aarrgh. my whole post just got eaten. i hate that.
so here was the gist of it:

*i'm at the beach with my sis and her friends.
*no boys allowed, but they can't keep me off the computer.
*i've gotten lots of knitting time. (worked on cabled (!) swatch for blanket project and baby blanket.

so i am a happy knittin' girl!

in other fun knitting news, i wore my cleo out on the town on Friday and everybody loved it. and no one believed I knitted it. I felt pretty....

hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday weekend. i'm going to go sit on the porch swing with a beer and my knitting. yahoo!

Posted by Carrieoke at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

yay! (all the super advanced knitters can stop reading or start laughing now because i'm about to rejoice over a very simple knitting technique....)

i cabled! and i liked it! check it out : my first cables

aren't perfect, but i'm so proud. and you were all right - they were easy, but they look pretty darn cool. it's the little things that make this knitter happy.... like a little halter top to brighten my day! it's a little shorter than i had planned, but now it's a sexy going out kind of top, and you can never have enough of those. yay finished object!

and in other knitting news, i met with some ladies from work today and we're going to knit a bunch of swatches and sew a quilt to donate to a local charity. fun times! i haven't gotten together with knitters in person in a long time and i wore my cleo. everybody loved it and i felt happy. i kept talking about my online knitting friends though....my monkey knits girls rock! the group i met with today is jealous of my fun virtual knitting group.

and, to wrap up a happy happy knitting post on this knitting blog, my Denise Interchangeable Needles arrived today! i am a happy knitting girl. now, if my work could calm down and i could spend a little quality time with my honey...i'm never satisfied.

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

hi there. my name is carrie. i'm a knitter who HATES finishing her work!

why?

because i'm not very darn good at it!

i sewed my cleo all nice and pretty together....and then realized that my boobies were showing through the triangles. (and although that may increase my tips when i wait tables, it's just not that kind of party up in here.) so, i decided to line the triangles. and since i am poor, i cut up an old shirt that was black (like my cleo) and sewed those triangles in. so now the shirt looks (from the inside) like a halloween costume sewn by a five year old. I think it is still wearable, but ya know...i want it to be perfect! i need to learn some finishing techniques! any book suggestions out there?

i'm also working on finishing a halter top (with a pattern sent to me by the lovely Sharlyn) and i'm terrified that all my knitting work is going to be for naught when i try to sew these three pieces together. i'm scared...now i'm never going to try cables. all this new territory is overwhelming.

anyways, i'll post pictures of the finished Halter #2 when i finish....IF i finish it......
in non knitting news, i'm tired. but i'm going to the beach this weekend with my sis and some friends! hooray!

in some exciting carrieoke news, i have almost secured a gig running my karaoke machine at a departmental retreat in September (but not for my department!) it's like i have a karaoke side business! or a 'carrieoke' side business....tee hee hee...

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

so here goes...i mean, you have to join in this kind of fun!

interview game: the rules

1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3. You'll update your website with my five questions, and your five answers.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

here are my questions (from Jen at MonkeyKnits) and their answers!

1. What is your ideal Sunday?
Ideal Sunday.....sleeping until 10:00 AM. eating yummy egg burritos made by Jacob. after breakfast, knitting on the porch until about noon. leave, take the dogs to the park with Jacob. Jacob reads, I knit, and the dogs play ALL DAY. eat a picnic lunch at the park, take a nap maybe, knit some more, talk to Jacob. take the dogs home around sunset. Jacob makes dinner (do you notice I'm not cooking AT ALL?!?), we eat and have a bottle of wine. Fall asleep on the couch watching a movie... ahhh....
2. Do you identify with any political party? If so, what and why? If not, why not?
this is hard. i am not really a political girl. My boyfriend calls me a 'bleeding heart liberal', but i think because i am a young, artsy, struggling, working secretary / waitress with a liberal arts degree and no good job to show for it, that I lean towards the Democratic side of things. But honestly, a lot of my 'political' leanings are based on the candidates I like, and I always have pretty strong opinions for liking or disliking candidates. Loved Bill Bradley. Disliked George W. Bush, and still do, mostly because he makes grammatical errors and uses English poorly and that is like my biggest pet peeve in the whole world. Still don't know about the new Democratic candidates yet. So kind of, not really?
3. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Ooh, an easy one! Gold Medal Ribbon at Baskin Robbins. Since I was little.
4. Have you ever been on television? If not, would you like to be?
No - but girl, I would LOVE to be. I went to (no laughing) the Atlanta auditions for American Idol with my friend....we got up at 7:00 AM the days of the auditions, rode downtown, and got in line. Behind. 4000. people. And the girls ahead of us were like, "umm, do you have a wristband? do you have a stamp? ummm...we've been here since Thursday night...you're never getting in." It was Sunday, my friends. People camped out. So we left. And now I'm too old to audition ever again....25 is too old to be an American Idol. Maybe I'll take my dog on Pet Stars?
5. If you could only use one kind of yarn (brand and/or fiber) for the next year, what would it be and why?
whoa. I have so little yarn experience, but I would probably go with cotton. Everything I've made with cotton so far looks like real clothes, and it's really soft. If I could have unlimited color combos in cotton, I could probably knit some fun stuff.

Now you join in the fun! The first five people to leave comments that say 'Interview Me!' will get 5 questions from Carrieoke. Who wants to play the interview game???

Posted by Carrieoke at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

so, secretly, in the midst of all of my internet issues at work and busy-ness everywhere else in my life, i am afraid that no one is going to read my little ol' blog anymore since i haven't posted in almost a week. and that makes me sad....so i'm really dedicating myself to posting every day now, even if it's a little hello, a little story, or a little pic. this is for me, so i can use this blog for what i want:to keep a record of what's going on....but, i love visitors!! and, in order to hook my readers today, I bring you:
(drumroll) A COMPLETED OBJECT! (ta-dah)

it's a cleo!

there i am wearing it!!
do you like it? i sure do. i will probably make it longer next time, and now that i know what i'm doing, it will be neater. but not bad for a first try,eh? i am now working another little black halter top in lion-brand microspun.....pattern courtesy of Sharlyn! can't wait to finish...and i taught someone how to knit today! a friend from work asked me to get lunch and teach her some basic knitting stuff (another co-worker wants to get together and knit some swatches for a quilt to donate to the women's shelter here) it was fun to show her, and it made me feel like i've come a long way since i started. i remember feeling like my 10 needles were SOOO big...

fun times. well, now that my internet at work is back up, i will be back reading everyone's blogs and checking in with my knittin' group. see ya tomorrow..when i answer my five fun interview questions from jen at monkeyknits ...

Posted by Carrieoke at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

i'm SO tempted not to write... TWICE now I have written a long, quite hilarious and intelligent post about the past few days for me and TWICE my browser has "unexpectedly quit." So -- here is the gist of my post(s):

*i am working long hours at the university. very tired.
*jacob graduated college this weekend. had big party with family. tequila shots, karaoke machine, and a bee-yoo-tee-full new digital camera for his present (from his folks). Yay.
*Great mail week! got :

Stef's wristy bands. Check out the pics!!
Pink Wristband
Black Wristband (in this picture I'm trying to do the 'rock on' with my hands, but it got cut off.)
and....
I got six balls of Katia Idea tape yarn from Stacy! Thanks to Stef and Stacy for the rockin' mail.

So, still working on the hat for Anne Marie, the Cleo for me, and the scarf for my stepsister. and thinking about buying some Denise interchangeable needles (which is crazy because Sharlyn in my knitting group just emailed everyone asking for opinions about them! Sharlyn, you read my mind.) I'm sick of running out and buying needles every time I start a new project.

so that's me. the reason I'm not posting everyday or commenting on anyone's blog is because the internet is DOWN at my work and the only time I get on is when I come home and use our SLOW computer (on a dial up.) so, leave me a comment about how much you miss me....just kidding. I do miss reading everyone' sites though! I can't wait to have my fast internet back so I can shirk my duties at work and knit and blog.
later......

Posted by Carrieoke at 7:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I just want to knit! Just for five seconds! A swatch, maybe, or a couple of rows on my Harry Potter scarf. Or the beribboned Baby Blanket. But no....life keeps getting in the way.... I have actual WORK to do at work (who knew?), a house to move into, and my second job to go to. forget knitting -- I don't have time to eat dinner!

although -- i'm excitedly waiting for some fun things in the mail:
Stef's wristy-bands!
Yarn from Stacy - she is super generous and sending me some fun yarn. How great is that?

and...I got paid today, so I can go to Michael's so I can get one last ball of Cotton-Ease to finish my Cleo. Hooray! I want a finished object!

I also am going to start a new project this weekend with some pretty, soft yarn that my sis Cathy gave me for my birthday. My(soon to be ex) roommate and landlord Anne Marie has put up with a lot of stuff from me and Jacob while we lived in her attic (!), so I'm going to knit her a hat. But not just any hat -- a hat with kitty ears!!

she is just funky enough to love this hat. (I hope...)

well, that's all for now. hope this makes up for my lack of knitting content this week. now I will be working late at the university.

Posted by Carrieoke at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

whoa. it is so busy at my office today ... for a change ... but i just got some down time and wanted to post a little entry and some pics from the 80s prom that i went to this weekend. you can check out our fun times below:

my dress in all its tacky glory
dancin' machines!
my roommate and her boyfriend are hot!
that's my man Jacob in a mullet wig! (can you see my fake ponytail and my PBR?)
Jacob rocks on
me and Rich rockin' out
the girls

So it was big fun. Yay PBR Prom.
Me and Jacob painted our den and bedroom from 5:00 - midnight (!) last night. No one told me that painting is freakin' hard work. I've never painted a room with a roller before...my shoulders and hands are so sore today. It's probably good exercise for me! But the house is looking good. I will post pics as soon as we have some inkling of organization in there...... more later, maybe?

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

does anyone want to come help us paint? it's a race against time now...we need to get out of our current house by the end of the week, but we can't move too much more furniture in until we get some substantial painting done. guess i'm going to be a paintin' fool all week....when i'm not waiting tables......must get done.

i've been looking through all the knitblogs this week and jealously eyeing everyone's finished projects. For example, check out Sharlyn's short sleeved sweater...and then we have Stacy's Dee. I wanna have a fabby finished piece! but i keep running out of money and time. i really took all my free time at work for granted this summer, and now i'm sad because i actually have stuff to do....pathetic.

I did acquire some Wool-Ease yesterday from my friend Val that is moving . For me, all yarn is good yarn...you never know what you might be able to make. especially when I'm broke... i might need to knit some food or something. ha! ha!

so here's what I need to do knit-wise to be a happy knitwit:
1. Complete Cleo. (so close!)
2. Complete BeRibboned Baby Blanket for Ashley. (I've got til November)
3. Complete my Harry Potter scarf...this may never happen.
4. Start a ribby cardie!

We'll see if any of that gets done in the midst of the new school year, working, moving, painting, etc.
Stef got her glasses cases and loved them! Yay! I can't wait to get my wristbands.
P.S. Can anyone make me a button? I tried and mine looked pretty miserable....

Posted by Carrieoke at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

and it's me. i'm tired, broke and grouchy. blah.

this weekend we moved a lot of super heavy furniture into our new house. moving is not fun. we haven't even tackled anything that's in our house right now..this is all furniture that Jacob's parents gave us. it's all totally awesome ....
and as a added bonus, i got ....(drum roll) * a sewing machine *! Jacob's mom had an old Sears Kenmore sewing machine ..one that is built into a table, so it functions as a desk and a sewing machine. it's bee-yoo-tee-full..now I just have to learn how to use it!

for the rest of the weekend, we just moved more stuff into the house and had fun times at night. we went to the fabulous PBR Prom sponsored by Team Clermont. the theme: Pretty in Pink. So i had a rockin' 80s prom dress (blue sequins and fluffy skirt) and Jacob had a rockin' mullet wig. Hopefully I can post pictures soon!

in knitting news: i am 6 rows away from finishing the body of cleo...and i ran out of yarn!!! aacck!! so, to the yarn shop on friday when i get paid.

and, finally the reason i'm so grouchy -- i had to work last night until 1 AM and be at work in my office at 8 AM. AND we were dead. I mean, I waited tables for 7 1/2 hours and had 3 tables....ewww......

my (virtual) knitting group girls have been discussing the whole issue of too much personal info being on your blog, and not enough knitting info. but, i figure, if i had a slow knitting weekend, don't ya wanna hear why? i thought so.

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

i love the weekend! even if I have to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the bar,* like this weekend*, I love the weekend. I can knit and knit and knit and play on the computer and spend time with Jacob and the schmoos.

this weekend is a little different though ... because we are moving into our new house! getting paint from duron today and the keys to the house...woo-hoo!! also have to drive to atlanta this weekend to pick up a couch and loveseat from Jacob's parents. we packed last night for a while .. i have so much STUFF. i found jewelry i'd been missing, old pictures, books, clothes i hadn't seen in months...sometimes i think if i've been living without it for THAT long, then i probably don't need it, right?

in knitting news: i took pictures last night of cleo-in-progress. i want a good digital camera so badly. i've been knitting so much black lately and on the jam cam, the detail is not visible at all. i'm going to post the cleo pics anyhow later on today, just because i want to track the progress. it's so close! when will it be done?

i found out yesterday that Matt and Rob of fabulous Threadbear used to live in Athens. this knitting / blogging world is so small! i wish some of these knitters lived in my town because i'm such a lonely knit girl...no knitting group for me. we started one for a while but my work schedule got crazy and the girls lost interest.....thank goodness for virtual knitting fun, like blogging and Knit Alongs!

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)