wips – Page 6 – Behind the Smile

November 2, 2008June 24, 2010

ARGH

When did it become November?

And OMG it’s election time.

I cannot wait for this shit to be over. And I’ve been having these horrible daymares wherein we have a repeat of the 2000 election where the counting goes on and on and on and oh my god, I am surprised I haven’t given myself a migraine.

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To counteract my nerves, which are all over the place, I’ve been crocheting on Babette, which soothes all ills. I’ve been working on this project since March, but never blogged about it, but since then I’ve finished more squares:

I’m using leftover sock yarn, and I think you will probably recognize many of the yarns used. The yellow is from the Swallowtail shawl, the purple from Sarah’s waving lace socks, etc. I didn’t show the really ass-ugly squares, but they do exist. Variegated yarn is kinda iffy when you crochet it.

This project moves pretty slowly, as I add in new yarns when I finish a pair of socks. I want the old yarn to be interspersed with the new yarn, so I can’t really use everything up all at once. But, it’s moving along.

I’m also working on a pair of Popsicle Socks (rav link).

I really like this pattern. It’s written incredibly well, and it’s very clever! I like how the pattern moves across the instep, and it’s my first Eye of Partidge heel. Much like the Lizzy socks, there is something to pay attention to in every part of the sock, which doesn’t make it boring at all. You can also see how the gusset decreases move along the bottom of the foot, which is new and different, at least for me. Very a la Cat Bordhi, I’m thinking. I’m knitting it out of Dream in Color Smooshy (yes, I finally got into one of my six or so skeins :P) and it’s moving along nicely. I started this sock before I even made the Lizzy socks, so it’s actually been around for awhile.

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And finally, I am working on another Nanowrimo novel. I didn’t finish last years, due to work stress and vacations and whatnot, so I’m giving it another go this year. I’m 5 for 6 years, so I think I can make it work (in the wise words of Tim Gunn) this year, though it’s a totally different story. So far, here’s my word count:

3470 / 50000 words. 7% done!

Hopefully I will be successful this year!

October 14, 2008June 24, 2010

What Goes Around

So, that anticlimactic sound you hear is me paying off my credit cards.

Two years and $9000 later, I am free of credit card debt! Woo hoo! Honestly, I am not even sure what I bought, other than some furniture for the apartment, which amounted to about $1000. What I bought with the rest? Anybody’s guess.

I definitely learned my lesson, too. Never buy what you can’t afford to pay back. Don’t live outside your means. Just because you want it, doesn’t mean you need it.

And so on and so forth.

I’m knitting on socks:

These are Lizzy socks by Stephanie van der Linden (rav link). I am knitting them out of Socks That Rock lightweight in the Sapphire colorway. Even though STR is not my favorite yarn as it felts/fuzzes up like a mofo, it certainly comes in awesome colors, and I had this in my stash, already wound and ready to go. The second sock is actually a lot farther along – I’ve turned the heel and have completed the first motif on the instep.

The next socks in the queue will be for my sister. She finished my quilt that she’s been working on for 1.5 years, and I owe her! She decided on her own to make me the quilt when I said, jokingly, that I would love a handmade quilt in “all the colors of the ocean” and the next thing I knew, she had bought fabric and was going at it gangbusters. I didn’t think that was extremely fair for me to get a free, awesome quilt, so I said I’d make her some socks/small items in exchange. She wants some leaf socks, so I’ll make her a pair of those, and I also want to make her some fun fair isle mittens.

September 22, 2008June 24, 2010

Things Wot I’ve Been Working On

So, here is what I am working on for now:

I am ready to turn the heel on the orange socks and will soon be done with those. They are pretty intensely orange, I have to say.

I have already turned my mind to my next sock project, and I am thinking of doing Popsicle. (rav link) I got some really fantastic green yarn from the Loopy Ewe and think it will do nicely with that pattern. I also want to get started on a pair of socks for my sister Abby, which are part of a trade – I once mentioned that it would be nice to have a quilt in “all the colors of the ocean!” which then prompted her to, um, start making me one, so I said I would knit her five pairs of socks in return. Now she is almost done with the quilt and I have made her one pair of socks.

Since she’s allergic to latex and can’t use elastic, she pretty much only wears handmade socks. My mom has been chugging out the socks like a machine, but I am a little more willy nilly about the whole thing. Abby wants some leaves socks, and I will be tired of the Embossed Leaves pattern when I’m done with Malvina’s safety cone orange socks, but I was thinking the new leaf pattern in the new Knitty would be nice. I have some Shibui in the wasabi color that might be cool. I also have thirty other greens that would be cool too. heh. And I still need to use some of the Dream in Color Smooshy I bought! (And 75 other skeins of yarn but whatever).

It also occurs to me that I could make some jewelry with the above pendants, but man, I am not feeling the jewelry mojo. I’m sure it will come to a shock to none that those pendants represent but a small portion of my ultimate collection. Hahaha! I am a collector apparently.

I’m tired. Don’t forget to watch the Heroes premiere tonight!