Well, How'dya like that?

You scored as English. You should be an English major! Your passion lies in writing and expressing yourself creatively, and you hate it when you are inhibited from doing so. Pursue that interest of yours! English 92% Sociology 92% Linguistics 83% Theater 75% Journalism 75% Psychology 75% Philosophy 67% Biology 67% Anthropology 67% Dance 58% Mathematics 50% Art 42% Engineering 42% Chemistry 25% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

Guess what? My BA is in English!

Order of the Phoenix

Lately . . .

It seems there's not much knitting content here. That's because I've been trying to do something about how much space I currently occupy on this earth, in a chair, in my jeans, etc. I joing e-diets.com and have been trying to navigate around that site in most of my "spare" internet time lately. But there has been knitting in my life as well. . . just look:



This is the sock I am knitting for the Six Socks Knitalong. I joined this cute yahoo group that knits socks every other month. Right up my alley. I'll get a free sock pattern and get to knit a sock for a reason (rather than just for me!) every two months. What a great idea. Now, as long as the sock doesn't mean I'll have nightmares like when I WATCHED the movie The Sixth Sense, I'll be alright. If I start seeing dead people, they're gonna have to be gifties!!




Also, looky here:



I won an e-bay auction and got this yummy looking yarn for the Somewhat Cowl knitalong. I think I need to cast on in a hurry, but it's here at least! One bad note, there was this really funky scent coming from the yarn when I first opened the package, but now it seems to be airing out. I was just about to send it back to the guy (but he lives in the UK! UGH!), and when I smelled it this afternoon, it is going away. Probably just boxed up in plastic too long.

The yarn is DK weight wool and acrylic blend (I don't like to wear wool right next to my skin, so usually go with a blend or at least a merino - not in the budget right now!). Looks like it's probably "vintage" (hence, the smell), and it knits up at just the right guage! Now where are those size 4 needles . . . .

Kiss

Not that I'll be doing any of this any time soon, but I love these little pop-quizzes!

Your Famous Movie Kiss is from Spiderman

"I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?"

What Famous Movie Kiss Are You?

Countdown Clock

Busy Spring Break

Even though it has been Spring Break here, I haven't managed to accomplish much. I am dragging my feet over writing a paper that is due tomorrow. RD is complete, but I can't manage to make myself get back in there and edit! I have, however, been having a great time with The Boy (who is at Daddy's for the weekend :O( and Easter). We have gone on playdates, visited the Aviation Museum in College Park (excellent), Bladensburg Waterfront Park (awesome - we got to see the DeMatha rowing team setting off into the water for practice), and just plain had a great time. I love having him around so much. Makes it even harder when he goes away for the weekend! Right now I have my schoolwork to concentrate on, but soon that will be over, and I'll have nothing much to do but think of what he is doing WITHOUT ME! Sob! At least it will only be the summer, then I'll have lesson plans to write and classroom stuff to create/make! That should do the trick.

Meanwile, I'm getting lots of knitting done as well! I have started working again on my alpaca cardigan from a Debbie Bliss pattern. It's so wonderful, I'm a little stumped as to why I stopped working on it for so long. Then, I'm also just about finished with my sister's Picovoli. Mattr of fact, I will finish it today. The plan is to work on my paper for an hour, then turn on some past episodes of LOST and knit until finished. YAY! Now I need to find a color to do it in for myself. Might have to wait for Sheep N Wool. It's not like I don't have other things to knit.

Oh yeah, I've been purusing the free web ring for baby blanket patterns, and found one WITH CABLES!!! I've been wanting to knit cables forever, and I think that would make the blanket for the new Vereen baby very special, so I'll probably do a version of the one I found here: http://www.stichinsheep.blogspot.com/

Lover girl. . .

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you can get or discard anytime. You're feeling self centered.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Baby blanket

At the request of a fellow Meetup member, I am posting details of a baby blanket that I think is the PERFECT size for a giftie! At first, it may seem as though it needs to be bigger, but my friend Jo who knit it for me is the smartest gramma around, because she knows it is just what every mom needs. This blanket is the perfect size for carting back and forth in the car, just covers baby and his carseat, is the perfect size for folding neatly into the diaper bag for emergency cover-ups, and is the overall perfect size. Well, it's just plain perfect! It is about 27 inches square, although when I measured it, it was 27" wide by 28" long. I think it was a technicality - I'm pretty sure she was just using up scraps! Here it is:


As you can see, this blanket is actually crocheted, not knit. I have no idea what pattern or stitch this is, since I don't crochet more than a chain here or there! I have achieved just about the same size effect with a simple corner-to-corner blanket. Basically, to do this, you cast on three stitches, then begin by knitting, and as you go, increase by knitting in the front and back of the first stitch on every row until you get to the width you want (you will have a triangle), then begin decreasing on the first stitch of every row by knitting two together until you are back down to three stitches again. Bind off, and presto - baby (or anybody) blanket. You can find the actual pattern on About.com, I believe, but I don't think it is anything that is copyrighted! (I hope!)

I plan to try to knit one of these for my sister-in-law's (okay, former SIL) baby due in October!!! Hmmm, what yummy yarn can I use for this. . . By the way, the baby is being modeled by "Ruphie," my son's new friend from the Build-A-Bear Workshop! He's such a cutie (and apparently, he's French - note the spelling)!

OOOOH, Goody!

I just heard some really good news! Actually, I heard it last night, and I've been thinking about it and scheming up plans since then! My former (but still beloved) sister-in-law is expecting!!! YAY, YAY, YAY!!!! I have been waiting to knit for her forever! Okay, not forever, but for at least 5 years! Now, granted, she just got married last year, but still, I've been thinking that I neede to knit her something REALLY GREAT when the time came. Now, the time is here!

So, what to knit? I want to knit something that she will use all the time, and for a long time, so one of the short blankets that I loved so well is definitely in order. I'm thinking I'm going to knit this in a really nice wool/cotton blend, so that will be my splurge item. Then, another thing I really loved when The Boy was little was a zip-up-the-back hooded pullover sweater. I found the poor thing hanging out at a consignment shop somewhere (please, oh please, let me never see any of my own items in a shop like that! makes me really sad! The one I found even had cables all over it - someone put some time and effort into that, and there was no one to pass it on to? C'mon! Were they even worthy of giving a hand-knit item to in the first place?), and since then, I've seen patterns floating all over the internet for them. Check them out herehttp://http://knitting.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/4054/knitting.htm, here http://http://knitting.about.com/library/blbabyswe3.htm, and here http://http://knitting.about.com/library/blbabyswe4.htm. This last one looks the most like the one I found for The Boy. It was wonderful. So, I plan to knit that in the proper size for the baby for next Fall, when the baby will be about a year old. And, I'm thinking I will use some leftover (gasp!) Wool-Ease (Oh-no!) for this project. I did a circular poncho from a Lion Brand catalog, and had tons of yarn leftover from this project. So, I think this will work out really well for this little sweater. I can't wait to get started! But, of course, I have to finish up some things first! What else is new?

I should post what I still have to work on and what I've finished lately. Maybe later. . . off to read some, see what the SKC is up to, and where-oh-where the Yarn Harlot is these days. I am so entertained by knitting blogs . . . <>. . .

Sexy Knitters Club

Sexy Knitters Club

Did I mention that I love these ladies? They are some really cool, committed, sexy knitters! They inspire me and give me tips, link me to great patterns, and are a main inspiration for adding to my stash and project list!

Batman went on an Easter Egg Hunt. 

Spiderman called . . . he wants his shoes back! 

Whew!

One class down, one to go. To celebrate, I learned how to cast-on mid-row! My sister is visiting, which means I got to start her Picovoli that I've been wanting to knit for a long time now - ever since finding the Sexy Knitters' Club. So now I've started. I got as far as the armholes yesterday, and discovered not only how to cast-on mid-row, but how to do a knitted purl cast-on! Great accomplishment! I'm glad I can say I've done that now. I really like knitting the Picovoli, too - it's going so quickly that it's definitely not boring!

Tomorrow it's off to the Kennedy Center with The Boy's school, for a puppet theater type of show. Should be interesting. I wonder if I'll be more "mommy" or more "teacher" while I'm with his class? Hmmmmm. . . .just glad to be going, although it means a day without pay. Ugh. Probably best, though - since Ms. Hawkins (the teacher I am currently working with) is going to be out tomorrow, which means the students will be crazy and I'm just not up for it today. I will be much better about this when it's my class, and I'm getting paid and can go see the doctor if I want to. Paying for benefits solo really sucks! So does not getting paid for holidays, getting paid hourly, etc, etc, etc. . . C'mon September!