Wow, I haven't done a thing with this blog in over 18 months. Bad blogger, no cookie....
I have decided that this needs to change. I plan to post my adventures exploring my new state, meeting new people and crafting. Stay tuned for some more updates!
Go Badgers!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Breaking My Yarn Diet
Yes, you read correctly. I broke my yarn diet. I know, I know. Bad knitter, no cookie for me.....
But I broke it for a very good reason. I broke it for some yarn that will become some shawlettes. I have one weekend this year that will be filled with graduation ceremonies. So I bought two types of yarn that will make some beautiful shawls/shawlettes that will work over dress pants and dress shirt, skirt and top or even a dress.
The first yarn is Araucania Ruca Multy. It's my sugar cane yarn come to visit again! This time I picked brightly colored yellow, orange and pink skeins.
The second yarn is Berroco Seduce in Sorcery. It's a silvery gray and looks like it will have fantastic drape when knitted up.
I have just exactly 8 weeks to find patterns and get these shawlettes knitted up. It's going to be an interesting trip.
Stop back later to see how my pattern search is going.....
But I broke it for a very good reason. I broke it for some yarn that will become some shawlettes. I have one weekend this year that will be filled with graduation ceremonies. So I bought two types of yarn that will make some beautiful shawls/shawlettes that will work over dress pants and dress shirt, skirt and top or even a dress.
The first yarn is Araucania Ruca Multy. It's my sugar cane yarn come to visit again! This time I picked brightly colored yellow, orange and pink skeins.
The second yarn is Berroco Seduce in Sorcery. It's a silvery gray and looks like it will have fantastic drape when knitted up.
I have just exactly 8 weeks to find patterns and get these shawlettes knitted up. It's going to be an interesting trip.
Stop back later to see how my pattern search is going.....
Saturday, January 30, 2010
And my computer crashes again......
On December 20th, my computer hard drive died. After spending a month trying to figure out what I was going to do (have Geeksquad repair computer, repair computer myself, or buy new computer), I decided to replace the hard drive myself and reinstall my computer software.
It has been about 2 weeks since my computer was repaired and it went down again last night..... I installed the service pack 1 for vista (man, how I detest vista) and my computer wouldn't boot because there was an error with the install. A big enough error that I spent most of today reinstalling my operating system AGAIN! I couldn't even do a recovery.... I guess I know what I won't be installing ever again....
Even though I haven't gotten much done as a result, I did find some awesome pictures that I haven't seen in years.....
It has been about 2 weeks since my computer was repaired and it went down again last night..... I installed the service pack 1 for vista (man, how I detest vista) and my computer wouldn't boot because there was an error with the install. A big enough error that I spent most of today reinstalling my operating system AGAIN! I couldn't even do a recovery.... I guess I know what I won't be installing ever again....
Even though I haven't gotten much done as a result, I did find some awesome pictures that I haven't seen in years.....
My sister with her AAU volleyball team....
My little brother playing football his senior year of high school (they ended up winning state).....
I guess some good things have come from my computer crashing twice. I found all sorts of old pictures I didn't know I had... It was a nice trip down memory lane.
When is the last time you went?
Friday, January 29, 2010
IntSweMoDo 2010: Sweater One
In addition to my 1,000,000 stitches goal, I have a 12 sweaters this year goal.... My goals all work together, which is fantastic. I am excited to challenge myself and see what happens.
I have officially finished my first sweater for IntSweMoDo 2010! It is the February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynn.
I knit the sweater out of 100% corn fiber called aMAIZing from Southwest Trading Company. The fabric made is nice and squishy and is somewhat hydrophobic..... The water just beaded off until I started working it in. Maybe that makes this sweater stain resistant! I'm not sure I want to test that theory though.
The sweater is unblocked in this picture. I am excited to wear the sweater when it is dry (drying now), but I have to remember that I can't wear it to work if I want it to stay nice. I tend to go home dirty....
My next sweater to work on is the one for my sister, Mary. It is Natalia by Stefanie Japel. I have half of one sleeve to knit, the cuffs and the neckline. I hope it will be a quick knit.....
I have officially finished my first sweater for IntSweMoDo 2010! It is the February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynn.
I knit the sweater out of 100% corn fiber called aMAIZing from Southwest Trading Company. The fabric made is nice and squishy and is somewhat hydrophobic..... The water just beaded off until I started working it in. Maybe that makes this sweater stain resistant! I'm not sure I want to test that theory though.
The sweater is unblocked in this picture. I am excited to wear the sweater when it is dry (drying now), but I have to remember that I can't wear it to work if I want it to stay nice. I tend to go home dirty....
My next sweater to work on is the one for my sister, Mary. It is Natalia by Stefanie Japel. I have half of one sleeve to knit, the cuffs and the neckline. I hope it will be a quick knit.....
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
No Wool Wednesday: Sugar Cane Yarn
(This post has been hanging out for awhile and I just hadn't finished it. I am getting back into the swing of things and so I finished it for your enjoyment....)
I found sugar cane yarn by mistake. I was in Lizzie's in Wheaton, IL while playing hooky from work. (Okay, not really, I took a vacation day.) While wandering in the yarn shop trying not to kill myself, I happened upon Araucania Ruca Multy.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Araucania Ruca Multy was make with 100% sugar cane and even more surprised to find 273 yards in one hank. I bought one hank of colorway 1 (I know not very helpful). It was a purple, tan and green variegated.
With the yarn, I decided to make Diagonal Lace Scarf.
The yarn was great to work with. It is super soft and has beautiful drape. It was super easy to block; the knitted fabric gently stretched into shape.
I would definitely recommend this yarn to someone looking for something new. The only downside to this yarn is that I haven't been able to find it in solids or semi-solids.
Other patterns that would work with this pattern:
- Clapotis
- Ishbel
- Lillian Tank Top
- Baby Surprise Jacket
Check in next week for another No Wool Wednesday!
I found sugar cane yarn by mistake. I was in Lizzie's in Wheaton, IL while playing hooky from work. (Okay, not really, I took a vacation day.) While wandering in the yarn shop trying not to kill myself, I happened upon Araucania Ruca Multy.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Araucania Ruca Multy was make with 100% sugar cane and even more surprised to find 273 yards in one hank. I bought one hank of colorway 1 (I know not very helpful). It was a purple, tan and green variegated.
With the yarn, I decided to make Diagonal Lace Scarf.
The yarn was great to work with. It is super soft and has beautiful drape. It was super easy to block; the knitted fabric gently stretched into shape.
I would definitely recommend this yarn to someone looking for something new. The only downside to this yarn is that I haven't been able to find it in solids or semi-solids.
Other patterns that would work with this pattern:
- Clapotis
- Ishbel
- Lillian Tank Top
- Baby Surprise Jacket
Check in next week for another No Wool Wednesday!
Monday, January 25, 2010
My One Million Stitch Quest
Yes, you are reading that right. One of my goals for 2010 is to craft one million stitches. I can either knit, crochet or tat the stitches. No sewing allowed.
One million stitches per year breaks down like this:
83,333 stitches per month
20,833 stitches per week
2,976 stitches per day
I know, I am totally crazy right. Well, I am not the only person crazy enough to do this. There is an entire group on Ravelry called naknitmo where a whole bunch of us are planning to make the quest.
So now the question becomes: How am I doing?
Answer: Not so hot... As of Sunday night, I am 18,566 stitches less than I should have knit from Jan 1 to yesterday.
To put things into perspective: one day of knitting is worth
One million stitches per year breaks down like this:
83,333 stitches per month
20,833 stitches per week
2,976 stitches per day
I know, I am totally crazy right. Well, I am not the only person crazy enough to do this. There is an entire group on Ravelry called naknitmo where a whole bunch of us are planning to make the quest.
So now the question becomes: How am I doing?
Answer: Not so hot... As of Sunday night, I am 18,566 stitches less than I should have knit from Jan 1 to yesterday.
To put things into perspective: one day of knitting is worth
3/4 of a convertible mitten
about 18 tatted butterflies
8.5 rows on a lap robe my grandmother didn't finish crocheting
(picture to come later)
Each of these things takes about 3 hours of crafting a day, at least. It depends on the difficulty of the pattern. While I will probably never make this goal, I know that I will fail to achieve 100% of the goals I never set. So for me, I am going to try this year and see how far I can go.
Wish me luck.....
See you on the flip side!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Today was a Fantastic Day!
As far as days go, I'm not sure I will be able to top today for awhile. Everything just seemed to fit together seamlessly.
This morning for the first time in over 1 month, my computer booted up and ran! At 12:37 AM (yes, I am that much of a dork that I checked the time), my computer booted up to factory settings. I spent 5+ hours last night replacing my hard drive and using my recovery manager to get my computer back up an running. The only thing I have left to do is copy my backed up files from my old laptop to this one. YAY!
Then when I got up this morning, I felt the urge to tat, which I haven't done in months. I started looking at the butterflies and flowers I was tatting and wondered what I was going to do with them. I decided that I was going to start decorating note cards and am making plans to start an etsy store. Thus far the only name I can think of for the store is "Knotworthy". (I welcome any and all suggestions!)
Below are some of the note cards I have created today.
I am currently brainstorming some St. Patty's Day cards, but I don't know if I am going to create any right away.
Around lunch, when I couldn't keep waiting for my computer to load all the Windows updates, I decided to drop in on JoAnn's in Joliet. It is going out of business and I got a fantastic deal! I managed to get an Ott Light for 80% off! How cool is that? I guess it pays to wait out the deals and sales.....
From 3-6 PM I reffed some 2nd grade boys basketball games. Three of them, to be exact. After the second game, I had one mom come up to me and thank me for not just reffing the game but also using the game as an opportunity to teach the kids. That was so fantastic to hear considering most of the time all I get are parents chewing me a new one for calling a foul on their kid. Even better was the coach that pulled out a player during the third game for, as the coach put it, "talking back to the ref."
And now I am home. Finishing updating a blog that has been empty for weeks.....okay, okay months..... I am heading back to my knitting for tonight, or maybe some crocheting.... I guess I'll see what I feel like.
See you on the flip side!
This morning for the first time in over 1 month, my computer booted up and ran! At 12:37 AM (yes, I am that much of a dork that I checked the time), my computer booted up to factory settings. I spent 5+ hours last night replacing my hard drive and using my recovery manager to get my computer back up an running. The only thing I have left to do is copy my backed up files from my old laptop to this one. YAY!
Then when I got up this morning, I felt the urge to tat, which I haven't done in months. I started looking at the butterflies and flowers I was tatting and wondered what I was going to do with them. I decided that I was going to start decorating note cards and am making plans to start an etsy store. Thus far the only name I can think of for the store is "Knotworthy". (I welcome any and all suggestions!)
Below are some of the note cards I have created today.
I am currently brainstorming some St. Patty's Day cards, but I don't know if I am going to create any right away.
Around lunch, when I couldn't keep waiting for my computer to load all the Windows updates, I decided to drop in on JoAnn's in Joliet. It is going out of business and I got a fantastic deal! I managed to get an Ott Light for 80% off! How cool is that? I guess it pays to wait out the deals and sales.....
From 3-6 PM I reffed some 2nd grade boys basketball games. Three of them, to be exact. After the second game, I had one mom come up to me and thank me for not just reffing the game but also using the game as an opportunity to teach the kids. That was so fantastic to hear considering most of the time all I get are parents chewing me a new one for calling a foul on their kid. Even better was the coach that pulled out a player during the third game for, as the coach put it, "talking back to the ref."
And now I am home. Finishing updating a blog that has been empty for weeks.....okay, okay months..... I am heading back to my knitting for tonight, or maybe some crocheting.... I guess I'll see what I feel like.
See you on the flip side!
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