Thursday, April 24, 2008

Beware: Knitting Content Ahead!!

i know...finally, right? it is about time i had some knitting content to show off! before i get to that i must tell you of the Yarn Harlot's visit to Nashvegas! i can't tell you how excited i was to get a chance to see her...in person! she came a couple of years ago during a book tour but at that point i really wasn't reading her blog much and didn't make the effort to see her then. now i totally regret that but thank goodness the wonder publisist got us back on the tour for this year! yeah! so she came on a wednesday to Borders in Brentwood. i left work early and met Learning from Chavah at the McAlister's nest door for some dinner then we went over to Borders. we were there super early to make sure we got good/decent seats. the store cliamed they were expecting 200+ people! because of this they asked that we come early and buy the book and get a numbered ticket for the book signing. this ticket did not guarantee you a seat but it did guarantee that you would get your book signed. so i very sweetly asked dad to stop by early and get us the books and tickets. he very graciously did and we were tickets 31 and 32! so we sat and knitted as people gathered and chatted. then the big event...she was spotted coming it! we were all a twitter! she was in the building! right on time at 7:30 she came out! so exciting!

the podium as too high and she is much shorter than i had imagined!

she spoke for at least an hour. it was hilarious. i wish i had a great memory and could recall some of the funny things she said but i don't.

she signed all of the books of hers that i own! by the way they didn't even use the tickets! we were nearly the last people to have our books signed! arg! you will have to catch her in a city near you for yourself! so worth it! here is her recount of the event! look closely i made the blog!

The week after the Yarn Harlot's visit i started a sock class. the wonderful people of Threaded Bliss (a LYS) have agreed to host a beginning sock class just for me and 2 of the ladies from church! we have horrible schedules and they are working around our silly schedules! i am very grateful for this especially since normal classes are held on the weekends and i work every other! it is a four part class. this first class we worked on the cuff and the leg.

Leigh and Veronica at sock class!

i bought some wonderful Colinette Jitterbug in Jay. it is so pretty! we have another class on saturday and i am ready! i have 2 socks with the cuff and leg completed! ready to turn the heels, see:


i am still on my quest to destash but i am not doing a very good job of it at all! i did however make another baby cardigan out of some stash yarn! here it is:

Stats:

Pattern: Reynolds Utopia #82260, Ruffled Cardigan
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Brites, color: Rose Violet
Needles: US 8s, 13 inch straights
Made for: I don't know yet, just wanted to make it
Timeline: it hs been about a month but i am not sure of the exact dates.

i really did not like this project. i learned a lot though which was really the point. i learned ruffles, 3 needle bind off, and some serious seaming. i am not happy at all with how the seaming came out but i am just going to deal with it. i might at some point do a similar type sweater again and take it to one of the LYS and see if they can show me more effectively how to seam! i also was unhappy with this yarn. i usually like caron simply soft but this time it has a halo like effect that i don't like. not a big fan of the color either! haha it sounds like i really hated this project, but i am really glad i did it ... i just won't be doing it again!

my UFO list has been growing lately so i am taking some time to finish some projects up. the first was that sweater! check that one off! next was getting both socks to the point to where they need to be for class on satruday! check that one off! next is finishing that yellow prayer shawl. here is the progress:

i quit working on it for a little while but am picking it up again to finish! i can't wait for this one to be off my mind and to it's recipient! hopefully i will get it to her by the time she graduates from high school next month! shouldn't be a problem!

there are more things on the UFO list but those are the only ones i am currently working on! hopefully i will get around to finishing more of them soon! i'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Ok Ok I am totally behind on my blogging!

i hope that the very few readers i have will forgive me for my sporadic blogging. i really don't have any excuse either. just haven't gotten around to it. ok so that weekend was wonderful minus the carrie underwood concert. here is how it went down. a friend of mine got the tickets for us and the catch was we had to be with him (a current ETSU student) to get into the venue. so he called me at about 6:15 and said they were going to start letting people in and that we needed to get there. so we were there by 6:30 when they did start letting people in. so we found some seats on the front row of the balcony level. we waited and waited and waited. people were getting so bored that someone started the wave! it was hilarious! so then we waited some more and finally at 8:00 the opening band started. they were aawful! i don't even know their name but i remember that they were from Jackson, Tennessee. they played way more songs than were necessary. after they went off i thought ok they will fix the stage then she will come out...umm not until 9:00!!! i was so over it by this time. we didn't even stay to hear her whole set. she had a horrid outfit on (knee high boots and a tied shirt). at one point she started talking about how the tabliods are always discussing her love life and she said that she was going to tell us her one true love...HER DAMN DOG!! too boot she then sang a love song to her dog! that is when thought it was a good time to get out of there! there are no pictures becuase they said it was per the request of the artist. boo carrie. the only funny part of the evening was when one of my friend's (erin) lost her flip flop over the balcony! it was hilarious! then we couldn't get anyone's attention below to throw it up to us because this happened right as carrie came out. finally my other friend tried to go down there and get it but they thought she was just trying to get on the floor. at one point the fire marshall came by and saw the shoe on the ground, looked up, and realized that it was one of ours and threw it to us! so funny! afterwards we went and got pizza and crashed.

saturday morning i got up and ran to curves and stopped at walmart to pick up some supplies for our PINK FLAMINGO PARTY that was to be that night. see there are 4 of us good friends that a few years ago decided to throw a party for one of our members for her december graduation. we couldn't find any traditional graduation party supplies so we decided on flamingos! they have kind of become our little mascot for our group. we decided the throw a surprise flamingo party for one of the girls that just got engaged (christy). we started out at starbucks just to hang out for a while then moved the party to our favorite resturant: Cheddars for dinner. after we ate, erin and i sped back to the house to light candles and start the music before elizabeth and christy came back. elizabeth distracted christy with fake diarrhea. so funny! so here is our flamingo party in pics!


this was the table scape...it looks like someone vomited pepto bismal everywhere! so great!


this is floyd. he is our mascot. floyd has an attitude all his own but he likes being the center of attention when we have our parties. he lives with erin the rest of the time.


this is christy as she first sees the party and realizes that it is a surprise for her! so fun!


here is chirsty in all of her flamingo garb. pink shirt with i heart pink flamingos on the front and engaged on the back! very cute. she also had a tiara with a flamingo on it, a flamingo bag, and pink boa!


this was the pink strawberry cake we made. elizabeth tried to make a ring in white icing but well you can see it! we also made strawberry daqaris to go with our pink theme.


here is erin!


this is elizabeth and i! aren't we cute?

well it was a ton of fun as you can see! sunday i went to church at one of my favorite churches...cherokee united methodist! it was good to surprise everyone and see them all! i miss that church big time! i headed home after church and made it to knitting barely! more knitting next time. i have a couple of new ufos...i have had startitis lately!