During the winter, I expressed an interest to dye yarn. This past weekend, my buddies Darsana, Kira, Sidney and I enjoyed a nice Saturday afternoon of doing that. Sid and I want to make the Apres Surf Hoodie from the Interweave Summer 2008 edition so we got enough KnitPicks Bare Gloss so we could dye enough yarn to knit it up. I dont know exactly what the intentions of the yarn Dar and Kira dyed but that’s ok.

It is extremely rare that I’m accused of using common sense but I actually was when I came into Sidney’s house and suggested we soak the yarn in her tub. Go me!

So as it was soaking, we turned three skeins into much longer ones so we could make self-striping yarn. Lookie

Halfway through this Sidney had an assume idea–to find a kid not on their ADHD medicine and have them run around us with the yarn. NICE! LOVE IT. We didn’t find one but it was nice to think of. I’m halfway tempted next time to strap the yarn on the back of a dog/cat and use one of those laser things to circulate around the posts. The dog/cat will be chasing the light according to them and be doing us a favor! Knowing my luck, the dog/cat would not be interested in such a light, but a girl can dream right?

The fun begins

Clockwise: The yarn is ready for its makeover/My color “raspberry” getting mixed/Dar getting some hot water/You can’t see it under Sid’s sexy mask but she’s hella excited as she starts to play with the colors.

We used Country Classic Dyes and had loads of fun playing with colors. Next time (and there will be a next time, I’m going to bring more skeins of yarn to play more. (I did my hoodie yarn, which, don’t get me wrong, was about 2,220 yards of yarn to dye and yarn for a pair of socks. Next time, I’ll bring a couple pairs of socks worth)

Throughout the whole process, we all wanted to go back to our respective apartments and have pasta for dinner:

Corny joke of course, but all of us were thinking it.

Isn’t it puuuuuuuuuurty (This is Darsana’s)

So we play and play and play and Laura asks a million questions regarding if she’s doing it right…and we play and play. Want to see the results?

Kira, I believe, has a future at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, if this whole biology thing doesn’t work out!

Here’s a link to the original size of the photo I took for better details

Here is my soon to be Christmas sock yarn. (Don’t ask me why. I want a pair of Christmas socks!)

And my hoodie yarn:

yummmmmmmmmmy. According to the ladies I did this with, this color is “so Laura”

and here are some of Sidney’s creations. (thanks for letting me use your flickr photostream )

Can not wait to see what these ladies are going to do with these lovely skeins!

For the most part, Layla and Luna have very little restrictions. The ones they do have are because mommy and daddy are concerned for their health. For example, Luna isn’t allowed to drink milk because it makes her sick. Layla, the nosiest kitty in the world, wanted to go into the oven to take a closer look at the turkeyTHEN jump on the stove with hot stuff cooking on Thanksgiving day. Needless to say that got a LAYLA WALKER, GET OUT! (I find it quite interesting that when the kittehs are referred to by their whole name, their face is like “Oh no! WhatIDo???!?!” and the proceed to bolt out of the room)

So yes, we rarely say no to the girls. And it’s not like we don’t want to. There’s just no need. They sleep on whatever…play…snuggle…with very little intervention from me and Jermaine.

But this amazes me.

I heart patterns…lace patterns…sock patterns…baby clothes patterns… Dear Layla wants to take a nap and has the right to sleep WHEREVER and she 99 times out of 100 picks to sleep ON said beloved pattern

See that sheet of paper under her?? Yup, that is Cookie’s Marilinda pattern. I even did an experiment…had various patterns spread on my sofa and lo and behold, she plops on the pattern I’m using. Or I put it on my lap…or the armrest for the futon…she sleeps (or attempts to) on it there.

Won’t lie, this at times can be irritating. It’s just interesting animal behavior too.

Still absolutely in love with this little one

We all have our quirks, I guess

When I first met Jermaine, I remember one of the first things I admired about him was his preserverence. As our relationship progressed he has gotten knocked off track by countless things, most of which we not in his control. But he got up. So many times he got up to be the first one in his immediate family to get a college degree. Saturday he received it.

I have a slight slight feeling of what it must feel for parents because I’ve seen him work so hard and I understand how much he wanted his degree. To see him walk across the stage was thrilling. I kinda know how it feels because I was with him during a majority of his college career and watching him walk across that stage with a grin from ear to ear made me so proud. He worked full time and went to school full time. This was a very long tiring struggle. 8 years! I know many that would have given up after the first three weeks. Jermaine didn’t and he will appreciate this degree because he earned it and will never take anything for granted. This wasn’t handed to him. He took what he knew he deserved!

Jermaine, I am so incredibly proud of you and I look up to you for this struggle during which you always had your eye set on the prize. I look forward to always being your biggest fan. Me and the kitties I love you and am so proud of you.

I am so thrilled. I finished the Indigo Ripples Skirt! I must say I initially thought that this skirt would be a crying smiley on my Ravelry page. I was trying on the skirt as I was knitting it and it fit fine. Then after, the lace and the cast off, I tried it on and the skirt could fit Layla and me.

Needless to say I was devastated. I had plans to wear it to Jermaine’s graduation too.

So this afternoon I called Jermaine before I went into a 90 min meeting scheduled for late afternoon today and asked him to put the skirt in the washing machine. Now I asked him to do this because I just know I would have been a nervous wreck here. Being at work helped me forget about it. So I got home and it was just coming out of the dryer and it fit a lot better. Still doesn’t (and probably never will. thats ok though) 100% perfectly but putting in the the dryer helped shrink it just enough.

Without further ado….

Pattern: Indigo Ripples Skirt by Kat Coyle from Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Yarn(s): Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (5 skiens, 1,075 yards)
Colorway(s): Jungle Green
Needle(s): Size 6 KnitPick Options
Casted On: July 4, 2007
Casted Off: May 8, 2008
Modifications: I did sssk’s instead of Sl1, K2Tog, psso in the lace portion of the skirt. I will be the first one to admit that I do not know a great deal about garment construction to make educated changes to a pattern. So, if I were to do it again, I would either go down a size and increase a little more so much OR I would make the same size and would not increase as much. I would probably do more research on how to make a skirt hug ya a little more. But overall, I’m quite happy with this skirt.

There’s a ruffle at the end of the skrit that gives it such a bounce that makes me feel like the whole cast off (that took a day and a half to do) was totally worth it

I hope to do this skirt again (even if it’s years from now) because I just loved making this skirt so much. Yes, of course the stockinette got hella irritating after a few weeks but that’s what movie nights are for. I’m quite pleased with this knit and can not wait to wear it to Jermaine’s graduation and at work.

I feel quite proud of myself going down memory lane with my finished objects, or, as I’d like to call them, FOs (pho).

Some of you may notice the following two sites added to this blog

• Finished Objects – 2007
• Finished Objects – 2008

Read and enjoy. And Please tell me I’m being too anal when I say I want to add each project’s respective Ravelry page under its entry. PLEASE! Anal retentiveness is taking over! [And yes, I know for a fact a hyphen is not needed there ]

Man am I tired but I also had a ton o fun. Here are me and my girls

Darsana, Kira, me, Sidney (back) and Megan.

There’s something to be said for saving for a while for this event. Because this is what I came home with….

A lot of the details are on Ravelry. Eventaully I’ll add them here.

The day started early. We went to Tess’ and Carolina Homespun. I ran into a dean at George Washington University as I was finding and reuniting with a lot of my Ravelry buddies…it was like a family reunion:-) I got a lot of new things at this festival but some things never change. like this:

a looooooooong line for the women’s bathroom and not a single one for the mens! hahaha that just made me laugh. Now, truth be told, women probably outnumbered men a ton at a sheep and wool festival but i see this at baseball games and allman brothers concerts. Shoot, the movies, Cars, made fun of it. hehehe

and you neeeeeeeeeed some carnival JUNK

NIIIIIIIIIIICE!

and of course some cutie pie animals…

   

 

 

 

 

 

And I met Casey and Jess from Ravelry. I was extremely hesitant going up to chat with them because of many reasons. First off, everyone wanted to speak to them. Also I’m shy around folks I first meet. And, thirdly, I have tried to think of the Maryland Sheep and Wool from their perspective. Jess is a knitter, who, like us, wants yarn, and to enjoy herself, so why keep her from it?? She deserves a good time too, ya know. Casey doesn’t knit (to my knowledge??) but he deserves a nice day out with the wifey?? Yes, I’m probably thinking way too much. But I got over it.

They were so nice. I, like everyone else, thanked them profusely.

Between the five of us, we did some damage and left fat and happy.

 

Especially if I haven’t met you!!

Last year at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, I bought a lotta yarn. Kinda the whole point right?? Well thanks to Ravelry, I have a feeling it’s going to remind me of a family reunion.

I’ve meet and chatted with so many nice and supportive knitters thanks to Ravelry and the ironic thing is I haven’t met a majority of them.

So if you’re a buddy of mine and you’ll be there pop me a comment and we can arrange to meet. I’d love to place a voice with all your kind comments!!

…comes the Indigo Ripples Skirt!

Please pardon the wonky angle. Last fall, I had gotten to the lace portion of the skirt, then I put it in hibernation because fall came and…you know how it goes…

Fast forward to April, I saw that the lace portion had all twisted stitches. so I frogged it. These past few weeks, I’ve been doing what seems like endless stockinette. Finally I started the lace on Sunday.

In September I wondered what the difference was between a slip1/k2tog/psso and a sssk. A majority of folks on Ravelry have said that they’ve opted for the sssk’s and I’ve wondered why. I did some investigating and did one repeat with slip1/k2tog/psso and the others with sssk’s:

If you squint you can see a difference between the two. I made my decision too. I tend to prefer the SSSK’s because there is more fluidity in the decrease. With Sl1/K2tog/Pssso, I see a slight drape in the slipped stitch and I don’t particularly care for it.

I am very happy with how this skirt is progressing and hope to wear it to Jermaine’s GRADUATION on May 10th!!!

I’ve always been a thoughtful and intropective person. I guess I just know that I have the potential to be a better person so I wonder what I can do to make that more possible. I tried on Friday evening to write about it and I didn’t think I was doing a good job. I can discuss my feelings till the cows come home but writing about them can be quite challenging. Probably because I think far too much about ‘em.

I saw this survey on myspace to help maybe share things that have been on my mind for a while.

~
I’ve come to reali​ze that when I talk.​.​.

I should really think about what is coming out before it actually does. There are times when things fly out of my mouth without knowing the full situation. OR something that I should say, I end up don’t saying. It’s finding that equal balance that I’m having difficulty with.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that when I like someo​ne.​.​.
regardless of it’s a friendship or a more serious relationship, I usually dive in too quickly, which makes for broken bones.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that I need.​.​.
to simply breath. let things happen. i’m uncomfortable not talking about things that need to be talked about but at the same time, i get anxious that they simply won’t accept what i have to say. it’s happened a great deal and people just end up bouncing.

~ I’ve come to reali​ze that I have lost.​.​.
a lot of friends but despite that I’ve become stronger for it. I was talking to my stitch n bitch friend about some of the friends that have come in and out of my life and even told her that i discussed these occurrences with a professional. She then asked me if I felt that it helped and I can’t help but say yes. Because when I was telling her this, it was the first time I didn’t make it all my fault. I had been spending the past couple of years blaming myself for not knowing how to mindread. To actually know that some of these events that came out of left field were coming. I guess someone can call that progress. I certainly do. Yeah, I made mistakes but it certainly wasn’t all me.

~ I’ve come to reali​ze that I hate it when.​.​.
I’m lost or I’m not in the know. I need to be more comfortable about it, I know. I’m getting there

~I’ve come to reali​ze that I’ll alway​s be.​.​.
a step behind everyone else. I’ll always be a late bloomer. I will probably be the last of my friends to get married and have kids as I was the last to get kissed and get my driver’s license. I’m ok with that.  What I’m not ok with is that I seem to be the last person to know certain social queues. That makes for a “openmouth, insert foot” situation. Everyone involved seems to know what to do and not to, what to say and not to say, what questions can be asked and what questions can easily wait for yourself to find out on your own, what is appropriate and what isn’t, how to ask certain questions and how not to.” I find myself running into a wall with these kinds of things that I hope the people I’ve been impacting because of this social slowness of mine will still be there.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that if I’m drunk​.​.​.
This isn’t really a risque question because I’m not often drunk. Maybe new years 2006 was my last drink? No particular reason why but I’m just someone that doesn’t need it for a good time.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that money​.​.​.
seems to be the main thing in my life determining if i can or can not do something. Kinda sad but I must say that I’m quite proud of the money I make.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that peopl​e.​.​.
Are just trying to do the best with the cards they were dealt with. They’re just tryin’.

~ I’ve come to reali​ze that I have a crush​ on.​.​.
my wonderful boyfriend. at risk of sounding like a cheesball, everytime I hear the Dixie Chicks song “Easy Silence,” I think of him:

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
In the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

~I’ve come to reali​ze that when I woke up this morni​ng.​.​.
Nothing phenomenal, I wanted to go back to bed

~I’ve come to reali​ze that befor​e I go to sleep​ at night​.​.​.
that I’ve got two wonderful kitties who always come in to make sure Daddy tucked their Mommy in.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that right​ now I am think​ing about​.​.​.
my home. its not the cleanest fanciest chicest apartment but god do i love it.

~I’ve come to reali​ze that babie​s.​.​.
may or may not be in my future…that’s to be determined but I am more than happy to knit for the babies in my life for as long as they’ll let me

~I’ve come to reali​ze that tomor​row I will.​.​.
again, as cheesy as this might be, i’m going to try to be a better person i was today

~I’ve come to reali​ze that I reall​y want to.​.​.
get things in my life a little more situated. working on that though

I’ve just read something horrible.

I saw this on a kitteh oriented thread on Ravelry.

Did you know that black cats are the ones most likely to be passed over for adoption? Black cats are also the most likely to be euthanized at kill shelters, and the least likely to be rescued. Kitten Rescue thinks this is unfair! We rescue lots and lots of black cats, and they are just as lovely and deserving of a home as any other cat. More info can be found here and the same even holds true for puppies!

Usually when discussing color like this I would make some racial comment, but now’s not the time for this! It’s terrible! I don’t understand these kinds of prejudices. Luna “NinjaKitty” Johnson has got to be one of the best decisions Jermaine and I have made.

How can you not love such a sweet and curious little one??

To cheer yourself up, please look. Have some popcorn in hand.