So, Anais. I finished the back and seamed it up - and it was looking very promising! Then, I added the lace collar part.

um, yeah.

Y'all, I wanted to love it, but it's just not working for me. I think maybe because I made my Anais pretty snug, the lace makes it look sort of ... trashy. Someone who saw this picture on Flickr may have mentioned Elvira. (And while I may have been Elvira for Halloween, I'd rather NOT channel her in my everyday wardrobe.) It's just not working. So, I ripped the lace part out, and took Carolyn's suggestion to add some ribbing around the collar.

Better.

Looks better. But this picture is deceptive - it's just TOO SHORT. Harumph. So, last night, I stayed up WAY too late and ripped out the cast on edge. (Full disclosure: I began by ripping out the cast on edge, and then I ended up taking scissors to the ribbing. There are no pictures because it was very, very scary.)

So now, I'm going to add a couple inches of length. I managed to get all the bottom ribbing off, get it back on the needles, and now I'm knitting downwards. I'm hoping I can finish it this weekend while I am at Maryland Sheep and Wool, YAYAYAYYAAYAYAYAYAYAYAY and also OH BOY.

ooh! I also took some pics of the finished Mingus socks before I sent them to Emily:

Swoon.

I love.

[BSG geekout]

I have also recently come to the conclusion that I pretty much HAVE to go to DragonCon this year because Helo and Lee will be there. OH YES.

I might have to dress up like a viper pilot too. NO LAUGHING.

[/BSG geekout]

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (53)

Seriously. It was 77 today. What. is. going. on?

I'll survive. I guess it's better than snow and ice storms. I'm relaxing on the couch right now, watching guilty TV (so not even confessing what I'm watching because it's SO BAD) and indulging in my other guilty pleasure: lurking on the Ravelry forums. I am so addicted. At least I knit and lurk. And I try not to lurk at work. Mostly. (who else does this? Big Issues Debate, anyone??)

It's been busy around here. We celebrated Jacob's 30th birthday last weekend and there were many fun times, including but not limited to: grilling of ribs, eating of ribs, poker, karaoke, Dance Dance Revolution, tube lights, and dancing with tube lights. And just in case you thought I was kidding about the tube lights...

Soundtrack: Girl Talk.

There you are. Jacob loves tube lights. So much that when we first moved to Athens, we lived in a friend's attic (Anne Marie) and our main light source was many, many tube lights nailed to the ceiling. We also had a vinyl door with a zipper for our bathroom...some of our design choices were slightly questionable. Har. Those tube lights actually blink and flash in time to any music that is playing. fun. fun. fun.

So. then, THIS weekend, we babysat my nephew, otherwise known as BigHeadSchmoo. The babysitting of the nephew, it is different than the visiting of the nephew, especially when bedtime is involved. He was not even *remotely* interested in bed. AT ALL. He was interested in running around the house with Jacob, reading Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo multiple times, and then finally watching Baby Einstein Christmas (and omg those Baby Einstein videos are so weird and hilarious. it's like, a puppet with the puppeteer's hand showing, and then a baby laughing, and then a polar bear, and my nephew was MESMERIZED.) We finally got him to sleep (and secretly I don't mind at all that he wanted to stay up and play with his favorite aunt and uncle.)

Uncle Jacob is WAY MORE fun than sleep.

I got some knitting in too. I'm about halfway done with the back of Anais, and I've been thinking about doing the sleeves a little differently. The sleeves as they are in the pattern seem -- strange. I don't know. I'm thinking I could make it a sleeveless vest, or maybe do a solid cap sleeve? Is that hard to do? Although I do also like this fluttery sleeve version, but I'm not sure those sleeves would be practical for my wardrobe. They ARE very cute...

I've worn my Maggie to work several times! I want to take a picture every time I wear it - it's exciting for me to wear a knitted item so often. (However, it must be noted that I had someone compliment me on it, and I said, thanks! I knitted it! and then I looked down and noticed old mustard from lunch on the buttonband. Hi, I'm Carrieoke. I am proud of my handknits. I spill food on them. )

In other knitting news, I'm working on a sock for my husband. I made him a pair of socks previously, and they mostly fit him, and then he machine washed them and felted them and they fit me perfectly. (Hooray for new slippers!) This left Jacob wanting another pair, of course, and I'm finally giving it a shot...

Almost to the heel.
The yarn is Trekking, and the pattern is Manly Socks from Knit Six. (Found by searching for "man socks" on Ravelry, by the way.) I think they're going to fit him perfectly, mostly because I've made him try them on a million times. It's hard knitting for size 11 feet, but I'm determined to finish this pair.

And that's all I've got for now. Me and Bella, we're just gonna sit here on the couch and keep watching bad TV and resting.

Bella loves bad TV.

Posted by Carrieoke at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Hey - I got married! And it was absolutely one of the best days of my life.

May I present: the Mr. and Mrs!

(photo stolen from Vibegrrl.)

Photo by Shawn Fowler.

This will be a series of long posts because I really want to remember all the details of my wedding weekend, and this is the best way I know how. So click below if you want the whole story!

Continue reading "Just Married." »

Posted by Carrieoke at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (176)

My wedding is in 9 days.

While the rest of the knitting world prepares for RHINEBECK!, I am immersed in final wedding details. There are so many things to finish! Programs, decorations, centerpieces, packing for honeymoon...I have always considered myself a low maintenance kinda girl ... and I am *so* the stereotypical insane stressed out bridezilla.

BUT! Today is a good day. Work is great, if a tad busy, and wedding stuff IS coming together. For example, this is finished:

Wedding Shawl. Check.

I. love. this. shawl. It's knitted with Rowan DK Silky Wool, which is good enough to eat, and it drapes beautifully. And the shoulder shaping WORKS - the shawl stays on! I couldn't believe how nicely it fits. (Full disclosure: I ran out of Silky Wool and knit the last row and cast off edge with another yarn. Don't tell.)

I really wanted to knit a wedding shawl, but I didn't want it to be too complicated, and I also didn't want it to be super long and overwhelming. When I saw Ms. Flint Knit Pamela's pictures, I knew that was my shawl, and I'm so, so happy I took the time to make it. (Which, surprisingly, was really not that much time at all, as Pamela also noted. It took probably three good TV nights to finish.)

Now, more wedding knitting! I am carrying calla lilies, and my toss bouquet will also be calla lilies, but callas of a different type: knitted ones. I have a few friends making one each, and I'm going to make a couple, and then tie a bow around them and throw those suckers at Anne Marie. (JUST KIDDING AM.)

I still haven't gotten a chance to blog about my fantastic weekend, where I went to the beach with some of my bridesmaids and friends and had a bit of a bachelorette celebration. It was more relaxation than debauchery (I left that for the Pants, who was in Vegas), but we did eat a lot of good food, drink lots of vodka tonics, and do some karaoke. They did make me a dirty cake. I will not post a picture of it here, for various reasons (Hi, Mom!), but you can imagine. Tee hee.

Contrary to the photo, I'm neither pregnant nor that well-endowed. hee.

Good times were had by all. Thanks, ladies, for making my weekend so fabulous!

I imagine I'll blog again before the wedding. Or maybe not. I don't know. I do know that I'd better stop writing and start CHECKING MY TO-DO LIST OH MY GOD.

Posted by Carrieoke at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (63)

I confess: my Sockapalooza socks came early, and instead of being a good Socker and waiting until August 2, I ripped into the package. Immediately. And found these lovelies inside:

My Socks!

And also...

My pal totally spoiled me!
A lovely knit pouch and a needle holder.

I love it all! The socks are super soft and they fit perfectly, and I've been using the pouch to tote my iPod around! (And did you see the adorable fabric on the needle holder?) These lovely gifts are courtesy of Elke. She is in Germany, and blogless (hi Elke) and she's a totally awesome Sock Pal. Thanks so much, Elke! I've been so lucky with Sockapalooza, and this year was another great time.

My pal's package went out already, and I'm crossing my fingers that she likes the socks and they fit...

So. I've been a busy girl, with the new job and the wedding getting really, really close...Accccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk. Our invitations are almost done (we'll be printing and cutting this weekend) and they feature a drawing by my dear friend Mary Jessica (who also drew the Carrieoke on the side of the blog). They also feature graphic design by my super talented brother-in-law David. Gotta love having the artistic friends and family!

Speaking of friends and family, my sisters Michelle and Cathy and my dear AM threw me and Jacob a kick-ass wedding shower this past weekend! There was extremely delicious food, and lots of booze, and lots of laughing, and an abundance of gifts... including...

A Wii Steering Wheel!
(Let's hear it for registering at Target!)

It was a fabulous weekend, indeed.

Well, I need to go address wedding invitations. Here's another confession: I sort of like addressing wedding invitations. And also? We forgot to book a hotel room for our wedding night. NOT STRESSED.

Posted by Carrieoke at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

So, I started training for my second half-marathon in January (as mentioned in this post). My training started out pretty well, and I ran at least twice a week mostly and tried to keep up with my long runs, but life got busy (wedding planning and school and other life-in-general stress) and I lost track of how much time I had before the race, and I didn't feel ready. (Not feeling ready could also be a teensy bit of laziness on my part. Just a TEENSY bit.)

So I decided not to run the race. I would go to Atlanta, and cheer on Anne Marie and my friend Cheryl, and just be a spectator. Cathy would be a spectator too, since she is just recovering from bronchitis and really shouldn't run 13.1 miles right now.

Yesterday was that half-marathon.

And I totally ran it!

I think I was scared to run because I knew I wouldn't improve from my first race, and I didn't want to feel like a failure. But my sister Cathy (that sneaky, sneaky girl) was all, "Why don't we just run a little, and see how we feel? We won't run the whole thing..."

Here's me and Cat before the race:

Yeah. She tricked me.

And then it was just FUN. Beautiful day, beautiful course. We took it easy, not running too hard, pushing ourselves every now and then. It was so much fun, laughing and running with my sister, watching all the other runners and the spectators. We kept a good pace, and Cathy didn't let me slack too much. We even got to see the lead runners because the marathon course crossed paths with the half marathon course at several points - that was AWESOME. Dude. They were kicking so much ass - it was really motivating. At mile 8, Cathy wisely decided to stop, and so she did. But she was like, "Finish the race." And I kept going. And I finished!

Here's my medal.

I might have more pics of the race eventually, but I didn't bring my camera -- I assumed I would have access to it later since I wouldn't be finishing the race. Ha. Next time, I'm going to be more serious about my training, but it was nice to do a race in a very stress-free sort of way.

[Note: since I'd done a half before, I felt okay running it even though I didn't feel completely ready. I am in NO WAY advocating just waking up the morning of a half-marathon and deciding to try and run it. You gotta train, baby. I guess the point is: I wasn't motivated to run it, even though I physically was ABLE. And my sister and Cheryl and AM helped me get motivated -- that morning!]

In general, that's the kind of runner I am. I don't like to get caught up in my time because I'm a slow schmoo, and if I'm not enjoying something, I'm just not gonna do it. So, I try to keep running fun and light and not a competitive thing. (Now, that's just me. My friends (coughcough Cheryl and AM and Cathy coughcough) who are fast schmoos do things differently, and I like that. Cheryl rocked the half, and AM rocked the FULL, and I'm so proud of them. Cheryl finished almost an hour before me and when I was coming around that last bend, I saw her waiting, and she ran me into the finish line, which totally rocked. She even cheered me past a couple of runners.

Woo-hoo! Team Schmoo rocks.

In other news - knitting news - I've been knitting a little opera scarf with my Noro Silk Garden Lite, and I ripped it out. It just wasn't working for me. (Although, I will say that I love that pattern, and I'm going to knit it again, but with a swingier, drapier yarn.)

Here's the farewell photo:

Farewell, opera scarf.

Instead, I decided to copy Molly! and make a mini clapotis with it.

Yum. I love this yarn.

And the Forecast? She is literally 20 sleeve rounds away from being done. I'm predicting a finished post by next week. No promises, though.

Posted by Carrieoke at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)

... Arthur's Theme is totally one of my favorite songs.

NEW YORK!

What a freakin' trip. It was super fun and totally exhausting and I would do it again next weekend if I had the money and another pair of boots (since mine now have holes in them from all the walking. NOT CITY SHOES.) First of all, I have to give a shout out to my girl Carolyn, who sent me her recommendations for restaurants, and not one of them disappointed. I tried so many kinds of food I'd never had before: Vietnamese, Malaysian, Brazilian, crazy Tex-Mex-Asian-fusion. yumyumyum. The food was my second favorite part of the trip.

My first favorite part was, of course, the people. And the yarn. Ohhhhh, the yarn.

At the subway stop in Queens.

The extremely long and photo heavy play-by-play is in the extended entry. You have been warned about the length. And the photo heaviness...

Continue reading "When you get caught between the moon and New York City..." »

Posted by Carrieoke at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (49)

Friday Friday Friday. Hooray! It's been a busy week in the school and work arenas, and I am so glad it's Friday. And I've got PLANS this weekend: birthday celebrations tonight for my friend Leslie, birthday celebrations tomorrow for my sister Michelle, a hair appointment (color), possibly a trip to Ikea, and lots of Wii time.

(Now that my nephew is almost 10 months old, it's time for him to play the Wii.)
(Kidding.)

And the Oscars on Sunday! Woo-hoo! In other news:

1. I brought my almost finished Forecast to work today, because I'm planning to go to the bead store at lunch and see if I can find buttons. Hopefully I won't be tempted to buy beading supplies. Ha.

2. I started the second Anemoi mitten, and all of my love for colorwork came rushing back. I think this one looks much better than the first one - I'm more comfortable working with two colors, and my gauge is a little looser. I hope it doesn't look vastly different than Anemoi #1...

Swirly goodness.

I'm using my Knitpicks chart holder from the start this time, and it's going so quickly. I can't wait to start working on some Zimmerman Norwegian mittens...

(God, now that I'm looking, there is a glaring mistake in that mitten. I'll need to fix it! But no ripping. I'll deal with it later.)

3. As I knit and watched Grey's Anatomy last night, two of my favorite schmoos dozed on the couch next to me. How cute is that?

Shleepy schmoos.

4. Here's my other favorite schmoo in her favorite spot:

Chili guards the house from here.

She's a good girl.

I think the Anemoi could be finished by this weekend if it keeps going so quickly. It's destined for someone who lives in a colder place than me, so the sooner I finish, the better. Although since we're starting to have 65-70 degree days here, I imagine that's happening in other places too. (Probably not, right?)

Okay. Back to work. Y'all have a good weekend!

Posted by Carrieoke at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

A long, long time ago, some other knitters around here and I decided to make a pirate themed baby blanket for our dear friend Mary Jessica. Many, many months later, we finally finished it and gave it to her. Here's the blanket:

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I knit several squares, including the pirate ship, the anchor, and various stripeys and solids. It was my first real attempt at intarsia, so it ain't perfect, but it works from far away! And here's MJ getting the blanket:

Notice her cute pink handknit.

And here's what Tommy thinks of the whole shebang:

My blanket RAWKS.

We had so much fun catching up and making Tommy laugh. He is the happiest, bounciest baby ever.

Tommy wants to drool on it. NOW.

A good time was had by all.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I leave with my favorite Valentines ever, Brandon Bird's SVUtines. In the criminal justice system, you're considered especially gorgeous.

Have a great day!

Posted by Carrieoke at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

Excellent.

Later this week: Progress reports on Maggie and Forecast.

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

So, the Pants had a birthday was November 28, and we did lots of fun things : went to the casino, hung out with his family, ate yummy food in Athens. We also got up at 5:30 on a Sunday the weekend before his birthday to obtain the best birthday present EVER: a Nintendo Wii (pronounced Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!).

The man loves his Wii.

We managed to get one on release day even though we didn't camp out or pre-order. We just got lucky. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. And dude, I was not all about getting up early that morning, but I am all about the Wii. It is SO MUCH fun. One of my favorite parts is that you can create a little character called a 'Mii' (hee) that you play the games with, and you can make them look like you. So, when Jacob and I play Boxing, it's a tiny Jacob on the screen boxing a little tiny Carrieoke. funfunfun.
Here's Jacob's:

Tiny cartoon Jacob.

Doesn't it look like him? I heart technology. And I heart my Jacob.

Anyways, now that things are starting to slow down at work and my schoolwork is done for the semester, I am really looking forward to more nights like this: right now, I'm sitting on the floor in my den with Jacob and Bella watching Tivoed Studio 60 by a roaring fireplace. Seriously. Jacob had to clean the chimney before we started using it and I'm so glad he did. Chim chim chireeeeeeeee.

Cute. Schmoos.

I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy and Christmas-y tonight, so I think I'm going to go knit and relax with my schmoos. Ya'll have a good night, and go give your loved ones a squeeze.

To the family: I added a link to my holiday wish list on the left sidebar (under the Carrieoke cartoon).

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

Halloween was fun times! Athens is seriously the best town EVER for Halloween. People get SERIOUS and dress up -- doesn't matter how old you are -- and there are always super clever and super weird costumes. Last night, I happened to think my friends had the best costumes ever...

Bling played at the Georgia Theatre, and we all dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland.

This is the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, and the King of Hearts.
with Silent Bob hanging out in the back.

Here's Alice (that's me!) and the Mad Hatter.

Here's me with my hot Viking date...

And here's Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth, all the way from Hawaii...

It's Alice and an HEJ!

Here's that hot Viking again with a chrome devil....

So. Sleepy. I hope I can stay awake for Lost...

p.s. I'm trying desperately to combat the spam barrage that's been happening lately, so I've added a word you have to type in the comment posting form. Let me know if you have any trouble with it!

Posted by Carrieoke at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)

Jacob keeps teasing me because I haven't posted on my blog since returning from Rhinebeck... he keeps saying "I'm checking my Bloglines, where's your post?" Har, har. It's because I haven't had a second to breathe since returning from my relaxing yarny vacation. Work + school + 10 year reunion this weekend + HOUSE CLOSING OCT 30 makes for a crazy Carrieoke. Gah. And also aaaaccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkk.

But also yay. Rhinebeck was wonderful, as expected. And the weather was PERFECT, as in not too cold, not too hot, and the leaves were brilliant, and the company was splendid. I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do because I was totally overwhelmed by peopleyarnnewyorkfuntimes all weekend. But I took a few.

This was at the Point.

We were lucky enough to drop in on a knitting night with the Spiders, and I got to meet some bloggers that I've been reading forever, and also reunite with an old friend. It was really nice and cozy and comfortable. We stopped in after seven hours of shopping in New York City, and although I had a fabulous time shopping, my tired little Georgia legs were ready for a coffee and some knitting. Perfect.

This is a llama. He is chewing.

The animals at Rhinebeck are totally one of my favorite parts. Ya know, after all the yarn. and the people. and the hot sauce.

My girls AM and Sarah. And a sheep.

This is the last picture I took. We had to do a quick drive-by on Sunday, due to extreme paranoia that we would miss our flight (we missed our flight to NY on Friday morning...security was atrocious in Atlanta).

I had a wonderful time, I didn't buy too much [ the haul: a sweater's worth of organic cotton, a triple skein of laceweight Morehouse, a shawl pin, some delectable bulky weight yarn from Decadent Fibersand and a piece of pottery for HEJ. I also got my usual yummyyummy hot sauce from Hudson Valley Homestead ]. AND I got to see old friends and talk to new ones. This picture (shamelessly stolen from Snargle Sarah ) pretty much sums up how much fun I had this weekend.

That's Frecklegirl, Sarah, and Maya in the front.
I'm in the backback. With some leftover ribs.

We even stopped by the Morehouse store which is beautiful and spacious and well-lit and so dangerous. Thank God that place isn't anywhere near Georgia - I would be broke fer sure.

You won't see me at Rhinebeck next year because I'll be getting hitched (woo-hoo!), but I'm going to try my hardest to be at Maryland. I love sheep and wool festivals.

Ah. And back to reality. Central Park is zooming along - I've finished the back and fronts, and now I'm halfway through the first sleeve. And in other news, we are totally grown-up and closing on our house on this coming Monday. I can't even believe it. ohmygod. So I'm a little jittery this week, trying to process everything that is going on, and not be too anxious about it. I'm just accepting that I will probably have explosive diarrhea while we are signing the closing papers, but it will be over soon, and then we have a HOUSEHOUSEHOUSE. House. How cool is that?

Okay. Time for bed. It was real nice to see all ya'll at the festival, for real.

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (34)

It is so flipping hot. I know it's hot everywhere, so everyone's nodding their heads in agreement. It makes a girl want to hide in her house and knit all weekend long.

I didn't do that, but I was tempted. Instead, I went to Atlanta and saw Quintron and Miss Pussycat at the Drunken Unicorn with Leslie and Anne Marie. It was well worth the drive:

The blur is Mr. Quintron. The car is the front of his instrument, the Drum Buddy.

Isn't Anne Marie polite? Fun times.

The rest of the weekend was supposed to be a wild crazy blur of late night parties, but apparently I'm not as young as I used to be, and it took me all weekend to recover from Friday night. (This may be partially due to late night Taco Bell on Friday. SUCH a good idea at 2:30am, NOT A GOOD IDEA the next day.) So I stayed in. And knitted.

I saw this lovely Razor Cami on Yarnmonster and decided I needed to knit it. (e and my Orangina have been fighting lately and I had to put her down for a little while.) So, the yummy LaLuz Silk scarf is on hold, and I'm working on the yummy La Luz Silk razor cami:

Silky stripey goodness.

I'm not sure how the stripeyness is going to play out in the cami, but I'm excited to see. I'm usually okay with some pooling, etc, so I think I'll like the outcome. And it's so nice and soft and pretty to knit with.

On Sunday, I got pick the Pants up at the airport - he was away all last week on a super grown-up business trip. I was really, really glad to have him home. Especially when he arrived home and started dancing with Bella:

Bella LOVES to slow dance with Jacob.

School starts in 14 days. So. Nervous. Thank goodness for the Pants, and my doggies, and my friends, and kniting, and TIVO. These things keep me sane. (ooh! I ordered my first sewing pattern today. Can't wait!)

Posted by Carrieoke at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)