Just a random meme...

and completely yanked from peony knits...

layer one
name: sara
birthdate: January 5, 1977
birthplace: Tacoma, Washington
current location: Augusta, Maine
eye color: blue
righty or lefty: lefty
sign: Capricorn
innie or outtie: innie

layer two
heritage: 50% Irish... rest is a mix of French, English, and some other junk.
shoes you wore today: Black boots
your hair: Long, mostly brown, but mixed with scattered grey.
your weakness: Caring too much what everyone thinks
fears: Train Crossings (don't ask), spiders
your perfect pizza: Green olive, spinach and mushroom
one thing you'd like to achieve: Publish a novel

layer three
your most overused phrase: What the eff?
your first waking thoughts: Please tell me it is Saturday...
the first features you notice in the opposite sex: eyes
your best physical feature: hands
your bedtime: 10pm.
your greatest fear: up there already...
your greatest accomplishment: Having my son
your most missed memory: my time in Boston

layer four
pepsi or coke: neither
single or group dates: single
adidas or nike: Adidas
lipton iced tea or nestea: Nestea
chocolate or vanilla: vanilla
cappuccino or coffee: Dunkin Donuts iced coffee

layer five
smoke: not any more.
cuss: yes
sing: all the time.
take a shower everyday: Every other day... my hair gets too dried out if I take one every day.
have a crush: my husband. And Shaun White. He's a cutie.
been in love: yup.
went to college: yep.
liked high school: yep.
want to get married: I am!
believe in yourself: sometimes
type with your fingers on the right keys: Not in the slightest. But I type fast anyway.
think you're attractive: nope.
think you're a health freak: nope.
get along with your parents: very well.
play an instrument: I can plunk out a few tunes on the guitar.

layer six
in the past month, did you…
drink alcohol: yep... last night had a tasty Sam Adams light
smoke: nope
do a drug: nope
make out: yep
go on a date: yep
eat an entire box of Oreos: nope
eat sushi: *thinks* I don't believe so...
been on stage: nope
been dumped: nope
gone skating: nope
made homemade cookies: nope
fall in love: I fall more in love with Seth every day.
go skinny dipping: nope
dyed your hair: nope
stolen anything: nope

layer seven
have you ever...
played a game that required removal of clothing: yes
if so, was it mixed company: yes
been trashed or extremely intoxicated: yes
been caught doing something: nope
been called a tease: nope
shoplifted: never.
if so, did you get caught: N/A
changed who you were to fit in: sometimes.

layer eight
age you hope to be married: I was 28
numbers and names of children: Alana, 8; Lili, 6; Sebastian, 4
describe your dream wedding: August 27... outdoor, 70 degrees, beautifully sunny.
how do you want to die: In my sleep.
what do you want to be when you grow up: Good question. I have no idea.
what countr(ies) would you most like to visit: Ireland, England and back to Italy

layer nine
number of men i have kissed: too many
number of boyfriends you've had: I have no idea
number of drugs taken illegally: 1... I smoked a lot of weed my senior year of college.
number of people i could trust with my life: 4 or 5.
number of CDs that i own: a ton. But I carry around my ipod instead.
number of piercings: Ears, tongue, tragus, navel.
number of tattoos: 3
number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: Once for a scholarship I won, once for my son being born, once for getting married, and once for a letter-to-the editor I wrote regarding the war.
number of scars on my body: I've got some old chicken pox scars and one on my knee where I fell off my bike a long time ago.
number of things in my past that i regret: One... that is quitting ballet when I hit high school.

Thursday was my "baby's" 4th birthday... I can't believe he's already four. We had our family party today since it is also my "little" brother's 27th. Here are a couple of pictures:


Here he is tearing into his gifts. Yes, he needs a haircut.


Now that we have the house we can actually have parties at *our* house. It was also nice for my parents since it meant they could leave the mess and chaos behind. From the far left: My dad and Sebastian, Seth's mom and Lili, Seth, my brother, me, and Alana is there in the front.


It was a Wiggles themed party. Sebastian loves them.


Me trying to open Sebastian's power rangers. Why do childrens' toys now need a hacksaw and blow torch to get into?

In knitting news, though, guess what I finished? *dances around* My first ever sock... done with the fabulous Jaywalker pattern. I don't have another ball of yarn to finish a second, but since I'm not really all that worried about the yarn being from a different dyelot (due to the verigation that's already in the yarn), I'm just going to pick up another. I love this sock, and the pattern is awesome. It's made with Lionbrand Magic Stripes in the Regatta blue colorway and size 2 dpns (since I knit really tightly with dpns). I just want to take a moment to dedicate this in part to Beth at biggeek since it was really her gorgeous socks that kicked my ass into getting over my sock making fear. Now there will be no stopping me! I've already gotten about 5 new sock patterns really to try.







I'm currently working on another Clapotis using Knitpicks Sock Garden (or Landscape maybe?) in Gardenia. These pictures don't really show true color which bums me out since the colors are really bright and bold. I'm trying the purl the dropped stitch technique with this one.





In the queue after my Clapotis is Glampyre's top down raglan. I can't wait to have a handknit sweater!

One of my psuedo New Year's Resolutions was that I would try to only work on one knitting or crocheting project at a time. It hasn't been easy, but I've discovered that it is much more enjoyable to start a project and concentrate on it to get it done, rather than toss it aside. Now, this doesn't mean I've been smart about finishing the projects I started and never finished in 2005, but hey, I'll blame my WIP basket on temporary amnesia or something.

And as a result of my actually finishing something, I have finished the first ever wearable garment for me. A while back, I made a OSW, but being a dope, I measured across my shoulders very badly and it turned out too big. Fit my mom, though, so I guess I didn't waste my time. This time I tried the Craftster Circular Shrug. I *love* it... and plan on making another one in the future.





There are a couple of things I would change the next time I do it- first, I would make the ribbed section a little longer. In the pattern, it recommends this for larger chested women (which I'm not), but I think it would also benefit me since I have a long torso. Second, I think I would just do stockinette stitch instead of the mock rib in the middle section. That's what my fingers wanted to do anyway, and so I had to rip back a few times. Overall, though, it is a great pattern. My version is done with Caron Simply Soft and a size 8 needle.

I've got a picture of my started Spiderweb Capelet from SnBN (all pictures today brought to you by my parents), but I finished it the day after the photo was taken. I've decided to give this one to Cass for her birthday (she's going to be visiting tomorrow, so I'm not worried about spoiling any surprise), and I have plenty enough yarn to do another for myself. It is just too pretty not to share with her.



Capelet is done with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Brush. This yarn is heavenly.

And last, I finally have a couple pictures of the One Hour Baby Booties I did for Jenna's baby shower.





I had a vacation day from work today (not that it was a vacation... our new house has roof problems and the kids' bathroom has plumbing problems), and I decided that I was going to get over my sock making fear and start a pair of socks. And of course what socks would I start with but the famous Jaywalkers. Since this is my first attempt at a sock, I'm moving way slow, but so far, I am enjoying the way it looks. Honestly, I don't even care if they are too big or too small- it will be exciting for me just to have made a pair of socks. I'll keep you posted on my progress, although it will probably take the next couple of weeks to finish one.

Damn, there goes Dorothy!

It's windy today. And I don't mean some nice gentle breeze... I mean it is damn windy. Like tropical storm winds. According to the sometimes not so reliable weatherchannel.com, it is gusting to somewhere around 46 mph.

You already can tell a completely un-knitting related entry is coming, can't you?

So in honor of the wind outside, I am going to entertain you with an amusing email I received from my brother this afternoon. To catch you up to speed, the Loki he mentions is not the God, but one of his cats. Loki is an ocecat (sp?) and can chew through anything in 5.2 seconds. You've seen those cat dishes that claim to be chew-through proof? Loki cleaned one out in two days. Anyway... here is my afternoon amusement.

Wind-based predictions:
1. I'll discover that the truck can fly. Well, half of it as the rust won't hold up to this wind. I'll discover that the back end can fly, while I sit safely on the road in the front end.

2. I'll be blown to Oz, where I'll have a wacky adventure with a scarecrow, a wussy lion and a dude made of cheap aluminum. To translate, I'll be blown to Hollywood where I'll spend time with Christina Aguilera, the dog from Frasier and Robocop.

3. That giant, old tree outside of my apartment will soon become the giant, old tree inside of my apartment.

4. Loki will eat the tree in 3.75 seconds.

You're all probably scratching your heads and thinking this isn't that funny. I guess you just had to be here. Or be as tired and punchy as I am feeling here at work.

Some old pictures...

I finally managed to get my digital camera pictures downloaded despite the fact that the camera battery is deader than a doornail. Better late than never? Does that work as a phrase anymore?

A couple from my birthday... notice my tie-dyed cake. Also notice Lili hamming for the camera.






On the 7th, my friend Jenna had her baby shower. I've already shown pictures of the knitted kitten I made for the baby... here is the crocheted sweater (pattern is Baby It's Cold Outside from Crochetme). This yarn is evil. I also made her a set of baby booties (the One Hour Baby Booties from SnBN) and a baby hat (the cotton baby hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts) with this yarn. No pictures of the booties or hat yet, though...





As much as I hated this yarn with a passion, I have decided I would fight through another sweater for Seth's sister Chris and her partner Brenda's new baby. She's finally home from the hospital, so I figure now is a good time to get it done.

My big project right now is the Craftster Circular shrug... I'm more than halfway through knitting it, and hoping to be done by tomorrow night so I can wear it to work this week. I'm using Caron Simply Soft yarn, but it is a gorgeous pale blue color that I love. I also am 2 increase rows into a Clapotis made with Knitpicks Sock Garden (or is it Landscape?) in Gardenia. I love the way the colors are working, but since this is the second Clapotis I've made, it seems to be easier to put aside and work on other things.

Saturday I went out shopping with my brother and mom... my brother was looking for things to put on his new Buddhist alter. While we were out, we stopped at Yardgoods in Waterville and my mom thought it was so funny watching me fondling all the different kinds of yarn that she bought me three skeins of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Brush. This yarn is awesome... it will become the Spiderweb Capelet from SnBN once I am done with the Circular Shrug.

I want to thank Jessica at Knitfit for trying to give me ideas about elann peruvian wool on her blog... if you don't visit her blog already, you should. And thanks to hers and Kate's comments here, I am officially hooked on it for my Ribbi Cardi. I want to use blue... but haven't yet decided if I want to go for a solid color cardi or to do the two-tone version that is pictured with the pattern. Anyone have any thoughts on whether a light blue and a dark blue would work together in this way?

Marnie's amazing...

I just want to write a quick blurb in here regarding a post found at Marnie's Peace is Patriotic website... I feel it is important to bring this to anyone and everyone's attention that needs to read a well constructed comment regarding the war.

peace is patriotic

Those that know me in real life (the two of you or so that read this blog) know I'm a military brat. I grew up moving from base to base and had lived in 5 states by the time I was 5. But you also know that under no circumstances do I support this war. Notice I said war.

Back in 2003, I wrote a letter to the editor to our local newspaper regarding the extreme "you can only support the troops if you support the war" rhetoric. I think it might be time to share it. I don't remember the exact date it was in the paper... just that it was 2003.

The further the United States gets into this war, the more boggled I am with the extreme attitude of some people. At what point did not supporting the war mean the same as being unamerican or not supporting the troops? Did it happen while I was asleep? Did I miss that memo?

As a mother, I dislike violence of any sort, whether it is in a foreign land or on our own soil. War may be a necessary evil, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it or support it. But to call me unamerican or say that I am not supporting the troops makes no sense to me.

War is an act. The soldiers are people. In one of the letters to the editor on Tuesday, April 8, someone commented that the soldiers are doing a job. Exactly. It is a job. Let's face it, there are plenty of jobs performed everyday that people do not like. I don't like being interrupted at dinner by telemarketing. Do I automatically dislike or blame the person on the other end of the phone? No- they are performing a job. I don't like receiving bills in the mail, but I do not dislike or blame the bill collectors. They are performing a job. The soldiers are not the war, and the war is not the soldiers.

And unamerican? Part of what makes America so amazing is the freedom to think for ourselves and form our own opinions. We can protest if we want; we can choose to support if we want. Personally, I find blocking traffic and getting arrested sheds a negative light on the protesters' cause. But I respect their opinions whether I agree with them or not, and am thankful that I live in a country where we have our freedoms. Has anyone stopped to think about what happens to protesters in countries not like the United States? Remember the horror of Tienemen? I do.

I am a military brat. I know people over there. I fear watching the news and seeing a name I know among the missing or dead. I feel like crying when I see stories of soldiers who have had to leave their children behind. I am proud to be an American and I support the soldiers with all of my heart and wish they could come home. But I do not have to support the job that they have to perform.

So I'm going to do it, damn it... I am going to splurge and buy the pattern for the Ribbi Cardi. Now, getting the yarn to do it will be something different since I have a $400 oil bill hanging over my head. Hooray for Maine winters. And way too expensive oil prices.

I'm thinking I will try elann for the yarn for it, though... anyone have any suggestions on what would work best? I want something that will be warm, but not scratchy (since I tend to wear my cardis over tank tops). Machine washable is not a requirement, although would be an added bonus. I'm also hoping for suggestions for a lacy mohair-ish type of yarn for a capelet pattern that I want to try.

I crocheted a sweater for Jenna's baby shower using Red Heart Baby Clouds. The original pattern, which came from Crochetme, called for Homespun, so I figured the Baby Clouds would be a good substitute. The sweater came out beautifully, but holy shit, I have small blisters on my left thumb and index finger from trying to stitch the seams together and the crocheted buttons on. The yarn sticks to itself and is like crocheting with a small rug. They could make chainmail out of this stuff. I did manage to get two pictures of it before my digital camera battery died, but I haven't tried to upload them yet- I'm not sure I can do so without a working camera battery.

Does anyone know of a place to submit this blog to get more readers? I feel like I am so new to the knitting weblog world that I am a tadpole in a huge lake. Or any suggestions of blogs that I should check out other than what is linked over in the sidebar? It's inspiring to see so many neat creations.

Here is my list of projects that I am bound and determined to finish before the end of 2006... and they are all for me!
*the Ribbi Cardi
*a Clapotis
*Glampyre's top down raglan
*Tempting from Knitty
*the Craftster Circular Shrug
*a capelet with mohair-ish yarn
*my first pair of socks!

There are some others that I have my eyes on, but these are the ones at the top of my list. And with the exception of the Ribbi Cardi and the capelet, I already have the yarn for the rest. I'm excited!

No pictures today, folks... I've been hard at work on the blanket for my grandmother, but haven't yet gotten any photos. It should be interesting to see how it looks once it is pieced together since I'm only four squares in and already have every color known to man represented somehow.

*edited because this section was starting to sound way too whiney. I apologize to anyone that read it.*

So I am now 29 years old. At work, people were making comments about "so, Sara, how many years have you been 29?" I think it took a while before people really believed that I was 29. Not sure whether that means I look older, or whether so many people lie about their age that it is expected that I do the same. Thanks, but no. I like my age, and have no intentions of ever lying about it.

Regardless, Seth was such a cutie and bought me a knitting book with patterns for shrugs, capelets and ponchos. I don't wear ponchos, but there is an awesome pattern in there for a capelet that I can't wait to try. Now to get money to buy some yarn for it. *laughs* First up on my craft list, though, is the craftster circular shrug. I have to try this pattern... I have yet to see a shitty version, and that says a lot about how cool the pattern is. I'm thinking maybe some yarn from elann... I've been buying Knitpicks stuff like crazy for the past year, so it's time for a small change. I also want to give the Ribbi-Cardi that Jessica and Kate have been working on a go.

It's chilly today. I wish I could sit and knit instead of work. Thank goodness it's Friday.

Happy 2006!

Hi folks... and welcome to 2006.

Seth and I are... mostly... moved into the house. Mostly because although the majority of the rooms are free of random moving boxes, I can still see the huge pile of them down in the mud room when I stand in the kitchen. I figure I'll get that one sorted about the time spring comes along. Spring cleaning, you know.

But I have been busy- despite the fact this place hasn't been updated in almost a month. And since we all know that the knitting and crocheting is really what you're looking for, I'll stop with the chatter and get on with it.

First up, I had a request a while back from my brother for a not-so-lacy style doily that he could use to place his Buddha on on his Buddhist alter. Not being a Buddhist myself, I wasn't sure what would be appropriate or inappropriate. He ended up picking out the yarn, and with some help from the Livejournal Knitting Community, I found the Spiralen pattern. This pattern is awesome... and I would love to make one myself at some point. The downside is that it is meant to be started with the 8 stitches spread on 4 dpns. I honestly have no idea how anyone can start a project with so few stitches on 4 dpns... you folks that can do this are amazing. I can start on 3 dpns, though, so I cheated, started with 3 dpns, did the first three rows of plain knit, and then "upgraded" to the 4. I got a lot of nice compliments from the people at work ("A knitted doily? I've never seen a knitted doily before!"), and my brother thought it was awesome.

It's knitted with black cotton crochet thread and size 5 needles. I was concerned that it would be too loose at first, so I started knitting really tightly. I also did more pattern repeats than the original pattern called for since I wasn't sure how large his Buddha is. The edging is crochet and called for a second repeat around, but I chose to leave the second one out.

Here it is from the top... although it appears to be off-black, it is truly black. It's nice to be able to have natural sunlight to take knitting photos!



And here it is a little closer. Ignore that little piece of yarn sticking up.






Because the crochet cotton worked so well for Dave's project, and because I hadn't yet started his fiance, Phoebe's scarf, I pulled out my pattern for Veronik Avery's Lacy Hairtamer that came from Interweave Knits a while back. Phoebe has the most fantastic head of long curly hair, and she often will put the back up in a ponytail and use a headband to hold up the sides. I thought the hairtamer would be a perfect companion to my brother's Spiralen.

*as a completely off topic side note, I'm listening to my iTunes as I type this entry, and Neil Diamond's song "Sweet Caroline" just came on. I can't stop bobbing my head to the beat. All you Red Sox fan readers will appreciate how awesome this song is.*

So back on topic, I started the hairtamer Wednesday before Christmas, and since my family's party was on Christmas Eve, I had a whole 2 days to have it completed. I finished it literally 5 minutes before we left for my parents' house. This picture isn't the best, but it was all the time I had before I had to wrap it up and dash out the door.




Finally, my friend Jenna is due to have a little girl in mid-February. I don't think she is going to make it that long... I think she'll be honestly lucky to make it until the end of January. Regardless, her baby shower is this coming weekend, so I have been trying to finish a few things up. I had every ambition of finishing this on New Year's Eve (or sooner), but my harmless cold decided to explode into a raging sinus infection that completely knocked me on my ass for a few days. I was barely able to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve (oh, the exciting newlywed life that Seth and I lead! *snicker*), let alone work on knitting. But with some antibiotics (thank you makers of the Z-Pack) and some Corona, I finished this up last night. Now Seth wants one... only he wants his black and with fangs.

The original pattern calls for size 2 needles, if I recall right, and some sportweight or DK weight yarn. Since I wanted this to be super sturdy and thick, I double stranded Bernat Baby yarn and used a size 7 needle. I also decided to double the pattern so the final project would be twice as large as the original.

And before anyone comments that the tulle ribbon around the neck is a choking hazard to babies, I know. It's just there for right now.





The only problem I had with this pattern was trying to stitch the head so it would stay up. If it wasn't going to a kid, I could have done it with no problems, but since I wanted it to be super sturdy and mostly unbreakable, it was a little more difficult. Hopefully it is strong enough.

I've decided that in the next couple of months once I finish up the knitting and crochet promised to other people (a scarf for my aunt, a blanket for my grandmother's birthday), I am going to take a break from gift knitting. I have had yarn waiting for Knitty's Tempting and Glampyre's Top Down Raglan for months, and I just bought some gorgeous Knitpicks yarn for a Clapotis for myself. Perhaps selfish, but when I think about it, I've been knitting pretty hardcore for about a year and a half and in that whole time have only made one major thing for myself (Knitty's Coronet).

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday and New Year!