W.T.F.?

I have a big research experiment due at the end of this term, and I just got started on collecting my data – pretty good for me, really. However, I didn’t do enough research into my video-recording capabilities, and now I’m in a pickle and don’t apparently have the software. If I had realized this earlier,  I could have had someone from the department help me out, but my experiment  takes place tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and I work from 7:30AM to 4PM.  Sigh! So I will have to make do with hoping like hell that it turns out okay!

With permission from my victims subjects, I’ll probably be posting some of this stuff on here, because it’s COOL. I can’t say precisely what I am doing because I know that some of those who will be involved tomorrow read this even if they never comment and they can’t know what I’m looking for until after it’s done.

I just had to whine. But, hey, my Simon Tam’s almost finished, and I plan to finish it up tonight, while I puzzle over some ridiculous phonology problems. Maybe you’ll see it in the videos…

WIP Train (New Edition With Illustrations!)

I fell off the wagon. Or got back on the wagon. I honestly never figured that saying out, so I probably shouldn’t use it. Oh well.

Fact is, I started in on a second project without finishing the other. I was so proud of myself too! But there is a good explanation, I promise!

I ran out of yarn for my Simon Tam (and boy was I pissed!), when I was  only 1 inch from beginning decreases.

So I set  it aside and picked up my lovely Karaoke multi and started in on my Ondine.

Well, today, while I was just bopping around in my stash, I ran across the other skein of Ultra Alpaca Light that I had bought explicitly for my Simon. Um. Oops? Now, I know that most knitters knit more than one project at a time. But I am trying to cut back on my WIPs that turn into hibernating, felted monsters under my bed.  So I guess two projects at once is manageable. But I have to finish my Simon before I can continue on my Ondine. This is frustrating because of how dearly I love to knit with my Karaoke…and the fact that it’s good thick worsted yarn on US8s, instead of itsy bitsy not-quite-lace-weight on size US5s makes it so much more gratifiying to work up. Oh, and it’s stockinette which is a beautiful breather after this:

The pattern is not super hard, but it takes quite awhile  to get used to it. I used my first lifeline ever on this pattern because I kept losing YOs somewhere in there. There are a few little mistakes throughout that I didn’t notice until much later, in which the YO is dropped down in front, creating a weird horizontal line. I think I can fix it pretty easily with a crochet hook and  a darning needle once  I’ve finished, so here’s hoping.

I  cannot seem to get good pictures of my Karaoke Scarf. I will get my boy to take me out to the park tomorrow and we will take some pictures – although it’s supposed to be hot enough that I won’t need a scarf tomorrrow!

One last item. My husband’s childhood bear, Flashy (so named because he was given to 3-year-old Matt in the ambulance when he split his chin open) has recently shown an interest in knitting. He can be found anywhere throughout the house, diligently working away at his first garter stitch scarf. And here he is, snagging the best light in the house on top of the washing machine:

What will this bear think of next?

An FO without a foto…

I did finally finish my Karaoke Cable Scarf this weekend. It’s happily blocking, all stretched out across my laundry room. It’s probably soaking up some horrid cat litter smells too, come to think of it.

However, my papa borrowed my camera for some work-related stuff and I haven’t had the chance to see him and get it back – until tomorrow. Tomorrow, there shall be pictures!

I started in on my Simon Tam (do you notice this folks? One project at a time. Like I said I would. Who’s proud? C’mon…give me some love) and I’ve already frogged it completely once, but now I think I’ve got it under control. The stitch pattern is bizarre, but not difficult. I just tried to start it during my lunches and breaks at work and I  didn’t use a lifeline because I didn’t know it was necessary! As soon as I finished my homework today, I sat down with nothing to distract me AND a lifeline which I didn’t end up needing. But it’s better to be safe, I guess. I’m a good couple of repeats in and I’ve got the pattern down pretty well, so assuming I can keep on top of all my schoolwork and whatnot, I should be done with this bad boy relatively quickly.

I am taking a pretty easy term, compared to the last couple but I still haven’t found any time to knit and I keep finding myself super stressed out. Matt came in tonight, really distressed about one of his classes. Long  story short, he dropped that class and suddenly I feel loads better. I didn’t realize how much his stressful term was affecting me! I was feeling so guilty about all the spare time I had, which is honestly still not very much. I feel so much better about just hanging out in my room with some candles and a good book/knitting project for an hour or so than I did before.

Also, we finally secured a transfer for me. Ish. I’ll be working during the week at the store on campus, and I’ll continue at my regular store on Fridays and Saturdays.  I’ll get more hours and have more free time because, get this:   My shifts that begin at 5:30AM at the campus store allow me to get up at the same time as my shifts that begin at 7:30AM at the store across town. So the difference between a five minute bike-ride that doesn’t require me to change clothes and a 45 minute bike ride that requires full biking gear and tons of prep for the 7bajillion calories that I burn, etc… is about 2 hours. How ridiculous is that? I wish this city would just get some damned public transportation that functions properly. Also if I work at 5:30AM, my day is totally over by 1:30, instead of working until 4 (followed by a 45 minute bike ride).  Ahhh…that is the sound of freedom, my friends.

And with that, I am going to go bake something. I don’t know what, but it’s gonna be good.

I see, in the near future, an FLS…

Okay, so I just saw an ad for discount Karaoke yarn, which is like…my favorite yarn that I’ve worked with in a long time. I’ve been knitting a scarf in it, and everytime I knit a repeat I think “I could really make a sweater out of this”. Well, this showed up at the bottom of Ravelry:

and I think: FLS. Which is not a sweater bandwagon I was originally planning on hopping. Nor was I planning on doing any large projects any time soon, but before I even know what’s going on, an order is placed for a good many hundred yards of this stuff (it was 20% off! Squee!) and I don’t even know where to put it. Oops.

Quickly, before Sunday Morning Pancakes…

I don’t have any pictures   I let my dad borrow my camera and he won’t give it back! This is Not Cool.

I finished my pants, as mentioned earlier I think, and they look decent enough for homemade pants. I started on a skirt, which I think is going to look awesome. I frakking love St. Vincent dePaul’s fabric section…I got so much awesome fabric for super ridiculously cheap.

I also learned to make lotion! I love it! It’s awesome, and cheap and smells delicious and makes my body sing with refreshed delight. I made lemongrass, eucalyptus, geranium and rosemary lotion for the morning and a simple lavendar, rosemary, sweet orange lotion for the evening times. I will post a recipe as soon as I tweak it a tiny bit. I didn’t exactly write amounts down as I was doing it, which was silly of me, yes?

One last quick update, I randomly decided to get my nose pierced on Friday night. Thus far I love it. I am finally starting to get a bit of wiggle back in my nose, which is great…I never knew how much I used my nose in my daily life. Yawning is still a bit of a task though.

Anyway, it is Sunday. And in my house, Sunday means one thing: Sunday Morning Pancakes. We’re out of most of the toppings, so I’ve got to head down to Sundance and pick up a few things. We haven’t had Sunday Morning Pancakes in ages because I wasn’t able to get Sundays off until this term. Our new house is perfectly situated for pancake-eating as it gets lots of sunlight and provides a perfect feeling of laziness as we sip our coffee and stuff our faces. I’ve been craving scrambled tofu, but of course now that Sunday rolls around I think I’m going to settle on fruit salad that we can also use as pancake topping – or pretend our pancakes are crepes. Mmm.

Happy Sundays!