o v e r b r e w e d

Oh dear.  I seem to have neglected the blog for quite a while this time.  Whoops?  First I got sucked back into Ravelry full time, then LiveJournal…first for the last Harry Potter, and now for the new tv season.  Not that I post there either, I just read.  I’m not very good with this whole connecting to the outside world thing, obviously.

Not much going around in these parts, just the usual.  Lots of knitting and tv watching, a little spinning and dyeing.   Definitely too much to update in one post, so we’ll just let the last few months slide and start from scratch, shall we?  I’ve got several projects on the needles right now; the Natalie Coat from BGK, Juliet from ZephyrStyle, and a lace scarf.  I’ve been trying to dole out my time evenly between the three, but I don’t think that’s working too well.   At least I won’t have a real need for the Natalie coat for a few more months still, thanks to the practically non-existent Texas winter.  Progress pictures of each as soon as I get off my butt and take them.

So, yes.  I am still alive and kicking, just can’t seem to divide my attention any further than it already is.  I’ll make an effort to keep things updated around here though, otherwise a certain Canadian might decide to do me bodily harm.   But for now I have to run, as I am about to get 7 inches chopped off my hair.

First up? Cars. Last, oh…January or so (I have no real concept of time) Adrian, best friend of Chris, decided he wanted to enter the oh-so-classy world of demolition derby. Chris, being the good friend he is, got roped into helping him get his car ready. After an entire week(!) of working on this beauty, the “Stinkin’ Lincoln” was ready for its debut. It lasted 5 minutes and I had a frozen butt for 2 days.

The day after the derby, Adrian informed me that he and Chris were both going to be entering the next one. I told him no, they ignored me. As usual. So for the past few months everything has been cars, cars, cars. Cars on the weekend, cars during the work day, cars until after dark every. freaking. night. And now, this Saturday, I will be forced into having my eardrums blasted, my lungs assaulted, and quite possibly dying of heat stroke, all so the boys can have wrecks on purpose. I can’t even take knitting with me, because apparently i’m expected to man the video camera. Sob. All I can say is, Chris had better win some money and had better buy me a spinning wheel with some of it. I think I deserve it.
Next subject. I now know exactly what i’m going to look like once I stop dyeing my hair and it goes completely grey. It’s not pretty and I suspect I may turn into one of those obnoxious old ladies that dyes their hair completely unnatrual shades of red or black just so I never have to see it again. I know this because I had to dump baby powder on my head, because once again the water company is frakkin’ up the water lines and we have had no water pressure in 3 days which means my hair has not been washed in 5 and oh god I feel dirty. So now I smell like a clean baby butt and have enough static in my hair to power a small generator. At least it’s marginally clean-er, and it’s a damn good thing I straightened my hair before all this happened. I think I would have scared the cats if they had to see me with dirty Hermione bad hair day hair.

Now, on to the fiber! I won 3.5oz of silk hankies on ebay about 2 weeks ago, and finally got around to dyeing it this weekend. It sticks to everything, and took for-freakin-ever to soak up all the dye, but oh boy. This is fun and easy to spin, and so. shiny! I’m planning a 3-ply once i’m done with the singles…as fine as it’s spinning up I should still end up with a substantial amount of finished yarn.

Also, I dyed some sock yarn. I’m loving these colors (especially the mossy green!), even if the purple/teal was supposed to be cornflower blue. Stupid Wilton’s. Time to move on to grown-up dyes, I suppose.

Annnnd finally, a new hat. There are actually 2 hats, but my camera crapped out on me before I could take a picture of my Zeebee. No pattern on this one…just stockinette with some garter stitch and a pom-pom for the hell of it. I’ve lovingly named it Jelly Bean Explosion, because it looks like some kid ate too much easter candy and puked on the couch. It’s a fun hat though, and Chris said it suited me which i’m not entirely sure is a compliment. Whatever, I shall wear it with pride once our 2 days of cold weather hits again. The yarn is Lion Wool, hand-dyed by me with Easter egg dye. It was an experiment that I don’t think will be repeated anytime soon, at least not in those colors.

Umm. That’s it. I have to run out to Hobby Lobby and pick up some felt-able wool so I can make drink cozies that match the cars. The joys of being me, I tell you.

Unfortunately though, I didn’t quite have the guts to tell my former (as of 1pm today!) employers just where they could shove their job.  I am not, however, unemployed.  I am now officially (instead of the unofficial busywork I was doing before this last job from hell) the office manager here at the mill.  (And for those of you that remember the whole office manager saga from way back on my LJ, yes, my office is finally finished.)  (Sorry for all the parenthesis, I promise i’ll stop.)  (Maybe.)

So on top of actually being at home and doing a job I like, i’ll finally be able to get all my craftyness back on track and spend more time online/updating the blog.  Which is definitely a good thing, as that dishcloth is the absolute only thing i’ve managed to have the time to finish in the past god knows how long.  I love the dishcloth though, so quick and easy to knit, and I can finally use up all the damn kitchen cotton I have somehow aquired over the past year or so.   The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting, which I finally caved in and bought this weekend.  I have no idea why I resisted it so long; it’s chock full of fun little projects and funny to boot.

Now, what’s next on my crafty agenda?  Who knows?  The only thing I know for sure is that some stash busting will be in order, along with getting my dye kitchen set up sometime in the next few months.  I’m absolutely dying to handpaint some yarn, and get some up on my as yet empty etsy shop.

This is just a very small sampling of my latest yarn splurges.  I couldn’t fit the whole basket in a  decent picture without dragging it outside.  AND, this is just the teeny basket that sits nexts to the couch.  I don’t even want to think about taking pictures of the real stash, it’s scary.  (That Nashua cotton?  To. Die. For.  It is so freaking soft, I want more more more so I can knit something big out of it.  And I lied about the parenthesis, obviously.)

So.  Yeah.  I’m back!

So, things have been ridiculously hectic, which has led to the whole no updates since January thing.  Urgh.

In order to keep this blog from stagnating any more than it already is, I present a list.  Aren’t you excited?

Things that Suck.

1.) Work, for many reasons that I won’t go into just in case. But one thing I can say is that 5am is the most unholy hour in the entire world.

2.) Being all excited about an antiques show, only to drive the hour and a half to get there and having it totally blow, and NOT finding a single sock machine.  Boo, Kiwanis, Boo.

3.) Camera batteries being dead, which means no pictures of new yarn.  Angst.

4.) Not having time to knit anymore.  I haven’t touched a project in weeks.
Things that do not Suck.

1.) Getting enough yarn from Good Yarn Karma  for a good size project.  If  you haven’t already checked this awesome project out, what are you waiting for?

2. My first STR order! Medium weight Scottish Highlands colorway, along with the Rock and Weave Pattern.  I can’t wait to get started with it, when I find the time.

3.) Having the hour and a half drive for the antique show not be a complete and total bust, because it was close-ish to my LYS, and therefore I now have new sportweight Lorna’s Laces in Glenwood.  Huzzah.

4.) Buying the softest blanket known to man.  I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, it’s that soft and wonderful.

There are many more things I could add to both lists, but sadly I now have to go fix dinner, then finish washing clothes and getting ready for work tomorrow.  I am going to attempt to start budgeting my time a bit better soon (ha, ha) so I can spend a bit of time updating here and actually getting some knitting done.  We’ll see how that works out.

Well, maybe not. But when you add in the absolutely horrid weather we’ve been having, it’s definitely close. Saturday, my aunt had an appointment at the salon, and wanted me to go with her. No problem, I said…we can hit a few stores and drive over to Rose Path Weaving because I need some more roving. Well. I did buy some roving…5oz of the softest superwash merino ever, but of course I didn’t stop there. I also picked up a pound of Licorice Twist, which does fall under my KFYS rules, as its for dyeing. BUT. The 450 yards of Shepherd Worsted in Gold Hill, unfortunately, does not. Unless of course we truly believe that an hour and a half drive in rain so heavy you can’t see 5 feet in front of your car counts. Which I do, or at least i’m pretending I do, just so can justify my spending habits. I also picked up the Fiber Trends Felt Clogs pattern, because my feet are always cold, and even the thickest socks don’t really work on natural slate floors. I’ll most likely be using up some Wool of the Andes on these, mainly because if the pattern flops, I won’t be out any super nice yarn.

I’m actually somewhat back in a knitting funk right now…or maybe its just a general funk, I haven’t decided. I’ve done a little more work on the Spartan Pullover; I only have about 4 or 5 more rounds until the stranded work is done and I can start the miles and miles of plain stockinette. I started working on a slightly oversized, deep-v, short sleeved, cabled thing, got halfway through the first cable repeat and decided it sucked, ripped back to the beginning of the body work, and now it’s just plain old boring stockinette. I might put some cables in on the neck trim, who knows. I also have a couple of socks otn right now, Jaywalkers and one of the ribbed patterns from Vintage Socks. Hopefully I can get over this funk and finish sometime in the next century.

And finally, I dyed more roving last week so I could play with the techniques in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. I used Kool Aid once again, as I still haven’t gotten around to buying any acid dyes. I walked into the bathroom to check the drying progress, and found this:

He said he couldn’t help himself, because it smelled like cotton candy. And people wonder why i’m crazy. Now you know: it’s because I live with a wool sniffing man, purse stealing cats, and a dog that thinks he’s a gay cat.

I told myself I wasn’t going to post about Christmas presents, but I find that I absolutely cannot help myself.  You see, i’ve been way behind on techno-gadget trends for quite some time, but I am finally the proud owner of a lovely little mp3 player.  Now I won’t have to talk to myself on my nightly walk/jogs!  It’s a Sanso something or other, can’t remember the model name, but that’s not overly important anyway.  2gb, so not that big storage-wise, but more than enough for my needs…and if I ever decide I need more space, I can just buy a micro flash drive.  Apart from that, my favorite presents are probably the huuuuge waffle iron, a Franco Sarto tote that is absolutely adorable and big enough to hold knitting, a nice selection of Stash tea, and an adorable strawberry patterned china tea set.  Of course, there wasn’t anything I wasn’t happy with…Chris and I pretty much have each others taste down pat.  (Also…it wasn’t a salt grinder, but a pepper grinder, which is still hilarious because I bought him one as well.  Heh.)  And, I can’t forget the copies of The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and KnitFix that are currently on their way to me courtesy of the much appreciated Amazon gift card from my bestest friend Amber.

Christmas dinner was great…we didn’t want to do a traditional meal, as there were only four of us here and we never manage to eat leftovers.  We decided on French onion soup, Tournedos with Marchand de Vin, Hollandaise, and artichoke hearts, roasted fingerling potatoes, and roasted brussels sprouts.  To keep dessert simple and eliminate tons of tempting leftover sweets, I just made profiteroles filled with pumpkin custard and a bourbon caramel sauce.  Everything was amazing…it’s nice to be able to stretch our culinary legs for people that actually enjoy it.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take pictures of the scarf and booties…i’ll have to call my aunt and get her to take a couple and send them over.  They were, however, very well received and appreciated.  It was a good feeling. : )

We haven’t done anything today…just planning to sit around and relax for the first time in ages.  I made waffles for brunch, and Chris fixed a pot of Jamaican Blue.  Seriously, that coffee is definitely worth is ridiculous price.  Smooth and dark, absolutely no bitterness.  Heaven!  Now, Chris is playing one of the video games I bought him, and i’m going to organise my stash then piddle around with Sims 2: Pets…and I might spin a bit later as well.  But before that, since I was tagged by Kay, a meme.  Not tagging anyone else though…I don’t know enough of you out in blog land quite yet.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1.) Cleaning gives me hives.  And its not an allergy to dust/cleaning products.

2.) I collect action figures…mostly LotR related.

3.) I absolutely love digging, and I always have.  I think it’s my inner history/archaeology nerd coming out.  I can spend hours sifting through river rock, playing with my metal detector, and digging in random spots, just looking for anything neat.  (And neat to me is little things like petrified wood and rusty nails/staples/etc.  I’m easily pleased.)
4.)  I can’t watch scary movies, but love to read about anything supernatural, especially true stories/legends.

5.) The Phil Collins song In The Air Tonight scares the shit out of me.  I literally have to cover my ears and hum loudly anytime it comes on tv or the radio.

6.) When I was little, my imaginary friends were a family of newts…they had a house under my back porch, and basically lived like humans.  My oddness started at a very early age apparently.

That’s all from me for now…hope all of you had a wonderful holiday!

Just a quickie drive-by post while I wait for dinner to finish cooking, nothing to get excited about.  It’s been raining non-stop since Saturday night…everything is grey and gloopy and gross.  Bleh.  Also,  I think the rain is making my fibro act up.  I’ve been achey all day, and when I tried to knit earlier my hands kept cramping up.  Thank you, rain, for making me feel 80. At least we did manage to get some more work done on the house addition Saturday before it started, so that’s a good thing.  At this rate, I might actually get to move my craft supplies to their new room by my birthday.  Now, which birthday that will be, who knows.  We’re not so good with schedules around here.
I finally got most of my yarn ordered for Christmas projects, hopefully KnitPicks ships relatively quickly.  I still have a few more things to buy, but since I settled on bath sets for my aunts and grandmother,  i’ll only need to pick up some Sugar ‘N Cream cotton and some soap base on that front.  Cheap?  Me?  Nah.

I’m thinking about using this soap saver pattern to go with the homemade soap, along with whatever my brain comes up with for a face-cloth and handtowel.   I’ll probably also throw in a few candles, since i’m still up to my eyeballs in wax and oils.  Maybe I should add candles to every single gift I make this year, i’m sure it would make Chris happy to get rid of the stuff.

Am I the only person that feels like they’re going to poke their eye out every time they use DPNs?  Damn things are deadly.

Huh. Two months since my last update, like no one saw that coming. Sadly, not much of interest has happened in the past two months, but i’ll recap anyway.

1. Got lost in Garland because I missed my turnoff in Plano (shut up, i’m a small town girl that doesn’t have to deal with interstates on a regular basis) and had a minor wreck. The wreck wasn’t even the worst part…it was the other driver pulling off into a dark alley in a dodgy part of a dodgy town, rather than a well-lighted cheerful parking lot.

2. Have now visited two LYS. One was actually semi-local for me, the other was in Plano. The Woolie Ewe in Plano is pretty much awesome…I came away with 2 balls of the new Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Chunky in a gorgeous rusty orange (must. order. more.), 4 balls of Berroco Soft Twist, and a ball of sock yarn with a name I can’t pronounce. The other store? Not so much with the awesome…some of their yarn still had the Hobby Lobby price tags. If I wanted crappy Hobby Lobby yarn, I would shop at Hobby Lobby.

3. In knitting news, you would think that I would actually have some FOs after two months, wouldn’t you? You would be wrong! I still haven’t finished the ghetto Ravenclaw scarf, i’m about halfway through now because I only pick it up when i’m extremely bored. Straight stockinette on circs is so freaking monotonous. Other than that, I have two capelets that just need the finishing on the sleeves, half of Fetching in a cheap ass Bernat acrylic on too small needles, and probably a few other things buried in my yarn box. The only thing I have managed to finish is a quickie headband I whipped up while watching The Biggest Loser last week. I also have 4 Goodwill sweaters i’m in the process of recycling, but tangled yarn has got to be the biggest pain the ass this side of an alien abduction.

4. In other crafty news, I do actually have a few FOs. I’ve made a couple of handbags…one tote in particular that i’m absolutely in love with (big enough to lug around a couple of balls of yarn and whatever I have on the needles, and a ribbon tie so the yarn doesn’t get caught on anything), a plaid puffy sleeve shirt that makes me feel like i’m a girly lumberjack, a PJ set (never again will I sew velour-ish sweatshirt material), a sewing tote and matching needle roll, a couple of quilt blocks, a random quilted bowl, and i’m 95% finished with a Hermione sock monkey…just need to knit her a teeny Gryffindor scarf. I also finished a set of stitch markers, which I haven’t actually used yet.

5. I’ve actually finalised my Christmas knitting list, and have all the yarn I need currently sitting in my shopping cart on KnitPicks just waiting for me to press the order button. I need to get it ordered soon, otherwise no one will hear from me until after the New Year because i’ll have attempted to off myself with a yard of WotA.

6. After not opening my blog in 2 months, I come back and realise just how damn hokey my layout was. I’m not sure what the hell I was smoking when I decided on minty green and hot pink, but it obviously wasn’t prime crack. I’ve now switched over to a much more suitable for me autumny colored layout complete with a 2-minute sketch of a strange little girl knitting. It gives me warm fuzzies.

That about wraps things up for this episode of my not so interesting life. Tune in next time for pictures, hopefully a few more FOs, a half-finished room addition, and tales of men in tights (aka, RenFest).

I like that flickr doesn’t bother to tell you as you’re signing up that your account is moderated for an undetermined amount of time before your pictures show as public.  Really good business there!  Oh well, my pictures will eventually show up, and when they do you can see my craptastic pincushions.

My grandmother has been holding my sewing machine hostage for a few years now, and of course when I decide to get it back from her, she takes it with her for a week at a her sister’s  house.  Now though, that week is turning into two weeks…I want my sewing machine!  I think i’m driving my grandfather crazy by calling everyday to see if she’s home yet.  I keep cutting fabric and pinning it out of withdrawal; if she keeps this up, by the time I actually get the machine back, I won’t be able to do anything but sew for a month straight.  Not that that’s a bad thing.

Ah well, my kitchen needs cleaning anyway…crafting will be on hold for the day.

(Note: If anyone that’s reading this would be kind enough to set up a syndicated account on LiveJournal for me and drop me the link, I would appreciate it…I don’t have a paid account there any longer, so I can’t do it myself.)

Finally, after months of procrastinating, the overbrewed blog is up and running. I still need to tweak a few things here and there, but it’s nothing major.

My main reason for starting this blog up is to have a place where old friends can read up on my life, and so I can have somewhere to post all my craft silliness. Hopefully it won’t be too boring.

As soon as my camera starts to behave, i’ll get started posting about my latest obsession; pincushions. I’m addicted to making them…the creative possibilities are endless, and they’re just fun. There is something immensely satisfying in crafting an object specifically for poking with pins. Hmmm…maybe I should start making Voodoo doll pincushions; twice the fun, and a stress reliever to boot.

I suppose that’s about it for now, i’m off to Hobby Lobby!