Thanksgiving was so much fun! Since I got enough of my family during Cat's wedding (just kidding family!), we spent the holiday with Jacob's family. I haven't seen Jacob's parents or his sister Alison for a pretty long time, so it was nice to catch up and chat.

We did many fun things, including:
*playing with Alison's two adorable schmoos, Yoda and Lucas. Here is Yoda. Here is Lucas. I *heart* these dogs. Alison is a make up artist and will be traveling a lot for her job, so I tried to convince Jacob that we needed to bring Lucas home with us. I REALLY tried. He was almost convinced, but not quite. I'm currently trying to convince Drew and JoAnna to adopt him....

*playing Trivial Pursuit with the whole fam. And guess who won? Me! Don't listen to Jacob or anyone else when they say I got the easy questions...I SO didn't. (That's what he gets for beating me in Scrabble....I'm so competitive now...)

*waking up at 3:45 AM to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving...wait...this one might qualify as "insane"... but yes, I really did wake up at 3:45, and we were at JCPenney's at 5:30, people. If you have never been one of the first 200 people in a department store the day after Thanksgiving, let me tell you : YOU GET A FREE SNOW GLOBE!! I did have lots of fun with Jacob's mom and aunts and sister, but I'm still not sure if the sales are worth getting up that early. During vacation. But hey, at least I did it once!

*Knitting on sock #2!

Almost finished!

Now that I understand socks, (as in, I understand about the heel flap and all that jazz, and I even think I could wing one without a pattern!) I think I want to make lots of them. Currently I'm looking for self striping yarny goodness that is on sale. Any suggestions?

*Celebrating Jacob's birthday yesterday! Woo-hoo! Here's us at a yummy Italian restaurant in Athens. That cute couple on the left is Jacob's parents.

Jazz hands!

This picture made me giggle because we look like we're posing for headshots with big old cheesy smiles. We had a nice dinner and drinks afterwards with Anne Marie, Joanna, Leslie, and Jacob's old friend Boyce. (Boyce was commenting on how weird it is to see Jacob on the internet when he looks at my blog, so HEY BOYCE, YOU'RE ON THE INTERNET TOO! He's in the Coast Guard ... I hope they don't care.)

So, it was a fabulous holiday extravaganza. And now I need a nap.

In other news, I have a plane ticket and I am San Francisco bound in December!! I'll be staying for a week and a half to attend to some pressing matters and do some research. (doesn't that sound official?) I plan to bring LOTS of knitting so I can finish up Christmas gifts and keep my hands busy on the horrible flight over. I HATE FLYING.

Posted by Carrieoke at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

Hi again! So I have a few more pictures to show you from the day of the wedding. I didn't take any ceremony pictures because I was IN the wedding, and we couldn't use flash in the church, so no Jacob-tastic ceremony pictures either. But I have tons and tons of us getting ready and the reception ... oh yeah.

Somebody's getting married....today!
(P.S. to Cat-that song is from The Muppets Take Manhattan! I knew it was real!)

This is us on the way to the salon to get our hair done. Aren't we fabby? I have before and after shots of each one of us, but I won't bore you with those. Just know that Dree and Co Salon in Athens was totally awesome, and we had two marvelous stylists to do all of our hair. I seriously did not think they could get my short, layered hair into an up do, and they SO did. Go Team!

Cathy and Vicky hanging out at Dree and Co

Wanna see more? Extended entry, bay-bee....

So the salon was so much fun. We did hair, we ate lunch there, and I even cut my toenails and gave myself a mani/pedi. (Look, the salon was booked, and I'm cheap.) (oh, and the name of my nail polish : "Mauving to Manitoba" ... love that!) Here's the only knitting photo you get for the entire wedding....
After the beauty session, we went straight to the church to start getting ready. ACCK!

We sat around for a while, just relaxing, and marveling over how calm Cat was. I definitely think I was jumpier than her right up to the start of the wedding.

Here's me fixing Cat's manicure she's wearing her undergarments but not the actual dress yet.
Here's Cathy in her beautiful dress and veil -- hello, is she a princess or what? SO pretty.
Here we are - the sisters in our fancy get up! Don't we clean up good?
Bridesmaids! Larken, me, Victoria, Michelle, Anne. What fun girls!

Right before we go in!


I love that picture because she looks so real -- like, so beautiful, but her face is like, umm, oh my god I'm getting MARRIED....The ceremony was absolutely breathtaking. Everything went smoothly, I cried a sea of tears, as did my sister Michelle and the bride herself. My dad walked her down the aisle, and I totally lost my shit when they came down...it was so sweet and beautiful. I stood up on the altar to give her the ring, and I had such a great view of Wes' face...his expressions were so sweet and loving, I wanted to give him a big old hug! I sang Jesu, and it went well, and I didn't bawl in the middle of it. YAY.

Reception Time!

Dude, if you live in the South and need a freakin' wedding band, you seriously need to call The Laigh Langley Band...they ROCK. They played so much fun stuff! All danceable, and great. Wes' family LOVES beach music, and Cathy has grown to love it through them, so there were lots of beach songs played. They danced to Earth Angel ... awwww.

And the food! oh. the food. And the flowers! But let me just show you some pics:

Cathy and Dad.

Mr. R dances with Mrs. R
Four giggly girls -- me, Anna, Erica and Anne Marie.
Carrieoke gives a toast while the totally adorable best man watches (Wes' brother, Will.)
Cathy and Wes toast back! (and Cathy, your arms look FIERCE. Yes, I said fierce. Look at those biceps!)
Cutting the cake(Wes got some icing on his tux. Aren't they cute?)

Again, I have a million I could post. But can you see from these how gorgeous it was? They were just adorable. It was definitely the busiest wedding I've ever attended, too -- I felt like I had a lot of responsibility to talk to family, and say hi to everyone, and so for a lot of the reception I was RUNNING around. But after I made my toast (phew!), I felt like I could kick back. and we DANCED so much....Cathy and I did the shag, and I did the twist with some of my little cousins, and just goofed around.

I am glad it's over, but all the hard work and time and effort that my whole family put into this wedding was SO worth it, because it was just amazing. And Jacob - oh, the rock star that he is. He totally was on call all the time, so helpful, and just generally awesome to have around. Yay for cute talented photographers who are also your boyfriend. (Although, I look like a weird plastic bridesmaid doll or a spaz in just about every picture....sometimes it doesn't matter how good the camera man is.)

Okay, I promise I will be back to the knitting blog next time. I just had to get all these posted up ... for you, of course, but for me, too, so I can have an easy place to come look at wedding pics and giggle about how fun the wedding was. *giggle*

Posted by Carrieoke at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

I can't believe it: my twin sister is now Cathy R. Hooray!

First dance as husband and wife...
(Photo by Jacob, hottie boyfriend and wedding assistant)

Click on the extended entry to read all about it....
(warning: this entry will be long, full of photos, and I'll probably be sappy sometimes. It will also contain minimal knitting content, and maybe a picture of my dog. Just kidding about the dog picture. But -- Enter at your own risk!!)

I've been running around like a crazy person non-stop for five days now, and work almost seems like a breath of fresh air because I can SIT and do things. (I'm sure that won't last.) But I can honestly say that Wes and Cat's wedding was the prettiest I've ever attended (the ceremony FLEW by -- although other people in the crowd swore that it was 30 minutes long. I have my doubts.)

Friday's festivities included a jewelry making party for Cat and all the bridesmaids. We went to Margo Sterling Silver in downtown Athens to learn how to make the stuff and pick out beads. It was so great -- our class was taught by the fabulous Ellie -- and I highly recommend this place if you want some fun beads or want to plan a jewelry class for fun times. And if you live in Athens.

Click to enlarge!

So fun. And our jewelry turned out great - we each made a pair of earrings to match our necklaces, and everyone's necklace totally suited their personality. Here's a closeup of my necklace - it's a combo of Swarovski crystals, pearls, and some other beads: click to see!

So - next on the agenda - rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I was especially nervous about the dinner part, because I played a big part in choosing the restaurant and helping my mom get things squared away. But we had to get through the actual rehearsal first:

Cathy and Dad practice coming down the aisle
Practicing husband and wife
Practicing my song with groomsmen watching(and during the actual ceremony? yep, totally knocked that sash off the podium...)
My mom and stepdad Mike

Anne, Vicky, Larken - the bridesmaids
Matron of Honor Michelle, Bride Cathy, Maid of Honor Carrieoke - the sisters!

Clearly I could go on and on with the pictures. The rehearsal went smoothly, and my dad walked up and down the aisle like fifty bazillion times, in order to ensure proper aisle walking on the day of the wedding. (He walks with a quad cane, so he was a little nervous, but he so did it like a rock star. Go Dad!)

On to the Hilltop Grille for rehearsal dinner fun ... and it was fabulous! Our servers were so nice and gracious and totally on top of things. We had a little room all to ourselves in the corner of the restuarant, and it even had double doors that we could shut to give us more privacy. Beautiful.

Me and Jacob at the dinner
Michelle and Dave relaxing
Bridesmaid Anne gives a toast
Cathy and Wes give a toast

and so on. The rehearsal dinner went off without a hitch, miraculously, with table arrangements, and seating charts and appetizers, oh my. Hooray!

I must stop blogging now and go sleep (yes, it's 5:00 pm). I'll definitely share more pictures and details later this week...this is a good way for me to remember how wonderful it all was!! Thanks for all the well wishes for Cat and Wes and happy thoughts. It was such a great time, and I've definitely decided now that I want to elope. Hee hee.

Posted by Carrieoke at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)

hey ya'll! I'm sneaking in a blog entry in between gift baskets and phone calls and waxing appointments and hanging out with my dad. It has been a really busy past couple of days and now it's time for the actual event. ACK! ACK! I've never been this involved with a wedding before, so sorry if I seem insane. That's because I FEEL INSANE. But in a good, happy way. Gah!

But what calms insanity better than knitting? I came home on Tuesday with a nervous stomach and I immediately sat down to knit. I wasn't in the mood for size 1 dpns, so I started a mittenette, using this great pattern from Midnight Knitter (thanks Missa!). I knitted non stop for like three hours...and voila! A mittenette! (shown here with matching hat that I knitted earlier this week)

Mittenettes are pretty.

I love this pattern. It was just what I needed, a quick knit fix -- and something I can actually use. Yay.

And here's sock number one:

Random striping provided by Regia.

I'm pretty happy with it. Sock number two was going along swimmingly, and I was about to start the heel flap, when realized that I had cast on 54 stitches instead of 64. !!! D'oh! I resisted the temptation to knit it up anyways with less stitches and ripped it out. If they were for me, I totally would have fudged it, but they're for a sock swap and I don't want my recipient to be sad because they got gimpy Carrieoke socks.

So, I'm working on Sock #2 and Mittenette #2 today. Oh, and the wedding. We're off to make jewelry for the bridesmaids this morning (that's Cathy's gift to us, we're taking a jewelry making class and making necklaces and earrings to wear at the wedding! How fun is that!) and then rehearsal tonight, and then wedding tomorrow! Acck! Send lots of positive vibes our way so everything goes smoothly. And I'm gonna take a TON of pictures.

I know I've said it a million times, but I can't believe my twin sister is getting married! I know it's going to be beautiful, and that she and Wes are going to be super happy together. Yay Mrs. R. Yay my totally awesome twin sister.

See you next week!!

Posted by Carrieoke at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)

My twin sister is getting married on Saturday. OH MY GAWD. That is so cool and freaky at the same time. I'm working Monday and Tuesday, and then I have Wednesday - Fri off to be Best Twin Sister Ever and Maid of Honor Extraordinaire. Here's hoping I can stand up to the challenge.

Cat's actually quite calm (at least, last time I checked). I know it's going to be beautiful! Ya'll!! Cathy's getting married!! ACCK! I'm not calm!

My household is in super cleaning mode in preparation for this man's arrival:

It's Carrieoke's dad!

Doesn't he look nice? He IS nice! He's staying with us from Wed - Sunday, so we are preparing the guest room and cleaning things that we don't normally clean, like the bathroom. JUST KIDDING, we ALWAYS clean the bathroom. (*giggle*)

In addition to wedding planning and cleaning, I also knitted a LOT this weekend. I finished a sock (YAY!) and now I'm terrified that it won't fit its recipient, but I'm crossing my fingers. And I'm going to block it. And hey, I cast on for Sock #2 and I'm about 3 inches into the leg part. Yahoo! It's moving fast now. Okay, I totally *heart* size 1 dpns. I'm not lying. (Shh...don't tell my Denise Interchangeables. They might get jealous.)

I also finished a lovely, loopy neck warmer using the crazy Phildar shag rug yarn (Anne Marie had the great idea to stop it right when it fit around my neck, add a big old button, and make it a neck warmer. It's SO cute and WARM! ) I actually wore it to work today while scraping ice off my windshield. Ugh. Cold.

Pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow.

In other weekend news, which of the following do you think actually happened this weekend?

a. Carrieoke sang "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips at karaoke
b. Anne Marie sang "Big Ten Inch" while a bunch of high schoolers gawked
c. Jacob held up a 24 oz Coors Light and yelled "Go Dawgs!"
d. All of the Above

tee hee.

Posted by Carrieoke at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

I realized last night that I never posted a picture of my finished stripey top down raglan...
(edited to add: Pattern found here on the fabulous Stef's site.) It has been finished for a while, and worn, and I love it!! Unfortunately my photographer was asleep on the couch last night when I realized this, so here's what I managed to get:

I love my stripey sweater!

As you can see, the collar is sort of a boat neck, and it fits me snugly, which I like. The sweater hits right about at my waist. And yes, if you look in the background, Jacob hung a sign above our toilet that says "Wear Your PFD (personal floatation device)". That's one of the reasons I think he's so cute! Here's another strange self-taken picture: click for stripey! Yay! I'll probably put a fabulous Jacob photo shoot version of these pictures in my finished gallery, but for now, this will do.

And, in new yarn news, I received this yumminess from a rabbit I know :

Yummy loops!
Click to see the loopiness close up.

I cannot wait to use this yarn...I'm envisioning a lovely, loopy scarf. Oh boy! Thank you thank you Miss Skinny Rabbit!

And, my mom got me this during a wedding gift basket trip to Michael's .... may I present Matrix?

Matrix is glad to meet you.

This yarn is becoming a long lacy scarf very soon.....
here's what it looks like in progress. (My mom was sweet enough to get me this purply color and also an orangey color, but only if I made something for her!! Thanks Mom.) This type of ladder yarn is hard to work with, but I like the way it looks. I think it will be a very dressy scarf.

And finally: sock pictures! I am SOOOO close to finishing Sock #1 (and I'm planning to follow Jenny's advice and cast on for Sock #2 RIGHT AWAY...). I need someone with a bigger foot than mine to help me check my sizing, but I think it's gonna be great! Wanna see some pics?

Click each picture to make it bigger!

Sorry for the weird angles, but I was trying to use my macro lenses and the manual mode on my camera. (This is another reason that I think Jacob is cute: he was asleep on the couch and I could NOT get the lighting right on the closeups...it kept coming out way too bright. After fiddling with the manual functions for a while, I asked the sleeping man: "What f-stop should I use when I'm taking a close up picture of a sock under bright light?" And he answered, sleepily... "mmmfbhlbdn....8 or 11......" And I changed it, and it worked! He's a schmoo.)

Oh, so there's my sock. I think I'm starting to like size 1s...as Lara pointed out, the stitches are sooo tiny and cute! Dear Whoever Gets My Socks in the Sock Swap: I hope you like blue.

Okay, that's a lot of rambling for today. I just got so EXCITED about all the knitting stuff that was laying around last night, I had to snap some pics. Before Jacob fell asleep, I was working on my sock and stopping after every row and caressing it and trying it on and smiling and laughing to myself...so Jacob sees me going through this little ritual and he came over and smiled and said, "Aww, schmoo..you love knitting so much, don't you?" Yep. I'm a dork.

WEDDING COUNTDOWN: 10 DAYS TO MRS. R.

Posted by Carrieoke at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)

I have an appointment on Tuesday with an oral surgeon to check out my TMJ. Ick. I hope he tells me that increasing my knitting time will improve my problem, and that I need to start knitting at work.

Har.

This weekend? I made a hat. I've been making a LOT of those lately. I was knitting on a London Beanie and bound off before realizing that it was way too short. so, I unraveled the cast on edge, put it back on the needles, and knit down using ribbing and a different color. Here's the result:

who's that saucy chick?

It's Anne Marie, of course. Anne Marie and I spent a lot of quality time together this weekend, partially by choice and partially because I locked my keys in my car and we were stuck at Target for like an hour and a half. After a while we got a little punchy and started taking pictures of each other in our new shoes.

Oh! I made this too:

It's lacy and thick. Comfy!

I used a little butterfly lace stitch. I've been knitting a lot of wintry accessories in hopes of a booth at some holiday-bazaar-crafty-market or something in Athens this holiday season. If that doesn't happen....christmas presents, maybe?

Oh, I also started a sock this weekend! I've attempted a sock before, seen here
in this entry, but this sock is different because I used.... (drumroll, please)....size 1 dpns. Wowsa. Did you know that size 1 dpns are REALLY REALLY REALLY TINY and feel like you are holding toothpicks? I do, now. And did you know that it is really easy to drop size 1 dpns in your couch, and never hear from them again? And also, sock yarn looks neat, but it's just so tiny.

This is how I feel when it takes me five hours to knit an inch. Ha.

I realize that there are many of you snickering behind your hands, saying, "What a beginner! I use size 0000000s and lace yarn for my socks." And to you I say: congrats! that is awesome. I will probably never do that. But dammit, I'm going to finish a pair of socks with these size ones, and they will be lovely. I think my hands are already more accustomed to the tininess, so maybe by the end of the week I'll be racing through the sock.

I'll show you pics soon. They are actually for a sock swap that I'm doing, and the recipient may or may not stop by this here blog occasionally. So I'll try not to talk too much about the ripping and re-ripping and more ripping.

Oh, and about the embroidery! It's SO easy, seriously. I knew nothing about it at all, just got the supplies, read the directions and went to it. I think the Sublime Stitching patterns are well worth a look if you want to give it a try.

In other news, my twin sister's wedding is less than two weeks away. OH MY GOD. I can't believe it! I will be in Super-Maid-Of-Honor mode very soon, cleaning up messes and protecting the Bride from any disasters. Go Team!

Posted by Carrieoke at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

Grr. The election SO did not turn out how I wanted. Nationally... um, yeah. In Georgia, not only did we elect two Republican senators, but we overwhelmingly passed the gay marriage amendment.

I'm so pissed that 11 states passed amendments against gay marriage. I think this is gross and awful, and I'm so upset. I can't even construct a coherent thought about it. I play the piano at a GLBT church in Athens, and I've met so many wonderful parents and their freakin' awesome kids who could be affected by this discrimination. Their partnerships, and families, don't affect my relationships / potential marriage in ANY WAY. Gay marriage is NOT a political issue. ARGH. So, I'm angry and I'm so sad to see my friends' lives be affected like this.

But. I've decided to make a list of 10 things that make me happy today, so I will remember that the current administration doesn't have to bring me down.

A la Em, I present :

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

1. My boyfriend in a mullet wig and a bright orange tank top that says "I Rock It Old School." (see previous entry.)

2. When my dog Bella drags her tummy across the carpet, ALL THE WAY AROUND THE COFFEE TABLE.

3. When Anne Marie calls her dog Petey "Pitter Patter Stimmer Stammer" or some other equally hilarious name.

4. When Cathy and I have an instant message conversation that consists only of ridiculous emoticons, like the pizza symbol, and I know she's giggling in her classroom while I'm giggling in my office.

5. Embroidery using fabby Sublime StitchingPatterns.

You better walk your schmoo!

6. Tiny Pinocchio. (link via the hilarious Lala.)

7. My knitting cabinet, installed by Jacob the Handyman.

Click here to see the open cabinet.

8. Coffee.

9. Ordering office supplies and having them delivered the next day. I have just recently discovered "sign here" tabs. I love them.

10. The Decemberists. (thanks, Jess and Casey!)

Yay, that so doesn't even cover so many things! I'm already cheered up. And I'm about to go have lunch and knitting time with AM, which will cheer me up even more.

It's going to be okay. This too shall pass. And all that inspirational crap. I hope everyone has a better day today.

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

Oh my goodness, what a freakin' weekend. I need a vacation to rest up from this weekend. But before I tell you all about that, I have lovely crafty things to share with you! (This is called Carrieoke's Knitting Blog, ya know, although lately it's been Carrieoke's Blog About Everything That She Does Every Day Besides Knitting.)

May I present my first attempt at embroidering?

Look at me, I embroidered!
Click for (slightly blurry) close up.

Umm, I think I might have a new obsession. This is FUN. And when you can get the coolest patterns from a place like Sublime Stitching, how can you resist? And Jacob has some iron-on transfer paper, so I might just have to embroider "SCHMOO" on something. Like, all my clothes. Just kidding.

I also just finished an adorable red and black baby hat for a co-worker's new baby, but of course I accidentally deleted the picture. He's supposed to send me a pic of the little one in the hat, which will be much cuter anyways than my pic with a bottle of soda wearing the hat. I've been knitting a lot of hats lately, and I'm moving onto scarves, in preparation for a possible holiday craft bazaar. Some of us girls are thinking about getting a booth and selling some knitted stuff! Yahoo!

Okay. So this weekend was Halloween, and also my twin sister's bachelorette party. Yikes. Friday night was the bachelorette extravaganza, and most of the pictures are not suitable for this blog... (don't worry, they aren't that bad..) but I'll share this one.

We are laffing so hard.

I know Cat's looking away but I had to show this one because we just look so happy...we're laughing really, really hard. Aww. We had so much fun, although in my attempt to make sure that Cat didn't get sick or feel bad, I sorta got sick myself. *blush* Let's just say I took one for the team, shall we? Okay. Anyways, it was a great night, with Cathy being a REALLY good sport about all the ridiculous things we made her do. I might share more pics later on.

Halloween festivities were Saturday, and although I wasn't really feeling fabulous due to Friday night, we still dressed up and went out. Here's me and Jacob, or, a black widow spider and a ridiculous man with a mullet and a boombox:

Rock It Old School.

Wanna see more? Go to the extended entry!

Click on links to see pics....

Me, Anne Marie and Jenny. Anne Marie was a drunk, pregnant unicorn, and Jenny was an angel.

Spider with legs.This is not the most flattering picture I've ever taken, but I wanted you to see all my spider legs. Tee hee.

JoAnna and Drew. They literally were sewing their costumes at 11:30 on Halloween night. They were superheroes (with an equal sign and a not equal sign) and they looked AWESOME.

Jamie.Jamie was...umm. Hmm. Jamie was something bizarre. He looked like he ran through a construction site and random objects stuck to him, like tubing, an orange vest, caution tape...I'm not really sure what he was going for. But damn, he had fun.

Jamie, Jacob, Drew.This is a ridiculous man with a mullet, a ridiculous man in an orange vest, and a superhero dancing to Jacob's boombox. I think he was playing Hall and Oates.

Two evil people.This is my friend David and his lovely girlfriend, or, an evil fairy and the Angel of Death. Spoookkyyy...

YAY! I didn't stay out too late because I was still recovering, but the rest of the gang got home really, really, really late. Fun times were had by all. So, I'm going to go eat lunch now and I promise this week I will show you all the knitted stuff I've been working on. Just as soon as I take pictures. and a nap.

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)