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06/28/2007
Pickle juice.
I know that sounds gross but that’s what it smells like outside. Well to me that is. I have had a sinus thing going on all week and along with the humidity every time we go outside I get hit with that smell like someone broke a pickle jar in our yard. We’ve been avoiding going outside because of that and because it’s just too hot. Peanut has gone in her pool a few times but even with that cooling off is better in the ac.
What we really need is some good rain. The thunderstorms have been just passing us by these last couple days and we haven’t even had one single drip. Our garden is really wilting and the grass is well pretty much brown and we’ve even watered it a little here and there. We just need rain. So please send the rain this way. :)
I also realized today that I’ve been away from this awhile. The hubby has pretty much taken over the computer with his Warcraft game. But being away has made me realize that sometimes I’m more productive if I avoid the computer because:
I have more time to knit.
I don’t spend hours reading and searching and again I knit. ;)
I actually clean something. (ok maybe that’s a con)
Oh and the best is that my arse hasn’t fallen asleep in awhile. ;)
Those are just the little ones that first came to mind. Really the biggest one is that I feel like I get more accomplished throughout the day. So I’m just not going to turn the computer on unless I have a bunch of stuff that I need to do….so that I don’t get sidetracked and end up doing things I don’t need to do like.... shop . Yeah I forgot to add that to the list….I haven’t spent money that I didn’t need to spend.
So basically my posting is going to be sporadic.
I’ve also neglected to take pictures today for this post so this adds to the boringness.
Anyways I ripped that horrible butterfly attempt. I started over with a smaller needle size and the smallest pattern size. So far so good. The bottom is almost complete and I’ve tried it a few time and it seems to be a good fit. I did notice that mine is probably not going to be as loose as the one in the magazine photo. But I actually want it that way because similar tops that I have purchased with a loose fit around the hips give me a preggy look. Not that I want a tight fit either but just not as loose. Hopefully it will work out.
Anyways I’m going to get back to whatever I was doing….see I got sidetracked. Hope your all staying nice and cool this afternoon. :)
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06/15/2007
I have a good reason....
....for slacking off in the blog department this week………it was my birthday. I just didn’t feel like doing much of anything. The day was on Tuesday and it really wasn’t that exciting. Well I did get a new toy, some flowers, and some really cute jewelry. (The jewelry was a gift to myself)
Anyways here’s the new toy.
Let’s just say that the first day I played with it I wanted to take it back. Looks can be very deceiving when your watching a video to show you how to work this darn thing. The lady kept saying that for some of us (meaning me) it would be a little more difficult. I almost gave up but I decided to try it again the next day.
I have to say that it really just takes practice and patience. After a few attempts I figured it out and realized even if I dropped a stitch on the end (which is hard to fix) I could always start over. In minutes I would be back to where I had dropped the stitch and could continue on. It is fun to be able to see something work up faster and fun to use but some details you can do with hand knitting you can’t do on this. Ribbing and cables are pretty easy and lace work can be done if you practice the pattern beforehand. So all in all I like my new toy. J
To go back to the birthday events I also got these flowers and a lovely chocolate cake.
On to the kniting part. So Butterfly zipped along and I finally got to the bind off point for the bottom section and I did something I should have done a while before this point…um yeah try it on.
Now if you know the pattern you know the details for the construction and obviously it would be hard to make a decision on how the fit would be at this point. But let’s just say that no amount of gathering would avoid the cinch sack look that I concocted.
Yes it’s a funny idea now but at the time I was a little disappointed. I knit the second smallest size, changed my needle size twice, measured and so on. Oh well back to the beginning.
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06/11/2007
Buttons.
I’ve been knitting Butterfly for a few days now and finally I have five inches done. It’s just boring rounds of stockinet so no progress pics. I think the fun will start when it has to be put together…and I’m not being sarcastic either. It a different construction plan and I’m actually looking forward to it. :)
I also decided that I would just knit the stap for Brea and if a handle becomes available in the future I can always replace it. I think I might have decided on the button too.
Now here are the button choices.
I think I really like this one. What do you think?
I’m going to try to finish up Brea and the cardi before this weekend. Not really going to give myself a deadline but I just need to finish them up.
I also want to share…of course…another bloom that has a little story behind it.
Sometimes when you resue something it might return the favor. This is a day lily that Peanut and I rescued. Peanut had picked a plant to add to our garden and then as we were walking past this sorry looking grouping of plants I couldn’t help but pick this one up. It was very dry and wilting and looked like it was on the brink of death and then Peanut said “aw Mommy this one too”. So we brought it home, planted it, and in a week it bloomed. I was very surprised because I thought it would just burn and I would have to cut it down and maybe just maybe next year it would come back. But nope it decided to say thank you with a bloom this year. I think I might go back and see if I can rescue a few more. ;)
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06/08/2007
Rambling.
I was swatching the other night.
I love this color and this yarn. Lime in Cotton-ease is actually more like a granny apple color. Well I guess that’s sort of lime colored but when I think of lime I think of a fushia too. You know those super bright colors that all kids summer outdoorsy toys are. Anyways this is not bright like that…at all..and I love it. I really like green and I’ve noticed that I have a lot of green in my wardrobe. I’m going to try to start branching out soon but I end up always picking either the green tee or whatever. Oh the swatch is for Butterfly from Knitscene.
I also swatched for the Short Sleeve Cardigan from Vogue, but I don’t think I have enough yarn. So I might scratch that for now or swap out for a different color. ;)
We went to the craft store today to find Brea a handle but had no luck. I did however pick up a couple new buttons….that were singles….so I don’t feel so bad about the left over button. I’ll post try-out pics of the buttons later. The little bird house is for Peanut to paint for the little birdies to live in…that’s what she said. J The needles are size 6, 7 because it seams I always want to start something new when I’m already using that size for something else. Besides it doesn’t hurt to have spares. ;)
I also did it again. I need to join magazine anonymous! But I did say that after I picked up the summer issue of IK I wouldn’t buy any more….this summer. I just have a quick question …um why are there hats in there? Winter hats picture with people wearing winter coats. I read somewhere (sorry can’t remember where or from who) but someone also questions this and why there were a few more colder weather things in there. Maybe it was to give some projects for current wear and then future wear. Who knows. Really I’m not venting or meaning to sound that way…it’s just the thought of knitting a winter hat right now is making me sweat even worse. ;) It’s just too hot to even consider it.
In our out and abouts today I realized how hot it was when Peanuts cheeks started looking like apples. We had to stop in and get a Misto shake from Rita’s . Peanut loves them. Too bad they don’t have a kid size but I end up drinking hers and mine. Maybe that’s a good thing. :)
To end my rambling (the heat seams to do that to me) I will show you what I found in my house.
This is from a giant grouping of spider plants.
20:18 Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: knitting
06/05/2007
Brea.
Here is Brea almost complete. She is desperately in need of a strap. I really thought Iwould just continue the moss stitch around for the strap but I really liked the look of that handle shown on the site. Unfortunately, I think I mentioned this before, that the strap is unavailable. I searched for another source and came up with nothing. So I think I might venture to a couple craft stores this weekend and see what I find.
This is Brea’s button.
I love the detail on this button. The little loop is definitely too big and I’m not sure this button is the right fit. Again I’m looking at the pattern pic and thinking I really like that one better. Besides that this button and it’s mate might look better on something else together.
In the spirit of trying to finish things I also dusted off the Drops cardi and seamed the sides and sleaves. Oh and this is a shocker…it only took one try. I could not believe how easy it was and how nicely it turned out.
I have lots and lots of ends to weave in but I need to finish the collar first. And that’s where I’m stuck with a few holes.
Picking up stitches was too easy. As I knit around the first two rows I realized that I had a really ugly line along the back of the neck and nice big holes at the shoulders. I’m going to have to play with this to see what will work but I am hoping to have it done before this weekend….because I really want to move on.
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06/03/2007
Did I need this?
No. Really I didn’t but as I was walking past the magazine isle….I thought um just a quick look.
I flipped through it and that little voice said why not. But when I got home and really had a chance to look through it I was a little disappointed.
I mean I do like this
And this
There is a rose long sleeve cardigan in there I like too. But I’m not really into the rest of it. I do think I have a problem when it comes to impulse magazine purchase. :) I'm going to try to just say no.
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06/02/2007
It’s hot.
Not really that hot, I mean it is only June and I know from past experience of living here for a few years that this is actually the coolest part of the summer…..but it’s still hot for me. The humidity today is really getting to me and it doesn’t help that my migraine showed up this morning. The heat just makes it ten times worse. Since we spent all day yesterday outside we decided today we would keep cool indoors.
I thought it would be the perfect time to sew up Brea. Relax and just sew up those seams. But really the indoors isn’t much cooler than outside….because….wait for it………..our air conditioning is set at 82. See her in this lovely mid atlantic state out our price for electric increased yesterday by 50%. Really it’s crazy how it just happened to be at the time when everyone will start using their AC units. So to make the bill a little less of a shock we decided to turn the temperature up during the day so that the AC won’t turn on as much. Now I don’t really like the AC because it just feels like fake air….. but when your inside trying to knit with wool and your fingers and hands are dripping it can get a little frustrating and sticky. Hey maybe the bag will felt. ;)
Anyways this is my seaming process or lack of and my reason for being a little grumpy about the heat and well just about every other thing today. This is the third try…and will be ripped out and started again. See I came to a problem in the pattern or at least a problem for me with the gusset. It said knit until piece is same length as front and back pieces. Ok so it really should just say the length….that would have made the seaming easier. But I just knit the gusset until it matched by holding it up to the front piece and thought it looked like a fit. Well there is another tricky part…how to seam. Do I just try the different methods…which is what I started to do our just do the backstitch method…if that’s what it’s called. Well I chose the mattress/ fake grafting way and I ended up going past the markers on the gusset where the strap is supposed to be. I’m trying to remind myself to be calm and patient and it will click….but remember what I’m dealing with today. Oh fun.
I’ll get I know but it’s hot. Well for some garden enjoyment I battled the humidity long enough to get a picture of my newest bloom on my little hydrangea.
Although it’s not a full bloom it brightened my afternoon.
17:46 Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: knitting