~ [Shadkitty Knitty] ~

Oct 28, 2010

Clever Post Title

Does anyone still read these?

Well, in case you do, I have been trying to keep myself busy. I taught my daughter to

crochet (she wanted to learn to knit, but didn't have the patience really) and crochet is a little simpler to teach. She was so excited, and she told me "Tomorrow I'm going to tell all of my friends I learned how to crochet!". It was really cute. However, she's still not too adept at it yet. When she's crocheting I have to stay right next to her to help her. It's kind of tiresome after awhile.

After finishing the trigger finger gloves for Beau (this is what I've decided to call the new boyfriend, til something better comes along anyways) I finished another pair of those handspun mitts. The merino top was from FatCat Knits and it was soooo gorgeous and fluffy-softness. Then I finished my purple Struan. It came out perfectly! I got a few compliments on it, even from non-knitters. When I finished the blue one for my friend (which was done without a brim) Mouse told me that it just wasn't my color. The purple definitely suits me better.

I floundered for a few days, played games on my mom's iTouch and didn't really knit much. Then, after mention aloud to my mother that I had 12 UFOs (only 4 of which were current WIPs)...I decided it was about time I quit stalling and finished up some of those projects. So I looked into my UFO bag and pulled out my Somewhat Cowl. Do you guys remember this? It's been TWO YEARS since I've done anything with it. Though there are a few UFOs that have been lingering longer than that, I figured finishing this one would boost my spirits. Many times, I get discouraged when something has to be started over from (practically) scratch. So, if I could turn this one around, maybe all of my projects have hope! All that was left was the sleeves and collar anyways. It's all done now, except the blocking. Still haven't made up my mind whether I love it or hate it though. What do you guys think?

The last time I knit this, it seemed like the collar stretched on forever. It's just six inches? Why will it never be done?! Today, I was at about 5 inches and holding for hours. To distract myself from the never ending ribbing, I decided to

pull out The Lady. The kids had broken the drive band, which my dad fixed and it was time to test it out. I pulled out some BFL that I had purchased forever ago, prepped it and it looked good enough to eat! The join worked beautifully and I spun up one of the strips. Then...nature called. When I came back to the wheel That Baby was spinning it and had wrapped the drive band all around bearings. That ended that endeavor. The drive band is broken in two places. *sigh* We just can't have nice things! :) Tomorrow I am going to hang out with Mouse, and hopefully she has a fix for me. Otherwise it's just six dollars to get a new one. This gives me time to figure out how I want to ply it. Should I do two-ply or Navajo ply? Hmmmm

Labels: accidents, decisions, fiber, fingerless gloves, finished object, hat, knitting, mittens/gloves, mouse, Nolan, Somewhat Cowl, spinning, Struan, sweater

22:44 | |

Apr 15, 2008

Huh. A title might help

67 words

Speedtest

Everything is a little hectic right now. And I am...well a little down. Knowing that it's not much longer now doesn't really help honestly. Just part of the way things are. I have a new haircut/style. I participated in a Dexter based swap. And I ripped and restarted Somewhat Cowl. It was really worth it. In the picture it looks like I'm pulling on it, but I'm not. I'm really just holding it out because, of course, the neckline is all stockinette right now and was rolling.

Now I'm gonna go surf Ravelry or something. Heather is on spring break and I kinda wanna scream.

Labels: pictures, Somewhat Cowl, updating

11:43 | |

Apr 3, 2008

Two Posts in One Week!

OMG! It's insane! lol Actually, my life is. Sick children, preparing for the return of Mr. Shad, house cleaning, etc. But I was tagged by KnitKat. So we'll talk about that first.

Rules
1) Link to the person who tagged you.--> Kat
2) Post the rules. (done)
3) Share six non-important things / habits / quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people.
5) Be sure the people you tagged KNOW you tagged them by commenting what you did.

I am mildly OCD, I have to eat Oreo cookies from left to right out of the package. All of the "rows" have to be the same. My husband enjoys rearranging the cookies to piss me off, I will fix even out the rows if they aren't right.
I tap the top of soda cans before I open them. Dunno why.
My husband and I got married after about two months. We met in early November, and married in late December.
My hair wasn't cut (other than an inch here and there for maintenance purposes), colored, or styled really until I was 15. Clearly...now I change it semi-annually.
I totally hate my real name, but love my married surname.
The reason that there are so many pictures of me isn't so much that I'm a camera whore as it is that I love to take pictures. Of anything. Have you looked at my Ravelry projects? There are so many pictures. My Flickr has over 2,000 pictures.

I'm not tagging anyone. Don't feel like it. If you like, steal this and do it for yourself.

So, I've spent my week cleaning up vomit. How's that for starters? Nolan has been

sick since Sunday. Today we haven't had any upchuck...but it's not even seven yet. Oh, I finished Somewhat Cowl...but it looked terrible. The sleeves were too big. Actually, the raglan measurement was too long. I knew it when I did it (10 inches?! You've gotta be kidding me) but I thought, hey, she's the designer...she knows what she's doing. Right? When I took my measurement for a raglan sweater awhile ago, it was 6.5", which I thought was way too small. I measured my Tree Jacket's raglan "seam" because that fit PERFECTLY...it was 6.5 inches. Go figure. FROG. It's all gone. Except that 6.5 inches. I was really depressed over it last night. The collar looked so beautiful, I had slip-stitched it into place and it had felted slightly. Oh well. It's better than never wearing the sweater.

Other than that, I've been helping a friend from Ravelry out. She is in Virginia, so I might have to visit her soon. Plus...they rollerskate!!! OMG! Have I ever told you how much I love rollerskating?

Labels: babies, friends, lists/surveys, memes/blogthings, sick, Somewhat Cowl

17:14 | |

Mar 4, 2008

Distant Dreams

So, lately, I have been spending most of my time thinking about what I'll do once Mr. Shad is home and all of the crazies are out of the house. This is like...a year away at best. Still, after talking to a fellow Raveller (Raveler? either way) I am really

beginning to feel excited and motivated. There is one thing that I have been dying to do, yet I couldn't because of my responsibilities to my family. Now my chance is getting closer and becoming more plausible. Oh, in case you are wondering, my dream is to become a makeup artist.

On to the crafty content! Alright, I finished the Knitter Project/Serpentine Mitts. I also finally finished spinning the Cerelia yarn. It's gorgeous. OMG it's beautiful. To be honest...I've completely lost track of what I meant to post about. I started this post about two days ago or something. Mr. Shad is due home "mid-April", which means any time in or around April. We're creeping up on his birthday, my knitversary, and St. Patty's Day. Which is one of my fav holidays. In light of the impending holiday, here is Cerelia. Tell me you don't want it.

Next up on the wheel is that stuff I got from Mouse when I visited her. We've been

trying to come up with delightfully twisted titles for it based on the fact that the colors make it look like a My Little Pony mane. I think her best one was "My Little Pony in a Blender". *snicker* It's really rather pretty though. I've never spun from a batt before, so I asked my LYS owner for her recommendations. She said I could A) peel off wool from the side a little at a time or B) split it down the middle and then predraft it. I chose 'B' since I had wanted the colors to be more blended (would have gone to the shop and used the drum carder but really...don't have time). Had I chosen 'A' I could have navajo-plied and ended up with a nice self-striping yarn. Not sure that is what I really wanted though. Too late now. :)

And um...here have a mug shot.

That's it. I think. Oh wait, so, Brandy wanted to change her hair, she decided it

didn't match her eyebrows. Of course, I come up with the brilliant idea that she should do a dark brown with some redlights (which are red highlights duh). We decide to do it Friday after our regular Chik-Fil-A night. While at Wal-Mart debating over the different colors she admired the haircut/style of one of the girls on the front of the box. I'm not completely sure that sentence makes sense. Just go with me. Anyways, I tell her that I don't see why she couldn't pull off that style. So...we're up til 4am doing her hair, and then she goes to the salon to get it cut today. hahaha

...Apparently I keep hitting the "save now" button instead of the one that says "publish post". lol

Here is a quick look at how Somewhat Cowl is doing:

I'm totally wearing a push-up bra in those pictures. I wish my bosoms looked

that good. lol Also, got a really kickass wpi tool. It's from Karatstix. She is really amazing, she made it using a couple of pictures that I gave her of my tattoos AND it was only $8 (WITH s&h!!). So, if you are a spinner, go. Now. If you're not, she also sells needle and hook gauges. Trust me, it's worth a look. I even got a little keychain square out of the deal. (It's the small thing in the picture.)

Labels: friends, hair, life, rambling, Somewhat Cowl, spinning, wpi gauge, yarn

10:11 | |

Feb 22, 2008

You Just Wanna Rip It Out

Your mistakes I mean, not your hair. At first, I wasn't going to rip back to fix

this one, it seemed silly. Then I realized I had made the increases too soon anyways. What you are seeing are two sides of the Somewhat Cowl, one that I did correctly, and the other (on the right side) where I made a mistake. Just increased a stitch before I should have. Ugh. Good thing I had to frog it, it would have bothered me later. So, I ripped back using a lifeline, and have to knit like 5 inches of boooooring stockinette. Actually, I think I only have like 3 left. And although I am loving this sweater, I suddenly feel the urge to toss it aside! Because I just got in the most SCRUMPTIOUS yarn ever! Actually, I just bought three sweaters worth of yarn, some Knit One Crochet Too Angora Soft (10 balls for $12.50!) and 7 balls of Lang Yarns Venezia from Webs. I had a gift certificate.

What I am talking about though, is some destash yarn I got from Mouse. OMG. It is yummy. It's Filatura Di Crosa Luna, 10 whole balls. I just want to cast it on right now. After squeezing it, and smelling it, I had to swatch it. Then I did some math, I am going to make the Buttony Sweater, which is hardly a pattern to begin with. There is no gauge, no real measurements or stitch counts. I used one of my favorite shirts as a guide, taking the tip from Knitting Daily. As a bonus, it has raglan style sleeves.

Anyways, here are some fun pictures of a sock bag I bought and the other yarns.

Labels: Charade, rambling, socks, Somewhat Cowl, sweater, yarn

11:25 | |

Feb 17, 2008

Something Like That

Go here, just do it, don't ask questions. Okay fine, a few questions. It's totally work safe, that link will take you to the homepage for our dear friend Krystofer who is participating in the Aids LifeCycle this year. He needs our help in the form of donations. Anything you can give will be appreciated. Also, I know he is going to put names into a drawing for every FIVE dollars you donate (seriously? can you tell me you can't spare $5?_. There will be lots of lovely handknit goodies to win! That is, if you feel you need a reason to donate to such an outstanding cause. :)

I don't even know what I talked about in my last post. The Somewhat Cowl is making some serious progress, which you all know is unusual for me. Normally, stockinette sends me into a boredom induced coma. The second Serpentine Mitt has been cast on...I got about two inches into it. Actually, Brandy was confused and impressed when I was knitting on it Friday evening. When she asked me about it (Is that knitting??), I got started on a whole thing where I showed her different projects. She also asked about the tags, so I showed her the Buggerloo hat for Heather and she just thought it was great. It's always fun to show off all of the things one can do with knitting. People really do seem to think it's all about

frumpy sweaters and baby blankets.

Valentine's Day was boring, I don't really want to talk about it, so don't ask. Kyran's birthday was not as much fun as I would have liked, we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Oh well, the kids enjoyed themselves. Ky is really digging his new three year-old class.

Have any of you seen that Suave commercial? The "89% of moms admit they've let themselves go" one? I hate that commercial. What about dads? Don't any of them notice that they look awful? Really...? Sorry. Momentary rant. I am seriously stressed right now. There are only a few more months to go. Then I get to readjust to living with my husband again, and right about the time when I get comfortable, he'll probably have to go somewhere else. Ugh.

I have four WIPs right now, and 5 UFOs. The question is what to do to get that all finished up. Yarnissima contacted me about my problems with La Digitessa, so I know how to fix that. Two of my UFOs are very near completion...I really just need to finish them. The baby hat in the Amazonas might just end up being frogged. What do you guys think? I mean, clearly I'm not concerned with finishing it.

Labels: babies, birthdays, blah, Somewhat Cowl

14:29 | |

Feb 9, 2008

Not Dead Yet

Yeah. No. My computer's AC adapter broke, and since my battery is basically useless...I was without the internet briefly. If nearly three weeks can be considered brief. Actually, can I admit to somewhat enjoying it? It was nice to get in some actual knitting time as opposed to just reading about it on Ravelry! Not that I don't love Ravelry, it really would have come in handy when I realized that somehow my Digitessa and the charts/pattern were not syncing up. :( More about that in a second. Basic life update first. In the time I was gone, I've been going to the gym three days a week, knitting, and getting together with my friend Brandy every Friday night. It's really helpful to have a friend who truly understands what I am going through. Heather is five now, I missed doing a birthday post for her since the computer was out of commission. Kyran will be three on Monday. Expect one for him. And Nolan got his very first haircut! He looks older, or so everyone says. He still looks like little Nolie Bird to me. This is gonna be a long post guys. So, settle in.

Before and After shots of Nolan:

Alright, what else is there to tell? Well, let's get to the knitting stuff first. I

finished one of the Serpentine Mitts, and finally finished Tree Jacket. Come on, you guys knew I'd be knitting in my "time off" from the internet. When Tree Jacket was finished, I thought my Denise needles looked bored, so I cast on for the Somewhat Cowl. The Berroco Ultra Alpaca is really nice to work with. It doesn't feel as soft against my face as it does on my hands though. Which is strange. I'm really thinking I will like this sweater a lot. Tree Jacket is great, it fits perfectly, and my best friend said it makes my boobs look big. lol That's always a plus. Right now most of my projects are simple, mindless TV type projects. Unfortunately, those are the type of projects I tend to stall on. However, I needed something either simple, or that I had a pattern for once my computer died. As I didn't have a lot of patterns printed out. Oh, and I had a slight problem with my one complex and interesting pattern.

La Digitessa and I are not in agreement right now. I should probably take a picture, but for now let me try to explain. Chart 6 has the cable pattern on the front of the leg as starting (row 33) on what would be row 10 of Chart 4. However, my sock has row 33 of Chart 6 being comparable to row 2 of Chart 4. Anyone? Should I just go about knitting using Chart 4 and trying to incorporate it into Chart 6 somehow? I posted about my dilemma on the Yarnissima group on Ravelry, nobody has given me any ideas yet. So, I might just start privately messaging people on Ravelry who have completed the socks. I am just concerned I did something wrong, and wouldn't even know how to begin to fix it! Argh. As soon as I can, I will get a picture to kind of show where I am at on the sock. It's just so aggravating. Anyways, after that, I started a modified version of the Charade socks. All I did was change the knit stitches in between the "slip, YO, k1, psso" type part into purls. Which my stitch dictionary calls a "rolled rib". Whatever, it is just something to do. Probably going to take them to the gym with me.

And now a meme, as I don't feel like posting anymore:

Rules and whatnot

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. (which I don't feel like doing, so I won't)
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

These are the facts:

1. I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 about...4 years ago. I refuse to take medication for it, and I don't have the time to see a therapist/counselor. Though it is free. Instead, I track my "symptoms" and try to adjust accordingly. Luckily, it's not as bad as it once was. Some days are still worse than others. (this might explain some things about me)

2. I still can't decided if I hate doing dishes or laundry more. It's always the putting away/folding/loading parts of these chores I have the hardest time with.

3. Driving still scares me. After rolling our Explorer several years back, I can only drive about 2 solid hours at a time. Anything after that, I start white-knuckling it!

4. Feet are gross. I don't like them, except baby feet. I have an absurd fondness for baby feet. The reason I love socks so much is because they cover up my totally abnormal looking feet. I hate pedicures.

5. My best friend is my polar opposite. She loves feet, pedicures, water, swimming, the beach. When my hair was long, hers was short, now that mine is short...hers is long. Her favorite colors are pink, green, and white. Mine are purple, blue, and black. Seriously? The plus side is: we've never been attracted to the same guy at the same time, can't even conceive of it. We balance each other.

6. The penguin thing, if I haven't already explained it, came about rather simply. Whenever I was pregnant, Mr. Shad would tease me about the way I waddled. He said I looked like a penguin. And the nickname stuck. I am still his penguin. Penguins are fascinating, and cute. So, why not?

7. I want to learn how to do some pole tricks. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you probably don't want to. I love to dance, and I think it's just a neat thing to be able to do. Eh, what do you want? I'm weird. :)

Labels: birthdays, Digitessa, disappointment, finished object, kids, Knitter Project, life, memes/blogthings, penguin, pictures, progress, rambling, Somewhat Cowl, sweater, Tree Jacket, updating