high and dry

Yup - the "tropical storm" Hanna passed by with little damage, and only a bit of a storm here. Mike and I took advantage and went for a bit of walk in the rain, which was fun. I thought it'd be cold and rough, but it was pretty warm and mild. It's so weird to look outside and think the weather is one thing and then step outside to find it's another.

I'm almost finished with the 'Baby Raglan' sweater:



The green and orange look a little pumpkin-y, but then again, the baby is due in October! Yes, I do know one sleeve is longer than the other, I tried it with (as the pattern suggested) and without the ribbing, and I think I like it better without. I just finished the bottom tonight, but don't have the energy to take more pictures. Tomorrow I will rip out the little bit of ribbing on the left sleeve, cast off and seam it up. Can't believe I'm actually done with this one early!

Next on my list is the elephante pattern (ravelry link - it takes me a while to find the non-ravelry links sometimes. Which is one of the reasons I LOVE Ravelry!! Anytime I need a pattern, I can find it in 10 seconds on ravelry. Anytime I have a questions - bam! find it on Ravelry. Extra yarn - don't know what to do with it - see what everyone else is doing with it on.. ravelry. Going somewhere and want a knitting shop near my destination? - you guessed it, Ravelry. Bored? Radar or forums on ravelry! *sigh* it's a little bit of knitterly heaven.

guess you have to be a knitter/crocheter/fiber person to really understand - sorry about the rant ;)

knitting the night away

This past weekend, I went down to Knit where they were having a "knit the night away" party. It was loads of fun! They had snacks and pizza and yummy strawberry shortcake, and everyone brought their knitting and talked about all sorts of random things. There was a movie, but I didn't watch it, I was trying to get the Baby Tart done and I made it pretty far:

As it gets smaller, it gets harder to do the bobbles at the top - I'm trying to keep them loose, but on DPN's it's difficult without leaving gaps. I'd really like to try this in crochet - for me crocheting bobbles is so much easier. Since it's done by picking up stitches off the "crust" I may knit another bottom and crochet the top. Maybe that's what I'll do for the Ravelympics!

What is Ravelympics you ask? The best way to describe it is off the Ravelry knitting site:

The First International Ravelympics Summer 2008 are open to any knitter or crocheter on Ravelry ready to challenge themselves to complete a project (or projects) within 17 days during the Summer Olympics.

Not to be confused with the Knitting Olympics which take place every four years, just like any other Olympic sport and will be orchestrated by the Yarn Harlot.

Concept: You must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics (Aug. 8)- and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (Aug. 24). That’s 17 days. Would you rather work on your burgeoning WIPs? Then join up for the WIPs Wrestling. All other events are for newly cast on projects!

I have joined team KnitK on Ravelry, and am trying to decide if I am ambitious enough to finish my WIP's (works in progress) or if I should start a completely new project. Of course it would have to be a baby project as there are still 4 people to make knitting baby things for - not including finishing the tart hat: Missy, Alicia, Rachel and Crystal. You know who you are missies!

Oh yeah, Gabriella's birthday is also coming up, so I need to put together a gift for her too! sheesh!

I've got some ideas, I just have to pull all the materials together, and that usually takes me the longest to do. Well. I've got 9 days to get into gear!

My Ravelry T came!

I was dutifully packing up things on Saturday, sorting and deciding what I needed to take, and as I passed by the front door, I peaked out to see if there was a package... possibly my ravelry T-shirt? But no, there was no package by the door. *sigh* It's okay, I thought, they have a lot of orders to get out, it'll be here by Tuesday.

So I just grabbed what was in the slot, and low and behold I actually did have a package! It came! It was in one of those soft envelopes, and the mailman had just folded it in half and stuck it in the slot. Yeah!! Here is a simple picture of me modeling it - self portrait, so no judging! :) They did run a bit small, so I'm glad I ordered the medium.

I ordered three buttons as well, aren't they cute?! The pictures are a little dark though.










It wasn't until I read them off to my roommate that I finally got the "where my stitches at?" reference. I didn't realize it was a take-off of the "where my b****** at?" comment. O.K. I'm a little slow sometimes, but I'm still glad I opted for the shirt with the other logo. I just don't feel right wearing a shirt with bad grammar on it. I speak and write badly enough that I don't need any help broadcasting it.

On Packing

This whole decision process and itemization of things I want really has me thinking a lot about the amount of stuff I have and use and waste. Neither Mike or I like to buy something we already have, or get rid of something that is still useful. It just feels wasteful. But how do you balance that out between cost, time and space? Especially when your stuff is in two different states, 8 hours apart. For example, when Mike headed to SC with the first batch of things, it was August and 80 degrees out. So a simple sheet and a couple of small lap throws for the couch did him just fine. Fast forward 6 months, and it's gotten pretty cold at night in SC, and he still has no blankets for the bed! Does he buy something new or suck it up until I get there? I even offered to mail him a comforter, but he's making do with the throws. What a trooper :)

See, my birthday is coming up, and Mike was asking me what I wanted. Right now, the only thing I really want is the house to sell, but unfortunately, that's not really something in his price range or abilities. Other than that, there's really not that much that I need and I think that's part of the problem. I'm looking at it as a "what do I need" kind of thing.

I just feel like I've got so much stuff that I'm not using as it is. Especially as I pack up. I've got a limited amount of space this time (just my car) so I keep separating things into 'must take with me', 'can live without/leave behind' and a 'would be nice, but not necessity'. Everything in the last group will be the first to go if I can't fit it in my car.

So when I think about the few things I do kinda want for my birthday, the definitely fit into the 'would be nice, but not necessity' category. But as Mike pointed out earlier, your birthday is for things you want not things you need. I guess I need to keep that in mind too.

Oh, and if you really want to know, I'm thinking I'd enjoy a set of these, or these - I'm not picky. I've used a pair from someone else at knit-nite and I really like them. The wooden ones aren't nearly as garish as they seem in the photos and are super slick just like the nickle plated set. Then, I'd only be a few sock needles away from a full set of needles! I guess the smaller sizes (4 and under) don't come in the interchangeable set, you have to buy those separately - but there's always Christmas!