Psychedelic Giraffes

Speaking of giraffes, I'm thinking about designing a knitted one. First things first, I need to make a few more animals so I can get a better understanding of how best to put them together. I'm going to start keeping track of what I like and hate about different patterns. Also? I've been staring waaaaay too hard at pictures of giraffes lately. Seriously. There is at least one giraffe pattern out there already, but to me it didn't look realistic enough. It looked... well... like a stuffed giraffe.

The hardest part (not counting the spots... I'm thinking just a little fair isle right? Oh boy...) I think will be the legs. Making them sturdy enough to hold the thing but long enough to still look like giraffes legs. Why giraffes, you ask, when I'm clearly in love with penguins (and dogs... and cats...) Well... I have no real explanation, except that I want to do my baby's room in jungle themed stuff? You know, the baby I'm not pregnant with yet, lol.

Anyway, I have been knitting... some... well, it's been a really really really bad week and I've mostly wanted to sit somewhere quiet with my book. I read 2 books (at 300ish pages) in 2 days. Not really that impressive since I did read all of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 10 hours (being a like, 700 page book I think?)... but... still pretty cool. Anyway, I've mostly been working on Eden. (Ya know, the test knit?) Oh, crap need to make sure it's ok to post pictures... oooh ok, not only is it ok but you can go buy the pattern now! Go! Buy! Here go to ravelry and buy it or if you aren't on ravelry (is anyone not? really?) then go to etsy and buy it.

The lacy part. (Seriously, I am the slowest knitter ever...) And the cabley part.

Don't mind the weird cables... it turns out if you read a slightly scary, very involved book while knitting lace and cables, you can mess up. Who knew? But since this isn't the final glove, I left it.

Anyway, the books I'm reading are Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series. I just started it. Never could get into it before. I don't know why. I'm soooo hooked. You should read it. They're interesting. Zombies and vampires. I'm not sure why but I really like this stuff. *gasp* omg. I think I'm weird. Who knew that??

Wh... Why do I have the cracker?

Well, I have good news for everyone! I finally got a cat! Yay! I got her from a shelter called kittens unlimited, and if you're local, I definitely recommend them. Their kitties are perfect because they swap out the cats that are in cages and let some of them be out of cages sometimes. They get to be around lots of people and cats, and dogs, and it's really really good for them. My cat's name is Miss Lily, or just Lily. We may or may not change it. I don't know. I think it suits her but my husband doesn't so.... it's being discussed. Anyway, that's the name she came with. She's a three year old calico, and she's perfect.

She loves to be held, she likes to play some but she's definitely out of that annoying kitten stage (yeah, it's cute until someone loses an eye... or gets a permanent scar on their lip...). She is also a chatterbox. She will talk your ear off. If you so much as say "Hi Lily!" she'll start talking to you. It's adorable. I LOVE her.

However, she does NOT like the flash of the camera, so it's almost impossible to get a good shot of her.

In other news, I'm test knitting a pattern for Wendy aka Ganiggle of the ravelry fgf group. It's called Eden and it's obviously a fingerless glove. I love it so far, but I'm not loving the cotton yarn which was the only fingering weight solid color I liked at my lys. I just ordered yarn from knitpicks, so I'll keep going with this until that gets here.

I love that part. It's a leaf cuff, and it's so awesome! I love how the stem grows into the leaves.

How was everyone's Memorial Day? Mine was fun, party at my sisters. :) My nephew Austin gave us a show.

This is his "cool bass player" face.

And no, that is NOT a blog title!

Man alive, I have been a knitting machine the last two days! Let me tell you, with all the reading I did lately, I really think I missed knitting, a lot! (See... I read 3 books, 3 relatively long books that take a lot of concentration to read, in 4 days.) Now it's time to share some of it with you all!

First of all, today I finally finished the "five hour baby sweater." Sorry for the crappy pics, but it's pink, and you know my camera and most reds... lets just say it's eye-searingly pink.

Pattern: 5 hour baby sweater. (It took more than that, but I think it's because I'm ADD and lost interest during the st st body.
Yarn: Plymouth Galway, color... eye-searingly pink. (Ok... I lost the ball band. *hangs head in shame*) It took very nearly an entire skein.
Needles: US 10 straights.
Gauge: 5 sts per inch. (Making this about 17 inches around at the bottom...)
Mods: I just did two rows of garter stitch at the end, because I wanted it to match the top. It does now. :)

I had to seam the sleeves, which I hated, and it looks horrible, but I don't think the baby will care. Also, I found a dropped stitch as I was seaming, but it was close enough to the sleeve that I was able to run the seaming yarn through the stitch and just hide it under the arm. I was NOT frogging. If I frogged, It would be frogged if you know what I mean.

Last night, I started to make a baby elephant (rav link) for my friend Emmy. She LOVES elephants. So I started last night. He's so LITTLE. I love him. Here's his head so far.

Isn't he cute? Awww.. Actually, I'm halfway done with the second ear now. Anyway, if you want to know a funny story about the elephant's head, go here (also rav link.) I'm not sharing it on my blog because... well... it's a bit explicit, lol!!

Anyway, I finished most of the second Bronte's mitt today. All I have to do is the top part, and the thumb.

But that's going to get put off for a while because it's DRIVING ME CRAZY. I'm not sure what it is. It's a pleasant knit, I like the yarn... I just can't get through it. UGH! I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, last but not least... well, sorta least. I mean, he is the smallest... Fishie!

He needs to be felted and I need to buy some catnip for him, but other than that, I did that in just a little over an hour. While talking to Angie online and playing on ravelry. I rock. He's made with patons sws, and you can find his pattern here.

Anyway, that's all for now. Anyone else as ADD as me lately?

No, I shaved the whole clan!

Yay, I'm back! I don't know for how long, but eh... you'll have that, as my dad would say. I've been having a health problem but some nifty antibiotics (that are just about killing me) are getting that cleared up and then I'm on to a big project starting in the next few months. I can't say what it is right now, but it's distantly knitting related. *grin*

Anyway, what have I been knitting? Well, I finished some legwarmers for Olivia.



Pattern: Mine (Might be posting it in a few days while I still have it fresh in my mind)
Yarn: Regia Canadian Color (the color number is a complete mystery to me as this is year old stash yarn that lost it's ball band a long long time ago)
Needles: Size 2 32" circular for #1 and size 2 dpns for #2, just to mix it up a little

The ends aren't woven in yet but I just had to show off how perfectly matched I got them. The gray stripes at the bottom aren't really uneven, the thicker gray on the right side one is underneath. I love it. It was work to get it that way though.

I'm working on some other things but I don't have any pictures and I don't know if any of them will be permanent because when I get stressed out (and can't buy yarn, my #1 vice lol) I get massive startitis.

I just finished reading Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison. It was really really good. The ending of this one felt like a goodbye though. That makes me a little nervous because Kim Harrison's Hollows series is one of my faves. I read this one in just over 24 hours because it needed to be back today.

To make up for the fact that I don't have any other pictures to show you I thought I'd show you a picture of the recipient of the legwarmers and her Daddy. *smile* Her mommy is a goofball and threw a facecloth over her face right before DH snapped the picture. Look at those chubby little legs! (Ignore the drool, she's getting teeth. lol)

What'd you do, kill a fairy??

Hello there! Well, I see no one had any guesses for what the blue zephyr was going to be the other day. Hmm, I wonder if the word "contest" had been mentioned there would be more guesses... Lol! Anyway, here it is again.

Look, it's bigger! Any guesses now? Really, shouldn't be that hard. Here's a little help... I've made one before. :)

I'm STILL NOT DONE with the Bronte's Mitts. It's really stalled. I'll work on them later today. I promise.

I really need to get started on my homework... I have two classes that just started this week and I haven't even bought the books for them. *facepalm* Well, I guess I could always buy them if I need them. The last two classes I took I didn't even open the books, and that's just a waste of money.

Anyway, about Snowy, the cat I was trying to adopt? Well, it seems his condition is worsening, and they're not going to adopt him out for a while, because his medical bills are going to be too much. So... I'm on the search for another kitty. Even if I could adopt him, I don't really want to put us out, money wise, if I don't have to. I hope he finds a good home though.

Wow, can you say totally random blog post?

What's green, fluffy, and shaped like a bunny?!

I is for... Ice Cream!!

Ice cream happens to be my big downfall. No matter what diet I'm on, I have to have it. The current ice cream obsession is that velvet "Moose tracks" ice cream. It has fudge and stuff, and then hard fudge "tracks" and little rolo type things.

And, to wrap up this short but sweet post, here's a modeled pic of my endpaper mitt.

I love it! It's still a teeny big snug, but I think that it's supposed to be, because my gauge is right on. That's all for now, so ttfn! :)

And you can't scratch that

Hey guys, what's going down? Just wanted to share with you all what's been up in my life lately. First of all, before you even read my blog, get thee over to yarn-a-go-go and read this post of Rachel's. Ticks me off. I can't believe people can be so mean and stupid. She's closed comments, but I think you could at the very least tell her how pretty she looks in her sweater she finished in this post. Go ahead, we'll wait for you. And when you get back I'll have pictures for you, as a reward.

...

...

Back? Ok, good. Can you believe people? The bottom line they're missing is that she's doing her job, which I bet is more than they can say about themselves. Probably work at McDonald's, and probably have no idea what it's like to work a high stress job for 18 hours at a time.

Anyway, moving on. So, Knitasaur (rav link), one of my fellow mods of the Fingerless Gloves Fanatics group on ravelry, released our first newsletter. Go check out her blog to see all about the contests, and go here for the pdf of the newsletter. (Note: Could I have any more links?? Seriously!)

So, today, I finished something! Seriously! I finished an endpaper mitt. Check it out.

It's not nearly that dark, it just looks dark because it was still wet when I took that picture. I love it. (Like my "blocking wires"? Yeah, two knitting needles. It worked...) Here's a detail pic.

Now I have to come clean... the only reason I wanted to finish these sooooo badly was because... well... my addi lace needle was in them and I wanted to start a lace project. I know I said that my blue zephyr wanted to be a print o the wave stole... but... I lied.

Any guesses on what it wants to be? Angie, don't guess. We all know you know. *grin*

Who would want hobo oil on their feet??

Ok, so I know I said I'd be back "tomorrow" to give you the finished mitt pic but... I'm a slacker! :) Anyway, I had an interesting few days. First off, Friday my friend Adeana and her new puppy Angel came over. Adeana and I decided to go to the movies (incidentally, we saw Baby Mama... soooooo funny. Great movie. Although we knew what was going to happen... it was still good.) so I got out my crate and we put Angel in it.


Now, Angel has serious abandonment issues. Basically, she can't be out of sight of Adeana without completely losing her cool. So I knew she was going to be noisy and unhappy... but I was not prepared for what happened. We walked up to the door and the first thing we see is this sight (only from outside...)

I knew that my dogs did not do that. And all I could think was "dear god, the dog got out and my house is going to be destroyed..." Fortunately, that was about the extent of the damage. There was even blood all over the blinds. All we can think is that she was so desperate to get to Adeana that she spent the entire time at the door and window, trying to get out. All the while I can just see my dogs sitting in the other room, with Storm thinking "Dear god, please let Mommy know that we didn't do this," and Mattie thinking, "Oh man, she is going to get in soooooo much trouble!!!"

Anyway, on Saturday I spent the day with my family, for a Mother's Day dinner (by the way, Happy Mother's day!! Go check out Heather's post, it was really really good.) And today I spent the vast majority of the day doing a blessed nothing. It was great. Really. A bit boring but relaxing. But I did get knitting done. I finished a plain sock. I tried it on, and it fit great... except the part where it was waaaay too short. I don't understand, I made it three inches like I usually do... but that wasn't long enough this time. So, I then ripped back the nearly two inches of ribbing and need to refinish the dang sock. I also started on the second Bronte's Mitt. Why, yes, I did finish the first one! I LOVE it. The only thing I'd change is next time, I'd use a bigger crochet hook for the cast off. It's a little too tight. This picture is right, color-wise, except the blue/purple color is a lot more purple than that. I swear, someday I will take a picture in the day time. I promise, I'm not a vampire and can in fact go in the sunlight, though I choose not to lol! :)

So that's about it for me. What have you all been up to? How was Mother's Day?

I am the master of the innuendo!

Ugh... sorry for the huge long absence. This has been mostly Krystal's blog lately. I've been dealing with so much immigration stress that I just... I can't. I'm knitting. I just haven't felt like talking about it or showing it off. And I just got hit with something else today, so blog content is probably going to continue to be sparse until things relax a little. I did finish the log cabin blankie and I've started a million things since then. I did a pair of the Bronte's Mitts that Krystal is doing for a KAL. They're done in alpaca and they're sinful I tell you. *smile* Anyway, that's all for now. Back in a while.

Nah... monkeys are too hard...

Hey you guys! Thank you sooooo much for all commenting! See, that wasn't so bad was it? Now, all you have to do is do that just a little more often!! :) I love comments and it was so great to see what everyone has otn. It's actually a huge inspiration, one that I may use when the Bronte's Mitt phase is over. Speaking of, I just cast on for another pair... what? I'm nearly finished with the first mitt of the first pair....

Anyway, I used a random number generator to pick a winner and the winner is number six! Meaning the sixth person to comment gets the yarn. That person is... Nano!! Nano I'll send you a message to get your info! Thank you guys again so much for being in our contest. It means so much to me that you all took time to comment. You're all great!

Come back tomorrow for mitt pics and a kitty update!!

Angie... we're running out of blog titles...

H is for... Hanson, of course!

This is the band Hanson after the walk in Bloomington, Indiana last fall (before every show they do a mile walk barefoot to make people think about all the kids in Africa who walk much farther than that every day barefoot). This is them in their second element - the first being on stage - talking about making a change in Africa. They're the ones who are to blame for my Africa caring ways. :) That is Zac on the left, Taylor in the middle, and Isaac on the right. By the way, their website is www.hanson.net, and if you buy their song "Great Divide" on Itunes ALL proceeds go to fights AIDs in Africa. So, go buy it. It's not a bad song, and the worst that could happen is you lose 99 cents, right?

I just found out some bad news. My kitty, Snowy, from yesterday, was just diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. He's still got lots of time left to live but... oh the poor baby. I am just about to email them to tell them that I'm still interested as long as I can financially handle it... Because he still deserves a loving home, right?

Ahhh! I forgot a title again!!!

First things first, you guys are so awesome! Thank you for commenting! I'm so happy I finally got some of you lurkers out of the woodwork! :) I know for some people nine comments in one day isn't much but for us it's super exciting! I love comments!

Secondly... I know how much you all love to help people and animals in need. I don't know if any of you are in Indiana or near it or know someone who is, but please spread this word. There is a dog shelter in Marion, Indiana that is going to be closing sometime around the end of June. All the dogs that are still there when the doors closed will be euthanized. So please try to spread the word so that not one life is lost for that reason.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging. First of all, on the topic of animals and shelters (I can't have another dog, otherwise I'd be at the shelter before you could say "euthanized" adopting as many of them as I could...) guess who's adopting a cat? Me! I'm getting him from PetPromise, a shelter in Columbus. His name is Snowy and he is so incredibly gorgeous!!

He is four years old and he's been in the shelter nearly his entire life. I have already applied for him so no one can steal him from me ;) but if you're interested check out their other animals! Actually, if he's been adopted out or something already, that's ok. I can always find another cat I love. This one just calls out to me for some reason. I think it's because we once fostered this mama cat and her kittens and she was all white like that, though not nearly that healthy.

In knitting news, I finished the sleeves on my baby sweater. The color of the picture is brought to you by the sepia feature on my camera since it's freaking impossible to get a good picture. Maybe if I could remember to take pictures in the day time...

And, I made some stitch markers courtesy of Knitasaur's Tutorial.

These ones are just for me until I can get the hang of it. I need some better beads to work with too... walmart just doesn't have the right kind of selection, ya know? :)
They fit up to size 10 needles. (Technically 10.5 but that would be a little snug...). What do you think?

Right, cause you can't take over the world with a dirty kitchen

Whoo hoo!!! It's post number 100!!! Is a contest in order? I think so. Let's keep it simple. Everyone comment on this post saying what they have otn right now. I'll draw a name and whoever I draw wins this.

It's the yarn I dyed after easter. It isn't nearly that bright. Think more muted. It's patons classic merino, one skein, which is 223 yards. I've decided I don't know what to make with it, and figure it would like a better home. You have until midnight on May 7th, that's this Wednesday. Cool? Cool.

So yesterday, I had car issues. Let's just say that my car broke down (we STILL don't know why. It's fine today.) and I had to call AAA. Took them an hour to get there, and another half hour to hook it up. But it's ok because I'm halfway done with the heel of my sock now.

I also cast on for something else (anyone surprised?). I started the 5 hour baby sweater. I'm to the sleeves now. Ignore the weird color...

See, that's the color of the yarn. But in order to get that I had to seriously mess with the picture and now my desk looks... muted. But oh well.

I did start the Bronte's Mitts, but.. I didn't get so far with them. The size 6 dpns make it too big, but the 4's make the fabric weird so... I'm going to try the 5's I guess. Some day. :)

Don't forget to comment!!