Ooooh! Knitty Gritty starts this Friday on the DIY network. Yay! And the new Knitty is supposed to be out by the end of the week, too. Goody gumdrops!
I stumbled onto the Honeymoon gallery, and started lusting over a Honeymoon of my very own. Then I remembered some tossed-aside Cotton Twist I have in my stash….Looks like I might well have that Honeymoon. Whee! But I’ve sternly told myself that I need to get cracking and finish off what’s on my needles first. Because I have more projects going than I care to admit. I also want to hurry up and finish my projects so I can start tanks galore! I’ve decided I need to knit/sew like a bazillion tanks to wear this summer because apparently I don’t have enough.
We’re picking Monkey up at 5:00 Saturday. Oof, I can’t wait. Tonight we’ve got to get a baby-gate, and we ought to go ahead and get an ID tag for his collar. (I’ve decided I want to take the collar-making class at Thimble Pleasures, even though I decided against it a couple days ago. I’ve had second thoughts, mainly of really cute fabric collars.)
Me and Daoine? Not bad for a first attempt. I even figured out how to scooch the glasses down. (I made it here.)
Who gets sick in June? Me. Bleah. I’m getting over it, but it was pretty nasty yesterday and the day before. Greg’s brother came down to help us move some heavy stuff, and he was sick, and then Greg got sick, and then I got sick. But we’re done moving out of the old place, so that’s awesome! Now we just have to finish settling into Archstone.
We’re picking Monkey up Saturday – I’m so excited! I just hope Daoine doesn’t hate him too much. We’re going to get a baby gate and use it to make the office and adjoining bathroom a dog-free zone, and hopefully that’ll help the interspecies peace talks. Plus Monkey will have his own crate.
I went by the quilting store the other day, Thimble Pleasures. (They had a cute kitten in the store, too. He hid in the rows of fabric and pounced on me as I walked past a couple times.) Anyway, I got four cute fat quarters – I’m thinking about making reversible purses – and four matching “mini-skeins” that I’m going to use to make trim for a square sweater. And I’ve decided I need to learn to quilt. Luckily, they have classes, and I’m thinking about taking the beginner’s classes that start in August. But those are hand-quilting, and I might be better off in a beginner’s machine-quilting class. I don’t know. Anyway.
Greg’s leaving to go on tour for two weeks, starting the 8th. Which means I’ll be watching WWE Vengeance by myself, unless Danny, Michel, Lance, or Angelique show up. But that’s cool. I’m thinking I might also use some of the emptier-house-time to whip up some t-tunics or other costumes for the medieval-themed dinner party I’ve got in the works. Hm. Or maybe that would be better done when I have a male around (ie, Greg) to fit the tunics on. Hm.
Dad’s DNA scarf hasn’t gotten much more work on it, since I’ve been sick, and I’ve had some twinginess in my right arm/hand that’s either from being sick or moving. I’ll probably pick it back up tonight when I get tired of straightening up. I ordered two hanks of Classic Elite Believe in black and two balls of Filatura di Crosa Millefili Fine in peach from Elann.com, to try out in DNA scarves for my mom and little sis. I was tempted to get some Filatura di Crosa Brilla for Bad Penny, but they didn’t have enough balls of the colors I liked. Oh well. I’ve already got enough I need to finish, anyway. Especially for Critter Knitters, since the deadline’s July 31st.
I also mailed off my pink earrings for the Secret Pink Earring Swap today. I even got to fill out a customs form. Excitement!
WHEW!
Still moving. It’s really sweaty work, and I feel totally justified in not doing additional exercise this week. But we’re so close to being done, and then all that’s left will be cleaning and – ugh – mowing the yards. But Archstone is AWESOME. I am loving it.
Last night we went to meet “Abe”, the dog we want to adopt, and he is a total dollface. And! His foster parents were very nice, and they liked us, and next Saturday (the 3rd) we get to pick him up!! Yay! (“Abe” is what his fosters named him, since he was so gangly when he showed up. You know, gangly like Abe Lincoln. Anyway, Greg thought “Abe” sounded like “Ape,” so we decided to rename him “Monkey.” And I love monkies!! [insert monkey sounds here])
In knitting news, the Spring Knit-Up ended on the 21st. My final count was 24 items. I’ll try to get together some sort of gallery of what I did/what’s up for grabs sometime soon, but probably after we get done moving. I cast on for a DNA scarf for my dad for father’s day/his birthday. I hope he likes it – I certainly think it’s cool. Plus he used to be a science teacher, so it’s appropriate, I think. My cables look pretty good, but there are some fidgety parts. I’m not sure if it’s me, or the pattern. But seeing as how no one else in my family really knits, no one’s going to notice. I’m using TLC Essentials in Dark Thyme – mainly because I couldn’t settle on a higher-end non-wool yarn that I liked, thought would do well in this scarf, and thought wasn’t too…busy. I think, if my dad was to wear a scarf (because I’m not sure he does, but maybe he just doesn’t have one this cool), the yarn would be pretty plain and no-frills. In other words, if you’ll forgive me the sexism (not to mention the ridiculousness of assigning gender to…well, anything, but especially yarn) – masculine yarn. There. I said it. I’m sorry. Anyway. The pattern I’m using is from Fall 2003 Interweave Knits – Susan Sternlieb’s pattern, and June Oshiro’s chart.
SKU: 14 hats, 4 slippers, 2 washcloths, 2 socks, 2 scarves
Yesterday we went to TJ and Susannah’s wedding, and it was pretty nice. Afterward, we went to Jesse and Sumi’s house-cooling party, and it was awesome. And crazy. It was alot of fun, we won some prizes (a fart whistle, balloons, a…whatchamacallit…a pony head on a stick that you gallup around with, and a copy of Wild Things on dvd), and we met some nice people. Good times. I also finished a Beach Beanie out of Microspun – it’s cute, but too short. But then, it is a beanie, I suppose.
Today, my mom and Sarah came down to let me try on a bridesmaid’s dress for Susan’s wedding, and help us move. Unfortunately, Greg seems to have gotten food poisoning somewhere (or could it be heat poisoning? heatstroke?). But he toughed it out to move the washer and dryer down the stairs to our new apartment. That was the extent of moving today, though. Greg’s passed out, he feels pretty bad, and Mom and Sarah went home for the evening. But they’re coming back tomorrow to help me move some more stuff. I can’t wait til we’re completely moved in.
Oh! And I found out Susan is volunteering at a Ronald McDonald House – so I might have a decently local contact as far as the charity knits go. Yeehaw!
I took a look at the Giotto tank last night, after discovering it had too many stitches, and realized I’d made one more increase in the beginning than I should have. Which also means the front is now eight rows longer than the back. I wish I’d discovered this earlier, because I’m going to have to rip it again, at least back to the last increase that really should be there. I don’t think I’ll finish Giotto before the Spring Knit-Up ends. I also doubt I’ll finish Kyoto, and I definitely frogged Skully and put it aside to start later. Ah well. I’m still pleased with how the Knit-Up went for me, because I got a chance to make a bunch of small freebie/charity projects, and I made a little dent in my stash. I guess it’s possible I could finish Giotto, but I’ve got til Monday, we’re moving, we’ve a wedding to go to, I just don’t see it happening. But I’m not going to fret about it.
SKU: 13 hats, 4 slippers, 2 washcloths, 2 socks, 2 scarves
I finished up a Beach Beanie (from Knitter’s) in Red Heart Baby Soft today. It’s pretty cute, but it’s baby-sized. Which is cool, because I’m sure there are some hospital kids who could fit it. But now I’m not sure if I should mail these hats off to the address on the ChemoCaps site, or check with the local hospitals (or Ronald McDonald house) and see if they have similar projects. In a bit of synchronicity, Joy at KnitandPearl posted her finished Beach Beanie, and it is tres mignon. I’m going to make another in a more appropriate weight yarn, because I rather enjoyed the pattern.
I finished the wedding dress last night. It’s pretty cute, but I think it’s about one size too large. I threw out the pattern, thinking I’d never use it again, so I couldn’t rip seams, recut the pieces, and size the dress down. But I also don’t have the time or patience to do that, so it’s okay.
So I had a moment of mortification this morning. We’re in the process of moving house, but we’re still mainly living at the “old house,” which is pretty isolated. I like to call it “in the boondocks,” even though I guess it really isn’t. Anyway. No one ever stops by without warning, and our neighbors are far enough away, and it’s been really hot lately, so I don’t think much about walking around the house in various stages of undress. Who’s going to see? Well, I got my answer this morning: construction workers, working on the highway. I wandered out to the laundry room to get a clean shirt, and on my way back in, re-filled Daoine’s water bowl. So there I am, topless in front of the kitchen window over the sink, when I hear noise, look up, and every construction worker working on the top of our driveway has stopped working to check out the goods, as it were. Yeah. I’m brilliant. And they weren’t just staring – they were hooting, and elbowing each other, and pointing. Which was pretty dumb if you ask me, because I wouldn’t have noticed I had an audience otherwise, and I probably would have continued to walk around topless in the mornings to come. Now I’ll be sure not to, so that’s their loss. To their credit, though, when we pulled out of the driveway there weren’t any comments or catcalls or leering. I was still pretty mortified, though. And I’m sure my cheeks were bright red. Yet another reason why I can’t wait to finish moving.
