So, I brought my lunch to work today, and I just ate it, and I just settled at my desk for a lovely 45 minutes of knitting - which would TOTALLY allow me to finish my Anemoi mitten. So I get my chart set up (using my new Knitpicks chart keeper! woo-hoo)

And I got out my little notions bag, and I'm all ready to finish my mitten, except that I LEFT THE KNITTING AT HOME. I brought EVERYTHING but the knitting. Lame.

Sad schmoo.

Oh well. It was meant to be finished tonight during my online class, clearly.

I finished knitting the body of my Forecast, and it's another sad story : I don't have enough yarn. I think I secretly knew it, but I almost ALWAYS use less yarn than a pattern calls for, so I thought just maybe...nope. Not happening. Yardage is yardage is yardage, people. The knitting gods can't magically produce enough yarn to finish up the body, knit two sleeves and do a buttonband (although *sometimes* they might produce enough to finish a sock.) Here's a shot just before I realized it would be a no-go:

So Cute. And So Not Happening With This Yarn.

The only thing to do is unravel it, because it's beautiful cashmere yarn and I'll never get a whole Forecast out of it. Sigh. So, now I must find yarn for Forecast, because after being so close to finishing, I KNOW I want this sweater. I'm thinking about taking a little trip to knitpicks this afternoon...

I've recently been thinking about taking stock of my projects: the unfinished, the to-be-started, and the patterns-I-want-to-do-but-have-no-yarn-for. And then also the yarn stash -- maybe I should match some of that yarn with the projects I want to do? Scary. I don't know if I want to get into that kind of organization mode with my yarn ... but the yarnplosion at my house needs some attention.

OR, I could just do what Bella does with her toys:

Surround myself with all my yarn.

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

I'm trying out a new look for the blog -- let me know what you think. Unless you hate it, and then you don't have to tell me. :) Also let me know if you see any pages that aren't working -- I'm trying to change everything over, but I'm sure I'll miss something. I just decided wanted a new color to look at, and I also wanted to play with these Photoshop brushes (link via Dooce). Yay for nerding out with the blog.

This weekend, I went to Atlanta with my friend Cheryl to see Cathy and Wes and go salsa dancing. (The Pants stayed home to nurse a stomach virus and watch horror movies.) Loca Luna was so crowded that we didn't really get to dance much, but we did eat good food and drink yummy drinks, including some tequila shots. Hee. Guess what happened while we were at the bar? A blog reader said hi! I've never had that happen in Atlanta before -- So. Exciting. This is me and Raquel (hi Raquel! I hope that's how you spell it):

Sorry for the blurry camera phone pic.

Raquel was wearing a beautiful Hourglass sweater out of Cotton Fleece that she knit herself, (um, what a good yarn for the Hourglass! why didn't I think of that?) and she was so. nice. How fun is that? Yay for the knitblog world -- even in the most crowded bars, we knitters can spot each other.

Cathy and Wes were nice to enough to get up on Sunday morning and get some coffee:

That's Whitney behind them.

Aren't they just like a Christmas card? Good times were had by all, although we missed Jacob.

I knit on my new favorite project...Anemoi Mittens! I knit all the way past the thumb on my first mitten, and it looked so pretty, and I was happy, but they looked...big. Then, I checked my gauge and my needles. I thought I was knitting with 2s, and I was knitting with 3s. D'oh. Yes, I know I should've checked my gauge WAY before the thumb and checked my needle size BEFORE I started the mitten. Lesson learned.

Here's the first mitten, second try:

Here's the back.

Here's the palm.

Y'all. I'm loving the colorwork. I didn't even mind ripping, because I got to knit it AGAIN. Yay.
So it was a good weekend. I've been running FAIRLY regularly - I did a six miler a week ago - and I think I'm going to be ready for my half marathon in March. I hopehopehope.

Posted by Carrieoke at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (48)

I've been feeling sort of zombie-like lately. It's been extremely busy at work (new semester), and I've been trying to exercise more. I suppose the exercise should be boosting my energy,but right now I think my body is in shock that I'm actually exercising. Wedding + general unhappiness with my shape is pushing me to work out more, but ugh. It's so hard to get motivated. I got the nike + iPod thingy, and it's extremely cool, but I still have to actually GET OUT AND RUN to make the thing talk to me. And it's been windy, rainy and cold. Check out what the wind did last week:

It knocked down this oak tree.
Check out the rotten stuff in the middle of the tree.

This tree is directly in front of my building, and the tree fell directly towards my office. It stopped short of my office and the big electric generator thingamabob that's in front of my boss's window, but it did take out a lamp post, part of a brick wall, and a metal railing. Damn. Luckily, it happened the last day before classes started, so no one was around to get hit.

So. What else. We've started some heavy duty planning for the wedding, and you know what? Weddings are expensive. I know they don't have to be, but it's hard to avoid some costs. I'm trying to refocus my efforts to our original wedding vision: a small, funky, unique wedding with friends and family around us. If you want to leave your favorite wedding cost saver in the comments, I'm all ears -- we already have the venue booked and I've bought a dress, but pretty much everything else is still being decided....

And. Forecast. It's all I've been knitting (are you reading, Mrs. Frick?) and I'm loving it. BUT. I thought I would make the smallest size, since I have a fairly small upper body. I did, andworked about 1.5 inches below the armholes, and it looked like it would fit a tiny child. Or maybe my nephew. So, I tried it on.

Too small. Circulation being cut off at armpits.
Sorry for the cleavage shot - I had just worked out.

Definitely too small. Note to self: you are not a small, and that is okay. So I ripped back to the armholes, increased for the next size up, and it's looking MUCH better. If you are knitting a top down raglan, my advice is to put the thing on scrap yarn and TRY IT ON. That's the beauty of a top down raglan - you can try it on as you go. I know it seems like a pain to stop knitting, put all those stitches on scrap yarn, and try it on, but that 10-20 minutes will save you lots of ripping and re-knitting in the long run if the thing doesn't fit. Trust me. And if it DOES fit, it makes you knit even faster because you are excited about your NEW SWEATER THAT FITS HOORAY!

I will be making attempts in the next couple of days to redesign this blog -- nothing too fancy -- it's time for a little spring cleaning. I'd like to make the gallery more streamlined and make the home page cleaner.

ooh! I almost forgot. I got myself a little Christmas present that I've been wanting for a long time...

It's a Jordana Paige bag.

I heart this bag. My favorite thing about the bag are the little snappy hook thingys on each end of the bag. You put your yarn through it, and it keeps your yarn balls from flailing around and getting tangled. It has seriously made it easier for me to knit on the bus or in a car, etc. Hooray!

But, you might ask, does it really hold enough? or is too big? Yes. and No. Here's an inside the bag shot:

and my makeup is under there somewhere.

When you open it, it's HUGE. But it snaps shut to a decent large purse size. LOVE IT.

Okay. Infomercial over. Merry Christmas to me. and ya'll have a happy MLK weekend.

Posted by Carrieoke at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (75)

The new swift. YAY! My crafty-schmoo-fiance built me my very own swift. He was able to make this:

I'm working here.

into this:

It works!

I helped with measuring wood and reading directions. The Pants did all sawing, drilling, hammering, etc. We used these instructions that I found online: [ edited the link: http://www.craftydiversions.com/patterns/homemade_yarn_swift.htm ] and they worked perfectly. Of course I ran and bought a ball winder almost immediately -- I'm not wasting any time! I love my handmade swift so. much.

Now. A fun activity from the fabulous Fricknits: ten topics that begin with the letter E. Yikes. E seems hard. I guess everyone thinks their letter sounds hard...

English : I majored in English in college, and I now work in an English department. I am a stickler for correct spelling and grammar in writing. Questionable grammar in spoken English doesn't bother me as much as written mistakes. I am especially appalled at spelling errors on websites -- if you see one on my blog, you can tell me. I will luv u 4 it.

Exercise: It's starting hardcore in January. I got a step and hand weights for Christmas, and I just ordered that Nike-iPod thingy that Rachael was talking about. I'm planning to run a half-marathon in March -- and I'm mentioning that so you'll HOLD ME TO IT -- and I need to start training. MUST. DO. IT. Did I mention that I'm getting married in October of this year and I want to be my super-cutest self for the wedding?

Espresso : Every morning, I get a 16 oz vanilla latte from Jittery Joe's, our local coffee shop. Sometimes I get an extra shot of espresso if I'm feeling extra droopy. I realized over the holidays how much money I spend at said coffee shop. Woo-hoo! I'm supporting local business, so that makes it okay, right?

Election: I volunteered for our mayor's re-election campaign at the end of 2006. And it was FUN. Extra-fun activities included playing an election benefit show with Bling and creating a banner ad for our local online newspaper. She won!

Explosion: We set off fireworks last night. Lots and lots of fireworks. Jacob loves to be the dude that lights the fireworks and then runs like crazy away from the fireworks before they blow up. (Which makes me, inevitably, the girl who's yelling "Be careful, schmoo! Are we being too loud?") Don't worry, we're careful. And we're all about fire safety -- my future father-in-law is a fireman.

Entertaining: We had a little New Year's party last night, and it was really fun. Our new house is perfect for having guests. At one point, we had a poker game, karaoke, and Wii-playing all going on at the same time. Good times. And we still have leftover pigs in a blanket and tiny cheesecakes. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Tiny cheesecakes.

Evil: Tiny cheesecakes! You are evil! Stop tempting me from the fridge...

Education: Semester two of grad school starts next week. I'm taking one face-to-face class and one online class. We had a few online sessions of class last semester in my theory class, and it was sort of awkward and painful. I'm hoping a whole semester of online sessions aren't as painful...

Engaged: So I have the date. And the place. And the dress. (And the Pants. hahahahahahahahahahaha.) Apparently, the REAL planning can start now. Note to self: Must consult excessively organized and already married twin sister.

And, finally...

Endpaper Mitts: Finished!

My First Endpaper Mitts. Certainly not my last.

My first Fair Isle experience was a good one. I learned that it's hard to get consistent gauge, which I'm working on, and I also learned that it's a bad idea to do colorwork when you're a little tipsy. D'oh. But, the mitts fit, they look decent, and I'm not scared of colorwork anymore!

Excellent.

Later this week: Progress reports on Maggie and Forecast.

Posted by Carrieoke at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)