Tag: off-topic

Red Sox! And hats.

I’m watching the Red Sox game–bottom of the 8th, the Sox are up by three, but it’s not over yet, and anything can happen.  I’m very tense at the moment.  I’ve got my candles lit (some Catholic habits die hard, even for the non-believers), my Varitek game shirt on, and my heart is hovering somewhere around my stomach.  Gah!

While watching the game earlier, I was working on a hat from Vogue Knitting on the Go: Crocheted Hats, which I purchased yesterday at Barnes and Noble (along with Amigurumi! Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth A. Doherty).  The had did not end well, since I don’t know anyone with a head the size of, say, Hagrid’s.  Sad, really, as the colors (the orange/pink/yellow/red Red Heart I mentioned in an earlier post) work up so brilliantly beautiful.  It was supposed to be the Aviator Helmet from page 75, but it looks more like an unfelted Market Basket from Knitty.com.  (I might link all these things later, but I’m too distracted right now.) (Go Varitek!)

I’m very much into crocheted hats right now.  They work up fast, and require no dpns or seaming, like knitted hats. I did two hats last week, completely off the cuff with no pattern, and they turned out fine–one’s a little on the bigger side, but not half-giant big.  This meshy pattern from the book?  Ugh.  In my inexperienced (crochet-wise) opinion, it’s got errors (I couldn’t find an errata sheet on it anywhere), and I think my attempt to figure out the errors might’ve led to the supersizing.  Ah well, at least now I have something to wash so I can decide if the yarn is even worth frogging for another use.

(Ouch.  I hate it when the other team makes me feel sorry for them.)

I need pictures of these crocheted wonders, I know.

(Wow, they’re walking a rookie just to load the bases.  Desperate.)

Hold on, lemme see what I can do about those pictures…

(Woooo! Pedroia!)

 Pictures are downloading.

(Yooooooouuuuuuuk!)

Ok, now the pics are uploading to Flickr.  Whew.  Did you see that inning?  Scary.  In a good way, if you’re a Red Sox fan.  Not so much for the Indians fans.

Oh, I also bought the magazine Knitting, from the UK.  In my opinion, so not worth the nine bucks.  If it were a book, I’d return it. It was a disappointment, as I love knitting magazines and always look forward to them, but they’ve gotten so expensive I have to be picky about what I buy–I won’t be buying that one again.

Wooooooooooooooooooooo! Red Sox! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Aw, the poor Indians.  I hate when they show all the devastated players.

Pictures.  Must focus. Ok, here we go.
Hat the First:
Hat the first
A little big, but not too bad.

Hat the Second:
IMG_3972
The crown is a little bigger than the first hat but the brim is snugger, so it fits better. Yes, it’s the same yarn, and the same general “pattern”–I was on a plane, and just made another when I finished the first.

Scary Aviation cap:
Saddest hat ever
Tragic, really–I adore the colors so much! I didn’t even bother to finish it up with the braiding and the flap-ties.  What’s the point?

Ok, that’s all I got for today.  Now I need to do a celebratory “Yay! Pennant!” dance in my living room. 😀

Comments and stats, Berroco and Debbie Bliss

I should not be doing this.  I have a list the length of my arm of chores to do today, none of which includes updating my blog (although now that I think about it, it should), but I was led here through circumstances beyond my control.  It started by checking my email, wherein I saw someone named “Bob” commented on one of my posts.  It’s one of those vague posts where I couldn’t tell if it was spam or not, so I opened up my control panel.  Still couldn’t tell, so I clicked the link–yes, I know, but it had “crochet” in the url itself, so I figured it was probably safe.  And honestly, I still can’t tell if it’s spam! I’m leaning towards legit, but some of the text on the page itself–not all, but some–does look spammish with its random words that mean nothing.

But whatever, this is what led me to check my stats to see if I could determine where Bob came from–couldn’t.  But! I did learn that I had twelve hits on Tuesday!  No clue why!  Which led to more stats reviewing, and then I learned that my readership has actually been increasing, slowly but steadily, every month since I started this.  Sweet!  And then I felt guilty for not updating more.

Which then led me to writing this post.  See how it wasn’t my fault? But you’re glad I’m here, right?  Well, I am, even if you’re not.

So, as I was saying in my last update (which was posted from Massachusetts, btw, but that was last week), I’ve been up to so much, yarn/knit/crochet-wise! I’ve bought magazines! I’ve bought yarn! I’ve both knitted and crocheted things! And finished them, too! It’s been a wild and crazy two weeks, I tells ya.

Ok, so last post, I left off with the alpaca/silk prezzie for my friend.  It’s finished, by the way, but still hasn’t been delivered, so again, no details to spare, but I found the label, so I can tell you the super-awesome-to-the-touch yarn is Debbie Bliss’s Alpaca Silk (80%/20%).  It’s a dream and you should consider getting yourself some.  I do have to pull out my SnB book, though, to help me with the washing instructions.  I’d swear the little bucket with “30[degree symbol]” means it’s machine washable, but alpaca and silk? Machine washable? That can’t be right. Must double check.  Anyway, I already have the pictures taken and ready to post once the prezzie has been delivered.

Relatedly, when I bought this yarn at Handmade, I also bought two balls of Berroco’s Foliage.  The only good picture I can find of it online is at the Berroco site–the sample picture in the top left, that says “click to enlarge”?  That’s it. The color is 5961, but I don’t see it in the swatches on that page, just in the sample icon.  But that one is a perfect match–be sure to check the enlarged image for a closer look at the brilliant colors! I’ve got 200 yards of it and no clue what to do with it, but I can never resist bright colors that pop. And the owner of the shop even discounted it for me, to further tempt me. Woot!

So those were my yarn purchases from two weeks ago.  I then went to Boston for a family wedding, where I got lots of knitting done, primarily at Craft Night.

What is Craft Night, you ask?  Stay tuned for the next post! (This post was getting entirely too long, so I decided to break it up.)

October, already?

You may have noticed I haven’t been terribly consistent with blogging lately.  Partly it was because I had The Plague, which made me not want to do much of anything.  But mostly it’s because I haven’t really been doing yarn crafts, which makes me sad.  I started that stupid red scarf that is so boring I rarely pick it up, yet I haven’t been able to find another project to replace it.  What I’d like to be working on is a felted purse for a friend, but I don’t have the right colors in my stash, and I’m on a budget freeze, so, no!new!yarn!  Which also makes me sad.

I feel bad for abandoning my readers, though, so I’m thinking of outsourcing, i.e. inviting some of my knitting friends to guest-blog, so y’all will still have something new to read. I know there aren’t many of you, but I check the stats, and I know I’m not talking to myself here, so of course I want to make sure you keep coming back. 🙂

In other news, how about those new TV shows premiering in the past few weeks?  I of course have not seen all of them, but here’s my take on the ones I have seen:

Monday:
Chuck = One thumb up.  It’s amusing, and I adore Adam Baldwin, so I’ll keep watching it.
Journeyman = Zzzzzzzzzzzz.  Watched ten minutes, got bored, went to bed.

Tuesday:
Reaper = Two thumbs up.  Cracks me up! The leaf blower! The rubber suits! I hope it keeps its momentum.

Wednesday:
Private Practice = Ugh.  No improvement since the pseudo-pilot hidden within Grey’s Anatomy last year. Will not watch.
Bionic Woman = One thumb tentatively up.  It takes itself too seriously, the dialogue is lame, and I miss the deaf and angry little sister from the original pilot, but at least it has cool action sequences.  At least it’s better than Private Practice.
Dirty Sexy Money = Two thumbs up.  So far the Darlings are pretty one dimensional, but I don’t care, because I love Peter Krause, and I love how his character’s reactions to the Darlings are pretty much what I’m thinking–these people live on another planet! And the ringtones are endlessly amusing (except they changed Karen’s ringtone–wuwt?).
Pushing Daisies = LOVE. Favorite new show of 2007. Adore Lee Pace, although I’m a little distracted by the lead actress’s resemblance to Zooey Deschanel.

Thursday:
Big Shots = Two thumbs down.  As someone else said somewhere online, “Finally! A TV show showcasing the problems of rich white men!”  In the ten minutes I saw before I couldn’t take it anymore, I saw unlikeable, whiny characters screwing up their cozy rich lives.  Eh.  I’d rather read before bed.

Friday:
Moonlight = Omigod, I think I broke a thumb when they turned down so fast they crashed to the floor.  Smug and trite dialogue that sounds like it was written by a seventh-grader in a remedial reading class,  horrible acting, ridiculously miscast actors (poor Jason Dohring), and a premise ripped from not just one, but at least two shows that did it way better (although I would’ve forgiven this last nail in the coffin if it weren’t for the rest of it).  Easily the worst new show of the season, and possibly the worst I’ve ever seen. Seriously, you should check it out just to marvel at the badness!

Ok, that’s horribly off-topic for a knitting blog, unless you do a lot of your knitting in front of the TV like I (usually) do.  I think I’ll go pull out my entire stash now in an attempt to jump start my creative juices and get myself out of this knitter’s block.

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

Monday Monday

I know it’s cliche to apologize for not updating, but so what–I’m so sorry for the long delay between posts.  I have lots of excuses–excessive heat, craziness at work, travel (I’m in Boston right now), but really, iffen I had time to update my LJ, I had time to update this blog, so, my apologies.

Paula/Polgara, Stephanie and NancySadly,  I’m not working on anything all that fabulous, just a diagonal nubbly red scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  With the excessive heat we had over Labor Day (I lost power for 16 very hot hours!), I was not motivated to plan anything elaborate, so I just picked up a ziploc already loaded with pre-wound red yarn, and started a scarf.*  And no, it’s still not finished.  My time lately has been spent on stressful work stuff, visiting my friend’s daughter at the hospital, and preparing for this trip I’m currently on–a mix of business and pleasure, starting with a wedding on Cape Cod (see pic–me, the bride, and my sister the bridesmaid), followed by two days of vegging (i.e. today and tomorrow), then a Flash conference in Boston, followed by more personal stuff over the weekend.  Busy busy busy!

I do, however, have some FPO-ish pictures.  First, the shell shawl:

crochet: shell shawl

I realize this picture actually sucks–I need to take some on an actual person, preferably in daylight–but it’ll do for now (plus the other two in the flick group–click on the image to open the flickr window).

Next, remember the log cabin blanket I did for Grace that I forgot to photograph in a finished state before delivering it to the mom?  Well, here it is in action, protecting Miss Grace from the chills of the PICU:

Grace

You can only see half the blanket, but you get the idea. I’m particularly fond of the green sc border, which matches the green used in her brother’s blanket.

And finally, a link–today’s Two Lumps is adorable and on-topic (I had no idea Ebenezer and Snooch’s mom was a knitter!).

*And now that I’ve read yesterday’s blog entry for the Red Scarf Project, I suspect this scarf may not be “special” enough to match the criteria.  Oh well, I can always find someone who needs a scarf.

Categories
Miscellaneous

The week, according to me

aerial view of green grass field
Photo by Anil Sharma on Pexels.com

I had two readers yesterday–two!  Woot!  And, uh oh, one of them clicked on the link to my main website.  Ouch.  That sucker hasn’t been updated in forever!  I’m terribly sorry, mystery reader!  I’ll go post a picture or something right away!

I haven’t done anything yarn-y this week, I’m afraid.  Ever since finishing the shell shawl (picture still to come), I haven’t been inspired to start anything new.  Well, that’s not entirely true–there’s one project I’ve been thinking of, as a present for a friend, but first I have to obtain some Cascade 220 in the desired colors.  I’ve been carrying around a couple of balls of nubbly red yarn and some needles, in case I feel like starting a scarf for the Red Scarf Project, but after three days, the needles are still bare and the yarn is still balled.  Also, my evenings have been spent visiting my friends’ daughter at the hospital, where I stand by her bed and sing to her while she sleeps, so when I get home, my back and neck are cranky from the odd standing position, and my head just doesn’t want to think. Just too tired, I guess.  So, no knitting or crochet news this week.

Instead, I’ve been busy at work, integrating two exhibitions at once (not the first time).  When I take a break, I play with Twitter, or I find new widgets to futz with. (Didja see the new iTunes widget in the sidebar?  Scroll down, it’s neat!) I’ve signed up with Scrabbulous, but have yet to actually play a game–everyone there seems way more advanced than I, it’s very intimidating! And sometimes, I search the internets far and wide for the cheapest Brown Sheep Burley Spun in variegated colors (one hank is the perfect size for a bubble bag!).

Last night, I helped my friend Allyson Beatrice assemble gift bags.  She will be doing a reading from her first book, Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby?, and a Q&A this weekend (Saturday, 9/1, 4pm) at Vroman’s in Pasadena.  (You should come!  There will be the aforementioned goody bags, and cake! And, she’s way funnier than me, so it’ll be entertaining, too!)

That has been my week so far. Not exciting, I know (although the near-death of my not-backed-up external harddrive was certainly a pulse-raiser!), but I hate to see this blog go without frequent updates. Perhaps for my next post, I’ll describe my awesome new business cards! 😀

And now, for something completely different–my darlin’, Trouble:
Trouble