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October 29, 2004
Halloween Time - No Knitting Content!
I love Halloween. It's become even more fun since I've lived in Athens, because you SO don't have to be a kid to take your costume seriously and dress up. In fact, you'd better have some kind of costume if you're gonna go out on the town on Halloween. Had yummy Thai food with Drew, JoAnna, Anne Marie and Jacob last night, and then we went to Wal-Mart to shop for Halloween costumes. Oh boy oh boy! Can't wait to show you pics.
But for now, all I have are pictures of our little pumpkin carving party we had on Tuesday:
Jacob makes a precision cut.
We spread out a blanket in our empty dining room and went to town, complete with roasted pumpkin seeds, wine, and even some sherry. (Anne Marie loves her some sherry.)
Glam girls carve pumpkins too!
Jenny and Anne Marie worked together on their pumpkin -- team work is always a bonus when you are carving something after a glass of wine. or two.
Again with the teamwork - this was the "artsy" team.
Drew and Joanna worked very hard on the vision for their pumpkin, and executed it with great skill. Go Team!
I heart my pumpkin.
Okay, I made mine happy and not scary. I wasn't feeling spooky, okay?
And here are the results:
from L to R: Am and Jenny's, mine, Jacob's, Drew and Joanna's.
Yay Halloween!
Sorry if I was mysterious about moving. I was trying to skimp on the details until I have all the details, and it's not a done deal yet, so I'm trying not to jinx things. But, it is the West Coast, and it is music related, and I really, really want to take a chance, but I'm so nervous and have lots of details to work out. I'm not going to say much more for a little while because someone (*coughcough* Jacob *coughcough*) would rather have the details worked out first. Ahem. So, ya'll send me lots of good decision making vibes, okay?
have a safe Halloween weekend!
October 25, 2004
New Entry
It's Monday. I haven't had any coffee yet.
First things first: Anne Marie has moved her blog! Change your bookmarks and go check her out: Anne Marie's New Site!
The play is over, finally, and I'm breathing a little easier since now I can have my nights back. It was fun to meet all the people, but I miss my knitting time and my Jacob time. And I need to clean the house, like right away, before some reality show comes in and deems it "the dirtiest house in Athens, GA." (Although, secretly I'm thinking, would they clean it if they came over?)
We had knitting night at Transmet last week, and we were joined by a reporter for a local magazine that is writing an article about knitting and its recent resurgence of popularity. (Said reporter is also a friend, but her identity will remain unknown for now.)
Anyways, she asked us lots of questions, and Jacob came and took pictures of us knitting. Wanna see a few?
most of us.
I look pretty mean in this picture. I'm not normally mean, I swear. The room we're in is a little sitting area at the bar that is perfect for knitting. It looks like someone's living room, complete with comfy leather couch and a fireplace. We're always a little bitter if we get there and someone else is sitting in there, because it's like SO our room.
Talking.
Here is me talking and flailing my hands around while Jenna and Leslie are focusing on their knitting. I'm wearing my partially finished top down raglan, which I actually wore out of the bar. We're thinking that maybe a half-finished sleeve with strings hanging out could be a new edgy fashion? (You know if Carrie on Sex and the City wore it, it would totally work.)
Jacob took a lot more, but the lighting in the bar wasn't great for pictures, so he says. I did want to share two more...
You like my kitty hat?
I've been making so many hats lately! A girl in my play saw me knitting one and said, "if I bring you some yarn, can you make me one?" Now, if I had a nickel for every time someone has said that...I'd have a lot of nickels. But Courtney actually brought me yarn the next day. It's a dark purple, just in case the color is off on your screen. And she looks damn cute in it.
And this has nothing to do with knitting, but just proves once again that my twin sister is totally awesome:
It's a Carrieoke belt!
She sent me this totally rockin' Carrieoke belt, courtesy of customglamgirl.com. How cool is that? Clearly, she's trying to butter me up before her wedding when she morphs into Bridezilla. (JUST KIDDING CATHY)
Um, in other news:
*Jacob was camping all weekend (by himself, which made me really nervous, because I did not want him to have to cut his arm off after getting trapped under a rock.) He survived and even took some nice pics of the mountains.
*I spent all weekend with the girls because my man was gone. That included karaoke with Anne Marie, JoAnna and my new friend Jenny, lunch and shopping on Saturday with Cat and Anne Marie, and sleep on Sunday. Fun times.
*I might be moving somewhere. More on that later. I can't even wrap my head around it right now, but let's just say it's a big opportunity for me, and I think I can't pass it up.
Okay. Now I need to figure out how I can sneak out of the office for some coffee without getting busted. Just kidding.....
October 18, 2004
Got Yarn?
so the play went well this weekend. Opening night had its...umm... problems, with some microphone feedback and missed lines, etc, but that's to be expected. We had good crowds all weekend, and people were very excited and appreciative about the play. I am v. tired though, especially since I had to do the show Friday, work at coffee shop Sat am, then do the play Sat night, then play piano at church on Sunday. me real sleepy.
on Friday, I also stayed up a little too late ...ahem....drinking red wine with Anne Marie and others, and playing old Nintendo. I SUCK at Duck Hunt. I really, really suck.
we also discovered a nail in my tire this weekend, which equals nice slow leeaaakk and flat tire this morning. yahoo. it felt so like a Monday yesterday, complete with flat tire, and spilling of coffee on signed documents. gah.
To remedy that Monday feeling, I played board games for HOURS with Anne Marie, Jacob, Drew and JoAnna. By the way, I do NOT suck at Boggle. I RULE AT BOGGLE. Not so much at Balderdash.
Oh, I knitted a lot during the play:
now for sleeves.
I have exactly one skein of the aqua left, so I'm hoping it lasts. It must.
And I gave my friend Allison a kitty hat that I've been promising her for awhile:
she make a good cat, don't you think?
This hat, along with one I made for myself, will be making their performance debuts this Thursday in Athens - Allison and her trapeze partner are going to wear them in a trapeze show! How freakin' cool is that? I hope to get pictures of the hats (and the girls) in action. Woot.
*MEAGER STASH REDUCTION ALERT*
In other news: I have 10 skeins of River Tape that I just received, and Rowan's It's a Tape Thing. Supposedly the River Tape gets gauge like Cotton Tape. Here's my offer:
if anyone wants to buy the 10 skeins of River Tape and the pattern book, I'm looking to sell it because my finances are a little strapped right now - as in, I can't afford to have glamourous yarn sitting around. So, leave me a comment if you're interested and I'll tell you how much I paid for it, etc., and see if we can work out a deal.
Someone's taken me up on it! But if you wanna see anyways, here's what it looks like: clicky click for yarn pic.Okay. I have had a royally awful day at work, and I'm ready to knit tonight. I'm gonna knit the crap out of something tonight.
October 12, 2004
Office Space
I'm working hard today. I promise.
See? I'm taking phone calls.
I have play rehearsal every night this week, which means that I leave work, go home, eat fast, go to rehearsal, get home at 11:00 pm or so, and go to bed. Yuck. This is the point in every play where I say: "Why am I doing this?" Of course it will all be okay when the show opens and I get to dance around and sing. La la la.
Luckily, I have a pretty small part in this play, so I have lots of backstage knitting time. Wanna see what I've been working on?
Purpley stripey goodness.
I love top down raglans. Have I mentioned that before? Here's a close up of the raglan part. I was originally looking at that yummy Phildar cardigan raye for the striping pattern, and then the sweater just took on a mind of its own. I'm using Lion Brand Microspun, acquired for $1 a skein at my local Hancock Fabrics (yay for clearance bins, and colors that no one apparently likes except for me and Mary Jessica.)
A knitting friend that I ran into today saw me working on this and suggested making a little longer and knitting some sort of belt/sash thing into it. I liked this idea...I may look into it. Hmm. Anyways, I love this sweater. Yay.
Oh, I did want to tell you about the play. It's a musical. It was written by a local woman. And it's the story of J. B. Murray, a seventy-year-old African American farm worker who believed that the Holy Spirit spoke to him and led him to paint. His son had him committed, thinking he was insane, but his paintings ended up being exhibited all over the world.
The story is pretty cool, and we're performing it in an art gallery where J.B.'s art is being displayed (with other Georgia folk artists). So, I'm hoping it's going to be a neat experience for the audience. We have three days left until opening and lots of work to do, so we'll see.
Rehearsal is making me tired and really sore, since I don't normally walk around in 2 inch heels. Send me lots of good energy vibes and break-a-leg vibes for opening night on Thursday...
Okay, I gotta go work now.
October 7, 2004
I Need a Dogloo
I feel kinda sick today. I think it might be allergies. Harumph.
So, to cheer me up, I present to you: Hallowig!
It's a cartoon Carrieoke!
Here's a view directly from the front, if you care. This wig is so easy to make. And it looks super cute. I may still use it for part of a Halloween costume, although I'm not sure what I would be with a bright orange acrylic knitted wig. Ideas?
And just because it's been too long, here is an absolutely adorable picture of my dog.
Please, no photographs -- I'm resting.
If you check out the top of Bella's little hut, you'll see its official name: Dogloo. Bella and Chili have a really big house in their really big pen; a doggy mansion, if you will ... Yet they still fight over the Dogloo. They LOVE the Dogloo. Chili has to fold her entire body in half to get IN the Dogloo, and she still wants to curl up in there sometimes over the luxurious doggy mansion. I know, I know -- dogs like small spaces and all that. I just think it's funny. My schmoos are funny.
So I've been doing a lot of gifty knitting lately, things that I promised to make a while ago and haven't been able to get to. For instance, a London Beanie for Jacob (okay, I have a picture, but Jacob was being REALLY silly in the picture, so you've been warned. here it is....)
I've also been working on a kitty cat hat for a friend of mine using Lion Brand Wool Ease (that's what I used for Mr. Suave's London Beanie as well) and you know what? I love Wool Ease. I know it's an acrylic blend, but it's soft and easy to knit with and hello, washable! I think I'm going to make a whole sweater out of some Wool Ease. Fiber snobs, my apologies.
My hands are freezing right now and I think I need some more coffee and some Kleenex. Harumph. What I wouldn't give right now to be sitting in front of a fireplace, knitting under an afghan with a big hot cup of tea....
October 4, 2004
weekend knitting
I had so much knitting time yesterday! It was absolutely blissful, especially since I spent much of Saturday cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry. Blech.
After much deliberation, I frogged the top-down-raglan of questionable color (see previous entry for picture). I just got tired of looking at the thing, and it wasn't making me happy to knit, and that yarn is soft and cuddly and destined to be something else. Not that sweater, though.
So, I decided to pick up another color of Kool Wool out of my stash and see what warm cuddly goodness I could make. Something quick and dirty, and gratifying, like, perhaps, this:
Meet the London Beanie, my new best friend.
I *love* the London Beanie. It's a quick and easy pattern, and it looks darn cute! I also knitted a matching skinny scarf -- here's the set -- and here's what I look like in it on Sunday when I'm relaxing.
So Jacob got a little jealous of my cute hat and requested one for himself. So I knit him one - yesterday! I sat outside in a camping chair with my friend Jenna, and I knit his hat. It's so quick. Jacob's hat is black with blue stripes -- picture soon. I must say, knitting happens so fast when you're drinking a beer in the sun and chatting with a friend...
In knitblog world news, Anne Marie has come back to her blog! If you've never read Anne Marie, you're missing out. Go read. (And I'm not biased, even if she is one of my closest friends.)
Hmm. What else to tell. I'm really busy with play rehearsal right now, and although I love being in plays, I'm longing for my nights to be free again, so I can knit and spend time with my Jacob and my schmoos. The play opens next Thursday..maybe I'll tell you more about that later.
Oh! I won something! Yay! And congrats to Larissa for embarking on such a neat art installation.
Needing a new project...a cute sweater...but MUST USE STASH YARN. I repeat: MUST USE STASH YARN. Over and out.