Knitters Treat Exchange

I was pretty darn positive that I actually posted this to my blog, but perhaps I didn't. In any case....here we go..Again.

Not that I actually need to join more swaps, but I think I can handle one small swap in addition to SP10, and I think it will be fun, too. Not to mention it's all a great diversion from the homework and paper-writing I've been doing all week.

I am skipping out on the sewing expo this year (sob) due to the crazy amount of work--not only for school (writing papers, planning a lecture for my 8AM classes) but also with work this weekend. So, yes, busy. But i've also been doing a good job of having fun: Knitting (of course), seeing Brett Butler at the comedy club, reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (which is hysterical, and of course, is sacriligious. So if you're super religious, stay away from the book! But if you're like me and can laugh about it...and know an inkling about Christianity, it's a fun read, and very much an anachronistic type of book). It's been super nice to be able to read in bed PAST midnight! For once! And now I cannot wait till summer break...so I can stay up late for a whole couple months and read and knit and be lazy!

But onto the questionnaire, which I stumbled on (serendipitiously)!

Knitters Treat Exchange Questionnaire

1. What's your favourite type of yarn?
Hands down: NORO! NORO! (let me hear ya!) But I also like other natural fibers, like silk, wool (as long as it's not scratchy). I love rich, saturated colors--as long as they dont' make me look like I have jaundice (that is--yellow or orange. And as long as they're not baby colors (pink, powder blue, yellow), I'm fine.)

2. What's your least favourite type of yarn?
I am a little tired of eyelash yarn--the first time I saw it was in Europe and it was so luxurious--actually is still one of my most favorite scarves, but for a long time I kept seeing yucky eyelash yarns for years. And they weren't pretty. That didn't stop me from making the vegan fox, though. I also am not a big fan of cotton yarns.

3. What's the first thing you do when you visit a new yarn shop?
Tell myself "You do NOT need new yarn." Then I zero in on the Noro. Then the Louisa Hardings. Anything that has interesting colors or looks to it...then I pet the yarn like it was a beloved pet (maybe it was someone else's beloved pet sheep though?) Then compulsion takes over. And I buy yarn and bemoan the fact that I spent too much money.

4. What other crafts do you do / would like to do?
I like collages, jewelry making. I would love to get back into metal work.

5. What magazines do you currently subscribe to?
None. Though I do read some magazines, and if I see one I want, I'll buy it. But I'm pretty good about not blowing the budget on magazines.

6. Put this type of magazine in order of preference:Knitting / Crochet / Other Craft / Food / Home / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip / Garden
Knitting, Food, Other Craft, and Fashion/Home/Celebrity Gossip/Garden in the same category, followed by crochet (since I can't, anyway).

7. What items do you like to knit / crochet?
I like to knit scarves, hats, and I'm really liking knitting mittens now. I plan to work on a few sweaters as soon as this semester is over.

8. Are you allergic to anything?
Dust. Mold. Pollen. Some dogs and cats. And cigarette smoke.

9. What do you like to* smell of?(*This is not a typo. The question is: What do you like to smell of)
Patchouli, jasmine, or anything citrus-y.

10. What's your favourite way to relax?'
Curl up with a good cozy mystery (i.e., books like those written by Donna Andrews, Carole Nelson-Douglas, Sharyn McCrumb, Diane Mott Davidson, Elizabeth Peters). Oh, and knitting. If I'm really super stressed out, I find that cutting intricate pieces of paper is a great stress-reliever.

11. You're stood in front of a Victorian style sweetshop, an Italian cafe, an old fashioned bakery and a dainty tea room. Where do you go first?
I hit the Italian cafe first. I have always had a little love affair with Italy...let my backtrack. As a little girl, i was totally in love with the idea of Italy...then I went in high school...during tourist season, which probably isn't the best way to see Italy. Or any touristy country. But I went again a couple times when I lived abroad, and it was like seeing the Italy of my imagination.

12. What do you come out with?
Italian cafe it is. I'd get something chocolaty, and maybe one of those amaretti cookies...and if this one happens to have gelato, well, you can bet I'd be eating a lot of that.

13. Where do you go next?
The bakery! Assuming I'm in Europe still, I'd hit the German bakeries in Munich and completely gorge myself on Schokobrotchen, Quarktaschen, Brez'n, or maybe some of those tortes!

14. Any other words of wisdom for your pal?
Wear clean underwear, in case you get in an accident. (Honestly is there anything else we need to know?) :0)

Froggin'!

This is a different kind of frogging.

Remember the shipment from Webs that I was so anxiously awaiting? Which arrived on Wednesday afternoon?

Some lovely Dale of Norway Yarn was in the package (Baby Ull)...which was to become a pair of baby booties...





I started that night, and made these then...and by the way, this stuff feels great when you knit it up. I'll be honest--I was not sure how it would feel when I felt the skein, but it really feels lovely. I think I should learn how to knit a good sock so I can make one out of this and be all cozy.















A frog in its natural habitat, perhaps?















I stayed up till 1:30 AM on Friday night, and woke up early on Saturday to finish the darn things. This was because I had a baby shower that Saturday afternoon.

Although I usually say I won't procrastinate on projects...well, it's usually bound to happen. And arent' these cute froggy booties? The pattern called for me to sew a straight line (across the front for a mouth) but I thought that looked really stupid (but that's just me) and I think these look great without a black yarn line across the front.

And...this week is spring break! Which means: I can sleep in PAST 6:30 AM for a week! Even though I have two papers to write and organize, a lecture to plan, but I'm not going to think about it right this minute--but it will be relaxing for once to NOT be stressed out about being on time to teach! For the week, at least! And I get to see Tameka, my classmate/friend at SnB this week (she has class at the same time). Yeah!

And I think I have all my things ready to send out to my secret pal giftee...i think it's good stuff. I won't post a picture...just in case she stumbles on here. But trust me, it's good stuff ;)

More stuff...

Last night, I got home around 10:30 (celebrating my brother's birthday with the family, plus my dad wanted to stop at our store) and so that ate up some time...especially since the store's totally in the opposite direction of our house/dinner.

In any case, I was very, very tired last night. And very, very tired when I came home. And thank god all I had to do was teach this morning...at 8 AM. Only two more days till spring break (2 more classes to teach!). The best part of the week has been bringing breakfast to my classes. Monday got bagels (way expensive) and today got doughnuts--VERY good ones, I may add...and that was like, ten dollars cheaper than the bagels. I think my Friday 8 AM class will get doughnuts as well, and my 11 AM class may get some snacky foods, I think, like cookies, chips. I think. We'll see. Or maybe I'll just buy two dozen doughnuts, since they are very yummy. Why, you ask, is it so fun to bring breakfast to my classes?

Take a look at the topic:

Disorders of the ear.

So they get to see beautiful pictures like:

The first picture: a perforation of the eardrum. Second picture, retraction pocket, and the bone you see is the malleus (hammer), and the last one is truly gross. It's a parent maggot that laid 6 maggot eggs in the ear. ICK.

So you can see why it's been fun to feed my students. I'm so bad. ;D

But in knitting news:

I got my order of Baby Ull yarn in today! I ordered it sometime last week and was getting nervous that it wouldn't come in, because I really need to make a pair of baby booties. BUT it came in today, yay! I can start them tonight! Hopefully finish up tomorrow or Friday, so can wrap them!

And I've also been doing a tunisian crochet scarf, with two colors, so it does have a neat effect on the front, and the back is all striped. So it's really cool. Once I finish this (and my million projects, I'm going to try three colors and see how that would look.

This is my very pretty Trollbeads bracelet. can you tell I'm totally in love?

Yay!

I got an A on my law exam-- Yay (and I think I need to buy a new computer keyboard; I seem to have trouble typing. BOO!) I am so happy, since that exam nearly killed me (and no, I've never studied law). But I am relieved, and I am almost at the point of trying to justify another charm purchase...but I will be very, very good and wait 'til April to splurge. (of course. Not to mention that I just bought a neat bead (I will take pictures, I promise!)

And my friend, NK, will be going to Germany for about a year--so I'm very excited for her--and I am definetely going to try and save money, so i can visit her, and eat all the Quarkkaese that I can, as well as drink so much Apfelschorle that I'm practically drowning, not to mention all the Doener Kebabs! (Ok, that wouldn't be my only reason to visit NK, right? But I am very very proud of you and I KNEW you would get that grant to go to Berlin! :))

Anyway, i am ALMOST done with my vegan fox scarf. I just have to sew it up the middle and put eyes, a nose, and a clippy thing on. And maybe I can pull off wearing it with my green jacket? That is, if I get it done before it's like, 80 degrees out here.

My SP10 hostess asked us to write what our favorite knitting accessory was. My first thought: Besides yarn? I have plenty of it...

But then I got to thinking...so would it be my clover knitting needles? And this is me, so I'm wondering which ones would be my most favorite? Well, just any that I've got two of, so I can knit something. No. Not my favorite accessory. Tape measure? Who cares, as long as things are the right size...No, that's not the one. Then I remembered these CUTE yarn markers that Andi, one of the lovely ladies in my SnB group made...I have some shaped like birds and some like sheep, and some like santa claus. As much as I ADORE them, they are not my #1 knitting accessory.

Ladies, from the SnB group: can you guess?

Yep.

You got it. It's my trusty clover clicking row counter. I lose things all the time. This includes: Time, books (I still have never found my copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo" from 9th grade. That was in 1994.), socks, pens, pencils, important papers, not-so-important papers, my sanity (kidding), and track of my stitches. (this is how I get odd measurements or funky designs sometimes...)

I have like, three of them. I started with one, then needed one for another project. So I bought one more. Then maybe a year later, I couldnt' figure out where my second one was, so I thought maybe I only had one. Or maybe I lost the second one? So I bought another one. And actually earlier this year, my dad was looking under the sofa, and I saw...the second row counter...still in its wrapper!

So in all its glory, I nominate the Clover clicking counter as my #1.

It's my brother's birthday, and I hear he's home now--so I must now eat!

Foxy

I am taking a break from writing down addresses...we're going to send out bunches of postcards/coupons for the store, and I've been doing that. I'm a little strange. I actually like addressing envelopes and postcards. Perhaps it's a remnant from my pen-pal days, when I would write letters to people all over the world (whatever happened to Marco, Marianne, Hannele, and so on? Hmm. More letter writing sometime in my future.)

In any case, I received my Secret Pal info (hi there!) and I'm excited...over the weekend, I started shopping for my giftee's stuff, but still have a couple things I'd like to buy. So hopefully that package will go out sometime next week at the very latest.

Anyway, new knitting project:















I've always wanted to knit the Vegan Fox from knitty.com, and I caved and bought about 30 dollars of yarn. Funny that I can say that I'm sick of the furry, hairy yarns, and yet, I splurge on the same things I have been passing over! But I actually knitted that much in a couple days because I was so mad at myself (will explain in a moment) that I needed to soothe my frayed nerves. Not to mention that I was having a pretty stressful week, with back-to-back exams (short answer and essay, ugh!) and needed to relax.

My aggravation:

I was trying to upload new songs to my iTunes, so I could then upload an updated library to my iPod, and I accidentally deleted most of my library! Augh! This includes some of the rare, unusual recordings: such as those recorded off tv shows, like from Star Trek: Voyager, but I'm hoping I still have those on my old laptop. I hope I do. Otherwise it's going to be a pain to find some of those recordings.

As far as the scarf, just need to make those paws, sew everything together and find some good buttons for it!

The questionnaire, in a better place.

The Questionnaire
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I absolutely am a sucker for Noro yarns. I also lust over Louisa Harding, though I've not tried that yet. I just think it's pretty. I hate knitting with cotton, and I have enough fuzzy and furry yarns to last me a lifetime.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? This is very sad: They are all over the place...In an attempt to organize myself, i have my circulars in a little Winnie the Pooh makeup bag that I bought back in 9th grade, and I showcased my shoddy sewing skills in some needle case that I attempted to sew. The fabric's pretty, the workmakship not so.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I have been knitting since my freshman year of college (1997) but didn't really get into it till I was in Germany about 4-5 years later. I consider myself intermediate, but very adventurous.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? yes, I do

5. What's your favorite scent? Jasmine and Patchouli (and also citrus-y scents)

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Oh totally. You may not believe it, but I have managed to keep myself away from the candy case at work. I am a sucker for peppermint altoids, dark chocolates (the darker/richer, the better...and have you tried those chocolate covered peppermint altoids??!!), and reeses's peanut butter cups.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? There was a time when I collaged like crazy...less time to do that...and I like jewelry making, but have not done that in a while. I don't know how to spin but would love to learn how.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I love folk rock music (think: Jill Sobule, Lisa Loeb, Warren Zevon), indie music (Jill Tracy). And I'm totally a sucker for piano-driven music (Sarah McLachlan, Vienna Teng, Norah Jones). Yes, my car stereo and computer can play mp3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I love purple, red, green. I hate yellow and orange.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I live at home with my parents. I have one fish.

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

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I knit lots of scarves, because I usually can afford to buy a couple skeins at a time. I have been starting on sweaters, though.

13. What are you knitting right now? Just finished a hat...and I'm working on a couple scarves, and am trying to puzzle my way through a sweater/vest pattern. (I'm stumped!)

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yep!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I like circulars (keeps me from losing needles...LOL!)...bamboo are my favorites.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? Hmm. At this point...maybe one and a half years? I finished my 3 year UFO last fall...

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect? Tacky postcards. The tackier, the better. I love the black ones that say things like "Cleveland at night" or "Minneapolis at night". I know, I'm strange. It's an ongoing collection since 5th grade.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I can always love noro! But what I am looking for is a good fair isle pattern, like the one eunnyknits has for fair isle mittens. Also lusting after lantern moon needles. I don't have any knitting magazine subscriptions.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? how to make good socks. Or intarsia. I'm curious. And spinning.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? No, I'm terrible at them. My foot: 10 inches from heel to toe..

23. When is your birthday? June 19!

Hat!

So this is what the hat looks like. And I didnt' even have to buy a button! I had a bunch in my little cigar box (which now serves as a sewing box. Which means: 6 spools of thread and a ton of buttons).

I love the hat. Seriously cute, I think. it sounds dorky but I feel like a flapper or something. Only with longer hair.

Next project, who knows. I'm a little too stressed out by my upcoming midterms (two of them--back to back), which is absolutely frightening. And that is why, on a Friday, I'm studying. Or else I will be once I post this to the blog...

Yah!

I am slowly getting back into the small knitting projects...

and actually not that much has been happening (thus the lack of posting) except for midterms (one brutal one last week), writing one for my classes, and next week, I have not one, but TWO midterms. back to back. I hear from a classmate of mine that one will be tricky. Sigh.

I'm going to be fried next week.

And knitting content, which I did a while ago, but forgot to post: that damn spiral scarf that took forever to make...

This scarf does nto belong to me.

It belongs to my friend, whom I promised a hand knit scarf to...for years..so now she officially has her own scarf.

And it's cute for her.