25 December 2007

Christmas!

I hope your Christmas was as good as mine! Usually holidays, and especially The Holidays, go terribly for me but I have had a pretty good last couple of days.

I'm currently typing this on my brand new laptop. Santa brought it for me. It's a Compaq Presario something or other; I don't pay attention because it's all binary to me. But hopefully it will help me be a little more consistent with my blogging. We still only have dial-up, so I don't know how much it will help. Anyway, I am happy as a clam! Especially because the monitor on our desktop sucks, so now I can actually see pictures as they're meant to be seen! yay!

If I don't post again before then, have a happy New Year too!

13 December 2007

Christmas meme, and some thoughts about ornaments.

This Christmas meme was stolen from Amy at Boogie Knits.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, most of the time. I enjoy tearing open paper and opening a box much more than reaching into a bag.
2. Real or artificial tree? Real! And Noble firs only. I don't want a Charlie Brown-looking Christmas tree.
3. When do you put up the tree? Beginning of December. We got ours the 2nd this year and it was up later that week.
4. When do you take it down? New Years-ish.
5. Do you like eggnog? Not even Silk Nog.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? A little aquarium. I accidentally leaving it on my window sill when we went on vacation later that year, and I ended up frying the poor fish.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? No.
8. Hardest person to buy for? My mom. Or the boyfriend's relatives.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Me! All of the guys are easy to buy/knit for.
10. Worst Christmas present you ever got? Plastic makeup caddy-thing from my grandparents. It look like it costed $2 and there was no thought at all put into it.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? I don't send out my own cards but I should. My mother sends them to just about everyone she's ever met.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story. And Meet Me in St. Louis, which is not 100% Christmas movie.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start crafting as early as possible. I crocheted my mom a couple of scarves months ago, and I had forgotten that I'd even made them. I hate running around on the 23rd trying to wash/block/wrap/finish things.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? In a gift exchange last year, I got Santa Claus boxer shorts (furry red with white trim) and I regifted them to a male friend.
15. Favorite thing to eat on Christmas? Ham! We have ham on Christmas Eve and turkey on Christmas. Needless to say, Christmas Eve is my favorite.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear. A couple of years ago my mom did a tree with colored C9s, which are the big ones you usually see outside. I was not a fan.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas sung by Judy Garland. Also anything from the Judy Garland Christmas Special, which I have on cassette tape and VHS. Old school!
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. Or rather go next door to my grandparents.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and Rudolph. And it's definitely "Donder" and not "Donner". Donder and Blitzen (I'm not sure if those are both spelled properly) are thunder and lightning in German.
20. Angel or star on top of tree? Angel! And she's redheaded, of course!
21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning at home, and at my grandma's we have to wait until after dinner on Christmas Day. Combine that with me hating turkey and it's a pretty suck day. Especially when I was a kid and bored with my new toys in about 36 seconds.
22. Most annoying thing this time of year? Shitty music on repeat. I like Christmas music (check last.fm!) but I hate hearing the same crappy songs over and over again.
23. Do you decorate your tree in any theme or color? Last year our tree had an Irish theme. (I will find picture and post them. It was tacky but good.) This year no theme. My mom has done shells, bows, and I'm sure some other stuff over the years. My grandma's tree is always flocked with all silver and some gold. It's gorgeous.
24. What do you leave for Santa? Cookies and milk. My mom has an amazing sugar cookie recipe. They're the yummiest sugar cookies I've ever had, but then again they might be the only ones I've ever had from scratch. Cookie making is a big ordeal every year. But it's worth it for those cookies!

I really should have gotten stuff to make ornaments at the craft store when I went earlier this month. I thought about it, but the Christmas section was such a zoo I just avoided it. This meme really got me thinking about ornaments and stuff like that. Everyone has their favorites. I think a cool thing would be for everyone to take pictures of their favorite ornaments and decorations and post them! Definitely share the stories behind them, too. Everyone has their little traditions. I would love to look at stuff that you guys like and to share mine. I might start doing this tonight.

All this said, I've watched too much Futurama lately and wanted to call it "X-mas" he whole time but in any context other than a Futurama reference it just sucks. Being too lazy to type that out is crazy.

Thank goodness for blogger saving my post as I type it. If I was still at blogspirit. you wouldn't be reading this right now! yay!

10 December 2007

bummer time!

I brought my yarn, needles, and pattern with me to the Boy's house today so I could start working on my Quant, which I might give to my sister for Christmas. Then I realized, I forgot DPNs. And it's really hard to do i-cord on straight needles. It's actually impossible.

06 December 2007

Back With a Bang

It's the most wonderful timw of the year. Everyone's stressed. I always get really depressed during wintertime. I think that's because I get outside so much less and don't get to enjoy the sun. What I'm trying to say is the holidays suck! And they're just starting.

Speaking of the holidays, I went so San Francisco to do a little Christmas shopping yesterday with the ladies from the Elks Lodge down the street. And I managed to forget my camera! I did get some shopping done and I finally found a pair of grey Chuck Taylors in my size! I've been looking for some for years. I wanted to check out the yarn shops in the city, but didn't have time. I did, however, pick up the newest Debbie Stoller book, Son of Stitch n Bitch. I just picked it up on a whim with no intention to buy it at all, (I haven't been very impressed with the manly patterns in her other books) and I loved it! The 'Lucha Libre' pattern sealed the deal for me. I'm not entirely sure I would want to wear a wool mask, but it made me immediately think of a couple of friends who would love it. There are a couple of other patterns I like a lot, like the Ernie sweater and the argyle scarf. The stripper illusion scarf is just classic. A must-knit.

Since it's the holiday season, I'm knitting a lot of smaller stuff. Most of it is generic and could be given to a lot of different people. There is always at least one time where I kick myself and think, "How could I have forgotten about ____?!"


My So-Called Scarf
pattern: My So-Called Scarf, still a WIP
yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool in a colorway I can't remember
needles: US #10s

This is one of those things that I have no idea what I'm going to do with. Give as a gift, but I don't know to whom. Best case scenario: I don't have anyone to give it to and I can sell it. (With most patterns one couldn't do that, but this is just based on a stitch pattern! whoo!)


Little Dress dishcloth
yarn: Peaches n Cream in Daisy
hook: I-9, I think
pattern: Little Dress Dishcloth
mods: i used a small elastic hairband instead of a plastic ring in the center.

I don't know what I'm doing with this, but I know I'm not keeping it. Definitely a grandma-type gift. Way too cutesy for my taste, but it's fun to make.
I'm actually thinking about making a bunch of dishtowels for people. The kind with the little loop for hanging. You don't have to hang it from your oven (reccomended) but everyone uses towels in the kitchen!


DSCN7364 DSCN7365
pattern: Seaman's Cap
needles: US #7s (4.5mm)
yarn: LB Wool Ease
mods: On this hat, I did the ribbing the opposite of the pattern (k2, p1 instead of k1, p2) and I did the ribbing on the same size needles.
I've also made a TON of these hats (I'm on #4 or 5 right now, but haven't photographed those yet.). They are pretty much the perfect knit hat. I wish I didn't feel like such a homeless man wearing one, otherwiseyou would probably never get it off my head.Maybe I need to make a more feminine one. Anyway, Dad and Grandpa are all getting these for Christmas. Boyfriend already has two. The best part is, these take very little time to make. I just wish I could find a CO that I really like on reversed ribbing. I like the front of the double CO (also known as the thumb method) but the back is just purl bumps which is not my favorite. I might try a cable CO with the next hat.

I did a little dyeing last weekend while the rest of the family was out picking out a Christmas tree and it turned out rather crappily, if I do say so myself. More on that, and pictures! in the future. It was probably the worst dyeing experience I've had to date. And let me tell you, hot Kool-Aid stinks!