Sick Blogger

Well I’ve been a bad blogger lately… Last week I was completely knocked out with the "death cold" that has been making the rounds around my office. It sucked. Hard. I’m finally, finally starting to feel better. I hate being sick…. And I hated using my sick time this early in the year… and it really sucked since Matt had to work real late almost every night last week so I was pretty much sick and lonely and whiny. And I was too hopped up on the day-quil to even really knit anything substantial – just a few basic scarves out of some stash yarn that I had from Christmas. Oh yeah! I never posted the knitting stuff that I got for Christmas! I'll do that now to beef up a boring post about being sick....

I got this box from my Aunt Lynn (who is a new knitter herself)

It containes Eros Eyelash Tweed (which is what I used to make one of the sick scarves – I’ll post pics tomorrow), Eros Miracle (which will also probably become a novelty scarf), size 13 and 10.5 bamboo needles, and a ball of Baby Alpaca that I have no idea what to do with. Is that what you knit lace out of? Hmmmm…. Perhaps some internet research is necessary.

From my grandma I received this:
It’s a box of her hand-dyed wool "experiments" Each one has a label on it that says what she did! I can’t wait to try dying – she’s going to show me how to do it when I go to visit her in Florida in a few weeks. I think this yarn is destined to become felted bags… not sure yet.

And from my mom I received this:
It’s a kit for a beaded bag that I’ve been eyeing at the yarn store for awhile now. I can’t wait to try it but I think beads and thin, cotton yarn are more of a summer knitting project so I’m holding onto it until warmer weather.

So while I was sick I also made a Patons Merino scarf for Matt. I’m completely addicted to Patons Merino by the way…. Well… at least when it goes on sale 40% off at Catans! 229 yards of nice, soft merino for less than $4.00? Awesome. I made the boyfriend scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts…. Has anyone ever made this? Warning… it curls! I like the pattern a lot but not so much the curling. It’s currently blocking on my guest bed – I stretched it out pretty good and hopefully the curling will calm down a little. I’ll post pics once it’s finished blocking.

I’ve also been a bad secret pal – my SP7 sent me a post card from New York last week and I have yet to blog about it! So anyways – thanks for the post card!!! I wonder if she lives in New York or was just visiting or what… hmmmm. It was really nice to get a card while I was sick – Thanks SP!!!

And finally – thanks for all of your comments on the dog sweater! I think I’m going to send the one of both of them sitting on the chair. Matt wants to help me write the email, though – and he’s been crazy busy lately so we haven’t done it yet. I’ll let you know how it all goes….

Superbowl!!!

So here it is… them moment you’ve been waiting for…. A picture of Dexter in his Steelers Dog Sweater!


I finished it like 5 min. after kickoff. And since I had extra yarn leftover and needed something mindless to knit during the game I also made this….



It looks like just a nice, merino wool, Steelers hat…. But it’s actually the funniest thing I’ve ever knit before. Check out Exhibit A:



Oooooh yeah. They have matching outfits!!!!! Which I just think is hil-ar-ious but could possibly be a sign that I’ve taken the knitting too far and need to put the needles down and back away slowly. Check out Exhibit B:



Not sure who looks more annoyed in those pictures… the dog or my husband… hmmm. Although I know he likes the hat since he wore it to work today….. and he’s positively crazy about football right now. I had no idea how much football coverage there is on TV. Did you know there is an entire NFL network? Yeah I didn’t either… and Matt has taken to recording things about the Steelers for me to watch later. No seriously – he wants me to watch hours of coverage on games that were played before I was born – and records it for me. Right now I’m finding the obsession kind of cute –I mean when else do you get to be that into it but when your team is in the championship? But by Superbowl Sunday I think I’ll have had enough football talk for a loooong looooong looooong time.

so yeah here’s some more cute pictures of my dog. I think I’m going to post one in the comments of Big Ben’s blog. Yup…Ben Roethlisburger has his own blog… and he likes to read the comments from fans – and he posts about his dog a lot – so I think he’d get a kick out of this. Which picture should I send him?

A Steelers Dog Sweater?!

That would be the Steelers sweater that I am knitting – for my dog – that needs to be done by SUNDAY. What is wrong with me? I’m a Cleveland girl and I’m frantically knitting a STEELERS sweater. FOR MY DOG. Notice how the stripes match the sleeves of the real Steelers jerseys perfectly? Notice the size 7 needles?
I am a great wife.

The Weekend of Wine

It’s Monday night and I’m still a little red-wine hungover…. What can I say – it was a great weekend. I did manage to drag myself to work today but spinning did not happen. I deserve to be shamed… especially since I don’t want to miss knitting again so kickboxing tomorrow is out… I’m going to have to kick some butt on Wed at "Lance’s" class to make up for it.

So yeah… Friday night we ended up going bowling after randomly meeting up with some people at the Warren Tavern… which by the way it sucks so bad that they are moving. It was such a good standby neighborhood bar… and so close to us!!! Oh well. Bowling was a ball… I forgot how much I like to bowl. I don’t think we’ve been since back in the day when we were in this league with our college class every Wed. night. Man those were funtimes. Anyways all of the bowling banter came back easily – and I was screaming "That’s the way you bowl" enough to make even Baker proud…. And doing the X handshake thing when someone scored a strike… although I think it was the "Iron Fist of Fury" that was really into that move and not my bowling team – "I can’t believe it’s not Gutter" Funtimes Funtimes. Here's the group shot.... more pics are on the photo blog in the January 2006 gallery.

Then Saturday night we went on a fantastic double date with Osam and Alyson. We started out at Fire – the new trendy restaurant on Shaker Square. It was really nice – good atmosphere, good food, good service, and great wine. I ordered the pork that was cooked in the clay fire oven. It was really, really good. Oh and I also got the tomato/prochutto soup. It was seriously the best soup I’ve had that was just soup and not stew. Matt had the swordfish and he didn’t like the sauce it was in too much – too sweet I guess. But overall I would recommend the restaurant. After that we went to the Cleveland Playhouse to see "A Streetcar Named Desire" I had never seen or read this play so I was going in blind. Wow. What a play. The acting was wonderful – especially the 2 women. They just did a tremendous job. Definitely worth seeing. Unfortunately I have no pictures from this evening out since I completely forgot to take any – the camera was in my purse and everything! Oh well.

Then Sunday. Sunday was great for so many reasons. See I got a pasta machine for Christmas (you know – one of the old fashioned crank things that flattens the dough?) and I suggested one night at knitting having some people over to make pasta. Well Matt was having some people over to watch the game Sunday and the significant others ended up coming too. Since none of the significant others wanted to watch football we decided to use that time to make pasta. It grew from there – we ended up having a full on meal with homemade sauce, meatballs, sausage, mozerella salad, cranberry crumble, and most importantly fresh pasta. It was sooo fun. We went through a ton of wine and basically spent all day in the kitchen drinking and cooking while the guys watched football and played darts… Kindof 1950’s I know – women slaving away while the guys watch the game – eh. I think we had more fun than they did! That and we made them do all of the dishes…We actually had a sit down dinner – I even dug out the placemats I got as a shower gift and everything. First time I ever used those… we had to drag our kitchen table and the table from the basement into the dining room to seat everyone! It seriously looked like a family holiday meal set up.. in our house! How cool is that! And I’m just so glad that the Steelers won… there were a few moments at the end of the game (like when the clear interception was called an incomplete pass) that things got real ugly in the other room. The girls were joking that we should have started a drinking game – every time Matt screamed "fuck", "refs" or "unbelievable" we’d have to drink. But somehow they won and poor Bettis didn’t have to have his last play in the NFL be a fumble. That would have been horrible. Anyways here we are working hard:

Jill is the queen of sausage 'n meatballs.

Alice working the machine.
Wine is essential to pasta dough making. That and my kitchen-aid mixer.

Jessica working the machine, Alyson making fresh mozz. salad.

And here's what the guys were up to:




Things got a little ugly toward the end of the evening:


But check out all that pasta!!!

And finally - the group shot. Notice how nice the table looks!!!


So needless to say I didn’t knit anything this weekend. I’m like 80% done with the armwarmers that I’m making for my husband’s aunt. I need to finish those up ASAP so that I can finally get around to knitting Dexter the Steeler’s sweater I promised Matt I’d make him months ago. He wants it for next week so the dog is set for the Denver game (and dare I say possibly even the superbowl?). We’ll see if that actually happens though since I think I might paint the bathroom this weekend. Yup. I can’t handle the off-peach anymore… I’m thinking either white (blah), light blue to match the tile, or perhaps even wall paper if I can find a pattern that's not horrible…. We’ll see.

Angela & Mary Belt Patterns

I knit these two ribbon belts as gifts for my cousins, Angela and Mary. I included the "patterns" that I used but really any repetition of drop stitches using really cool ribbon yarn will make a great belt!

Angela’s Belt:
Tartlette yarn from Knit One Crochet Too’s Gourmet Collection in colorway 0260 (Pomegranate)– I used about ¾ of a skein
Size 15 needles

Cast on 7 stitches
Knit 5 rows
Row 6: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle. Repeat across.
Row 7: Knit one, drop wrapped yarn off of needle. Repeat across.
Knit 4 rows

Begin pattern as follows:
Row 1 of pattern: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle two times. Repeat across.
Row 2 of pattern: Knit one, drop two wrapped loops off of needle. Repeat across.
Row 3 of pattern: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle one time. Repeat across.
Row 4 of pattern: Knit one, drop wrapped yarn off of needle. Repeat across
Knit 2 rows
Row 7 of pattern: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle one time. Repeat across.
Row 8 of pattern: Knit one, drop wrapped yarn off of needle. Repeat across.
Row 9 of pattern: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle two times. Repeat across.
Row 10 of pattern: Knit one, drop two wrapped loops off of needle. Repeat across.
Knit 4 rows.

Repeat pattern until just shorter than length desired (measure around your waist and add about 12 inches – keep in mind that drop stitch patterns tend to stretch longer with use).
Next Row: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle two times. Repeat across.
Next Row: Knit one, drop two wrapped loops off of needle. Repeat across.
Knit 5 rows
Bind off.

Add fringe. A nice touch is to make uneven fringe and add large beads randomly.


Mary’s Belt
Checkmate Yarn by Trendsetters in colorway #1329 – I used about ¾ of a ball
Size 13 needles

Cast on 6 stitches
Knit 5 rows

Begin pattern as follows:
Row 1: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle once. Repeat across.
Row 2: Knit one, drop wrapped loop off of needle. Repeat across.
Knit 4 rows
Row 6: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle two times. Repeat across.
Row 7: Knit one, drop two wrapped loops off of needle. Repeat across.
Knit 4 rows.

Repeat pattern until just shorter than length desired (measure around your waist and add about 12 inches – keep in mind that drop stitch patterns tend to stretch longer with use).

Next Row: Knit one, wrap yarn around needle once. Repeat across.
Next Row: Knit one, drop wrapped loop off of needle. Repeat across.
Knit 5 rows
Bind off
Add fringe.

Decisions, Decisions

So I’m getting fidgety. I really, really want to get the hell outta dodge. And I’m torn by all of the options… and by trying to be responsible with things… and by wanting new furniture and to redo our living room and kitchen…. so many places to go and things to do and so little disposable income and vacation time. Some friends of ours are doing a ski weekend in April at Vail. Never been skiing out west and I’d love to go… but then on the other hand my grandparents are going to Italy this year (with my parents and my aunt, uncle, and cousins) and they may not go again. But I’ve kindof already done that trip…although Matt hasn’t - he missed the best parts last time – the parts in the little tiny towns in Tuscany and the big party in Avezzano – and doing that with family is indescribably amazing…especially if this is the last time my grandparents ever go…And it's not like we've seen all of Italy - Matt would love to go to Milan and I, Olympics addict that I, am would be thrilled at getting to Turino - But it's not like anyone is pressuring us to go...And I know we’ll have many more opportunities to ski out west… and Matt’s already done that anyways even if I haven't. And it’s been Vegas week on the travel channel which really, really makes me want to do another Vegas trip with friends. God those are fun. And a whirlwind weekend with the girls would be so nice right about now....And not that long ago Matt was lamenting not ever being to New York City and we were talking about a New York trip in the spring for our birthdays. And there was talk of a left coast trip this summer to visit friends with friends. And none of this takes Peru/Asia into consideration. And if we’re gonna go to Peru/Asia it needs to be in the next couple of years or chances are it’s never gonna happen…. And that will suck down all of the vaca time we have for an entire year. Plus if we’re serious about Peru/Asia we need to start putting money aside soon or we won’t be able to do it… but it’s real hard to put money away when you have third-hand-me-down furniture that’s starting to fall apart and a depressing, grade-school blue living room….And we’re already travelling two weekends in Feb. and that’s not going to be cheap…and we have to decide what we’re doing nowish or we’re going to miss out on both the Vail trip and Italy….

Anyways, sorry - that was pretty stream-of-consciousness but that’s what’s going on with me. I’m sure we’ll figure it all out soon… and all of our options are really good options. It’s just making the decision that's the hard part... then the fun of travel planning and home redecorating can begin!

Ok. I have to go make dinner now… my parent’s and brother are coming over and I know we’ll talk about Italy so this was weighing on my mind….I'll get back to posting about the knitting tomorrow.

Grandma & Andy Slippers

Slowly but surely I'm making it through all of my knit Christmas Gifts. Here's another one to brighten up your Tuesday... Oh yeah and I won't be at SnB tonight. I have to go to a kickboxing class as penance for missing spinning yesterday. I was SHAMED by Jill so I'm kickboxing instead of knitting.... anyways... here's the slippers that I knit for my brother and my grandmother:

Pattern: Striped Slipper Socks in Knit One, Felt Too (Large for Andy, Small for Grandma)
Modifications: I added rows after turning the heel on Jessica and Jill’s suggestion – apparantly the slippers turn out rather small once felted. Also (obviously) I didn’t do the striping.
Yarn: Both used random gray wool from grandma (nothing like knitting a gift for someone out of their own yarn!), the black in Andy’s is Cascade 220 and the Pink on grandma’s is Patons Classic Merino That's Pink.
What I would Change: Nothing – adding a few rows to the length worked really well. I think I need a pair (perhaps in noro? they'd be adorable in noro)!!!

Secret Pal Seven Questionnaire

Ok… Here’s my answers to the Secret Pal Seven Questionnaire!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?
Um… I’m trying not to be but more and more I think I’m turning into one. It’s just that if I’m going to spend so much time on something I want it to be as nice as possible – and usually that means using nice yarn. Although my idea of really, really nice yarn is Knitpicks… So I guess you could say I have champagne tastes on a beer budget.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I tried Crochet for Crochet Crazy May with my SnB… and made a whole bunch of pink and purple acrylic granny squares. I haven’t touched it since…. I sortof know how to spin and even own a drop spindle but it’s not something that I’m very into right now. So I guess the answer is no to both.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A drawer and the storage that comes with the Denise Kit.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I learned to knit years ago but didn’t pick it up in force until college when I made a bunch of semi-hideous acrylic scarves for my roommates. But I really have only been knitting seriously for about a year and a half – so I’m probably an intermediate. I’ve made a sweater and learned cabling but I have yet to lace knit or do socks.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Nope.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I’m pretty picky about scents as I get migraines and strong, perfumy smells are something that can give me an instant headache… so anything mild. Vanilla is usually good.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes. Love me some chocolate.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
Create things out of beads, paint and decorate my house, sew (I'm just starting to learn), and I’ll pretty much try anything once.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Honestly I’m not that into music. I guess I just don’t know where to start as far as what to listen to. I borrow a lot of cd’s and MP3’s from people at work and I pretty much like anything…. And am willing to be educated!

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I tend to like reds and pinks a lot. I always seem to be really attracted to those colors… I’m not really a blue person so much because I don’t look that good in blue… Actually I think it’s more that I like warm colors more than cool colors.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a husband and the cutest dog ever.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, Yes, Yes, Not really.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I really like lamb’s pride to knit and felt with. It turns out so nice! Although I’m very sensitive to wool so I wouldn’t be able to wear it (without wearing something under it).. but it is so nice to knit with! I also like Andean silk – I’ve only made one thing with it so far but it’s so soft! I also seem to hoard ribbon yarn... I've made the ribbon x-back and about a billion scarf/belts.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Anything scratchy…. I like my knitting to be as soft as possible.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Not sure. I’m making a second pair of armwarmers but that’s not really an obsession. I’m an ADD knitter- I’ll try anything once and then get bored of it and move on. Although I am really, really digging cables at the moment.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m a big fan of quick knits… although I did enjoy knitting the sweater… but on the whole… anything that I can crank out in a week or less.

17. What are you knitting right now?
A pair of armwarmers in some stash wool-ease for my husband’s aunt, and a beaded bag from a kit that I got for Christmas.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Always!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circular

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I use the Denise Kit for everything although I love the bamboo double points that I have…actually I really like the feel of bamboo in general… and I’m dying to try the addi-turbos that everyone has been raving online about.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No but my mom and grandma both do!

22. How did you learn to knit?
My great-grandmother taught me how to knit, my grandmother taught me how to purl, and my mom refreshed my memory later on.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
About a year and a half…. It’s a wool-ease scarf that will probably never be finished (If I'm going to spend my time knitting a scarf on size 8 needles it's going to be out of something nicer than wool-ease!).

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Um… don’t know about animated character but my favorite animal hands down is my Rat Terrier, Dexter.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween and New Years although I always seem to have the most fun on the Fourth of July.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Beads.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None.

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
I’m dying to try Cashmerino Aran by Debbie Bliss I think? It’s called for in several of the patterns I’m checking out so it must be good… I’ve been stalking the Ribby Cardi and Hourglass Sweater knit alongs for awhile now…but I don't have either pattern. I think I want to make the Hourglass as I just finished a cardigan…

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I’d like to learn how to knit a raglan sweater in the round (the one I’ve made has set-in sleeves and was all knit straight… seaming it sucked hard) I also want to try lace knitting… perhaps in the spring.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Not a sock knitter… how do I measure my feet? Around, length? Need some help…

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
April 17

Grandma B’s Red Hat Ladies Scarf & Bag:

mHere's some more Christmas Knitting for you! My grandma Bobbie is very active in the Red Hat Ladies - she even went to their convention- in Vegas! Anyways I wanted to make her some fun accessories with that in mind.

Pattern: Sophie Bag – scarf "pattern" below.
Modifications: I ran out of black yarn at 52 rows… so that’s where I bound off. I added in the eyelash yarn every 4 rows. Also I knit the handle longer than asked for – about 36 inches in total. The bag was knit on size 11 instead of the 10.5 called for –I like the fabric made by felting worsted on that size the best.
Yarn: The eyelashy yarn is Trendsetters Sorbet color 12 (2 balls total), Patons Classic Merino in black for the body of the bag (leftover from Andy’s hat), Cascade 220 for the handle.
Timeline: These took me a little over a week of sporadic knitting (a lot of bus knitting this one).
What I would Change: I don't think anything - it all worked out nicely.

Sorbet Scarf Pattern: Cast on 13 stitches on size 15 needles. Knit every row. I knit one full ball, then knit the bag, then went back and added on about 1/3 of the second ball to the scarf. Whatever was left from that second ball after the scarf was as long as I wanted it to be became the handle of the bag.

Caspar, Balthasar, & M-something

Happy Epiphany Everyone!

Today the holiday season is officially over. Although according to Matt it ended on New Year’s Day when Dexter killed Santa:



Looking forward to a nice, long, hibernation this January….

Rgill's Rockin' Eve

Me, Rgill, & Jill all happy and ready to pop the champagne

So for New Year’s Eve (which is one of my fav. Holidays) I’m not so much into going bar-hopping since it’s always Amateur Night. And who wants to deal with Amateur drinkers… or drive… or any of that. So my friends and I usually get together and play games and drink. Which is the best way to spend it ever. This year Rgill threw the party and it was amazing. We got to see some old friends, play drunken Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture, randomly walk to a bar at 1AM and meet up with some people I hadn’t seen in forever, and listen to Matt’s "I puked in my mouth" story once again. Great story. Great times. Here’s some of my fav. Quotes from the weekend:

"Happy New Years I have a hat!" -Screamed/Slurred by Jill
"That’s what I get for making fun of the new girl" – LB
"I’m not going to hook up with you." – Jason
"Bitches shut up or I’ll puke in your face." – Matt
"Oh my god I spilled liquor on my dog! I’m such a bad owner. Oh my god!" – me horrified at what I had done "As long as you never have to wipe liquor off of a real baby, you’re fine." – Jason’s response
"If you don’t roll down window right now I’m going to throw up." – Matt "Let’s keep it up and see if he’s serious" – Jill

And here’s some more pics. You can see them all on my photoblog
Me & LB


Me (trying oh so hard not to have multiple chins) & Jill showing off our sweet fake eyelashes


Joe - he has a blog too! Check him out at Crazy World We Live In


The ride home - aren't they adorable!

2005 in review

I'm editing this to finish the rest of the questions.... but I was too lazy to add anymore pics.

Ok I’ve seen recaps of the year on several blogs so I thought I’d do one myself…. I’m just gonna throw in some random pics from the year to try out my new picture posting technique of using the html code from buzznet.

What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Bought a house
Had shingles
Owned a dog
Spent an entire year outside of school working a normal job
Spent an entire year married
Rowed on a crew
Blogged
Knit an entire garment – not counting scarves and hats.

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I always resolve that this will be the year that I quit chewing my nails for good. I always fail.

Did anyone close to you give birth? No

Did anyone close to you die? My great grandmother

What countries did you visit? None but I did get to go to Vegas.

What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? Vacation time!

What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 17 – day we made the offer on the house
Sept. 12 – got the keys to our house
Oct. 9 – 1 year wedding anniversary (although I guess that’s a date from 2004)

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying a house
And to a lesser degree throwing not one but 2 kick-ass parties for our friends. Sooo looking forward to this year’s bashes!

What was your biggest failure?
Being too lazy about keeping in touch with my friends.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes, I had shingles. It was awful. I still get pains from it when I’m stressed or dehydrated.

What was the best thing you bought?
Our house and our wedding pictures

Whose behavior merited celebration?
My husband – I can’t believe how together he was through the whole house-buying process considering how much he hates both paperwork and anything involving finances.
My mother – for everything she did for my great-grandmother.
Rebecca – she went to New Orleans to build habitat homes.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The usual.

Where did most of your money go?
Um… the house… I’m seeing a trend here.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Adding a rat-terrier named Dexter to our family…. And the house

What song will always remind you of 2005?
Anything by Muse

Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier? yes
b) thinner or fatter? same weight but less in shape (although after the holidays..ugh)
c) richer or poorer? poorer but with more equity

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Travel to see friends – but I always wish that.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Play videogames or watch my husband play videogames

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
LB. Hands down. Thank god we both have Cingular and therefore the minutes don't count against me!

Did you fall in love in 2005?
Kept falling in love actually….

How many one-night stands?
Dude I’m married.

What was your favorite TV program?
Lost and Arrested Development. Oh and Family Guy.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Noone comes to mind….

What was the best book you read?
The Time Traveler’s Wife – by Audrey Niffenegger - great unconventional love story.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Streaming BBC radio.

What did you want & get?
A dog. and a pasta machine. and of course the house.

What did you want & not get?
Peru.

What was your favorite film of this year?
Well… we don’t really go to the movies all that often… the only ones I saw from 2005 are Star Wars and Kong… neither of which is really a favorite of mine. I just went because my husband wanted to go.

What did you do on your birthday, & how old were you?
I turned 25 this year and we spent it in the ‘nati at Tke. Great sushi restaurant. Although I think Sushi Rock has better Sushi, I like Tke’s atmosphere better - much more lowkey.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not getting shingles.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
I can’t afford new clothes I’m saving for/just bought a house!

What kept you sane?
My husband, my family, my dog, my knitting and knowing that other people are in the same boat I am.

What political issue stirred you the most?
Civil Unions. How is limiting someone elses's civil rights going to defend marriage? Makes no sense.

Who did you miss?
My friends.

What was a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
Don’t try to waterski while drunk.

No more photos for me

Ok so I tried to post about another Christmas knit gift yesterday and I got an error message…but for some reason that post is showing up today.... apparently I’m out of photo space on Blogger. I didn’t know that was possible… so I have to completely reformat how I’m doing things. I have a buzznet account and I just started a flickr and a photobucket one… I’m not sure which way I’ll go yet – probably flickr since most people seem to use that although I like that photobucket gives me the html to the pic...wonder if any of the others do that. I’m going to spend the rest of lunch today setting it all up and playing around with it. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to some picture posting soon since the pics from New Years are epic…..

Oh and I checked out Typepad since all the cool kids have it… riiiight. Can’t afford to pay for a blog right now. Bummer… but I did find out that the quarterback of the Steelers has a blog… and I know a few Steelers fans read this – so here’s the link to Big Ben. He talks about his dog even more than I do!!!

Sister-in-law's Armwarmers

I'll post after I go shopping and spinning about RGill's Rockin' Eve - which was awesome. I have some kick ass pictures too... but for now here's yet another Christmas project:

I am so happy with the way these turned out. I was a little skeptical about the stripes and the colors and the cables in general… but man… now I want a pair and to make a pair for everyone I know! This pic was taken before I wove in the millions of ends:

Pattern: Natalya’s Gauntlets
Modifications: I added the 8 row stripes – love me some stripes. Very Dr. Seuss. "Oh the thinks you can think if only you try!"
I also somehow ended up with one less stitch on the thumb gusset (I was watching Trainspotting and not paying attention to my first row of increases). So I rolled with it. Then I cast on two stitches across the opening between the thumb and the hand. On the second row of the thumb I K2Tog and ended up with the # of stitches I needed. This worked well because then there was no sewing required afterwards and no hole between the thumb and the hand!
I added 4 rows of K1P1 ribbing on size 5's at the beginning and end of the pattern – I think it gave it a more finished look.
Oh and I knit the whole thing on size 7's b/c I wanted them to be a bit smaller.
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk in Bluebell and Navy. It took almost one complete ball of each. I love this yarn btw. Warmth of wool, sheen of silk, and oh so soft.
Timeline: These took me a over a week of monogamous knitting making them the second largest Christmas project timewise.
What I would Change: I would keep the number of stitches that the pattern calls for at the gusset but I would still pick up some stitches across the thumb opening. I also want to try some other fun stiping patterns or skip the stripes all together in the interest of time.