Winding Down

I know I've posted about my vintage magazines before but I've been entering them all into Ravelry so I wanted to do another short one. (Side note- about twenty or so aren't in Ravelry, I want to put them in but I don't have a scanner, will Ravelry accept photographs of patterns? Anyone know?)

Right, so back to this magazine that unfortunately isn't in Ravelry yet.
Still amazed at how some pictures could have been taken today (but maybe a different colour scheme yes).
Sorry for the poor photos. Moving along.

I am really drawn to the sleeves on this one. I don't know if they'd be cute or have way too much excess fabric under the arm.
I want this one to be for my Grandpa this year. The fact that he is smoking is just bonus.
Okay but here is the thing! I really want to cast on this project.
It's bulky weight wool- this was knit with a discontinued Lopi yarn- very straight forward, and super fun looking. I think I'd do more shaping on the arms and around the waist and probably shorten it a tad but yes. I want this. It's not knit in the round but I think that will help it hold it's structure better. I want to cast this on NOW!

Yeah, don't have the right yarn. I'm not allowed to buy yarn right now. I figure if I use up two of my sweaters worth of yarn stash than I can go buy the yarn for this. So cute. Colour ideas anyone?

In actual knitting news, I am done the garter and halfway done the second lace section. Rock Island is knitted lace which is a little more intensive than lace knitting but completely worth it. This project is currently at a standstill, however, till I blow up the chart. I worked on it like crazy Tuesday and Thursday night, and interestingly enough, had killer headaches Tuesday and Thursday night. So yes, until the chart becomes embiggened this is going to have to wait.
It's so scrumptious though. Don't you want to love it? You do.

I finally finished my bil's Christmas present. I was having a hard time with the stitch pattern but when I picked it up two days ago it just clicked and I quickly finished it. I used Tanis Fibre Arts aran weight and boy did it bloom. I figured it would so I stopped at 30 inches and was hoping for another 4-8 inches but easily got 40 inches in the end. Very happy with it. The pattern is The Dudester by HipKnitizer.
I wanted to finish Jason's scarf so I could work on my boyfriend's scarf without feeling guilty. I took him to Baaad Anna's and told him to pick out whatever he wanted! Go wild! As many colours as you want! Blue wool? Okay, sure. That's fine. We got home and I said pick any pattern! Cables! Traveling stitches! Complicated stitch patterns! Double moss stitch? Right. Check. Sigh.
I could knit this in my sleep I think. Oh well. Finished 30% the first evening and should have it done in time for him to get some good wear out of it yet before the summer.

Good night all. Sweet dreams hm?

Rules For Rude People

You all already know these (because you all are such lovely people) but here they are anyways.

Rules for Attending a Concert (from least to most important)

1. Don't light up a doobie **I understand this is BC but I just think there is a time and a place and if everyone around you is doing it fine whatever but if you are the only people in the entire balcony? Kinda rude.**
2. Even if you don't like the opening act, and even if the opening act really isn't very good, don't boo him. I mean, c'mon- show a little decency.
   
3. If you don't like the opening act, leave and go get some wine. Don't talk loudly about your stupid co-op, your stupid kid, and your stupid art shows. The people around you would rather listen to the opening act than you. Trust me.
   
4. Never leave during a song. Even if it's the last song and you want to 'beat the rush'. It's not backstreet boys/NKOTB concert or a hockey game. There is no rush. All you will do is disrupt the people around you. And also? You missed the encore morons.
5. DON'T TALK DURING THE SHOW! YOU FLAMING JERKS!!!
6. The most important rule of them all? The rule that, in my humblest of opinions, if you break you get banned from all concerts for life and have to wear a t-shirt that says 'I'm an insensitive hypocritical asshole' for two weeks? Never, ever, ever sing along with the artist.
   

Tomorrow, a post about how great The Magnetic Fields are and how they made the concert awesome.

And oh yes, I am done the edging. And the garter stitch section. And am four rows into the 24 row chart. A-MAzing.

Rebel at Heart

And by rebel I mean stays up late playing computer games and eats things with butter in them. I really don't know why I do this. Around 10 oclock I get this second wind and next thing you know it's 2am and I'm painting my toenails and eating feta cheese.

I'm determined to be in bed by 10:30 tonight. I've got Game of Thrones out from the library for a week so if I want to read it I should probably start. So tonight I was going to show you all my knittings but I am missing a lot of photos so here's some random stuff.

I knit a really fun scarf for my nephew. It's based off a pattern I saw on Ravelry but didn't queue so I lost it but just figured it out. Kat and I agreed it needed more substance so after this photo was taken I sewed it into a tube and it looks a lot better now. Use your imagination. Nice eh? Yeah.
I knit a koolhas! Finally. Awesome yarn. Tanis Fibre Arts. I wear it all the time and is probably my favorite hat ever. EVER.
These are the New York socks I knit my mom. I think Mom has about five pairs of socks now from me which makes me very happy. My Mom is pretty spectacular so it's fitting she gets hand knit socks.
And my boyfriend asked me to draw him a dinosaur so I did. He was expecting a cartoon drawing.
That's it! Seriously forgetting my camera at home over Christmas and then running out of batteries was not good for my knit blogging! I'll be more diligent in the future. And, for those keeping count on Rock Island shawl edging (I know you are), I'm done 55/71 repeats! Go team me!

Thanks for the nice comments on the 30 by 30 post everyone. I appreciate those kinds words. I may need your help soon with the 40 by 40. It seems very daunting.

Cheers!

SUGAR HIGH (it honestly took me three tries to type that correctly)

I worry that my gloomy nails have forecast our days of overcast skies and ridiculous winds. Maybe tomorrow I will buy bright blue nail polish like I had intended and the skies will clear. But, of course, I would also have to buy nail polish remover for that to happen. You can see in this photo that I just added polish to the tips of my nails. Drives my sister crazy.
Today was awesome! Stole my niece for three hours and we toured around main street. Thankfully it wasn't rainy but it was chilly so she was bundled in hand knits as usual.
Hazel perpetually looks like she is highly skeptical of you. Like she knows that you have no idea what you are doing.

We first hit up the library and I picked up some books and read some fun ones to her. Then we crawled and knocked mats over and had a lot of people admire the girl.
She is coming for the camera.

We hit up the yarn store and then the grocery store. After realizing it was going to cost me over ten dollars for three cupcakes I just decided to make some of my own. It's also the only way to guarantee my sister can eat them. Hazel fell asleep after the excitement of the yarn store and kindly doubled as a grocery cart.
However, due to my limited expertise in pushing strollers I smoked a bike stand on the way and the jostle woke her up. This is a very accusing look. This is the 'I knew you didn't know what you were doing' look.

The cupcakes turned out delicious. I took the tray out halfway through baking and pushed a chunk of dark chocolate into the centre and made a royal icing and stirred in peanut butter.
Thankfully they are small because I ate three. If I had eaten three large ones I'd be dead right now.

So, Ravelry punks- check out my queue! I spent two days on it. Labelled everything, removed labels I didn't like, and made the labels more specific. I still may go in and make some categories even more specific but we'll see. Then I went and spent ages putting everything in order. It's still not perfect but I'm very happy with it. The first page, the top 30, are fantastic. I feel waaaay more inspired by my queue now.

You've also all done the library tour right? Thank goodness I did, not only because I'd really really really like to win those books but because the library feature now ROCKS! I went and entered in another 15 or so magazines and five new books. I love that the search pattern feature can isolate your library. Which is appropriate since I got some new yarn today with the Snazel...

Habu Tsumugi silk. Woo!

The only downside to this is that my living room floor is a tad messy now.
Spike enjoys it at least.

30 by 30

So I'm 30 now. Which is a good thing. Seriously- 20s were lame. The end was good. But the majority of it? Kinda painful. So yeah, let's see how we did on the 30 by 30. New stuff in pink.

1. Design and knit my perfect cardigan out of hand-spun hand-dyed yarn-I did knit some of my own sweaters, (rav links) but I didn't record any patterns. Having a friend who is a designer has shown me that designing is hard work and you need to put a lot of time and effort into it that I just don't have right now. That being said, I think I did okay overall. Didn't spin my own yarn though. Waaaaaay to inconsistent on the wheel. I'll give this one 50%. .5/30
   
2. Get a spinning wheel~ Done! June 5th 2010, my friend told me I could have her wheel (traditional Ashford) until I needed it. I'll need it until I buy one so there we go! (Pics to come no worries.) 1.5/30
   
3. Make a really awesome bookshelf (like these or something) Alas this one was a no go. I will carry this one over to the 40 by 40 though. It's a good one.
   
4. Crochet a bedspread with one of my Grandmother Hazel's crochet hooks and laceweight Seriously why did I set out goals like this? Punishment? CROCHET HATES ME.
   
5. Go on a real vacation ~ Done! May Long Weekend 2010, Tofino BC. I think I should get double points for this one because of NY but we'll stick with one. 2.5/30
   
6. Bike around one of the islands Again, honestly. I'm not allowed to modify lists after buying new toys! Sheesh.
   
7. Get another tattoo~ oops, this one had been done for awhile now, just forgot I got this one, it's so small and cute! If I win the lottery I'd have some more to show but still, I get another point! 3.5/30
   
8. Pay off bank student loan- Aaaaahahahahahahaha.
   
9. Bike a century (160km) in two days- See #6
   
10. Get really good at the violin- like stellar Without lessons, this won't work. Lessons cost money. Hence, I now have a ukelele and I know five chords. Quarter of a point (shut up- my list, my rules). 3.75/30
    
11. Publish one of my poems (and not self-published)-I'm writing poetry I just don't feel comfortable sending poems out without peer review. And dudes, I cannot stand poetry groups. This list is not going well.
    
12. Become an Aunt again - Uh- YEAH! I think I should get A BILLION points for this one. Have you seen this cutie? I need some more photos of her. 4.75/30
    
13. Keep my blog- yes I've been bad of late but full points still. 5.75/30
    
14. Pick up some kind of activity or sport thingie DONE! Yoga has been maintained for over six months and now I'm biking so check check and check. Still doing yoga, could be doing it more, but it is still my thing. 6.75/30
15. Learn how to be awesome at chess and play a game with those really serious russians downtown -I'm okay at chess. Not going to play anyone any time soon. .25 awarded. 7/30
    
16. Be a bridesmaid again cause it is fun yeah nobody is getting married.
    
17. Use my 5' by 7' canvas for a painting crap.
    
18. Get another family portrait with all the new people in our family (Dad will finally not be the only male in the picture) I don't know why this didn't happen. This needs to happen.
    
19. Organize a serious charity knitting project~ Done! Vancouver Fibre Leauge First Charity Run of knitting blankets and toys to the SPCA was donated on June 16, 2010! Couldn't have done it without the knitters! . 8/30
    
20. Get involved with a Feminist organization Does donating monthly to MSF count? They help out women and children all over. .25 8.25/30
21. Go across Canada I haven't even crossed the BC/Alberta border in three years.
22. Participate in a charity marathon even if I just briskly stroll the whole thing DONE!!!! June 7th, 2009- Childrun for BC Childrens' Hospital fight against cancer. 205 dollars raised. Ah, good for me. 9.25/30
    
23. Go to Vietnam with Julia Did I think I was going to come into some cash or something?
24. Do a whole day hike/Hike the West Coast Trail Okay, so the WCT is insane but I did do a lot of morning to late afternoon hikes so I'm giving myself a .75 for this. Seriously- that hike is killer. 10/30
25. Scuba or snorkel~ DONE! Surfing was way cooler than either of these things. 11/30
    
26. Garden- no matter how small I grew some herbs this past summer and used them on lots of things, including pizza. Go me. (And thanks to Ju for the plants in the first place) 12/30
    
27. Write and illustrate a picture book What?
    
28. Adopt another kitten DONE! February 17th, 2010. I love this kitten so. 13/30
    
29. Make a 100 book reading listI I did this. It's on Facebook. I now prefer goodreads. 14/30
    
30. Design and sew a dress that is spectacular um- I have some really pretty fabric picked out... sigh.
    

14/30- not a pass, but in the larger scheme of things? Not bad. I know, accepting failing is weird but meh, the list wasn't there so I would feel bad about myself, it's a good thing. It keeps me thinking about things. I need to start thinking about a 40 by 40 and this time I'll have all ten years to get things done!

Here's an awesome photo of the kitten I love so. This was taken by my roommate Saroj and her amazing camera (I wanted to steal it but frankly I had no idea how to work it). Pictures of nails tomorrow Jenn I promise! Cheers!

This nail polish is more gray than blue darn it

I bought new nail polish today. I thought it was more of a robin egg blue but it's more of a stormy sky gray blue. It's called Gray by Gray so maybe if I had paid attention to that I wouldn't have ended up with significantly less Spring time themed nails. Seriously guys, I have it rough over here.

In other news, it's Spring Break. I always feel that Spring Break doesn't start till the first day that you are suppose to go back and you don't. So for me, Spring Break starts tomorrow at 6:15am when I do not get out of bed. I'm keeping my alarm on so I can wake up and gloriously roll over and fall back asleep. Especially since it's 10:39 and I'm planning on reorganizing my queue on Ravelry. All 538 items. Maybe. I'll let you know how that goes.

Okay, but yes, the point for this post is to lay out my goals for Spring Break. Are you ready? Waiting on the edge of your seat you are.

1. Post ten times! Ooohhhhh- detailing this is my second(third? Looking it up is too hard) post of the year this does seem like a daunting task. Ten posts in two weeks? But 2012 has been just KIND OF overwhelming. I'm hoping that prioritizing blogging will help me get back into it overall. I already feel right at home with my ranting run-on sentences and colloquial gibberish.

2. Finish the edging and garter section of my shawl. I've started Rock Island by Jared Flood and despite grabbing the wrong needle size (it'll be a shawlette more than a shawl but these things happen) I'm really into it. My goal is to knit 5 sections of the 8 row edging repeat each time I sit down with it (there are 71 repeats altogether). I'm doing very well and am almost halfway.
I printed off a sheet with the numbers 1-71 on it so I can cross them off as I go. I put a G for that day's goal and then an A for what I actually achieved. This has proven to be a good incentive for me. I keep on wanting to best my previous achievement. To stick it to myself I guess. The edging is only 12-16 stitches wide and today my poor boyfriend who was working on his computer at the coffee shop finally leaned over after an hour or so of seeing me work on it and said 'honey I don't get it.'
Really doesn't look like much right now I will say. The yarn is Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Lace. Yummy.

3. Walk every day. And not just to the corner store for chocolate either (but still going to do that a lot). I've already got three people lined up on different days for the seawall. Guin and I are walking the Stanley Park section on Thursday- SO EXCITED! I haven't done this wall since I moved here? What is with that? What is with only doing really cool things when you don't live in that city? Sheesh. Oh, and I finally found my camera battery charger so I'll take photos! Woo! But yes, back on point- long walks. Walks up hills. Hiking too. Should probably buy better shoes.

4. Get my bike checked out and take it for a ride to see if I remember how.

5. Spring cleaning! Blaaaaaarg. Auuuuuugh. I hate cleaning. So much. Stupid dust.

And that's it. I have lots to tell and now that my camera is back I have lots to show as well. Cheers all!