A million voices with nothing to say.

It has been a long time since I've posted, and it really should have been. I have had a TON of stuff to blog about, and I have thought about it a lot! I'd really like to get back to posting at least once a week. That really shouldn't be too hard.

I've add a couple of current projects to ravelry that I haven't talked about here. First off, there's the grey and black ripple afghan that will go to my boyfriend once it's done. It's Red Heart Supersaver in grey heather and Caron One Pound in black. For something like this, I think an acrylic/wool blend would even be too warm, because this thing is heavy. I love it, though! It's super wide, and is really going to take a lot of yarn.

Basically, I love crocheting afghans. While sitting and working on this, I make plans for who I can make these for in the future. I really enjoy working on things where you're not obsessively counting rows, and worrying about the pattern. This is big enough that I really get into the rhythym during the row, and I am not counting the number of stitches left 'til the end. It's kind of like how it seems like it takes less time to finish a scarf when you work it long-wise instead of short-wise.

I'm also working on some Charade socks with my favorite yarn ever! The wool/elastic combination is AMAZING! So comfortable! I have one sock done, but I'm working on some Holiday socks for the boyfriend before I finish the second one. I only have one #1 circular, damn it!

I highly reccomend this yarn; I will definitely be using it again. It's Knit One Crochet Too's Soxx Appeal, by the way.

I'm working on a little Christmas knitting, if you must know. A couple of scarves and some pairs of Knucks. Maybe a dishcloth here and there, too.

And, as always I have been making a square now and then for the granny afghan. I found and old picture I took with all my squares laid out. This was what I had as of July 30th:

Check it out on flickr, I'm pretty sure the original is huge. Tell me which ones are your favorite, because i know I have mine. I'm doing a lot more squares with 3 or 4 different colors, now. I've already run out of a couple of yarns which is fantastic because my goal is to use it all!

The best thing about my week: I went to my cousin's wedding over the weekend and caught the bouquet! whoo! I won't be the next own the get married, but I was pretty excited. Pictures to come from that soon.

"My favorite punk band is My Chemical Romance."*

One of the absolute most annoying things about going to community college is that there is always someone trying to hand you a flyer, get you to sign a petition, sell you something, or the like. It is so frustrating. In less than a half hour while trying to have lunch, I was bothered by two different dudes trying to get me to buy magazines under the guise of voting for them in some "communications" class. wtf?!
I wish I were a little scarier looking! I need face tattoos or something. I look way too nice and these people always make a beeline to me!

The other annoying thing about community college is that there is a high percentage of people in places like the library, computer lab, and cafeteria with offensive body odor.

------------------------------------------------

I really have been trying to make an effort to post more than once a month. Clearly, that has not panned out. But I have been incredibly busy lately. I have thought a lot about blogging, but hadn't put finger to the keyboard 'til now.

------------------------------------------------

I've been doing a little more embroidery, with the swallow again. I love him! I put him on a quilt square, and on a hoodie! He's on the left front.




The quilt square isn't done but the hoodie is, and I really need to take a FO shot. I was planning on doing that today, but plans have changed a bit.
I really enjoy embroidery quite a bit, and the results are fantastic. I just wish things came a little more naturally to me. For some reason, chain stitch is just not my friend. Nor is stem stitch. And those are the pretty ones!

I've been doing a bit of knitting (to be discussed in a future entry concerning Socktoberfest) and quite a bit of crocheting, that really deserves its own post.

I actually really need to go through and photograph all my WIPs and update them here and on Ravelry. I feel like the stuff that I talk/photograph/post a lot about while it is in progress never goes well. (i.e. Mariah!) I never want t jinx it!

---------------------------------------------------

*This is what the first guy trying to hit me up for cash said today, when he asked me what kind of music I listen to and my response was punk rock. I told him that I didn't think My Chemical Romance was a punk band. Then, I asked him if he'd heard of Rancid, he said yeah. (Who hasn't heard of Rancid?!) His response: "So you listed to like that screamo stuff?" Uh, no.
I should have told him I listen to death metal ...

In the Garden.

AN FO! (It's only been done since mid-July ...)

My nameless socks.




Specs:
YARN: Cherry Tree Hill SuperSock in Country Garden.
PATTERN: generic toe-up stockinette sock, with short-row toes and heels and a 1x1 ribbed leg.
NEEDLES: US #2s, 2.75mm

I like these socks a lot, although they ended up a little bit small for me. I have enough left over to make another sock, if it's a simple one. I'm actually considering frogging these and making something prettier. Maybe a Charade or anoher pair of Jaywalkers. I think I would use a smaller needle, as well. Overall, I'm happy with these socks, but I think they could be better. At this point, I'm just glad I will have a pair of woll socks for winter!

Since I mentioned my Jaywalkers-in-progress I thought I should tell you that I've picked them up again after months of not even looking at them, and I am about a third of the way up the leg on the second sock. I just need to keep working on them, and they should be done soon! (Hopefully I won't wait to post about them for months.)

The way things are going, they won't be going far.

We are getting a new roof. Which will be great, when it starts raining and we won't have to worry about having a leaky roof anymore. But at this point, it just means a bunch of sweaty guys on my roof at all hours of the morning making all kinds of noise. And, you may not know this, but I am NOT a morning person. I should already be in bed so as to get sufficient sleep before they show up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.
--------------------------------
I keep reading about the ideas for next year's Project Spectrum (okay, maybe just ravelry and flickr, but what else matters?!). I must say, I really dislike the "elements" scheme. I think it works better to just look at a color, and then find all the little things of that color in your life. If you set out with it already relating to something, say blue for water, then someone else is doing the creative thinking for you. Also, if it's called Project Spectrum, it should focus more on the colors themselves and how they relate to each other. I am a big fan of the complementary colors scheme. Though no one else seems to be. ...

I'm really not sure where that rant came from.
----------------------------------
Since the weather 'round these parts is finally bearable, I've been doing a lot more gardening. For a while, I was really having to force myself to even go out and water. It's just about the time to start planting winter/fall stuff. We have such a mild winter that a lot of plants used as annuals other places are perennials here. Everything picks up a little bit around here at this time of the year, mostly because it's still warm but no longer so opressively hot. Sadly, that means everything is covered in whiteflies and caterpillars. But it also means everything is doing well and doesn't need to be watered twice a day.



The morning glories are taking over. I absolutely love these purple ones, called "Star of Yelta". They also have pretty foliage; the leaves look like hearts!



This lantana is going crazy. And these butterflies are around in flocks. There are probably 15 on this lantana at any given time. There are also a ton of damselflies around, which is great. They're hard to photograph, though.

----------------------------------
Knitting-wise, I was dying to kit with my newly acquired Soxx Appeal, so I cast on for knitty and Cookie A's Hedera socks.



I flew through it, turned the heel, and swiftly realized that I will run out of yarn before I have a finished sock. This is why I hate top-down socks! I am trying new things now, and they are te-up and not lace. Why wants socks that already have holes in them, anyway?
[photos and specifics to come.]
-----------------------------------
A quick note: the one thing I dislike about blogger is that I can't email back when people comment. So if you leave a comment, I'll respond to it on my own commnets page. I just with there were an easy way to keep up with what you've said on other people's blogs (like flickr's 'comments you've made' feature. I love it.).

Also, if you can name the song I quoted, I might have a surprise for you. ( I should mention that it's the title that's lyrics. You don't have to hunt through the whole post to find it!)

They're toe-up socks, without toes.

School starts tomorrow. It would have today, but I only have Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday classes. My Friday class is a "collage and assemblage" class that goes from 9AM to 2PM. I've never taken a formal art class, and I've never taken a class that lasts virtually all day. It should be interesting to say the least. I was thinking about taking slikscreening and lithography but chose collage instead. I'm thinking about taking ballet again, but I did some major flaking on the wonderful teacher two semesters ago, and I'm still feeling guilty =/

--------------------

Remember how I dyed yarn a long time ago? I finally did something with it! I had small amounts of a yellow, a pink, and a yellow and pink self-striping yarn. So, I put them all together, and came up with a pedicure sock.



yarn: Patons Classic Merino in winter white that I dyed with foor coloring.

pattern: generic stockinette toe-up sock without the toe!

needles: US #3s. I love worsted weight on small needles.


I got a pedicure about a week and a half before making this. I need to make a mate before I get my next one! The mate won't match because I used all of these colors, but it will be the same pattern. It's kind of a goofy thing in the first place, so I could care less about matching.

------------------------------------

Isn't it funny how quickly a day can go from super to super shitty? In the course of trying to get this typed up and getting ready to go to bed, I managed to have to restart the computer, have flick not work, realize that I had not written down the classrooms for all my classes tomorrow, and to top it all I discovered that the needle had fallen out of my new lace project. Also, I now seem to have a headache. None of this is major, but I'm none too happy. All I can say is, thank god I switched to blogger which auotsaves my posts. If I were still over at blogspirit I would probably have added the frustration of losing my post in addition to all of that.

------------------------------------

I ventured to the downtown LYS Rumplestiltskin over the weekend. I haven't been there since early 2005. Let me tell you, I know so much more about yarn and knitting than I did the last time I was in there. It was almost like being in a different place. I think the big difference is that I have a lot more experience (a lot of it from reading what all you guys are knitting with and what you have to say about it) with yarn. Anyway, I finally got my hands on some addi Turbos, US #1. I have needed a pair of #1s for days, but tend to forget that.



I also got my hands on some Soxx Appeal, from Knit One Crochet Too. It's part superwash wool, part elastic, and part nylon. It feels almost velvety. That's the only word I can come up with for it. I chose a puke-y green colorway, and then realized it matched my shirt.



-------

Thanks to Pam for nominating me as a rockin' girl blogger. I will have more to say about that in the future. <3

for all you fans of project spectrum ....

there is a flickr group doing a similar thing, only with days of the week. Rainbow week has assigned all seven colors of the Rainbow to the days of the week. They've even correctly used blue, indigo and violet, instead of just blue, and purple. I love this!

not my typical crafts

I've been doing quite a bit of embroidery and crochet lately. I'm helping make a quilt for someone, and I have at least 2 squares to embroider. One's already done, and I have one to go.




I'm thinking I might re-use the swallow from Sublime Stitching that I used on a hankie. It turned out so well, even the satin stitch which I had never really done before. I have yet to really master stem stitch, and chain stitch is just beyond me for some reason.

I've also been doing quite a bit of work on granny squares. I'm up to about 80. It's fun to be able to put together crazy color combinations without having to worry about it being "too much". It'll only be one square, after all! I'm still trying to figure out what yarn to use for the border. I'm planning on doing another granny row around each square and then a row of single crochet around the whole thing, all in black. The only question is which yarn to choose. I need it to be something cheap-ish because I am going to be using a lot, and acrylic blend at least for ease of washing, but who wants to snuggle with Red Heart?