Winter Nightmare

The weather outside is frightful...







We definetely do not have one of these inside of the apartment...



So I'm making a pair of these:



Simple design from the Ann Budd series of patterns in a book. I've been trying it on as I go and realized last night that the fingers are too short, so I'm going to have to rip them out. I don't mind. This project is lightening fast and damn there easy. If only I didn't have so much homework...

Some More Hats

I have carefully reviewed what you all have said about the hat/pattern situation and after thinking about it, I felt that I would be taking the credit for something I really just arranged. I wasn't being a designer, I was being a improviser. I didn't like how that sounded, so I'm not puting up the instructions for how to make that hat on my blog. I think the first pattern (and matter fact, all the patterns) I publish on this blog should be something that I created, not something I copied.


Hat City

So remember that my boyfriend is a knitter and he was knitting on this hat? Well he finally finished it:



Sorry I don't have a picture of him wearing it but I'm so proud of him and he seems to be very happy with the result. Did I mention that he designed this hat all by himself? He never swatches either, but he is so creative. Unfortunately, my boyfriend doesn't knit as much as I do because he's always busy with school work, but I love the fact that he loves to knit and wishes that he had more time for it.

This is another one of these, but this time I did it on the proper needles size (US 11) so that it would fit my head.



Just to let you know, it does not fit my head, in fact, it's too big. Then I realized that I didn't like how the decreases at the top looked on my head. So in the end, this pattern was fun to knit, but not fun to wear. Don't you hate that?


Confession

So I haven't knitted anything for the past week. Mainly because like my boyfriend, I'm swamped with school. Plus I'm feeling a bit apathetic toward finding a new project. I'm still working on these stockings and I have a scarf project that really is not a scarf project that I care to finish this year (it's just something I pick up if I don't have anything else to do in my apartment I don't in habit). Truthfully, this weekend it's going to have to be all about the homework because I've been procrastinating and I feel really guilty when I choose to knit and my homework is no where done. In other words, in order to truly enjoy knitting, I have to finish my homework. And for knitting, that's a sacrfice I am willing to take.

New Hat

So remember this? Well it became a hat because I was running out of yarn fast. What do you think? Personally, I love the hat! It fits my head pretty snug and I like that my first intarsia project came out looking good. Here's a close-up of the pattern.



I finished this baby on Sunday night and wore it to work the next day. Many of my co-workers liked it and were amazed when I told them that I had made it. My boyfriend suggested that I place the pattern for it on my blog. At first I thought that would be a great idea but then I thought that many of the ideas for this hat weren't mine. Like the intarsia motif and the manner in which the hat was made (I got help for the decreases at the crown from this book).

Still I like the hat and it was my first time doing intarsia and I think I did a pretty damn good job. So my question is if you recognized that you "borrowed" alot of the style elements of a piece you designed, can you really call it your own or are you a cut-and-paste kind of designer? I know that if you've been reading this thing from the beginning you would find out that one of the things that I would like to start doing for this blog is designing patterns and publishing them here. So let me hear your take on this situation. Is is copyright infringment? Would I be stealing? You decide.

I'm Back!

I know it's been a long time since we've last talked. Here's a short run down of what happened while I was gone.

1) Last week classes started so I had to get organized fast.

2) This past weekend I went to New York to celebrate my parent's 25th wedding anniversary. It was a formal gala with many family members (most of them I forgot their names but can I get points for remembering their faces?).

3) Returned to Michigan with a shit-load of homework to do (homework and spending time with family don't seem to mix very well).

4) The wireless router in the house shut down so I'm typing this on my boyfriend's PC (not my beautiful Powerbook).

5) Oh yeah, and I haven't knitted anything since Thursday.

6) Yes I'm going thru withdrawl from not knitting in such a long time. Today, I found myself making the motion of knitting something without having any project in my hand while I was reading!

8) I read all of the comments that you guys left and believe that I will implement some of your suggestions (like signing up to bloglines and getting a hit counter). I like organization, but it may have to wait till the weekend (when I'll have more time).

7) Last, but certainly not the least, I've been published.

Just Wondering

You ever wonder how many people read your blog? I know all the blogs you see on my side bar I check almost everyday. I don't think any of them have a ticker to show how many people have accessed their site or anything. Whenever I talk about it with my boyfriend, he always tells me to base it on the amount of comments I get per day. He says that at least 10% of blog readers leave comments. The most comments I've ever gotten (excluding myself) is 8 and it is from this post I wrote awhile back. So if 8 people posted that day, does that mean that 80 people read my blog that day? In reality, on average I get about 3-- 4 comments (no I didn't actually do the math, that's a guess). So does that mean that about 30 -- 40 people pass by to check on my knitting and my life everyday? I don't know.

I guess what I'm really saying is that this blog is a public journal that I keep intimate with a couple of people due to the fact that only a couple of people comment on a regular basis. It would be great if more people would like to come apart of the circle of commentors but it's not a factor in how I would write this blog or if I would continue writing it. Frankly, I don't think more comments mean more readers (or Internet Friends as I like to call them) just more comments. Sometimes people make 2 or three comments a day (like on this blog) which can fill up a comments section very fast. Truthfully, I'd still write even if no one reads this thing.

So to solve my inquiry, I would just like for anyone who reads this post today to leave a message in the comments, just so that I get an idea for how many people read this thing. And if you feel more comfortable writing in Spanish, don't worry. Te entiendo (I'll understand).

My Goodies

As promised, what I got at the yarn store last Sunday:




From left to right, Cashsoft DK from Rowan (don't know the color), a ball of Kidsilk Haze from Rowan in Shade 9241, and a skein of The Great Adirondack Yarn Company, Inc. in the Soxie Cancun colorway.

My two favorites are the sock yarn and the Kidsilk. It's pretty expensive ($9, and that's the sale price) but the yarn is to die for. This yarn is perfect for next to skin wear like a scarf or some gloves even. Very delicate and girly. Every time I rub it on my neck, I purr like a cat and simply melt like butter. The sock yarn is my favorite too because I love the colors. Deep purple with a splash of tropical turquoise, bright yellow, and neon green. The orange (more like peach) yarn will become this hat.


Intarsia Freak

Here is what I've done so far with my New Year's Knit-Resolution:






The hat was done in a day. Unfotunately it's too small for an adult's head so I'm giving this to my boss so that he can give it to his son. I used size 10 US instead of size 11 because I didn't have any and I'm a loose knitter anyway, but my assumptions didn't work. When it comes to things fitting, I'm not stressing over a hat. If it doesn't fit me, I'll give it away. However, a sweater for me, is another story. I take my time with the swatch, wash it, and then measure it to make sure everything is perfect before I even start to knit. Sweaters are special to me. I don't want to F' those up.

Back to the hat. I'm sure you guy's have seen the pattern. Very easy and very fun.

The second picture is a baby sweater that was originally designed for a 9 inch bust teddy bear. The pattern can be found here. I altered the pattern by adding 11 inches to the bust making it 20 inches around so that it fits a human baby. Also, I might have to make this a vest because the original pattern is a sweater, but I only have 2 balls of yarn. If I still don't have enough to make a baby sweater out of it, I'll just turn it into a hat and give it away if it doesn't fit me (even though I totally love the design).

Truthfully, I like giving hand knit things away. It's refreshing to my soul and clears my stash for new yarn. Giving away your knit items is like purging junk out of your house (though the knit items are never junk no matter how awful they look). Someone's trash is always someone else's treasure.

I've Been Taged

Last week, I was tagged by the editor of this fine publication. Lately, this "Six Weird Things About Me" MeMe has been floating around bloglandia and since I've been tagged, here's my contribution to this useless yet entertaining ritual.

1) I absolutely love watching infomercials. I especially love laughing at the horrible acting and how the marketers make it seem as if you really need their product. My favorite kinds are the ones that sell useless kitchen gadgets or excercise programs/equipment.

2) I have a keen sense of smell. So much so that certain smells take me back to very specific moments in my life. I can't explain it now but if you're around me and I smell something familiar, I will tell you in the middle of our conversation, even if it has nothing to do with what we are talking about.

3) I start to itch whenever I see or even think about lots of small holes that were stabbed in wooden surfaces. I get the same feeling about small bugs crawling around in a small area like ants.

4) I'm a meat eater that does not eat much meat. I live with my boyfriend and his brother, who is a vegetarian so we don't really cook a lot of meat. Even when we go out to eat, I don't eat many meat dishes either.

5) Even if I go to bed as late as 3 am, I'll still wake up between 8 am and 9 am. Maybe after years of cramming for mid-terms and staying up all night to finish homework, my body needs less sleep.

6) I hate being called "African-American" simply because I've never been to Africa and nothing about me is African. "Black" is also too harsh because it makes it seem as if people who identify themselves as "White" are complete opposites of those who identify themselves as "Black". I know that many of my ancestors were African, but my culture is Guyanese, not Sudanese or West African. Personally, I think we should all be allowed to be called "American" without hyphens.

So thats my contribution. TAG! YOUR TURN!

Happy New Year

I know it's a day late, but my New Year's was pretty uneventful. I didn't get drunk like most of the world did (personally, I don't like getting very drunk, just tipsy once in awhile) and me and my boyfriend went to bed at 10:30 after watching a boring Chicago Bears' game.

The weekend was very well spent though. We went on a road trip to a far away mall because I wanted to and I got some pretty yarn at a LYS in Indianapolis (pictures of what I got later). The store is HUGE. I don't know how they afford the rent on such a large store but they had tons of people in there (it was an end of the year sale). The store provided shopping baskets from a local drug store for patrons to hold their yarn in while they shopped. They had a big screen TV there too so as soon as football came on, my boyfriend sat right on the couch in front of it (though he's a knitter, he's still a man who loves football). I even kept on budget (under $50) and I left the store happy and proud of myself.

We continued the day at the local mall and made some purchases. That evening we came home and ate a big homemade dinner. Yesterday we got some much needed housework done (Spring Cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.). We ended the day with another big dinner and some champagne to celebrate the new year. I even made some of this bread.

Today it's back to reality and my work. I know this post sounds boring, but I wanted to give you guys an update on my life.

In the Spirit of the Holiday...

I have a New Year's resolution for my knitting. I feel as if I've been knitting simple stockinette items for the past year. Though they look beautiful, they don't stretch the imagination or keep me entertained for very long. So I've decided that I'm going to do something I've never done before -- Intarsia. I've done colorwork before (stripes) but nothing that could amount to a picture on my knitting or an intricate design. I'm just afraid that I might fail at it so I haven't tried it yet. But there is this one pattern that I'm dying to try and would love to make one day. Not only does it have Intarsia but it has steeking too! So once the Christmas knitting is done (yeah I only have one sock left for my mother) I can focus on more challenging projects.