must sleep... ::snooze::

Monday night I went to bed at 8:15... which would be awesome if I hadn't had to wake up at 4:30 to take mom to the airport. So by the time I got to work at 8:00 I had already been up for 3 1/2 hours. This from a girl who normally tries to get up at 6:20, but usually gets up at 6:45, to leave at 7:10 to get to work at 8:00.

Anyways, last night I got home, made dinner for my brother, hung out with the dogs and stayed up until almost 11:30 fighting with my computer. That equals 19 hours awake. Again, regular awake hours, closer to 16. I was really really tired last night and it's a good thing no one else was home 'cause I would have been cranky too (if you're cranky and no one's around to hear about it, did it really happen?)

This morning I woke up at 6 to get my brother up and ready for school. (his bus comes at 7am, isn't that sick?) However, the dogs were not pleased with this situation since they usually get breakfast at 5am when my mom gets up (the poor woman has to be at work by 6... I'd kill myself) Aspen got on the bed and made a growl like noise, which I ignored. I don't wake up at 5 to feed dogs. They get breakfast at 6 when I'm in charge and they'll like it too.

Anyways, now it's 2:30 in the afternoon. I'm SUPER DUPER tired and all I want to do is go home and nap. I would also like to say the Rhonda Shelby of the KGW weather team can kiss my ass. She was forecasting cloudy and cold today so I didn't wear my beautiful spring dress which would have withered in the gray, what do I see right now? ZERO clouds, I'll tell you that. Freakin' Rhonda Shelby, way to ruin my first day of spring.

Okay, that's all, just a bunch of sleep deprived ranting, sorry for the interruption.

13 inches done on the Phoebe Body. Hooray!

Somebody's fabulous!

and it's me!

First, the knitting.

I am really rolling along nicely on the Phoebe body. I didn't get much done this weekend because I was busy over indulging in alcohol. I have a little more than 12 inches right now and I need 16.5 before I join the sleeves and start working my way up to the shoulders. I'm halfway done with the second sleeve, the first one is almost complete. I believe I can legitimately say I'm half way through with this bad boy.

I know many of you are thinking "but Lexy, aren't you going to finish this right when the weather is getting nice, thus rendering it unwearable until next winter"

a) Even so, I don't care, I just want it off my back (haha... punny)
b) I go to the Oregon Coast quite frequently, and even during the warmest days of summer it can be windy and quite chilly on the beach, making a sweater practical, punk ass.
c) Our family vacation is in Sunriver (yup, that's the house we're staying in, no it didn't cost that much, we got a deal) this year, the beautiful High Desert of Oregon. While the summer days are lovely and warm the evenings (and mornings) can be down right cold.

So, that's my knitting world right now. I'm actually finding it quite lovely to be monogamous with my knitting. It brings me peace. Someone please remind me of this in a week (day? hour?) when I'm dying to cast on some new fling.

Now for something completely fabulous!

Before:

This is actually a pretty good picture of my nasty-ass-down-to-my-boobs-haven't-gotten-colored-in-a-year-hair. It's from Saturday night... note the green.

After:

This is a crappy cell phone picture of my new haircut. Three inches off in length, plus lot's of awesome layers. I thought this was an okay picture of myself, but now I realize I look kind of drunk... I'm not, trust me.

I have been toying with the idea of chopping my hair off super short, but now that I actually have a very nice long haircut, I like it a lot. And I'm pretty darn close to having most of the old blond color out... so I think the time is not right to chop it off super short... we shall see what the next moon brings though.

Okay, that's enough about my hair. See ya later.

SPRING!!

It is a glorious spring day here in Portland. The trees across the street are just starting to get little green buds on them. It's 70 degrees, and downtown Portland is positively bustling outside my window.

This, naturally, makes getting work done... impossible. I want to go down to Starbucks (1 block) and get one of those tangerine smoothie things...mmmm.

Oh yeah, knitting content, I worked on my second sleeve for Phoebe last night after I put up the show notes , I'm about six(?) inches into it and have gotten quite used to the pattern, although I do still need to glance at it. The main problem I am finding is that after about an hour of flying along my hands start to cramp up from all the pulling and twisting. So I can work on the sleeve for about an hour and then I have to work on the body, or just do nothing, which is fine. I'd really like to get the sleeves/body joined and start on the shoulders this weekend... but I doubt it's going to happen.

In other news, I became completely enamored with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab yesterday when I was putting up the show notes, so today I ordered six "imps ears" of perfume in:
-Morgause (Bewitching Brews): She is a sister, or sister-self, to Morgan Le Fay. A bouquet of five night-blooming flowers deepened by dusky violet, purple fruits and the barest breath of medieval incenses.
-Poisoned Apple (Bewitching Brews): A perfect, lovely, gleaming red apple whose sweetness masks a swirl of narcotic opium, oleander, and hemlock.
-Pride (Sin & Salvation): Vanity in extremis. The scent of rabid hauteur: Moroccan rose and narcissus.
-Marie (Diabolus): A blend of sinuous violet and elegant tea rose: the chosen scent of France's Demigoddess of Debauch: Marie Antoinette.
-New Orleans (Wanderlust):Reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice.
-Queen (Voodoo Blends): For use only by women. An extremely potent passion blend, used to great effect when you're converting feminine sexual energy into power.

The only one of these similar to my usual scent(s) is New Orleans, I *love* honeysuckle and jasmine, I decided, for the most part, to try new things though since they have so many unique concoctions. Narrowing it down to six was definitely the hard part. The short list of other scents I was looking at:
Envy
Eden
Catherine
French Love
Jezebel
Lolita

I think I had about 20 on my list before I started crossing them off and paring down. Anyways, I know it takes them a long time to put it all together, but I am *super* excited about my new scents. Hopefully one will really really stand out to buy in a full vial.

I ramble. Do excuse me.

A non-knitting project

So I've been blog surfing, and have found this fabulous little dress blog. The first day I visited I almost spent $75 at Ebay (seriously, I was seconds away from clicking BIN before I realized I can't spend $75 on a dress because I don't have $75)



I don't know how or why but the sewing bug has gotten to me in a bad way... actually I do know how and why... it's this site, that's how.










So, I bought this pattern (Go here for more vintage patterns)











The really pertinent question right now is "Hey, Lexy, do you even own a sewing machine?"

That my friends is a mere technicality thanks to craigslist.org I have two possibilities, not fancy, but functional, that I can pick up tonight. Sucka.

Oh but what about the fabric? Well I went to Josephine's today, and they have such beautiful stuff... but I'm not going to spend $24/yd on fabric for this little number. That's why I'll be going to Fabric Depot this Saturday for their 15th anniversary sale. I'm thinking something pink/yellow, maybe a big print, I don't know... think think think.

I don't know when I'll get it all together, I haven't sewn a garment in... six years? Plus I'm thinking I'll try to maintain the integrity of the vintage pattern by tracing it onto seperate pattern paper rather than cutting the pristine factory folded pattern I've got headed my way.

Here's hoping I'll have a new dress for the opera.

Oh, and I bought a cute spring dress at Ross for $17... totally adorable Anne Taylor Loft *heart*

Dogs

The two laziest Golden Retrievers that God ever made:

Exhibit A: Aspen. He's 10, he has a bum knee and is allergic to everything. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

We got him when he was a pup from the pet store (don't do that) We're hopelessly attached to him despite the fact that he costs us well over $1000 a year in vet bills alone, not to mention expensive dog food. It's hard to see in this picture, but he has the most beautiful amber eyes that you've ever seen. They match his dark red coat perfectly. He's a loverboy who wants nothing more than a good pat.

Exhibit B:

Buster Tea Bear Junior (we did not name him) he's 12. He's much lower maintenance than his brother, but is an enormous priss. (they're adopted brothers, not real brothers, FYI)

Buster is the dog that we talk for. You know, talk like it's him talking. He has a slightly annoyed voice and is quite convinced that he is a rare wolf/bear hybrid born in the wild, to which he wishes to return. In Buster's wild though there are king size beds in the forest bacon grows on a bush and you can find pools full of butter. We're a little crazy, but it's really okay with me.

Besides thinking he's a bear/wolf Buster is weird because he hates children/short people. He'll growl at them. Luckily there aren't many children in our lives, so it hasn't been a problem. We just have to keep the little ones away from him when we're on walks. The short people is a bit of a bugger though... we have many short friends (short means below about 5'3") I'm not sure exactly what his issue is, but he's old so we pamper him, what can I say?

So that's it, my boys. What are your pets like?

I am not a sweatshop

I don't have enough progress on anything to flash it to you. But that's okay. I might put up some pictures of my puppies (10 & 12 year old puppies that is) tonight... because they're really adorable when they nap. Which is most of the time.

I do have some thoughts on my knitting though, I'm having a bit of ennui and I think I've found the culprit. Naturally, it's all in my head.

Knitting is not a race.

I am not knitting to have finished projects.

Handling beautiful yarn is its own reward.

These are my new mantras. I feel like I haven’t been enjoying my knitting enough. Not that I don’t love doing it, because I do. It’s more that I feel like I’ve been trying to win some sort of speed competition when that’s not why I took it up in the first place.

A year and a half ago, when I learned how to knit I didn’t learn because there was anything in particular I wanted to make. I spent probably a month just knitting swatches (garter, stockinette, ribbed, seed) because I really just enjoyed the *idea* of the craft rather than any particular end.

My skills have increased. I would describe myself as a confident intermediate knitter. 90% self taught at that, not to brag. I enjoy the challenge of new things, socks, sweaters, intarsia, lace. I want to try it all, and I’m working on that. I also want to knit for other people, to give them the joy of a lovingly crafted gift. I have, I believe, knit more finished objects for other people than myself.

Gifts: 1 blanket, 1 scarf, 1 fetching, 2 hats, 2 socks, 1 gloves, 1 bag
Myself: 1 scarf, 1 fetching, 1 socks, 1 hat, 1 gloves

Yup, I’m a giver.

Currently I am working on Phoebe (for me) and the felted flower bag (for me) and the twisted flower sock (for me) so that should make it even(ish). Of course I have a long list of gift knits to do this year as well. Not to mention Dulaan.

But here’s the thing, I’m working on my current projects like I’m going to win a prize when I’m done. This would be great if I had an enormous stash I need to whittle down, or if I was going to win a prize. But I don’t, and I won’t.

I’m going to slow down and enjoy this moment, right now, with my knitting. I was about to type that I’m going to cherish every stitch… but that’s a little flowery and stupid for my taste. I’m going to enjoy each stage of each project for what it is.

For example, Phoebe:
* Ribbing: Creates support, structure, holds everything together and clamps it down. Simple, powerful.
* Stockinette in the round: A tube! A beautiful perfect tube. Look at how even my tension is, I can even knit with my eyes closed
* Complicated twisted stitch pattern: Beautiful! Fun to watch, fun to do, zen, I can even talk to myself without guilt (purl, left twist, right twist, left twist, right twist, purl and so on)
* Saddle Shoulders: A new skill! I can’t wait to watch my sweater come together, front and back attached with a simple k2tog, 4 letters, one number, one sweater.
* Collar: The end! The closing bell, the finale, the fat lady sings. The. Best. Part.
* Grafting the underarms: Oh kitchener bliss… every time I successfully execute you, I feel like a magician.

So rather than performing each task eagerly awaiting the next, and eventually the finished sweater, I vow to perform each task for its own sake. Because I can. Because each part of this thing has a purpose in it’s making, not just in it’s wearing. Yes I will end up with a sweater, but more importantly I will end up with a sweater I have spent hours of quality time lovingly preparing, as opposed to rushing through to the end product.

I am not a sweatshop.

Tattoo Meme

So on Scout's blog she asked everyone to flash their tattoos. I have two and I don't have pictures of either.

The first one was a gift for my 18th birthday from my high school boyfriend it is the Japanese Kanji for "Strength". It is a tramp stamp... it's true, although I got it before everyone had started putting tattoos on their lower back, so I started it... really I did. Due to it's location on my lower back I can't really take a picture of it.

My second one is also in a non photographable location... it's on my hip and most swimsuits cover it... just to give you an idea of the location. it's a skull and crossbones which I got my junior year of college. The skull and crossbones is one of the symbols of my sorority, along with owls... but the skull & crossbones is way cooler than an owl, hehe.

So those are my two current ones... I'll probably get another one I'm just not inspired as to what/where yet. We'll see.

New Day New Yarn

I got some new yarn this weekend.

For example, I received my first Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club kit. The yarn is called Monsoon and is inspired by Oregon storms. It's super beautiful... very earthy, which I wouldn't think I would like, but I do.

he purpley bits are really more gray... a very difficult color to capture... everytime I look at it think it's a different color. It is very close in color to a big, heavy, storm cloud... perfect really.

Here's the whole skein...

Awesome!

Also, my buddy Mia sent me six (I think) skeins of Encore to do some Dulaan knitting, along with three great patterns, some delicious candy (The PeanutButter things are already gone) and a really delish Jasmine candle. Mia's really thoughtful and awesome, I was so lucky to get her as my Knit Mitt Kit Swap Partner back in January.















Here's the yarn... it's a really pretty mixture of blue/white. I think I'm going to do a child's sweater with a matching hat for some special Mongolian child. I turned down some Avalanche yarn from Ryan because I think I have enough Dulaan knitting on my plate for now and I really don't want to disappoint anyone because my eyes are bigger than my stomach (or faster than my fingers, as with knitting)

I've got your intarsia right here

So I bought the IK Holiday magazine back in November and on my way home from Barnes & Noble I was flipping through (while driving, 'cause I'm safe like that) and I just *had* to go to my LYS and purchase the yarn to make this Floral Felted Bag by Nicky Epstein. And then it sat in my stash. All $50 worth of cascade 220 (no I didn't spend $90 on the kit... I'm very clever, ask me how).

Well this weekend I decided to no longer be slave to my yarn and I cast it on. Here I am thus far...

It is pinned on the bottom so you can see the pattern clearly. This is my first Intarsia, in fact it's my first color work. Those of you who can count will note that there are in fact 10 seperate strands of yarn back there. Bobbins? I don't need no freakin' bobbins!

I'm on row 33 of 58, no two rows are alike so I have to sit with the pattern in my lap and check every ten stitches or so. On those occaisions where I have thought I knew how the rest of the row went... I didn't. Knitting back in intarsia sucks fatties, so I've decided to forgo that little annoyance and just do the damn thing right.

A close-up-

It's so pretty! Except for the dog hair on the right there... whatever, you own two Golden Retrievers and not have hair EVERYWHERE I dare you.

I have not added the french knots/stem stitch embellishments, I'll do that once I finish the chart and start on the bottom of the bag. Before I start the chart again on the second side. It actually went much faster that I thought it would, and while it is certainly labor intensive knitting (don't forget to twist, and then when you flip the work over be sure to untangle everything) I find it very rewarding.

Tomorrow, I've got some new stash to flash... including....

My Rockin Sock Club kit! hooray socks!

Socks... why do you tempt me so?

I cast on Cookie's Twisted Flower sock last night in my Yarn Pirate BFL color Celery. I am in between a medium and a large size... large for the ribbing/most of the leg and then down to medium. The Yarn Pirate yarn is in the center of this picture. I don't have a picture of the knitting because a) I'm only two rows into the ribbing... it's very boring and b) well there isn't really a b I guess...



















The reason the size difference doesn't bother me is that Cookie is nothing short of a genius, and the only difference between the medium and large is the needle size. So when I get to the point that I need to size down, I'll just hop down a needle size, and whammo, socks that fit!


I also have my Socks That Rock: Rockin' Sock Club on it's way... I hope... and I can't wait for that one. I peaked at the color over on Biblio's page 'cause I'm a big cheater-head. And, just in time, my ball winder, purchased on Ebay, arrived today. Hooray for balls!


Hopefully some knitting and some pictures this weekend. My progress on the Phoebe has been...mmm... sub-par shall we say?

L&V survey part II

Apparently Blogger thinks my answers are too long... blogger can F*** off... jerks...


7. Do you have a wishlist on Amazon.com or Half.com? (provide a link)
Amazon

8. Any Etsy stores that you would love to get something from?
Yarn Pirate, Ruby 297, White Willow, Fearless Fibers Oh so many... not to mention Lisa Souza or Loopy Ewe

9. What other crafty things are you involved in (quilting, drawing, painting)?
I like to draw and watercolor... I've been toying with some altered book stuff... besides knitting I'm really not that crafty.

10. What is your favorite sort of scent? I *love* lavender. Any high quality scent is fine with me... I hate cheap stuff, yuck.

11. Do you have a sweet tooth and what kind of sweets do you like best? Well I'm destroying a cupcake as I'm writing this, so I'd say yes. I like movie theater candy, like swedish fish and gummi worms. I also really love sour candies... anything sour is cool with me. I'm a little *meh* about chocolate.

12. What kind of music do you like?
I love old music (Think Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James) I'm also into local bands like Pink Martini, Amelia, The Retrofits, Libby Shroeder (okay she's in L.A. but she's from Portland, so she's local) and anything kind of jazzy and pleasant.

13. What do you like to knit? And for whom?
Quite a variety. obviously socks are up there. I'm doing my first sweater right now and I see many more sweaters in my future. If there's a technique out there I'll try it. I knit for everyone. To date I have knit more gifts than things for myself.

14. What sort of things do you like to collect?
Not a collector.

15. Do you want needles? And what kind do you prefer?
I could *always* use more needles. I. want. Options. bad. I realize that if I didn't buy yarn for a month I'd have the Options Set paid for, but *pssh* who doesn't buy yarn? I always drool over Lantern Moon needles. I like metal or wood DPN's and metal everything else.

L&V Swap Me!

Here's my survey for the L&V Yarn Pr0n Swap



1. What kind of fibers do you prefer?
Wool/Alpaca/Cashmere I prefer 100% natural, but acrylic blends certainly have their uses. I like indie/small producers more than, say the Rowans or the Debbie Blisses, not that I'd be mad if I got them.

2. What kind of weight do you prefer (sock, worsted, bulky)?
Lace and Sock mostly. But if you give me a sweater quantity of some really awesome worsted Alpaca... I'm not gonna be mad at you. (Anything is okay, really)

3. Do you spin?
No... I keep threatening to learn (note, I've been threatening to chop my hair off for 5 months now... clearly my threats are empty)

4. Do you crochet?
Nope. I figure someday I will be forced to make some amigurumi... but as of yet... nope.

5. Are there any books, patterns, magazines would you like to own that you don't?
Are there ever. There are a few that I really seriously salivate over, like the Barbara Walker Treasurey (all of it) Anything Elizabeth Zimmerman (except Knitting Without Tears, I have that) I really really really want Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller. I also want Naughty Needles, Folk Socks, and Knitting on the Road... oh there is SO MUCH MORE. See my previous post on the subject as well.

6. Are you participating in any themed a-longs like the Project Spectrum?
Project Spectrum baby... I'm even participating and stuff. I'm signed up for the Poppy-Along... but I haven't started it or bought yarn... so participating is probably a strong word. I'm also Knitting for Dulaan.

To be continued...