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January 29, 2008
Just Like I Said I Would
So I said I would show you some pictures of my sewing nook. And so I shall. I didn't say it would be a *good* picture...
Yay!
That's the little sewing table I bought, my new pretty sewing machine, and my ironing board (and new Rowenta iron). The little piece of furniture to the right is a vintage sewing/knitting/crafting box that my sister-in-law, Alison, gave me as a wedding present. It's really cool - it's made of wood, and it folds out and has little trays for notions. I should take some good pics of it, actually, and post them.
The nook is in our kitchen - we have a pretty big space for dining/hanging out, and for now, I've taken over this corner for crafting. And it's a good thing, too, because I just started my first quilt and I need room to cut strips! Here I am, cutting strips....
One down.
I've done one so far. Gah. It turns out I'm bad at cutting straight. But I'm going to keep trying, even if this first quilt is a bit wonky. I'm okay with that. I learn from my wonkiness.
I'm also still working on the neverending Drops Jacket - the one that I was going to finish as a Christmas present, ha - and I've finally got two beautiful sleeve caps. YAY. Now I have to try and finish the sweater before I run out of yarn. I think I can do it. I need to hurry up and finish it, because I'm starting to have wandering eyes ... the new Interweave preview is up, some Knitty surprises, and pretty pretty knitting in blog and Ravelry land is making me want to drop the Drops and cast on something new. Must. Be. Strong. Yes, I must, because I really want to wear this sweater before it gets warm again here.
(but I really, really, really want to knit a pretty skirt too. Just sayin'.)
I've been so busy lately that crafting of any kind isn't always on my schedule. Apparently, school and work are supposed to come before knitting and sewing. Sigh.
You know what is definitely going to be on the schedule this week? Watching the season premiere of Lost. OH YES. I'll probably get some knitting done then too. Happy, happy times!
Last, but not certainly not least, I wanted to mention: Two sweet bloggers gave me a "Make My Day" award: Sophia and Frida. Thanks, ladies! You made my day by thinking of me. :)
That's all I've got in me tonight! Hopefully next time I post, I'll have a finished sweater and a few more perfectly straight strips to show you. Har.
January 16, 2008
so much happy
Well hello there! Thanks for the love on my last post. It's nice to feel like someone's reading, even if it's not the ONLY reason to post, ya know?
I have recovered from the nasty crud cold that was going around (and of course gave it to everyone in my office). Theraflu + tea = my friends. and also SLEEP. I realized that I'd been running on basically no sleep since the Christmas holidays, and my body just couldn't take it anymore. So, I'm trying to make it to bed before midnight these days, which is hard for me, but so far, so good. I've noticed also that my bedtime directly correlates with what time I arrive at work. Later bedtime = later work arrival time. Now I know that correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation. BUT, I'm going to make an assumption here that earlier is better.
We celebrated my mom's birthday this weekend! Yay family time. Got to hang out with the Big Head Schmoo and my absolutely adorable stepnephew Mason. Here's my mom with her two favorite grandkids:
So much happy.
Mason on the left, Bradypants in the lap. CUTE.
They are schmoos, all of them. We had yummy lasagna and played catch outside. Then my sis and her husband came up to Athens for fun times, which meant tapas and beers. and wii, of course.
Nerds.
It was a lovely weekend. It's a good thing that the crud went away and I had a nice weekend, because this semester has already started full swing. I'm taking two classes with major projects in both (don't you love group work in grad school?) and then I have to, ya know, work. Luckily, I really, really enjoy what I'm doing and work and grad school are closely related, so it's like one big mashup of technogeek fun. Hooray!
And then when I come home, there is the knitting.
Sleevecaps.
As you can see, I'm still working on the sleeves of my Drops sweater, and I did try the short row set in sleevecap method in Knitting from the Top. My first effort (to your right, above) was, um, rather large. I did the math required in the book, but you base all your calculations on the first measurement, which is "measure around your upper arm." So, that raises all kinds of questions - how much ease? what part of my upper arm? - and I realize now that she probably covers these questions in the first part of the book, but OF COURSE I DIDN'T READ THAT. So, I did the best I could and got a huge sleevecap.
The good thing is that once I saw how it works, I could tweak the measurement to fit how I wanted (see Sleevecap 2, to your left, picture above). I think this one is going to work out great, and man, it looks SO NICE. Much nicer that a seamed sleevecap, or at least, much nicer than MY seamed sleevecaps.
So hooray! I think I really, really like this method, and I think once I've figured out the numbers that work for me, I'll use it all the freakin' time. It just looks really clean and pretty. Yay for new techniques, and learning from your mistakes and all that.
I should probably go prepare for class tonight. Next time: my new sewing nook with my new sewing machine and my new sewing table that my schmoo husband helped me build. YAY.
January 7, 2008
Delinquent.
I am a delinquent blogger.
I've been called out by two friends about my lameness in blogging lately. One friend commented that every post doesn't have to be a novel. This is true. But I feel like a post without pictures is so borrrrring. And then, the pictures need to be explained. And they must be from a similar time or event. And also, I should probably mention knitting at least once and I should probably be funny.
These are the blogging rules that I have in my head for some reason.
So I'm attempting to just POST with no plan! OMG! I'm not even going to tell you what I did this weekend - although I did go to Chicago, which is so totally blogworthy. I'm just a-posting away. I might even post a picture with NO EXPLANATION.
There is a fan in my tutu.
Ahem.
Has anyone else noticed that the National Geographic Channel now refers to itself as "Nat Geo" in commercials? Not cool, National Geographic Channel.
I just finished seaming the sides of my Drops Jacket, and I'm about to start on the sleeves. I'm trying something new for me - inspired by
Flint Knit Pam's beautiful sweater, I'm going to attempt top down, short row sleeve caps. I've got a copy of Knitting from the Top and a tape measure. I'm ready to go.
I'm even ready for the math part.
My trip to Chicago was fabulous, but I am sick as a dog now. I'm going to go drink some Theraflu and watch a show a NatGeo special on babies. I'm even going to post this entry, even though it doesn't follow all of my self-imposed rules.
This random post is brought to you by Carolyn, who has the best restaurants recommendations of anyone I know. And the best hair.