Audrey is Finished

I was on a mission last night to get Audrey to a point where I could wear it. And guess who has a new sweater to wear to work today!


Excuse the icky picture. The color is off and the lighting was bad, but that's my bathroom mirror for you.

I stayed up later than I really wanted in order to get it finished. So, I'm a bit sleepy at the moment. Oh well, it's worth it. I have already gotten some great comments on it.

And for a moment of levity, here is a picture of my poor little Nekko-rella. This is the urban version of being forced to sleep in the "cinders" - the radiator.

I'm knittin again

After quite a lapse, I picked up the edging for Audrey again last night. I had given up on it since I couldn't get my head around the pattern repeat. It's a pattern that goes from 12 stitches to 15 stitches and back down to 12 again. For some reason the YOs and K2togs were making me a bit dizzy. I am happy to say that I finally got the gist of it all after about 15 repeats. And look how far I got.



Her's a fuzzy close up of the lace. I wasn't really away this morning when I took the picture. Sorry.



I think I am a little over halfway through. I still have to sew on one sleeve and then the trim. Since I'm at the theatre tonight, I might be able to get most of that done tonight. Gotta love that.

Dazed and Confused

This morning, I am rather out of it. I woke up feeling a bit queasy, which has not really subsided yet. I'm hoping that it will pass soon. Today is looking like a crazy day for me at the office. It's the first time that we will be posing our newly formatted weekly publication. Well, we were up and running last week, but we had that issue ready to go in advance for testing purposes. In case you are really interested, you can read all about the orthopedic industry (exciting stuff, folks) at www.orthoresearch.info.

I have no progress to report from the weekend on ANY of my projects. I was not really feeling very creative for the past few days. In fact, I am feeling a lot like a lump. I think I need a vacation. Right away!

Will this week ever end?

I spent most of this week reinstalling my office computer, soup to nuts. It started Tuesday night with an operating system overhaul. After spending the past few days putting everything back the way it was, I am still not quite up to par with this *$^@^$ machine. But, at least it's better than the hijacked system that I was fighting.

So basically, my level of frustration with this week is rather high. It really reinforces my true appreciation of Macs. When you reinstall a Mac, it generally takes less than 3 days to get it fully functional again. Come to think of it, after reinstalling many Macs in my day, it generally takes less than 3 hours.

Will this week ever end?

I spent most of this week reinstalling my office computer, soup to nuts. It started Tuesday night with an operating system overhaul. I am still not quite up to par with this *$^@^$ machine. But, at least it's better than before.

So basically, my level of frustration with this week is rather high. It really reinforces my true appreciation of Macs. When you reinstall a Mac, it generally takes less than 3 days to get it fully functional again. Come to think of it, after reinstalling many Macs in my day, it generally takes less than 3 hours.

Knitting Into Spring

I think I am a little burned out from the huge project at work. I found myself being less than social for most of the weekend. So I focused my energy into a frenzy of knitting projects.

First of all, I am still trying to decide on something to make with my Blue Sky Cotton. I really love it, but I can't make up my mind. As you can see on my swatch that grew into an entire skein:



I tried all kinds of lacy stitch patterns, but can't really decide. Well, Kind of. I have been mostly thinking about a little Fern and Moss Cardigan:



Well, I can't say that I am 100% sold on this one, either. So I started in on some of th Girl Scout Yarn. I started a pair of the No-Sweat Pants from the latest Interweave Knits.



Well, since it's Sping, and I clearly have the knitting version of Spring Fever, I couldn't just stop with all of that. No. I grabbed the Bernat Denim that came with the Girl Scout Cookies and started designing a little skirt for myself. Why settle for sweaters, socks, hats, scarves, gloves, mittens and, now, pants. Why not try for a skirt.

Make the Snow Stop!

It has been snowing here since Tuesday. The strange thing is there is hardly anything on the ground. Maybe more so outside of the city, but here it is just wet.

This morning, I got to the office to find my computer had been hijacked. Oh, fun for the whole family, let me tell you. Any folder in my Outlook was overtaken by popnav.com. It took at least 2 hours for it to be removed, but not before the computer guy realized that he never installed virus protection on my machine. Do I have to do everything around here!!!!

Well, I am back to normal in the computer world, finally. But, I have a huge project due at the end of the day today, so I have to stop lollygagging and get back to work.

New Project

I mentioned that I want to use the Blue Sky Cotton for a lacy cardigan. Well, I think I have decided that I want to use this lace pattern.



I'm still trying to figure out the style of the cardigan itself. In the mean time, I think I have to get a couple more skeins of the yarn. You know, just to be on the safe side.

This yarn is so very soft. You really have to touch some to know what I'm talking about. When was the last time you used fuzzy cotton yarn. Frequently, cotton yarn is very slick and smooth. But this is almost like working with a cashmere or alpaca.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So, always being the one that has to have a new project on the horizon before the old one is finished, I think I have started a plan for the sage cotton I got last week. I'm thinking about a simple cardigan in a lacy design. Something that is mostly decorative, but somewhat functional. I found a lace pattern that I like, now I just have to put the other parts together. I think I'm getting the hang of this designing thing.

Today, I am going to celebrate my relatively recently discovered Irish heritage. I think I only found out about this a couple of years ago. I suggest that all of you, Irish or not, do the same. Have a big slice of Irish Soda Bread, some Corned Beef And Cabbage and a Green Beer. But please don't try the Irish dancing, a la Riverdance, unless you know what you are doing.

A Little Picture Fun

I am almost finished with Audrey. Yea! I finished the sleeve and started the edging last night.


I had started sewing up the sides earlier, thus the pins. I may be able to have it done by Friday, if I can get a grasp on the edging. I am having a difficult time with the YO, P2tog on every row. With stretchy yarn that sometimes splits, it is a little bit cumbersome.

For a little bit of Kitty time...

George thought he would help me do laundry this weekend by knocking over my laundry bag and settling onto my clothes. I have so many helpers!

Where did the weekend go?

I can't believe that it's Monday again. Why is it that weekends disappear faster than any other part of the week. Well, this weekend was a bit abbreviated for me this week. In any case, I did go to the movies on Friday. If you can, go see Good Bye, Lenin! Yes, it's a 2 hour German film, but it is thoroughly enjoyable.

The idea behind it is: Just before the Wall comes down in Berlin, a staunch socialist woman has a heart attack and goes into a coma when she sees her son being arrested. During the 8 months that she is in the coma, the Wall falls, people flee to the West in droves, capitalism floods East Germany and the Germanys move toward reunification. When the woman gains consciousness, the doctors warn that she cannot have any more shocks or it may kill her. So her dear son recreates the old East Germany for her and convinces people around them to follow along.

The rest of my weekend was spent in the office and cleaning my apartment. Not very exciting, if you ask me - and I was there. I did get some poker in last night. Not as big of a win as in the past few games, but I still left the table ahead of the game.

Not much else worth chatting about this morning. I hope to have more for you later this week, but I am not making promises.

Spring

I promised a picture of my Rectangles Only Poncho



This will be 1/2 of the poncho. I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it last night. I won't have time to work on it or Audrey tonight, or tomorrow or Sunday, Monday, most likely Tuesday or Wednesday. It looks like my social life has emerged from it's cave and didn't see its shadow. Spring is here (despite the weather) and I can't spend all of my time holed up knitting any more.

There is a little bit of sadness in that, but a lot of excitement in getting out of my cocoon. For those close to me, I'm sure you were waiting for me to get back to my usual self. Well, Marney's back with a vengence.

Is it Thursday already?!?!

It amazes me how fast this week has gone by. Most of the office is out at a conference in San Francisco. The rest of us here have been able to get a lot of work done, start new projects and revel in the peace and quiet.

Let's see. Where does that put me with my many projects??? Audrey is about 1/3 through the sleeve. I would post a picture, but that would not be very exciting. I started sewing up the other pieces on Tuesday night. I think it will be fabulous when it is finished.

I jumped into a little of the Girl Scout yarn last night on a whim. There was this uncontrollable urge to use size 13 tree-trunk needles. So I grabbed one of the 6 skeins of the Red Heart Light & Lofty in Pheasant and did a little thinking. I realized that it would make a fabulous poncho. By altering the pattern slightly, I am halfway through with the Rectangles Only poncho from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits. I forgot to take a picture of it this morning. I'll put one up tomorrow. For the size in the pattern, it takes about 1 skein per rectangle.

I love the Girl Scouts

Look what I got today



It's that time of year again. I am always trying to support the Girl Scout in the family.

But the bonus is, the packing materials

Obsessive Compulsive

Does this qualify?



I don't know exactly how many are there, but close to 200. In 2 sizes, 4 colors of wire and numerous bead combinations.

My fingers are a bit sore, though.

Secret Knitter

I had mentioned that I signed up to be a part of the Secret Knitter Group, sending support and appreciation between knitters. Well, despite having information about the person I am supposed to send stuff out to a week ago, I managed to put that in a back corner of my mind...until Saturday. That was when I got this...



It's a great journal. I love it. So, Secret Knitting Buddy, thank you very much, not only for the thoughtful and beautiful gift, but for reminding me that I needed to get off my behind.

So, I spent a bit of the afternoon yesterday trying to figure out what to do for my Knitting Buddy. I did want to get something special and fun. I finally made a trip to Purl in hopes of a little inspiration. I didn't find anything for my Knitting Buddy, but I did indulge in a little inspiration for myself.



This is Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton. I have to say that this is the softest cotton I have ever felt. I think I will try to make a super soft cardigan.

Okay, so my journey was going in a different direction. I was then hit with inspriration. I headed over to my local art store for something to get my creative juices flowing. And that did the trick. I found this...



This is a kit that was marketed for making wire and bead letters. I am not sure why you need to spell things with wire and beads, but apparently there is a market for it. In any case, I used it to make these...



That's right, homemade stitch markers. I was inspired by a fellow S-n-Ber who came to S-n-B with a whole bunch that she had made in order to get rid of some of her over stock of beads.

I don't know if you can tell, but there are 2 different sizes there. I tried to be creative in the color combinations. And it took next to no time, once I got into the swing of it all. In fact, I made about 20 of them in under a half hour. The best part of it is it is really quite fun.

Sorry I was missing

Things have been a bit crazy for me at work the past couple of days. I haven't had a whole lot of time to do much other than work. That means blogging has to go on a backburner.

In any case, I don't have a whole lot to report. I have most of the front of Audrey done. Or is it the back? I don't know, they are both the same. I'll probably have it finished by the end of next week.

So, I have a question that goes back to the whole Super Tuesday/Primaries thing. Why is it that the Primaries are all spread out throughout the year? Why don't they have a Primary day, like they have Election day - one for the entire country? I would think this would be a better way of demonstrating Democracy. After all, any state that has not yet had a Primary this year has no say in the candidate. For that matter, even the 10 states that participated in the last Primary only had 4 remaining of the 9 original candidates to choose from. If there was one day of primaries for the entire country, (1) we would all be able to vote for anyone that was running, (2) have our votes counted and (3) not be swayed by the decision of other states that have already voted. Maybe I'm overlooking something.

Super Tuesday!

I personally don't find this day to be particularly super, but it's early yet. I am not eligable for voting in the polls today as I am not a registered Democrat. Mostly because I don't feel comfortable aligning myself completely with the party. I like to keep my options open. I am also not particularly fond of the bipartisan system, either. I find it to be a bit polar and limited. Basically, I want choices. But in the grand scheme of things, it's not like my vote today would make or break the outcome in the New York Primary. Of course, I am very supportive of those who are eligable to vote. If you can and you are in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island or Vermont, you should.

Not much else to share today. Audrey is crawling along. I can't say that I am 100% sure of the pattern. I have found a couple of errors that may only be issues for the size I'm making, but may cause confusion when I put it all together. I tried to figure out the edging on the top only to have the wrong number of stitches and other problems. I think I'll stick with the other pieces first.

Happy March

At what point does it become egregiously self-congratulatory of the film community to hijack 3 hours and 45 minutes for praise of the industry by the industry? Don't get me wrong, I watched the ENTIRE broadcast of the Academy Awards. Oh, I didn't get into the red carpet, but I watched the whole ceremony. Even after sitting through many Tony Awards ceremonies, in person and on tv, and being economically and emotionally connected to whether specific show bring home the award, I decided long ago that two hours for that ceremony is far too long. So to nearly double that time for an industry that really has more notoriety than it deserves is out of control.

So, at least I put that long stretch of time to goo use. I got through the front (or is it the back) and most of one sleeve of Audrey.


No, I did not do ALL of that in nearly 4 hours. I had a bit of time dedicated to this project throughout the weekend. It just made for a big solid chunk of time that I could spend on Audrey.

As the weather is now getting up into the 60s, it's a good thing I have ventured past the need for wool. Have Imentioned how much I enjoy using Rowan Calmer. It is so nice to work with.