The tunic progress

Here is my progress on the tunic. I am so excited that i am way past the armholes and now am partway up the back!

I am looking forward to finishing this soon, so I can start something new...

Progress

I am now officially up to the armholes on the Akegeomi sweater. FINALLY. After tediously knitting rounds of stockinette, I'm starting to feel like I'm making progress--yeah!

I'm pretty excited that Secret Pal 14 is starting! So without any further ado, here is the questionnaire...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I really love Noro yarns, but also love yarns that are very soft, such as alpaca or merino wool (examples include Malabrigo, some Debbie Bliss, Ella Rae, etc...). I'm trying to break the Noro addiction, though. I hate knitting with squeaky acrylic (I prefer natural fibers).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have this old Winnie-the-Pooh makeup bag from high school that I use, plus a few other random bags for different needles.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?
I've been knitting since college (since I was 18), even though I learned how to knit and purl before that (but it wasn't till college that I learned to do things like make scarves). My mom taught me how to knit and purl, and I made things up in college, and finally took a few classes in grad school to learn how to make a sweater, do entrelac, and to do fair isle knitting.

Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I'd say I'm intermediate, but am pretty adventurous, though some pattern charts nearly give me heart attacks.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yes, but I don't even remember what's on it anymore!

5. What's your favorite scent? Patchouli, also citrusy scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? YES. I love chocolates (dark) and I work at a store that sells gourmet chocolates, so that can be a bad thing! Also love peppermints.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I used to do a lot of jewelry making, but knitting requires a lot less clean-up. Does cooking also count? Do I spin? I have a drop spindle and a little fiber, but have not quite got the hang of it.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I listen to folk rock and indie rock, so some good examples are: Lisa Loeb, Jill Sobule, The Decemberists, Jill Tracy, Laura Viers, Over the Rhine

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I like purple, green, red, blue...hate pale/pastel colors and absolutely loathe yellow.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live at home and do not have pets

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, hats, and mittens.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I knit scarves and sweaters. Once in a while I get in the mood to knit mittens, hats, or socks.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I am working on the Squirrelly Mittens (2 years in the making...), the Akeogomi Tunic, and a pair of socks from Cookie A's book.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars, and bamboo

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
2 years!

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
It's a toss-up between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I observe Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yes--postcards (I have a special collection of tacky postcards that are all black and say things like, "Cleveland at night")

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Berroco 288,
Berroco 289
A Stitch in Time Knitting and crochet Patterns, vol. 1
Little Birds (sweater pattern by Ysolda Teague)

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
steeking, even though it terrifies me!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Sort of. I have lots of sock yarn. I wear a size US 9.

23. When is your birthday?
June 19

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes, I am jukeboxheroine

Colors

Just a day till it's July, and I can't believe that summer's flying by so quickly--meaning that I need to get a jumpstart on my work! But in the meantime, updates on what's new. For my birthday, I bought myself a few lomography cameras, so I am excited to see how pictures turn out (granted, I haven't taken many pictures yet).

And, I am working on a pair of socks. These are knit with Socks that Rock (Titania). I'm liking how the yarn is dyed in such a way that it is slanting along with the pattern (rick by Cookie A.).

The Akeogomi Tunic is shaping along...slowly. I got a little distracted by the socks, plus I don't really like knitting with metal needles, which adds to my aggravation. But here is the sweater so far:

30+2

Yep, I am now officially on the "other" side of 30--30 years, that is. Well, now it's 30 years, two days. And is it any surprise that I am now noticing more gray hairs?

My birthday was relatively quiet (though busy with work), but we were busy, so I guess I can't complain. My best birthday haul was a copy of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" which was...incredible, even with the sucker punch at the end. I didn't even know Neil Patrick Harris could sing. Or Nathan Fillion. Awesome.

In knitting news, still working at the tunic, and took a break from knitting stockinette and made a cute hat with the yarn I dyed myself (no pics at the moment though). I decided that this hat will go to one of my friends. I hope she'll like it.

Exhaustion

I've had a lot of migraines the past few weeks, and I foresee more in the near future. Migraines come on when I get little sleep and/or am stressed out. And with this stupid flood in the basement (not to mention the kitchen), I've gotten very little sleep over the past week or so.

So here is an update on the flooding: Not only did the water leak down into the basement, but it had to originate from the kitchen, which is this lovely hardwood floor. So the floor is now warped. And the water also leaked out in the dining room, which is carpeted. Unfortunately, the spot that got wet was also occuppied by these wood chairs (also stained a dark brown color), and these chairs have left brown rings on the carpet, which won't come out. We called Lowe's to complain, and they sent over a carpet cleaner thingy that we had to use ourselves to clean. Anyway, the house smells like cardboard and the books, boxes, and cards are still drying out. The stain still hasn't come out.

The guy from Lowe's came today and said they could cut out the square of carpet in the corner of the dining room, which mom refused (knitters know that yarn comes in different dye lots, and even carpet does, too! Plus the carpet is older, so if a new square of carpet is used with the old one, it's not going to match well. So of course the carpet is the same as the one in the formal living room attached to the dining room...which of course is the same carpet as the one on our stairs...and the whole upstairs. Sigh. More embarassing is that the upstairs was a total mess while the downstairs was pretty clean after all the cleaning and tidying up we were doing because of the flooding...and I am so embarassed that I've been too pooped to even put away my laundry and books in my room (argh). The insurance guy even went upstairs to take pictures of the rooms (how embarassing--I've never been a neatnik in any case, but oh my goodness). I think the next few days is going to be the best spring cleaning I've done in ages. Wish me luck.

Oh, and I have a feeling knitting is going to take a backseat for a little while. Too bad, since I started this cool tunic...

Catching up

The past few days have been hectic. Actually, the past few weeks have been hectic and I am in need of a day off--one where I see no one, speak with no one, and do absolutely nothing but prop my feet up and watch cheesy lifetime movies. The likelihood of that happening, however, is quite slim.

Knitting stuff first: I knitted up a shrug, and it's finished! It took me less than a week, and I'm breaking into my stash pretty nicely--but still have a ton to go through. I think this summer (0n one of those days off), i will take pictures of my stash to determine what can stay and be knitted up, or what can be sold or traded. Or given away.

Anyhow, here is the shrug:

I also went away for the Memorial Day weekend, where I knitted. In my attempt to stash-bust, I brought some chunky yarn to make the Shalom sweater, and finished the whole thing. I still have 4 skeins left over (darn it). All that's left to do is weave in the ends and buy a really cool button. I'm thinking a bright yellow or orange button.

Isn't it pretty?

I've also been trying to finish my scarf, made out of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, and it is absolutely wonderful to knit with. It is incredibly soft and it's also a lovely color.

And finally, finally, I finished my s0-called-scarf. it is very pretty, and I think it will be gifted to someone else.

Other adventures (non-knitting) also included going to Trollbeads University, and also having our basement flood on tuesday evening. Our fridge broke two weeks ago, so we got a new fridge, which has an ice-maker and a water dispenser! The guy hooked up the fridge, but apparently didn't do a good job, so water was leaking into the basement. So on Tuesday night (when the Cavs were also playing pitifully) I stayed up till 2 AM just cleaning the basement with my dad. The next day, right after knitting, i just conked right out (which is early for me, at 10: 30 PM).

For those of you wondering how awful it was in the basement--we have a little storage room where we have some things like books, old products, paper, etc, and everything was soaked through and through. It really sucked, but i am glad it wasn't worse. Like, it could have been pictures or my things for school, or heaven forbid--beloved collectibles.