ok, so i suck at blogging...

actually, i don't really. what i suck at is time management, a historical problem for me, but lately just a bitch.

work is in full steam right now. Q3 is upon us and in advertising, that means its the Holiday season already. We'll be rolling at this hellish pace until mid-November when work comes to a screeching halt until mud January.

On top of that, b/c I am a crazy person, I decided to go back to school. I'm taking courses at the Hunter College School of Social Work which is a graduate level only school. One course only this semester. Thank god, b/c I have to read about 100 pages per week and we had a paper due on the second class. After not having been in school for 12 years, this is one hell of a scary ride. But it will help me decide if I want to apply to the school on a matriculated basis. This is a school that has about a 15% or less acceptance rate and a fairly high drop-out rate b/c the program is hell. If you go full time, you start clinical rotations 3 weeks after classes start. For 21 hours a week, you get to help people when you are still so new you are convinced you will do more harm than good. But that's to decide later.

And the knitting continues. One reason I haven't been able to post is b/c a major project I am working on is actually a present for someone who reads this blog. I've run into an issue with one part of the project, so chances are I may send the completed portion as a good faith symbol.

Since I always work on multiple projects at once (the train project, the mindless tv project, etc), I have been working on a sweater. It is based on a sweater that a character on CSI:NY was wearing. I saw the sweater and hit pause on the Tivo in order to start squealing.

Here's what it looks like:


It pretty cool b/c I knit the back first and then the sleeves and the curved front get knit as one. Now I have to seam it up and then do the shawl collar. The collar will require a massive amount of short rows to achieve the look I want and so this will be a coffee house project.

I can't wait until its done b/c it needs to come with me to two places.

The first is the Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck on October 20th. For knitters, this and the Maryland fair are sort of the Meccas. We look forward to it all year and of course, we always wear our best hand knits. We'd like to say its all about showing pride in our work and sharing our ideas, but really, its also a bit about oneupmanship. I'll admit it, I want to see envious looks towards my sweater!!!

But its the second destination for this sweater that really excites me. And its a bit bittersweet one for me.

I'm headed to Europe for my birthday this year. 4 days in London, where I will meet up with some friends. I will go be a silly tourist and a champion shopper. There is a store there that specifically carries boots for women with wide calves. and those suckers are HOT!!!

But from London, I will be taking the Eurostar over to Paris. And this is the bittersweet part. This is my first real trip to Paris (passing through on a train from Italy to London in 1994 does not count). But this is also the trip that I was supposed to go on with my mom last year for my birthday. In fact, we talked about it the day before she died.

Last year I couldn't take the trip. Not only was I still emotionally raw, I was broke. Paying my rent and her mortgage was too much for me. I ended up using all of her retirement money. The house wasn't selling. And then there were the fun legal fees of the probate lawyer.

But the house has finally sold, all my bills are paid off (read: student loans) and so this year, I'm taking the trip that I always promised myself. I finally going to Europe not to visit family, but rather to spend time discovering a wonderful city and wandering around and hoping to get lost. It would have been wonderful to go with my mom, but she would be happy that I'm getting this chance.

almost 3 weeks wiothout blogging! i am a bad, bad, bad blogger

but its because i actually went on vacation.

more on that later, but today's post is to wish Sarah Olivia a very happy FIRST birthday!!!!!


yayyyyyyyyyyy (please picture kermit screaming like a lunatic when you imagine me saying this)

so i just realized that all the work I went into posting over the weekend was for naught. since blogger didn't save it.

well, shit...

when i'm at work, i remember that i need to post some pictures, but of course i left the CF card at home. at home (which I have seen little of this week due to one birthday party and many more insane nights at work) all i do is collapse and totally forget to post.

so, i will just say this.

i have too much yarn. i will provide photographic evidence of this over the weekend. but i have enough yarn currently bagged and tagged for almost 10 projects. a shawl, 5 pairs of socks, fingerless gloves (up to the elbow with a cute cable pattern), a tank top, a nightgown, and a fall/winter sweater. then there is the yarn that hasn't been tagged for any particular project and was bought in moments of weakness. that fills 2 large Tupperware containers.

and so here now, i make a vow.

I will only buy yarn 3 more times this year. Once when I go back up to Toronto (probably in August for a business trip), at Rhinebeck in October, and if I go away over my birthday, I will have to keep up the tradition of buying yarn when I travel. Since I'm trying to see if I can afford to go to London and Paris over my b-day, there must be some yarn shopping there.

it will be fun for you all to watch me go through withdrawal. the shakes start first, the drooling in front of yarn shops later.

pictures to come over the weekend. plus a progress report on the Icarus shawl which is now up to 375 stitches per row. currently we have a love/hate thing going on.

1) camera with new battery- check
2) new card reader to load pictures taken with camera with new battery- check
3) blog back on track- CHECK!!!!!

yes folks, i have a camera and a computer and this can only mean one thing...

totally unstitched is back on track!

which of course means a lot of catching up...

YARN PORN!

a fantastic skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in a colorway I can't remember




fleece artist sea wool- and i just realized they don't list the colorway- still, one of my most favorite sock yarns



socks that rock- in january one colorway. named after january one one of my favorite bloggers



and some Tahki Cotton Classic that shall be made into a bag of some sort



i realize that i am going to need a more neutral background. my quilt clashes just a bit ;)

the first 2 were purchased in Toronto, which is just about one of my favorite yarn cities. its just insane how crazy i get when go there. sadly for my pocketbook, my company has an office there and occasionally they send me up. and like sirens, the stores call to me and lure me to their shores.

so now that i have all this yarn, what ever shall i do with it? hmmm, i guess more pictures later!

woot! i have a picture (well, of one FO). I really do need a new digital camera.

so this is a picture of the pink sock at work.

pattern; Interweave Knits. I don't remember the issue, but its the cover of their book of Favorite Socks. I only did the leg repeat twice (instead of three times) b/c I have freakishly large calves and didn't want to do the necessary math to adjust the pattern

yarn: 1 skein of Fleece Artist Nova Socks in Rose. Bought from my friend's online store, The Skein

Totally fun pattern to knit. Once you get the lace pattern in your head, it flies by. The first sock took about 15 hours to knit, but the second only about 10.

And yes, I still get a kick out of (most of) the looks I get on the subway. I mean, really people, its just knitting! It would be like me looking at someone working with power tools! I don't do it myself, but its not like I can't learn!

Anyway, onto the next project (or two). One Clapotis for a friend, and an Icarus Shawl for me. yikes!!!!!

oh, for the love of god

i really keep meaning to post some of the completed projects of 2007. but sadly, my stupid camera is missing its memory card.

so i guess you will have to be satisfied with a list of what's on my needles right now.

*a baby kimono and pants set for my therapist who is preggers. she also got hit by a taxi cab a few weeks ago. baby is fine, but her knee was damaged, so she's in a wheelchair right now. so no therapy. which means, i need to knit more.

*a shawl for my aunt made out of Handmaiden Sea Silk. but while i love the yarn, i am uninspired by the patterns so far, so it will get ripped out again.

*a ear band thing in a lovely alpaca yarn. its very easy but i made the mistake of putting it down and haven't gone back to it.

*a tank top for summer in a fantastic cotton. i'm designing it myself, so it will be simple, but I can't wait to finish it.

The baby stuff just needs to be sewn up, so that will be the first FO. But then it will probably be the tank top. Because summer is coming to NY, and that is tank top season.

Now, where the hell did I put that memory card?