Blast From the Past

This past weekend, my boyfriend and I went to the Historic Adventist Village in Battle Creek, MI. It wasn't voluntary. I needed some credit for this class that I'm taking about the history of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Here are some pics:







It was not too bad. I actually enjoyed some of it, but after 2 hours, and only seeing the welcome center and the home of Ellen G. White, we were starving and it was that time to go. So we headed over to Hobby Lobby to pick up some DPNs (no pic) because the last set kept on breaking, and then we headed over to this Chinese buffet restaurant.

Just to go off topic, have any of you guys noticed that no matter what "ChinaMan" buffet you go to, wheter it's in Florida or Michigan, Maryland, or Mississippi, they all look somewhat similiar? I mean many of them have the same set up, some even have the same furniture, and of course the majority of them have the exact same food items for sale. I figured that maybe there is some kind of Chinese mafia that helps the people that work there get green cards so that they can enter the US and start making money. The only requirement that the mafia places on them is that they start up a restaurant that looks just as how the mafia says, That's just my imagination speaking. Seeing that China is a communist country, not many people are leaving (I don't think) and so maybe the people at alot of Chinese buffets could be Korean, or Japaneese. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Man that last paragraph sounded so ignorant. In my attempt to not offend, I think I might of offended readers of this blog of those particular backgrounds. I'm just trying to show you guys my thoughts, no hard feelings?

Knitting

Now for the real reason why you are here:



My boyfriend is so talented, isn't he? He designed the intarsia motif himself and it was his first time doing this type of technique! Even though we're both knitters, he doesn't do as much pre-planning as I do. I got to make a swatch, wash it, let it dry, check the gauge, find a pattern I like or draw up one of my own then find a stitch pattern I like (yeah, reading this sentence alone gets you tired). My boyfriend, on the other hand, never makes a swatch and if he has to rip it out, he does, no cursing or tears involved. My type A personality when it comes to my knitting is completely opposite to his knitting personality. I guess that's a sign of me wanting everything to come out perfect the first time (that also includes non-knitting things like school work). But I won't be loosening up any time soon.

Back to the hat. The hat is for his 70-year-old aunt who is teaching Native Canadians in northern Saskatchewan. He absolutely adores her and were going to visit her this May. He hasn't seen her in about 10 years or so. It will be an interesting experience.



Yeah, I know I haven't finished these, but the weather in Michigan has been getting so nice that I could not resist working with cotton (I guess in an attempt to quicken the death of winter). The design is my own. I really just wanted to do some lace work with out having to use thin yarn and small needles. Plus, I like knitting garments that are fitted and wearable, so sweaters, tops, and vests are my favorite things. But I do like accesories so hats and socks are cool too.

This week is looking good. Spring break comes after Wednesday, so I'll get 10 days off of school (that includes the weekends). No, I'm not going on vacation. I'm staying put, working at night and doing school work in the day. I know it is a time to relax, but I still have assignments that need to be completed and turned in after spring break. But seeing that it's my normal class load, I won't be breaking a sweat (unless I procrastinate). So pray/wish/grant me the desire to not procrastinate these next 10 days.

This Post Does Have Pictures Because...

The camera is finally behaving. First the yarn from Stash and Burn:



Isn't it pretty? Again, I haven't begun to think about what it shall become. I'm so swamped with school right now, I haven't even been able to pick up current projects.





Pictures from yesterday's presentation at the history department of my school. Yes, I'm wearing my vest! My professors were very impressed with my work. One suggested that I work on the paper a little bit more to submit it over to the Michigan Historical Review for a student papers contest. If I get accepted, not only would my paper get published but also I'll win $1000, and what girl does not want that? Another professor told me in private that I started something very exciting and if I worked on it even more it could become a book in 3-4 years. I thought that would be pretty cool to be a published author some day, but that would mean that I would have to work even harder than usual because the book would all be dependent on my ability to stay focused on getting it done. I'm not saying that I'm going to be turning my research paper into a book someday, but the idea of becoming a history professor did come to mind.



My boyfriend (who took these pictures) expressed to me something that I would like to share with you guys. Lately I've been wanting to return back to Brazil to teach English for a couple months. There is an Adventist University down there and seeing that they do have programs for people that want to be English translators, I figured I could be a teacher's aid there, and I could finally learn a language that I love, Portuguese. Unfortunately, this is one of many ideas (possibly 10) that have come to mind concerning my life after I graduate in May. I keep changing my mind and this frustrates my sweetie because he (as well as I) wants to be apart of my life and wants to have a sure plan that we stay together. He told me something that described my condition to a T.

He said: "You don't believe that you will be sucessful in a career so you're trying to delay actually working as long as possible so you don't have to make a decision. But if you continue doing more school, by the time you get out you will be over-qualified with no experience."

After thinking about it for a couple minutes, I finally agreed with him. I have terrible self-esteem issues, in other words. I'm constantly doubting my abilities and am very critical of my skills and achievements. I guess I saw it as having an attitude of always bettering myself, but maybe I'm being too hard on myself. Understanding what my boyfriend told me does not mean that I don't want to go to Brazil any less. I'm only 22 guys! I don't have any children nor am I married and if I wanted to do something as crazy as go to Brazil to teach English, then now is the time to do so. Afterward, not only would I most likely have a better career plan, but my obssession with Brazil and Portuguese would be satisfied and I could do something else with my life.



I guess another reason why I'm so indecisive about my future career goals is because since the 10th grade, I've been moving around the globe. In the 10th grade I started attending boarding school and I haven't lived at home ever since. I was always living at school or traveling abroad. And unfortunately, the older I have gotten, the less I go home, which sucks because I love my family and wish I could see them more often. In addition to this, being a nomad is fun for the most part, but it doesn't allow you to have strong connections with many people. You end up loosing your old friends to new ones and at a turnover rate of a year, that doesn't look too good on my resume.

It is for this reason that I have signed up for counseling at my school's career and counseling center. I know that I could get through my low self-esteem issues with a little professonal help. Hopefully after Brazil, I will be less indecisive and more focused on staying in one career field for more than 1 year (like I've been doing for the past 8 years of my life).

This Post Would of Had a Picture But...

My computer doesn't seem to want to download the picture I took of the yarn I received from Jenny and Nicole, hosts of the Stash and Burn Podcast last Tuesday. I'll describe the yarn for you now. It is Lisa Souza sock yarn in a colorway entitled "Mars Quake". The colors aren't necessarily something I would pick out for myself but it was free and you can't beat that. Plus I've been wanting to knit with this yarn for quite some time now so when I get to it, I'll tell you all about it.

Another situation that deserves a picture is that my one of my size 1 US bamboo DPNs broke unexpectedly yesterday while I was knitting Monkey. That was the second one too! Now I'm down to three DPNs made out of bamboo and one made out of metal. I know that spells disaster for gauge purposes but I've done this with another pair of socks before and they came out fine. Maybe I need to invest in some metal DPN when they get that small.

In non-knitty news, I'm somewhat nervous about my presentation on my research for tomorrow. All of the professors of the history department and my fellow classmates will be there to hear what I have to say. I just hope I sound professional. In addition to this, I got a letter in the mail this Saturday from Purdue University. Apparently, they've accpeted my paper for the Clement S. Stacy Undergraduate Research Conference and they want me to do a 7-9 minute presentation on my topic. The good news is that I would be able take a day off of work. The bad news is that I now have to worry about being professional in front of total strangers. Well, I have a month to figure it out so I won't worry about it now.

To close, the agenda for this week is survival. I just finished a take home exam, I got another midterm in a couple hours, and I still have several pages to read for two other classes. I'm glad my 17 year run with school (since kindergarten) will be over in less than two months.

An All-American Romance

The picture above is of my boyfriend and I, not of the people in the following story.

My boss (let's call him "Jack" for the sack of this post) is your average, All-American kind of guy. Having a predominately Irish and German background, Jack is very tall and has greenish-blue eyes with dark hair. Jack is always telling us about his childhood, having been 1 of 8 children (I think), and growing up on a farm in Northern Indiana (Yes, he's a Hoosier through and through). Jack, who is about 35 years-old, married, and has 3 children, met his wife when he was a kid. Apparently, she was the girl next door and so he remembers playing with her and becoming very close friends with her. However, romantic feelings were never able to truly develop because when Jack was old enough, he enlisted into the United States Army.

During his time in the service, he had dated many women, but he never forgot about the girl next door. Finally, when he finally got out of the military, Jack returned to his hometown to look for work. Fortunately, his childhood friend was still there, almost as if she was waiting for him all those years. Eventually they began talking and then dating, and finally they got married.

My boyfriend (who works with me as well) told me this story and my reaction was, "Wow! Jack and his wife are like the typical All-American couple!" In which my boyfriend replied, "Yeah, except she's black!"

When my significant other said that statement it made me think. Was he trying to say that it wasn't American to marry someone black if you are white? After careful comtemplation, I had to agree with my boyfriend. It's not American to marry someone of another race. It's more American to be not necessarily a racist, but someone who believes strongly in segregation (wheter it be legalized or not). A typical 21st century segregationist would say something like "I'll be friends with them but I won't date them." WHAT DA FUCK IS THAT SHIT ALL ABOUT!!! People who belive wholeheartedly in the not so currently fabricated "race" sytem and terminology of the United States believe that blacks and whites are as different as say, whales and cockroaches. Obviosly a man from Spain can impregnate a native Hawaiian woman because they are both essentially human, but a cockroach would never impregnate a whale. NEVER!!!

Which brings me to my final point. Just to state the obvious, many of us have mixed heritage (some of you guys have shared your backgrounds with me and I'm very thankful for that). Even if your ancestry is purely European or Native American, there are different types of Europeans (German, Irish, Italian) and Native Americans (Sioux, Cherokee, Iroquois) that have inhabited this part of the world for centuries. At some point in our family tree, someone did the "Un-American thing" and married someone of another race. As a result of all this activity, the country was able to simplify it's racial categories into the present day categories of "black" "white", "hispanic" or "asian." And don't dare claim that your "white" if you have one drop of black blood in you because those who call themselves "white" would not claim you as their own.

So this being the last day of African-American History month in the United States of America, I would like to open the floor for discussion. Have you ever done the "Un-American" thing and dated someone of another race? How did your family feel about it? Did you ever reject dating someone because they were ethnically different from you? Why? Have you ever wished you had the opportunity to do the "Un-American" thing if you've never done it before? Please let me know?

A Lot to Say

Back Tracking

So last post I talked about the need for us knitters to be fiscally responsible now so that we can save for a rainy day or retirement later. I was happy to see some disagreement with what I had to say in the comments over the past couple days. Meg felt that life was too short and we got to enjoy it as much as we can now. I agree with that, to an extent. However, I think Valerie hit the nail on the head when she summed up my "financial seminar" post. Pragmatic. We can't deprive ourselves of essential things like food, water, and happiness. However, we don't have to max out our credit cards to get those feelings of satisfaction we all need. In other words, there is a delicate balance between splurging and self-denial of things that make us happy. Life should be enjoyable and responsible. And I am glad for that. I'm also glad that some of you are doing the responsible act of saving for retirement as well.

Other News

Yesterday, I got to work 30 minutes late, the first time I've ever been late at this job (I've been working there since June 2006). I'm only mentioning this to you guys because on Saturday night I had a dream that I was going to be late for work and loose my job. The following night I had a 5 page book review due so I decided to stay up all night and do that. Needless to say that all Monday I was dead tired. After class got out at 3 pm, I went to bed and made sure I had set my alarm for 4:20, so that I would reach work for 5 pm. When I woke up at 4:59, I wondered why my alarm had not rung. The alarm (which is army in time) said 14:20 (2:20) instead of 16:20 (4:20). DAMN IT!!!! So the whole time I'm driving to work, I'm praying that I won't get fired because even though I hate working there, this job is perfect for my life right now and I don't have the time to look for another one.

Knitting

Enough with the drama. I've been working on 2 socks this week. I mentioned these last week and here are some progress pictures:





The top one is for me and I'm using this pattern. The bottom sock is for one of my friends and it is this pattern. I love this chick's patterns and because I'm burning through stash, it's all good!



Also, I went to Barnes and Nobles this past Saturday and picked up these. The new IK and this new book by a woman named Stephanie Japel aka the Glampyre. It's odd that I'm buying this woman's book because for the most part, I think that many of her patterns are ugly (or rather not for me). This book erases whatever errors she has done in the past. I want to knit almost the entire book! It's all sweaters or tops for ladies and the garments look very professional, which excites me because I could basically knit my whole wardrobe from this book for when I become a professional in an office someday.

Having read her blog from time to time, it fascinates me how many bloggers are beginning professional careers in knitting, whether it be dying or spinning or opening yarn stores or becoming influential designers. It's definetely inspiring to young knitters like myself because it's nice to know that if I work hard enough I too one day can do something like that with my life.

So that's it for today. Tomorrow is the end of African-American history month and I have a special post for that so come back and see!

Views on Stash

As of late, many knit bloggers have jumped on the band wagon of this woman and have agreed to only knit from their stash from January 1 to September 30, 2007 (if you would like to join this KAL, or just would like to know more about it, click here). I think what these knitters are doing is a noble thing. Acquiring some of the stashes that I have seen reported all over the blogasphere requires lots of money and time (two things that I don't have much of right now). The only problem that I have is this: Why does it take a more prominent knit blogger to move the masses in the right direction? Why does it take a KAL like this one to get everyone to do something different? I guess like any society, there are leaders and there are followers, and then you have the people like me I call observers. What type of knit blogger are you? Why do you think of yourself in that way? Please let me know.

I have brought this topic up because lately I've been trying to be fiscally responsible. A week ago I opened up a savings account that will be my emergency cash fund. Once the amount in that account reaches over 6 months worth of living expenses, I'm going to start aggresively paying off my credit card debt (it's not much, but I don't like having that over my head). After that, I'm canceling all but 3 of my credit cards. Two are Gap and Banana Republic cards that my mom loves to use (she has cards of her own, the accounts are just in my name and of course she pays for what she buys) and the other is a major credit card for emergencies ONLY!!! Then I'm going to put them away in my house so that the only cash I have available to me is my debit card. Once my debt is paid, then I can start saving for retirement.

Why did I just tell you guys all that? Because many of us are spending astronomical sums of money on yarn that we may never knit with. Why not use that money you would use to make a purchase for yarn you don't need and put that into a savings account or a retirement fund? You know that if you save only $14,000 from the age of 18 to 26, with an interest of 8% you'd have a million dollars in the bank by the time you retire? And by then, you can have all the yarn you want and then some!

I'm not saying that I don't love yarn. It's exciting to go to my LYS to shop for new yarn and projects, but I'm not going to let something that I do for fun make me end up in the poor house (which seems to be the case with many knit bloggers). Don't be like this podcaster who has to work at her LYS on weekends just to support her yarn habit. I love her show, but her bugeting skills aren't so hot. And did I mention that she's a lawyer? Not to say that all lawyers make madd money, but typically they do bring home some chedda (sorry, "madd" means "a lot" and "chedda" means "money")! I believe that we knitters are guilty of being too indulgent, too easily influenced, and too reckless with what we spend our money on.

Therefore this year, I encourage you guys to knit from you stash, and if you need the support of a community, join this KAL. As for me, I don't need to join this KAL because my motivation is knowing the amount of money I could save for retirement or for more important things like food and shelter.

PS: Though I'm going thru this "yarn diet", I'm still allowing myself to buy books and magazines (I'm no superwoman). And oh yes, sock yarn does count people!

Every Ending Has A Beginning

So I had an incredible weekend. I went to church on Saturday morning (I'm Seventh-day Adventist), which is something that I have not done in over 2 months now. It was nice to see some old people and friends.

On Saturday night, my boyfriend and I went over a friend's house to celebrate his birthday. We had to leave early because we were expecting guest at our apartment, but again, I saw some people that I used to hang out with on a regular. It was nice seeing them too.

Later on that evening, we returned home to receive our guests. They were knitting buddies! I had my first knitting party. I helped my friend make her first pair of gloves (which is great because up till that point all she did were scarves). Even my boyfriend worked on a beautiful hat for his aunt in Canada (a province that starts with an "S"). I'll take a picture of his hat when it is done.

As from pics of the party, sorry I don't have any. My friends don't know I have this blog and I'm not sure if they want their government blown up like that (that's New York slang for "their business all over the place"). I did have alot of fun and we're planning on doing it again this weekend with even more knitters.


Finished Objects

I finally finished my vest:



I love the stripe sequence I've chosen. I plan on wearing this baby in about 2 weeks for a presentation. On March 6, 2007, I'm reading my research paper at a Departmental Assembly for the HIstory department of my school. My research was about the Riots in Benton Harbor, Michigan of 1966. I would link to my paper (which is 18 pages long) but I don't know how to make web pages that can connect to my blog that aren't of blogger (plus I'm not sure if you guys would be interested in reading a paper that long). Still, I'm very excited to share what I learned last semester and I hope that my audience will like what I have to say.

I also finished these gloves:



Very warm and pretty but I'm not sure if I should block them. It's an alpaca and angora blend and I heard that these materials don't have much memory so they'll stretch out and be misshappened. However, I still don't like how they don't lay flat whenever they aren't on my hands. What should I do?

So now I'm starting some socks:



The yarn on the left is going to be some socks for myself (I only have 2 pairs of hand knit socks! I should be ashamed of myself, intermediate level knitter and all). The yarn on the right is for a friend of mine that demanded socks after she had seen the socks I made for another friend. I don't mind. It's all apart of my plan to get rid of some of my yarn, which we'll discuss at a later date.

That's all for now. I procrastinated a lot this weekend so I have 3 papers, tons to read, and a lot of shit to do in just 4 days. I wish I didn't have to work. Just school is a full time job as it is!

I Won!

That's right kids! I won some yarn! There is a new podcast over at iTunes called Stash & Burn and they had a little contest that consisted of simply leaving a comment at their website and a drawing of those individuals was later conducted. Out of all the people that entered, I won. I never expected to actually win anything but let me tell you that podcasts, especially those about knitting, are very good things. Not only are they entertaining, you win stuff too!

No I'm not telling you guys what the yarn is until I have it in my hands. I'll say one thing though--it's sock yarn!

Happy Valentine's Day!

See what my wonderful boyfriend got me? A bouquet of red roses! They are so gorgeous and were a complete surprise. He left for work and the FedEx man rang the door of our apartment literally 30 seconds after he had left. What a pleasant surprise! I haven't been romanced alot in my life so I definetely appreciate that my boyfriend remembers the important holidays.

The History of Black History

This post brought to you in part by http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmintro1.html and http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/ethnic_relig/blckhist.html

Last week when I had my rant, a reader in the comments suggested that Black History month was created by white people who felt sorry for past and present mistakes. This got me thinking about how did this time of year come about. So this is my history side coming out.




Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a son of former slaves, graduated from high school at the age of 22, after spending just two years there. Later on, he enrolled at Harvard University where he earned his Ph D. (most likely in history). Disturbed by the fact that many of the historical text books he read had little to no information about the stories of black Americans, Woodson set out to change all that. In 1915 he created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History). A year later, this organization began to publish the scholarly journal entitled Journal of Negro History.

Then on February 12, 1926, Dr. Woodson did something radical by dedicating a week in February to Black History. Woodson chose this week out of the year because he wanted to honor the birthdays of two men who he felt were important to the advancement of black Americans (Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas). It was called Negro History Week and was created to give national attention to this particular minority group at the time (I hate the word "minority", seeing that collectively, minorities outnumber the "majority". Plus it gives an idea of inferiority past the superficiality of numbers, but I digress).

The story ends when in 1976 the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History instituted the month-long celebration of black history.

So whenever someone tells you, "Why do we have a month just for black history?" You can tell them to read this blog post.

Something Related

I don't want to bore you guys with my history complaints. This is a knitting blog after all. However, I have to respond to a comment that Deborah left from my rant last week. She had some interesting things to say. Basically she said that not only are we segregated as a people but even our study of people is segregated. This is true not only for African-Americans, but for all kinds of other groups in the United States. College campuses all across the country have courses that focus on all kinds of people from Spanish speakers to women. However, the stories of these individuals are still largely excluded from mainstream textbooks (this is my interpretation of what Deborah said). I would suggest that maybe if we integrated our histories into one textbook more often, then integrating ourselves wouldn't be so hard? Maybe I'm being too idealistic? What do you think about what Deborah said?

Knitting

I know that this post is long, but I didn't want to have a whole week of Black History rants and have not much knitting content. I'm still working on my vest pattern. I'm finding that it's somewhat big for me, but maybe when I block, it will shrink a bit. In terms of me pattern writing, this book has helped me out alot and I honestly feel that I'm not copying someone else's work. So I'll keep you posted on that.

No Title

I would just like to thank you guys for the discussion. Just by reading your comments, I learned so much about you guys. For example, I didn't know that you guys had ancestry in Lithuania, or a Turkish background, or an Asian mom (I have not linked to your blogs because I'm not sure if you would like that info to be shared with other people). It just goes to show that if we just dig a bit deeper, we can learn so much more about who we are as people and come out smarter than before. Saying "I'm white" or "I'm Native American" is not enough for me. I want to know that you're Cherokee, or part Jewish with a bit of Italian. I love how mixed up I am (African, British, Dutch, Portuguese, Carib and Arawak Indian) and I'm sure you guys appreciate your past as well. For those of us that are ashamed of that, don't be. Rejoice in the diversity that is the United States, no matter how much the media tries and tell you that immigrants are taking over this country. Immigrants have been doing that since the British (the first set of immigrants) establish Jamestown (a colony in Virginia) in 1607!

Back to the Knitting

So my wonderful boyfriend got me a subscription to this wonderful publication. Isn't he sweet? I'm also hard at work on the vest that unfortunately I dont' think I could make a pattern out of for publishing here. It is mainly because one of the yarns I'm using is scrap from Argentina, and they don't have ball bands on their stuff so I'm not even sure what fiber content there is or how many yards I have of it. Also, I just can't wrap my mind around pattern writing while making the math work out for me. I wish there was some kind of class at my LYS that teaches how to write patterns. Maybe there's resources online, but I would prefer to be with a real person teacher. Maybe clothes is too complicated for me and I should start with something smaller. I don't consider myself to be a fashion designer (hell, I haven't gone shopping in like 6 months now). Still, I would love to one day write a pattern up, even if it is a simple one, for you guys to knit. Besides, patterns get your name out there. Ever heard of Saunshine? She just came out with this little number too.

Black History Rant

WARNING: NO KNITTING CONTENT FOLLOWS!!!

This month is February and so that means it's African-American History Month in the United States. I have many things to say about this time of year and I figured why not tell you guys.

For the past 500 years, the history of the Western Hemisphere has been a clash of different peoples from different places. Some from Europe (by curiosity, or for more riches, or to spread the word of God), some from Africa (most likely by force), and some that were already here (Indians, or as I like to call them, Indigenous people). Years later, as a result of these clashes, countries were formed and more different people started to come. Some from China and Japan (they went to places like Cuba and Brazil). Some from India (most of them went to Jamaica and Guyana), and even more Europeans (like Italians and Germans that went to Argentina and the United States).

Presently, we live in a world in which race is paramount to describing not only how you look, but who you are as a person. This bothers me to no end because even if the assumption of me is a positive one, it's just an assumption, not a fact. Basing the personality or characteristics of a person on their physical features is poor judgement and leaves the observer less knowledgeable of that individual than before they even saw them.

Recently, the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Dungy, became the first African-American to lead his team to the Super Bowl and win the big game. This is great and all, however, when does Tony Dungy stop being African and start being called just "American"? When does someone stop being Chinese-American and can be simply called "American". Not to be cynical, but why do those that identify themselves as "white" are the only ones allowed to be non-hyphenated "Americans".

What we need is a re-evaluation of who we are as a people and how we all got here (Americans) so that we can properly name ourselves. Though I was born in America, the culture I grew up in was Guyanese, yet in some applcations, the only option I have is to be "black" or "African-American". The reality is that my skin is not black, I've never been to Africa, and the only thing American about me is my birth. It's not enough to say "I'm Black" because it is vague. There are "black" (I call them, "people of African descent") people in Columbia, Haiti, and Brazil. And though they do share a common ancestor, "black" people from these countries do not share the same culture. They don't even speak the same language!

So where am I going with this? What am I trying to say? I think it's important to know where you come from. I also believe that it is necessary to look at the past objectively, and not blame present-day descendants of people who have done bad things to your ancestors in the past. Let's all not allow diversity to be a dividing factor, but a means to mutual respect, genuine interest in each other's cultures, and a learning experience for all involved.

So, what do you guys think? I would really like to know. And don't be afraid to not agree with me on this one. I figured that this blog was the perfect place to get my message out there.

My Weekend

COLTS WON BABY!!!!!





Did I mention that if I wasn't dating Nathan, I'd be dating Bob Sanders (man kissing trophy) in a heartbeat (just kidding sweetie!) Just had to get that out of my system. Now for the weekend report.

It still looks like this:



It got so bad Saturday morning that the power kept flickering on and off. Fortunately I got baked this:



A chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for my boyfriend's brother (it was his 23rd birthday)



I finished one side of the alpaca gloves:



Got tired of knitting this:



Ripped it out and began this:



A stripey vest (or if I have enough yarn, a 3/4 sleeve sweater). I'm hoping that if this pattern goes well, I'll publish it as a freeby.

Now there is school to go to. Though there is still alot of snow on the ground, the roads are clear, and I must go.

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.

Short Christmas Message

I know most of you are away from a computer right now and more invested in family and friends, which you should. However I would like to personally wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (and if you celebrate something else around this time, I hope that you have a Happy Holiday as well). Right now I'm in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, a city 1 hour north of Toronto. I'm with my boyfriend's family and they are so cool. I love coming by to see them. Today is Christmas Eve Day (the day before Christmas Eve) so today we're just going to see some friends, wrap some presents, and bake some cookies.

And of course knit a bit. Today we'll be working on this hat that my boyfriend finished back in September. He lost hope in it after trying it on because it was too small. I told him it was very easy to fix and that I will help him. Well that was 3 months ago. He hasn't knit anything since (he doesn't like to knit more than one thing at a time). So now that my boyfriend, who use to be an enthusiastic knitter is feeling down on his skill, I must now rescue him to ensure that he is as fanatical about knitting (if not more) than me. I'm doing this for our future, people!

Anyway, from Cananda, Season's Greetings, Happy New Year, Feliz Navidad (Espanol), Feliz Natal (Portugues), Joyeaux Noel (Francais), and Happy Knitting!

Holiday Tips

There are only 5 days left before Christmas. Are you ready? I know many of you are knitting Christmas presents this year (or Chanukah or Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you celebrate this year) and maybe the pressure is getting to you. Here are my knitting holiday tips.

1) Instead of giving everyone you know a handknit item, reserve them for special individuals or for someone you know would appreciate it. Nothing is more of an ego booster to a knitter than a receipient of their knitted goodness actually appreciating and then wearing the garment they've knitted.

2) Keep items small. Think hats, mittens, toys, baby booties. If you must knit something big, knit it for someone close to you like your mother or husband and make sure you have plenty of time to do it (yeah this would have been more useful 6 months ago).

3) Don't cry and complain about knitting for others. You placed it on yourself to knit 10 scarves with lacey details for all of your family.

4) If you're one to ruin a holiday because you're more concerned about getting everything done in time for the big day, you're missing the point of this holiday season. This is the time to relax and enjoy family and friends. If you find yourself overwhelmed, step back from the knitting, grab a cup of hot chocolate, and chill out with some loved ones.

5) Some great last minute gifts (and I mean the day before) are baby items or really small ornaments to hang on a tree. These wrist warmers are also great and can be made in many colors to fit everyone's tastes.

6) If you are half way done through a project and you know you won't finish it in time for Christmas, go out to the store and buy something else for that person. They don't have to know that you are knitting a sweater (or rather that you failed to get it to them in time for Christmas). By gifting them something else, you'll have more time to finish that sweater/hat/mitten/whatever and can get it to them next Christmas or for their birthday.

7) Instead of knitting for your family and friends, why not give your knitted goodness to people that actually need it. The Salvation Army, Good Will, or any other local charities in your area are a good place to start. International relief organizations would except your gifts as well.


I hope that these tips helped you guys put things more into perspective. Remember that there is more to Christmas than knitting. There's house cleaning and cooking too. So when Christmas day comes, if you have everyone's present all wrapped under the tree ready to go, great. But if you didn't finish a sweater for your Aunt Mary or didn't have enough time to complete a hat for your mother, don't stress over it. Have an alcoholic beverage, relax with your family, and act like a kid again.

Cookies and Needles

So I know it is Tuesday but I wanted to tell you guys about my weekend. I baked some cookies:



The recipe is found here and they are called Jam Thumbprint Cookies and they are delicious. Though the recipe calls for raspberry and apricot jam, I also used some blackberry jam. And if you don't like any of those, you can substitute with your favorite jam like orange marmalade or strawberry. The recipe is super easy but the result is very hollywood (at least in my opinion). I can't stop eating them.

I also managed to finish the second baby sweater for my co-worker.



This and the smaller version shall both be delivered this Thursday.

I have finally started a sock for my mother.



I'm using Elisabeth Lavold Silky Wool in a deep eggplant. I like the yarn but I'm not sure if the stitch pattern I've chosen would stand out. I know I don't want to do a plain stockinette stitch mainly because I'm craving for something more complicated and fun. I'm thinking cables but not a common stitch (I've done enough of the divide some stitches in half and switch them on the needle. Very nice but very boring). Any suggestions?

It's Finally Over!!!

So Wednesday I had my last final for the semester. I didn't get my report card but I got enough feedback from my teachers to know that I past all of my classes this semester. One wasn't so hot of a grade ("C") but it was a general education requirement and a "C" is the minimum you need to past the class. I could care less right now because everything is done and I could now focus on the Christmas knitting.

But before we enter that realm of craziness, I present to you the semester socks:



Made out of Trekking XL, I used Clover Bamboo size 1 US needles. I call them "Semester socks" because they took me this whole semester to make them. I really only knitted these socks in 2 classes and sometimes I brought it to work with me but more often than not, I was in class with these socks. Nothing special. Simple stockinette with a simple pattern (I got help from this book). About the colors not matching, I could care less about that too. When it comes to self striping in socks, it doesn't matter to me that they don't match. I'm more happy that I have a pair of hand knitted socks.


Sock Woes

So I love handknit socks. I've never knitted them with anything but wool so I don't know how other fibers would feel on my feet. Though in the winter time wool socks are superior to cotton, I find that if you wear wool socks in a work environment where you are walking and moving about a lot, your feet start to sweat and I don't like how the socks feel on my feet anymore. Does this ever happen to you guys?

So I've decided that it doesn't make sense to wear wool socks in doors. They are best suited for frolics in the snow or when you're going to be at home relaxing. My socks are special to me and I like to wear them as long as I can, you know.


Stripes Again

Question: Do you think that changing the stripe sequence on the sleeves of this sweater is a good idea? Here's a pic:



This is the second sweater I'm making for my co-worker. I have another week to finish this but I think I'll be done with it by Saturday (If I stay faithful to it that is). The reason why I changed the stripe sequence is because I had to weave in so many ends for the body and I didn't feel that all those weaved in ends would look good in a small sleeve for a small toddler sweater. In other words, I got lazy.


Christmas Knitting

I know a lot of you guys are giving handknit gifts this year. I love knitting for my family. It gives me an opportunity to be creative with my gift giving. Plus it keeps me away from crazy holiday shoppers in the mall. I love that I don't have to go to a busy, crowded mall for gifts. I just head over to my quiet, close to home LYS, shop for yarn at my leisure, and actually have a conversation with other shoppers about things that I care about, like yarn and knitting. Holiday knitting can be stressful but I think because the whole process of knitting, from buying the yarn, picking a project to match the recipient, to knitting and finishing the item is relaxing.

Unfortunately, I won't be home for Christmas. I'm going to my boyfriend's parents in Canada to celebrate. I'm no wear near done with the knitting (3 more baby sweaters, and something for my parents) and Christmas is only a week and some days away. Seeing that I'm going home in January 2007, I figured I could just give my presents to my family then. That way I'll have more time to knit them, less stress this holiday, and as a bonus, I'll be able to see their reactions to the gifts. I'm sure they'll appreciate them (at least in front of my face!).

So that's all for now. As always, happy knitting!

Studying

Thanks for all the comments about my sweater. I love making sweaters. No matter how long they take me (usually 2 months), I still love the fact that I have a garment that I could wear and not just put around my neck or on my head. What pushes me to finish a large project like a sweater is the day that I could actually wear the sweater.



No that is not a picture of me but that is how I will look for the next few days. This week is finals week and so if you don't hear from me in a couple days, you know why. You can find me under a sea of books, papers, pens, and of course my laptop.

Thankfully, this will all be over this Thursday.

CPH: Done

Here are some pictures of my finished CPH:

Front




Back




Closeup




I'm very proud of this little number. It is the first cardigan I knitted for myself and the second sweater of the year (the first was a purple disaster back in April). The sweater is incredibly warm. I sewed on the buttons on Wednesday night and have been wearing it ever since. I chose yellow buttons because they were so cheerful and and matched the color of the sweater very well. After 2 months I finally have a cardigan that I can see myself wearing everyday this winter (or at least till I make another sweater in another 2 months).

Now I'm off to the Christmas knitting. I still haven't started my mother's socks nor the sweaters for my twin nephews. If I have time, I might even through in another sweater for my 6 month niece (I made a sweater for her in June but hadn't gifted it yet and I believe it's too small for her now) and possibly some Fetchings to go with my little sister's pink wavy scarf.


News Flash

Just to let you all know, the new Winter 2006 edition of Knitty is out. I knew that it was bound to come out soon. Ever since December started I've been checking out the site several times a day. I haven't browsed the the site yet but I definetely will and probably tell you my favs and not so favorites in a later post.

As always, happy knitting, especially to those of you in very cold, snowy areas of the worlds.

No Clever Title

So I wanted to post yesterday but I forgot to take a picture of my wet CPH. Now it is in my apartment blocking (my boyfriend didn't like the fact that my wet sweater was on his dry floor). I don't have a picture of it but I did finish the actually knitting of my CPH. Now all there is to do is wait till it dries, sew on the buttons, and try it on. Can't wait!


Career

Sunday was my best friend's birthday and she told me some exciting things about her career path. She has an associates in accounting and is working on a Bachelors. I'm so proud of her but when it came to my job report, it was dull. I told myself that I was going to continue school after my May 2007 graduation to get an MBA (that way I can defer my loan payments). I was thinking I could just stay in dull ass Michigan and keep working in the warehouse that I only make $8.50 in (great for a poor college student, not for a woman with a yarn addiction and a college degree). She has finally convinced me to stop downing myself and my abilities so I'm looking into getting a higher paying job in six months that requires me to use my skills like speaking Spanish.

Lately I haven't been practicing Spanish and they say if you don't use it, you'll loose it. My experiences traveling were valuable enough but they would more profitable to me if I could get paid to do what I love. So wish me luck on the job front. I think I'm going to start applying now and see what happens.


Blocking

Now back to the knitting. When I blocked my CPH on Sunday, I realized how similiar wool is to my hair. Six month ago when I had the 'fro, I would sometimes try and go for a more put together look by slicking my hair back into a ponytail. Now for a neat ponytail, I had to go through a process in which I would wash my hair the night before, then put some hair product (usually coconut oil or gel) to keep my hair in place and then tie a cheap $1 satin scarf around head very tightly so that as I slept at night, my hair wouldn't look sloppy the next day. The next morning I would wake up to smooth shiny hair and feel proud that I actually took the time to fix my hair up that day.

Now how is wool like what I just described? Well, whenever you block a sweater, you have to make sure that it dries in the way you want it to and the only way to do it is by moving it around to the measurements you want it to be (length, bust, etc.). Once you have the shape you desire for the garment, you just leave it there to dry and try not to move it until it is dry. In other words, my hair is the sweater, when wet it is blocking, with some gel or coconut oil and a head scarf, I set my hair just like with a sweater you squish small or stretch it out for a certain look and keep it flat on the floor for stability in its drying season.

Just a thought I wanted to share with you guys.


Extra Tidbit

I almost forgot. Last post alot of you guys were interested in the yarn that I used for my "hooker socks" aka very tall socks. I bought it in August at Stitches Midwest in Chicago from the WEBS booth. The yarn is called "Primo" from Filatura di Crosa and I got a good deal on them (about $2.50 a ball). I'm also using some Debbie Bliss in the same weight and some left over black yarn from Argentina. Unlike many yarns that have muted, subdued colors, these Primo colors are vibrant and rich in pure color. The yarn is squish and soft and maybe they're at WEBS on sale. If you're interested in making something out of them, send them your money and get some lovely yarn. They yarn is basic but it's still cool to me. They are also machine washable so they can withstand pretty much anything.

That's it for now. It will be snowing all week in Michigan and the temperature will not get higher than 25 degrees. Man, I got finish my socks!