July 31, 2004
I've been trying to update and rework my little blog here.  I've had some difficulties and got frustrated, so you'll notice (if you're observant) that some things are different.  I'm hoping to figure it out so that the blog will be new and fresh for August.

In the meantime, here's my progress on the sunshine bag...

Here are the two panels of the bag and a little bit of the panel for the sides and bottom.

...
Here is a close up of the second panel and the side/bottom panel.

And our mail actually came yesterday... well, sort of.  The mailman consistently delivers our mail to the front apartment.  But my sock yarn came!!  Look how pretty...
 

Ok, that's all for now... I'm going to try working on improving this site again... hopefully there will be some new stuff tomorrow!
 

July 30, 2004
Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of days.  Things with my class have been really busy and I haven't been knitting much.

Oh, and get this... we haven't received any mail... you know, snail mail... in a week!!  Not even junk mail, not even bills, not even my yarn that was supposed to come yesterday!!!!!!!!!  I've been trying to talk to someone at the post office about it, but they are all rude and don't really care.

I'll post something more interesting later, if my level of pissed-offedness goes down.
 

July 27, 2004
Rain... rain... rain...  Ugh!!  I'm so tired of everything being damp and humid and it raining all day long.  I want to be able to sit in my backyard and read and knit and BBQ.  The poor weather definitely doesn't inspire me to actually be doing anything.  My class has been somewhat sullen and quiet, despite the fact that we were talking about sex the past two days.  It's not like the weather is gorgeous and they all wish they were at the beach, it is rainy and yuck!

I've been making some slow progress on the second panel for my bag.  I went to AC Moore on Monday and bought two more skeins so that I can make the sides, bottom, and handles.  I also picked up two skeins of white so I can make a pink and white one next.  I was admiring the "hideousness" of some of the colors of Sugar n Cream.  There was this neon lime green that was so ugly it was actually kind of cool.  I'll have to keep an eye on when it goes on sale (I might start a collection of bags!)

Oh, and this is cool...  I'm actually going to be doing some freelance work for a book publisher.  Basically they gave me a chapter of an intro psychology book to update.  I don't actually have to rewrite it or anything, basically I just do the leg work of finding, collecting, and summarizing articles that would update the chapter.  It is a one month project that will make me a quick several hundred dollars (I wish it could be yarn money, but most of it will probably have to be rent money... maybe I can sneak in a little yarn).

My plan for tomorrow... teach, write lecture for Thursday, bake cookies!!  Yum cookies!!

July 26, 2004
So the great mystery of the yarn order is that the yarn in the colors I wanted were out of stock, and are hopefully coming in this week (although it was like prying teeth to get something more definite for a time frame than "soon").  I don't want to totally bash the site, but I won't be buying from them again.

Saturday was the drum corps show.  It was totally awesome.

We didn't get home until 2 am, so our entire sleeping schedule is screwed up... I think a nice long nap this afternoon will be good.

Why is it that I have these wonderful, long posts "written out" in my brain that magically vanish as soon as I get to the computer?
 

July 24, 2004
Well, I got the rest of my elastic/needles order yesterday.  So I have the needles, I have the elastic, but I don't have the yarn.  And as far as I can tell the yarn isn't even on its way.  Don't most online yarn stores send out your yarn as fast as possible so they keep customers happy?  Don't they alert you if they don't have something in stock... or at least post it on their website, so you don't order something out of stock?  I just emailed the store, so hopefully I'll hear something soon.  Their website claims that they want to be a "premier yarn store," and I would think that would include prompt delivery or notification if that's not possible.  Grrrrr.  I just wanna make my socks!!

In the meantime, I've started a new project.  I know, I know, I really ought to finish the lemonade scarf because it is so close to completion or even the candy along cardi (but first I need to get over my sleeve anxiety).  Here's what I've made so far...

So what is it?  Well, it is one panel for a bag.  Since we now live within walking distance of the grocery store, I've taken to walking there about every other day or so and picking up things we need.  I hate collecting all the plastic bags, and I've found it is easier to carry things back when I can put at least the heaviest stuff in a bag that I can carry on my shoulder.  The current canvas bag I've been using is a bit small, so I decided to knit one with the pretty Sugar 'n Cream yarn I picked up a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately the picture didn't pick up the brightness of the yellow, it is like sunshine.  I love it!!  Hopefully, the sun (the real one) will come out tomorrow so I can get a good picture in natural light.  So the basic construction is two big squares (like the one above 14''x14'') and then a long strip to attach the sides and bottom.  (Does that make sense?)  And then of course some handles.  I don't think I have enough yarn to complete it, which means a trip tomorrow or Monday to AC Moore to pick up another ball.  I also have pink/white of the same yarn (thanks to Erica and the candy along) that I think I'll make into a matching bag.  Speaking of the candy along, I just sent out my candy yesterday to my buddy.  I still haven't received any candy, but there's still a week left to the month and if my buddy is anything like me, she is probably super busy.

Tonight Kevin and I are going to Allentown, PA to watch his little brother march in a Drum Corp show.  Our friends Bernie and Mary are riding out with us and we're meeting my parents and brother and Kevin's parents there.  It should be a fun evening.  I'm taking my camera so maybe I'll have some pictures.

July 22, 2004
Last night was the Knitting Meetup.  There were 5 of us knitting and chatting.  It is so nice to be able to knit with others and look at their projects.  During that time I was able to finish weaving in the ends on the wrap (talk about a pain in the butt!)  Here is the finished object:

All stretched out on the chair to give you an idea of its size.

...
Here are two pictures of me wearing it.  I have to figure out when (and with what!) I'll be able to wear this.  The final knitted up material has an interesting feel because of the suede yarn.

Since finishing the wrap didn't take very long, I worked on the Lemonade scarf for the rest of the meetup.

Even though I'm glad I finally finished the wrap and this scarf will be finished in probably another day or two, garter stitch is so dull and these project so bulky.  I'm so itching to make more socks!!  Part of my orders for the Pipi Longstockings and Kevin's socks came on Monday.  Unfortunately it was only half of that order!  I ordered two cards of red rainbow elastic, two cards of charcoal rainbow elastic, and two size 2 circular needles.  For some reason they only sent one of each, but I emailed the store and they should be sending me the rest, which will probably come today.  There's no dire need for it at the moment since the actual yarn hasn't come.  I find it interesting that the order from Oregon came before the order from New Jersey.

In other news, two weeks of my summer class is finished.  It is going great (I hope the students think so too!).  The students are awesome and intelligent and it makes me look forward to each class.  Today, I got my class evaluations back from my Spring class.  I read through all 300+ of them.  Just to give you the highlights... students really enjoyed my presentation of material and all the videos I showed, they didn't like the exams (too hard, too long, etc.), and many said they overall enjoyed the class and thought I was a good prof.  I also found it hilarious that one student wrote under the other comments section "she's attractive" and another wrote "she's a fox... growl!"  Hahahahahaha!  And even better, several students mentioned my knitting and one even said I should knit more!  Haha!  So overall, I'm in very good spirits today... hopefully that will continue and my sock yarn will arrive, and the Mets will win.

July 20, 2004
The wrap is approaching the home stretch.  Here's a picture so you can see its impressive size...

Just this much  more and the wrap will be complete.

Hopefully, I'll have some finished pics tomorrow!!
 

July 19, 2004 afternoon
So I found this on Annie's blog, who found it from someone else.  It is "Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week."  I think it is a cute idea, especially for days when there isn't much new knitting news to post about... for example, today, I've only really knitted a few more rows of the wrap, not very exciting.  So instead of just blathering about random stuff, I can at least focus my blathering to knitting related thoughts...

Last week's question: How do you choose a project? What “calls” to you the most?
This is a good question because I don't know the answer to it.  I love looking at patterns in magazines and books and online, and sometimes a project just says "you must make me!"  The last time this happened was with the Kate sweater.  I saw and thought "I must make that!" and so I did, and I made it in a flash.  Projects that don't have that urgency of "must make" tend to get started and slowly finished (for example, the candy-along cardi and the wrap).  Other times I'll see a pattern and like it with no "must make" feeling, but will slowly keep coming back to and looking at, and thinking about it, and eventually I'll start to feel that "must make" feeling.  Example... Pipi Longstockings from Stitch 'n Bitch.  I kept looking at it and thinking about it, and when I finally figured out that it needed different colors, I knew I had to make it.  So I guess color and figuring out the perfect color for a pattern I like plays a big part.

This week's question: Would you consider yourself ‘addicted to stitching’? Why or why not?
Oh definitely!!  I can't resist looking for new knitting mags, flipping through and buying new knitting books, taking little trips to the AC Moore to fondle the yarn, checking and reading knitting blogs all throughout the day, browsing yarn online, and knitting for at least a few minutes to several hours everyday.  I told Kevin a couple of weeks ago after a day of no knitting, that my hands ached because of a lack of knitting.  So, I would definitely say I'm addicted.

July 19, 2004 morning
Last night Kevin and I went to a house party to see the movie Outfoxed.

If you haven't heard about this movie, you should check out the website and read about it.  The basic premise is that the Fox News Corporation as run by Rupert Murdoch is merely convenient tool for Republican and right-wing propaganda.  Additionally, despite their "Fair and Balanced" claim, Fox News is anything but fair and balanced.  I'd highly suggest donating money to the cause and buying the DVD.  Watch it and pass it along to others.  Also check out these sites for how you can help make this country better... Moveon.org and Common Cause.

We'll continue with our regularly scheduled knitting content tomorrow...

July 18, 2004
I've been plugging away at the wrap since I've been too annoyed to try to fix the minisweater.   Hopefully I'll have a new picture for tomorrow.

Last night Kevin and I took a walk to get some ice cream.  On the way, even though we were walking in a neighborhood, it was like a nature walk.  We saw a family of raccoons!!!  Oh my god, they were sooooooo cute.  I wished I had my camera with me (I'll just have to start carrying it everywhere).  There was a mama raccoon and four babies.  Then we saw some slugs (yeah, kinda gross).  And a cat (yeah, kinda not that unusual).  But the raccoons were really cool.

July 17, 2004
Good knitting news... I ordered the yarn for my rainbow socks and for Kevin's charcoal socks!  Unfortunately, I hate a really hard time trying to locate rainbow elastic, but eventually did at a place that didn't sell the yarn I wanted.  So I had to make two separate orders at two different places (one in NJ and one in Oregon, I wonder which will arrive first...).  Hopefully, both orders will arrive by the end of the week.

Bad knitting news... bored with the wrap and still delaying finishing Master Shake, I started a new project that seemed quick, easy, and fun.  Check it out here.  I found this through some surfing over at Glampyreknits.com, it is her own design and I think it is totally cute.  So I cast on Thursday night for it and worked on it diligently on Friday, and then again this morning, and there's some problems.  Here is a progress picture before the problems...

So it is a little big around the body, which is not big deal, I can easily add a couple of little seams to bring that in.  The problem is the sleeves.  I completed one sleeve, and completed as written, there is no way the sleeve fits around my arm.  And look at that picture, I don't have fat arms!  So what the hell?!  I tried cheating for a fix, like with Kate (remember the sleeve problems there!), but the insert I made is a bit too big.  So I'm pretty much convinced now that I can't make sleeves, so no wonder the sleeves for the candy cardi have been languishing for weeks.  Now this sleeve problem isn't just related to Kate and this Minisweater, but I had problems with the big bulky sweater, yellow beaded sweater, and pseudo skully (see link for completed projects above).  I don't think my body is constructed weird or something... I just don't know what is going on.  I'm going to leave the screwed up sleeve as it is right now, and see what I can do with the other one.  In case you are wondering, I used Lions Brand Homespun for this since I had several skeins in my stash.
 

July 15, 2004
Well, I told you before about how I get wrapped up in books when I'm reading something new.  I didn't post yesterday because I spent many hours reading The Wedding Season; I've been totally absorbed in the book.  I did a good job at first of reading a chapter or two a day and pacing myself, and then yesterday I couldn't help myself and kept reading and reading.  Not that reading is a bad thing, but now I'm about 100 pages from the end, and a little disappointed that the book will be finished soon.  I'm very surprised that I'm enjoying this book so much because I'd never heard of it before and just picked it up on a whim.

Anyway, I did manage to squeeze in some knitting while watching "I love the 90s" on VH1.  So it took from 1990 to 1995, but I finished the second sock of my second pair.

Aren't they pretty?  They don't match, but what the hell, it doesn't really matter.  The only thing I'm a bit pissed about is the fact that the Magic Stripes were sloppily dyed.  You can see odd splotches in the pictures where a random spot of blue or black appears in a white or orange or pink section.  I don't know if I'd buy another Magic Stripes like this again because of that.

Also in knitting news, look who has returned to be knitted...

I just started the second tan stripe, so I have half a ball of tan, and two more balls of blue and it'll be finished.  Since it is just garter stitch it should finish up fairly easy and quick.

And easy on my hands would be good, because for some reason my right arm and hand are killing me!  My wrist and arm ache and my hand keeps going numb at odd times.  I don't believe it is from knitting, I actually think it is from blow drying my hair.  Because of teaching this week and wanting to look presentable, I've been blow drying my hair every morning (normally, I'd just air dry it).  Since I have all these crazy layers because I'm growing my hair out from being really, really short, I have to use a round brush to turn it under slightly so it doesn't all go every which way.  I think the process of turning, turning, turning the round brush has screwed up my wrist and arm.  Since I don't teach again until Monday, we'll see if it recuperates any over the weekend and no blow drying.

Oh oh!  So in obsessing over the Pipi Kneestockings, I spent a long time searching and looking at the colors of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport that the pattern calls for and look what I came up with...

I put together the rainbow colors that I want!!  The charcoal at the bottom is for socks for Kevin.  I compared the colors on several different sites because the picture qualities were very different.  If the colors are dark like this, that will be ok, but it'll be even better if they are really bright like I've seen on a couple of sites.  I don't know when I'll be actually ordering the yarn, but maybe soon because rumor has it that Rutgers is sending out the fee refunds to the graduate students sometime in the near future...

July 13, 2004
So now that I'm getting up every morning at 8am for my class, I sit down at the computer to check my email and such around 8:30ish and the past two mornings, I've been like "oh, I'll check the blogs."  Silly me!!  No one is awake early enough to have blogged already for the day!  I have to learn to restrain myself to wait and check the blogs after class.

Last night, Jody and I met up for some knitting.  As we were chatting, it turns out we have both been considering the Pipi Kneestockings in Stitch 'n Bitch.  They've been in the back of my mind since I completed the first pair of socks and they keep creeping towards the front of my mind every so often.  But now sharing that I was thinking about them has made me think about them constantly!!  Any time my brain is not occupied (surprisingly frequently... haha!) I keep thinking up what clothes I have that I could wear them with and whether I would actually wear them so they are visible.  I told Jody if I find the right yarn or something that speaks to me, I'll make them... but now I'm starting to feel as though I might start hunting for a yarn I like.  I'm so bad!  I must resist more purchases of yarn and finish uncompleted projects!!!!!

Speaking of Stitch 'n Bitch, anybody know any news about Stitch 'n Bitch Nation?  I haven't heard anything from Debbie in a long time, so I'm paranoid that my pattern didn't make the final cut, but then through random blog surfing I located someone else with the same worry.  And now I can't find her blog, but I did check out the link she had on her site.  It suggests the book will be out in September!!  So I also checked on Amazon and found this, which suggests an October release.  Wow!  I honestly didn't think it would be out so soon, but then again I don't know anything about book publication.

Thanks for all the great comments on my ATHF characters!!  All the comments are motivating me to get my butt in gear and start in on Frylock!
 

July 12, 2004
I didn't do any knitting yesterday.  I did some reading for my class, but couldn't even drag myself to the computer to type up the lecture.  I was feeling just totally exhausted, and it isn't like I really did anything to tire me out... oh, well maybe not sleeping much could have been the reason.  Kevin came back yesterday after a brief trip home to visit his folks.  Two nights here alone = not much sleep because I'm paranoid.  I don't know why I'm so paranoid, probably just because we are in a new place that I haven't gotten used to all the creaks and random sounds.  I would have slept better last night, but today was my first class, and you know, you can't possibly sleep good before that!  I couldn't fall asleep, and then when I did, I was waking up constantly afraid the alarm wasn't going to go off.  Anyways, the first class was good.  I hope I didn't scare any of them away with the large amount of reading... I tried to stress that if they read, they should easily ace the class.  I'm meeting with Jody tonight for some knitting, so I should have a picture to post tomorrow.

Oh, and if the rain would stop, that would be good!

July 11, 2004
Let's do a math problem...

"When Harry Met Sally" + 3 episodes of "90210" + "Riding in Cars with Boys" (with commercials) = ???

Yes, it is true.  This is an 8 hour sock (give or take a little).  Ain't it pretty?  How about another angle?

I decreased my number of stitches by 12, so instead of 56, I cast on 44.  This is a nice snug sock, although I think for the next pair 48 will be the magic number.  I have no clue how I'm going to get the second one to even remotely match this one.  I can't seem to find a section that starts the same way as this one started.  I don't know when I'll start the next one or how long it will take (my hands are a bit unhappy with my marathon Friday and Saturday).

Here's the projects I liked from the mags I got yesterday... I think you'll notice a theme...

Knitter's Summer 2004, Latitude and Longitude
I think I like the backpack version (bottom pic) best.

Family Circle Easy Knitting Fall 2004
I like this crocheted jacket, but I don't know if I'd actually make it.

Family Circle Easy Knitting Fall 2004.
Isn't this purse cute?!

  Knit 'n Style August 2004 
 
 

July 10, 2004
I'm a bad, bad girl...

Why?  Well, let's back up a bit.  I got a wonderful phone call yesterday morning... my car was finished!!  (Ok, nearly finished... apparently the decals for the back that say "Hyundai Accent" haven't arrived, but they figured I probably would want my car anyway and sometime next week I'll go back and they'll take 5 minutes to stick on).  I was so happy to pick up my car.  It felt weird driving it though because the last thing I drove was that huge Dodge Stratus.  From the outside, my car looks nearly brand new.  They did a really good job, although I'm a little disappointed that they didn't fix some scratches on the bumpers and they appear to have gotten some of the paint on my passenger's seat (which is probably why the interior stinks like paint).  So, since I was happy to have my car back and my car was happy to see me, my car decided it wanted to go for a drive.  Now, the area of NJ that I live in is one where there isn't a nice open road to drive on, it is just too congested to do that, so my car decided to drive down Rt 18.  And don't you know, it steers itself into the parking lot of Border's and AC Moore.  Of course, I had to go in, and of course, I had to buy something because that's what my car wanted me to do.  That's why I'm a bad girl... I bought things I didn't really need...

Now, I have to make some comments about AC Moore and Borders.  Let's start with AC Moore.  They have a bunch of the non-Lion Brand, non-Red Heart, non-acrylic, nicer, more expensive yarn on clearance.  Clearance?!?!  You know what that means... they are trying to get rid of it.  I can only hope they will try to replace it with something good and not just decide that "oh, people didn't want this fancier yarn, let's just stock up on cheapo acrylic."  While I admit that I haven't bought any of the nicer yarn (not in my price range), I always fondle it and stare longingly at it whenever I go in.  Also, typically at AC Moore, there is some employee just hanging out near the yarn, knitting, and answering questions.  How cool would that be for a part time job?  Just hang out and knit!  Ok... on to Borders... several questions 1) Why are knitting/crocheting books under the section titled Art and Architecture?  I mean, yeah, knitting is art, but what happened to the section called "Crafts" which was easy to find.  2) Why, no matter what section they are in, are knitting books mixed in with quilting, embroidery, sewing, and woodworking (woodworking?!) books?  How hard is it to group all the knitting books together?  Argh!!  That's enough complaining for right now.
 

July 9, 2004
Master Shake is now 95% complete...

July 8, 2004
Well I did absolutely no knitting yesterday.  After I completed the socks, I just stared at my unfinished projects and had no motivation to pick up any of them.  I'm sure that at some point today I'll pick up something, maybe the cardi sleeves.  I'm still searching some online stores trying to find some new sock yarn for myself and Kevin.  I think I might have found something I like, but didn't put the order through yet.

Since there's no knitting content today, let's talk about books a little bit.  Recently (the past couple of months actually), I've been rereading all of the Christopher Pike books I read in middle school and high school.  Yeah, these are 'young adult' books, but they are such quick reads and interesting stories that I'm really enjoying revisiting them.  I enjoy rereading them because I loved the stories the first time around, and I can finish a book in 2-3 days.  It is nice, easy reading for before bed and other times when I'm bored.  I think that with all the grad school and teaching reading that I have to do, it is nice to be able to pick up something that is very simple, but still an enjoyable story.  While I have a couple of new (to me) fiction books waiting to be read (The World According to Garp by John Irving has been sitting on my nightstand for months), I find that I tend to get easily engrossed in fiction books that I haven't read before, often to the point of ignoring all other activities.  That's why rereading is so good.  I remember (sort of) where the story is headed so I don't feel the need to continue reading and reading until I reach the end and find out what is going to happen.  Anyways, even though I still have about 15 more C. Pike books to reread, I think I'm going to detour slightly and read Bernard Cooper's Truth Serum.  I actually read this book in college for a Men and Masculinities class.  I really enjoyed the book at the time (despite the stigma of books read for class sucking just because they are read for class).  So that's what I'm reading right now.

Ok, hopefully tomorrow I'll have some knitting content and not be so rambling.
 

July 7, 2004
I normally never ask for a drumroll for anything, but I think this is deserving...

Drumroll please...

The socks are complete!!!  I now have a pair of handknit socks!!!  The astute observer will notice that I was lazy about starting the pattern in the same spot so the socks aren't identical, but I don't really care.  Thank you Jody so much for teaching me the two circular method!  I have enough yarn left over that I could make some baby socks, which I might do for a quick project, though I'll have to locate a baby with cold feet to give them to.  I can't wait until I find my next sock yarn.  If it wasn't for this...

...I might just knit socks and nothing else!!  Timeless Classics from Anny Blatt came in the mail yesterday.  It fulfilled my last required purchase from Crafter's Choice (although probably not my last purchase!).  I am absolutely in love with this one...

July 6, 2004
Lots of pictures for you today...

First, Kevin and I went to Target and Home Depot to get some outdoor chairs and a BBQ.  Here's our little set up...

...

The chairs are the inexpensive canvas type.  The red one, which is really all red I don't know where that yellow color came from, is a regular chair.  The blue and gray are lounge types.  And the big blue one with the foot rest is one that I've had since college.  Our shiny red grill cooked up a yummy meal of chicken, peppers, and onions.  I can't wait to have more cookouts and sit outside and knit!

While I was taking pictures of our new lawn furniture, this cute little girly (well, I guess it could be a boy, I'm no bunny sex expert) hopped to within 2 feet of me!

We've seen her around before and think she lives in the backyard somewhere.  I'm officially naming her Ms. Fluffer.

Finally, here's a picture of sock 2.  I warn you though that the colors went all funky... not in real life, but in the computer.  I think I clicked on 'invert colors' and couldn't undo it.  Of course, being lazy, I wasn't going to take another picture.

I'm working on the heel flap right now.  With some work I should easily get past the heel turn and gusset in a couple of hours.  The foot flew on the other one, so I predict sock 2 will be finished sometime on Wednesday.  Of course, if I get real motivated about working on stuff for my class that might cut into knitting time.

I just joined up for the Secret Pal 2!  Yeah!!!

July 5, 2004
Did anyone else see the new Aqua Teen episode last night?  Very funny!!

Kevin's brother is in town for a couple of days.  He's moving to NYC for law school and is apartment searching.  We picked him up at the airport last night and then ate dinner at Charlie Brown's, which we walked to.  It is so cool to be able to walk to places and not have to drive everywhere.  Yesterday, I walked to the grocery store again.  I can walk to the post office, several convenience stores, restaurants, shops, the nail place!  I'm loving this new apartment more and more.  Now if only someone would open a kick ass yarn store in downtown, everything would be perfect!

In knitting news, I'm about an inch from the heel flap on sock two.  This thing is zooming along.  I am absolutely in love with the two circular method and with socks.  I've been searching online for somewhere to get more yarn.  I've bookmarked a couple of places, but I haven't seen any yarn that screamed out to me.  While I like that magic striping yarn, I wish there wasn't so much black and white in it.  I want something more colorful.  My favorite pair of (store-bought) socks is rainbow stripes, that's what I want to make for myself.  Kevin wants gray socks, which I'll happily make for him, but gray is boring!!  I want color!!!!!

Ok, so no knitting pics today, but here's a really cute picture from the wedding... don't they look so happy!?

July 4, 2004
The Mets swept the Yankees!!!  How awesome is that?!

The wedding yesterday was very nice and a lot of fun.  There was a lot of alcohol and way too much delicious food.  We danced and ate and drank, and ate and drank so more!!  Here's a pic of me and Kevin...

I'll post some other pictures after I have a chance to edit them.

Not much knitting news.  Hopefully, I'll have some progress on sock 2 for tomorrow!
 

July 3, 2004
There aren't words to describe this beauty...

Oh, sock how I love thee!  See that naked foot in the background of pic 2 and 3, that's Kevin's foot.  That foot will be getting a sock eventually.  Gotta find some nice masculine sock yarn.  (Oh, and maybe finish my other sock first!!)  Anyone have suggestions of any good places to find sock yarn?  I've looked on some of the online stores I've used in the past and wasn't impressed.  I did see some good looking stuff on ebay, but ebay isn't always reliable ('cause everyone else always wants the same thing!!).  Any suggestions would be helpful.

I cast on for sock two, but I didn't get beyond the first row.  I had a little trouble with a few dropped stitches in the cast on row and needed to start over twice.  Ugh!  I'll probably do some more rows tonight and tomorrow morning before the wedding.  I'm glad it is nearby and in the afternoon, so I'll be able to spend all morning freaking out about what I'm wearing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ok, I shouldn't start that now, I'll wait until tomorrow.

July 2, 2004
Sock, sock, sock!!!  Like a woman possessed, I knitted this sock all day yesterday.  I did take a break to go grocery shopping with Kevin (we had literally no food to eat) and to look up some advice on what to do with the sock after the leg portion.  I managed to navigate my way through the heel flap, heel turn, and gusset with only one "wtf does that mean?!" moment and one major dropped stitch that I thought I wasn't going to be able to recapture (but did!!).  So I present to you, 3/5ths of a sock...

As you can see, I need only finish up the foot and the toe.  Being the owner of tiny little feet (I generally wear a size 5 shoe and have a terrible time with open toe shoes because my toes never reach the edge, not to mention every store-bought pair of socks I own is too big, I really should buy socks in the children's section), knitting up the foot should be a breeze.  Wow, I just realized that I'll be able to make myself socks that actually fit.  Unfortunately, it won't be this particular pair.  The cuff and leg are a bit too wide, but it's cool because it'll be my first pair of socks, and if I wear them with boots, they won't be sliding down anyway.  Oh, I know I could rip it out and start over, but come on... I'm not that much of a perfectionist (yet!).

The other thing I haven't been able to stop doing is drooling over the lucious patterns in Knitty.  So far, on my list of must knit when I have the money to obtain the yarn (come on paycheck for summer teaching)...
1. Vicky
2. Allusion
3. Betty
 

July 1, 2004
I interurpt this post to say... oh my god, check out the new KNITTY!!!!! I'm totally in love with every single one of the projects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's start off the new month with a reminder of projects in progress (which will probably be quickly forgotten by me due to the gorgeous stuff in Knitty):

1. Candy Along Cardi: needs sleeves and some sort of closure device

2. Candy Along Lemonade Scarf

3. Aqua Teens: Meatwad completed, Shake very close to finished, Frylock not even started
..............

4. Faux Suede Wrap: on hold

5. SOCKS!!

Last night we had an unofficial knitting meet-up; it was me, Jody, Judy, and Kathy.  The super, wonderful Jody taught Kathy and me how to knit socks on two circular needles.  Kathy has knit many socks on DPNs, but I've only knit one.  Yes, one sock.  It was what I like to remember as a test sock, back when I first started knitting and thought, "wow, I can knit anything."  I quickly got bored with it and frustrated with the DPNs so the sock was very small.  I'm totally loving this two circular method!  Of course, I haven't gotten to any of the hard parts yet, but I'm thinking, if I like this, Kevin will get some socks and there can be lots of socks at Christmas.  The possibilities are endless!

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As of today, my summer class starts in 11 days and I have a total of 1 lecture written.  So that's about 25 more to write before class starts (yeah right!), 2 quizzes to compose, and 1 final exam.  I'd venture that I'm going to only be one step ahead of my students.  Oh well, that's not so bad.  It'll keep me fresh on the readings and I'll be able to change things easier to match what the students are interested in.  I've already started having the weird dreams and nightmares about the class.  Things like, I can't find the classroom, the students are crazy, I forget what I'm teaching, etc...

On Saturday, Kevin and I are going to a wedding.  This is the first of three weddings this year (the next is in September, and the third is in October).  It should be a good time.  Two of Kevin's friends from college are getting married and many of his other friends will be there too.  We'll actually be spending the night at a hotel, which will be a first for us.  Can you tell we haven't taken a lot of vacations?  Mostly we stay with people we know where we go, but in this case we'll be twenty minutes from our apartment, but are opting for the hotel room.  But that's good because we can party into the wee hours of the night without worry of driving anywhere.  I'll try to get some pictures of us all dressed up.  Speaking of which, I really need to find something to wear...