various items

Yesterday I made this:



it's a camera cozy for my new lovely camera I got for Christmas. It's in the Irish Hiking scarf pattern. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it since I have this:



A very much more sturdy and protective camera case.

I finished my Manos Moebius:



It's not long enough to double around my neck but if I should ever need to rob a bank or something it'll do just fine.



OK, more than likely I'd need it in brrrrrr cold weather or windy (or both) but I mean you just never know about the whole bank thing. It's good to be prepared ya know?

Here's a close up of the Manos all worked up. I just LOVE this yarn. Lucky me I have a smidge over a skein left too to find something wonderful to make with it.



Lastly, I'm finally making the 2nd lumberjack sock. Since it is Wendy's toe up sock pattern, I thought I'd show it to you a la Wendy.



Well, sorta, I don't have any bears of the proper size but I thought my lion would do.

Hope y'all have a good week!

yarn for blood

I've said before right in this very space, that it's good to have knitters in the family. Now, I know how it feels to be the other knitter. Today I got a call from my Mom, she was in the ambulance with my step Dad on the way to the hospital (yes, everything is OK, thank you, it was just a good scare). She asked me to meet here there. I put on all the appropriate garments to be seen in public and as I was zipping up my knitting bag I turned and grabbed a skein of dishcloth cotton and size 7 kneedles (yes, I am aware I spelled that wrong but EVERYTIME I go to type needles, I try to spell it kneedles. :) I can't be the only one...)

Once I got to the ER and found Mom, got the scoop on what's going on and all I said (noting the 3 bags by here feet that none were her knitting bag) I bought you knitting. She asked what I brought and we decided that while, yes, her purple scarf she's working on WOULD be better that this was better than nothing and could be as mindless or involved as she'd like. Plus, the woman has never knit dishcloths!

So, keep that in mind next time one of your beloved knitters calls you on the way to the ER, take her some knitting, just in case she didn't have time to grab hers :)

new TV

Well, I know it's probably not the best commentary on my life, but I couldn't stand the TV rolling like it was. Sadly, it wasn't the cable or the wind. A friend at work told me hers did the same thing. They had it repaired for an amount that was more than a new TV would cost and it started up again.

So, I went out this morning and bought a new TV.



It's not the biggest, or the bestest or flatest or whatnot but it's mine. :) And furthermore, it's the first TV I've ever bought so that makes it even better.

This does mean that I won't be getting a passport anytime soon (the two are bizarrely related in my life) but that's ok. I have daily plans to watch tv and no plans to go out of the country right now. Even if they're a little odd, a girl's got to have her priorities.

I heart electricity

Now that the power is stable I'm catching up on my blogs.

Stolen from midnight 2 sticks

1. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (First 3 letters of first name plus izzle)
Nikizzle

2. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Purple Cat

3. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name)
Ashlea Starkey

4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Hednibal

5. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Green Tea. (what?!?! that's not exciting. all the other Super Hero's are SO gonna make fun of my name...)

6. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's middle name)
Jean

7. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
Black Pepper... hehehe... or Black Bartholamew but if I go with Black Pepper, it'll stay with the whole "product already exists" theme I seem to have going with my alter ego names.

grrrr

When I came home tonight, this is what my tv looked like:



Fun. Good times. On top of a totally crappy week, I have a TV that may or may not be ready to die. I'm really really hoping it's the wind shaking around the cable box. (don't laugh too hard. I have a friend who this happens to. Plus it's REALLY windy out there. The wind is blowing at 29 mph with gusts way higher...) It was so windy that the power went out sometime while I was at work and Pepper flat out refused to come out from under the bed. Bartholamew needed lots of extra love too.

But look, now I have my own peeps...





I got them at Target but do you think I could find them on their website OR the Peeps/Just Born site? No. I love them though. I do love Peeps. Not eating them though. I could eat one maybe ever 2-3 yrs? They're fun to microwave. (Kids. Do NOT try that at home.) But I love them. I love their little shapes and sugaryness. This way, I'll always have my Peeps.

Mitts

My finished Fetching Mitts.



This would be why you shouldn't wait til the end of the day when everyone is feeling a little silly before getting a friend to take pictures of your HANDS for you. In case you were wondering, I was saying "hands!" because I noticed she was focusing in on my face. And that is my desk at work :)

What a weekend!

I've had quite a weekend! It started out Friday evening when I applied to go to back to school (Univ. of Phoenix online). I'm not quite done with all the forms, I'm waiting on a PIN number from the government to finish the financial aid forms but barring any unforseen complications, I'll start on March 12th! This will cut into my knitting time a little but ya know, that's OK. This is something I need to do for myself.

Saturday day was spent mostly cleaning and running errands. By the late afternoon/evening, I was happily knitting away. I finished my mitts. I started them earlier this week after our heat at work had been out all weekend til about midday Monday. It was quite cold and I don't know if anyone's ever tried to type in gloves but it doesn't work but so well. I managed well enough to keep my little hands warm though. I'll get pictures Monday when I go to work, I'll get someone to take pictures of my hands for me.

Then, I worked on Argosy. Confident that I had finally mastered the whole chart reading thing. Until about 10:30 last night when it dawned on me I had screwed up a major design element in the scarf. In comparing the two (the pattern photo and my scarf) I decided I really did prefer that element to be in there. I just don't have the heart to rip out my little 38 rows right now so I'm going to knit on my sweater while I watch the Daytona 500!! Woo hoo!! Race season is finally here!!

In another race related note, a friend invited me to join her fantasy racing league. I'm excited! I've never done fantasy sports before but it really does seem easy enough.

And now, so this won't be totally pictureless, I bring you odds and ends and a photo essay on why it's good to be a cat.



This is my new knitting bag. It's a Vera Bradley. I'd never really looked at her stuff before other than a passing glance in Hallmark because it just seemed, well, not "me". But my sister got one for her birthday and was telling me about all the great inside pockets. This got me to thinking. So, I went and found one that's a nice size for a project, big enough to hold the pattern, not folded up or a magazine or such and has 6 great pockets inside. Best part, it zips! Bartholamew is a bona fide digger! He has dug out all the contents of several purses/bags over his years so he can fit any or all of his body inside the bag. I learned a long time ago not to leave things laying about for him to dig in but visitors just don't listen... This way, I can leave my knitting bag by my spot on the sofa and not worry about him digging the contents out and Pepper chewing on them once they're within reach of her itchy little teeth.

This is where I knit on the sofa. Normally, Bartholamew sits in my lap or by my legs. Last night, for some reason only he knows, he decided to sleep on the arm of the sofa leaned up against my pillow and back. When I got up, he didn't.



He only sank futher into the crack between the sofa and pillow.



Obviously, this didn't bother him at all.



Finally (and about the time I was ready to go back and knit), he moved into my seat. It's such a rough life.



"Where are my arms?"

video?

I got a belated Valentine's present today. :)



Well, that and chocolate mmmmmmmmmm

(I do hope that works. I haven't messed with videos yet...)

well, so far it's not working but we'll see...

St. Valentine's Day

I first must wish y'all a Happy Valentine's Day!

I've never been big on Valentine's day. I think I've been looking at it all wrong. This year was I think the best Valentine's day I've ever had. It had iced a little last night and staying warm in my bed this morning, I called our weather line at work to see if we were going to be closed or opening late. We weren't but our head administrator guy who leaves the messages wished everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. That got me laughing right off because I just did not expect it. So I got up a little bit later (what?! I'm lazy and it WARM in bed with the fuzzies) and got dressed. Checking my email, I had a cute ecard from a good friend. I left for work and there was no ice to scrape off the truck (that in and of itself will always make me happy!) and had no problems walking through the parking lot. At work, I found a very cute little Valentine's card on my desk (oddly enough in the same Car's "motif" I myself had bought). I delivered the cards I had for my work friends and sat down to knit. I was there about 30 min earlier than needed. I can't help it, my Dad always told me to make sure to leave early enough to arrive safely in bad weather. I did mess up twice but that's OK. I got it all fixed and squared away at lunch. We had a little Valentine's breakfast with Panera bagels (yummmmmmmmm) and Dunkin' Donuts (equally yummy but I just can't resist Panera's bagels with cream cheese). Later I got another card that had a Secret Code on it! How COOL!

The rest of work was regular work day but around 3:30 while I was listening to NASCAR Radio on Sirius happiness drifted into my ears. They were broadcasting live from the Fan Zone at Daytona, during practice. You can call me a redneck, it's OK. I'm not offended, but it was truly music to my ears!

I got home and there was a letter from my SP9 secret pal. I still haven't received my last package yet but having family who's had friends in Germany for a while, I know that sometimes the mail is very wonky. It was a very nice letter with postcards from near her home. Then by my door was a smallish box. I thought for sure that was my box from my secret pal but nope. It was a box full of wonderful goodies from my Monthly dishcloth KAL exchange pal. Gorgeous cloth! wonderful presents! CHOCOLATE!!!!! I swear after opening that box, I really and truly almost cried from happiness.

I got another ecard from another good friend and talked to my Dad (I'd talked to Mom earlier). Just a few minutes ago, my grandfather called and said that his therapist wants him to keep in therapy for another four weeks because he's progressing SO well after his stroke that she thinks she can get him back to full capacity!

And in the middle of all this. I read this and I knew, she was right. It's a little sappy, but I've gone to all of the blogs I read on a regular basis and told them Happy Valentine's day. I even delurked on Dave's blog to tell him that I loved him too. Don't ask. Just go read his post, ok?

Now, before I go share the love with my two very fuzzy heathens that I truly do love with all my heart and knit (yes, I can do both at once. Pepper lays by my ankles and Bartholamew in my lap. He doesn't eat the yarn so it works) I have an annoucement about my contest.

I've decided to end my contest early. I haven't gotten any more comments since the 29th. I'll consult my "random number generator- ie Mom - in a bit to pick a winner. I'll be emailing everyone who entered but since there was only 3 entries, I've decided to send a little something to the two "non winners". So, I need everyone's address. I don't think I've added my email any where but it is dixygirl AT cox DOT net so if you don't get an email from me, please send me your snail mail for your "thank you for the podcast" present.

One more final piece of important business. The two loves of my life:

warning: bad pictures ahead (no pun intended)

I finished my second hat. Thank goodness since it's still right cold and windy out there.

An open letter to my Boss

Dear Boss,

I'm sorry but I'm unable to come to work for at least a week. Thankfully, I'm not sick. But there are way too many things that have to be knitted. I need to put some serious work into my cardigan. And with all the cold weather we've had lately, I know you'll want me to finish my hat and mittens to keep me warm and healthy so I don't have to call in sick.

I'd also like to get Argosy done for my dear friend. See, I found the most perfect yarn for it and just can't wait to get this knitted.



It's Cherry Tree Hill Super Glitz. I know it's not the best picture (which is why I'm working for you, not a professional photographer) but it's just so pretty and will be absolutely beautiful all worked up.

While at the yarn store, I got another skein of Manos del Uruguay for a mobius scarf for me.



My sister says two skeins will be enough for what I want. And I've heard that mobius knitting is a little fiddly and would like to be able to take my time working on it. See, Mom has this book she loaned me so I can learn.

I also have a slew of really really great sock yarn that is begging to be worked up into socks and see? This is why I won't be at work for a while. I know I get to knit at lunch but it's just not enough time.

Now, we could work out an arrangement where I could just sit and my desk and knit when the phone's not ringing if that would be better?

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter,

Nikki

I did it!

I managed to fix all of my own errors. And my errors they were. I really should try to read instructions before just doing things sometimes.

And as a reward, I got a special package today from my step-Mom.



OK. So it wasn't a reward for fixing my blog but I can think of it that way if I want. What it IS though is a great big hug and lots of love from Pat (and Dad, although he didn't sew on it). Maybe one day I can share what it looks like without a cat on it but I'm not so sure. They love it almost as much as I do.

A couple years ago, Pat made me an absolutely gorgeous lap quilt. I told her I loved it (and I do) but I wanted a bigger one. A snuggly for the sofa, just big enough for me. So we started picking out bandanas and materials and such. She picked some out, I picked some out, Dad picked some out (hmm, so he did work on it too after all). Pat works on items like I do, on her own time. So today, waiting for me when I got home, was my beautiful quilt.

Now, I must go snuggle up under it and knit on my sweater. I'm actually working on the body!!

sigh

please bear with me. I upgraded and in trying to customize, I screwed things up. Right now, my brain is pretty much mush and I'm unable to fix them.

I'll try again tomorrow but hold no promises :)

brrrrrrrrrr

It's so cold I have almost nothing to say.



The outside temp when I got moving this morning.



What it's doing now.



Momma? What are you doing with that thing?

Irish Hiking scarf in pictures

As mentioned, I finished my Irish Hiking Scarf. It's about 50 inches long. Here's a full picture of it:



and a close up. It's not the best on stitch definition but it's a pretty true color:



I was at Mom's because she helped me steam block the ends. Wick, her cat, came in to see what I was doing in "his" bedroom:



This is what else Mom and I did. We wound hanks in to cakes. These were my two and we did 6 hanks for her. She's getting ready to make a sweater. After a little practice, we found we could wind a hank right under 6 minutes. And for the record, we weren't timing ourselves but we had 6 min left on the timer for dinner and wound a cake while waiting for the timer.



Wickie going "Are you STILL here taking pictures?!"

another scarf

Well, apparently I'm going to have completed my two knitting resolutions in two months. I decided to make Argosy for the spouse of the person who's getting the Irish Hiking Scarf. And lucky me, this pattern has both a chart and written instructions. I'm going to do my best in only reading the chart but it's nice to know there's written instructions in case I get stuck. A safety net of sorts.

Now, I must go knitting to try to get the Irish Hiking scarf done so Mom can help me steam block it this weekend.

Dad's 2nd hat

I finished Dad's hat just now. I remembered to take pictures (even modeled one for y'all). I really like how it fits and how you can unfold the back down some to keep your neck warm. I may have to make me one of the leftover yarn from my purple hat. We'll see. I want to finish the scarf and really get some work done on my sweater.



Your standard stocking cap. With misplaced stripes in the fold because I kinda forgot to put them in sooner but the way it fits my head you can see part of one of the stripes (and the very top is black too...)



Dad's hat on my head. For the record, that's not a little i cord at the top, it's the top of a wine bottle on top of my bookshelves.

**Alert Alert** I'm having a contest!

Ok, so I missed my blogiversary mostly because the first 9 months or so I may have posted once a month so it wasn't that exciting a milestone.

So, in looking around the 'net I keep seeing people talk about listening to podcasts. I DO know what they are but haven't really found any other than Lime and Violet (which I stumbled upon by accident). Granted, I haven't looked much either.

The contest is submit to me via the comments a podcast. There are no real rules. I'd prefer ones on iTunes but thats not necessary, at the very least though they should be mac-friendly since I don't have a PC. They should be knitting related (or something else you may think I'd like). You have til February 16th to submit them. I'll draw a winner at random out of all the entries. The winner will get something good. More than likely sock yarn but if you don't knit socks, just let me know I'll find you something nice.

That's about it I guess. Let me know if you have any questions or if I forgot anything. Now, go tell your friends :)

"Housekeeping"

Thanks to Robin I finally got my progress bars up there. However, to me, it looks sad not having anything in two of the boxes. But thats OK. I'm going to work on Dad's hat this weekend (the one that will hopefully fit!) and that should be done quickly and I know the sweater will not be quick work. And right now I'm only working on the scarf at work during lunch so I can also work on my sweater. I'd like to be able to wear it this winter.

I've decided that the Irish Hiking Scarf will be a present for a friend. I was sitting there knitting it watching some trashy movie on Sci-Fi and thought this should be so and so's scarf. So I think that's where it's going. I know the non-crafty people out there probably think we're all a little off when we say the yarn spoke to me but well, we know it does sometimes!

woo hoo!

I have finished a sleeve and it even fits! Tonight I'm going to begin on my second sleeve.

I would also like to report (and sadly there are no photos or even better videos of this) that due to the vigilance of my Big Orange Protector (commonly called Bartholamew) I have been saved from the Evil Pink Fleece that Lived on My Bed. I came home from work and went to the bathroom. Of course, both cats followed me in. Bartholamew kept trying to antagonize Pepper into playing but she was oblivious - this is not uncommon. She's really not the brightest bulb in the box. But she's pretty. So then Bartholamew ran and bounced up onto the bed with that wild eyed cat look. Pepper, still clueless, went into the living room. So then, having apparently used his psychic cat sense, Bartholamew sproinged across the bed and attacked the Evil Pink Fleece (this, BTW, used to be the Cozy Pink Fleece we - read Bartholamew - Liked to Sleep On). He then sproinged BACK to the other corner of the bed to stand vigilant and make sure it was dead. It wasn't. In fact it took not one but TWO more attacks before it was deemed safe by Bartholamew.

I know I will sleep much better tonight not worrying about being attacked by the Evil Pink Fleece. Thank the stars above that I have a clueless (but cute) Pepper and a great big and mighty Fleece Fighter.

OH, I almost forgot. Dad and Pat got their hat and scarf and love them. However, Dad's hat is a little big. I'm not surprised. I was worried about this and was prepared. I will get another hat whipped out and sent to him as quickly as possible. But here's the fnished items anyway:

Yarn Shopping

Gather 'round y'all. It's time for show and tell!

Mom and I decided to go and check out two semi-local yarn stores we just learned about. One (Tapestry) is not quite half hour away from her and the other one (Yarn Theory) about an hour. The plan was to swing by Tapestries and then hit Yarn Theory. Well, we missed Tapestry. It was hidden behind another store. So on to Yarn Theory we went.

Yarn Theory is a lovely little shop that Robin told me about. She said it was worth the drive. Well, Mom and I both thought so. Mom got some Lamb's Pride to make a hat for Luke, some sock yarn and some yarn to make a coworker a baby sweater. I got this:



That's Austermann Stepp sock yarn and the 2005 Interweave Knits. I thought it had some cute patterns in it. And it was on sale.

We then met Luke for lunch at a Chinese restaurant between the two yarn stores.

Mom and I found Tapestry with no trouble. I hadn't been there for 5 mintues when I fell in love. They had Manos del Uruguay. I HAD to have some. The problem was deciding which colorway. I wanted them all. And I wanted LOTS of it!! In trying to find my color, I found one that I thought was perfect for my sister. I mentioned this to Mom and she agreed. Her birthday is coming up so I almost just bought it. But then I realized that I do have a camera phone. So I took a picture and sent it to my sister to see if she'd like to have a skein. Mom and I browsed around and found lots of other nice yarn. She even found some for a sweater she wants to knit.

I got these:



That's my Manos del Uruguay on the left and a skein of Wool in the Woods Sparkle on the right. It's going to my secret pal for their last box. It's extremely soft and smooth and shiny.

Here's a close of of the Manos del Uruguay:



I love love love this color!! I think it will be a scarf. I wanted more. I wanted like a lot more. But I had no specific project in mind and I think I love it too much to felt it. Although if I find the right pattern, that may not be true. So for now, I will wear it lovingly around my neck. I suppose a girl CAN have too many scarves but I just have 2 knitted ones and a fleece one. This will be my third. Certainly, that's not too many scarves.

A few minutes after we left the yarn store my sister called me back. She did like the yarn and yes, if I was buying it, she would like it. So Mom and I turned around and I went back in to get the yarn for her.



A close up:



I'm afraid that even in the close ups the pictures just don't convey the beautiful colors of either skein of Manos del Uruguay.

That concluded our shopping trip.

However, I almost forgot to tell you. Thursday I went out and got the yarn for Rosedale, my cardigan.



A.C. Moore was having a great sale on Paton's Classic Merino. It's the colorway Wedgewood with some brown in the corrugated ribbing.

Dad and Pat's items have been mailed off to them and sometime after they get them I'll post pictures. I managed to forget to take pictures before they were mailed off so Dad's promised to take pictures for me.

Pictures!!

OK, here are some pictures for y'all:



one finished sock. This is the sock I've been working on (well, I had it almost finished until recently) since early summer. Ack! Yes, I do plan on making it's mate.



My Irish Hiking Scarf so far. Very simple and very beautfiul. Not that I'm biased or anything...



A close up



Finally, a photo of what we all did this week. And those are my legs they're laying on. Here in my house, we LOVE our wool blankie...

OH, I almost forgot, I finished Pat's scarf! But like Dad's hat, pictures will be delayed until they reach Texas.

but I didn't want a vacation

Well, this week I took a little time off. 4 days to be exactly. Did I have anything fun or exciting planned? no. Did I do anything fun or exciting anyways? No. (well that's debatable but I'll get to that). Did I PLAN this "vacation"? NO. I have some kind of icky general run of the mill virus.

Monday was fine. I felt fine, went to work and everything. Tuesday I felt very very uggy and stayed home. Since Wednesday was almost a carbon copy of Tuesday I'll combine those days, I slept during the morning - MUCH to the delight of Bartholamew who as he gets older gets lazier and these have been cold mornings, what would be better than curling up with Mom in bed for say 3-4 extra hours?? The afternoons have been spent dozing and resting on the sofa with intermittent blog reading and sweater pattern perusing. (Hmm, is it really a good idea to try to find a sweater you like under the influence of cold pills and a virus?) The evenings are much like the afternoons but with maybe a little knitting going on. And less blog reading. Seems to be people don't usually blog multiple times a day...

Today, today was different though. Bound and determined to go to work, I got up. I put my pants on. I eventually got my sweater on and fixed my hair (I use that term - fixed - VERY loosely). I sat there a tired miserable cold wreck and called in again. Then I struggled to stay awake til the doctors office opened at 8 when I called to see if I could still get flu medicine. About 1/2 hr later the very nice nurse called me back with more questions for me and said I may have to go in for a flu test but she'd see. 3 hrs later she called me back to tell me I'd have to come in. A few minutes later, a girl from appointments called me to give me a 345 pm appt.

At that point in time, I got dressed again (what? you didn't REALLY think I stayed in work clothes all day did you?) and went to the store for more juice and bread. I couldn't have been gone more than 20 minutes. By the way Bartholamew acted when I got home you'dve thought I had been gone for a week!!

So, I go to the doctors and they give me a flu test. For those of you lucky enough never to have had one of these it's not nice. They stick a very long cotton swab up your nose til they hit your brain then swirl it around for a while. UGH.

But the good news is, I don't have the flu. The bad news? I just have a general run of the mill virus. And a note for work with strict directions to stay home tomorrow too...

And now that you've read all this boring icky stuff, I don't even have pictures for you. I have no finished projects to share. No new "OH! I have to make this" items. Nothing. I'll make up for it soon somehow...

Now, I think I'll go put my jammies back on and curl up on the sofa. With my cats. Who I wonder if they secretly planned this so they'd have me here to snuggle with and sleep on all week... heathens...

Sweaters

There are way too many free patterns on the internet. Furthermore, there are way too many free patterns that I like that use yarn I can't really afford causing me to spend too much time trying to find a substitute.

Today, I gave up, remeasured myself and found alternate patterns with local not OMG expensive yarns. (The remeasuring was an important step here, I apparently was making up measurements for myself that were -thankfully - larger than my real measurements.)

After I finish Pat's scarf and maybe after I finish the Irish Hiking scarf, I am thinking about embarking on a sweater. A cardigan to be more exact. This cardigan actually. And I'll probably substitute the yarn with Cascade 220, or maybe the Paton's Classic Merino. I can't decide yet. But as I'm sure y'all understand, I want to cast on for it RIGHT NOW. Which is why I'm thinking the Paton's. They've got some variegated yarns that I just absolutely LOVE and think would look great in this... plus I have some scrap at home and checked and I can totally get gauge with it...

First FO of 2007

I have my first finished project of 2007! Socks! To be more specific Knitty's Broadripple socks.





So, that one is a little blurry but it shows more of the true color of the socks.

Now, I'm going to try to figure out how to make a list on my sidebar of all of my 2007 finished projects.

Edited to add: I just finished a hat for Dad but am going to wait to post pictures until I send it to him.

Last project of 2006

I finished my hat, and I love it! It could've been a smidge longer but that's OK.



Now for the obligitory cheesy-ass self portrait of me wearing the hat:



After I finish the second broadripple sock, I think I'll learn me some cables.

Happy 2007 everyone!!!