This Should Be Fun

I have my camera back! All rejoice! I have lots to catch up on but first is the big New Years Resolution. I read a good article about keeping resolutions and the part I really liked is having friends doing the same thing. Hence, the great yarn diet and stash busting of 2011! Yarnpiggy started up a great group on Ravelry and thankfully I caught the end of the registration for this competition. You could enter one group or the other (the yarn diet and the knitting only from your pre-existing stash) but entering both seemed like a good idea.

I spent my time between Ikea (biggest bookshelf thingie ever) and New Years dinner (yummy dairy-free mac n' cheese (with bacon!) and a lemon buttercup martini!) going through my yarn. I went through and for the most part, designed a design or at least an idea for all the yarn for 2011. I know I already showed it in this video so if you want to skip this post, no hard feelings.

So first I have some pretty random stuff that will go to baby things. Lots of baby things this year.

Some rainbow acrylic....
my fantastic novelty yarn (I think more hedgehogs are in order)...
my bamboo tape that I have no idea what to do with but gosh darnit I have a lot of it!
my assorted neutral colour collection of odds and ends...
and my massive collection of odds and ends. I have some mohair in here, some cashmere, some sparkly, some malabrigo, some linen (knitting with that is less fun than stabbing a fork in your eye), some sari yarn, lots of sock yarns and cascade, and goodness know what else.
Either baby toys or baby knits or a reallllllly ugly blanket. We'll have to wait and see what the year brings I guess.

On to the good stuff!

First, my two blankets of the year. I have here the makings of a beautiful arrrgyle baby blanket out of some extravagent blue sky alpaca.
Second is my yarn from my Mom for my UNBC grad. Fleece artist goodness and lots of it. This will make an amazing blanket and it will be an easy knit so I'm excited to start.
Next are the scarves!

A striped scarf out of my brushed suri (it's red and white since Lala was obscuring the light in this photo)
and a Noro striped scarf out of my two silky malabrigo skeins that are similar, but really not quite the same.
Shawls are big this year.

This is hopefully going to be citron, but frankly, no promises. That stitch count gets pretty ridiculous pretty quickly. This yarn was a present from Katy for kittysitting and is Hand Maiden Silk. Mmmmmm......
Here's a trio of shawls to be. The blue shibui should hopefully become Holden, no idea for the blue sweet georgia, but the pink will be cast on for the Laminaria tonight.
I have no idea what to do with my laceweight but I want to dye it afterwards so we'll see. We'll see. I might just be crazy enough to try Sound of Waves again. Maybe.
These skeins are going to be a very warm and loving Gaenor I think.
On to the sweaters! Oh so exciting! Aren't you excited?!?!?

Another Paper Dolls out of STR (Bleeding Hearts Colourway)...
a steeked colourwork cardigan out of Kauni....
no idea but something warm and toasty out of my BFL from Gibsons...
and a Lace Hug Me Tight out of my birthday yarn (Sugar cane yarn! For reals!).
Those are all the project assigned yarns. I hope you all know that I can change my mind at any given second for any yarn or project, and then go back to the original plan if so desired, at any passing whim. I'm loyal to yarn, not so much projects, but the yarn, yeah.

I found some yarn while cleaning too. Which is good because that yarn in the left upper hand corner is my beloved vintage yarn. The middle yellow is going to become a shawl for sure.
This is unassigned good yarn that is being left until the mood strikes.

And here it is! My 2011 Project Bag! 2 Blankets, 4 sweaters, 2 scarves, and 7 shawls! Whooo!
Know if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go curl up with a hot chocolate, a couple of kitties, my 2010 shawl to finish and my 2011 shawl to start.

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for reading, cause, you know, that's pretty cool of you. Hugs!

Xmas List

It's hard to blog without my camera. I think I left it in Vernon. I'm so absent-minded and dyslexicesque these days it's a gong-show. I've said such classics as 'let's brain our pools' and 'the streets on the light went out'.

I'm pretty stressed but thankfully I have a tonne of awesome things in my life (family, friends, kitties, knitting, living in beautiful cities). The best thing about Christmas is I get to have all these things around me. And I get to show the people how much I care with presents! And I have already started to think about what I'm going to get them! Honest thoughts about what people might like! I think shopping with start sometime around the 18th. Should be fun.

Another fun part of Christmas is getting to do xmas lists. I don't necessarily expect I will get the things on the list and frankly, every Christmas presents that rock my world are ones I may not have even thought of so the list is more decorative than anything else, if you will. Holy long sentence, Christmas Batman. I just enjoy making these lists. It's fun to think about things and to look around and poke around and idly imagine. You should make one too.

So here is my xmas list for 2010.

1. Loose Tea I am nearly all out of tea. It's a pathetic way to live life let me tell you (I still have a lot of green tea, it's the herbal and specialty black I'm low on).
2. Kitty Scratching Post Poor kitties. I daydream of one that is pretty high and has some hidey holes and dangling toys. They've pretty much destroyed their current one and Spike puked on it yesterday.
3. Ceramic sugar bowl or coffee mug These are my favorite. I like any hand-made mug. They make me happy.
   
4. Yarn Gift Certificates (link) I'm thinking 2011 will be a time for sweater knitting. I love getting skeins of yarn and my family is great at picking them out, but for people who aren't sure, gift certificates are a great way for me to get enough of the same yarn for a big project.
5. Fabric Quilting is awesome. And yes, the hammer head shark is going to take me longer than expected but that's no reason to collect more fabric in the meantime. I like Moda, Amy Butler, anything that is fun and quirky. Basics are great too.
   
6. Acrylic paint/paintbrushes That one's pretty self-explanatory.
   
7. Graphic Novels Bone(never mind, bought them), The Sandman, any well done, interesting, and beautiful books.
   
8. Interesting and/or Multi Picture frames I want to do some more decorating around here.
9. 2011 calendar book, softcover and pretty, that will fit in my purse.
   
10. Cardigans I like cardigans.
11. ETA: Crockpot!
    

Now I'm all cheery. AND I just took a quilt out of the dryer. I'll take some photos with my cellphone and show you the blurry goodness soon. Promises.

Food is Awesome

You know the quiche is good when you cut yourself a slice to hold you over as the first slice is in the microwave.

And now, as I chew the last bite of the warm one (mmmm... gooey swiss cheese), I go for thirds.

It's going to be some boring posts for a few days

What's awesome is that it's ten and I'm going to bed and tomorrow I get to sleep in! Woo!

In other news is anyone else unhealthily obsessed with this song? I don't like it until the chorus where it has this super interesting pull. It's the strength of her voice~ it's crazy.

Kisses

It use to be a wrangle to get kisses from my nephew. He'd squirm. You'd just end up kissing his eye. He'd knee you in the liver trying to get away. Good times.

Today I was lying on the couch about to have a nap when they were leaving. I said goodbye to Malcolm but didn't think I'd get a kiss. I made a kissy face at him and closed my eyes. Then it was unusually silent. Then, I opened my eyes just to see what was going on and all I got was a very close up of Mal's face before he gave me a kiss!

Kisses from nephews are awesome.

What was also awesome was chasing him endlessly on a trail in Kal park. Non-stop. Running, hiding, chasing, being chased, throwing mittens around, and alllllllll that.

Overall, nephews are awesome.

Okay in the end

So at first there was going to be nothing good about today. At all. I could think of nothing good about today, let alone anything awesome. I was thinking this whole blogging for November awesome things was a pretty dumb idea.

Even though today was spent with no lunch hour, no recess, getting to school two hours early and leaving five hours late, endless meetings, and all these other things that I won't get into, and even though the custodian was mean to me, and one of my friends was rude to me, and I locked my purse in the filing cabinet, and my shoes pinched my toes, there was still one thing awesome about my day.

My mom.
How she deciphers my sobs into the phone, let alone respond to them, is beyond me.

Thanks for calling to check in on me Mom. You're pretty awesome.

Dudes...

just saw Stephen Hough at the VSO tonight and woah. His hands were moving around on the keys like they were a) separate entities and b) on fire or something. It was pretty awe inspiring. There was also an interview with him beforehand and he seems like a really interesting guy. I'm going to start following his articles and see how he writes as well!

Another awesome thing? Catching a taxi home instead of waiting for the bus. I was home probably at the same time I would have been getting on the bus downtown. And now I'm going to bed at the time I'd just be getting home. Excellent.

Sweet dreams!

Two For One

Tomorrow I'm pretty busy so just in case, I'm going to do two awesome things today.

Awesome thing #1: The lovely of lovely weather today. Got out in it for a bit which was really nice. It was even warm enough to open the window which always engages the kitties.
Awesome thing #2: Four more rows and an i-cord cast off is how close I am to wearing this thing non-stop. It fits perfectly! Weird photo because a) my bedroom and mirror are not photo happy and b)I have to hold the mirror with my foot so it stops tilting and reflecting the ceiling light.

More detail of the jellyfish.
Wheeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome Thing #6: Time at Home

I feel like I don't get any nice time at home anymore. I'm either home too sick to do anything but drink tea and sleep or I'm out~ whether it be errands or coffee dates. This week was especially hectic. Very late hours at work and doctors visits, volleyball games, and errands, meant that even though I was excited to see my friends this morning I really didn't want to leave home.

I made sure to spend some time cleaning when I did get home so I could enjoy this evening and then I took some time and found my poor neglected quilt. I took most of these photos ages ago and having been meaning to post them for a long time. So here is the latest part of the Hammerhead Quilt Project.

First I get everything ready. Tea, sharp scissors, rotary cutter and mat, pins, and my time-sucking chart.
Thread the machine...
get the iron ready...
get the envelope with all the pieces...
and start assembling the strip. I first lay it all out and make sure all the pieces are there. So far so good~ all the work from before is paying off thankfully.
After making sure the strip is all there I fold all the half-square triangles and sew them together.
Next I press them open. On the first row I just sewed them to the squares. Big mistake. These are not square. Some of them end up pretty square but some of them are freakishly wrong. Either crooked or way too large.
So each newly formed square gets measured and chopped accordingly so they are all 2.5 by 2.5. Takes a while.
THEN I get to sew. This way is faster than having to rip up strips after measuring them and realizing that in no way is a 50 inch strip is going to pass for a 48.5 strip. Only have to learn that lesson once thankfully.
I use the chart again to make sure the strip is correct as I sew and then I iron the strip flat, making sure I alternate which way the hems are laying.
Then I pin the label to the top of the strip and do row after row till I'm 'done' then I sew them all together.
This was the first marathon which was 6 strips.
Today I did another three (the first time I've quilted since Sept 20th!) and added them to the mix. This takes me to 9/36 which is 25%!!! I know it's only one half of the quilt and I still have the border and the back and I'm going to do some more to the front but still. 25%!!!
It's so neato. I have some plans for it yet. I may look into a very light bleaching of the centre blue which is a darker value than I planned for (it was a switch at the last second) but I'll wait till it's all done. That part is the sun which is a bright part of the photo but I feel like it's a little jutting currently. I love the fabric for the sharks themselves.
One way or another, even if it doesn't look like sharks, I am in love with this quilt. It's so much fun to look at! Not all of my corners are awesome but they really aren't bad.
Check those edges out! Booyah! So that is my sixth awesome thing, time at home, and thankfully it isn't as depressing as the last two posts.

Friday Is Over

Lame post I know but the awesome thing about this post is that it is now Saturday and the weekend has officially begun. Wheeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That Kind of Day

Today was a hard day. It's one of those days were I considered saying that the awesome part was that it was nearly over; however, I forgot something that is awesome. I took my girls to their first volleyball game today, and after two short practices, and me somehow being the only coach (found that out the first practice), we still did really well! They rallied really nicely and after I figured out the politics of volleyball meets it went a lot more smoothly. We even won four of the six games! The girls were happy and worked really well together. So that was my awesome thing of the day.

And goodness, I am so glad this day is over.

Spike and Lala

you knew the kitties couldn't be that far behind right?

I'm super tired, had a pretty long stressful day at school but then got to go fabric shopping with my wonderful Aunt and then had some great greek food because coming home. So mostly this is all photos (again) but here a few shots of the kitties.

In this photo Lala is for sure plotting an attack on Spike. Probably the moment he closes his eyes to sleep. This photo is hilarious. You never see Spike in the cubby hole but when I moved the scratching post into the kitchen to catch the sunlight he settled in there for hours.
They're pretty cute those two.

Jellyfish... jellllllyfish

Paper Dolls by Kate Davis.

2nd awesome thing of November.

November of Awesomeness

That's right. Awesomeness.

I'm coming off a hard month (who didn't get a chance to see/hear me tear up or completely lose it?) and a pretty lame weekend. Due to a bad cold I had to turn down THREE awesome Halloween parties, two coffees, and a dinner at my sisters. So. Freaking. Lame.

So I've decided for that thing that happens in November when you blog, I'll keep it simple and awesome. Each day I will at least blog about something awesome. I can blog about other things too, but the awesome in mandatory.

Today the key most important thing is my friend Kat's first pattern release! Woooo! Kat and I grew up together but lost touch after high school (she moved to Vancouver, I moved to Prince George) but then holy smokes in the Education program at UBC I saw her in the scarfe library! UBC is pretty huge but there she was. Due to the magic of facebook I sent her message and it was like old times again, only better. It was like we got to skip all that awkward early 20s relationship drama and got to redefine our friendship in the most fun way.

Kat runs Junior Deluxe which is a good read for everyone. She runs an actual informational blog, not a rambling diary blog, AND it's funny and very nice to look it. On top of that, she just released her first crochet pattern, Inuvik Mittens.

Picture stolen recklessly but it's SOOO pretty!

I've already hooked up and have nearly a mitten done after only an evening and it actually resembles a mitten. My crochet usually looks like... deformed. But this looks like a mitten! I can't wait till I get another evening to sit down and finish them up! Congrats Kip! You are the first awesome thing of November.

Preoccupied

Teaching for three weeks in a pretty hectic classroom right now so sorry for the radio silence. If I haven't answered your texts or emails, please take comfort in the fact that you are not alone, and I will emerge from this a little more weary of the world, but at least I'll be able to afford to go out for coffee (unlike September).

No quilting, barely any knitting, no reading, no cleaning whatsoever, and no new tattoos. Sigh.

Here is something I started right before I was called for the job. I worked on it non stop for three days which was a little fortuitous of me since I've hardly touched it since. It's the Paper Dolls Sweater by the wonderful Kate Davies. I think my next projec will be the Cloud hoodie. The yarn is socks that rock lightweight.

Sweet dreams! More interesting blogs to come, less whining, I promise!