Too Many Scarves

Ok...wow.

I've been gone for almost two months. Wow. So don't ask what possessed me to pop back in now, especially when I've been giving so much thought to shutting this down.

I'll bet it's because tomorrow morning we leave to go camping for the week and there will be no tv, cell phones, computer, Flickr, etc. While I am looking forward to it (so. freaking. much.) there is a bit of "Oh my god! What am I going to do?!" I am sooo addicted to technology. I hate that I am so "connected"...but I love it too. Oh, the conundrum.

And I can't leave this picture-less so here you go:

Springtime Bandit, completed in one week. Loved working on it and I am totally making another soon. Thought about bringing the goodies for it along on the trip but I don't want it to smell like campfire smoke.

Which reminds me...I still haven't decided what knitting to bring with me! The long drive up there, the nights next to the campfire...so much knitting time.  Time to go choose.

See ya!

Sewing...

For those of you that follow my Flickr 365, this will be repetitive, but oh well.

I have a few items of clothing that I never wear and have sat in my closet forever. I can't seem to part with them for one reason or another. Enter this sweater:

I love how I look less than enthused in this pic. It wasn't intentional, but it really does capture the "blah-ness" of this sweater. I love the color, the buttons and the tight knit but never wore it since it was so boring. (Funny thing, Tracey bought this same sweater without knowing I had. She already got rid of hers but now wishes she had kept it so I could do the same with hers. At least, I think that's what she said. I could be totally making that up.)

Ta da!

I finally threw it in the wash last night and was seriously afraid that is was going to fall apart. Ha. The "flowers" frayed a bit, but I expected that since I didn't do anything to prevent that. Still looks super cute though.

I also whipped up a skirt.

I used an old skirt that I made as a guide and just winged it. That's also why the waistband is covered. It's not pretty, friends. It's not finished very well, but I wanted to wear it to work that night. Hee. I am so impatient.

Seeing all these sewing projects (and seeing Carrie's) is making me want to get out my sewing machine STAT. Too bad it's already packed up.

Moving...catching up...again...

So we are moving. In 3 days. And there is, of course, still so much to be done. We're only moving about 15 minutes away and not across the state like last time, but still. It's overwhelming to think that everything in this place has to be put in boxes and put in a truck, just to be unpacked at another place.

I am horrible at packing because I always think, "Wait, I shouldn't put that in a box yet, I might need that in the next few days." And it's probably something that hasn't been touched in at least 6 months.

A few nights ago while packing some of my knitting stuff up I was suddenly inspired to cast on for something else. I would have a new little cardigan on the needles right now if it wasn't for me forgetting I had already packed the yarn up. It's definitely better that way.  I mentioned in the last post that I had about 6 knitting projects going on and it was driving me nuts. I now have only 2, I think.

Still working on the lace stockings. *sigh* I'd really love to already be wearing these things but I want them to be as close to perfect as possible. So I am taking my time and trying my darndest to not "f" them up like the first time around.

My toe up socks are in progress. Still.  (I am so not a sock knitter. Clearly.)

It's actually been so long since I've picked these things up that I am afraid I don't remember the mods I made to them. And nope, I didn't write them down. Considering they probably won't match and I am not thrilled with how the first one turned out I am thinking about ripping. What say you?

Oh crap. I just remembered I have a third project on the needles. The cowl that will not die.

This thing is also taking me forever. I think Ravelry says I started it back in March. My god. It's so easy to forget about something if there isn't a deadline for finishing, but it stresses me out to have too much going on. Must finish that within the next few weeks. Seriously. Maybe I'll try to start getting to work 15 minutes or so early and just knit for a bit. (Maybe I should just work on getting there early anyway...I've been running late a lot these days. I hate being that person.)

Other non-knitting projects going on will have to wait for the next post. I don't want to overwhelm you. Ha. 

Wow...

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've written. Seriously. A month? Where did the time go?!

Well, there was the birthday which was all kinds of fun. Tracey, Kevin, Randy and I went to Disneyland:

And here I am being totally cheap and taking a picture of the Splash Mountain picture because I wanted to remember the moment but couldn't afford to buy it:

I totally wanted to sit in front....forgetting I had a white t-shirt on. I had to hold my bag in front of me.  I actually didn't get that wet though, everyone else behind me did.

Then there was dinner for the four of us plus Nicole, my dad and brother at The Old Ship, which I frickin love. Fish and chips and cider. Mmmmm.  Then roller skating.

I forgot that it hasn't been mentioned over here since I haven't blogged in the past month, but rollerskating is now my new obsession. OhmygodIloveit.  We've gone nearly every week since discovering the rink in Fountain Valley that has adult night. It's such a fun way to get a workout, and man, is it a workout. And I know that I am running the risk of repeating myself for those of you that follow my Flickr 365, but the rink also rocks big time because it has.... a photo booth.

Yay!

Shoot. What else can I say? I've been doing a bit of crafting although almost all the projects have been big losers not worth showing. I also have about 6 different knitting projects going on which is driving me nuts. I really need to finish some of them before I have a giant anxiety attack. Maybe I can make some progress at knit night tonight.

What else? I've been working a lot. For a bit there I was averaging 12 hours a week at work...that's it. But in the past month or so I have been averaging 30 hours. Woo! I'd love to be able to go spend all that "extra" money on you know, clothes, yarn, fabric and whatnot, but nope. We are moving. Money will be needed for a U-haul and the like.

Upside to moving? An extra bedroom that will be known as the "office/craft room".

Wooooooo!!!

Hmmmph...

Well, my birthday is in 19 minutes. And I am just finishing up the first stocking. Guess they won't be getting worn to dinner tomorrow night. No worries though, I've been doing some other things that have been getting wear.

I made a skirt.

I have no picture on my computer here.

But I can link to my flickr for ya, if you are interested. Here you go: skirt.

Lots of crafting around here, still.

That's about it for now...

Happy Birthday to me in 10 minutes now!  Wooo!

The bad...

Lest you think that all here is fine and dandy in the creativity department, I'll show you the latest big loser.  I had high hopes for the Garter Yoke Cardigan, but it was not meant to be.

Looks ok, just sitting on the floor, right? (Well, despite the blurriness. I'm telling you, this 365 project has done nothing to help me in the photography department thus far.)

Let's get a close up for those of you who may not have noticed the area that sticks out like a sore thumb to me:

Whoops. I worked on this sleeve one night in the dark and grabbed one of the many balls of this yarn I had sitting around. Unfortunately, it was only one I shouldn't have grabbed. It was the remainder from the yoke, which is a different dye lot.

(Short back story for those who care: I originally used this yarn for a different project, ran out before I finished and Cathi was nice enough to send some my way. Different dye lot, but I decided I'd take the chance. You couldn't tell in most lighting, but I never ended up wearing the project. I frogged it. Decided that it could work with the Garter Yoke Cardigan, as long as I used the different dye lot for the yoke, hoping the different stitch would help camouflage it.) 

I wish that were the only problem with this sweater, but alas, it was not.  It was very poor fitting. I know it isn't a form fitting cardigan, but it was just plain silly looking on me. I don't even have any picks to prove it. It is already up in the big yarn pile in the sky. Buttons salvaged for a future project, of course.

I'd like to say that I am going to give it another shot, with different yarn and with some mods, but I kind of doubt it. I imagine I will be distracted by something else shiny and forget all about it.

Here's my latest distraction:

The beginnings of Bettie's Lace Stockings from the Spring '09 IK.  This was one of those projects that I thought I would never make, but for whatever reason I saw them and had to have them NOW.  After a few false starts I am off and running...or so I think.  I have this crazy idea that I can finish these and wear them to my birthday dinner in a few weeks.

Crossing my fingers...

Checklist for today...

1. Sleep in.  Check.

2. Make coffee. Check.

3. Put on the Blind Pilot cd to listen to for the 100th time.  Check.

4. Make the third loaf of bread in less than 24 hours. Check.

5. Get on the computer to catch up on blogs, Flickr, email and pay some bills. Check.

6. Take inspiration from looking at Flickr and blogs and do something with it.....maybe tomorrow.

Even more...

I finally added the finishing touch to the cupcake apron. Don't know why it took me so long to get around to doing it...it took me maybe a 1/2 hour once I just sat down and put my mind to it.

All I did was add a little pocket. It's purely for decoration, as not even my tiny hand can fit in there.

This was my first foray into designing my own apron and it turned out ok...but there are plenty of mistakes with it. I just consider it a learning experience, and hey, it only cost me $3 for the fat quarter. I had all the other supplies.

And here's what I whipped up last night:

In an effort to not put any more holes in our apartment walls ( I'm sure all you renters out there understand) I put up corkboards. Which are held up by two pushpins, but, whatever.

I'm going to be using them for pics that give me inspiration and the like. Yay.

In other news...I am almost done with the Garter Yoke Cardigan. Almost. I feel like this has been taking me forever, but really, it's only been a little over two weeks. I suppose it's been because I have been distracted by all sorts of other projects.  I checked my Ravelry projects the other day and I am up to 5 WIP's. That literally makes me a little sick to my stomach. Yes, literally. (I hate when people use that word improperly.)  Time to finish up a few things to put my mind at ease.

More craftiness...

I had other plans for the post following the last, but now I feel compelled to show this:

I painted that last night. Wooo!

Randy and I finally got around to trying some freezer paper stenciling and this was my first project.

I got the bag at The Gap for like, $15. I thought I'd personalize it a bit though so I don't have a bag like every else in America. Ha.

Want to see Randy's project?

He's funny. If you don't know sign language or couldn't even tell those are supposed to be hands...those are  the letters F and U.

Funny guy.

He's quite the perfectionist so he wanted to try it out on something before he made it "officially". That's just an undershirt...real shirt coming soon.

I have all sorts of ideas for things I want to stencil now. That's the way it works I suppose though. Learn a new craft and you start thinking of ways to apply it to everything.

Creativity...

Warning...picture heavy post ahead. I'm playing catch up.

I love when all of the housework has been done and I can just focus on being creative, in whatever fashion that may be that day. Sewing, knitting, cooking or baking. 

There has been a good deal of those things going on lately, although I must admit that the housework has fallen by the wayside to do so.  (If I always put this stuff off till after cleaning it would never get done. We live in a teeny tiny apartment and it gets cluttered fast. Super fast.)

If you've been following my 365, which is like, 3 of you, you already know about some of this stuff. The blog definitely has suffered since I started the 365.  It's so much easier to just upload a few pics and add a few notes than have to sit down and write out a cohesive post. 

I've been working on my version of the Chickadee Cowl. A cowl, in linen stitch, but not on size 10 needles with bulky yarn. Instead it's the Hacho yarn I got for 5 cents, which is a sock weight, perhaps, on size 4 needles.

It is taking forever. I'm thinking, you know, it's a cowl. A tiny little thing. You'd think I'd know better by now and not fall into that mindtrap. So, I carry it around in my purse so I can work on it on my breaks from work or while Randy is driving us somewhere.  It stays inside my purse in this little project bag that Katherine made for me:

No that is not underwear. That was the overwhelming response on Flickr when I posted this as my 365 pic the night I got it.  Super cute and it's got a ton of use since I've received it...and isn't that the best thing to hear when you make something for someone? So, thank you Katherine! Also, she has the neatest handwriting.

Then again, almost everyone's printing/cursive is better than mine.

I made a mini quilt just to practice some skills before I start a "real" quilt....

A close up of the fabrics:

Crazy, huh? I bought the fabric on top over a year ago. Then I saw the fabric on the bottom a couple of months ago at a store and thought, "That would look so cute as a quilt with the fabric I have at home!"  ???  Clearly, I was way off base here. I didn't have the other fabric with me and was thinking since they had sort of a common green and nature theme they could work together, maybe. So I consulted Sarah who told me, and I quote, "No, those are funky. And not in a good way like James Brown."

But here I was, still wanting to practice some skills...so I forged on. I just did one print as the front and the other as the back, no piecing together.  So, I got to practice the binding, and that's about it. Which is also, much too dark a shade of green I think. Once again, I didn't have the fabrics with me to compare.  It's been handy for when I am sitting on the couch watching tv and need a little something extra to keep my feet warm.

I made another hat...

It's another foliage, but made with mods like I did the last time. On accident. Made on the larger needles for the bulky style of the pattern but following the pattern for the worsted weight version.  I made this right after I finished the Owl sweater. I was on a red streak.

Now I am on a green streak.

I want to finish the cowl before I cast on for the second sock so I can use it as my "carry around"  project. 

I started this last week:

The Garter Yoke Cardigan from Knit.1  I think I should be able to finish this up in the next week. I'm thinking maybe some aqua blue buttons. Something to add a little kick to it.

And lets not forget one of my favorite new things:

 

I love these earrings. A little big, a little funky, totally fun.  CozyJune over at etsy made these. I'm kind of wanting the blue and orange ones now too!

I've also been baking up a storm...some muffins, but mostly bread.

Exhibit A:

 

Exhibit B:

I've made both of these within the past few days.

I highly recommend the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book. My dad got it for me this past Christmas and only now have I gotten around to using it.  I've only made the basic recipe, but man is it easy. You make a big batch of dough, put it in the fridge and cut some of the dough off whenever you want to bake bread.   Easy peasy.

Ok, enough pics for today...but there is more to come. More crafti-ness! Oh my god...can you stand it?!!!  (Of course you can. You 2 people who read this here blog. Hee. )