen, two, but maybe it's a trend in the beginning stages? Anyway, it's the Dublin Bay socks from Mossy Cottage Knits.

While at knit night, I finally met Shanti. :) I've heard quite a bit about her from the shop owner Ann and when I arrived, she was there! Also a knit blogger, we talked a bit about blogging and the wonderfulness that is handpainted yarns and she was working on a sock that she knit up from Sundara Yarns' Petal Collection. The colors were absolutely vibrant! You can see the sock on her blog.

And now to swappage:
This is what I receieved in the Chocolate and Nuts swap on Swap-bot:

Chocolates from Israel! Thanks Michal!

This is what I have sent for the Hot Socks! Swap on Swap-bot:

I really fell in love with that mug when I was at Target, so I picked it up along with a matching salad plate. I figure the person I sent it to might use the plate for some snacks to have with her hot chocolate. I also sent along my favorite hot chocolate-Nestle's Abuelita chocolate. I've been buying it for the past three years because it reminds me of waking up to chill winter mornings at my grandparents house to the smell of potato and eggs and cinnamon chocolate. Mmmmmmm. My grandma would make cinnamon hot chocolate from scratch every morning before my brother and I left for school (my parents both worked night shifts at hospitals throughout my childhood) while my grandpa cooked breakfast. Abuelita hot chocolate tastes exactly like what my grandma would make. Delicious!

Time has not been my friend this past week. There has been minimal knitting going on as tests and papers and group project deadlines start showing up on my horizon. But that hasn't stopped me from buying the most gorgeous sock yarn from Sunshine Yarns. I was really thrilled to pick up her Indian Corn colorway--so fall!


I also bought it during her anniversary celebration so as a bonus, she sent along a set of size 2 Inox DPNs. I've never used that brand before so I'm excited to hopefully have some time in the near future to cast on a pair of socks out of this yarn. Right now I have so many projects on needles--the Raglan sweater still, the Central Park Hoodie, a pair of socks for Price... Plus, I need to work on starting the Star Wars hat for my brother. I had wanted to do that for his birthday, which snuck up on me (it's on Friday), but I gave up that hope at the beginning of this week after I saw the craziness that is my schedule.

And for those who care to know, I caught up on Grey's Anatomy in time for tomorrow's season premiere. I saw the finale from last season tonight and cried like a baby. Cristina and Burke, Denny and Izzie (and Alex?!? *swoon*), and George and Callie?! I can't wait for tomorrow. And The Office, too? I think I'm going to be in TV heaven come tomorrow night--me, Price and The Poops curled up on the couch to see what happens with Jim and Pam (and the Oscar storyline, too!). I think I'll use my knitting Phyllis icon in honor of The Office premiere. ;) And I will finally find out what happens on ER!

Will update with pics of my hoodie in my next post!

Finished the Broadripple. Been addicted to Veronica Mars. Bought season 2 Thursday evening and finished it as I Kitchenered the toe of the second sock. Here's some photos of the pair:



With my slip-ons. :D

My yarn for the Central Park Hoodie came in finally, so I started this for a bit last night. It really is a quick knit! This is maybe two episodes of Veronica Mars. I started and then set it aside because I knew I had to work on the Broadripple sock. Now I can get rockin' on it whilst finishing Grey's Anatomy, season 1 and my shows from this past week:



For those interested Grey's fans, there is a fan KAL here.

And yes, I have been up all night watching TV on DVD and knitting. Don't you?

Just a knitterly update on current Works in Progress (in addition to previous entry's works in progress):


The Cowerie hat I'm working on from Louisa Harding's Beachcomber Bay Accessories Collection patterns. The hat still needs to be blocked, sewed up, and because of the weirdness in the shaping of my head, I need to move down the banding that is supposed to be worked on this hat and had already weaved in. Note to any who may attempt this hat: Pick up an extra ball of Flotsam. Trust me. This pattern suggests 2--GET 3! At 2, you have no yarn leeway for mistakes. :(


I am weak. And I bought the Mason Dixon book. And I couldn't resist starting the Log Cabin quilt. I started this while watching the last episode of The Closer season 1. I'll be adding to this with whatever leftovers I have from whatever. It will be my scrap yarn project. I really want it to be eclectic.


I took a class on Saturday to learn how to knit socks on 2 circs. I *do* know how to knit socks. I just tend to knit them on DPNs. After many failed attempts to knit Pomatomus *without* the major holes between DPNs, I thought maybe figuring out this method would help. I think it will. The class resulted in this little baby bootie which is a good thing because, guess what! New baby in the family. My cousin Paul gave birth to a little boy, Noah (this is her fourth child), this past week. So this is the first bootie in a set of three I'll be knitting to send her way.


This is the sweater I started on Wednesday for my cousin Paula's baby. It's Baby's First Tattoo from Stich N Bitch Nation knit in Feza Baby. I'm knitting it much bigger than the baby currently is because I'm hoping it will fit nicely during the more chilly months in my cousin's neck of the woods. Just have the right side left to finish and 2 sleeves. I'll be putting the star pattern on the front in the green. The other two bootie sets will match this sweater.


My splurge at the shop on Saturday. I picked up a skein of Art Yarns because I love the color and then bought 2 sets of stitch markers--1 set for me in a white to make it easier to see on my raglan sweater and 1 set for my Hurricane pal with blue and green beads. They're really beautiful and fun. A little heavy for socks, so hopefully she'll be able to use them for a bigger project.

This week is the start of my first full semster back to school, albeit a different university, since my surgery last February. I had to transfer from A&M-Kingsville to A&M-Corpus Christi since it's closer (I live in Corpus, not Kingsville) and not so stressful a campus and drive. So knitting might be sparse, but seeing as I'll be on campus all freaking day on Wednesday (from 1p-9:30p) it may not. Depends on classwork load. This is in hopes that I'll fulfill the residency credits I lost when transferring to A&M-CC and graduate in the summer.

Also, I set up an account at bloglines, so if you have any interest in seeing what blogs I read, you can take a gander here: ETOD's bloglines

In my next post, I'll write a bit about how I got into knitting (in case some visitors were curious. I don't know more than 2 or 3 people whow read this, but I don't care. Good for posterity's sake.) and why I use the tag ETOD. Interesting stuff, no? ;)

I decided to update my current knits in progress. I've been swamped today (had to go and have my advisor force me into two classes) and I'm thinking I have 1 more week to do some hardcore knitting before the fall semester starts. At 15 hours of classes, I don't think I'll have time to knit outside of waiting for a class to start or something. As it stands, I will have classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only. Mondays 1 til 7p, Wednesday 1 until 9:30p and Tuesday 4-7p. It's going to be rough, but hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my knitting and blogging.

On to the knitting...

Stats:
Pattern: Raglan Sleeve Pullover from KnitSimple's Winter 2005 issue
Yarn: Berroco Softwist, Nouveau Berry
Needles: Size 7 Clover Bamboo needles

Still on the front of this, up to the increases. Easy to get lost in the pattern because 1. the yarn's ply comes apart easily and 2. The ribbed seed pattern is difficult to make out in low light.


Stats:
Pattern: An Openwork pattern from Beautiful Knitting Patterns
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool (superwash) in Raspberry
Needles: Size 8 needles

I'm soooo behind in getting out my squares for the July stitchmysquare trade. Thank goodness I didn't sign up for August's trade or else I'd be in deep doo.



Stats:
Pattern: Puppy pillow for Obi-Wan, my own pattern
Yarn: 2 strands of Yarn Bee Frosting (Party for Her) knit with one strand of Red Heart Acrylic (for easy wash)
Needles: Size 15 circular set

This is just the top of his new puppy bed. We needed one for him in the living room. He already is in love with the top:



Stats:
Pattern: Puppy pillow for Obi-Wan, my own pattern (trim--just double crochet all around, three rows)
Yarn: Red Heart Acrylic, periwinkle
Needles: Size 15 circular set

This is the two inch sides for the bed in one long strand. Still deciding what to do about the bottom of the puppy pillow bed--knit, crochet or fabric. Did it in these yarns to make it easy to wash.

That's it for now. Most of this was done/started last week. Hoping to get it finished by the end of next week. Well, everything except the raglan sweater. :)