My hiatus...

I haven't been blogging much lately for a couple of reasons, mainly because I would normally blog during lunch at work--but I've been working through lunch and eating at my desk (yes, I know how unhealthy that is). And I've been dealing w/ some family stuff. So yeah--blogging hasn't been at the forefront of my mind. Things'll get better. It's just rough right now.

Here Kitty, Kitty blog...

I decided to stop trying to write two blogs. Really now, who do I think I am? Originally I figured I'd write one blog for crafts (this one) and another for the rest of my life (Here Kitty, Kitty), but honestly, who has the time to keep up with two blogs? Not I! So from now on, it's all here--stuff about my crafts and stuff about my life (AKA--Hubby, the cats, family, friends, work), all in one blog for easier (and faster) enjoyment! Feel free to peruse the old blog, but look here for all new posts :-) Hooray!

This is why I get nothing done...

Because my kitties love to hang out on my work/craft space at home. I can't do a thing about it. They jump up, I put them down. They jump up, I put them down. See where this is going? Eventually I just move my stuff/crap to a tinier space or give up entirely and go work in the living room on the couch where--you guessed it--the kitties come and make their presence known. I could close the door when I'm working (as Hubby often tells me I should), but then I won't have kitty company when I'm working, and really, kitty company outranks need-space-to-work any day.

Elphie and Helena:


Grendel:


Helena sitting on my new squishy laptop case from Brooklyn Industries (she's just gotta get her stink on everything):

Denise Circulars!

I got circulars for V-day!!! How cool is that? Not only did Hubby get me an uber-gorgeous pearl bracelet (pearls and sapphires are my absolute favorite) for V-day, he also got me the Denise circular needles I've been lusting after! Who is better than him? Nobody!

My very first project is of one that I cannot speak because it's a birthday present for a friend who I think occasionally checks this blog and I want it to be a total surprise. So as soon as I finish yet ANOTHER baby blanket (it's my own fault--talk about how many blankets you've made and then when your good coworker friend tells you his wife is preggers, you've already built up the hype), I'll get to work with my circulars.

The best thing about them? The wires are pink and a portion of the proceeds goes to fighting breast cancer. Okay that's two things, but they're both really cool!

Have A Zombilicious Birthday!

Our friend Sean (Sean of the Dead on Myspace for those of you who indulge) had a birthday yesterday, so a bunch of us gathered in Queens at an awesome little Irish pub to help him celebrate Sunday night (god, I love President's Day). In addition to the awesome Samhain sweatshirt that we got him, Brad and I collaborated on a birthday card...Sean is completely obsessed with Zombies (in case you didn't get that from the SOTD reference), so we took pains to make sure the card was zombie-appropriate.



Yeah, it's awesome. I'm pretty damned happy with that bad-boy. Happy Birthday Sean!

Hubby's Been Pimping Me...

Well, at least my scarves. There was a lady he worked with that was constantly complimenting him on the black and multi alpaca scarf I made him at the beginning of the winter (actually, I made it over the summer and it sat there until it was finally cold enough to wear). Her latest compliment resulted in him asking if she was interested in getting one made for herself. Well, it turns out she was, and Brad quoted a kind of low price (considering the amount of trips we had to make to various LYS to try and find the correct yarn/yarn colors), but when I finally finished it, I was really pleased. Apparently she was too :-) Happiness on all ends.

This is why you don't do an increase/decrease scarf...

So. My sock project. I need to learn increases and decreases before I felt comfortable diving in, so I figured I'd put that yarn that I was totally compelled to buy last week to good use and make Hubby a new scarf--with increases and decreases--and kill two birds with one stome (though you know I don't believe in killing birds). The alpaca one I made last year is sheading like a MF-er.

So I cast on, decrease, increase, write out pattern as I go along. At about 40 rows into it I realize that this is just not going to work. The triangles are curling in. What is the point of doing all that work if it's just going to roll up? So I frogged it and started over--this time a simpler stockinette/garter combo which I'll post pics of once I'm further along. But the increase/decrease wavey scarf did look cute. Until it rolled up.




***I took the photos at work and then frogged it on the train going home. That resulted in some odd looks, let me tell you.

Smallest Swatch Ever

After frogging my first swatch half-way through because it was so obviously too big, I had a tiny strand of yarn that I couldn't use because I (like a big brute) pulled too hard and broke it. So I'm looking at my beautiful yarn, saying to myself, "What can I possibly use this for?" Hence, I grabbed my tiny #1 needles and I give you (drumroll, please, the smallest swatch ever (only 8 stitches across!!!)



And before you ask, yes. I am so anal retentive that each yarn band gets an index card with a snippet of the yarn. This time I decided to go even more nuts and actually make a swatch, because, well, I'm nuts.

Granny's Scarf...

I made Granny (Brad's grandmother who I heart a lot, a lot) a variation of Jenn's super cute scarf...I used really snuggly yarn...Bernat Softee Chunky yarn in Natural and Heather Grey. I used the same pattern as Jenn's scarf, except added an extra row on either end and used two colors instead of one. Switch to a 6.0 mm crochet hook. I gotta tell you, it literally took me two days total to work this project up. I'm not sure if it was because I only had two days before I had to give it to her or because the yarn itself was really nice to work with, but I highly recommend this yarn for doing quick projects. It's fabulous.



Brad modeling Granny's scarf:


She loved it! :-)

Knitting shish-ke-bab

So I've been knitting for around two months now--I've done swatches and scarves and I'm sort of over them. I wanted something new; I wanted a challenge. My mom-in-law gave me the book Knitting Help by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee...and I gotta tell you, she makes you believe you can do anything. So after hours of browsing patterns--both in my ever-growing knitting library and on the internet--I decided that I wanted to knit socks. Socks! The perfect knitted garment--offering almost every technique I wanted to learn: increases, decreases, ribbing, graphing, even cables if I wanted to.

I found the perfect (though tiny) yarn at School Products--the oldest yarn store in NYC and the tiniest needles I've ever worked on--a nifty new set of bamboo DPNs (3.00 mm)--and got to work on my swatch (only after finally unraveling the damned yarn; could someone please explain how to roll twisted skeins of yarn into balls without getting the whole thing all tangled? Please? It's killing me). I cast on. Thirty stitches and three rows later and I began to wonder--am I going to really be able to knit with these DPNs? It felt like I was knitting shish-ke-bab; the needles are so damned light. They really feel like those bamboo skewer thingys you use to make shish-ke-babs! I'm just not used to it. I'll plow through the swatch, but I think I have to look for heavier and more sturdy needles. Otherwise I think I might accidentally sit on one and and a) break them or b) puncture something.

My pretty, pretty yarn (I know you're jealous):