What about it?

Yeah, I know. I said I'd have pictures of Ren. Faire. I know. I know I said I'd have pictures of knitting. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, I know, I know. I say a lot of things, actually. It's really all I ever do. I like to say things. I like saying things all day long. When I am not talking, I'm usually saying things in my head and, guess what, it often takes time away from doing other stuff, my saying of things.

I think I am a mean person. I think that others think of me as a mean person. I think that when I do anything, no matter what its purpose is, I do it with a certain meanness. I bought some yarn that was on sale for $4 a skein at a yarn store in downtown D.G. I couldn't think of anything to make so I decided to make a cabley scarf...and that's what I'm working on now. Anyway, the point is that while I knit I notice that I am all tensed up...the whole time...and I also realized that I consider knitting to be one of (if not the only) thing that is "relaxing" for me. Isn't that kind of sick? Isn't it sick that my "relaxation" is physically painful, yet it I still call it relaxation simply because I think that I enjoy it enough to not get bored with it? I think I just put so much meanness into everything I do, even things that should be fun. It sort of eff's up your perception of life...that it is meanness and tension headaches.

So, that's how I feel right now...and, no, I don't have pictures...my battery is dead in my camera and I don't have the patience to spend 10 seconds plugging it in. How many Jessica's does it take to screw in a lightbulb? It'll never happen...because they would all just make mean faces at the filament.

End post.

A knitting post is coming later

But this post is just for me to rant for a moment.

You know what? I'm really getting tired of life kicking the asses of people I love. Really. Stupid money! Stupid economy! Stupid office beaurocracy! Stupid rent check! Stupid credit card debt! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid LIFE!

I wish I were rich and could just zip-zap everyone's problems away, but I'm somewhat helpless in that department...at least for a while. I think I've definitely decided to look for a REAL job at the end of this year. I'm strongly considering working as a research assistant somewhere...and if I do end up doing something like that...I will do my best to give my mom some money. I sort of owe it to her.

Enough of that, it's personal muk-luk anyway (is that the right context to use muk-luk...do I really know what muk-luk means or even how to spell it? Maybe). I will probably post another blog entry later tonight with pictures and stuff. I went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire and had a great time. More on that junk later, but don't get too excited about seeing project progress because I really haven't done much. I did finish that headband thing, though.

Anyway, more to come...

Umm...yeah

Life, man...what...EV! For real though, it's been approximately a gazillion (count them) days since my last post and I know some people are getting a little bit antsy (That'd be you, Kara). So, I high-tailed it to a Bread Co. (known as panera in these heathen northern, non-st. louis parts) to use their free wireless internet and enjoy a tasty french onion bread bowl. BUT...OOOPS...they don't have bread bowls today. Dag-nabbit! No really, what is UP with THAT?

So, I have been busy moving and training for my new job-ola. But who cares about all of that? NOT ME! LoL I finished one sock...did I tell y'all that?


So, the pattern called for 2x2 rib for the top of the sock and I went..."wait a minute...2x2 rib is sooo five minutes ago. Seed stitch is way cooler....and it turned out, well, not to be much cooler after all. Oh well.

I decided I wanted to play with some lace-ish type skills and I started making this headband...I didn't use a pattern or anything, I was just sort of farting around with yarn overs and decreases and this is what I came up with. It has grown on me.





I will most likely finish it tonight by putting some elastic on it and will wear it soon enough...as long as it stays on my head (I have issues with that sort of thing...kind of like a five year old girl in a playground). I have plans for a much wider one in the making, but I want to use a darker more neutral color so I can possibly wear it to work. I need it wider to conceal my Dumbo ears...while I love Dumbo and find him irresistable...I could do without resembling him. LOL

I forgot how to make a ball-like shape in crochet...so I found something online to help me. I made another little ball-head booger thing for Dirty Red only this time it was tan with a red face and not really much of a booger at all. He enjoys my dorky little gifts...HEY, now he has a pair of BALLS! hahahaha. Ok, fine, whatever.


I believe that is all I have for you, at least for now. On sunday I am planning on going to a Renaissance faire on the wisconsin border. I hear that sometimes knitters find amazing treats at such events (like free spinning! and hand-spun yarn for sale!). Although it is probably a faire by faire thing...but we shall see!

And yes, I am a dork and am excited about the renaissance faire not only because of the prospect for yarn.

Ciao for Now!

Nu, come on...seriously.

WTF. I mean really...wtEFF is up with socks?! I just don't get it. I was doing so well and then the heel happened. The hEEEEeeeeEEEEeeeeEEEEeeeel. What's so terrible about a heel? Well, just listen up.

I woke up very excited. "I'm going to get through the heel today," I exclaimed with morning gusto. So, I spent a while working up in the round to get to what I guessed was the heel place. The pattern said to do it until it reached comfortably to your ankle. I decided that it did. Maybe I was wrong...but that's not TOO too big of a deal anyway, right? So, my sock up to the heel part looked very lovely...something like this:


Oooh, Ahhh...isn't she lovely?

Then I moved on to learn heelness. Again, I've never made a sock before and to be honest, the pattern doesn't tell me what kind of heel this is (I'm guessing short row? Maybe?) So, I didn't really know what to look up for extra help. Well, anyway, I did what I thought the pattern was telling me to do and I ended up with something that somewhat resembled a heel. However, I was sort of feeling that something wasn't right about it. Eventually, it came time to increase and the pattern said I should knit a certain number and then knit the next stitch WITH ITS WRAP. So, yeah, thinking that I knew what a wrap was...I knit the next stitch with its "wrap" and so on and so forth as the pattern specified for a few rows. But then I took a moment to count my stitches...earlier in the pattern it said that I will always have 16 stitches on each needle. Well....WEEEEEELLLLLLLLLL....I didn't. So, WTF is up with socking? I don't know. So, I thought, "Well, maybe that wasn't true...I think I should have more...but I will need to get back to the 16 on each needle...and so far the stitches haven't gone down in number. I guess I don't know what a wrap is." So, then I looked at my stitches and saw that at the end of both needles there were little clusters of two stitches. "Are these stitches and their wraps?" I thought to myself. So, I decided that they were and k2tog when I came to those. The pattern said that I should do this until all the wrapped stitches were "activated"...WeverTF that means. So, i was put-putting around with that and then I somehow didn't have ENOUGH effin' stitches! So, I called it quits on the heel...deciding that it resembled a heel enough already...and just connected what I had with the stitches for the top of the foot and knit around like normal. It does have a heel shape...but it sort of yucky looking, with holes and stuff. I think before I do the next sock, I will practice this art a bit on some scrappy yarn.


Here's an example of the holies on this side of the sock. Aren't they ugly?


I just don't know about socks, man. I really do love socks...I was really excited about making socks. I want to be good at socking (that's what I call it)...but I just...don't....know....about socks.

Also, I am a little upset about something knitting related. If you look closely at my heel in the picture above, you can see that some of my stitches look a little funny and all asymmetric-like. Are those twisted stitches? I think that's what they are called. Well, I always seem to encounter this problem when I am knitting not in the round. I have found only one thing to help me with this and that is to knit into the back loop instead of the front loop. However, it didn't seem to help much on the heel from hell. If there are any knitters who read this and want to offer some insight on this little mondai (problem), I would appreciate it. I don't have any friends who would know. Any advice on socks in general would be great too...because, well, as I said...I just don't know about socks.

And this is really what I ate today...that is what I believe to be homemade sauerkraut and a hot dog (nuked with mustard). There just wasn't anything else that looked good.

Wait a minute...what's that?

Is that the beginning of something that someone asked me to make AGES ago? Why, yes...yes...I think it is.


And is that more progress on an ankle sock? Holy crap-ola. Yes...yes...I think it is.


Then, it grew a bit more...


Here's a footless shot:


Is that all that I did today? Why...no...whatever do you infer?

I also managed to do four loads of laundry. That's as incredible as a slinky!

And yesterday I landed myself a part-time job at Starbucks. I am so excited to start. I know that it is only part-time, but they have health insurance for part-timers and the other perks are great too (you really can't beat a free pound of coffee or box of tea every week!).

My independent study is pit-puttering around. My mom informed me that the yarn I bought on ebay has been shipped, which means I should be getting it soon...ish. It will be sent to my mom who will in turn send it to me...so it all sort of depends on when she decides to check the mailbox and go to the post office. I am very mad at her bag again and have stopped working on it for a few days. It is just because I can see what a disaster it is shaping up to be. I should really count stitches so that I know how big to make something...because I certainly did not do that and the front and back do not exactly appear to be the same size, which makes things ugly. I am disheartened...waaah.

What else? Oh, I really love knitting...and crocheting. I can't decide what I like more. I think that with crocheting, you see results much faster...and I like that being so impatient and all. But I do love knitting and I do knit more. I don't know.

A friend says that there is a knitting lounge nearby and suggested we meet up there sometime to have dork knit/crochet time...and we should...and she should do the driving :)

Right now I am watching the hot dog eating contest...I already know who wins, but I would like to watch it just for the novelty of watching a hot dog eating contest. I'm hungry.

I might be a monster...but kind of a nice one.

So, in the midst of working on my mother's hideous excuse for a purse a few days ago...I became bored. I usually become bored. It's easy to do. So, I decided that I wanted to figure out how to make something spherical. I decided I was tired of knitting for the day and turned the the crochet hook for answers. What I created was a small green ball...it looked ugly. I decided to put eyes on it to make it cuter (and I stuffed it with yarn because I didn't have anything else). I think it helped. So anyway, my boyfriend calls and I said I made something and he goes "is it green?" and I go "OMG, YES IT IS!" and there was much laughter. Then, he told me that he would be late coming home because he had a lot of work left to do. So, I said to myself...awww...he's only been working full time for a short while and he's already staying late...poor dear. I decided that the cute little green booger that I made would be a gift for him to put on his desk. And here is what the cute little green booger actually looks like.


I love it with all of my heart. I decided, since he did not know he would be getting a gift that day that I would wrap it up as a surprise. I only had paper towels...but they would have to do.


I put a clever little note on it...just to hint at what was inside. And when he got home, I gave it to him to open, which he did with great glee. Here he is with his new pride and joy...the ultra-cute little green booger.

That was a few days ago. I made a lot of progress on my mom's bag and it just keeps looking worse and worse the more I do to it. So, I didn't touch it today. INSTEAD, I started to make a SOCK!!

First, I guess I must show the yarn that I am using...

It's a pretty large skein. So, I'm excited. I have never knit socks before and I don't have anyone to teach me how to do it. That means that I must turn to my old friend the internet for a pattern and know-how. I found a cute pair of ankle socks ("pom squad" on magknits.com). So, I start reading the pattern and it suggests using a figure 8 cast-on. I become perplexed...figure 8, eh? So, I again turn to my little internetty to teach me how to do it. It did not fail me. I figure 8 casted on and it is quite loose...and the person who wrote it mentioned that the stitches would be twisted for half of the stitches and that I should knit into the back of those stitches. Well, I don't really know what all of that means...so, I just sort of guessed on which ones were "twisted," did as prescribed, and called that "that." Maybe that's not the best way to go about knitting, but I don't really care. Guess what, I don't know a single thing about guage either (except for how to spell it) and never check it! I know that would make a lot of master knitters cringe...

Anyway, this is the humble beginning of the ankle sock...


I think I want to try to get through the toe tonight. I probably won't, though...a girl's got to sleep.

In other news, I found about a millions patterns online that I would like to make. Most of them are free ones, too. So, I downloaded them and organized them. I have even decided on what knitpicks.com yarns I will substitute the suggested yarns with! I love knitpicks...they are a godsend. The free pattern that I am most excited about is the crochet lace dress pattern that I found on interweave's website. Sorry, I don't know how to make a link...but do find their website and check this dress out!

That's all for tonight...at least I said SOMETHING, right?