zomg.
Uh is it really March-freaking-twenty-sixth??!?!
Holy schnikes, batman.
Deadlines quickly approaching = time running out.
Must finish:
- Fawkes Socks (February’s Sockdown Challenge) by March 31st. One sock done; just about ready to start the heel flap on sock number two.
Must start:
- Periwinkleberries (March’s Sockdown Challenge ) by March 31st. Requires me to finish Fawkes Socks first though, as I need those needles – eek!
Having second (or is it third? fourth maybe?) thoughts on the big bad baby blanket. It’s still not even halfway done. But I like it, so I want to finish it…
Oy, why do I do this to myself?
chirp.
Oh dear, I’ve gone and gotten myself into yet another social media obsession. As if trying to stay current with happenings on Ravelry, Facebook, Google Reader, and Flickr weren’t enough to keep me busy – now I’m tweeting too. Actually, I’m tweeting again. I’d already discovered the world of Twitter back in November. Became disenchanted with it rather quickly back then. But I came crawling back, like a true junkie, and now I can’t seem to pull myself away! Gah. There’s scads of knitterly folk on there too, which is superawesome.
You can follow me here.
Do it. But be warned: it gets addicting. Trust me.
Yesterday was a good day. A much needed ‘mental health’ kinda day. Work’s been kinda cruddy lately, and I haven’t felt much like socializing. Feel like a turtle hiding in my shell, too scared to poke my head out in case anything else bad decides to come my way… That said, I really miss my SnB girls. Once again, it’s been too long 
So yesterday I got up for work, showered and realized that I’d emotionally hit a wall. I called in sick (like I said, it was a ‘mental health’ day) and spent most of the morning doing laundry & knitting. (And tweeting…) My man got off work early and we decided to visit the big box furniture store where we bought our dinette set to exchange the one dud chair that came with ours. Ready for a fight, we were. Happily, the exchange was hassle free.
OMG WE FINALLY HAVE A COMPLETE DINETTE SET.
This excites me.
Immensely.
Dinner consisted of teryaki pork tenderloin, roasted asparagus with garlic, and mushroom risotto. Yum. And we sat at the table = DOUBLE YAY. In hindsight I should have photographed the ocassion…
Then it was off for a round of mini golf! Gotta practice put-putting; soon enough it’ll be time to hit the real greens.
Came home and watched the all new epi of LOST – whoa nelly, this season’s been fan-fucking-tastic so far. Like really really.
Oooh on Monday we welcomed a new member into our little family: a nephew, Tyler David. He’s the one I’ve been knitting that baby blanket for. Speaking of that baby blanket…
Oh lord it’s not getting anywhere fast. I’m probably only about 1/3 of the way finished. Yeesh. It’s all Twitter’s fault. I’d better get back to myTwitting…I mean knitting, now.
knit(ter) fail!
Boourns. Yesterday I broke up with my Baby Chalice Blanket. I had no choice. It left me with no other option. This was tough for me to accept (although my fiance mister random would say otherwise after witnessing the project go flying across our living room…). You see I love that blanket. As soon as I laid eyes on it via Ravelry, I knew I had to make one. And I did – or so I tried to. Twice.
I’m still unsure as to whether this is a “pattern fail” or a “knitter fail”. For some unknown reason, when I got to the row 17-20 point in the pattern my stitch count would be off – I’d have 2-3 more stitches than you are supposed to, BOTH times I attempted this project. But a quick search on Ravelry showed that no one else had this same problem. Everyone who knit this project ended up with beautiful baby blankets. I was left with frustration.
At that point the yarn and needles went airborn.
Being stubborn, it is hard for me to accept my failure with this project.
Mark my words, Baby Chalice Blanket: “I will be back. You and I shall meet again. And this time I’ll be ready. You’ll see.”
And with that I proceed to search out a non-lace baby blanket. Enter the big bad baby blanket pattern from the first Stitch ‘n Bitch book. Easy. Mindless. And after peeking at similar FO’s on Ravelry, my mind was made up. In fact, it seems this was meant to be. You see I had wanted to use the same yarn as I was using for the Baby Chalice Blanket (Patons Decor in Sand Castle varigated), and as luck would have it someone had posted their big bad baby blanket project in that exact yarn and colorway.
Seeing it made my heart sink.
While this colorway was working well in the lace blanket, it looked most unappealing knit into a seed stitch/stockinette blanket. Now what was I going to do? I bought the Patons specifically for this baby blanket and intended to use it. Until I clicked on other yarns fellow Ravellers used for it.
Hello Dream in Color Classy!
Of the twelve project listed using this yarn, 3 of them were in the ‘Dusky Aurora’ colourway –> “I’ve got that in my stash!”, I thought. Yes! Surely my case of “knit(ter) fail” happened for a reason. The blanket looks stunning with the DiC yarn & colour! I *squee*-ed with delight and quickly ran to dig the yarn out of my stash corner.
So far the third time’s been a charm. It’s going to look fabulous!
spoiled!
The aforementioned cowl will soon be on the needles. My initial debate over what yarn to use has been settled. Ended up searching out the identical yarn & colourway online.
Yarn ordered? Check.
Pattern ready? Check.
Excited fiance? Check.
I can’t wait to cast on.
spring ahead. (spring? what spring!?)
Lost an hour today. Thank you Daylight Savings Time. Grr, I want my hour back! That hour could have been filled with some seriously productive knitting you know. Now it’s lost forever. Well at least until the fall…
What’s been happening this week? Lots and not much, depending on how you look at it. Dad started his cancer treatments this past Tuesday. This is both scary & exciting. Mostly feeling hopeful though. He goes for radiation therapy 5 days/week and has chemo once per week. The chemo is being administered 24/7 via a fluid pack, so the weekly appointments are to “filler up”, so to speak. He continues to have an amazing attitude about all this and it’s also quite cute as he seems to worry more about his loved ones (especially you, Mom) than himself. These intense treatments will continue for approximately the next 5 weeks or so. The next step will be to analyze the tumour (shrink you filthy bastard!) and plan for surgery. It’s a long process.
Not much has been done knitting-wise. The week started out great with me finishing my Sockdown: January! challenge (knit any pattern that uses the technique of beaded knitting OR any pattern from an online knitting magazine such as Knitty, The Anticraft or Knotions OR the Mystery Sock designed by SKA mod, Emm1e). I chose to knit Pomatomus from the Winter 2005 Knitty:
Used Noro Silk Garden Sock. I like them, but they’re not my favourite socks. Still they do the job of keeping my tootsies warm while the weather’s still on the chilly side here in Winterpeg.
Feeling good after qualifying for January’s prize draw (even though the random number generator did not choose me – boo hoo), I immediately cast on for my second attmept at the February Sockdown challenge (knit a sock for a cause or knit a sock utilizing the entrelac technique or a sock designed by Gigi Silva or our SURPRISE designer– Chrissy Gardiner) – my Fawkes Socks. Somehow I managed to out-do myself and knit half a sock in one day!
…And this is where the action ended. Since last Sunday I haven’t even looked at this project. Wanna know why?
Malabrigo March 2009 happened. And who in their right mind can resist knitting with that goodness? Not me, that’s for sure. Made a couple of iPod Socks to start off:
One for me and one for him! So soft…
Next up for my Malabrigo March contributions was a Meret (beret). Let’s take a look at what it looks like so far:
Yeah… Not looking like a whole lot right now, is it?
That’s sorta when this week of knitting fizzled out. It got even better (note sarcasm) when I picked up my Baby Chalice Blanket and proceeded to make numerous errors. After trying to rip back a little bit to fix them, I ended up frogging the whole darn thing. Thankfully I was only one repeat in, but having to start over again still puts more of a time crunch on things. As it stands now I’m just about caught up to where I was when I frogged. Problem is, now this blanket feels like a chore! On the plus side, my desire to see the finished product will keep me going. And another plus? I contacted the designer to see if she’d charted the pattern. She hadn’t but mentioned that she would take a look at how to chart it and get back to me! So exciting. Not sure about you, but I find knitting lace from a chart slightly easier than reading from a written pattern. Either way, it’s a beautiful pattern and like I said, I cannot wait to see the end result.
So on the knit-agenda today? Pump out a few more rows on the blanket & cast on for the Meret. The beret will probably win my affections and that’s okay, so long as progress is made on something, lol.
ZOMG! I almost forgot to mention two things that are currently making me uber-happy… 1) America’s Best Dance Crew – ABDC3 marathon on today! Season finale tonight: Quest Crew vs. Beat Freaks. I’m torn! They’re both freaking fantastic. 2) THE CHAIRS ARE ASSEMBLED AND HAVE SEAT CUSHIONS! Finally!! Except we had one dud, where the screws wouldn’t catch. Oh vell, three out of four ain’t bad. We’ll just be taking a trip back to the store for a replacement. No biggie. BUT I HAVE CHAIRS! Wheeee….
random requests…
…one of these. Isn’t it nice? Wonder what kinds of yarn I can find locally to use for this pattern. He really likes the colour shown here…
melanie’ology’: fiddy thangs.
Tag you’re it!!! Let other’s know a little more about yourself by re-posting and tagging your friends. Re post note as your name “ology”
1) What is your salad dressing of choice?
Depends! Raspberry or balsamic vinegarette, and ranch – those are the usuals.
2) What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Maximes – mmm mmm good.
3) What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
Does Starbucks count?
4) What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Mushrooms & pepperoni, or spinach, tomato, feta &black olives.
5) What do you like to put on your toast?
Honey! With a side of tea 
6) How many televisions are in your house?
Two.
7) What color cell phone do you have?
Silver.
Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.
9) Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Umm…okay… Sure: A tumour in my foot — 3 times!
10) What is the last heavy item you lifted?
I am not sure.
11) Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Not that I remember.
12) If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No thanks.
13) If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
If I changed my name I wouldn’t be me!
14) Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Depends on how big the bottle was.
15) How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
At one point, lots. Now I’m down to about 3 or 4 pairs.
16) What’s your goal for the year?
Just survive it.
17) Last person you talked to?
My fiance.
18) Last person you hugged?
Again, my fiance.
19) Favorite Season?
Spring, summer & fall. Winter’s cool too (no pun intended), but not when they’re long like this one has been.
20) Favorite Holiday?
Any one that involves family gettogethers.
21) Favorite day of the week?
Sunday.
22) Favorite Month?
Never really thought about it. Probably June, July, August or September.
23) First place you went this morning?
To the bathroom?
24) What’s the last movie you saw?
The Changeling (Angelina Jolie version).
25) Do you smile often?
I try to.
W E ‘ R E H A L F W A Y T H E R E
26) Do you always answer your phone?
Usually.
27) It’s four in the morning and you get a text message?
And I wouldn’t even know it.
28) If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I like my eye colour.
29) What flavor drink do you get at Sonic?
Never been to one.
30) Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yes. How many? You’d have to ask my Mom… *cough cough*
31) Favorite Christmas song?
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams!!
32) What’s on your wish list for your birthday?
Practical things. Things I have been wanting to get myself for a long time, but just haven’t got around to it. I won’t get into details.
33) Can you do push ups?
Sure. Do I? Now that’s the question!
34) Can you do a chin up?
Haven’t tried since high school.
35) Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Depends on the day & what part of the ‘future’ I’m thinking of.
36) Do you have any saved texts?
One or two.
37) Ever been in a car wreck?
Never a wreck.
38) Do you have an accent?
To some I may. But then those people have accents to me too!
39) What is the last song to make you cry?
Not sure.
40) Plans tonight?
LOST & knitting.
41) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
No.
42) Name 3 things you bought yesterday.
Coffee & biscuit from Tim Horton’s, and BK for supper. It was a real nutritious day.
43) Have you ever been given roses?
Yes.
44) Current hate right now?
Vince Li and his NCR seeking defence lawyers. Not to mention the Crown’s agreement in to seek the same verdict. Mofos.
45) Met someone who changed your life?
Sure have.
46) How did you bring in the New Year?
Is it bad that I don’t even remember? Honestly I can’t. Can someone remind me?
47) What song represents you?
No clue. There’s probably a few.
48) Name three people who might complete this?
I don’t want to pressure anyone.
49) What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Watching the train wreck that is Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show.
50) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
“Fuck it’s cold in here.”
