The "120 S.H Requirement" Woes

Here's a tale of a senior college student who now greatly appreciates the nagging of a mother. Really.

It was a normal first-week Thursday. Nothing special, besides the first ever "one-class-only-not-on-Friday" for me. It should have been bliss-my one and only Thursday class was at 4:00. What, sleep in, relax and eat some scones & tea until then, right?
Wrong!

Ok, so I finally got ahold my mom after much phone-tag. It's a good thing too. What was the constant nag again? Oh yeah, "Anna, can you please find out how many semester hours you have accumulated...right now."
"Come on mom, all I have left this whole YEAR is electives...my advisor told me I was right on schedule....plus having to do my "senior seminar" (that 'ol Thesis paper) requirement. Anyways, I've been taking 15-ish hours every semester...I'm FINE. But oh well, i'll go online and check for you."

"Holy ****." Was my response as I glanced at my undergraduate requirement analysis online. What was that in RED, among all that other confusing crap? "You are currently at 48 S.H out of 50 S.H that will count toward your 120 S.H requirement." Normally, that would be blessing...but not for me. What was my schedule?? Um, FOUR 3 S.H classes that have been undergoing for a week already. So, in layman's term, they would only take 2 hours from that 12 hours of courses. The rest would be "one that house" on my part.
Frick.

Ok, so to put it lightly, I "panicked." The only class that would really count is my Intro to Botany class. Even my Senior Seminar wouldn't completely count toward my 120 total, and that was required! Who would have known that you can only take 50 S.H of courses in YOUR MAJOR??? Not me!

During what should be my "tea and crumpets" time, I headed straight towards the office of the College of Liberal Arts, a 7 minute walk. Who would have known that I would be waiting anxiously for 30 minutes waiting to talk to one of those councilors. Stupid mass lunch breaks.

Basically, here's the verdict. I'm SOL, unless I do this (which I am doing):
I've got only 2 S.H to burn on my major's courses. (48 accumulated already.)
At the end of your senior year, you can head toward the graduate analysis office and have them "cross-list" up to 6 S.H of courses. Ok, so that's two courses that I can keep from my schedule so far. I found two courses that they can "drop" and reenter them as "history" or something related. However, not all classes are "cross-listed." I was lucky to have two of them that don't interfer with S.H's required for my major. (I took a lot of extra courses in my major, which is "rare," supposedly. Weird, huh?)
Anyways, I'm still up to 48 S.H's since I did the "swapperoo." I have 2 courses to hash out still.
Well, I have to take my senior seminar still...so I'll burn that 1 S.H (since I went over to 51 S.H's total, when then only count 50 S.H's.) However, I went to a convention a couple summers ago and earned 1 S.H that I haven't turned in yet (procrastination of ordering a transcript from them). Now I've just earned 50 S.H's without wasting any.
But what about that fourth class? I'll drop it. It didn't seem that good anyways. How can I do this? Well, I only have 28 more hours that I need to graduate. I can take 13 hours this semester and 15 hours on my final semester.

Pheuf.... confusing huh?
What's the moral of the story???
1.) Listen to the nagging of your mama... she knows her crap.
2.) Don't listen to your advisor! Go through your S.H evaluation YOURSELF online with a "fine-tooth comb."

**********************************************************
UPDATE: ha ha-- this was later Thursday!!
...Basically, here's your sock designer & yarn vendor for the sock club!

...only just slightly intoxicated.
No more worries. "Acuna Matata."

Sip. Knit. Chat.

Wednesday evenings 8-9 pm...Sip. Knit. Chat.
If you're a little bored of knitting by yourself, and of getting the silent treatment from just looking at pictures on blogs... get interactive! I'll post up our cool "chatroom" on the top of my sidebar, and we all can talk about our current projects, or what's going to be knit up later on, what's the hottest new pattern, or what's lurking in the deepest recess of our closets....ah!

So, bring out they ol' ball and sticks, pour yourself a drink, and chat!

"Simply Ginny" Sock! (KUAS Original Pattern)

"Simply Ginny" Sock! (KUAS Original Pattern)

Designed by Anna Peck
Note: This free pattern has been removed 10/17/12. It may not return, but if it does, it will be available for an inexpensive $1.99 price.
 
Whether or not you are a Harry Potter fan, "Simply Ginny" is a fun and easy sock pattern that will result in instant gratification. Mucha mucha gratification. So, find yourself some type of pink/orange blend and crack out those dpn's. Let the comfy reading sock extravaganza begin!

MATERIALS:Yarn: Fingering weight yarn, 100% (soft) wool (under 400 yards)
Needles: Set of 4: size 2&3 US double pointed needles
Measurements: Shoe size: 7 1/2-8 1/2 US for women. However, you can easily make it longer by doing more cable repeats, or shorter by doing less.
Gauge: 7sts=1'' 12 rows=1'' (size 2 US)

The Calm Before the Storm (a.k.a "filler")

Knitters beware! Knitting related info on the bottom of post...lol.

Hey everyone! As you can see from the change in scenery, i've already moved back to Iowa to finish up my last year at school! Of course, my room was organized and put completely together upon the day of arrival! Not to gross anyone out, but I think I sweated buckets of water! It's just soo darn hot here!
Anyways, I had the freetime to do a few things for myself. I read "Without Sin" within 2 days! It was such a good page-turner! I'm noticing a change in my reading...i've been clinging to mystery/fiction/thriller lately! Yikes! I usually read a mixture of fantasy/fiction and religions genres...
Because i've been soo into books lately (so much that I visited the thrift store again and got a whole bag of books for the price of one retail price!!!), I decided to officially make a "bookworm club" blog, so I can have an outlet to discuss good-reads, instead of boring you all on a knitting blog! HA HA--suckers!! Did you really believe I would stop giving you all non-knitting junk?? lol. In reality...less non-knitting junk will be on the blog then! Hee hee. Are you a bookworm?

Take a look-see. If you wanna join, you know what to do! :)

I'm hoping it will be a great place to discuss books and recommendations!

I finally cracked open into the Kinder Surprise eggs that Joe gave to me, from Paris! The thin layers were quite a "surprise" in itself.

Before I left, my mom went to our "World Market" store by our house and found this wonderful bottle of wine! Isn't it just too pretty to crack open? I even have a plastic cup with a picture of a sheep on it!

---"Baa," it says! However, in english, he's really saying "fill me, damn it!"

This bottle is a reminder that I still need to read the book "Dyed in the wool," that our library ordered for me! (yippie!)

--Ok, onto the good stuff!--

Can anyone take a gander at what this is?

If you look closely, you'll notice that i'm not bonkers, and that this really isn't lace-work, or knitting at all!

My thought, "holy flying monkeys"....

I've been taking a peak at my Botany book before class starts on this Monday, and was amazed to find a thin section of Magnolia wood looking like a piece of lace work.

Ok, well I was designing all day long...but you've gotta give me credit...were you surprised that this photo was in fact, wood?

The whole plant aspect of biology really intrigues me...which is probably a "duh" factor that I changed the look of my blog into something naturey. Plant life is soo interesting.

Anyways, I've been designing these past couple of days (...when not reading. I'm such a geek.)

Today, I spent the majority of the day starting & finishing from scratch my sock design for the premier (or so to say) of the sock club that I mentioned in the last post. It's called "Dobby Socks!"...or something to that effect. It has mucha mucha ribbing, eyelets, bobbles and cables! I'm just waiting for the sock yarn that i'm supposed to knit it with! I'm so proud of myself!

Yesterday, I designed "The Cabin Shawl," using my "September" colorway that I dyed up this summer. I'll take an action snap of later on. It's much to early to take one now. Let me get some more inches done first.

It's truly an amazing colorway...and goes great with the Fir Cone pattern going on in the shawl. The leaves really remind me of fall. (*sigh...ahh...*)

I've gotta get some major work on it soon, so it can coincide with the "September" and "Cabin" and "Fall" categories.

Irony Without Humor

...Or things you should have used your nogin on (or been sober for...):


So, ok. I admit it. I had a couple of Mike Hard's while starting this sock at the family reunion. Everyone was drinking...why not? And of course, after 6 inches, or when my system digested the booze, I did realize that I was being a jack-A and started the heel at the END of the round, not the middle, thus creating a hideous line running down the front of the foot. Yes, this wasn't the normal Anna knitting. (I dear hope so.) However, when you have frickin' gaps running along all directions like fugin' extra-wide ladders....it's time to put your foot down. And I don't mean on those "steps." What's that???.... I hear a nasty 'frog' approaching from the murky distance. Crud. At least now I can add watery-looking cables to the next attempt. I shall have my "secret waterfall," I promise you all.

...Of course, I would be ripping it right before the toe decreases. How nice, eh? Doesn't that just give you warm fuzzies??

OH, and a nice little piece of advice for anyone moving to a temporary location: when someone helps you pack up your desktop computer....make sure before you've arrived at a different state that the POWER cord was packed... and not lying on the floor of your room, under your desk, plugged into the wall. Forlorn. Useless.
...AND WHILE I'M ON A ROLE....bring a frickin' fan, for goodness sakes! Your room doens't have air conditioning, and it's about 100 degrees during the day in your room!
(Thanks 'Gramps' for the turbo fan from Walmart! You're a life saver! It's a shame that it was repacked from a return, because it looks used and the tilting adjustments don't hold....)

On a lighter note, (SMILE! Shake off the narcistic gloominess of this post....)I finished reading a couple more books this week, before I headed back for school (and I still have a couple more days to start a new one!..."geeky me," the corny equivalence of "magical me"from H.P:



The sock club i'm designing patterns for is ready for joining! It's set up to be purchased through Etsy. It has a huge sum price for the fierce-hearted sock knitters, but per-month billing can be set up through Liz, which I think is a better option for the common person's pocketbook. The sock club has new innovatory every other month. That means, if you are part of the club, you recieve in the MAIL:
1 skein of yarn & 1 printed off sock pattern (themed with the sock yarn colorway) in each shipment. (The yarns will vary between Celtic, Woodland, and Chubby yarn.)
Please Note (and I quote Liz): Each shipment will be sent out every other month. The first shipment will be sent out in early October.There will be contests and prizes every month. The club is limited to 30 individuals. Months for shipments: October,December,February,April,June


...So i'm guessing "Sock it to me!" sock club was vetoed, then? I guess?
Aie-ya-ya.
...Knew in my heart I never really had a say in it....
Stubborn ass.

Sleep tight.

Bat Story #1 (as promised):

It was 3:30am, I was disturbingly awoken by the presence of something flapping across my right cheek & eyes. Was it a moth?

Shit, I thought... It was too dark to see, and the two girls rooming with me were fast asleep. I really didn't want to wake them up....but Oh well, I thought, they might not wake up if I turn on the light.

*Light clicks on*

"Oh--my--gosh!!!" I screamed, in a very weird and high pitched way. The two girls groggily sat up and wondered what the commotion was.

A vicious, foaming-mouthed brown bat circled around the ceiling and swooped in around me, and then back by the door again. The two girls let out a nice yelp too. There might have been a curse word in between this point. The covers were over my head faster than "911."

Peering out of the covers, the bat was still making his swoops around the room.

"Who's going to get someone?" was the next question. Um.....I guess I'll do it.

I pulled the covers off the bed, and covered it over me as I crawled across the floor.

[yes, we were all out-of-it, and didn't know if it would bite, and especially didn't know if it had rabies or not.]

Once I got to the door, I flung the covers off and quickly exited the room. They thought it wise to "contain" the beast in our room, lest it be harder to capture it in the house. Adios, chicas.

Ok, so I ranwalked down the stairs and knocked on Joe's uncles' room and told him calmly, "Um, sorry to wake you up....but there's a ....bat.....in our room!" Whaaaa??

Ok, so at THIS point, I'd like to say I went up there with him to see his bravery at capturing the dang thing...and the hillarity of it, but no. I stayed downstairs and explained to everyone that there was a bat in our room. Whaa?!? was everyone's response (Hey, they are Mal's. They all speak the same from birth.)

Apparently, after Uncle Jim's failed attempt to scoop the bat in the bucket, in the air, he hit it with a straw hat...and (thank God) a spare pillow on my bed (not my own).

Bat Story #2

One of Joe's cousins went upstairs to her room (across from mine). Her scream told us that the darn flying rat was back again! This time, I was ready with a camera I had (luckily) on hand.

The picture is bad. The ending goes a little black.... but the dialogue is hillarious. I almost peed my pants.

.....This is my future family-in-law. lol.

--Before you click on the video, make sure your volume is UP....the dialogue is the funniest part---

"I Run on Dunkin' Donuts Caribou Coffee"

Yowzah.... It's really just sinking in that i've got 2 months to come up with a variety of original, interesting and appealing sock patterns by October.... for the sock club me and Liz are getting our necks so deep in the water ourselves into. Maybe It's just me being tired or maybe haven taken a bang-to-the-head a couple times (too many) during childhood, or thinking too hard...but my brain feels like it's being fried like a frickin' rack of lamb over a fire pit. on hilatus at the moment.

Eh, give me a cup of Joe-Schmoe coffee hazelnut latte coffee from Caribou...and i'll get right back on track.

What Did I Do All WEEK?!?

Hey Everyone! I'm back from an entire week of my fioncée's family reunion....that's right....from Saturday to Saturday of, ummmm: fun, silly & confinement with Maliszewski "strangers." lol. I actually was proud of myself...I had everyone's (roughly 28 new peeps) name down by the first day. I actually had a lot of fun. We were up in MadisonGreenbay (oops!), Wisconsin, bunking in two large cabins. We basically didn't have an organized agenda, which allowed me to get a lot of knitting & reading done, as well as swimming, rowing, and corn hole/bags playing. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that the Mal's are crazy for games? We played a card game called "99" almost every night. If you think you've had crazy card nights with your pals....think again! Take almost 30 players-most being of drinking age or a lot OLDER-plus the rowdiness of normal people times a gazillion! You could almost pee your pants during those games, dying of laughter! The only things we didn't do were hike & tubing.

PAST WEEK:

...and yes fellas, that Aqua Float does actually flip over! "I told you so."

...A common Mal' salutation. No questions, please.

Paddle-boating along an inlet. (Ok, paddling AND reading AND knitting.)

...Proof of "knitting in nature." Ahhhh.

...Proof of reading H.P 7, AND knitting.

OH.... I have a "nighty night" story to tell you all later....plus a video to go along with it....DON'T let me forget to post it later on this week. Just remind me if I forget. ;)

Finished Reading during my vacation:

Harry Potter 6 &7, plus C'est La Vie (a very interesting book about a woman starting life over in Paris, after her husband dies. I recommend it to anyone interested in abroad.)

FO:

"Simply Ginny."

WIP:

The first sock in the pair, from my colorway: The Secret Waterfall.

NEW STUFF:

Dyeing! This completes my "summer dyes 2007." These were the last 3 skeins of my bulk. I can anticipate me being too busy to do more dyeing on my last week of summer vacation, before I leave to start my Senior year... whoot whoot!
Top: "Rain Forest"
Middle: Rockin' (my own take of a skein already created. I just loved the colors. However, the grey is lighter than the original.)
Bottom: "Starry Night"

FYI: My blog should be fully updated after this post. I'm taking down the poll, adding skeins to my sidebar and updating my completed reading list. Thanks for your patience. ;)

Debear62, I'll mail your skein out to you sometime this week, now that I'm back. :)

Work tomorrow, plus Cubs game! It's my first baseball outing...ever! (Can you tell i'm not into sports, lol.)

"Simply Ginny" Sock

UPDATE: Congrats Debear62 on winning my first annual "Name That Colorway" contest! This skein is officially called "Tutti Frutti!" I want to thank everyone for participating! It was a really close one...which is reasonable, since all of your ideas were awesome! You all have made this week really fun for blogging! Debear62, please email me your shipping info (angelgirl_22@msn.com) so I can send you the skein as soon as I get back from my camping trip with my fioncée's family.

Huzzah! She's finished! (Thanks to Mr. "Paci"...right?)
This knit was soo fun! I love trying to capture book-movie elements.

On this heel is ribbing. Nope, your eyes are fine...it's really hard to see in the picture. Don't call the eye-doc yet.

Almost the same view, right? That's probably because I can't decide on things lately...first yarn colorways, and now picture views. It's probably because I can't quite capture what it fully looks like in real life (and what the heck is that supposed to mean anyways, "real life?" It's not like this is fake. lol. Ok, that's enough philosophical thinking for tonight.)

There will be a pattern up on this one soon.

I used 100% merino fingering-weight wool on this sock, using my colorway: Ginny Weasley.

On a funnier note, my blog friend Kate was right. We definitely have seen it all now.
BTW- this is post 101!

"Simply Ginny," Supervised By Mr. "Paci"

I'm punching out of (knitting) work, before I go read some more H.P.
You've gotta love the alpaca i'm raising. Forget the barn, he likes to snuggle in bed. He's soooo soft! Too bad he won't let me shear him this summer. (or at all.) I guess i'll have to get my alpaca yarn elsewhere. Good thing he's cute.

Yes, this little dude is struting around, supervising my work on "Simply Ginny" socks. Very nice of him, huh? He made sure I got some work done this evening, after work, VBS volunteering & teaching 3 piano lessons.

The camera doesn't do it justice for the front of the sock, but it's turning out very nicely. Just knitting up this colorway is making me happy, let alone throwing in the extra stuff onto the sock. I love the one simple cable look, with the ribbing on the heel. I wish you could see the true colors. It reminds me so much of Ginny!

Let's Talk *Clean*

First of all, I am extremely excited to try out my "Ginny Weasley" skein I dyed up not too long ago! I'm already on my way to designing "Simply Ginny," an anklet sock that is easy, elegant in simplicity,....and refreshing. You get a wonderful mix of great portions of stockinette to just show off your colors, and that extra little edge from a common cable and ribbing on the cuff & heel. What a breath of fresh air.


...But, let's talk clean, shall we? I am a firm believer that 2x1 or 3x1...especially 2x2, 3x3... or anything higher than a simple 1x1 rib looks messy and stretched out on socks. (Yes, there are exceptions, as in full body ribbing on the leg.) So, should you never use those kinds of ribs on the edges of other projects? Heck no. They look great on hats and other such knitted items. However, what does happen to 2x1, 3x1 or other such ribs is that the cuff gets stretched out...and ugly. After wearing it over and over again, your sock probably won't spring back like it should. Not only are 1x1 ribs pretty, and has much elasticity, there is also another option in that family: K Tbl's (knitting through the back of the loop). If you *K1 Tbl, P1* across every round, not only will your cuff be very elastic, it holds the integrity of the knit stitch to the fullest. Look closely at my cuff. When you stretch it, only the purls are being stretched, thus keeping the knit stitch intact and not stretching in that ugly way it does with other ribs. Those little V's stay V's. Period. Isn't that a beautiful thing?
I highly recommend you try this rib, if you haven't already, on your next socks. You won't be disappointed.

Yowzers! It's gonna be hard to choose!

Hey everyone! Thanks a bunch for participating in my first annual "Name That Colorway" Contest! It was really awesome seeing you all spew out names like that, when my brain froze on this skein. I was laughing hard with every new candy entry.... there were so many of them! SO, do you wanna see all of the enteries? Make sure I got this right...I checked several times to make sure I didn't leave anyone out. (Sorry, all those after the closing of the contest couldn't be admitted....):

-Koi Pond (Diana)
-Sunset Lake (Michelle)
-Sugar Rush (Jill)
-Everlasting Gobstopper (Liz)
-Cotton Candy (Trek & Laural)--not in to win contest...right?!
-Kindergarden Daze (Stephieface)
-Jawbreaker (Sarah)
-Sherbert Delight (Alison)
-The Evening Storm (Kate)
-Aurora Borealis (Laurie)
-Sex on the Beach & Long Island Tea (Cass)[referred several times]
-Bertie Botts (Jennie A.)
-Freesia Fields (Alana)
-Punky Brewster (Megan)
-Quinceañera (Diana)--[referred]
-Carnival (She'saCrafty One)
-Candy Cotton at the Country Fair (Alaina)
-Sugar Pixies (Jen. C)
-Tutti-Frutti (Debbear 62)
-Birthday Cake (Megan)-[referred]
-My Imaginary Friend (5elementknitr)

There were a lot of people learning about this contest through Cass' blog. I know a Cassie in blogland (the adventures of Cassie), but I'm pretty sure that she didn't mention my contest... so I was wondering who is this Cass? lol. She's not even on the list! She should have had like 4-5 goes! lol.

So, the moment of truth! I guess you'll have to wait a tiny bit on this one. I'll post later today after really thinking hard on the 3 best ones. It's going to be a challage because there are so many names that you gave me that I would use! So come back soon and check out the 3 top runners!

Snuggles (KUAS Original Pattern)

Errata for pattern: N #1 should have "10" sts after thumb gusset & use "4" not "5 sts from Pinky

Designed by Anna PeckThis free pattern has been removed 10/17/12. It may or may not return, but if it does, it will be tweaked and pdf’ed and available for an inexpensive $1.99 price.
 

General Information:
SIZE- Standard (ONE)

MATERIALS:
-Set of five double pointed needles, size 5 US (or size 6 US for larger hands)
-1 Skein of Lion Brand Worsted Weight “Wool-Ease” in Dark Rose Heather (Color #139, Lot# 8459), or in any color you wish.
-Ring Marker
-4 Stitch Holders or large safety pins
-Cable Needle
-Tapestry Needle

GAUGE-
5 stitches/ 7 rows= 1 inch in stockinette stitch

Pure & Evil?

STILL WANNA PARTICIPATE IN THE "NAME THAT YARN" CONTEST?
Read the post below. You've got until Sunday at midnight, before I choose 3 of the best colorway names and make a poll for ya'll to vote. Use the last post's comment page for participating. Merci. Oh, did I forget to mention that the winner gets that contest yarn? Everyone loves a good freebie, right? lol.

--Now, onto some new stuff--
I decided that after a cancellation in my schedule, I had some time on my hands to do a couple more dyes. And that's just what I did! However, boy was it hot in my house today! I was literally sweating over a hot stove for a couple of hours before drinking coffee at caribou with someone that I knew from H.S, and sweating some more when I got back into my 100 degree house. Just put all of that together, they do equal dehydration...big time!
Je presente, avec plus effort et l'amour, "Double Potions with Snape." (Ok, hopefully you Frenchies can read that. I swear, my French is draining out of my noggin' like water. Sorry no accents for my laptop... there's no side numbers to do the commands. lol.)
...another view.
I swear, that's not pink...it's silver! there's dark green, light green, black, purple & silver.
Ici, tu vu, "The Secret Waterfall."
Silver, sky blue & teal. Too bad squinting won't even help you see that, though.

The Sock & Name that Colorway CONTEST!

First, let's get to the "real stuff" before the CONTEST!
My finished "Candied Love" sock.
Go ahead, click on it... you can actually see the hearts this time.


Candied love: A flirtatious type of love that springs forth at the beginning of relationships. Although that love may be real, it hasn’t evolved yet into that pure & unconditional love one sees later on, one that needs no attention for his retention. So for now, here's frills & spice for show, to make sure his eyes are on you. Just you.

LoL... don't take my description too seriously. It's just supposed to be a fun & flirty pair of lace heart socks.
Pretty Saucy, huh? It almost kind of looks cooler without the other one, in the picture.
Just off the press, and in timely manner, since my hands were starting to really stick to the metal needles. I completely hate that feeling. I've got a deadline of one week to finish up the other sock, and Joe's UFO. Then I can take a cooler picture with him in it. The sock needs a guy in it... what do you think?

Now onto the Contest!
I just dyed another skein, because....well, just because I'm crazy enough to do another one soo soon.
However, I was having the hardest time trying to come up with a name for this one.
Then it hit me.

I thought that it would be fun to have a colorway naming contest, since the colors are pretty funky together.
It's up to you, oh faithful commenter-friends & lurkers, to come up with the perfect (and jazzy) name for this one.
It's a hard one... what goes with lilac, sky blue, periwinkle, silver, salmon, pink & white?
The winner gets fame & glory on the winner's post....and this skein! Freebies are always good, right? Yeah, I should probably get some crackers to go with all this cheesyness.

"NAME THAT COLORWAY" RULES:
1. First, come up with the perfect colorway name. Jokesters might gain extra merit, as long as it's to good humor. Post on THIS post's comment page ONLY!! Thanks. :)
2. Post these rules on your blog & your colorway idea. That way, no one will use something like it, by mere freak accident. Who ever finds out about this contest on your blog must refer you on this comment page below, before participating in the contest. (This is kind of like Lotus' Knits contest idea. But we will use a poll too...)
-->If you see your name (or blog address) on my comment page below, you can add another colorway name idea! The more referals for you, the better! Good luck to you all!
3. The top 3 best names will be put on a poll, so you all can vote!
4. Contest ends: Sunday, July 29th @ midnight!

So, the sooner you comment, the better chance you have of getting another go. lol.
Feel free to copy & paste the rules. No use in typing it all over again.

*************************************************************
So far, we have:
-Koi Pond (Diana)
-Sunset Lake (Michelle)
-Sugar Rush (Jill)
-Everlasting Gobstopper (Liz)
-Cotton Candy (Trek & Laural)--not in to win contest
-Kindergarden Daze (Stephieface)
-Jawbreaker (Sarah)
-Sherbert Delight (Alison)
-The Evening Storm (Kate)
-Aurora Borealis (Laurie)
-Bertie Botts (Jennie A.)
-Freesia Fields (Alana)
-Punky Brewster (Megan)
-Quinceañera (Diana)--[referred]
-Carnival (She'saCrafty One)
-Candy Cotton at the Country Fair (Alaina)
-Sugar Pixies (Jen. C)
-Tutti-Frutti (Debbear 62)
-Birthday Cake (Megan)-[referred]
-My Imaginary Friend (5elementknitr)

----CONTEST CLOSED! (as of midnight)-------

Just a Quickie...

Here's just a quickie post before bed.

I did the gusset up to the point right here, today. I was a little disappointed that the hearts didn't end 1/2 an inch further up. Oh well, I still have some tricks up my sleeve.

My hands are sore. My back is cramped.

It's time for bed.

Back to some more Harry Potter. Can you believe that I didn't even crack open the 7th yet? And this is coming from quite an impatient person! No, I'm still trudging through the 6th book before the 7th, to make sure those little important details are fresh in my noggin'. I didn't even open it to see how many pages there are, lest I find out something from the last page that I shouldn't have...yet.

I swear, if someone blows it for me (little details/events or big)... that shall be their last breath. lol. I'm just waiting for the media to blow it. Seriously. I'll eye-boycott their show if they do. I really want the entire 7th book to be a surprise.

Don't even tell me how good the book is, or how "surprising" the ending is... or whatever. I don't want to know. And yes, I would be directing this mostly to Liz.

Fiber Fair & Dyes

I had an amazing (& Spoiling) weekend already. On Friday, I went to the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair and came back with quite a few items! I had to leave once my bank account was pretty drained... but, I got some wool on clearance, several roving balls, lots of jacquard dyes, Brittany needles (in the short sock sizes), a tee-shirt, an alpaca plush (I love him!! eh, man did I buckle.), and a cute sheep tape-measurer that i've been wanting for ages. I just got my ball winder that came in the mail the other day, and have been winding up everything into pretty balls with wonderful center pulls! I got the 7th Harry Potter book, and more yarn came in the mail today! Yowzers!

Of course, I had to plunge into dyeing with the new dyes:

I call this one "Fairy Cove." I absolutely love it... and have plans for it already. There is periwinkle, lilac, the brownish-olive & silver. I also plan on making a similar one, but with green instead of the brownish-olive tone, and calling it "Fairy Garden." I should start a fairy collection!

This is my interpretation on "Ginny Weasley." It looks so pretty! I'm going to have a HP night sometime when I get back to Iowa and knit up my Gryffindor & Ginny Weasley socks. The skein contains: salmon, silver, fusia, lighter fusia & once again that olive-brown.

This one was pretty cool too. I named it "Midnight Sanctuary." There's black, sky blue, mixed greens to try to make seagreen & teal. (Man do I love teal.)

KNITTING UPDATE: Now that I got a little out of my system, I can focus more on my candied love socks again. I'm working on the gusset at the moment.

"Candied Love" Progress & Birch

The air's on, so needles out!

I casted on my "Candied Love" pattern and got 2 repeats done. It's only around 4 inches of heart repeats, so i'll do another repetition before the heel. Although you all might complain that you can't see the lacey hearts in the picture, it's not entirely due to my crummy camera's focus incapability this time. I planned on the purple-red-white variegation mixed in with an overloaded dose of lace within the heart. That was intentional. (Hence, "candied," just like the flirty and non-purity of love at the beginning of relationships...when it's all for show.) If you still don't understand what the heck I'm talking about, just think of the beginning of relationships & that boyfriend/girlfriend who always wrote "I love you" with all the little frilly hearts around it, after a only a few days of dating.
Close up:

And yes, this pattern would be wonderful in a nice pure red skein, but then it's not "candied." It's just "hearted."

Of course, this blog wouldn't be complete without another dyed skein...
Some double trouble action of my "Candied Love" yarn. Pretty close in colorway, huh?



Here's "Birch." It looks as though it will be a wonderful skein for nature socks. Maybe I need to go camping sometime, to have an excuse to knit these up sooner.


Ok, so remember how I moaned about this skein earlier? Well, it turns out that rewinding works wonders!
"Celebration" has a whole new zing to it!

Relaxation for the Mind, Body & Soul

My newest addition: "Irish Spring."

Deep Refreshing & Relaxing Instructions (after a long day at work):
1. Steam up the bathroom with hot shower water for several minutes. Make sure it's really steamy, so you'll enjoy step #3 a lot more.

2.Close the drain-plug (in the showers that are shower-baths).

3. After the room is quite steamy, change the temp to luke-warm, or cooler... and light some candles, turn off the bathroom light.

4. Use "Irish Spring" liberally to wash up, and/or create bubbles (with the gel).

5. Lie down in the tub while letting the shower hit you. The tub will fill up slowely. Lift your feet in the air and let the water massage your feet.

6. Enahle deeply.

7. Repeat 1-6 as needed.

Works everytime.
Ahhh...

Look at yesterday's post for more "meat."

Saturday, Part 2: The Knits

KNITTING UP A STORM HAS A WHOLE NEW LOOK! (...and subname.). I'm soo excited about this fresh new & interesting look. It's way more me now. Everything is up and running like before, but better! What do you think?

So here is my pathetic attempt at knitting this week. Not much, huh?

SO, here you see the "Sweet as Candy" cardi that I'm knitting up for my pregnant friend, who's due any day. The pattern will be up soon. I cannot even imagine the uncomfortableness she is enduring these last couple of weeks. She's due July 27th, but you all know that kids like to make dramatic entrances sometimes...

Well, this *was* my "Gryffindor Rox" tank I was making for the movies. Too bad it's a little big. It's such a shame that I'm always miscounting from the beginning, and find out 1/3 until i'm done. Remember "Victoria" that I was designing too? Adios amigas!
The sock.
Can't say too much here. Joe's probably looking at this by accident as it is. I'm pretty sure he knows it's a sock... but he doesn't know the tweaks on it...
Yup, that's a golden maragrrrrrrita!
Double fisting, the knitter way.

Sorry about the lame writting. I need some shut eye.
Don't forget to look at Part 1. That was the highlight of the day!