Another nice weekend.
April 3rd, 2006What a beautiful weekend we had! Jim and I are wishing we had a yard to spend it in. We're going to start looking for a new place, closer to where we're both working. As it is right now, we're both commuting about 45 minutes north, so it makes sense to live there too; save some money on gas.
I got to spend some time on Saturday with some great Girl Scouts. They all seemed so eager to learn how to crochet! I was very happy to be able to teach them. I learned some things from them as well. I've always used a hook to crochet, but many of these girls had alreadly learned how to crochet using their fingers. I was pretty impressed at how fast they were going. I was even shown how to crochet using the "already crocheted" chain as the yarn! It gave me some ideas. We'll see if any of them surface someday. As I was about to leave they gave me a box of Thin Mints! I was so surprised. I wasn't expecting anything. Thank you so much girls!
doot de doo...
March 29th, 2006I'm sooo happy to be finishing up the garments for Classic Elite's Fall 06 collection. I feel like I've been working on them forever! I'll be happy to be able to start something else... or finish one of my WIP's, I've got plenty to choose from, hehe.
Our trip to Niagra Falls was fun. It took a lot longer to get there than we had originally anticipated – 12 hours! We took the scenic route through Vermont, which wasn't on a highway, but rather a state route with an annoyingly low speed limit. We avoided that way on the way back and saved ourselves 2 hours. I'm glad I got to see the falls though, I had never been before, so it was an experience. We had a beautiful day too! The sky was nice and clear and the sun tried really hard to keep us warm.
I preordered one.
March 23rd, 2006This morning I received this e-mail that was titled "Spring" and the only content was this link: http://www.onlyrevolutions.com. After poking around the site a bit I realized that it is the website for a new book by one of my favorite authors Mark Z. Danielewski. If you ever have the time to read "House of Leaves" I highly suggest you do so. I warn you, however, that this book caused me months of mental stress and there were many times during that period that my dreams/nightmares were mistaken for reality. I actually had to take three months off from the book to ground myself before completing it. It's definately worth it all though! The instant I finished the book, I paused for a second, then began again from the begining.
scary, scary, SCARY!
March 21st, 2006I saw Saw 2 last night. I really don't know what I was thinking! The first one scared the crap out of me, so of course I didn't learn my lesson and watched the second one. I think this one scared me more than the first one. It's just the idea of someone kidnapping people and forcing life or death situations on them to teach them a lesson that scares me. I was left wondering what I would do in any of those situations and I almost feel like I need to really analyze my life and appreciate everything, for the fear of being put into a situation like that. It's almost like I "know" it will never happen, but how can you ever be so positive about it, ya know? Needless to say nightmares and a restless night followed. I still get tense thinking about it.
I hope they don't make another one.
What a weekend!
March 20th, 2006So, getting back to why I'm glad the weekend's over... On Saturday we had to pick up Jim's parents at the airport. We had planned our day around picking them up around 6. I'm really glad we checked their flight's schedule online before going into Logan, it was now coming in at 7:18. Of course, none of this is in any way their fault, or could it have been avoided in any way... So, we get to Logan around 7:30 figuring they'd have enough time to get their bags and to the car. Around 7:45 we decided to go park the car (after making a lap and getting lost...) We wandered over to their terminal and searched around their baggage claim. We couldn't find them anywhere! Around 8:15, after laping the terminal about 20 times and leaving about 5 friendly voicemails to his mom's cell, we decided that they must be on another flight (there was another one coming in at 8:40). Jim and I were pretty hungry after all that exercise, so we found a nice expensive airport Au Bon Pain to have dinner at. At about 9 Jim got a phone call from his mom (yay, they're alive!), they were indeed on the later flight and she had tried many many times to text message Jim to let him know, but none went through.
The radar at the airport they departed from was down, and they had taken a small plane into that airport from a small island. From what I gathered the little plane was 45 minutes late making them late for their original flilght, plus it was overbooked, so they ended up taking the later flight. I'm not sure of all the details, but needless to say, their day wasn't too great either. Well, it's nice to have them home all in one piece.
feelin' icky
March 14th, 2006Ever have one of those days when you just don't want to drag yourself out of bed, your body feels like it weighs 1000 pounds, and your head is filled with goo? Sorry for being so descriptive, but today was one of those days for me. I hadn't had strep throat for as long as I can remember, but sinse January, I've had it twice. Believe me, it's no fun. I started taking anti-biotics for it yesterday, and the doctor said I should be feeling better by tonight. I'm sure that my sleeping most of the day will help some. I plan on going into work tomorrow, so lets all hope I'm feeling well enough to think.
... and they're off!
March 9th, 2006I was able to come up with 4 designs to submit to Vogue Knitting, 3 of which I am very happy with. I still have 2 weeks to come up with more designs for Interweave Knits. I have one right now, but I'd like to submit more.
I'm beginning to get slightly overwhelmed with the thought of how much knitting I could be forcing on myself. I really enjoy it, but I don't want to overload myself. So if anyone would like to do some knitting for me (paid of course) please contact me. I'm a real stickler for deadlines, and I would like anyone who knits for me to be as well.
Please include the following information:
• Your contact information
• Skill Level
• if you prefer cables, fair isle, lace, short rows, etc (please include all that you enjoy)
• a link to photos of your knitted work. (please do not attach files to the e-mail, I'm afraid of viruses)
• Any other information that you think I might like to know.
I will do my best to get back to everyone who contacts me, please don't take it personally if it takes me a little longer than you expected.
Niagra Falls, aye
March 8th, 2006So, Jim's dad asked us if we would like to join him in a weekend trip to Niagra Falls. I've never been, so I'm pretty excited. It's only a 6 hour drive, and between the 3 of us, it should be a piece of cake. I'm concerned that to go over to the Canadian side that we'll need a passport or our birth certificates or something, neither of which I have readily available to me. I could probably find my birth certificate if I looked pretty hard, but I wouldn't really know where to start.
As for knitting related things, I have 4 designs ready to go to magazines. There are 2 or 3 more in the works. I'm not sure which ones I should send to which magazines though. When they're all finished (which needs to be by tomorrow at the latest) I'll ask my co-workers to give me a hand deciding.
Speaking of work... my computer's fixed! Yay! The computer doctor replaced practically everything inside, except the hard drive. He didn't know what caused it to die, but he said it was nothing I did. I'm so relieved that the hard drive was okay.
the most clever shirt ever!
March 4th, 2006not such a great day...
March 2nd, 2006Well, today hasn't been such a great day. Shortly after I got to work my step father called to inform me that my grandmother (mom's mom) had passed away. While I had never really been close to her, she had been coming around more often lately and I was beginning to get to know her better. It really bummed me out to hear that she is gone. I've accepted that she no longer has to struggle with cancer, but it's a hard thing to get used to.
To boot... my work computer decided to die today also. I sent something to print and the monitor went blank, the fans made the computer sound like it was on the verge of expolsion and I could no longer use it... After talking to the Apple people for about an hour, I learned that there was nothing I could do to revive it, I had to wait for the computer doctor to come on Monday... Needless to say, that I'm nervous that the hard drive will be affected by this, and I had to start over on the posters that we need for this weekend. On the brighter side, I already have my old computer set up in my office, so I don't need to deal with the frustration of setting that up... Maybe tomorrow will be better.
happy monday!
February 27th, 2006This was a rather productive weekend for me! I finished the knitting on that Lush garment I've been working on, and I've got the shoulders and the left arm on! Woo! I was also able to complete 2 swatches to submit somewhere.
Also, we've now got 2 eggs! Omar layed another one yesterday afternoon. How exciting... we're going to continue calling her Omar... she knows it as her name.
now we've got an egg
February 24th, 2006Jim and I have 2 pet cockatiels; Tweak and Omar. We had Tweak for some time before his squacking for attention drove us completely batty. We weren't really interested in baby birdies so we opted to get another bird, as long as it was male.
So... then came Omar. He's a sweety... yeah, so Tweak has been recently trying to do naughty things to Omar and we were getting concerned that Omar wasn't as male as we had once thought he was. Today we got our proof. For this last year or so we've thought Omar was a boy... Now we've got an egg.
short rows...
February 23rd, 2006Well, I appologize for my lack of posts recently. Nothing's really been happening... no, that's not true. I've just been busy. I'm working on knitting up a garment in Lush (a beautiful, soft yarn). I must say that this is becoming a favorite of mine. Working on a size 8 needle, it goes quickly. I began last Thursday and I'm finished with a Sleeve, the Back and part of the Front already! I'm really enjoying it too! I plan on finishing over the weekend... We shall see. I'm also making a swatch to submit to Vogue Knitting in this yarn. This garment is much larger, and a bit more complicated... you know, short rows and all... I'm just loving those short rows! |
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Dishcloth Cotton,
February 16th, 2006Have you ever wondered what kind of yarn you are? To be honest, I never did either, but i saw a link that asked me. So, I thought I'd find out. I didn't really have any expectations, but I was kinda disapointed to learn that I was dishcloth cotton. I blame the Christian Slater question for this. The only movie title I recognized was Bed of Roses... and I don't remember what that was about. Now, if Kuffs was an option, I bet I would have been something at least slightly more luxurious than dishcloth cotton... ah well.
You are Dishcloth Cotton.
You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
What kind of yarn are you?
snowy weekend,
February 13th, 2006Jim and I got to house-sit over the weekend. It was really nice having a house all to ourselves. We're so used to our (relatively small) apartment, all the extra space seemed kinda vacant with just the two of us and a dog. We had to make sure our cat had some love and affection too, so we bounced back and forth. It was slightly confusing living at two places at once, I had to plan ahead which projects I wanted to work on. In a way it kept me organized. If I only had one project with me, I could only work on that project. Needless to say, I got a lot done on one of my Classic Elite projects. They need to be in by March 20th, so you may not see many changes to the website before then. All my time right now is dedicated to yarn. I'm also trying to come up with 3 designs to submit to Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting. Their submission deadlines are sometime mid march for their Winter 2006/2007 issues. I'm hoping to be able to get into one, or both of them...
~happy knittting~
as you can see,
February 7th, 2006I've finally got this page looking like the rest of my site... I cheated though. I couldn't stand the mess I had made the other day, so I decided to just make everything into HTML. It's much less interactive, as you may have noticed... no one's allowed to leave comments or login anymore (don't worry – it's only temporary). I received my books last night, and Chapter 1 of this book has already taught me a lot, so don't fret! This page will be just as happy and fun as it once was, but it will look better.
As for yarn stuff... Yesterday, I mailed out those scarfs for the Vogue Knitting on the Go book – Crochet Scarfs II. I'm happy to be finished with something. I tend to start SO many projects at once, and work on them all at the same time. I wouldn't recommend this process for someone who enjoys the excitement of finishing a project. I do it because I am easily distracted and can only concentrate on something for so long before wanting to do something else... Don't get me wrong, things get done, but usually everything is partially done for a long time then everything is finished at once.
and the results are…
February 5th, 2006A BIG MESS.
So, as you can see, I’ve started trying to fix this page.
It still needs a LOT of TLC, but I sp’ose it will have to stay this way for a bit until I get those books I’ve ordered… I haven’t told you about these, but I ordered 2 books on PHP and MySQL. Hopefully these will help guide me through working with my new website.
I plan on getting some sort of e-mail newsletter system set up so I can update, everyone whenever a new pattern is available. My goal is to get a new one up every other month. I would love to get one up every month, but we all know, realistically, that’s not going to happen.
As for now, if you would like to be added to this e-mail list, send me an e-mail and I’ll keep you on file.
Patterns…
February 2nd, 2006I just heard from Classic Elite that they have accepted two of my designs! It just so happens, that these are the two designs that I had already written the patterns for. That makes life easier. There is also a crochet scarf that they asked me to write the pattern for. They didn’t choose the Tigress Coat design. I’m debating if I should make one for myself anyway! We shall see how things go. I am working on a Princess pullover pattern with short row shaping for the bust. It is quite beautiful, and I really want to finish it soon! Once I do, I’ll be posting the pattern in the patterns section. I don’t want to show it to you until it’s finished though.
My mom, had also submitted a crochet design to Classic Elite, that they accepted. I’m really happy for her, it’s a beautiful design! I called her right when I found out yesterday and she was super excited. This will be her first time having something published. Keep your eyes peeled for a Duchess Crochet Scarf… coming Fall 2006!
weekend fun…
January 30th, 2006As you may know, I greatly dislike that this blog page doesn’t match the rest of my site. So, I’m making baby steps toward fixing it. Php is a more complex language than html, so it’s going to take some effort to learn. My friend Ed came over yesterday to give me a lesson on the basics of php. **Thanks Ed**. I really enjoy learning more about php. It is like smart html. There is so much more you can do with it, so I’m going to keep learning! Hopefully, with what I’ve learned so far, I’ll be able to tweak this blog template enough to make myself happy with the results.
In the yarn world… I was just asked by a friend of my step-mom to teach some Girl Scouts how to crochet! That’s pretty exciting. I remember being a Girl Scout, long ago. My favorite meetings were the ones where we learned a new craft. I’m so honored to be able to teach one of my favorite things to our next generation. Maybe it will stick with one of them!
note to self…
January 27th, 2006Don’t drink an energy drink at 9:30 PM. You’ll lie in bed for an hour then realize that you won’t wake up early enough to shower, so you decide to shower then… at 12:30. Then sit awake for an hour and wait for your hair to dry, because you don’t like to go to bed with wet hair.. which is why you shower in the morning…
Hey, neet!
January 26th, 2006As I was poking around the web I stumbled upon this and I LOVE IT! I totally want to make a pair for myself. I’ve got bunches of shoes that I don’t like the appearance of, but are comfy. This is definately going into my list of things to make someday.
yarn, yarn everywhere…
January 25th, 2006So, yesterday was the deadline to have design submissions in at Classic Elite. I proudly submitted 6 designs, one of which is a coat in Tigress. I’ve wanted to make a Tigress Coat since I first saw this yarn. Take a look at the colors and let me know if there are any particular colors you enjoy.
I should know by the middle of next week which designs (if any) they decided to use for the Fall 06 season. I love the anticipation! I know better than to get disappointed if my designs aren’t chosen. I’ll just submit them someplace else, or make one myself and put the pattern up on here for you to decide if you like it or not.
On another topic, I’m rather disappointed in the yarn choice for one of my crochet scarfs. The original design was intended to be quaint and elegant. Using the yarn that was chosen i needed to increase the hook size by 3 sizes and the scarf is now 3″ wider than it was originally intended to be and much more of a casual-every day type of design. I’m beginning to accept the “new” design as it is, but it’s definately not what I had in mind. This type of thing makes me less interested in submitting designs to outside sources. I’m better off publishing my own designs as I want them to be… Someday I’ll do this, but not yet.
the best part of the night…
January 20th, 2006My sister is getting married in September, so last night we went to a “tasting” at the reception place, which is also the place where she’s having the wedding. I’d never been to a tasting before, so this was pretty interesting. They had bite size pieces of everything! I have never seen so many toothpicks.
We were all glad that we went. She chose 2 entrees for her guests to choose from, the Beef Tenderloin (which was one of my favorites) and the Haddock Supreme (for those fish lovers). If we didn’t go, she would have chosen the Chicken Piccata rather than the beef tenderloin, which, as it turns out, wasn’t all that great.
Of course, the best part of the night was the cake…
… and the yarn’s exposed.
January 19th, 2006So… Hi!
I’ve been meaning to get some sort of blog up for awhile. I don’t know why really… but here it is. Woo!
I’m not satisfied with the appearance of this page, however. I need to figure out how WordPress works before I can really change it to how the rest of the site looks. So, we’re all going to just have to deal with it for a little while… or a long while, depends on how busy I get.
I’m still in the process of getting everything up to par with where I want it. Soon, I hope to change what happens when you click on the images in the patterns section. We shall see what I come up with.
As for yarn related stuff…
I have recently been informed that two of my crochet scarf designs have been chosen to go into Vogue’s Crochet Scarf’s II book! I’m super excited, and can’t wait to get started on them. Tanis sent out the yarn today, so I should be receiving it tomorrow. I’m keeping all the juicy info secret. I’m still relatively new to this designing stuff, and I’m not sure what I can and can’t say, so I’m playing it safe. You’ll just have to find out when the book is published. I’ll be sure to let you know when that is.
Okay, well… I guess that’s it for now…
