Photos are UP! Plus, an Original Necklace de Moi

I made a necklace this weekend:

I bought this dragonfly charm last year at a bead show I was working at, but I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I got inspired by some beads at the store on Saturday, and whipped this up that night.

I uploaded a bunch of photos to flickr of jewelry projects I've done in the past 6 months or so. I'm hoping to get some taken of all the knitting I've done, but I have to find someone to take them, as I can't find my tripod, and I'm the only willing model around. :)

One of the artists I admire, Sabrina Ward Harrison, updated her website recently, and I was looking at it this morning. She is a true artist living her work. There are so many female artists (writers, painters, designers, filmmakers) I admire that I have added a set of links to their websites on my sidebar. I hope they inspire you, too!

Sheep Shearing Shortages Shock Shepherds

I know, I know...I haven't taken any photos. This weekend really kicked my ass, and I'm still feelin' it. Last week was the incredibly busy beginning to the busiest month of the year for me thus far. We're talking "wearing the same outfit two days in a row and eating freezer-burned Boca Burgers because you're too busy to cook something edible" busy. Hamburger Helper is my new best friend.

Here's an article from the New York Times about sheep:

Work Every Bit as Wild as It Is Woolly

There's a friggin' sheep shearer shortage, y'all! How can this be???

It's worth it simply for the picture, which was pointed out by BWE blogger Michelle Collins today:

Janie Osborne for The New York Times

P.S. Go Jayhawks!

Why so quiet?

I have been putting off posting because I wanted to put up some photos, but I can't seem to get a good day of sunshine to take the darn things, so weeks go by with no posts.

Last week's excuse was legit: I was sick. What started out as the flu turned into the most awful sinus and ear infection I've ever had. For 7 straight days I had a 99-100 degree temperature, cough, stuffy nose, and complete exhaustion. For 3 of those days, I had a severe headache that nothing would ease. If you've never had a sinus headache before, it's like a fierce migraine combined with filling your sinus cavities with ever-expanding cement, which in turn makes you so nauseous that you actually want to throw up, and in my case, I did. On top of that, the nausea removed my appetite, so I didn't eat anything for about 4 days. It was a truly award-winning week.

This week, the cough is all that remains. I haven't felt well enough to go to the gym, but I was feeling good enough to attend my first tap dance class yesterday, which was awesome. I've been wanting to take tap lessons again since I first took them at the age of 5 or 6. I haven't done any choreographed dancing since my last musical at age 18, and I was afraid it would be hard for me to get back on the horse, but I think I'm going to be OK. It's an 8 week class, and there's no recital, so it's just for fun anyway.

While I was sick, I had tons of time to knit, but I didn't feel much like doing it. I started a scarf, which I'm still working on, using some bamboo yarn from my stash. I also finished a bunny, whose head has been staring at me for about a year now. Her name is Cadbury, dubbed by the boyfriend because she is a chocolate bunny. I'm attempting to knit a sweater for her without a pattern. I tried to work on a particular sweater, which is now the Hell Sweater because it keeps going wrong. I will have to submit an entire post on it this weekend, if I get enough light to photograph it. It's truly stomach-churning for me.

The weather here in Iowa has been pretty typical, and by that I mean insane. Yesterday, after several days of weather in the 40's and 50's, it rained, hailed, and snowed. Today, the sun is out and the thermometer is back up. It's almost as if yesterday never happened. I just don't get this place.

Well, that's all for me today. I really really really need to take some photos this weekend, so I'll hopefully have some new stuff posted over the weekend.

Knitting Patterns I'm Loving Right Now

For those of you who don't knit, you might as well go back to checking your email, playing online sudoku, or whatever else you were doing, because this post is only about getting your knit on.

For those who are still with me, today is one of the four (OK, EIGHT counting the surprises) times of the year that I get a bit giddy: the new Knitty is up. Hooray!

I have to say, even tho' I have no kiddies of my own, I still love knitting baby things: they are small, usually quick, and very adorable. Spring '08 Knitty is abundant with baby and kiddie stuff, and they have not disappointed me!

My favorites from this issue:

Knob Hill


Talia
This surprises me, because I'm not generally a vest person. (My sophomore high school photo notwithstanding, as it was the 90's, and that's what you did.)


Lace Ribbon Scarf
When the designer mentioned The Sartorialist in her description, I yelled "YES!" in my head. I was thinking the same thing!


Mosey
Legwarmers with pom poms! Why didn't I think of this?

...and, finally, OMG:

Spirogyra
This is the perfect thing to make with the fabulous alpaca yarn from theHollywood Hills Boutique! (We got this in our gift bags at the last knitting retreat. It came undyed with an invite to hand-dye it at a workshop in August.)

I was watching the rather frightening Lion Brand fashion show online yesterday (see the video below, if you want a laugh). Most of the stuff was not my style, but I did find a sweater that I must make:
Extra Easy, Extra Fabulous Sweater
(You'll probably need to register for free to see this pattern.) This one had me at the buttons, but seeing how easy the pattern is and that it's made of bulky yarn sold it. I just need to get my hands on enough Thick & Quick to make it.

Lastly, this Etsy shop was listed in the "Cool Stuff" section of the new Knitty, and I wish I'd thought of creating these stitch markers first. Genius! God, I hate kitchener stitch, that necessary evil.

Here's that fashion show I mentioned. Enjoy!

...and by that I mean...

I was going to post this sooner, but then the accident happened and I had all this stuff to deal with...ahhhh...but here's a reconstruction of an actual conversation I had with my boyfriend last weekend:

The setup: We were going to do a home improvement project downstairs. We've put it off long enough.

Me: Let me know when you're ready to go downstairs.

Him: I'm ready.

Me: You're ready right now???

Him: Yes.

Me: (surprised) OK! (I turn to get stuff ready)

Him: I mean, in ten minutes.

Me: So what you're saying is, "I'm ready now, and by now, I mean in ten minutes."

Him: Yes.

I can't tell you how funny we found this. We did variations on it the rest of the day, such as, "You're funny, and by funny, I mean annoying."

Amy Sedaris! Rabbits! Cupcakes!

OK, I have to warn you that this is an ad for Microsoft Office 07, but I still love it.

My Sister, the Rock Star

My sister, Leslie, sent me this video of her playing guitar and singing. As she only speaks to me through You Tube videos anymore, and does not return my phone calls or emails, I'm going to have to interpret her message to me from the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oD5mq3yaz0

I was kinda hoping her cat would do something funny in the background, but he didn't.

She makes me feel kinda guilty for not having played guitar for so long. I picked it up (literally) again late last year and couldn't remember most of the chords! I haven't played regularly for about 3 years. I guess I should add that onto the Resolution pile for the year: re-learn the guitar.

Animated Cat Cartoon

If you've ever lived with a cat (and even if you haven't) you'll love this.



(found on CuteOverload.com)

Knitted Music Video

Check out this amazing video. All the animation is knitted! (I found this on craftzine.)

A Blizzard, a Yeti, and Some Cabled Mitts

We had a lovely blizzard last night. When I say lovely, I mean crappy. My knitting class was canceled last night because of the weather. The boyfriend is on a business trip, so I had to do all the shoveling myself, and our driveway is one of the longest in the neighborhood. I shoveled about four inches yesterday when I got home, and thank goodness I did, because I awoke to about six more this morning. I took the morning off to get over a headache (I think it was another migraine, which makes sense) and to avoid the ugly commute, which gave me time to dig out. It took me around 45 minutes or so to make a wide path out. I made sure to leave a nice pile of snow around the boyfriend's car, so he'll have fun shoveling his way out when he gets back tonight. They say it will snow more this week, too. I can't wait.

I left for work around 10 to one p.m., and the roads weren't too horrible, with one exception: only a block away from the parking lot, I turned onto a street that wasn't plowed very well, and I got stuck, Big Time. I couldn't see that this was the case until I had already started turning onto it, and there was no going back. Luckily, I live in Iowa, and two guys came by to help me out. People really are very nice here, that's one of the things we all take for granted. It took about 20 minutes to get me freed. Now I'm a little dirty and I can't get the smell of burned rubber out of my nostrils, but I'm OK. Lessons learned.

It's hard to complain about your car getting stuck when there are people cleaning out from those tornadoes in the east overnight. I've been through a couple of close ones in my life, being from Kansas, so I really felt bad for those folks.

On a Lighter Note

On the crafting front, I made a little toy. This is the first sewn "softie" I've made since the sixth grade, and I think I did a nice job of it. Behold the Yeti:

Now, I need to explain this toy to you, unless you are a huge old-school Doctor Who fan. The boyfriend is a Who fan from way back. There are stories I could tell, but I won't, because I'm being nice for one, and for two I have no reason to blackmail him right now. Later...later...

Anyway, he was watching some of the old Patrick Troughton episodes a while back, and he fell in geek love with the Yeti (Abominable Snowman) creature from both the Abominable Snowmen and the Web of Fear series. He asked me if I could make him a yeti of his own, and I guessed that I could try. I put it off for a while, fearing failure, but I finally sat down this weekend and cranked one out in one evening. Here's a picture, for reference:In the Web of Fear, the Yetis are robots that can only be brought to live when a special sphere is inserted into their stomachs. I made sure to include this detail in the yeti, though I later read that the sphere is supposedly silver, and not gold. The episode being in black and white made it difficult to tell, you know.

I took these pictures this morning in the snow before I started shoveling. I think he makes a great model, don't you?

I've started a new knitting project, as I need some small project to go to when I get tired of working on Oblique. I found this really cool cabled mitts pattern the other day, Evangeline from MagKnits, so I set to it last night. The cables are a little more advanced than I expected, but they aren't too challenging for me. The only problem for me is that I chose black yarn, and it's harder to see what you are doing with black yarn than with a lighter shade. I'm making the elbow-length version, so it might take a while to finish them.

I know I've been a bit bad in my posting habits lately, but that will change now that I've gotten over my cold (for the most part) and my work schedule has lightened. We actually had time to go to a movie a week ago, Juno, and I highly recommend it. I bought the soundtrack this past weekend, and it is also very quirky and good, like the movie. I wish movies like this had been around when I was in high school, as I might have had a movie I could relate to. I think Wayne's World was probably my favorite movie back then...sigh. I saw it again in probably 1998 or '99, and it already looked dated, which is sad for a movie that was less than 10 years old.

Wow, this was a long post! Less next time, hopefully!