Thursday, July 24, 2008

No scratching allowed :(

Finally, a new update!! I've been thinking about it for quite a while, but I'll be honest, I've been lazy about taking pictures and I just feel like I shouldn't really post without a picture. Weird, I know, but it's like, an unspoken blog etiquette/taboo kind of thing to me.

Anyways, I have not gotten a huge amount of knitting done lately. There are a few reasons. For one, I've been keeping busy!! Last weekend we went to the annual BBQ/cookout at my boss' house.

**NERD ALERT SIDENOTE**
Has anyone noticed that grammar rules are changing? I learned that to form the possessive of a word that ends in the letter "s" you just add an apostrophe.
Example: boss'
Now I see people ALL the time forming the possessive with apostrophe "s"
Example: boss's
This is just not right to me, I can't do it.
**END NERD ALERT**

So, we had to bring something for the picnic, so I made cupcakes!!



YUM! I love the funfetti sprinkle icing, but I secretly longed for pretty cupcake flag decorations like my friend Lauren sells in her Etsy shop. They would have been so cute! Next time I have to plan ahead!!


So, why did I tell you this long story in regards to my lack 0' knitting. Well, I got poison ivy at the picnic :( YIKES!! It freakin itches like MAD! I woke up Tues. morning full of what I thought was bug bites. Yea, that was pretty freaky. Come to find out later, it's poison ivy. I've been wearing long sleeves all week because it looks like I have some disease. Fortunately for me, it's been rainy/overcast in the Northeast and it's always cold at work, it hasn't been too bad. I'm now covered in Calamine lotion and I'm refraining from knitting because I don't want to get Calamine or poison ivy goo all over my sweater.

But, although I don't have a picture, I can tell you that I finished one sleeve and just started the second one, YAY! Also, a new Michaels store in my neighborhood just had a grand opening sale last weekend!! I got a coupon for 50% off one item. So, I went and got the cable needle set I've been eying for ages, but refused to pay full price for! AND, I wasn't the only thrifty knitter in the area, I got the LAST set!! I had to stand in line an hour and a half (no joke) but I was not missing out!




Lastly, my newest venture is to learn a bit of crochet. I've been wanting to do this since I bought a small set of hooks for my knitting bag, to catch all those dropped stitches! Well, I spent some time on the web and YouTube and lo and behold, I learned to make Granny Squares:

Maybe not perfect, but great to me! I've made about 10 (it goes so quick) and I'm looking forward to joining them all into an afghan throw!! I had to force myself to stop making them so I could get back to my sweater.

Now, you are all caught up, and I'm itching again, so it's time to redose the calamine before bed!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Oh my!

I have been a BAD blogger!! I am getting settled in quite nicely in Boston and now I'm getting used to my new work schedule. I have a train commute every morning and evening, which can make for a long day when the subways are backed up. But on a bright note, the trains provide me with excellent reading time, so I am burning through books!!

I have been keeping up with some knitting. First, the booty update. I finished the 2nd bootie. I held it next to the first one and realized (1) I made a mistake halfway through, opps!! (2) on the first one I interpreted the pattern differently and did the YO's with a knit stitch in between them. So, they didn't match :( SO, RIP RIP RIP it went and now it's a big pile of yarn. I did cast on again, but was a little disgruntled, so I put this project aside for a little while.
But, the cavern cardi is looking GREAT! Here are some pics of my progress!!
I just finished the main body piece of the sweater, YAY! I'm SO excited because it looks like my gauge is OK and it's going to fit, YIPPEE! Here is a closeup of the stitches. The yarn is JoJoLand 100% wool in Red-Plum:
So, tonight, while watching Harry Potter on the family channel, I'm knitting-in-the-round with DPNs for the first time. Ouch!! Quite tricky, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'm 4 rounds in and it looks to be working.
Hopefully next time I check in you can see a sleeve. If you're lucky, maybe you'll see two sleeves. Or a baby booty. Until then, happy knitting ladies!