As the craziness of closing on the house and packing and work blowing up right now comes to a head, I'm going to take a little blogging vacation. It's just one thing to take off of my to-do list. See you in a week or so!
Posted by jen at 09:55 PM |Comments (8)
Saturday was Mr. Lug's birthday:
We celebrated with a garage sale and Darth Vadar masks (you can truly find anything at Target).
The garage sale was awesome and spanned two mornings. We made some cold hard cash that will assist us with our move and buying more crap.
The true celebration was dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and drinking at the local watering holes. The Darth Vadars got a little out of hand.
All in all it was a very eventful weekend. JT (who also took part in the garage sale) promises to do a whole post on the ordeal so you can go bug him for the rest of the pictures. In the meantime you can contemplate why this featured item at the garage sale didn't sell:
That is a wine shoe from my homeland - the Philippines that is to be used as so:
The fact that it didn't sell may be a sign that it should be a gift for a little lady who likes wine and gave me this classy clock that will be the first thing to go up at the new house.
Posted by jen at 06:42 PM |Comments (12)
File Under: What happens after a really long week at work:
Ok that makeshift appletini is no where as good as the ones Lara made. Mmm. But it did the trick. Oh and I had already packed all my martini glasses.
And my yarn is packed.
That's right, since all the stash is packed the only thing I can concentrate on are my projects at hand. I started the Irish Hiking Scarf in some Cascade 220 that I had no idea what else to do with. And I'm working away at the Tess Microfiber Yarn tank top that will hopefully be done before it's cold out again!
Happy Friday - I don't know about you but I'm excited that I am putting this week behind me.
Posted by jen at 08:35 AM |Comments (10)
I have been crazy busy lately and I have proof.
We have been packing things so that we can move into our house:
That was once my livingroom.
And these containers on the left (the two bins) may have yarn in them. It's humbling to pack your stash.
And this is the house we're moving in to. I haven't posted it because it was so far away from the settlement date. But now that we're in the home stretch (only a few days away - we close on the 31st), I am posting it.
And here is proof that I can follow directions. My gauge swatches:
I got the correct gauge on smaller needles. Woot.
And I can follow directions on how to wind microfiber ribbon using a sideways swift and a paper towel roll on a ball winder. Winding ribbon yarn is a pain in the rear.
Posted by jen at 08:34 AM |Comments (11)
Always get me dowwwwwwnnn...
I'm not really down, but it is both rainy AND Monday. Blah.
On a happier note I recently purchased this at the Borders "3 for 2" table:
I really like this book by the Yarn Harlot. It has inspired me to begin knitting REAL gauge swatches, as opposed to casting on and then going "yeah that looks about right" then wondering why the Lelah boob part is big enough to house Pamela Anderson's knockers.
So I cast on a real gauge swatch with my Tess microfiber ribbon i bought at MD Sheep and Wool and I'm not quite getting gauge. I'm getting 23 stitches to 4 inches instead of 24 stitches to 4 inches. Do you think it matters? Is it "close enough?" I've casted on another gauge swatch with needles a size smaller to see what the difference will be. I'm hoping the tank top I'm going to make isn't big enough to be a car cover for my beetle.
I also got one of these in blue since it's as pospular as slap bracelets were when I was in middle school:
Remember the slap bracelet controversy? They supposedly slit someone's wrist.
On a totally random note I watched a few movies last week. Ones I didn't like: The Notebook, Kicking and Screaming. I usually like sappy romances and I have a girl-crush on really like Rachel McAdams, but the whole thing was too cheese for me. Kicking and Screaming? I really like Wil Ferrell, but this was pretty bad. Pretty bad.
One I did like: Elizabethtown. Now, Elizabethtown is as controversial as slap bracelets (You like how I tie that all together, right?) since i think people either hated that movie or loved it. I liked it. It made me teary eyed through a lot of it.
Posted by jen at 09:36 AM |Comments (16)
Check it ladies - the yarn:
Clockwise from the top: black alpaca from Delly Delights, Brooks farm fourplay, Pucker Brush Mohair Boucle, Cherry Tree Sock yarn, and Brooks Farm Duet.
The only thing I didn't get a picture of is the Tess microfiber ribbon because I still have to figure out how to deal with winding it up. The picture really doesn't do the colors justice, and of course you can't feel the squishy softness of it all. Take my word for it- it was worth every penny.
Here's a closeup of the Brooks Farm - so pretty! So squishy!
And a good look at the manly colorway of the cherry tree sock yarn.
So you want to hear about Saturday night at the old Homewood Suites "coctail party?'Well all I have to say is fun was had by all. Lots of ladies showed up and you can read about it on various blogs. We had a good old time knitting and drinking Lara's masterful appletinis. I, for one, haven't laughed that hard that long in a long time. I love it that we can be goofy together even though most of us had just met each other.
There is a Flickr group page of all our photos.
Here's a good photo of Anne Marie and I right before Sarah took the most hideous picture of both of us trying to do ridiculous English accents. Fun times.
Posted by jen at 08:28 AM |Comments (12)
So this time last year I was preparing for my wedding, and working, and reading blogs and becoming increasingly jealous at every entry I read about Maryland Sheep and Wool. So jealous, in fact, that I vowed to go to Rhinebeck if it killed me. And I did. So if you could not make it to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year, and you didn't go through it last year, you too will be sick of entries about it by next week - but I must recount my weekend there.
See all the pictures here.
Continue reading "I'd Rather Be Knitting"
Posted by jen at 09:49 PM |Comments (11)
Here is a crappy shot of me wearing the finished Lelah.
Things I learned while putting this shirt together:
I can't wait to meet all of you (some of you again) at the festival. Look for a sweaty Asian girl in a wool tube top. Or a cotton tank top if I come to my senses.
Posted by jen at 07:54 AM |Comments (8)
What happens when you take a long weekend to go to Toronto then have to get ready for Maryland Sheep and Wool? You don't have time to blog! But of course, you must knit something to wear at Sheep and Wool:
That is Lelah blocking and getting ready for me to add the elastic. I tried her on last night and it seems like she should fit well once the elastic is in and the tie is through the eyelets. This was my first real attempt at knitting a lace garment, and once I had the pattern memorized it wasn't exactly torture. It took me a while to memorize it though, and you can see the mistakes I made at the bottom if you look for them, but it won't stop me from wearing it. I may also add straps. This is knit out of leftover Knitpicks Andean Silk from my tubey. It's a little heavy for a summer shirt, but it was a good use of the leftover yarn.
If you see me in Maryland make sure to stop and say hi! I will try to use my blogger radar to spot other bloggers at the festival.
So Toronto was fun. I didn't get to see Yarn Harlot or Lettuce Knit. But I did get to take a picture of the most corny Chinese Food Restaurant sign ev-ar.
And we got to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame and see the Blue Man Group. I recommend both. We stopped by Niagra Falls on the way home. I'd never been before. I think Chris was in the middle of talking when this picture was taken.
Posted by jen at 08:28 AM |Comments (6)
