I don't feel like thinking of a creative title...

Yeah, I haven't posted in while, sorry.

Things have been happening, though, and I shall fill you in now.

Honk Jr. rehearsals with the Garner Towne Players have been going well. The show's going to be great! It's such a fun show to do, and I'm loving working with my old friend Patrick again. The show is basically a musical story of the ugly duckling. Patrick plays the main character, and he's pretty amazing. But, then again, he's always been amazing. I'm so jealous. :)

We almost got a new pet yesterday! A baby possum got stuck in a bucket in our garage! (Okay, we were never actually intending to keep it as a pet, but we joked about the idea.) We had no idea where its mother was, and it was just a little guy, so we took in out of the bucket and put it in a dog kennel with some cat food and a bowl of water. It loved the water; it eventually started just sitting in it. It was hilarious! Possums are so ugly and scary looking, but he was so tiny he was almost cute! Except for when he was trying to bite us...
But anyway, we let him go last night, and hopefully he found his mother. We weren't real sure what else we could do for it, but we did the best we could.

We got a new dishwasher! Our old one broke about a week ago. But this story isn't very interesting, so I'll just move on.

Owen, my younger brother, is going to be a freshman next year, so he's taking a class over the summer called Freshman Seminar. Basically, it's a bulls**t class where they're supposed to teach you how to do the "graduation project" that we all have to do before senior year ends. Anyway, he has to do a "mini" grad project, and for some reason he chose knitting as a topic (don't ask me, I can't explain why he chose it, either). So I've taught him how to knit, and for his "product" thing he's knitting some squares to donate to the "Warm up America" foundation. It's pretty cool, because I've been trying to convince him to learn how to knit for years.

So yeah, I think that's about all I've got to say. It's funny, I expected this to be a really short "I haven't left, I promise!" post. but it ended up pretty long. Not bad!

Super-Funky fingerless gloves

These gloves are knitted with some yarn I got for Christmas one year without a label, so I have no idea what type it is. As long as the yarn you use is either sport weight or DK weight and knits up in the correct gauge it should be fine. Since these gloves are worked back and forth on two needles and use basic stitches, these are an excellent first or second project. Hey, it's quicker than a scarf! Plus, they are great for stash busting and are easily customizable. They fit an average-sized hand, but you could make them bigger or smaller by just casting on more or fewer stitches, respectively.

Materials:

• 2 Skeins Sport or DK weight yarn in 2 different colors to make stripes. Or you could use just one skein and make solid color gloves. Your choice.
• US #5 straight knitting needles
• Yarn needle for seaming

Gauge: 20 st and 15 rows = 4 inches in St st.

Pattern:

CO 32

Rows 1-2: With color A, *K1P1, repeat from * to end of row

Rows 3-4: With color B, *K1P1, repeat from * to end of row

Repeat rows 1-4

Rows 9-10: With A, *K1P1, repeat from * to end of row

Row 11: With B, K across

Row 12: With B, P across

Row 13: With A, K across

Row 14: With A, P across

Repeat Rows 11-14 twice more

Row 23: With B, K across

Row 24: With B, P across

Rows 25-26: With color A, *K1P1, repeat from * to end of row

Rows 27-28: With color B, *K1P1, repeat from * to end of row

Rows 29-30: With color A, *K1P1, repeat from * to end of row

BO in K1P1 rib.

Finishing:

Sew the edges of the ribbed sections together so that you have a tube with a thumb hole in the middle. Wear, and enjoy!

(oh, and if you make this, I'd love any feedback you have. Just send me an email or comment on this post! :D)

Super-Happy-Photo-Fun-Zone

Yay! Photo time! Most of these are pictures of projects I'm working on or have recently finished.





That blanket I've been working on. It's not quite done yet, but it's already a suitable blanket-size.
















The mittens I made from the back of the "Chicks with Sticks" book














Ssssssid the Diamondback Draft Dodger. The pattern is here.













Simple red scarf. Thanks to R2D2 for modeling.


















Awww it's my puppy, Scoop.
Okay, he's not really a puppy....he's actually almost 8 years old.....but he'll always be my puppy!












Jazzy Coffee Cup Sleeves that I mentioned in my last post. The green one is Owen's (my brother's) and the multicolored one is mine. I didn't have any coffee cups, so it's on just a normal glass.









That's all I've got for now. Adios!

I'm back!!!

Hello everyone!! I'm back from vacation.... and an eventful vacation it was. Here's the story:

First, the car tire blew while the car was just sitting in the garage. So we had to take the tire and get it fixed. The first place we took it to said that it would take almost 2 hours to fix it, so we took it somewhere else. So finally, we had the tire fixed and we were ready to go.

The journey there was uneventful. I was actually feeling pretty good because I finished two Jazzy Coffee Cup Cozies (for me and my brother) and we stopped at a Barnes and Noble and got to use them. Also, I made one of a pair of fingerless gloves that I've been meaning to knit for ages.

Once we got to Asheville we got a little lost, but not drastically, so we found our hotel without too much stress. After that we went for a late lunch/early dinner at Chili's because we were starving. Then I managed to convince my family to take me to a yarn store called Yarn Paradise, which was amazing. Since there's only one real LYS (besides Michaels and Wal-Mart) anywhere near me, it was a real treat to get to go in one. I went in looking for some yarn to make my NaKniSweMo sweater, but quickly realized that unless I wanted to pay $150 for a sweater, I should look elsewhere. I ended up spending about $37 dollars for three skeins of Berrocco "Bonsai" (a super-cool bamboo and nylon ribbon yarn) and two skeins of some Kaffe Fassett self-striping sock yarn in an awesome blue and brown colorway. They're going to be the coolest socks ever!

The next day, we went to an awesome concert called Downtown After Five, which is a monthly concert the city of Asheville puts on, and the whole reason we went to Asheville. The featured band was The Waybacks, one of my favorite bands ever! They were so amazing live!! It's hard to describe the genre of music the Waybacks play, and they're usually categorized as bluegrass, which they are sooo not. Check them out at their website http://www.thewaybacks.com/.

After the concert, we wanted to walk around downtown for a little while. The streets were pretty crowded with people returning to their cars from the concert, and with people just walking around downtown like we were. I had my knitting project in my purse at the time, because I'd worked on it a little bit at the concert. So, I was dodging some of the crowd when I ran into a pole, like a light pole or something, I'm not really sure. My purse ran into the pole first, and then me into the purse. The result: the vintage (and therefore sharper than normal) knitting needle in my purse went through my purse, through my pants, into my thigh. Ouch. Talk about freak accidents. It didn't hurt at first, but then when I realized I couldn't pull my purse away from my leg, because there was a knitting needle stuck in it, I started panicking. My dad had to pull the needle out of my leg because I was too freaked out at the fact that I'd just been stabbed. I thought there should be blood gushing down my leg or something, but there was almost none. The next day there was only a little scab on the wound. But Jesus, It was scary when it happened. Then I had to limp several blocks to get back to our car.

My bad luck wasn't even over, however. The next morning I had a little stomachache. I shrugged it off, thinking it wasn't that bad. We were planning on driving to Marshall, NC to take a raft down the French Broad river. Since my name's Marshall, of course we couldn't pass by the opportunity to take a few pictures with road signs:



If I don't look happy, it's because I was standing on one of those little metal barriers on the side of the highway (y'know, the things that are there so you don't drive your car off into a ravine or something) while I was 1) scared of falling off the thing backwards, 2) annoyed because people kept driving by and waving at me, so I was a little humiliated, and 3) really nauseous.


So anyway, driving to Marshall meant miles and miles of twisting and turning mountain roads. Not good when your stomach already hurts. I got really carsick, which has never happened to me before, so I knew something was wrong. So we couldn't go rafting because I felt so awful, so we went back to the hotel room. Where I spent the rest of the day either in bed shaking with fever or throwing up. Yuck. Especially when you're in a hotel room and want nothing more than to be in your own bed at home.

So then, this morning, I felt a little better and we came home. I still don't feel well, considering the only things I've eaten for two days is half a bagel and some toast.

So, that's all about the vacation. Stay tuned for upcoming posts, including the photo-packed one I promised, and one with a pattern for those fingerless gloves I made. So yeah, I'll get back with you soon. Adios!

Out of Town

Hey everyone!

I'm going to be in Asheville until the 20th, with no access to the internet. That is, if we can actually get there...We hadn't even left yet when the tire blew on the car. So my dad went to the tire place, but apparently it's going to take a really long time to get a new tire, so we have to wait until they get back home to pack up the other car and go. Which sucks, because the other car is a pickup truck that gets less than excellent gas mileage. *sigh*

But anyway, I got the memory chip from my camera to work in the computer, so when I get back, expect a huge, photo-packed new post!!! Woo!

Adios y hasta luego!

The Knit Zone

I am currently in what can only be described as the Knitting Zone. If I'm not knitting, I'm looking at knitting patterns, reading knitting books, or blogging about knitting. Something is seriously wrong with me....in a good way! I finished up a scarf I was working on ages ago but never bothered to finish, and I'm finally sewing up a snake shaped draft dodger that I'vee been avoiding for almost a year (seriously though, it's a seam almost two feet long, and I hate finishing. That's why i tend to do all the knitting for a project, then let it fall to the wayside forever, because I can't stand all the finishing.)

I found the perfect pattern for NaKniSweMo in November! It's an awesome garter and stockinette stitch sweater in bulky yarn. I'm so excited to start it, I don't think I can wait until November! My fingers are literally aching to begin. The only reason I haven't caved and started it yet is that one of my friends borrowed the needles I need for it. Here's a link to the pattern, but I think you need a subscription at the site to view it.

All right, I'm going to go knit some more now. Adios!

I must be bored...

...because I randomly embroidered my socks. No, not some nice, handknit socks that I made. Just your normal, run-of-the-mill, storebought socks. I embroidered three flowers on each sock. I've known that I'm going insane for some time now, but somehow I fear this is some sort of sinister indicator of how fast this process has become...



Also, I was extremely excited to learn that there is a NaKniSweMo, or National Knit a Sweater Month! It is the knitting world's response to the NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writer's Month that has become so popular. This November will be the third annual NaKniSweMo, and I intend to participate! I was looking at knitting patterns online, and I think my favorite sweater pattern is the one here called Tubey. I have no idea if it will look good on me though...I don't even wear sweaters, let alone knit them, so I have no idea how to judge.

By the way, I found another knitting blog today called Half-Assed Knit Blog. The whole time I was reading it I was practically rolling on the floor in laughter. Check it out!

I had taken a bunch of pictures of WIPs and FOs (including my awesome embroidered socks!) to finally put some on my blog, but my camera (or at least the memory card) is still being a butt so I can't post them. I'll go do some troubleshooting and get back with you.

Adios!

Eventful day...

I've gotta say, yesterday was more exciting than like the rest of my summer put together...not completely a good thing. There's good news and bad news.

Good news first: I finished my birthday present for Sarita, and it's ADORABLE! Seriously, I don't want to give it away...okay, yeah I do, because I know she's going to love it. So I'll just have to make something just like it for me! I've moved on now to a cat that I told my mom I would make for her. It's from Knitty, the knitting web-zine, from I think a few years ago. The link to the pattern is here.

Bad news: My mom cut her hand really bad on a piece of glass. It was really scary, actually, there was a LOT of blood. She had been putting dishes away when a glass broke, making a really sharp edge that went right into her finger. I thought we were going to have to go to the emergency room or something, but once we got the bleeding stopped enough to look at the cut, it wasn't big enough to warrant stitches, just deep. So I just called my dad, who came home from work and I went to Walgreens to get some of those bandages that they always have in movies when someone gets beaten up. Y'know, the little white, thin ones. Apparently they're made to hold the skin together on bad cuts. So, more good news: she's fine now. No lasting damage. Joel (my cousin) was actually over at my house for the whole thing. He spent the night at our house the night before last.

I also watched the movie Persepolis yesterday. It's based on a graphic novel that we read for school in the 9th grade. It was pretty good. Actually it was a lot better than I expected, and even Owen, my brother who didn't want to watch the movie in the first place, liked it. It had a lot of funny moments, even for all the sad ones. So I'd definitely recommend it.

Alright, that's all I have for now. Adios!

Stuff

Hello everyone!

I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to my cousin Joel, who turned 15 yesterday! We're going tonight to some restaurant in White Oak shopping center for his birthday. Should be fun!

So, the past few days I've been working on my Graduation Project for school. It's this huge essay thing that's due your senior year, and it's a real pain in the butt. My topic is HIV/AIDS. The stupidest part of the project is the requirement of a "mentor", someone in the community who has at least two years of professional experience in our topic field and who can meet with you a total of at least 15 hours. It's stupid to require EVERY student to get a mentor, because it's a state-wide project, and it just doesn't seem like there would be enough people to fulfill every individual's topic. So, If anyone knows of someone who works with patients with HIV/AIDS, oro who researches it or deals with the disease in some way, AND who would be willing to help out a high school student, please let me know! :)

In crafty news, I'm putting my blanket on temporary hiatus while I work on a birthday present for my friend Sarita. But I'm not saying what it is until after I give it to her.

So, that's all I've got to say. Adios for now!

Awesome New Layout!

Check out the spiffy new layout!! Cool, huh? I made it myself!

Actually, I used this program to make it...but the point is i didn't just download it from somewhere. It's almost TOO colorful, but I kinda like it that way. If it gets obnoxious, I'll just go back and change it.

So...yeah, that's all.

I <3 KPC

Hello all!

This post is basically just a shout-out to my favorite knitting website, Knitting Pattern Central and it's crochet cousin (ha! alliteration!) Crochet Pattern Central. The Knitting and Crochet Pattern Directories are totally awesome. Seriously, go to the "miscellaneous" section of KPC; people make some craaazy stuff!

So yeah...nothing else to say...

Adios for now!

Hola Hola!

Update on log cabin blanket progress: It currently measures a little over 3 ft by 3 ft, which is pretty darn good for less than a week of work. I am now out of blue AND white yarn, though. I was just using stash yarn, most of which comes from thrift stores and yard sales. That means I can't get any more of the same yarn because it was made over thirty years ago... So I'm just going to improvise from here. I might make a really big black section around the outside to make up the rest of the size. Here's a picture of what the blanket looks like now, courtesy of Microsoft Paint because I can't get my computer to read the memory chip in my camera:

Well, actually, I'm still working on the black around the outside, but this is what it will look like once I finish the black section.

All right, I'll keep you posted on further progress, because I know you're just dying to know how it's going. Adios!

Happy Fourth!

Basically the entire point of this post is to say HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to everyone out there!

Hope everyone eats lots of hot dogs and watermelon, and uses firecrackers responsibly!

The Next Frontier

Okay, so maybe "The Next Frontier" is a little too drastic for the title...Well I was going for a "Where no man has gone before" sort of thing, because I tried something new, but I failed to come up with a good way to phrase that. So I just stuck with the "Star Trek" theme and left it at that.

Back to the point, the +-*0\
=
=------------7

Sorry that was actually way away from the point...my cat stepped on the keyboard trying to attack my cursor, and it was so cute I had to keep it.

ANYWAY, so I started a new crochet project, which is *drumroll*...a blanket! I've never attempted to do a whole blanket before, so this is exciting. It all started when I checked out Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne (who run http://masondixonknitting.com/ together). This is probably my favorite knitting book ever! Tha authors are hilarious and the projects are some that i might actually do, a big plus for a knitting book. I think I've checked the book out from the library about three times... Well anyway, there's a section in the book about Log Cabin knitted blankets. This is a technique where you start by knitting a square, then pick up stitches from one side and knit a block, then pick up more stitches and knit another block. Well the end result looks something like this. (The link is to someone else's blog who has a pic of a log cabin blacket. It was the best picture I could find.) I'm improvising a crochet version of the technique, though. It's going to be black, white, a really pretty light blue color, and probably another color because I'm pretty sure I'm going to run out of blue. All are just yarn from my stash. I took a picture of what I have finished so far, but apparently my computer isn't reading from drive "I" so I can't load it. Maybe next post.

Alright, I'm going to go crochet now. Adios!

TV Movies, Mittens, and Novels about Knitting

Whew, it's been a while since the last post. But this is actually a good thing, because I actually have stuff to write about.

First of all, I watched the movie (well TV miniseries, but come on, it's still pretty much a movie) Hogfather. It's based on the book of the same title by Terry Pratchett, one of my favorite authors. The book is really good, and I freaked when I saw the movie in Blockbuster. I read some reviews of it, which ranged from "My wife and I loved this movie, It was so well acted!" to "I have rarely ever hated a movie this much" (seriously, that's word-for-word). So I didn't know what to expect, but I rented it, and convinced my brother to watch it with me. I have read the book and loved it, but my brother has never even read a book by Terry Pratchett, so you understand that we're coming from 2 different points of view. However, we both loved it! Most of it was well acted, the costumes and sets were creative and interesting, the special effects were good for the most part, and the story was interesting. The character Teatime (pronounced Tay-uh-tee-may) was especially good and well acted, and creepy in a "Willy Wonka-meets-child molester" kind of way.

I have too admit, I didn't get a lot of the book, and it was that way for a lot of the movie, but it did explain itself in the end. I was a little worried that Owen (that's my brother) wouldn't understand what was going on, but he seemed to follow along just fine. All in all, the movie was very faithful to the book. And a lot of it was very funny in a sarcastic kind of way, very much Terry Pratchett's style. My only complaints would be that some of the supporting characters were really awful actors, the Tooth Fairy especially, and that Death's scythe kept changing shape, which was basically just a careless mistake of the director. Overall my rating would be 3 out of 4 stars.


In other news, I checked out a book from the library called Chicks with Sticks: It's a Purl Thing by Elizabeth Lenhard and its sequel Chicks with Sticks: Knit Two Together. I expected them to be really stupid girly books, and the second one was. But I did really like the first one. It was basically about four unlikely friends who meet at a yarn store and form a sisterhood called "Chicks with Sticks". It was a really cute, relatable story that was well written for its genre (young adult fiction), especially when compared to books like the "Mates, dates" books by Cathy Hopkins; those were really awful and I'm ashamed I read the first two (in my defense, they only took about an hour to read each, so that's only 2 hours of my life wasted).

The seccond book in the "Chicks with Sticks" series, however was a classic, predictable, overly mushy, girly romance book. It consisted basically of the main character, Scottie angsting about not having a boyfriend, and then when she gets one, totally overanalyzing the relationship and angsting some more. It was almost painful to read some of it. It was especially disappointing considering the first one was actually good. I mean, what happened there? However, the redeeming element for the whole series is the inclusion of knitting patterns at the ends of the books. They were especially cool because some of them were the patterns that the characters knitted in the book.

After reading the first book, I was in such a knitty mood I immediately went to my yarn stash and started knitting a pair of mittens using a pattern from the back of the book. I used Lion Brand Homespun, in a sort of charcoal grey color. I already have both a hat and a scarf knitted from the same yarn, so the mittens just complete the set. It makes me happy :) I finished the mittens in two days, so it's a great weekend project. I'd include a picture of the mittens, but I don't think my camera has any batteries in it, and I don't feel like finding any.

So that's all I've got for today. Adios!


PS. A note for people who feel the need to correct the grammar in my blog entries, *cough* staci *cough*, I write my blog the way I talk, which includes putting commas in wherever I would pause while speaking. :P