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October 31, 2005
Mini-Post
Happy Halloween!
We went out on Saturday for a short but sweet time - you should visit Anne Marie for the extended version (someone stayed out just a *little* bit later than we did. Har.) But here are some pictures:
It's the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and his friend, Eve.
The Pants thought it was very entertaining to declare things good or evil throughout the night. (Example: "I declare this parking space to be GOOD.")
Eve and a fancy lady being attacked by a spider.
There were lots of good costumes out there, although a lot of folks were not in costume, which makes me think that they are purists who were waiting for the REAL Halloween - tonight. This is good for me because my band is playing a show tonight, and we want the crowd to be costumed and ready to shake their pants.
The show is the annual Boo-butante Halloween Party which means a drag show and a costume contest in addition to the bands. I don't think we will go on until after midnight and I am a tired, tired schmoo. But, I will be heading to bed for a disco nap very shortly, and then it's caffeine and Taco Stand for energy. I will bring the boom. I must.
On the knitting front, here are some socks I've been knitting. Jaywalker pattern, Lorna's Laces. I HEART this pattern.
soft, pretty socks.
Okay. Time to nap. There will be more Halloween pictures and stories this week, I'm sure.
[edited to add: if you don't mind, will you click on my Google ads today? sorry for the shameless begging but I'm close to actually getting paid from the ads, and Jacob won't get a birthday present otherwise. JUST KIDDING. ha.]
October 24, 2005
Getting Better All the Time
I ran 7.5 miles this weekend. I didn't go up to 8 because I hadn't run in a week and I didn't want to risk my legs. It was a good decision. I felt great after the run, and I'm getting stronger - I'm running faster than I was before, and without really trying. Perhaps it's also because I haven't had a cigarette in a LONG TIME. YAY ME.
While running, I also tested out some new running attire:
Click to see the back
(and the back of my sister's!)
Ignore my running hair, please.
My sister surprised me with this top last time I saw her. She and High Energy Jenny have been in cahoots, planning to surprise me with this totally kick-ass running gear. And as you can see, I'm not the only Team Schmoo member with a shirt -- oh no. We've got Coach and High Energy too! How freakin' cool is that! Thanks to both of you for being my supportive team members!!
And besides being stylish, it was actually totally comfortable to run in. SWEET. And I can't wait to sport it at the Half Marathon. It's actually starting to cool off here, FINALLY, so I'm already thinking about what to wear for the race. Long pants. Long sleeves. Fabby jersey on top.
In other news, my spinning has not improved. I think it may have gotten worse. But that's okay -- in order to complete my fabulous artyarn scarfy masterpiece, I must prolong the crappy spinning technique. After I spin yards and yards of thick and thin poo yarn, I will knit an artscarfmasterpiece. and THEN I will actually get someone to show me how to use the damn drop spindle.
ArtScarf, version 1.0.
Well, I'd wear it.
I also tried something else new this week -- a short row heel for my sock. Turns out I'm not so great at the short row heel. My first attempt was way too wide. I pulled that out, and tried again, this time with greater success, but then I put the sock down in the middle of the short-rowing, lost my place, and created extremely large holes on each side. D'oh. I didn't turn back this time - these socks are probably for me anyways, so I'm not so worried about the holes. I can sew the damn things up. Wanna see?
Click for heel close-up.
I also cast on for a sweater out of Vintage Knits -- how about some cashmere yarn on size 3 needles? Woot.
Tiny and soft.
I don't know how long I will last, knitting a sweater at this insane sock yarn gauge, but the yarn is baby cashmere and its softness is delicious. SO, I'm going to try and make it through.
I'm off to knit on the yummy softness right now.
October 18, 2005
Rhine. Beck.
So. Sleepy. and So. Happy.
I'll start from the beginning. Anne Marie and I left Athens at 9:00, bright and early, to catch our 12:50 plane. We kept exclaiming about how great our timing was, right up until it was 12:30 and we looked at the departures screen to check our flight. DELAYED THREE HOURS. Gah!
Luckily, crossword puzzles and Clapotis kept us busy until the plane left. Our little Airtran plane had free XM satellite radio (how cool!) so Anne Marie and I had a dance party at our seats, complete with cans of beer and dancing. Cramped dancing. Our seatmate LOVED us. Hee.
Off the plane, onto the train! Here's Anne Marie knitting on the train:
This was the first of many, many dishcloths.
The train turned out to be super fun, although we didn't know we could bring beers until after we left the station. Information for next time, clearly. We also met some friendly New Yorkers who wanted to know all about the knitting...they laughed when we said that we'd come up from Georgia for a Sheep and Wool Festival. (And actually, AM and I got that a lot this weekend...you came from WHERE? for THIS? Even from the knitters! It made me giggle.)
Finally the train arrived at Poughkeepsie! yayayayay! And who was there to meet us at the train station? Frecklegirl and Casey!
Eating dinner at last.
They are seriously the cutest things ever. I could NOT go to sleep that night... it felt like Christmas Eve. The next morning there was a trip to IHOP and the Big Lug met us there! Jen is hilarious and just as pretty in person as in her pictures. And also she has a really good costume for Halloween.
On to the Festival! We walked into the fairgrounds, and seriously, a big ray of sunshine came through the clouds and shone upon us. And there was much rejoicing. Dude. It was biblical.
You need to know that this bear is the softest alpaca I have ever touched.
I wuv you, teddy bear.
And this yumminess called to me. But I resisted -- I already had some sweater yarn in my bag:
Yarny. Goodness.
The bloggers were EVERYWHERE. (And you will know them by their Clapotis(es)(ii?).) It was fun to run into people and accost them while walking through the festival (hi Alison! hi Kim!)
I got to meet the Divine Miss Em, who is vivacious and funny and stylish and fabulous. But then, I knew that from her blog:
I love this woman.
I was so distracted by the yarny wonders and the pretty people that I did the following: 1. Left my credit card at the Morehouse Farms booth, AFTER the woman working the booth caught me rubbing a shawl kit on my face. I'm sure she thought I was insane. 2. Left my bag of yarn purchases SITTING ON THE TABLE where we were eating lunch. Just left it sitting there. HELLO. What is wrong with me? It took me a minute to realize that it was gone, and then I freaked out and almost started crying. Luckily the lovely ladies I ate with checked the bag and found my receipt and grabbed it for me. THANK YOU. After that, I tied all my bags of yarn to my pants. Because I'm classy like that.
Highlights of the rest of the weekend included:
1. Knitting in the room with the girls.
Knitting and beer DO mix.
2. Finishing my Clapotis, even though there was doubt that I could accomplish it with the TEENY TINY ball of yarn I was working through. Here's Jen worrying for me:
But it's so tiny!
3. Actually getting to wear my Clapotis because it was freakin' windy and cold on Sunday.
That's Frecklegirl's coat. But my Clappy.
4. Seeing the schmoos in the 4-H barns.
Hello, adorable alpaca schmoo.
4. And, of course, fun times with Anne Marie.
Edited to add: You can see the rest of my pictures here. Of course there was drinking of beer, taking of jacuzzis, and purchasing of Gas-X. (And let me tell you, I got a little ridiculed for that, but EVERYONE in our room took one at least once this weekend. Gas-X rules. I just took one.)
And finally, my guilty confession of the weekend: I bought a drop spindle. And I've been spinning. Just a little.
I suck at it. But I kinda like it.
Hope everyone had a great weekend! It's good to be home.
October 13, 2005
Long Weekend
So I'm taking off Friday and Monday so I can go to a certain Sheep and Wool Festival up in NY. My non-knitting friends have taken to calling this festival many different names, such as "The Fish and Chips Festival" or "Visiting Chip and Will". Har. It's kind of hard to explain to the non-knitters why going to something called a sheep and wool festival is really, really fun, but I've tried. You've got yer alpacas -- they are DAMN cute. And also the yarn -- there's SO MUCH OF IT IN ONE PLACE. And so many colorways and fibers. And then there's all the knitbloggers that might be there ... but try explaining knitblog friends to a non-blogger. They immediately envision some sort of Dungeons and Dragons-type convention where extremely weird people get together and dance around yarn. (Hmmm -- that might not be too far off.)
But who cares what the non-knitters think? RHINE. BECK.
Since I promised I would post one, here's a picture of the socks I finished for The Pants:
One pair down.
I promise they are very similar, although that picture makes them look kinda different. I still need to block them because Jacob has the BIGGEST FEET ever and the toes are still a little tight. Remind me not to promise him socks on any kind of deadline any time soon. (P.S. Dear Jacob: in order to fund my Rhinebeck trip, these socks are your early (and only) birthday present. Love, Schmoo. ) (Just kidding.)
Like I mentioned before, I started on a bulky mini-cardi right after I finished the socks, didn't do a gauge swatch, and lived to regret it. Oops. I was a little distracted watching The Life Aquatic (which I hated SO. MUCH. ) and I seamed up a whole sleeve before realizing that the thing was way too small. So, I'll probably find some other stash yarn and start one for the trip.
I really stink at packing for weekend trips - I always overpack, but then have nothing to wear. I don't want to run into the same issue with the knitting, so I think I'm going to bring Clapotis, which is v. close to being done, a pair of socks that I haven't started yet, and said bulky mini-cardi that I haven't started yet. I have some starting to do tonight. And packing. And also I need to spend time with the schmoos. ACCCCKKKKKK.
Ahem.
To avert my attention from the travel anxiety (which is actually all based upon my fear of flying), I will post this picture of my brown hair. I've been meaning to for a while and I just keep forgetting.
(Dear Internets, I'm a brunette now. Love, Carrie.)
We were going for dark chocolate brown and it turned out as more of a caramel brown, but I'm going to hang with this color for a while and go darker in a few weeks. Just in case you were wondering about my hair color plans. On that note, I'll sign off... I'll probably see some of you this weekend...let's hope the rain slows down. At least long enough to buy some yarn.
October 10, 2005
Cutaway
It's done! And I have the pictures to prove it. And my outfit in these pictures is actually what I wore to work today:
It's a perfect fit!
I decided to leave the sleeves with a little roll at the end, like some of you suggested, and I really like the way it looks. And the bell sleeves turned out just the way I pictured them!
I've got my hands on my hips. I'm sassy like that.
Here's a view that really shows the bell of the sleeve:
I'm admiring my work.
I am super proud of this sweater. I made changes in the pattern to suit my style, but I was also able to really knit it to my size and shape. Bonne Marie's patterns are extremely well-written - the sleeve cap could NOT have come out more perfectly. And I was a little worried about sewing them together. I'm going to wear this sucker out! Hooray for new sweaters! And just in time for Rhinebeck!
I finished Jacob's socks, too, but the toes are just a *tiny* bit too tight. I'm hoping a good blocking will fix that issue. They look good, though. I was so happy when I finished them last night that I instantly cast on for a quick knit project that I think I'll wear a lot: Glampyre Stef's Bulky Knit Mini Cardigan. I'm almost done with the body and I started it last night! I love me some instant gratification.
And, I ran seven miles on Sunday. !!!
It actually felt great. If you are interested in what my runs are like, click on the extended entry below....
[For the uninterested, that's all I've got right now. I'm looking forward to an evening of knitting and hanging out with Jacob, and this weekend is RHINEBECK! So. Excited.]
For those who are curious, my runs are like this: I get my mp3 player and a bottle of water (I carry it in this belt thingy that HEJ lent me). I start out super slow -- walking at first, then running very slowly. Once I feel warmed up, I start my intervals. I run for three minutes, walk for one minute throughout my whole run. My fabulous interval timer on my watch - this is the watch I use - beeps at me when it's time to switch from walking to running, and I LIVE for those beeps. This week, my first three miles were REALLY rough and I thought about cutting the run short. My shins were super sore because I didn't ice after I ran on Friday ... But once I passed three miles, I felt better and my shins stopped hurting, so I pressed on, and I'm so glad I did.
Since my run was pretty long this week, I also brought pretzels with me, and I started eating them during my walk breaks after about 4 miles. The difference in my energy level was CRAZY - I felt like I could've kept going after 7 miles! Seriously, if you are struggling to get past 3 or 4 miles, you should try the walk breaks - it makes a huge difference. I really feel like I can complete the half marathon now - even a whole marathon one day! And I was totally discouraged before.
Yay. Okay, now I'm sounding like a peppy running coach. GO TEAM SCHMOO.
October 5, 2005
Run. Knit. Repeat.
[Argh. I hate it when I write a long entry and then I accidentally close my browser window. GAH.]
Here's a recaplet (That word makes me giggle) of the first part:
I ran SIX MILES on Monday. YAY ME. Shin splints still there, but getting better. New interval watch beeps when it's time to walk break. Fun times. I can DO it. GO TEAM SCHMOO.
I finished Cutaway. I don't have modeling pics yet, but I do have blocking pics. I will show them to you now:
Isn't she lovely?
I'm really, really excited about this sweater. I'm searching for the perfect button and I'll model it for you soon. And also wear it to work soon, even if it's not cold. So there.
Since I finished the Cutaway, I've picked up another project that has been on the needles for a while. I need to finish because I love Jacob and he wants his socks, but also because I really need these DPNs for another project. Here they are:
I'm *THIS* close to finishing.
Modeled by the loverly MJ.
Before you say it, I know that the finished one looks a little wider. I'm going to assume that the finished one stretched since it was completed months ago. Yep, that's what I'm going with.
Once I finish those, I have a pair to make for a lovely recipient who shall remain nameless. And luckily, I went through a crazy-sock-yarn-buying frenzy pretty recently, so I have some lovely sock yarn to choose from. I also have some absolutely gorgeous Kidsilk Spray (it's Kidsilk Haze, but it's variegated...wait until you see how freakin' awesome this yarn is) from a schmoo I know and I'm trying to decide what to knit with it. Oh, the choices. As much as I loved knitting Cutaway, it's fun to get big things finished and move on to the next project. (Notice I'm totally avoiding the fact that I haven't finished my Clappy yet. Ooh, ooh, and I still have a Kiri shawl on the needles. I'll get to it! Soon.)
But for now, I must finish the socks for the Pants.