Stuff still to do

I've been got. I've been got by the faboo stickstress Heather, who was got by the also faboo hookstress Pam, who was got by...you get the picture.

Ten Things I've Never Done, but intend to do: (almost all of them the clean ones!)

1. I have never been abroad. The 18 months I spent intoxicated on the beach in Guantanamo Bay don't really count. It was like a camouflage Mayberry, with no escape but the rum.

2. I have never kept bees. Bees are freaking brilliant!! They not only make honey, and beeswax, but they dance! Whoever can't love a dancing bug has some issues. (Allergics exempt...)

3. I have never had a baby. I am so excited about having a baby. No, not pregnant, not even trying, but the entire process fascinates me. Plus, babies quite simply ROCK!

4. I have never had jewelry commissioned. Someday after we win the lotto, I'll have the difficult decision: Harry Winston or Fred Leighton? Why, I don't know, because I can barely remember to wear the $5 pair of earrings I got at Target! I guess it just seems like the pinnacle of rich to me.

5. I have never lived with my husband. This kind of scares me, but then again, I can only drive each other so far away when we'll be living on a tiny island off Japan.

6. I have never learned French, quel domage.

7. I have never bought a house. This one is really starting to get to me, what with shacking up in my best friend's spare bedroom. Mowing a lawn is starting to sound enviable!

8. I have never had a garden. I just think it would be really cool to go outside pick the tomatoes for the salad. I would love to be able to say "what on earth am I going to do with all this flippin' zucchini?"

9. I have never had my own dog. This is also very sad, because right after sweet-smelling cooing chubby babies on "my things I love" list are dogs. Who else is so excited to see you that they pee on the floor, when you only were out to the mailbox. The peeing isn't the cute part, it's the sentiment involved, you see.

10. I have never seen a whale in the wild. Whales are also very high on the cool scale. The faves: the orca for her multi-faceted nature, and the humpback for her beautiful singing.

It fits! It fits! It fits!

It FITS!! I tried on the Sartene tank last night after doing the shoulder seams, and it fits! It needs to be washed, it's kind of stiff, but it went on and wasn't too big or too small, and I'm so excited! This is the first sweater I've knit for me, and I can't tell you how nervous I was about trying it on. I got butterflies, for pete's sake.

I spent 3 hours last night sewing the shoulder seams on my tank top. That's right, 3 hours. I could NOT get anything to look any better than horrendous, so I decided to rip out the bind-off edges and graft. So, I learned to graft last night, and while the grafting is certainly not perfect, it is serviceable and will do. It looks far better than any of the evil seams I tried before. Oh, and I don't officially hate kitchener stitch any more. It is not my favorite, but I've decided to lift the embargo against it.

Then, I was picking up stitches for the arm-hole edging, and ended up picking up the exact amount for the smallest size, which I do not wear and did not knit. So, back to the pond for that. I'm just glad I realized it before I knit the entire edging, and then put it on and had a tear-jerking "o crap" moment. No one told me about "knitting tears" when I first picked up this addiction, I mean, obsession, I mean, hobby.

Today I was online surfing yarn porn and dreaming about buying a Rowan cardigan kit, and I figured I better learn about Japanese knitting, and stumbled across the cutest site. I love their English, not only excellent, but cute. You'll see, just read some of the narratives. I particularly love the "woolen pants" picture, see the link on the left under "basic projects." Not my first choice for chonies, but hey, to each her own. If you go poking around, and I'm sure you will, you'll only see English on the pages marked with the "E." My computer doesn't speak Japanese, so it comes out looking like cartoon swear words: %^&(*%$$@!!!

Back to the arm hole edging game for me!

Dying to go digital

I am so dying for a digital camera right about....NOW.

You'll be so proud of me, I finished the front of the Sartene tank, and am sewing it together, then I just have to knit on the neck and arm trims, and I'll be styling, "bay-bee."

I also have begun putting the pieces together for the baby bolero, and it is so flippin' cute, I squeal every time I hold it up to check the seam construction. You all know the squeal, it's the same one every female on earth utters when entering a baby-clothing store. Don't act like you don't, I've heard you.

I'm very motivated to finish the bolero because I really want to cast on for the next project and I'm using the needles on the bolero that I'll use on New Project. Why not buy new needles, you say? Well, these are addi's, dahling, and they are tres fabeux (French for faboo, oui?), and I cannot be buying addi's all the time. Jude would counsel me to just snag some "ghetto needles," but I really need to purge those. The goal from now on is to only invest in faboo needles.

What is the next project you say? I've decided to take the yumm-tastic KPPPM and turn it into a so-soft scarf for me vice so-soft socks for my fiance. Not only is he too hot-blooded for wool socks (lucky girl, me ;) but I really hate knitting socks. I usually really hate knitting scarves, but I'm gonna give the Clapotis pattern a shot. It'll be my very own mini-Clap. If it turns out that I hate the Clapotis pattern, I'll do a simple leaf/lace thing. The KPPPM is in color P-319, very "autumn leaves on the forest floor." BTW, if you follow that link, be advised that 319 looks a lot more like 613 in reality, the purple in it is really quite subtle.

Keep your fingers crossed that I don't completely booger the neck and arm-hole trims on the tank......maybe I'll even get to wear it this Tuesday to SnB at Cupz!!

Off our "break!"

Hello! I first must thank you for sticking with me these last coupla posts when I've been such a Moping Myrtle. So, thanks!

Today was a good day. I managed to get in some knitting time this morning, and even some at work! I was working on the evil Sartene tank top! I also made some admirable progress on it Tues. evening at the SnB get-together. So, I figure we're officially off our break, and I should be finishing the front very soon. The next row begins not only the armhome shaping, but the v-neck shaping, so I'll have something to think about.

Now that the end is in sight, I'm all excited again, and loving the knitting process! I'm even thinking of other things I can knit for ME! This will be the first thing I've ever actually finished for myself. The other projects were lessons in how much I dislike knitting scarves (too boring), how wrong super chunky knits are for me (too curvy), and the best lesson of all: the importance of gauge and it's uncanny ability to bring you to tears when you realize the sweater (of which you just finished the entire front) is perfectly sized for a 12-year old.

The baby bolero is all blocked and ready for piecing and finishing. I plan to wait to do that after I get to Virginia, plus we've got a good bit of road-trip when we drive from VA to New Orleans. (SO EXCITED!!!!)

In other knitters news, Jude is working up a fab and simple tank in some shimmery Berroco rayon, Mary's knits are as amazing as ever - and no pattern!, Heather and Alison have finished their beautiful Clapotis (tres jolies, non?), and Illana is making us all lime green with envy over her Big Apple Knits. I am dying for a trip to NYC just to ride the "yarn bus." Freaking genius, I tell you.

I'm so inspired by everyone's Clapotis, that I'm thinking of making a petit Clapotis with the two skeins of KPPPM I've got. They are mine forever now, since they've been wound into balls. I must face reality, and the fact of the matter is that when I think of knitting socks, it fills me with dread and a cold sinking pit in my stomach. Thus, I cannot ever say that my wonderful man will have hand-knit socks from me. It's the needles. I hate working on teeny dpns for all that way. Caveat: Kiki and fam have these faboo short-short-short flexible dpns that just might intice me - someday. No promises...

Fine. I'll knit.

Ok, so I finally picked back up with the freaking tank-top-that-never-progresses, and even finished the pieces of the baby bolero. I even blocked them last night!

But, the Sartene is no more cooperative now than ever, and I stomped back to the frog pond again. I kept telling myself, "I need to compare this to the back." You know, to make sure everything matched up. Well, that was just too much effort, and when I finally got around to it, I found that my increases on the back were a full inch lower than the ones on the front. So, rip rip rip. It's also getting very not fun to knit the thing because I'm making it to wear while in New Orleans for my wedding, and thinking about the wedding: not fun right now.

Wedding planning/moving 'cross country news: back to the "Oh, God, I think I'm gonna throw up" phase. Have decided to work up until I leave. That way, I'll get paid up until I leave. I think I'm the only person out there who can go thru $$ quite as efficiently as I do. And by efficiently, I mean as fast as possible.

I'm not exactly sure when the DJ's final payment is due. If I don't make my reso's today for the hotel, I won't get a room for the weekend. But, you have to pay upfront for the first night, and I's po'. I still don't have music for the cermony. I only just got flowers, and I still need to tell the freaking baker what kind of freaking cake I want. Not only that, but I have the rehearsal dinner to plan. So not just one event, but TWO. That's right. Who's idea was it for the bride to have to do all this shit? I have a size 8 steel-toed combat boot ready for 'em. My next wedding will be in Vegas, baby. Elvis, rhinestones, the whole $50 she-bang.

I'm signing off. To go either be sick, or plan a wedding.

Quagmire

I'm having one of those awful knitting phases where I just want to read about knitting, learn about knitting, cop a feel on yarn, and admire others' handiwork, but not actually knit myself. Which is not too good right now, as I have 3 projects in the works and one to start and finish NLT June 9. How does this happen? Where are the glorius days of pumping through the back of my Sartene top in only 1 short week?

I think I'm getting stressed out. As some of you know, I'll be moving to Virginia June 1st where I'll be shacking up with an amazing friend for about 6 weeks, getting married in New Orleans June 17th, moving from one VA town to another in mid-July, and ultimately moving all the way to Japan come Halloween. Sounds busy, huh?

I know some people who respond to stress by eating, and some who go into overdrive and tackle it head on. I am the only person I know who responds to stress by sleeping. As if the Keebler elves will come take care of all my shit whilst I dream. Not that I would hate that, but I don't see it happening.

So. I am not knitting, and actually forcing myself to get some planning done. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't crap out and fall asleep in the middle of something important...

In the KIP news: will be at Cupz this evening! Even more exciting: am bringing my "sainted mother." She doesn't knit, but she does very fabulous and tiny needlework on silks and linens. She always laughs to see my "big honkin'" knitting needles. Perhaps we'll convert her to the yarn side after tonight.

So....eeehhh......tired.......eeeeeeeeeh

This past week straight sucked.

Well, not totally.
-In blog news: I got my very first comments! You all know how exciting that is! I'm sure there will be more when I earn the digital camera at Chuck E. Cheez's (only 10,000,000,000,000,000 tickets to go and I'm there!).
-I also got an excellent grade on the final-exam-slash-big-nasty-group-project for my business class. And to think I only had to work on it until 3 am Sunday night.
-My skin is looking very nice lately, thank you Phisoderm. Not that I have bad skin, but I'm sure you can relate to the evil Zit and his sisters Anguish and Embarrassment. (You've suspected all along that Zits were male, haven't you. Well, they are.)
-Plus, God loves us! If that doesn't make you smile, what will?

The sucky part? Working on that stupid business project. I foolishly volunteered to collate the work of 4 people into one "coherent" paper. So, it was all inherently last minute stuff. Then, my sleep schedule was all jacked up. It's not staying up late that bothers me, I'm a night-owl, it's being productive the next day that really kicks my ass.

The really sucky part: being too tired to knit! How sad is that! Oui, vraiment pathetique. I barely had the energy to finish a sleeve of the baby bolero. On the other hand, I think 3 of the 5 rows I worked in this week were on the Sartene. (For the record: We are not officially back together, we're just talking.) And when I think of that evil project I decided to take on for the man I love and cherish, it really pisses me off at myself. You know, the project done on two circulars.... What was I thinking? If there's anyone out there who loves to knit this particular project, and would like to take this on, please advise soonest. I pay generously. (and by pay, I mean in McDonald's gift certificates....)

Knitting question: does anyone have experience with wonky stitches? The kind that look twisted, but they aren't? What's the story, huh? What's going on with that? I've got plenty of them on the Sartene, and I'm praying they'll work out with a good viscous blocking and a washing.

An update before I sign off, my man DID visit us early this week! I can't guarantee he'll ever click on QTPurl2T again, but he has been here! So that's fun. I'm still working on his screen name, be ready. Any input? I'll take ideas!

Still not speaking...

So, I'm on-line looking at some regular blogs I lurk upon, and I'm like "Cha, she hasn't updated in, like, a week, totally." And then, I'm all, "Oh, yah, I, like, totally have my very own neglected blog. Like, DUH." Thus, I blog.

RE: the title of today's post. The Sartene and I are not speaking. While attempting some car-knitting a la the Skinny Rabbit, I made a grievous error. This pattern has some yarning over (or is it yarn overing?) and I am not so bright as to be able to talk to my mom AND keep up with a whopping 5 stitch yarn over pattern that's only done every other row (tragic, n'est-ce pas?). I am always surprised to see how much wonk one little stitch can inflict upon a hand-knit garment. Needless to say, since this is going on MY back, and not that of a 2 year old, I want it near perfect. Which led me to frog a full 3 inches of fully functional yet horribly awry Greek cotton. That was one week ago tomorrow. Still can't look at it.

In the meantime, the baby bolero is cruising right along. An exclusive knitting tip from The Qute One: looking to save some dough? Just knit smaller than pattern gauge. Works great. Seriously though, I'm only about 2 st per 10 cm smaller than pattern gauge, and since the pattern is for "1-2 years," I'm safe. Truly, I should be done with the bolero pieces, they should be blocking, and I should be dreading picking up a zillion little stitches for the ribbed trim. But, in my defense, between work and a big nasty business class project, I haven't had time. So, that's that.

An announcement before I sign off, my wonderful man may be joining the illustrious ranks of the QTPurl2T readership! I'm not sure he'll make it very far, all this talk of knitting. He gets quite enough on his own time, I'll tell you. He plays along, scowling in righteous indignation when some project has insulted me, and laughing at all the right spots when I blab on about my SnB meetings. He will even go into yarn shops, and has yet to hurry me out of one! That's right. He goes inside, and pretends to not be desperately yearning for one last glimpse of the outside world before he dies of boredom. He's a keeper. Don't get any ideas, I'm holding on tight!