Oh, say can you see..

I know that I haven’t been around lately and I regret that; however I am pleased to announce that I have finished my Olympic knitting! Unfortunately I had to make a switch in project since I found that mohair makes my hands itch terribly. So instead of knitting Branching Out I discovered that I had a skein of merino wool just perfect for Knitty’s Shedir. Pictures to come at a later time. The day after I finished knitting it the weather took a turn towards the mild side and I have been unable to really get any use out of this beautiful hat. I still have hope that there may be a winter yet for Long Island. I also finished my socks. Socks that rock…they sure do! I have already started another pair in Lapis which I believe is my new favorite color. It reminds me of Monet’s water lilies when wound in a ball but knitted up there is this interesting spiral like strip going on. I wonder what will happen when I turn the heel.

There is quite a humorous story for the reason that I haven’t been around lately but I will save that for another day since it will most likely be a long post. Exciting news is that my sweetie and I will be moving into an apartment together very soon. We are thinking the end of March. It is making me a bit nervous because we need to purchase almost everything! Yet at the same time it is so exciting to be on our own.

Good luck to all those still finishing their Olympic knitting and a big congrats to all those who have finished.
-Christine

Friday I'm in Love

I joined Team New York which is being hosted by Valerie. Go pay her a visit. The knitting Olympics start today. I hope to have updates pretty regularly but the key word in this sentence is hope. Right now school and the wedding are kicking my butt. I need to address about 70 some-odd invitations this weekend and assemble, stamp and seal each one. My one credit on-line class appears to consist of busy work and that’s all. I do not see a point is all this work except for us to stay busy and produce massive amounts of stuff for the sake of posting massive amounts of stuff. I like the word stuff; it covers almost everything out there. The last few Olympics I have enjoyed watching the opening ceremonies however tonight I will not be able to since I will be at work. I love work and never complain about having to go but tonight I wish I wasn’t working. On a happy note the bridesmaid dresses and my gown should be coming in the last week of February or the first week in March. I finished sock #1 and my mom’s hat yesterday, but her scarf and sock #2 will have to wait because I have a date with lace.

Good luck to all those in the knitting Olympics!
-Christine

We are the Champions

Well not yet but the Knitting Olympics are starting Friday! Everyone ready? I will be knitting knitty’s Branching Out scarf. I’m all ready to go, I just don’t know if I will be able to put down my sock. I really love Socks that Rock yarn, it is so soft and such a pleasure to knit with. I could finish sock #1 today but I think I’ll try to finish my mom’s hat. I’ll post pictures of both later on in the week or Monday.
-Christine

You say its your Birthday...

I had a wonderful birthday this weekend. When I checked my message board I found that the amazing people over there remembered my birthday and wished me a wonderful stitching filled day. Unfortunately I was not able to get any stitching time in because I had an online class that took the first half of the day. The second half was spent with my sweetie doing a little shopping then to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. Dinner was really good! We has the Aussie Cheese Fries, I had the Wallahalla Pasta with chicken and carrots while he had a steak(I can’t remember which one) and for dessert we had the Chocolate Tower cake. This cake was one of the best I have tasted in a long time! It was rich and was served with raspberry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM! Afterwards we went home and I opened my wonderful gifts:The stuffed monkey was built at Build-A-Bear workshop to which I received a card for my birthday for a free stuffed animal because my birthday landed on “Go Banana’s Weekend.” So I introduce you to Collins the Harley-Davidson Monkey! The card in the bottom corner is from my sweetie and it is just too cute. He gave me a Serendipity Frrrozen Hot Chocolate set, the “Corpse Bride” on DVD, Train’s new cd, “Rent” by Jonathan Larson, (which by the way is a beautiful book with every single word to the show and wonderful interviews with everyone involved in that wonderful production) and FIVE skeins of Socks that Rock!
From left to right: Philosopher’s Stone, Queen Rock, Rolling Stone, Lapis and a Rare Gem. A Rare Gem is a skein that doesn’t quite turn into what was expected so it is changed into something wonderful. No other skein will ever be like this one. I already started knitting it up in a Jaywalker pattern. I love that pattern for two reasons: it fits so well, better than any other pattern I tried(and ripped out because it didn’t fit well) and the second reason is that I have committed the pattern to memory. I don’t have to fuss with and pattern notes while knitting this.
This picture is close to what the colors look like when it was wrapped up like this but once I started to wind it into a center pull ball I was able to see the beautiful colors that were hidden inside. This Rare Gem is a beautiful mix of greens, blues, purples, reds, browns and a little bit of peach here and there. I couldn’t wait to start, I’m almost ready to turn the heel.

This is a picture of my sweetie wearing the sweater I knitted him for Christmas(which is also his birthday). I finished sewing in the zipper at 2 am on Christmas morning. I cannot remember off hand the specs of sweater. I’ll look later and add them. Isn’t he cute? The sweater is a little short and a little too big around his stomach but he loves it anyway.

-Chrisitne

Here We Go

With my second semester of grad school underway and being just outside the three month mark of the wedding I’m starting to feel the stress. I’m not terribly stressed, it is just every time I sit down to do something that isn’t wedding or school related I feel like I am wasting time. Hopefully I’ll get all these nerves out way before the wedding. I’m really staying on top of my school work this semester which is completely unlike me. Last semester I had so much to do and I fell so far behind that I almost couldn’t handle it. However I think that was due to the fact that taking 12 credits and working at a really crappy job for 30 hours a week. Now that I have changed jobs and truly love what I do my mood has changed. I don’t dread going to work; I actually cannot wait until I have to go.

Despite the fact that I have cut down the hours I work drastically I do not think that I will have as much time to do my crafty things as I did over vacation. I tend to keep my knitting in sight because it is always easier to pick up than my cross stitching. Right now, living with my parents I do not have a corner where I can keep all my threads out and organized, or a place to keep my chart or fabric. This makes it so much harder to work on it so unfortunately I will progress on Arwen and Aragorn as quickly as I had hoped. Here is my latest progress:




I have also joined the Knitting Olympics over at The Yarn Harlot's site (link is on the side of my blog). I will be knitting the Branching Out scarf from Knitty.com. Wish my luck and cheer on all the other athletes!

Tomorrow's my birthday!!!!!!!!!

-Christine