Self-Awareness Can Only Lead to Self-Improvement

I was looking on Modcloth last night, as my sister had sent her Christmas wish list to me and there was an item on there from that store, and I took to looking at the clothing. I don’t fit in the majority of their clothes (a lot only go up to a large [!]), which I find irritating, but since I don’t have any money anyway, it’s sort of a moot point. Anyway, so I did come across this dress that I really liked:

I think it’s really cute. I like the idea of a chevron stripe being the main visual feature around the neck, and since it’s a knit dress, well hell, I could make that!

I don’t think a worsted weight dress would be a good idea, though, so I would shorten it to hip/tunic length. Also since there’s a ridiculous amount of stockinette, which I find tedious to knit (less so in the round than flat, but still) This would be an ideal candidate for the knitting machine. In theory, I could try my standard machine(s) out for this, but I actually have a random ton of dark dark heathered gray worsted weight yarn which I think would work out pretty well and plus I could use stash for it. As far as the chevron, I don’t know about the colors yet but I’ll check the stash. I’m also not totally clear on technique either: I’d like to try set-in sleeves in the round, but I think I’m leaning towards intarsia for the front chevron, which wouldn’t work very well in the round. At any rate, there would be folded over hems as opposed to ribbings. That part I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve done folded hems on socks but never on a garment before, so I think that will be pretty cool.

As far as what I’ve been up to lately (since I haven’t updated since Mid-October):

  1. HARDWARE: Did you notice that I mentioned standard knitting machine(S)? Yeah, that’s right, I managed to acquire a fully outfitted Toyota knitting machine complete with ribber and punch cards for the low low price of $40 (yes I still owe you Mom, just remind me…) at the Legacy Thrift Shop’s first annual rummage sale! From what I’ve been able to deduce from my interweb research, the Toyota is compatible with the standard Elna machine I already own. SUH-WEET! So if you’re paying attention, that means I now have three knitting machines and am basically turning into my mother with every passing day.
  2. THE CAR: Got the car fixed: my uncle came over and removed some sort of mystery squishy rubber piece from the clutch area that he was baffled by its very existence, let alone what it was doing in my car. No problems since, knock on wood. No really, knock on wood, wherever you are, I need all the cosmic points I can get.
  3. ZOMBIE INFATUATION: I made zombie cupcakes:

    They were fun to make, even if my kitchen is now under a sheen of red food coloring. These are actually red velvet cupcakes. I don’t think I really like red velvet cupcakes – I mean, they are pretty and all, but they don’t really taste like anything.
  4. LOS ANGELES: I went to see my friend Sarah two weeks ago. I took a day off work and drove down to Santa Clarita, listening to talk radio the whole time. It was really interesting to listen to, because that was the week Juan Williams got the heave-ho from NPR and he went on Hannity to talk about it. Once I got to Santa Clarita, Sarah and I went to dinner at New Moon and hung out the rest of the weekend. I even managed to squeeze in a trip to the Super Walmart! I love the Super Walmart! And Sarah. I love Sarah too. *ahem* 😉

One of the main things I’ve been working on in the past few weeks is getting my house back into order. This year has been kind of sucktacular, and I do have a tendency towards “clutter blindness” (and laziness) so I have been trying to get more organized in my day-to-day lifestyle. Last week I spent some quality time decluttering the kitchen, and I also did a small home improvement in my bedroom where I hung a row of hooks for my long necklaces:

…That’s not even all my jewelry, but I am trying to get organized and stay neater. It will be a challenge because I am kind of a slob, and like I said, I do suffer from clutter blindness to some degree, and if there is a flat surface soon enough I will put something on it. I was particularly struck yesterday when my parents stopped by after I’d cleaned up (and out) the den, they basically were all, “WOW.” so it must have been pretty bad, but really I just don’t see it, which I’m working on trying to recognize. Being self-aware is the first step to self-improvement, right?

Anyway, isn’t that rack nice? I got it at Target. It’s hanging where that picture used to. I also had a clock up there, but I moved the clock to another wall, along with a sculpture I made in my ceramics class in college, lo those years ago.

I like that corner a lot better now; it’s improved by the addition of the clock as it adds a little something to the composition of the area, and breaks up the solid blue of the wall.

I’m now working on getting some things framed and up on the walls in other parts of the house. I picked up some velcro sticky things by 3M to use to hang pictures – the wood paneling that makes up every wall in my house is often times hard to get a nail through, but the velcro stuff can hold things up to several pounds so I’m looking forward to finally getting my art collection up. What, I’ve only lived here for two years, isn’t that about the amount of time needed to get your crap together? I can’t believe I’ve already been here that long. And with the economy being the way it is, I bet that I will be here for awhile! AWESOME.

Hey at least I got another job, so I should just shut up.

And someday I really will take photos of the Wollmeise I got and post them. Someday, if the sun ever comes out while I’m at home!

This is not the end it is only a new beginning

PROLOGUE:

I hella updated my real actual website last week. Check it out! There’s actually a couple of new drawings in there too. It’s still futzy and I’m not totally done with it, but considering it took me like an hour and it was offline for three years, that’s just dumb.

NOW:

Friday was my last day at the job that I have both hated and loved over the last several years. Right now, I’m simply burnt out. I will miss most everyone there but… I need a break. I’ve needed one for a long time, actually.

By lunchtime my cube was super empty! Anybody who knows me in real life knows that I am not a very neat person, but dammit those piles had meaning and organization within them! (You should see my house. Even I am noticing the mess, which is saying something. Should I really be admitting my untold slobbery on the internets? Sure, why not. Still, it’s about 100% better than my wee apartment back in Texas… probably since my house is about 3 times as big. Can you imagine all my STUFF in 468 square feet? Me neither and I actually experienced it. Yikes.)

This week I am going to take it easy and enjoy being off work. I filed for unemployment because I don’t have a job lined up yet (still! ugh!) but hopefully will find out about that soon.

I let myself spend a little bit of post-employment monies and what I got myself was the new Vogue Stitchionary #5, for lace knitting. I don’t have any of the other vogue books, but this one is definitely worth it. I also downloaded myself the fabulous Intwined Pattern Studio, which is a pattern writing/charting program. I first saw it at Stitches West, and I really should have gotten it then (especially since I was wishy washy about buying anything there) but it’s only now that I’m ready to start writing my own patterns.

Here’s an example of what you can do with the program. I’ve only had it since Saturday and I already put several charts into it, including the below Barbara Walker, and will soon work on translating some of the charts from my Japanese books, which I will then write into sock patterns.

Nice, huh? The program itself is only $44 and WELL worth the money I would say. There is also an active group on Ravelry where you can report bugs and whatnot and the actual developers are there to help you out. I have not experienced any problems with it, however, so that is pretty nice.

Here’s some pics of what I’m currently working on. Keep in mind I took these photos at 11:30 p.m. and therefore absolve myself of any particular artistic flava.

wipmosaic

Clockwise from top left we have: Alpaca Blob (a v-neck grandpa cardigan I’m making for myself; it will even have pockets for me to hold tissues and chapsticks), Snow Petals Socks in Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 Pumpkin colorway (awesome AWESOME pattern, and it’s only $1.99 to boot! You can get it via Ravelry or Knitpicks), The Infamous Rainbow Socks (Knitpicks Felici rainbow self-striping; get it while it’s hot, it’s apparently already on “last chance” and dudes, I just made my order a couple weeks ago), and the last blue cuff thing is a test on the above mentioned chart. I like how the lace looks but not in that yarn so I suspect that’s going to the frog pond sooner rather than later.

EPILOGUE:

Anyway, in news that makes me feel like an old, old, OLD person (countdown to the big 3-0, 34 days and counting), my wee cuz the Bean has received her drivers license today and it seems like only yesterday I was fishing fuzz and spiders out of her wee baby mouth. Kid is practically an adult! She’ll be a senior in high school next year! WHAT.

If I remember I’ll write about the Legacy thrift store next time. A thrift store that only has craft items! You will be amazed at what eight bucks and change can buy you.