i know i’ve been silent here for some time. it’s been a really rough month around here but i feel like the closer to the holidays we get the better i’m feeling. it’ll be nice to have some time off between christmas and new year’s. while taking it easy the past couple of weeks, i’ve managed to finish a big project! my monday morning cardigan!

all the details are on ravelry, of course.

i found the pattern really enjoyable to knit! this was also the first time i had ever knit a garment from the bottom up, instead of top down. thankfully all of the sizing worked out really well and i was able to make changes in length based on my gauge.

my favorite parts of the cardigan are the side shaping and the way the slipped stitches travel up the back.

laura did a wonderful job with this pattern! it has infinite wearability!

now i’m thinking about what cardigan to knit next. i think that i’ll be working on a coraline, actually. i even have the yarn for it! in the meantime, i’m still working on a vest, a pair of socks for KP, and a new hat. i’ll try to keep you updated on them. i promise.

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colorwork (fair isle and even intarsia) is the knitblog world’s 2006 official obsession. i expect it to go well into 2007 as well.

what fair isle work have i done this year? well, not one thing. why am i always the last person on the bandwagon? i doubt it’s because i’m too cool for school.

check out these fabulous examples!

• Is There a 12 Step Program?
• Rock On
• Eunny, I love you
• Playing Favorites
• Ravens
• Squirrel and Oak Mittens
• Icelandic Yoke Pullover
• Holiday Mania

… and that’s JUST a sampling! i think that i’ve missed out on something.

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for those knitters out there that love addi turbos but have always wanted a sharper point on them for projects like lace knitting (especially in sock!! at least for me..), please see this entry on grumperina’s blog about writing to karin skacel and requesting a new line of addis with pointier tips. i sent off my email yesterday, based on the one that grumperina sent, and received a nice reply from karin this morning indicating that they will look into producing a new kind of needle! i figure, though, that the more people that write to her about this, the better chance we will all have of getting those sharp points.

so if you have the time and feel the same way, please drop her an email. all the information is over at grumperina’s site.

have a great weekend!

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because they hadn’t updated their feeds in a long time and i was missing all of these entries for DAYS!!! it was really annoying. so i downloaded sage (thanks hammy!!) which is a firefox lightweight add-on for RSS feeds and figured, to hell with bloglines and all these online RSS services that can’t be trusted, i’ll do it on my own. and sage is pretty cool but having to manually synch up all of my reading between home and work is a bit of a pain as is checking RSS feeds from a computer that i don’t own.. so sage is nice but, alas, not bloglines. then i received word from bloglines:

We are currently moving our machines to a new network facility that will enable us to update feeds as soon as the publisher tells us there is something new. For feeds that don’t tell us when to check for new articles, we’ll update every hour or less.

this is good news as now i no longer have to write about how bloglines sucks. i can save that rant for the future should they ever suck again (and i wouldn’t put it past them.)

(more…)

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besides finding all of these glorious patterns in the winter issue of knitty that i want to do (tubey, best friend, knecklace, etc.) i received my winter interweave knits issue in the mail yesterday!! i found a few patterns that i like, but i really love the belted wrap jacket (pictured left). i think that i’ll be using the merino i bought in japan for it as i have just the right amount and it seems to be the same stitch gauge as tahki’s zara which the pattern calls for. i’m gonna need some serious help with the chart though. i tried to work it out last night with a calculator and the required amount of stitches needed and it just didn’t add up! i think that the spiders will have to come to the rescue on this one.

(more…)

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Your Birthdate: January 18

You are a cohesive force – able to bring many people together for a common cause. You tend to excel in work situations, but you also facilitate a lot of social gatherings too. Beyond being a good leader, you are good at inspiring others. You also keep your powerful emotions in check – you know when to emote and when to repress.

Your strength: Emotional maturity beyond your years

Your weakness: Wearing yourself down with too many responsibilities

Your power color: Crimson red

Your power symbol: Snowflake

Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

snowflake? that’s my POWER SYMBOL? i HATE snow. almost as much as i winter, that crappy season i was born in. i’m glad my power month is september. it’s a more likeable month.

by the way, did you see that i finally got around to updating my keitai gallery? for months, i let my images just sit on my mobile phone because bluetooth on my powerbook was too damn flaky but i really needed to empty it so that i can take lots of keitai pictures in japan like all the japanese! so i paired it up with my computer and, wow, since i’ve updated to tiger the thing works like a charm. no more turning the phone off and then back on again in order for my computer to recognize it. and boy am i glad that i use cingular and not verizon in this case. verizon INTENTIONALLY CRIPPLES their bluetooth phones so that you can’t download/upload images or ringtones to them. you have to use their site and pay for the trasfers over the network. what a scam.

anyway, here are a few of my favorites from the gallery.

this was sent to me by keith during a really sweltering hot day in the summer. the squirrel was so hot that it had to lay down.

look at this beautiful child using a treo! holy crap! i remember the first computer that required that i use a mouse and i couldn’t get the hang of it for months!

kat and joy. this is the night that i met the founding members of the spiders and my life was changed forever.

yes, your eyes do not deceive you. that is a 4″x6″ battlestar galactica poster in my office. love ebay.

KP as cheese. this is a VEGAN man who had to spend four weeks in wisconsin. they all thought he was nuts.

more photos of strange things in the gallery. i tend to take a lot of pictures of food that i eat so some of it may be boring. other things are just downright strange. enjoy.

ok, packing commences in full force tonight for the trip to japan. we’ll be spending the majority of our time in tokyo, walking the streets, shopping, visiting temples, and observing tokyoites in their native environment. we’re planning on making a few day trips to nikko and kamakura but tokyo is HUGE! i’m sure that the two weeks we’re there will be only JUST enough time to see all the worthwhile stuff. i’m anxious (really, i’m nervous!) to break out my nihongo and wow KP with my linguistic skills. i’m sure that i’ll choke up and not be able to speak for days. hopefully i’ll be getting together with kat and martine and another cool girl, stephana, all who i’ve met through this here blog.

the question of vacation knitting was really weighing heavily upon me these past few days but i think that i have it all figured out now. i’ll be bringing the aminami shawl (the current ball of yarn and another), the mitered square project (two balls of yarn to make a total of four as i’ve already finished two), socks that rock with a couple of patterns since i can’t decide what to do yet, and five balls of DB cotton DK in different colors to make amigurumi! it’s just enough projects to keep me busy when i don’t want to read. as for books, i think that i’m going to re-read the ender series by orson scott card and possibly brave new world.

oh! almost forgot… i’m near the completion of another pair of turkish slippers! this time i am double-stranding the yarn for added coverage during the winter months. i’m using some funky acrylic that i got from katie at the yarn swap this past weekend.

it’s the black and multi-colored skein near the bottom of this picture. i’m calling them the uno slippers since all of the colors remind me of uno cards! gotta finish them up tonight and bring them with me to japan tomorrow. you won’t find many posts here while i’m gone. KP is bringing his ibook though so i’m hoping to update maybe once or twice over the next few weeks if only to let you know that i’m alive and happy. in the meantime, be of good cheer.

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You are The Point!

http://www.thepointnyc.com

You want it all. You might have a hankering for the most luxurious handpainted silk yarn. Or maybe a couple of skein of Kureyon. Don’t worry, you can sit down, have a latte and absorb it all…

What NYC yarn store are you?

brought to you by Quizilla

this seems about right given that i spend so much time and money there. though i thought i would be school products because i love that place so darn much. who knew? thanks veronique!

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more updates to gleek.net! i’ve rewritten most of the about page since a lot of the information in there was old and outdated. the story of prince andre the iguana is the same but there’s new information about me and the site. i’ve also included my long-ass blogroll for those who are interested.

ok, now for the knitting meme! i was tagged by amy at and knitting…

what is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?

this is a tough one because i haven’t been knitting for long and i’ve had to frog a few things so i feel like i really haven’t knit that much over the past year! my two favorites so far are karabella aurora in any weight.

i’ve tried both aurora 8 and aurora bulky and they are a delight to work with so i’m guessing aurora 4 would be too… which is why i’m really looking forward to trying the knit and tonic essential stripe sweater in the spring. but the most wonderful yarn i’ve knit with yet was the yarn i used for my one skein wonder. it was like buttah baby.

your favorite needles?

i love my denise needles. i wish they came in every size. for socks, my addis are a dream.

the worst thing you’ve ever knit/crocheted?

oh, my honeymoon cami it was so bad and pathetic, i frogged it and am now using the yarn to make a pillow. i don’t take any crap from my knits. if they infuriate me, i rip and start over.

your most favorite knit pattern? (maybe you don’t like wearing it…but it was the most fun to knit)

i really loved the one skein wonder and the clapotis. very fulfilling projects.

most valuable knitting technique?

1) learning to rip back and/correct stitches with a crochet hook & 2) learning to adjust a pattern for gauge. both of these techniques made me a competent knitter. now i am no longer afraid of plowing into a project.

best knit book or magazine?

i love my knitting for dummies book. i learned almost all the basics with it and continue to refer to it. i’m sure it’ll be replaced by the montse stanley book once i buy that, but for now, it’s an oldie but goodie. favorite magazine is definitely interweave knits.

your favorite knit-a-long?

i’ve never done a k-a-l online but it seems like we spiders all love to knit the same thing at the same time. they are like a built-in k-a-l. always helpful.

your favorite knitblogs?

i read my spiders first (see the webring in the sidebar)!! but after them i really look forward to reading: knit and tonic, i love wendy’s photos and she always has a story to go with every post; grumperina, her knitting techniques are so crafty and helpful; and yarnharlot, her posts are witty and fun and i always feel like she is speaking directly to me, completely inspiring as a writer. i read a whole ton of other blogs. they can be found on my blogroll.

your favorite knitwear designer?

glampyre knits so far. i’ve already done two of her designs and liked them. i generally look for things that are simple and timeless so i don’t always gravitate to just one designer. i do love teva durham though. i have many of her patterns that i want to try when i learn a few more skills.

the knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)

believe it or not, the item i wear the most are my turkish slippers that i crocheted right in the beginning! right when i was wanting to learn to knit but hadn’t the hang of it yet. my apartment floor is quite cold during the winter so i wear them over a pair of socks. i’ve been thinking about making another pair with my leftover lamb’s pride bulky!

guess who i’m tagging?

kaitlyn (sassy stitchess), sarah (scissorina), and abby (novelknitsny).

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i love to come home after a long day at work (followed by a workout at the gym) to KP cooking up a storm. the fall has arrived and brought with it “baked goodness”, a term we use around home to descibe many starchy, yummy, vegetables baked in the oven with fresh herbs and veggie stock or beer. last night, baked goodness consisted of pumpkin, turnips, fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and a few other things from the farmer’s market. it’s a good thing.

what was even nicer was the present waiting for me at home!

ain’t it purty? on my last tip to detroit, my old rolly bag that i’ve had since college finally gave up on me. i pulled it out of the overhead bin and the wheel was busted. it worked (kind of) enough to get me back home but i’ve since pushed it to the back of my closet in dismay. KP, when he got the new job that requires all types of traveling, went to TUMI and got himself a crackin’ bag that i was subsequently jealous of all summer. TA DA! i now have one of my own! i stopped by the TUMI store in rockefeller last week and picked this out for the trip to tokyo. the color is yam.. hmmmm, more starchy goodness. i wanted a bag that will fit in the overhead even though we’re going to japan for two whole weeks. i WANT to pack light and do laundry when i’m there since i probably won’t have to dress up more than business casual for any events. this bag will force me to! i have asked joy to pick me up a lesportsac stowaway bag in hawaii to bring with me on my trip so that i can check my rolly bag on the way back and carry-on all the good japanese booty i’ll be bringing back. can’t wait!

something else came in the mail too! goodness knows that i love me some ebay especially when i can find items there that are at least 20% less expensive than buying them in the store. i really needed a yarn swift seeing as i now have a bundle of yarn in hanks that needs to be wound up and KP would rather drink wine than hold my yarn (i also hate holding it on my knees.. what a pain! and takes FOREVER!)

wind! wind! wind!

here’s the swift and winder working in tandem. i decided to go with a model made of metal and plastic instead of wood. it’s less bulky, very light, and i’ve heard that the plastic is less taxing on yarn (whatever that means.) now my ball winder and swift match AND they are both made in japan. you should see the instructions.. in fact, i’ll have to scan them in. total engrish and the lady who is winding up some yarn, oh boy, the picture looks at least 50 years old. anyway, it only took me 10 minutes to wind up four balls of yarn.

so quick! huzzah! ok, now for the bad news. i decided that i needed to pull back a massive amount of my mom’s first sock. why am i having so many problems with these?! i feel like i’ve been working on this first sock for MONTHS (and i probably have.) i got almost to the toe and realized: 1) the sock leg is too long, 2) the heel flap is too long, & 3) there wouldn’t be enough yarn to finish it. so yeah, i just pulled back all the way to the leg. *sigh* i am going to finish this thing though. THIS WEEKEND. i’m determined. i want to cast-on the second one and finish that within the week and be done with them. i love knitting socks but i’m realizing that i follow patterns too much. yes, i should be following my instincts instead. my brain said, that’s too much leg! that’s too much heel! but i didn’t listen and just kept on going with the pattern. that’s the last time i do that. i came to the conclusion over tea this morning that every project that i have had to rip back on was because i didn’t follow my instincts.

i think that i’ve finally learned my lesson. let’s hope so. if not, feel free to berate me in the comments from this day forward.

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on friday, i was just itchin’ to get out of work and head over to the point to see the spiders and plan our trip to the new york sheep and wool festival, lovingly referred to as rhinebeck by the majority of knitbloggers. i was actually sitting in a meeting and mentioned my upcoming trip to my coworkers and got the blankest of blank stares. what? city people actually go to the country? stephanie, you knit? oh boy, looks like i just came out of the wooly closet.

early saturday morning, the brooklyn spiders all met up at kaitlyn’s to head up to rhinebeck which is about 2 hours north of the city. the sun was shining, the sky was clearing up after two weeks straight of rain, and i was playing DJ and navigator in the passenger seat. after hitting a small amount of traffic, we made it to rhinebeck around 11:30AM and proceeded to shop. we shopped pretty much all day.

we also, ate:

saw dogs catch frisbees:

watched naked sheep being hearded:

sighed over the beautiful, changing leaves.. ah, it really is fall:

and, of course, laughed and had a great time:

but i know that you really want to hear about the yarn. i got one skein (550yds) of brooks farms duet (see picture below), 4 skeins of brooks farm four play yarn, one skein (665yds) of silver alpaca DK weight yarn, two skeins of 4 ply soft yarn from morehouse merino, sock yarn, eehhhh, i think that’s it! more pictures of yarn to come when i actually have projects started for each of them.

by the end of the day, when we were in the car on the way home, everyone was blissed out and in a yarn stupor. lisa was on a yarn high that infected us all! it was a great time. i ended it all yesterday by sitting down and winding up a MASSIVE ball of the duet which will be made into a capelet for a black tie christmas party i have to attend in december.

do i really have to wait another 365 days for the next rhinebeck?

more photos in the gallery

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i was on the waiting list for secret pal 6 and just managed to make it in! i just emailed my secret pal and remembered that i have to answer this questionnaire so that whoever has me as a partner can choose something appropriate. i will link to this entry from the sidebar for future reference.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

i tend to avoid any scratchy yarns. my skin gets upset by them but it doesn’t seem to be related to just wools. if it’s soft and yummy then i’m certain i’ll love it.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

i do not spin. it’s one thing that i have sworn off so as not to completely throw my husband into fits of hysterics over ANOTHER craft that i have picked up. i do crochet although not as much as knitting. my other crafting hobbies are sewing and beading.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

i’m allergic to cats and don’t really like perfumy things unless it’s a natural scent like vanilla.

4. How long have you been knitting?

i’ve been knitting for less than a year. i learned how to crochet when i was little but my love for knitting completely took that over!

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

i do have an amazon wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/G3YHGGQFC7DR

6. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

vanilla. jasmine is nice too.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

definitely! chocolate is my favorite and i also love raspberry and pretty much anything with nuts.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

see #2.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

techno/lounge, bossa nova, indie (yo la tengo, magnetic fields, etc), classical. yes, my computer and home stereo can play mp3 cds.

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 have way too much purple yarn right now (i have no idea why) so that should be avioded.. and really love pink, orange, and dark colors like charcoal and chocolate. i’m not really into yellow or blue right now.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

i have a husband, does he count as a pet? no pets of the animal kind.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

uuuuhhh, to finally write my book. to have a family. to not get run over by a bus (this is a valid concern in NYC).

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

i haven’t been knitting long enough to know! surprise me with something that you really love.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

not a big fan of any of those frilly acrylic things.. like those eyelash yarns. also, in that same vein, anything that’s contains every color imaginable is also a no-no. a nice variegation of subtle colors or a solid is the way to go.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

socks, love them!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

again, socks.. and i really want more sweaters, shrugs, etc.

17. What are you knitting right now?

see: http://gleek.backpackit.com/pub/175995

18. What do you think about ponchos?

done and over with.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

circular

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

all. every project requires something different.

21. Are you a sock knitter?

see #15 and #16. i use two circs for socks. not a fan of dpns.

22. How did you learn to knit?

took a class at FIT and learned from books.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?

less than a year.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

hello kitty!!!! she’s the cutest.. and any of her friends.

25. What is your favorite holiday?

christmas but not for all the red, white, and green. just because it’s nice to be together with family.

26. Is there anything that you collect?

yarn. i don’t collect anything else. too much clutter.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

none. i pick them up from the local bookstore when i see them.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

the finishing techniques book and the gathering of lace on my wishlist

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven’t bought for one reason or another??

nope. although, i really do want to buy a debbie bliss patterns book with some generic knitting staples in it.

30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?

i wear size 9 shoes and my feet are around 8.5 inches long. i like colorful socks or ones with patterns. i’m not that picky.

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sunday was the first annual knitty cruise around manhattan and boy did we have a great time (well, lisa may not have had as great a time as the rest of us as she was a tad seasick the majority of the cruise.) i’m actually quite surprised that i didn’t feel green around the gills like lisa. i get car sick easily (can’t sit in the backseat.. can’t read in the car and must look out the window) and air sick if the plane is too bumpy. four years ago, KP and i took sailing lessons at the manhattan yacht club (then located off the docks of the WTC) and i lost my lunch on the dock in front of people who were having a drink on their pricey yacht (thankfully, they did not laugh at me.. just looked a little disgusted.) maybe all the traveling that i do has stopped me from being so sensitive to motion? anyway, i managed to make it through the trip feeling a-ok.

the sold-out cruise included a wonderful brunch including vodka lemonades, quiche, and muffins.

sarah with her green lara cardigan has some yummy food

there was a silent auction of knitted goods and books for gilda’s club…

love that big orange sweater

and much pictures taking…

abby and amanda clickin’ away

and holy moly! there were more clapotis there than you could shake a stick at. it seemed that almost everyone was either making one or wearing one. a definite knitty success story!

amanda’s clapotis

we had a great day puttering around manhattan in the boat. it was over so quick! oh well, there’s always next year.

good times.

see more images in the gallery.

###

i was chatting with my mom on the phone this weekend, basically reminiscing about my past trips to the us open. KP and i took my parents to the open in 2001… on september 9th. my mom was saying how that was such a beautiful day and how she remembers looking back at the skyline as they drove from the city and that it will never be the same again. indeed it won’t. our memories are forever mired in time based upon that day.. before, during, or after. it’s nice to know though that i can still build upon these memories with new ones and this trip out to queens was a winner.

the easiest way to get there from brooklyn is to either take an expensive car service (no way) or to take the subway to penn station and then catch the LIRR to shea stadium. so we hopped on the train and made it to penn with time to spare (which is a first, though, KP disagrees.) once we hit queens, we immediately headed for the expensive beer and a seat to watch old footage on the big screen.

after waiting in a HUGE crowd to get into the stadium, we got to watch lindsay davenport cream anabel medina garrigues and then tommy haas lose to robby ginepri (although we didn’t stay for the whole match.) the men’s match was a bit boring.. slow-paced, even, for tennis. so mom’s cabled sock made an appearance must to KP’s dismay.

some of the cool things about the open: 1) the new blue court color looks very nice and coordinated with the rest of the stadium; 2) tennis is a civilized event during which you rarely fear a fight will break out amongst the fans. some of the not-cool things: 1) $6.25 for a beer… and ok, yeah, $6.25 for beer!! needless to say, we spent a lot of money but came back home with two heinneken hats. huzzah!

sunday was spent watching more tennis on TV while knitting. no big surprise there.

monday, being a holiday in the US, KP and i met up with kaitlyn and co. for a picnic in the park. the weather was beautiful and prospect park was hopping mad with people. we were fortunate to get a nice shady spot but not so fortunate as to have a glass of red wine splattered all over everything when a softball came my way. oh well. can’t be helped.

thanks for smiling, kaitlyn

i’ve made significant progress on all of my projects. the sock leg is almost done for mom’s cabled socks (i’m taking my sweet time on these). i’m in the 7th straight row repeat of clapotis (going for 12) and am 2/3s done with the glampyre cami. i expect there will be finished objects to show by the end of the week. i also managed to pick up yarn for my fall projects during (drum roll, please) TAX-FREE week in NYC! yep, yarn is tax free here twice a year. see the crafty projects backpack for pictures and updates.

*update* september 6th rumors of a finished object this week have been greatly exaggerated as i have found another mistake in the glampyre tubular cami. sigh. i ripped back almost a whole ball last night and tried again. it’s still not the same as all the pictures i have seen but looks a lot better than it did before i ripped. oh well. i’m going to live with it even though i had tried to finally do a pattern where i didn’t improvise for lack of decent instructions. the knitting gods are against me.

###

… and i have just the needles to knit them on.

sorry for the poor image quality but this is from my mobile phone. as you all know, i’m an ebay whore. i spend a good deal of time AND money there. after working on the koigu socks, i realized that i really don’t like using double-pointed needles. they tend to pull stitches in weird ways no matter how hard you try to keep it from doing that.

so once i decided that i wanted to use two circular needles instead of dpns and i realized that both my boye needle master AND denise interchangeable needle sets wouldn’t cut it, i headed over to ebay to see what was available. here’s a hint, search for “addi circular” not “addi turbo”. outside of the US, these needles are not named “addi turbo” but “addi premium”. they are the same knitting needles, just different names.

at my LYS, these circs sell for $12 a piece. i bought two lots of four circs (sizes #00, 1, 2, and 3) for $69 including shipping from SINGAPORE! so i saved about $30 when you factor in tax. tropicalknitter was very fast with communication and shipment and the needles are exactly what i wanted. go EBAY! now all i have to do is get a large lot of tahki cotton classic (hopefully black) through ebay so that i can make the kyoto sweater.

gods, i’m so crafty lately! this obsession is getting to be a lot of fun (or it’s just an obsession that i need to deal with. either way, it’s still a lot of fun.)

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well, it’s a long weekend (at least for me, i decided to take today off from work so that i could upgrade my computer to tiger) and it was well spent. on saturday, the spiders were all in brooklyn (minus joy and amanda) to swap yarn at kaitlyn’s stitchy sticky summer yarn swap. kaitlyn doesn’t live that far from me so i walked over there with a large bag of yarn and some wine. the day was bright and beautiful but not too hot. perfect for some outdoor fun in the shade. sandra, lisa, katie, sarah, abby, and valentina were among the girls that i already knew. there were some new faces as well that i have already forgotten the names to (help!) kaitlyn has just updated me with thos names.. the lovely girls who showed up at the party were sarah and mary.

we had fun putting yarn on joey.

we documented the stash.

we showed off our new yarn!

we fondled all the yarn.

see the gallery for more photos! all that yarn completely went to my head! lisa and i left around 6:30PM and met up with KP at barnes & noble so that we could get the newest vogueknitting and interweave knits magazines. the rest of the weekend i spent hanging with KP because he’s back in milwaukee now working. i finished up the second sock!!

and started a new one skein wonder…

this is possibly THE most luscious yarn i have ever knit with (and that’s not a stretch of the imagination because i haven’t been knitting for long!) so smooth. it’s like buttah’. i’ll be updating backpack once it’s back up from maintenance with my crafty status. in the meantime, enjoy the gallery.

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i have less than 15 minutes to write up this blog entry so here comes the quick and dirty…

first off, i recently signed up for two life-(well, maybe sanity-)saving services brought to the masses by 37signals.com: tadalist & backpack. i use tadalist for everyday lists of things that i would normally forget about and then agonize over when they become lost in the shuffle. i’m currently only using backpack to keep track of my crafty projects but i’m also going to start up a couple of resource pages for knitting, crocheting, sewing, japanese, and other what-nots of my daily life. del.icio.us is good for some things but not all. these two working together will keep me in check.

now, for the meme. i usually don’t do these things because i don’t like to divulge personal information on the internet (that’s why i got that anonymizer service from networksolutions so that none of you can WHOIS me.. see? paranoia is gooooooooooooood) but since i’ve been tagged both by joy and by kaitlyn, i’ll fill this out.

5 things that i miss about childhood:

1. unlimited playtime – oh yes, mom would let me play outside until the streetlights came on and then i could come inside and play too.. and watch “three’s company”. happiness is jack tripper falling all over the place.
2. huge tubs of ice cream – we used to get it in bulk. BIG BIG tubs of neopolitan ice cream. now we know better. that stuff is BAD FOR YOU! but ignorance was bliss, was it not?
3. little furry animals – i used to have gerbils. i loved those little things. my first was named terry. when that one died (and i completely LOST IT when it did), we got nikki, who lasted an ungodly amount of time for a gerbil. she got cancer and died and we buried her in the yard. in my senior year of college, i attempted to have a little furry creature again.. this time a rat named yoko. she was great. furry yes, noisy YES. always wanting to get out of her cage in the middle of the night and causing a ruckus. she got sick, bit me, and then i had to have her put to sleep at the small animal clinic at michigan state. then came the rabies shot. the joy of having small furry animals has since worn off. maybe a dog someday?
4. strawberry shortcake – i know that you can still get these dolls but what i miss most is the scent. i was once riding the F train into work and some woman sat next to me who smelled just like them. i inhaled deeply the entire ride which is not something someone usually does on the NYC subway. trust me.
5. kick the can – oh my god, i can’t even tell you how many hours we spent running around the neighborhood playing this game. i can still remember the far off sound of shoe meeting aluminum can. brilliant.

ok, now i gotta run and see the ladies at the point! have a good weekend all!

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does anyone know where i can get some cute point protectors online? my wine corks are economical but not very practical as they’ve fallen off a multitude of times in my bag. i’ve seen handmade stitch markers that are SOOOOOO cute but no point protectors (although i saw on SOMEONE’s blog that they received hello kitty point protectors from a secret pal! to die for!) oh, and has anyone seen those double-point ones too? the ones with two caps joined with elastic? i need those too. please post links in the comments if you can. thanks!

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i don’t think that i have ever devoured a book so fast in my life. i was so excited for the new installment of harry potter that i read it all in less than 24 hours time… and then cried. ok, if you haven’t read the book yet, STOP READING THIS up until the yarn picture. i will post spoilers so come back and re-read this later once you’ve read the book as well (and the review i’m going to write of it and out.. i’m two books behind on my reading blog.)

first off, here i am receiving my book.

look how happy i am for being up at midnight on a friday night! lisa looks pretty happy too!

anyway, we got our books and i just HAD to read the first chapter before bed on friday night. then i spent most of the rest of the weekend reading before finishing on sunday afternoon. so quick!

a few things about harry potter and the half-blood prince struck me right off the broomstick. harry has finally learned to control his temper! after a year of being tortured by umbridge, battling he-who-must-not-be-named, and losing his godfather, harry has become a solid, sixteen-year old grown up. his anger still mounts but he’s learned to keep it under wraps when he knows that arguing is futile. there is, after all, a time and a place for everything. it was a calm and cool harry, and gosh darn it, i was so proud of him as i read along! he’s finally become an adult.

there was also that monster inside him that would flare up whenever he saw a certain cute little redhead. oh ginny, you’ve finally captured harry’s heart and it only took you three years! harry wrestled with this for more than half the book. she’s his best mate’s younger sister and he was torn between wanting ginny and wanting to stay best friends with ron. thankfully, ron acquiesced and with a nod to his pal, harry fulfilled a dream. he had internalized so much of his fear and anger but remembered that love, the beast inside him, should be let loose when the timing was right. i think it’s safe to say that even though he broke things off with ginny at the end of the book, their relationship is not over. dumbledore made it quite clear that it’s love that lord voldemort (eek!) fears most of all and will be his undoing. not only did harry’s mother’s love protect him when he was a baby, but the love that he shares with ron, hermione, ginny, and all the rest of his compatriots, will ultimately be his master weapon.

the saddest bit of news was the death of dumbledore at the hands of snape. i’m torn between wanting to hate snape forever and ever and wanting to find out why the heck he did it. i have a feeling that dumbledore asked him to kill him if that’s the way the cards were dealt, but it’s hard to come to grips with it. dumbledore pleaded with snape not seconds before he was struck down but it was so uncharacteristic of him. you almost get the feeling that dumbledore was pleading with snape to kill him so that the double-agent ruse could continue. snape was bound with the unbreakable vow and would have died if he had not helped malfoy so dumbledore’s reasoning would be that it was more important to sacrifice himself than have snape blow his cover. ugh, it’s just awful to think about but dumbledore was a great man and harry will carry on the fight without him.

ok, enough hypothesizing for now. i still have to write my review of the actual book before going into my thoughts and theories of what we have in store in the last book.

in knitting news, i’m still making progress on the honeymoon cami, my koigu sock, and am about to start a baby blanket too. i whipped up another crocheted case for my camera this weekend. i’m becoming quite proficient at hammering these things out. this time i used two strands of red heart (orange and white.. i’m calling it the creamsicle case) so that the camera would have more padding. i have no pictures of it yet.. sorry! but i do have a picture of the yummy yarn (above) i bought at school products two or three weeks ago! it’s cashmere and silk, hand-dyed and spun, no brand name. i’m going to use it to make a clapotis so i’ll post more pictures once i have that going.

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well, progress on the honeymoon cami came to a screeching halt the other day when i looked at my gague and thought, that looks a lot bigger than i thought it was going to be. i trudged onward anyway. big mistake. i realized yesterday that i have been using the wrong size needle EVER SINCE i switched to the bamboos! ugh! and i was not liking those bamboo needles because the fabric would bunch up along the cord.. ggrrr.. i should have stopped sooner. i decided to rip back to the beginning of the main piece right after the edging. the eyelet rib may look a little large but i think that it will look fine after blocking (i hope!) i ripped out an entire skein of my cotton and, you know what, i was ok with it. i needed to practice ripping out anyway. sigh.

my new ball winder.. the one saving grace.

so in order to get over my negative cami process i started up a “one skein wonder” from glampyre. after seeing joy and sandra’s latest, i just had to have one for myself. i was going to wait for a while to make it but i realized i had some money left over in my paypal account so i bought the pattern last night. then i realized that with ALL THE YARN THAT I HAVE…

.. i have hardly any good worsted weight yarn. i have a lot of red heart left over from my learning-to-knit/practice days but it’s really too low-quality for me to make any kind of clothing out of. anyone want some red heart yarn for free? i can send it to you if you pay for shipping (with paypal). drop me a line and let me know. i decided though to try out the pattern in some red heart white anyway because i just wanted a break from the cami. i should have it done in a day or so.

i met up with the ladies on friday down at the point. i walked in and realized that i knew some of the women who were already there and knitting away but i couldn’t remember anyone’s name (i’m so bad at that!) but cari from dogsstealyarn recognized me right away. suddenly being blog semi-famous is weird. this was my first time at the point and i really loved it there. everyone was very nice (the knitters and the staff) and they have a grand collection of yarn (i may pick up a skein or two of something for a new OSW soon.. maybe i can go on friday before the play.)

later, lisa, joy, sandra, and kaitlyn showed up.

we fondled joy’s kiri. lisa picked up her pinkina and we had some pie. i really must do this more often. it’s a great stress reliever.

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almost forgot to post something about this and then i saw that someone had searched for it recently… i have received my pink (and other colors too!) hair accessories from my secret pal! she lives in holland and really went ALL OUT on my gift. i’m not sure if she has a blog so hopefully she’ll come and comment and introduce herself.

she packaged up the hair accessories and included the dutch translation of numbers on each packet of hair clips.

and when they were all open, i was ecstatic to see what i received!

thanks swap partner! i’m so very happy!

also, my secret partner received the goods that i sent her and posted pictures to her blog.

p.s. if you haven’t noticed already, i’m HORRIBLE with remembering people’s names which is why this blog is mainly anonymous! it’s not because i worry about people’s privacy, it’s because i’m completely blanking on your name.

p.p.s. i’m thinking about getting new digital camera that i would keep with me all the time. i LOVE my leica. it takes gorgeous pictures but it’s bulky and doesn’t fit in my pocket… or my purse for that matter. i’m looking for something non-sony (i absolutely refuse to buy their proprietary memory cards), small, and adjustable.. i’d like it if the camera could be put on almost full manual (shutter speed, aperture, film speed) but that’s not a requirement. any suggestions?

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well, i’m really cruising along with the honeymoon cami… at least it’s cruising at the pace that i usually knit at which is s.l.o.w. i’ve just finished the lace ribbing at the bottom and am now about to start on the waist. i had to rip out two or three rows over the weekend because i did the yarn overs all wrong and it just looked horrible. i’m using bernat’s handicrafter yarn in ecru (100% cotton) and it’s tough to work with because it splits easily but, in the end, i think that i’ll be happy with the added coverage of the weightier yarn. do you shop at herrschners? they have great deals, a weekly sale on yarn, and yes (if you clicked on the above link) i got 8 skeins at $1.27 a piece!! basically, this cami is going to cost me only about $10 when i’m done with it. a bargain.

speaking of splitting yarn, i recently got a windfall of money in my paypal account from my cousin so i was able to buy a couple of knitting tools on ebay. i bought a set of 4 no-name brand bamboo circs for a song. granted, they are not beautiful clover needles but what i do like about them is that the tips are blunt. i was using my boye needle master circs but the yarn was sliding all over the place and the sharp points were causing the yarn to split. these needles are much better. i also got a royal yarn ball winder after kat mentioned how much she liked hers. i’ll probably wind up some yarn tonight since i finished off a friend’s business cards and got them to the printer last night.

by the way, i’ve updated the RSS feeds to a better format and have placed links to them in the sidebar.

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things around here have been running on overdrive since, well, since last year it seems, but this past week has been especially busy. saturday evening, i was in astoria for a surprise birthday get-together. sunday, my husband and i were in NJ celebrating memorial day and my grandfather’s 88th birthday (happy bday again grandpa!) and monday, we had our friends lee and jackie over along with their friend kristen and their three little girls (from age 5 to 8 months). tuesday, i was especially exhausted after work and just went straight home after the gym to watch some firefly. but yesterday, i was out about with some new friends!

kat, of pinkurocks fame, is in town this week and staying with friends in queens. she, kay (of mason dixon knitting fame), and i met up in rockefeller before heading down to downtown yarns where i fondled basically every skein of yarn in the shop. this is a great shop although it’s small and has a small selection of karabella yarn (my favorite). i love the shop’s dog, frankie, and the wide variety of rowan yarns. it’s a great find for knitters in NYC.

we then walked over to SOHO where kay left us to go home and relieve her babysitter. kat, her hubby darin, and i headed down crosby to a gallery where teva durham was having a book launch party for her new book, loop-d-loop. i love it! i was looking at all of the patterns last night and i hope that i can get around to making one of the short row sweaters this fall. really gorgeous. at the book launch party, i met up with some nyc knitbloggers who i previously didn’t know. i’m terrible with names but amongst the women i did meet were sassy stitchess and dynamite knits. i’m hoping that by running through their blogs over the next few days i’ll run into some of the other women that i met last night!

we all left the book party around 7:30 and went to antique garage for dinner where we proceeded to talk a little shop and get acquainted. the night became a blur after that. i remember looking at sassy’s newest project and riding the train home with the girls. i was so tired when i got in yet i forced myself to stay up and get the pictures downloaded from my camera so that i could post them today. you should take a look! other albums have been updated as well (and there’s this genart album in there that has no pictures.. sorry, i ran out of time this morning and really had to book it to get into work. will upload them and write about it tonight!)

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looky looky! it’s my sock! i’ve hit the part where it’s time to do the short rows and i have no idea how to do this so hopefully arnetta can teach me in class. then i’m hoping to finish off the heel turn in class so she can show me how to pick up the stitches on the side. i’ll be really excited to finish this sock because i’m then going to start the next one and start a few baby hats at the same time. so here’s the sock…

and here’s one of the new babies that has been added to my life. born yesterday after only two hours of labor (lucky kari.. i know it won’t be that short for me when the time comes.) welcome to the world, sophia marie.

(more…)

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KP and i have been busy planning a weekend trip to puerto rico (we leave on thursday, march 10) and i have been reading and knitting my socks for knitting class so nothing much is new around here. as usual, this blog tends to ebb and flow depending on my mood and i have been feeling very retrospective lately.. that and i’ve spent all of my time on ebay looking for cool fabrics to make a messenger bag with.. love craftster! my two new favorite sellers on ebay for fun fabric prints are: the spin cycle & fabric connection. if you have favorite ebay sellers/stores for crafting, pipe up in the comments! besides, my comments section is hurting for some traffic.

KP is leaving me to travel for work in two weeks and that means that i’ll have lots of free time to be spent making stuff (and watching TV!) so hopefully the gallery will fill up with tons of great things just in time for spring. stay tuned!

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