Brain Drain

Where did that orange juice go?

2008-10-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

Oh it's on the windowsill.

I have a cold, hence the orange juice.

Once again I've neglected this blog. I could blame it on the cold, but that is a lie. I will however blame it on Penny Arcade Crap, I shouldn't have reopened the page, it's like crack.

On the good news side of things I'm in This Week In Ravelry Since the breaks between stanzas got a little messy I'm re-posting the Villanelle here

Learning to Knit
a found villanelle, lines found in an instructional knitting book and the forums on Ravelry.com

To knit a stitch, insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle
Garter stitch is formed when every stitch of each row is knitted
Will I ever learn to purl?

It is important to knit with the proper tension or gauge
Work up a swatch and pin it out without stretching it in any direction
To knit a stitch, insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle.

When I do a gauge swatch, I get 3.5 stitches per inch instead of the recommended 4.
My swatches LIE LIKE DOGS (not bitter, not bitter, not bitter)
Will I ever learn to purl?

Sometimes a dropped stitch may go unnoticed and form a ladder.
Dropped stitches, however, are easily corrected or picked up.
To knit a stitch, insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle.

I'm not sure I know what ladders are!
I really want to learn how to catch a dropped stitch with a crochet hook
Will I ever learn to purl?

I avoid using DPNs at all cost.
Using a circular needle is much easier.
To knit a stitch, insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle.
Will I ever learn to purl?

And now I'm off to read some more Penny Arcade and drink the rest of this orange juice.

Errm, I has a schedule, I think

2008-09-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at my schedule, and the things I intend to blog about during the week. Before I moved, started 15 hours of classes, got a job, and became addicted to Ravelry, it was an easy thing to post regularly. Now not so much. I'm going to re-do the regularly scheduled events. I am fairly certain that I am going to get rid of all of them except the Wednesday Happy List, which I want to start doing again.

In the mean time I'm going to ramble a bit about my new horde of WIPs.

This is the pattern that I am using for my first Special Olympics scarf:

It's in Red Heart Super Saver colors Delft Blue and White. If you haven't heard about the Special Olympics Scarf project you can find out more here. After starting this, I realized that the stockinette will curl like mad, and this is acrylic, so it won't block, unless I murder it. I've decided that to combat the curl, I am going to do 10 repeats of the pattern then knit a blue and white striped garter stitch scarf the same length and sew them together. That or I'll experiment with crochet edging.

Next up on the list is another afghan, this time instead of 20,000,000 miles of single crochet I'll be knitting 1X1 squares like this one:

This is being done in Caron Simply Soft Heather Gray and Autumn Red. The finished piece will be 4X4 with 12 gray squares surrounding 4 red squares. Something like this:

You can find the pattern I'm using for the squares here.

I'm also knitting a Friday scarf for a swap. I'm using the deliciously soft and frustratingly slippery Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. Here is my progress so far:

To round out the whole mess of fibery goodness I also started an Easy Peasy Crochet Bag in some Bernat Naturals Soy that has been hanging around for months. I hated knitting with the stuff because it has no elasticity what so ever. Crocheting is going much better. So far it looks kind of like a giant slipper:

I also ordered yarn to make this (ravelry link) on Friday. It's the Hooded Pullover from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008. I fell in love with it the instant I saw it. See why?

Post Ike update and some finished objects

2008-09-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ike passed through Houston leaving much of the city with out power. Lucky for me, my residence on UH campus has had electricity through this whole ordeal. I got home at about 5:30 in the morning on Monday, neatly circumventing any traffic issues. Classes at UH "resumed" on Tuesday, meaning that we had classes, but no tests or assignments in any of those classes. Professors were very understanding of students who couldn't make it to class because of issues related to the storm.

On to some fibery goodness complete with pictures!

First off, remember a million years ago when I started an afghan in single crochet with some nifty looking green and black stripes?

Yep, it's done. I have the Ravelry group One Day A Week For UFOs to thank for the inspiration to finish the frigging thing. If you are on Ravelry and have a bunch of UFOs check that group out!

I also finished my Irish Hiking Scarf, and can't wait to wear it!

And to top off the pile of finished objects I've got these:

I hope that is the right picture, but right now it seems that flickr is moving along at a crawl.

too many mother ucking hurricanes ucking with my sheet

2008-09-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

I drove back to Waxahachie this weekend as there is a huge hurricane barreling toward Houston at the moment. Traffic sucked, and I have a wip that is kicking me in the brain at the moment so off I run to write write write.

Oh yeah, I have a blog...

2008-09-10T07:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the prolonged absence. I've been a bit busy as of late, and by busy I mean all of my internet time has been dedicated to Ravelry. Here is a run down of what I've done since the last time I posted anything:

I knit: another scarf, a pair of socks, and two dish cloths

I learned stranded knitting.

I moved to Houston.

I participated in a dish cloth swap.

I got my traveling scarf restarted and sent off to my down stream partner.

I started classes.

I got a work study job.

I spent quite a bit of time hanging out with friends that I haven't seen in a while.

I forbade my self from casting anything else on until I finish knitting my Irish Hiking Scarf

I slept once or twice.

I joined an organization called GLOBAL

I volunteered to be a "walker" for planned parenthood during the "40 days and nights" during which they will have protesters at their doors 24 hours a day 6 days a week.

I moved more stuff.

I missed/miss the hell out of my furballs.

If everything goes as planned I should get back to posting here regularly sometime in the next week or two.

6...5...4...3...2...1... Oh Shit

2008-08-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

6 days left. I have 6 days left until I move, and I'm still not packed. I know I should just suck it up, but instead I knit a hat a pair of fingerless gloves and a scarf yesterday. I can't sleep, so I knit. I can't pack, so I knit. Half a season of Grey's Anatomy slipped by in my knitting mania. I should pack. Agh.

Oh yeah...

2008-06-23T18:23:00.001-07:00

Tin's Scarf
Originally uploaded by cleargreenfire

I finally sent Tin's Scarf, so here it is!

I'm alive, and I need a bit of help

2008-06-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

I came up with this:

And I wrote a pattern for it, but I need a few people to knit it up and tell me if the pattern makes any sense. Drop me a line and I'll send it to you via email. Many thanks in advance!

Also I made these a few weeks ago:

I can make a tutorial if anyone is interested.

A is For Anne

2008-05-30T03:01:00.000-07:00

Anne is my middle name, and my best friend can't spell it.

A day or two ago I was wandering aimlessly through the kitchen. You know the drill: open the fridge, the freezer, all of the cabinets, then the pantry, sigh and repeat. While doing this I spent several minutes looking at a recipe for shrimp ceviche Melly e-mailed me ages ago. I noticed that in the header she had my middle name spelled "Ann" Melly, it is spelled with an "E" at the end, but I still love you anyway.

Ok, I'm Just Lazy

2008-05-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

but it is Wednesday, so that means it is Happy List time!

1. Knitting and crocheting, because I haven't been doing a whole lot of that recently.
2. Knowing what I'm going to do with the next couple of years of my life.
3. Sitting around on lazy summer days.
4. Finding out that I might actually get to see my mom sometime this century.
5. Playing with tiny kittens named Shadow.

I haven't been posting this week, because I am lazy. In a few other blogs I've seen alphabet themed posts, do not be surprised if I start doing something similar over the summer.

As always:

Much Love From Carat Land!

Sorry about that...

2008-05-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I have a blog.

Here is a quickie rundown on the past two weeks:

5/6 - Last final, drove to Richardson to pick up Melissa, Drove to Austin, Hung out in Austin for a few days.
5/7 - Officially dubbed Jay "boyfriend"
5/10 - Left Austin, Came back to Waxahachie, Got letter from UH
5/12 - Drove to Austin again (arrived at about 1:30 am on 5/13)
5/13 - Went to Speed Racer with Jay, Autumn, Vikkey, and Kevin
5/14 - Drove to Houston, Spent day hanging out with Melissa
5/15 - Went to UH to talk to advisor, Spent part of day hanging out with Melissa, Drove to Spring, Dinner with cousin April and her kids, Went to little cousin Clay's last baseball game of the season
5/16 - Spent morning watching little cousin Colton while April set up for garage sale, Drove to college station, Ate lunch with Barker, Drove to Waxahachie
5/17 - Cousin Wayne's wedding
5/18 - Got new kitten and named him Shadow, because he likes to follow me around. He is perched on my shoulder right now, and it is adorable.

I have some pictures I promise I will post them eventually, right now I'm trying to get through the 300+ blog posts in my google reader.

I have so many things to say

2008-05-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

but right now all that is going to come out is:

I GOT INTO THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON'S CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM!

I'm going HOME!

In a couple of hours when I finish bouncing off of the walls I'll post about the week.

O Hai!

2008-05-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

We're still blaming finals, but it's all over tomorrow.

Knit wise I've managed three dishcloths, and this:

Amazing huh?

For those of you who aren't Joss Whedon whores, that is a Jayne hat. I loves it!

I also (finally) finished and mailed off my portion of Merrie's traveling scarf:

There it is hanging out with Ingrid Bergman's puzzle-fied face.

Tomorrow I head for Austin, expect little in the way of information for several days, and then a long and very picture heavy post when I return, and possible a lot of squee-ing

Whew

2008-05-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

First off a big thank you to everyone who wished me luck on finals, I'm halfway through. Thank God!

This weeks Thursday thing is the addictive nature of knitting dishcloths. Until this afternoon I had never knit a dishcloth, now I have two hand knit dishcloths and am on my way to a third. Why didn't anyone warn me? These things are like crack!

I've got a mad hatter plan a brewing, and should probably get to that. As soon as I finish this dishcloth.

I found a geek,

2008-04-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

and I didn't even have to hunt down a basement first! Alright ladies and gents, I think the inner 16 year old girl has finished for a moment, but only a moment.

It is Wednesday, and therefore time for a happy list!

1. Geeks
2. Classes being over
3. Planning Hats
4. Making Things
5. Toe-Nail Polish

Look Shiny!

2008-04-28T23:09:00.000-07:00

Stitch Markers!

Buttons!

Weekend is over, welcome back to real life.

2008-04-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my last day of classes, then finals are upon me.

Instead of studying, I've spent the past several hours cleaning like mad. Yep, I've lost it.

Thursday, and nothing is driving me crazy!

2008-04-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

Instead of a Thursday thing this week, I'm going to go on and on about my top drawer instead.

Earlier while randomly surfing the intrawebs I stumbled across this Pringles Can Organizer. It was squee at first sight, but in order to make one I would have to eat 9 cans of Pringles. I have nothing against Pringles, in fact I think they are quite tasty, but running out and buying then subsequently eating 9 cans just to make an organizer seems silly to me.
A few minutes after veiwing the Pringles organizer I wandered into the kitchen where I spotted our stash of 12 pack soda boxes and inspiration struck: drawer organizers! (ok so the Pringles organizer has very little to do with the story, I just really liked it.)

We started with this:

Then did some of this:

and we went from this:

to this:

Ta-Da!

Oh and: Dear Jayne I knit you this hat...

Despite telling my self I would not, I bought Jayne Hat yarn... I'm so bad someone should spank me.

In Which She Reveals Something That Makes No Sense.

2008-04-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post more than once in a day, but I need this.

I can not tell this story in any sort of chronological order, so I will not try. This story starts in Houston on an unremarkable day in July. I was in the city to pick up a kitten and have lunch with two of my nearest and dearest, we will call them A and B for now.
I was slouched in a booth next to B, A was sitting across the table, and the conversation turned to nipples. And I took what had been a perfectly light and lively discussion of anatomy and twisted it into something bleak. “You know, my nipples got darker recently.” I said, it seems perfectly innocent, a simple thing really, but it was only a preface. I had just poked the tip of an iceberg into our conversation, and we were about to hit it head on.
“Really, do you know why?” A asked, sucking on an edamame shell.
“Yeah…” I paused, thinking, how do you say it? There was no handy euphemism, despite my southern roots I could find no series of words to make the truth any softer.

Can't Say I Would Like it Any Other Way

2008-04-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

Five Completely Random Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Silk, because it feel so yummy.
2. Austin, because it's a damned fine town.
3. Wheat Thins, the original kind.
4. Bandannas, for those days when ypu just don't feel like fixing your hair.
5. Firefly, because it's just awesome.

Last night I realized I am addicted to my random conversations with Barker. At about 11 pm I was feeling deprived because I hadn't heard from him. Turns out I missed his call earlier in the evening. I don't think there is a day that goes by in which I don't hear from him in some way shape or form, and I love it.

No Pictures because I'm feeling Lazy

2008-04-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

The Market Bag came off of my needles this week, and it is super cute, I just haven't taken any pictures of it. My criss cross garter is also halfway done, but at the moment it looks like a lopsided rectangle with random holes down the sides. It will be a long while before I cast on the second piece as I had the brilliant idea of knitting worsted weight yarn on size 0 needles. Oh my hands! I nick named the 0's "Squiggles." Grams gave them to me, which means they are older than I am.

Most of the day today was spent working on the garter, and watching Firefly, so now I'm trying to resist the urge to run to the nearest store, buy a bunch of yarn and make a Jayne hat. I will lose this battle eventually, especially since I know several people who would love to have a Jayne hat of their very own. I've also been thinking about an awesome Mario Afghan I saw on the Crochet Me blog. I could do that, and if I can't, the bat lady can show me how.

Christmas knitting is also on my brain at the moment, I know that I am going to make Branching Out for both Mom and Grandma, out of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. Colton who will turn 1 in October will get an afghan, his mom April will probably get the Doctor's Bag from Knit Two Together, and I'm thinking Clapotis for Rae. I can't think of anything to make for the men in the family, if you have any suggestions please send them in my direction.

I squealed like a 12 year old girl,

2008-04-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

when I read this

Knitty has had 50,000,000 visits, is holding a contest, and I can't quit drooling over the list of stuff they are giving out.

Vagueness;

2008-04-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

it just doesn't sound right. I always thought the noun form of the adjective vague was vagaries, it just sounds fun. Alas, I was disabused of this notion a few moments ago when I looked it up on ditionary.com. I am sad.

On to the actual "vagueness"

It was: a weekend, quite a weekend, a good weekend.

Much Love from Carat Land!

Thursday Thing and Knitting

2008-04-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

My eyelashes drive me crazy, yes I know they are long and pretty, yada yada yada, but they get into everything, like cat hair. When I say everything I mean everything, not just my eyes, which is frustrating. Earlier I was eating a bowl of ravioli and I found one in that; why can't my eyelashes stay attached to my face, where they belong?

On to the knitting.

Over the last week or so I got a lot of stuff done, I finished the scarf for my dad on his birthday:

I also finished the "Felted Rug;" it was a disaster:

So I cut it into pieces:

I made a scarf out of Baby Llama, which is deliciously soft, and needs blocking.

I also restarted the cursed sock, and made a colossal mistake while turning the heel: so I frogged it, again:

And once again made a sock yarn porcupine:

I got a ton of work done on the green and black afghan.

And finally I am done with all but the second handle of the linen mesh market bag:

I told you I got a lot done!

With love from Carat Land.

Happy Happy Happy Listing!

2008-04-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

1. Learning to make an I-cord
2. Having the first three seasons of Grey's Anatomy on DVD
3. Pants that make my ass look fabulous, and are extremely comfortable
4. Clearance sales at book stores
5. Bombing a test, but still having an A average in government

No post yesterday due to sleep, I'll update on the knitting tomorrow. Lots of finished objects.

Whoops it's Tuesday already

2008-04-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

It's only 12:45, and after reading Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" for Lit Class I'm going to go to bed. It is, however, time for MONDAY MANIA! Yes the once fabled "RSE" is finally here.

So this Monday I am totally in love with the Craftzine blog; check it out, it's awesome (drink!) - Whoops! sorry, habit.

And now a question for anyone so brave as to read this thing:

When you leave a comment would you prefer I answer here on the page, via email, or both?

also:

How do you feel about serial commas?

Photographic Evidence

2008-04-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

I've told this story many a time, and many don't believe it.

A few years ago I took a friend to meet my dear batlady Grams. Grams made a snarky comment, to which I responded in kind, and she then flipped me the bird, much to my friends amazement. I know that I am not the only person on Earth with a grandmother who is at times a bit crude, but there are many people who just can't visualize "dear old grannie" swearing at the afghan she is crocheting. So here is photographic evidence that my Grams will indeed flip you the bird if you irritate her:

And for extra measure a picture of my cousin Ryan flipping her off about 30 seconds after walking in the door:

And a cute poodle picture to make up for vulgarity of this post:

Rearranging and Thursday

2008-04-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

First off I'm rearranging the RSE's they will be as follows:

Monday: Monday Mania
Tuesday: Knitting Update
Wednesday: Happy List
Thursday: Thursdays are For Things That Drive Me Crazy
Friday: Weekly Writing Weigh In

I'm changing it up for two reasons: at some point I mentioned Monday Mania, then forgot about it, and the Wiffer Forum does the weekly weigh in on Friday.

This week I've written about 10 pages for Tex, which I've been trying very hard to not turn around and tear apart.

I also backed every thing up, cause I thought my computer died.

Oh and I love these pictures from yesterday:

Before I Pass Out

2008-04-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Thursdays are for things that drive me crazy.

Looking at bags and bags of Noro Kureyon , and not being able to afford any right now. ::big pout::

I'm off to sleep now, I'll post about all of Today tomorrow.

Hokay so...

2008-04-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

It's Happy List Time

1. Not having a catastrophic computer meltdown.
2. dictionary.com
3. Organizing stash while listening to podcasts.
4. Baby Cat helping put all of the laundry away, if by helping you mean playing in the basket of T-Shirts while I try to fold them.
5. Flip Flops

Click Click Click Go The Sticks

2008-04-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

My computer had a slight melt down, and this one is refusing to recognize my camera, otherwise you would have lots of pretty pictures to ooh and ahh over. In a minute I will try a restart and see if that helps at all.

This week in the wide wide world of my knitting:

I casted on a sock, knit the toe, frogged it, cast it on again, knit the toe and part of the arch, frogged it, cast it on again, knit the toe, frogged it, cast it on again... see a pattern? Right now it is a "sock yarn porcupine" I figured stabbing the yarn with tiny DPNs would make it more cooperative when I came back to the sock.

I've also cast on, and frogged my traveling scarf three times now, twice in one yarn, once in another. The first yarn is lovely soft, but the ply is so loose it has no stitch definition, grrr.

Tin's Scarf got blocked and is ready to send, as soon as I have an address (Tin?)

Dad's scarf did not get finished, but most of the felted rug did, including most of the seaming and weaving in of ends.

Of course my knitting ADD means I have cast on yet another project, a mesh tote bag. It's farmers market season here in Waxahachie so it should be quite handy in the near future.

That is all I can think of at the moment. Off to try the re-boot, and hope that the camera likes it.

I meant to I swear!

2008-04-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of posting this on Friday, but shiny things, ya know?

Ooh look, a butterfly!

Oh sorry I was posting something, what was it?

Ahh yes, this week my recommended reading is this: I Has A Sweet Potato which at this moment in time is about the right speed for me, my brain is operating not so well.

Give me a few minutes and I'll post this weeks Rage for you to enjoy.

Half a pint of Blue Bell Later:

Rage of the Week!

"Snip 'N' Save: Creative Ways to Break Up

* Stash a box of pantyliners in his medicine cabinet.
* Blow up photos of the two of you, frame them, and place in every room of your house. Hang one from your rearveiw mirror to seal the deal.
*Flirt with his sister.
*Tell his best friend that he is secretly in love with him.
*Invite all your bad girl friends over to his place during Super Bowl Sunday for a gab fest.
*Call his mother every day.
*Fake your death and move to another country."

Wardrobe Mishaps

2008-04-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

This Thursday it drives me crazy when I accidentally grab a pair of pants and stash them in my bag instead of a jacket. For those of you giving me an incredulous look: lemme 'splain.

Melly and I went to The Shabby Sheep tonight for PJs and Purls. Before hand I stashed some random items in my knitting bag, including what I thought was my old drill team jacket. Yes, I was on drill team in high school, I don't recommend it, you never know when you might end up made up like a prostitute, wearing a green wig:

I digress, I thought I put the jacket in my bag. It's made out of a light weight material and if you shove it into the bottom of a bag full of knitting stuff, a shake or two and it's just like new. In other words the jacket is handy, but it has a matching pair of pants. When wadded up on the floor, as all of my laundry is wont to be, the two look nearly identical to the hasty eye. So much to my chagrin, while sitting around knitting I pulled out my "jacket" only to discover that I had a pair of pants instead.

Oh and I figured it out, the answer lies in this:

It's Wednesday!

2008-04-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

So therefore it is time for a Happy List!
5 completely random things that make me happy:

1. Finding my drivers license, before I gave in a trekked over to DPS to get a new one made
2. Discovering a random 4 ft long plank in the middle bedroom which I will turn into a "yardage measure" with two handy dandy nails.
2&1/2. Typing a blog entry while balancing said plank on my head, because I'm silly that way.
3. Discovering this:

I couldn't believe I found such a gem in Waxahachie, I think they opened last week.

4. Kettle Chips

5. Finding a ton of new blogs to read, my poor google reader is going to go into overload soon.

Urrgh Arrgh

2008-04-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

Research papers are taking over my life!

Because I am currently having a crap time writing a crap load of research papers there will be no writing update this week, cause I'm cranky. Instead I'm going to ramble more about knitting, because it makes me happy.

I finished the Mary Jane Slippers yesterday.

They are comfy toasty, and I love love love them, in fact I am wearing them right now. :)

Today I finally got Tin's Scarf off of the needles, and now it is time to block it, a project for tomorrow. Sorry loves, no pictures until he has it in his hands.

So tomorrow I'm planning to block the scarf for Tin, and finally finish the ribbed Maroon and White Scarf for Dad that spent something like 3 months hibernating.

Ok it might not be finished tomorrow, but soon.

Much love from Carat Land!

What do I do when I can't sleep?

2008-03-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

Teach my self new knitting techniques of course!

Last night I made this little guy:

Yes, you are looking at my first ever attempt at intarsia knitting. Next up is fairisle, then I should probably learn to cable.

Since I was still very awake and in need of something to do I started working on these:

Super easy, super quick. Pattern can be found here

Much love from Carat land!

The New Formalist

2008-03-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

This week for recommended reading I've got a group of poets that I discovered through The Writing Show

So click on over to The New Formalist and enjoy. I also recommend listening to the show I linked, Joseph S. Salemi reads a handful of his poems that aren't on the site.

I never did quite get the hang of Thursdays

2008-03-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday's are still for things that drive me crazy, so this week it's Accidentally driving to Oklahoma.

It's been more than a week since I did it, but I'm still irritated that I ended up in Oklahoma. I was there for a whopping three minutes, and swearing the entire time, but still...

On a random note I accidentally stepped on Baby earlier, so be warned, black cats in dark hallways are invisible.

I've been out...

2008-03-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been back from Avery from a week and haven't posted so here is a run down of the past week+:

Avery:
+Little cousin Colton is 6 months old and adorable
+Grandma's big freezer broke down, thank God!
+Taught Taylor(10 year old cousin - girl) to cast on and do a knit stitch
+Accidentally drove to Oklahoma while trying to come home, and was pissed.

Knitting:
+Finished the French Market bag
+Camera gave up the ghost so you will not be getting pictures of anything for a while yet.
+Got a lot of work done on the Green and Black Afghan
+Cast on criss cross garter
+Cast on white scarf for Grams/Peggy
+Soy Socks!
+Went to the Shabby Sheep, and loved it. I'm going to try and drop in sometime for PJs and Purls
+Made a seed stitch scarf for Grandma out of the bamboo yarn (originally it was for me, but I thought she would like it so I gave it to her)
+Made a bib for Colton

School:
+Made a B on the Western Civ mid term
+Now have to write 4 research papers (hence being on the internet...)

Writing:
+Am currently back logged with research papers and other school stuff, eventually I will get some fun(ha!) writing done.

Life:
+I still don't have one ;)

We should be back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Much love from Carat land!

I should be packing...

2008-03-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

But instead I've been looking up Avenue Q videos on YouTube. Of course this led me to the Avenue Q website, which led me to their upcoming shows page, which led to the discovery that

AVENUE Q WILL BE PLAYING IN FT. WORTH FROM JULY 8TH TO THE 13TH

Had to be done that way. Right now I don't give a rats ass about packing, I just want to get my grubby little ands on a pair of tickets. Melly and I are so there, even if we have to kill someone to get in.

Oh my my my...

2008-03-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

Happy list!

*Sale yarn, Bernat Soy skeins for a buck a pop.
*Russell, and his backwards sleeping schedule which makes him available for rondom conversation at 1 am
*A's on Government tests
*Good books
*Puppies

Since it's technically Thursday, and Thursdays are for things that drive me crazy:
Passing out for 6 hours, waking up at 9 pm and still being up at 2:30 when I have a test at 8 am

and since I'm driving to Avery on Friday:

Recommended Reading

Kate Chopin's "The Storm"

Spazzy like Jazzy, but without the huge knickers.

2008-03-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

This week I wrote two scenes which I will never actually use, except as an FYI kind of thing. It felt good to get them into a word processor. I know the story is there, because I am crazy enough to have this living breathing completely imaginary person wandering about in my head. She is so vivid that I can't help but write her down, share her with someone who does not have the pleasure of frequenting the inside of my day dreams.
She and I are alike yet unlike each other. Our looks are completely divergent, her rich brown eyes and my hazels have little in common. She does not speak the way I do, but I find my self slipping further into her dialect. Right now I am the only person in the world that believes her to be real. There she is in my head, jeans, t shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots that hurt like hell when she wants to kick her way out. It's like having a baby, with my brain. It hurts like hell, but I can't help my self.

Bwahahahaha

2008-03-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

Duct Tape is kinky, don't ask me why.

I missed yesterday so:

Rage of the Week!

From Tuesday March 4

"Note To Self:

Sign up to be an orgasm donor
Freeze a few eggs until I'm ready?No.
Freeze a few men until they're ready?Yes!
Always use birth control - never use mirth control!"

The last bit was kind of eh, mirth control? but I liked the rest of it.

and for the Knitting Update:
I didn't get a whole hell of a lot done this week. I finished the pine needle gloves and worked about a foot and a half of Tin's scarf. I also created a pattern that involved way too much thinking, but that's relative because I was drunk at the time.

Next week I'm heading to the middle of freaking no where for spring break, so if I don't post it's because I have no internet connection.

YAY WITH ONE MILLION !s

2008-03-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

7 MINUTES AGO MY RAVELRY INVITATION ARRIVED.

This on top of a new WWfW makes me a very happy Carat!

Reccomended Reading!

2008-03-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

I figured I would kick this regularly scheduled event off with my favorite short story. "The Last Question" by Issac Asimov. I love this story for many many reasons, but I think you should go here and figure it out why for your self. If you want to talk to me about the story shoot me an email at cleargreenfire@gmail.com

Happy Reading, and Much Love from Carat Land!

Thursdays are for things that drive me crazy!

2008-03-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

This week it is the Ravelry waiting list. I joined the waiting list on the 26th of February, and have been checking my place in line religiously.

In the mean time I'm itching to try out the Bernat Bamboo Yarn I picked up on a whim yesterday. I only grabbed one skein as I have no idea how it will knit, and I don't want to try to make a project out of a yarn that is a pain in the ass to knit. The yarn is 89%Bamboo, 11% Acrylic and very pet-able. I shall resist it's shiny pull at my needles until I've got some of the other stuff done however.

Speaking of getting stuff done I finished the pine needle fingerless gloves last night, and wore them today. I still have two and a half skeins of that yarn left, so I think I will make a hat and scarf to match.

Happy List Time!

2008-03-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

Yes ladies and gents I am posting something on schedule!
So with out further ado, 5 random things that make me happy:

*Finding a patternthat uses two techniques I want to learn more about, but also utilizes yarn that is already in my stash.

*Laughing at random because I have been over caffeinated.

*Learning that the incredibly awesome Russell some how became an alternate delegate for his precinct.

*Turning off all of the squiggly crap in MS Word so that I can just write, and not turn around to fix things every 20 seconds.

*Egg timers, and book cases.

Two Two Two Updates in one!

2008-03-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

Knitting Update!
This week I got a ton of work done on my Green and Black Afghan, there is still a bunch more work to go, but it is supposed to take a long time, it's a freaking blanket.

I also worked quite a bit on my French Market bag. I only need 2 1/2 inches of the round part before I start knitting the handles.

I casted on a scarf for Tin made of Pattons Classic Marino in Chestnut Brown.

Tomorrow I will finish up the second pine-needle fingerless glove.

I'm working on a new technique for making hats, as soon as I have it figured out I will cast on a hat for Barker. In the meantime I'm keeping an eye out for blue, orange, and white yarn that feels good.

When I get all of the small projects done I plan on playing some more with color, I would really like to figure out intarsia and stranding(fairisle.)

Writing Update!

I wrote 10 pages this week, and got a crap load of research done; I now know more about the anatomy of a horse's foreleg than I ever expected to know.

In other news I was voter 111 in precinct 111 here in Texas. I found that highly amusing.

Oh and, Puppies have names; if that made any sense to you give me a call.

With Love From Carat Land!

Technically it's Monday but...

2008-03-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

Rage of The Week!

From Monday February 25th:

"Bad Date Escape Tips:

Stare at your date with an out-of-body, trance-like look on your face. Then wince and turn away, like you're witnessing a bloody accident. Conclude with a look of intense concentration as if you are trying to improve the reception. Then calmly state, "I'm sorry but I have to go. You know I'm psychic right?"

I loved it, but I know too many guys who would completely dig the psychic thing :/

On to the real stuff, I was listening to a recent episode of Think from KERA in which Dr. "Deepsea" Dawn Wright was being interviewed about Oceanography, I'll skip the details because you can download it for free, and should. What got me was a listener question, a woman called in and asked Dr. Wright "Are you African American?" when Dr. Wright responded with an affirmative the woman proceeded to tell her "You sound very African American." This comment raised my hackles a little bit, in the half hour of listening I had not once thought "You know this lady sounds like she might be black." I did how ever think, this woman is well spoken, intelligent, passionate about her subject, loves teaching, and has managed to peak my interest in a subject which has never really been on my radar. The caller then proceeded to tell Dr. Wright in an almost condescending tone "Keep up the good work." I'm curious to know why this woman felt the need to inquire about Dr. Wright's race, what effect does it have on her ability, and knowledge in her field of study?

He burned my magical bag witha pink sword of fire

2008-02-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

So Thursdays are for things that drive me crazy, but I passed out before I could write this...

I buy magazines by the cover picture, if I see a fashion magazine with a person I like on the cover I'll pick it up. There are a few magazines I buy regularly, Writer's Digest, Bust, Bitch, Interweave Knits, and Blue Print, but for the most part the cover shot is what gets me. This month's Vogue has a picture of Drew Barrymore on the cover. I've always loved Drew, and a lot of this had to do with the fact that she was a popular actress who looked like a normal human woman. The cover shot of her almost made me scream, it looks like her arm has been air brushed off and he face is just barely recognizable. We all know that these magazines are photo-shop happy, remember what Glamour did to America Ferrera? If you don't check this out. So here is the picture in question:

Yeah, it still makes me want to scream.

Links and Things

2008-02-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

I fixed up the link lists, now you can have at least an idea of what you will find when you click on something. I also added a list of what I'm knitting and crocheting at the moment, and a To Be Read list. Have fun figuring all of that stuff out.

So it is Wednesday and here is the Happy List:

5 random things that make me happy
*Figuring out how to make a super easy center pull ball of yarn.
*Finding my self-striping green hat, which I lost three weeks ago.
*Not throwing up all day.
*Pamprin.
*Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Yes Dad, I am old enough to remember to turn a friggin timer on when I stick something in the oven.

Kate Jacobs, The Friday Night Knitting Club

2008-02-26T13:48:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs, and I loved it. I <3 Darwin! The Yarn Craft podcast from Lion Brand Yarn recently did an interview with Kate Jacobs about the book which you can find here.

In other news I just ordered The collectors set of Buffy The Vampire Slayer on DVD, and I can't wait until the UPS guy gets here with my Buffy in hand.

I added links to the left hand side of the page, and then discovered that I can make more than one list, so in the near future I will fix that so that there are sorted lists, but for now I'm going to play bubble shooter

Making up for last week

2008-02-25T18:19:00.000-08:00

Last week I was hiding, and making a pair of lovely fingerless gloves, which I will post a picture of later.

So here is the Happy List I was supposed to post last Wednesday:
5 completely random things that make me happy:
*Converse shoes at Target.
*Finishing a knitting project, wearing it, and having a complete stranger compliment it.
*Ben and Jerry's Half Baked Ice Cream
*Really good lotion
*Singing Avenue Q songs with your best friend while stuck in traffic.

Thursday I was going to post something called "Thursdays are for things that drive me crazy" but then I got distracted by something shiny: thumb gussets. So...

It drives me crazy when you are working a pattern in a book, and the author uses an abbreviation which they do not define. I had to set my work down in the middle of a row and look it up on knittinghelp.com.

By the way "Thursday is for things that drive me crazy" will probably be a regularly scheduled event

Saturday Melly and I went to the DMA to see the J.M.W. Turner Exhibit and it was lovely, and it will tip me back towards an A in my lit class.

Sunday Rage of The Week:
Saturday Feb 23& Sunday Feb 24

"Weekend Project:
Bond with your bad girl granny!
Your grandmother will be thrilled and delighted when you reach out and treat her like a bad girl friend. Be sure to take notes. You'll not only be laughing a lot, you'll be learning a lot.
*Sneak her cigarettes and bourbon
*Ask her to tell you all of her secret bad girl desires.
*Join her knitting circle and teach her friends to knit skimpy bikinis.
*Help her set up her computer and keep it running smoothly.
*Ask her to tell you that "I was a lesbian once, during the war" story again.
*Take her and a few bad friends to a racy movie, or badder yet, Chippendales.
*Road trip with her to Vegas!
*Give each other home perms.
*Swap dirty jokes.
*Swap pick up stories, tips, tricks, and techniques."

Now it is Monday, and I am fairly certain that this is the longest post I have made in this blog so far.

Melly - I changed the comment settings so that you can leave one if you like.

So now onto my next new regularly scheduled event: Monday Mania, where I tell you about something I'm going gaga for!

This week I'm all about bamboo knitting needles. for a long time I thought they were over priced and blah blah blah, and then I cast my newest project onto a set of bamboo circular needles, and I am in love with the feel of them.

Mmm Clean

2008-02-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

I finally pulled out one of the bars of hand made soap I had hiding under my sink, and it was lovely. This bar was purchased at a craft bazaar and is made by "Granny's Best Soap." The bar I'm using right now is called "Forbidden Fantasy." I want to learn how to make my own soaps, and bath stuff.

I want to do "Regularly Scheduled Events" here, and these are my ideas so far:
*Rage of the week: My favorite page from the rage a day calendar to be posted on Sundays.
*Happy List: A list of 5 random things that make me happy to be posted on Wednesdays.

Since it's Sunday here is the "Rage of the Week"

From Friday, February 15

"TODAY'S TO-DO: Be a Bad Girl Temp-tress!

Looking for exciting, new ways to interact with other party guests? Just try on this tempting temp job and see how it fits.

The Temp Job: Chiropractor
The Perks: Strangers allow you to run your hands up and down their spines.
Action Plan: As you're speaking to a handsome stranger, eye his shoulders suspiciously, look him in the eye and say, "I couldn't help but notice that you're completely out of alignment. May I?" Introduce yourself as a chiropractor, rub your hands up and down his spine, nod seriously to yourself, and say "Just what I thought." When he looks at you pleadingly, make him an offer he can't refuse: "I don't usually do this, but if you want to step into a quiet room for a minute I can give you an adjustment that will change your life." In the host's bedroom, wrap your arms around him from behind, squeeze hard, and lift until you hear a loud cracking sound or a moan of ecstasy. Try not to injure yourself - it blows your cover."

Oh the things you learn...

2008-02-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

Earlier today I asked Grams (also known as the crazy old lady) about how a published writer would get taxed for royalties and such, at which point she revealed to me an interesting fact. Many years ago my Grandmother wrote a romance novel, long hand. She never published it but she still has the MS after all of these years. On one hand that she wrote it is not surprising in the least, I swear she put all of Jude Deveraux and Catherine Coulter's children through college single handedly, and I make frequent forrays into her library of smut when I'm looking for something racy and historical. On the other hand I am surprised that she never mentioned the damn thing to me once in the past 22 years.

The woman loves to talk, but only recently has she told me anything that I felt was of "value." In other words it's taken 22 years for her to get around to talking about herself, and the bits of our family history that I will never learn from my dad or his siblings. I've heard more about a the clothing people wore to a funeral of a little girl I never met than I do about the crazy old woman's life. I don't even know how she met my grandfather, just that like me he could not abide tomatoes on anything.

If I keep going this is going to turn into a loooooong rant so I'll sign out now.

Love from Carat Land

Walking on a Windy Day

2008-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

After my incredibly (not) entertaining World Lit Exam this morning, I decided that it was a beautiful day for a long walk. I spent about an hour wandering around 'Hachie with my head phones on, and a play list with some of my favorite songs. I'm going to call it compensation for the fact that I fully plan on eating 5 pounds of valentines chocolate while hanging out with Melly this evening. I also took advantage of the time to mull over questions of plot, character, and motivation for my WIP, altogether I think it was a worthwhile venture.

So here is the plan for the evening: I go to Melly's with my brand new shiny copy of Chocolat in hand as well as any other romantic movies I can scrounge out of my collection, and we watch them. Mean while we bake brownies cook up some salmon and enjoy our single-ness together. Sounds like a perfect valentines day to me.

Rage a Day!

2008-02-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

I have a 2008 Bad Girl Rage a Day calendar, it is great for random bits of inspiration.

This "Rage" is from a couple of weeks ago but I thought I would share.

You know it's time to start a relationship when...

*you start thinking office memos are really secret love letters.
*you keep an extra toothbrush at your place, just in case.
*you need a presentable date for your high school reunion.
*you become jealous of worms because they can mate with themselves.
The next three I get to fill in!
*you buy a set of scented candles because they smelled manly, and were cheap, but mostly because they smelled manly.
*the random stuff on your bed take up more square footage than the space where you sleep.
*you take your Johnny Depp worship to a new and kind of scary height.

Fun fun fun.

Todays page is all about Rosa Parks, but I'm too lazy to type it all up. So know this, Rosa Parks was AWESOME.

On that note it is black history month. In recognition of the month I will be reading Zora Neal Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God." It's fabulous stuff so if you haven't read it go do so, right now! If you have, then read it again it's worth it.

YAY YAY YAY!

2008-02-02T02:04:00.000-08:00

I am le uber excitemundo! (yes I am aware that I just misspelled/misused words in three different languages) I actually wrote the first scene of Tex's story, and its three pages long. That might not seem like much but I've also got working profiles on all the characters that have been introduced so far and SEVEN MAJOR PLOT POINTS. If it weren't 4 am I would call Melly and tell her all about it. As it is I will probably call her around 8 or 9. I can't believe it, I have a story, a place for it to go, a way for it to get there, and I even have a beginning! I am ecstatic! and I am using way too many exclamation points. I've started a list of links that I have used in preliminary research; and have resolved to ask my Lit professor about the horse breeding industry, as she used to do, it and it is a major part of my story. I just have to hope she doesn't think I'm crazy. And I'm off to make more tea.

Tea and Pee

2008-01-30T17:28:00.001-08:00

I've been on a tea kick here recently. Last night I went to replenish my Chai stash and spotted this:When I first saw ads for Lipton's Pyramid Teas I thought the idea that the shape of the tea bag effects the flavor of the tea was preposterous, I still do. Absurd ideas about the shape of tea bags did not however prevent the vanilla caramel truffle tea from being delicious. I highly recommend it, whether you adore tea or not.

I saw this ad for the first time several months ago, at the time I was kind of amused, but now I have to ask who lets a man write an ad for a pregnancy test.

Frustrated

2008-01-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've recently wandered away from my internet obsession to delve into the wonderful world of yarn and Grey's Anatomy. In the tradition of being me I did this shortly after creating this blog, hence one post and then nada for a whole month. I have made a few thousand scarves though, and have even dared to start making a pair of gloves off of a *gasp* pattern.
On to the title of this lovely post, I recently had my lap top taken to the "computer doctor" and while he did a lovely job of installing the entire 07 Office Suite, as well as about 10000 other programs that I will never use he also wiped my entire hard drive of all poetry, writing, photos, music and even an essay I started for my English class last semester. The process of digging through back up CDs to find all of that has been unpleasant. Luckily most of it is back and I only have to re-rip about 50 CDs to get my collection in I Tunes back into shape. Today I finally took on the re-installation of fire fox, and all of the add ons that I had attached to it, there is one which I did not use before, but now after having re read the description I plan on using it, just one eensie weensie problem, when I installed it before I registered, but never activated my account. Rather than make a new email account just to register for a single extension I've deleted the program, and I am kind of disappointed.
Ugh I'm feeling all ramble-y so I will leave with a short list of things that make me happy:

Lush "Whip Stick" Lip Balm
Fuzzy Slippers
PodCasts
Eyelash yarn on sale for $1.99 a ball
and Super Sexy dark denim jackets

Kittens, Knitting, College, and Carat

2007-12-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

I'm going to say that I am 22 as I turn 22 in three days. There are some who call me Carat, among a plethora of other names. Plethora is one of my favorite words, it just looks so cool and sounds better than " a lot." I'm originally from Houston, Texas but currently reside in a teeny tiny town called Waxahachie, Texas where I attend a teeny tiny community college called Navarro.
I enjoy reading a variety of mediums, from classical literature to fashion magazines, and just about every stop in between. I am a fan of film, in particular I like any movie that makes me smile.
My grandmother has been teaching me to knit and crochet over the past few months, and I've figured out how to make scarves. My current knitting projects include scarves for most of the family for Christmas, blankets for a couple of my aunts, and baby hats and socks for a friend of mine that recently had a little girl named Skylar. I think I might actually crochet the blankets since Grams spent the afternoon rambling at me while I figured out how to crochet a single crochet so that the piece stays square.
Of course I can't introduce my self with out including the two furballs that make my life interesting. Aerin is my 7 month old kitten. Her full name is Aerin Stockings Kelly, and I tend to call her Stinky Butt, I am sure you can infer... She loves: to sit on anything I am trying to read, attack paper coming out of the printer, play with any article of clothing I put on take off or attempt to fold, and she often brings me kitty toys (in lieu of birds or mice) while I'm sleeping. Baby Kitty is my dad's 13 pound long haired black cat, his real name is Erful (don't ask me, Grams did it) though no one calls him that. My favorite nickname for him is Fat Butt, because Stinky Butt and Fat Butt go together quite well. His favorite things to do are: opening the bathroom door anytime I go in there, making me chase him around trying to get him back into the house, knocking things off of any flat surface, and attacking my ankles as I walk down the hallway. Despite the fact that they drive me crazy, I love them 'cause they are cats and that is what you are supposed to do.