Thanks for all the face care / TMJ advice. You people know what you're talking about! I did find out that my medical insurance will cover an oral surgeon, but I think I'm going to try a drugstore variety mouthpiece first to see how that goes. Umm, why do so many knitters have TMJ? Do we start grinding our teeth when we're first learning to purl? Hmm....

Today I'd like to take you down a dark, dark alley...the alley of my unfinished objects. I've been kind of bad lately about just posting really cute finished objects and not showing you the parts that don't look so cute. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, here goes.

UFO #1: The Ugliest Baby Sweater There Ever Was

Aren't baby clothes supposed to be TOO CUTE?

I used yarn that was totally not the right gauge, so I tried to rework the pattern in my gauge. Umm, that didn't work. So I had a hugely wide sweater. To remedy this, I cut through all my garter stitch and then seamed it up to the right size. Problem is, what IS the right size? Is this for a baby? Or a toddler? It was originally for a two year old, but now I have no clue. I'm finishing this thing because it feels like a personal challenge to make it cute and wearable, but I may not give it to anyone. Oh, ugly duckling baby sweater, please become a swan when I am through.

UFO #2: The Puke Colored Top Down Raglan that Jacob Hates

Is it cool? Or just really chunky and ugly?

I am using Lion Brand Kool Wool for this top down raglan. I like this yarn a lot (it's soft and easy to work with), but it might not be my first choice for a sweater. Since this picture, I've knitted many more inches, including some shaping that I tried, finished the shaping, HATED IT, ripped back, and now I'm pretty much where I was in this picture. So it's going to be straight down, no shaping on this one. Should I cardiganize it? Should I add a color stripe? Every time I try it on, Jacob says EW. This is not a good sign. On another note, I love top down raglans, and I'm thinking that once it's all knitted up with cute long sleeves, it might actually be nice. We shall see.

UFO #3: Five Inches Done When I Realized I Cast On 86 sts Instead of 96 sts

Can you guess what this is going to be?

Yep, it's a Hallowig in progress (see pattern here). Everything was going smoothly until I got the notion to count my stitches across...and I was ten stitches short. Too bad I waited until I already knitted 5 inches of ribbing, because you know what? I ain't ripping out no 5 inches of ribbing. No sir. I will knit on, and hope that my head is abnormally narrow, or that the ribbing looks okay a little stretched out. D'oh.

So there you have it...the ugly truth. My knitting projects are so not cute right now, but hopefully all three of these can be salvaged in the knitting and reworking process. That's the goal, anyhow.

Had a shower for Cathy and her fiance Wes this weekend that was lots of fun. Hopefully I can post pictures soon. There was lots of food eating and beverage drinking....her wedding is getting closer and closer*. I can't believe my twin sister is getting married -- and dude, you should SEE the presents they are getting. Getting engaged rocks...too bad I can't convince Jacob of that. (JUST KIDDING DEAR!!!)

* Speaking of, does anyone know a good song to sing at a wedding? (it has to be religious)? I have a mezzo soprano to alto voice and we're looking for something pretty. Do you like how I ask you for advice ALL THE TIME?? :)

Posted by Carrieoke at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)

*In the realm of too much information, I forgot to get my new pack of birth control pills this week, and I waited too long, and now I have to wait until the end of the month to start up again. Since I did this, my face has broken out like a seventh grader's. (And I can say that because I had BAD skin in seventh grade.) Has anyone ever experienced this before? And what do you use to make your skin look pretty?

Ahem. Now back to your regularly scheduled knitting blog.

Thanks for all the poncho comments. I love it so much. (by the way, for all those who asked, the yarn used is Cascade Pearls, doubled. If you want color, etc, go look at my gallery page.) And it's actually getting some use this week since the mornings have been in the 50s....eww. I know that fall is coming but I haven't had time to replenish my non-sandal shoe wardrobe. Payday is soon....

And, since I can't wait any longer, here's a past finished object that I never showed ya... the Top Secret Knitting Project! (isn't Cathy cute in it? too bad it wasn't for her....)

Cathy tried to steal this top. So did Jenna. And Me.



Close up of eyelets.

I made this Chickami as a belated birthday present for my dear friend Valerita, who is in grad school in California and is one of the smartest people I know, and deserves to have a shiny and stretchy chickami for work and school. I did seed stitch on the borders instead of ribbing, and I added a butterfly lace pattern around the bottom and at the top front. I'm really proud of the way it turned out, and Valerie loved it too, I think. She's going to send me some pics of her wearing it. *Edited to add:* in an act of perfect timing, Valerie sent me the pictures this afternoon! Now, how freakin' gorgeous does she look in her tank top?


Val looks smashing, if I do say so myself.

Yay. And just because I can, here's a picture of two of my very favorite people in the world: Valerie and Taylor. I miss you guys, damnit.

I'm working on a top-down raglan for me, hopefully with long bell sleeves and some other funky stuff. I feel really comfortable with the top down raglan pattern now, and I'm ready to try some crazy stuff with it. We'll see if that actually happens.

My Copa tank is complete, except for straps and weaving in ends. Copacabana yarn does stretch A LOT. I will tell you more about that when I actually have a picture of the tank looking cute.

Went to the dentist today, and I do have TMJ. My dental insurance won't cover the (gulp) $800 for a mouthguard, so I'm trying to figure some things out. Like, do I want a mouthguard, or more yarn? JUST KIDDING. Actually I'm going to see if I can get my medical insurance to cover it. We shall see.

Umm. What else. Oh! We've been painting Anne Marie's old kitchen cabinets to install in the den for yarn storage. I am a bad painter, but I can do the base coats and then Jacob makes the top coats look pretty. We also sanded, primed and are painting the cutest coffee table that Jacob found by someone's trash. We're going to try that crackle style paint -- I'll take pictures when it's all done. We are going to make our house cute one of these days. After we do the dishes and laundry. Ew.

*If you are my twin sister or me, when you see the word "breakout", you have flashbacks to fourth grade -- we went to a birthday slumber party in fourth grade where we all got in a big fight (!) and the birthday girl went up to her parents' room, got out her father's shotgun, and threatened to shoot herself because no one liked her -- no shit. In FOURTH GRADE. The gun wasn't loaded, but it was traumatic nonetheless. Cathy tripped and fell on a sleeping bag when B-Day girl came downstairs and I was sure that she had been shot. Anyways, we spent a good deal of time before the gun incident listening to the song "Breakout" by Swing Out Sister (80s classic) so that song, and that word, reminds of that crazy party. My family referred to that girl as "The Gunslinger" for the rest of grade school and high school.......

Posted by Carrieoke at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)

So, the University was closed on Friday due to bad weather, which meant no work for me. and Jacob had the day off too! I cannot express how happy I was when I groggily checked my email at 6:30 am on Friday morning and it actually had a message saying we were closed. Yahoo! (The totally fun thing is that the day turned out to be quite beautiful. I kinda felt like I was getting away with something, but school was out, bay-bee! )

My twin sister Cathy was really excited because she was out too (she is a high school teacher.) I was laughing with her on Friday about how I can totally remember watching the news when we were little and hoping hoping hoping that school would be closed, but you never think of your TEACHERS as hoping for school to be closed. And now Cat is one of those teachers. WEIRD. She's like, old, or something.

ooh! I finished something this weekend! May I present to you my very own Pearly Purple Poncho:

I heart my new poncho.

Okay, so here's a closeup of what the yarn looks like, and here's a view when I wear it the other way. Jacob prefers it with the yarn overs on the sides instead of down the center. And here's the poncho and me playing the piano:

It's an old fashioned piano poncho.

I used the fabulous pattern found on the Yarn Harlot's site, and I will continue to use this pattern over and over again because the results are super cute, and it is a great pattern. I don't get bored because I have my yarn over rows, but I can still watch Six Feet Under while knitting it. I know ponchos are uber-trendy right now, but who cares? I love the way they look, they keep my shoulders warm, and they're fun to make. (You can see full details about yarn used for the poncho, etc, in my gallery.)

I'm almost finished with my tiny tank using delicious Phildar Copacabana, I just have to seam the sides and make the straps. I finally did the increases and decreases correctly! And in other French pattern news, I succeeded in translating a pattern out of the Phildar Evasion catalog. True, the pattern is just two big squares knit together, but I translated it. I'm working towards translating this sweater, but it's taking a little more time.

Ooh - I went to a new yarn shop this weekend with Jenna and MJ and now I will be saving up my money for two things. I got on the waiting list for a spinning class (!) and I must buy some Manos del Uruguay hand dyed yarn. Oh. It's so beautiful. The colors knocked me over - I seriously wanted to buy some, but I'm using all my self control because I have to have, umm, money to buy yarn. But I will have a skein of that one day. Oh yes. It will be mine.

Okay. I need to go to bed now or finish my Copa tank, whichever happens first.
Mwah.

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)

Hi there..

First things first. We had an impromptu knitting night at MJ's on Thursday, and we had a great time. Mary Jessica made banana bread that was yummy and delicious. She also cast on several times for her very first hat in some yummy pink Goa yarn. Here's a picture of her with her circulars:

This was the second cast on.

This project has actually evolved into a poncho now, but it's still going to be awesome.

Anne Marie brought her adorable completed poncho that she knitted for a friend....this is, seriously, one of the cutest poncho I've seen, and I've seen lots o' ponchos lately. Anne Marie added beads to the bottom fringe for extra sassiness. Check it out:

I tried to steal this poncho. Several. Times.

Here's the other way you can wear it -- ooh la la!

I was working on my Meatheads for Larissa and things got way out of hand. Meatheads can make a person feel silly, especially when worn like this. I was laughing really, really hard when Mary Jessica took this picture:

These hats are so warm.

And then Anne Marie wanted to try this:

is she an anteater? maybe an elephant?

We were a little slap happy. Tee hee.

I took a kickboxing class on Thursday and felt really, really, really, really sore for the rest of the weekend. Note to self: kickboxing is not best choice for beginning exerciser. Try walking v. slowly.

We also did have our yard sale, and successfully dumped some of our junk on some unsuspecting customers. We actually only had about four or five customers, but we still made over $100. Yahoo! And now we have more room for yarn.....just kidding, Jacob.

And on a strange note for me, I ripped out two projects this weekend. The Copacabana tank (I discovered, after emailing my Rabbit Friend, that I did the increases incorrectly. Darn French patterns.) So I ripped her out, and will start again very soon. I also ripped out Polka Purl Dots. I know, I know -- I really didn't want to. But it was just sitting there, and that Svale yarn is so pretty, and I know I can use it for something more fun to knit and something I will wear.

Harumph.

I am feeling hungry and crabby and a little grumpy and headachy. So I should stop now before I start telling you about how I think I have TMJ.

**edited to add: Becky at fluffa is having a reader's choice contest for the Bucket Hat knit-along, and my hat was one of the nominees! So check it out, and if you like mine, vote for me!

Posted by Carrieoke at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

So, I think it's about time for some knitting pictures up in this piece.

Click to see what I'm working on now.

The Copacabana yarn is even lovelier to look at when you are knitting it. It's soft and pretty, and the color variegation is so, so nice. Yum.

However. I am not so good at making my stitches even when using ribbon yarn. I experienced this a little bit when I was using Katia Idea to make this tank, but it's harder for me with this yarn. Here's a close-up of my stitches -- I'm a little bashful about their unevenness, but I'll show you anyway.

Pardon our sloppiness. Carrieoke isn't used to fancy ribbon yarn.

Even so, I'm trucking along. I think with a little blocking the tank will turn out pretty enough. It's my first time with this yarn anyways, so I'm trying not to be too picky.

I've also been working on this little guy:

Why, it's a little meathead peeking around the corner!

That's all you get to see because there's a little wonkiness on this piece too. (Dang, I'm a really sloppy knitter these days.) This meathead is for Larissa's Massive Meathead Knit-up, which I am so excited about. I have one more to make and they are off to the mailman!

I've finished the Top Secret Fabulous Knitting Project and I have pictures that I REALLY REALLY want to show you but I can't until it's safely in the hands of its owner. So, I will control myself. I am v. happy about how it turned out, though.

And here are some pictures from my Labor Day Weekend trip to see my dad:

Cathy, Dad, me. And a glass of wine and a glass of iced tea.

Isn't my dad cute? He had a pretty bad stroke about five years ago, so he doesn't get out of his house much. Cathy and I whisked him away to the beach for Labor Day weekend. We had lots of fun eating seafood and watching the Braves on Tivo. Go Braves!

The only really bad thing was the weather on the way home from the beach. It was hideously awful. Luckily, Cathy was driving so I just sat in the back seat, knitted furiously, and worried about hydroplaning. Here's my worried face:

Oh, no.

Cathy saw that picture after we made it safely home and informed me that she would've gotten VERY ANGRY if she'd seen me goofing off with my camera during the storm. Hee. (I can laugh now because Cathy drove like a total rockstar in the storm and we are safe.)

So, lotsa knitting to do. And having a yard sale this weekend, so must clean. Arrgh. And taking a kickboxing class this afternoon....we'll see how that goes.

Posted by Carrieoke at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

Sorry it took so long for me to post again. I went to NC for Labor Day to hang out with my twin sis and my dad. We actually went to the beach (!) and the hurricane made things downright lovely there, seriously. I felt a little guilty about relaxing and getting some sun...but hey, we drove through lots of hurricane weather on the way home. Anywho, good times were had by all. Yay.

And now, I get to share the rest of my New Orleans trip! I wish I had a really exciting story to tell you, about how I sang my heart out, and I got to meet Paula and Simon and Randy and tell Paula how "Will You Marry Me?" from her album Spellbound was like totally my anthem when I was younger, and tell Simon that I secretly think he is hunky in his tight shirts, and tell Randy: what's up dawg?

But. That SO did NOT happen. (Can you tell I visualized a couple of times though? )

What happened is that we headed back to the Superdome at 3:30 AM (and thank God for Sarah because Anne Marie and I would've kept sleeping until 5:00 the next evening.) Once in the Superdome, we had nothing to do but SIT THERE. (well, and knit, obviously.) I was kind of jumpy and getting nervous since this was in front of me....

those booths are where the judges sit.

Like, I actually have to sing for somebody! Argh! Click for more...

Here's me and Sarah knitting in our seats....

Sarah worked on a gift and so did I. Shh!

And Anne Marie....

How cute is she?!!?

Anne Marie worked on a Bottoms Up Bucket the entire time we were there, seriously. Even after we'd been there for about 5 hours... and the producers started filming crowd shots for the actual show with this camera...

This camera swung back and forth and filmed us being excited.

We had to jump up and down, and cheer and say "Welcome to New Orleans!" and "I"m the Next American Idol!" and "Simon, you suck!" and all sorts of other exciting and realistic crowd sayings. We also had to sing "Dancing in the Streets". (Note to American Idol producers: Attempting to get a crowd of 10,000 very sleepy people to sing "Dancing in the Streets" in UNISON? Bad idea. Really.)

And throughout ALL OF THIS, Anne Marie was holding her Bucket Hat, and knitting. I kid you not. If you see us on TV, you will see the three of us, and you will see Anne Marie's little circular needles flying. Or maybe you'll see Sarah putting the smackdown on some rude seatmates we had, but you'll have to ask her about that.... :)

Anyways, the actual auditions started about 8:45 or 9AM. (by now, we'd been in the Superdome for about six hours.) But, our section was after about 2000 people, so we got to watch the crowd filter down to the field, and filter out. And man, were the judges harsh. They let through VERY FEW people at all, so when someone got sent to the LEFT instead of the RIGHT, all of us would cheer wildly (and secretly hope that we got to do the same thing.)

Here's a large pop-up pic so you can see what it looked like when people started auditioning...

They sent people forward in groups of four. You would step up to a table of one or two producers. (note: you only got to sing for Randy, Simon and Paula after making past two cuts) Then, each person would sing individually until a producer held their hand up (signaling to stop). Then, after everyone in your little group of four had finished, they would call you all forward and give you the verdict.

You could kinda tell when they were going to pass someone through, because most of the time they had the lucky person sing more than one song. But dude...it was slow going for a while....no one was getting through. By the time my group went up, I would say about 2000 auditionees had gone, and about 40 were passed on to the next level.

So, here I go!

I'm the one with the red arrow over my head.

I sang "Hanky Panky," a Madonna song from the Dick Tracy soundtrack. It's kind of obscure and jazzy, and a little naughty, and I was hoping that it would make me stand out. Not so much. But, I'll be honest...I have never been so nervous in my life! I've been to lots of auditions for musicals, and choirs, etc., and usually once I get in front of the auditioners, I get comfortable and belt it out. This time, I was totally overwhelmed. I had heard these absolutely amazing singers who were singing their butts off, and they all got rejected. So why did I even think I could do this? AACCKKK!

But, I sang my song. I even mustered a little movement, and a smile. I had energy. I got through a verse and a chorus before the judge asked me to talk to the hand. (well, not really. but you know what I mean.)

And just like that, after five hours in the line to get in line, and nine hours of sitting in stadium seating, it was over. My whole group got cut. We didn't have the "spark" they were looking for. I immediately called Anne Marie, who was genuinely surprised ! and disappointed. (That girl has so much faith in me!) We met Sarah outside and decided that our next move was obviously to go to Cafe Du Monde and get beignets. So we did.

Beignets, how I love thee.

So, maybe I was tiny bit disappointed that I didn't get to be on American Idol. I was, a little bit. But I had the most amazing time with two amazing girls** , and I got to be in New Orleans and eat and shop and knit, and it was definitely one of the nuttiest things I've ever done. And I DID IT.

And I am SO going back next year. Oh yes.

**(hey, Anne Marie and Sarah: okay. NOW look at my boobs. )

Posted by Carrieoke at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

OH my goodness, I had such an amazing time in New Orleans. What do I tell you first? Oh, you probably want to know this:

I'm not the next American Idol.

But how can I be sad about that, when I got to spend three days in New Orleans with these girls??

even though it's 6am, we are happy girls!

Click on the extended entry to hear lots more about American Idol auditions, New Orleans and all the crazy people....

First of all, Sarah from One Stitch Short is seriously one of the coolest people I have ever met. I think there's a certain amount of bonding that occurs when you meet someone at 6 am and then immediately go stand in line with them for FIVE HOURS. But I couldn't have been more comfortable with Sarah and she is just SO FUN. We had such a blast. And of course Anne Marie is the number one person to bring when you are on a crazy adventure. Or if you just need to knit during lunch.

So Anne Marie and I left Athens at 9:00 pm (a little later then intended, caused by some frantic packing and a last minute search for picture id) and drove straight through to New Orleans. This was slightly insane and by the time we arrived at 5 am central time, I felt like an insane person for even attempting to do this. Our hotel was actually okay, thank God, although the elevator had no inspection certificates and had a sign that said "maximum capacity: 7 persons." Hmm.

We met Sarah at the room and we went straight to the Superdome to check out the scene (thus bringing no knitting, blankets or pillows. I mean, no one was supposed to line up until 6:00AM, so no one would be there, right? ha ha ha ha ha) Of course there were already like 2000 people there so we got in line. And there we stayed. For five more hours.

Wow, this is fun!

Once we finally, FINALLY made it into the Superdome, it was almost noon. We got a wristband and a ticket that secured us each re-entry into the Superdome and an audition. (Anne Marie got a guest wristband, and Sarah actually had to pretend she was auditioning in order to get in the building....) WE DID IT! WE'RE GONNA AUDITION FOR AMERICAN IDOL!!

Success!

And, joy of joys, we didn't have to come back to the Superdome until 3:30 am. So we had around 15 hours to eat, sleep, knit, eat again, sleep again, and then hurry up and go wait. And we did just that. After some naptime and yarntime, we headed over to Jacque-Imo's (upon the recommendation of Chris and Em (thank you girls, because we NEVER would have found it otherwise, and it was well worth the lovely trolley ride.) Here's some trolley shots:

our trolley met another trolley on the rail.

and, some Jacque-Imo's shots (this is some damn good Cajun food, people.)

inside was crazy and really cozy.

happy to get real food.

Okay, here's the part where I have to stop posting because I'm so tired and I have several knitting project calling my name. But I'll finish posting soon about the trip, I swear. All three of us kept wondering what was going on in blogland while we were away...it's nice to be back!

Posted by Carrieoke at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)