i heart my carla

go ahead... sweat it. :-P i know i do.

check out the sleeves! i heart the sleeves the most. i think it's because it took me so long to figure them out.

also finished more of my thrill. woo hoo! i'm on a cotton tape roll... more to come later on this week. i'm in sql training all week, and i totally forgot. my training's in midtown, too, so that means i'll be in a sea of protesters the whole time as well. ugh. hopefully it'll be as peaceful as this weekend's protests... otherwise if you're watching the news and in the chaos you hear a woman screaming "i just came here to learn SQL!!!" that'll be me. :-P

someone smack me the next time i hit the "back" button

note to self: please, for the love of god and all that is holy, stop hitting the "back" button when you're previewing an entry prior to posting. if anything, use the frikkin "save as draft" button if you're writing something long. the minute you hit the "back" button, the entry you've spent over 30 minutes writing will go *poof*, causing frustration and annoyance as you attempt to re-write the witty comments of the first draft. *sigh*

so yes, i, being the forgetful person i am, hit the "back" button while i was previewing my post. dumb, dumb, dumb. i'll try to re-create my nice entry to the best of my ability.

so, yes, i took my placement exam. i'm applying for the CTA program, which is an IT certificate program at the school of continuing ed here. it's awesome being an employee for a school because of the benefits - if i get in, it's 2 years for a grand total of $900. how sweet is that? anyway, i've applied to the database application development and design program, so the placement exam was on tuesday. the test was three parts: 1 part in general computer knowledge, 1 part in database knowledge, and 1 part in programming aptitude. for someone that does web support and graduated with a visual arts degree, i think i did ok. well, we'll find out on september 3rd, won't we now? edit - what a crock! check this out! i'm FUMING!

so this week has been really busy, thus the lack in blogging. tuesday was the test, wednesday was a hellish day driving to and from port jefferson, LI during rush hour, then my camera was dead... but fear not! although no blogging, tons of knitting has been going on. for example:

the liza collection - so one of my college friends has moved back to upstate new york from the west coast, and while on the wc she had adopted an adorable chihuahua puppy named liza. this, being liza's first winter ever, will be a traumatic one... most likely she will be a puppy popsicle by the end of october. so, with knitting needles in hand, i have made it my duty to clothe this chilly pooch before the end of summer. so for the first design, i bring you tweedy.

doggy sweater in a dark green tweed with brown trim, perfect for the stylish dog for the fall season. there is a top closure, secured with hook & eye closures and button trim. here is my stuffed bear, button, trying to be model it and being quite unsuccessful.

sorry, button. i'll have to make you your own sweater.

as you can see, the side is also stitched closed, but i'm thinking of removing that and making it another hook & eye or snap closure in case the sweater needs adjusting. this is a fantastic project for me... i think i have enough yarn to make many small doggie sweaters, plus these sweaters knit up so quickly! i'd say this one took me at most 2 days. quite rewarding. :)

boobholder update - grr... it appears that the rows i added for "good measure" was not the best thing for the project. before it was too small... now it's too big! *sigh* here it is pre-frogging. wave bye-bye!

carla update - i looooooooooooooooooooooved making this sweater. i finished knitting all the pieces on sunday, but i haven't been able to block or seam since so this is my weekend project. i'm so excited. this is the first sweater that is mine so this is quite an accomplishment for me.

the one bad thing about this sweater is that it made me a tape yarn ho. i have more tape yarn than i know what to do with. actually, i know what to do with it. like, right now, i've already started making thrill, which is a carla-like tank.

since this is my train-ride project, this will probably be done this weekend too. :)

hush update - ok, a little progress is better than no progress at all, right? i put down the guides for each section that needs to be steeked. *sigh* i WILL. i CAN. :( and i'll provide photos of the painful slow process and the scared expressions on my face as i cut through. :-P

lazy blogging...

ok, so i tried to change my template today and i did a "republish" without saving the sidebar so they all went "poof" today. sorry about that. still rebuilding, and hopefully it'll all be recovered by tomorrow.

so i have no pictures. i have no steeking. i have no finished boobholder. what i do have is an entrance exam tomorrow, though, so i've been studying instead of taking pictures. i think we'll be back on schedule tomorrow night. that is, unless i go for drinks after the test to celebrate. oh well, we'll see. :-P

i love rainy weekends...

because all i get to do is knit all day! tee hee... i have pictures from the other day, but they're all blurry so i apologize in advance. :)

here are all of the goodies i received last week in the mail - the "it's a tape thing" book and "calmer collection" from jimmy beans wool. the yarn to the right is the ggh mystik i've been waiting for over the past 3 weeks. go to my rant to see what the drama was about.

next, as requested by carrie, we have shots of the boob-holder-in-progress, all really blurry since it was something like 2 AM when i took these... sorry carrie, i'll try for better shots today. :)

boob-holder fitting #1...

super-blurryiness makes my boobs look huge! my apologies for the obscene photo. :-P

i had to add an extra few rows because of my big ol' arms, but today i've separated the sleeves and am working on the increases on the body, so this should be finished later today!

lol... i feel like i'm showing slides of my vacation or something.

umm... oh yeah, finished the regular bucket o' chick last week, just gotta block it.

yah, this is in wool so can't go towards my knit-along, but it knit up so quickly i'll have that one done in a few days worth of train-rides.

so that's all i's gots for pictures. i promise to take more today, though. i woke up at 8 AM (on a saturday!) and just kept knitting until around 3. so the progress:

fantastic carla news - i finished both the front and back pieces and finished one sleeve today.... now the bad carla news - in the pattern it calls for dropping two stitches that run along the side of the sleeve and, well, i'm just not all that into it. i did it and now i'm thinking of frogging the whole sleeve and starting over again. :( i'll post it tomorrow when i'm in possession of my camera. so i'm either at 75% finished if i keep the sleeve, 60% if i don't. eh.

*phew* am i knitting enough? hehe...

so yes, i know you're all wondering about hush... and i promised i would be steeking. thank you all so much for the support.... as much as i think i'm going to be ok, i'm really scared.... it's soooooooooooo much work and now i'm cutting it. i told my work knitting friend during lunch the other day what steeking was and her jaw dropped. i wish i had someone to hold my hand on this one! eek! i think when i get back home i'll just suck it up and go for it. i've got nothing to lose, right? i hope. *sigh*

ps - thanks again, mol luege for all the support and advice. once i'm done with everything in progress, i'll go back to my completing fuzzy feet (yes, plural) just for you. :)

bah...

remember when i said "only two major projects at a time"? *sigh* if you take a looksie on the right-hand bar, that's obviously not the case anymore. oh well, i tried.

so as much as i would love to show the world my progress, my camera battery has died so i can't show you all of the wonderful things i have received and done... this weekend has been so relaxing, all i've been doing is knitting! i need more of those, dangit. or less work so i can knit all the time. :-P

• first, the really great news... i finally got my it's a tape thing! i also received the calmer collection, which i have tucked away so i don't find myself in more WIP ADD Hell. so i have finally swatched for my carla and started the back piece! woo hoo!
• secondly, i have finally received my honeymoon tank yarn! only 17 days after end of auction. i feel horrible because i gave the woman negative feedback (well, she didn't contact me until TODAY), and the reason was because her son was in the hospital so it was delayed. well, it's better delayed than not at all... i just wish she TOLD me so i wasn't worrying that my money was stolen. *sigh*
• i was admiring new knitting friend carrie's boobholder that i had to start my own! i'm down to the fitting of the sleeves, so hopefully this will be completed within the next few days.
• hush's original pattern is complete!
  
  don't mind the feet on the upper left...

  
  here i am modelling the finished hush over my pj's... you can see how loose it is on the top.

  
  so here's the steeking idea... the front panel and the back panel have no decreases whatsoever, so the top and bottom fan and feather align. also playing in my favor are the seven stiches in between each group that i can steek with no problems... wish me luck! i'm starting the modifications on this one tomorrow night.

*by the way, thank you mol luege for pointing out the typos in my last entry. my apologies, bonne marie!

wow, don't i feel semi-cool!

while skimming my daily knitting blogs i was suprised to see this:

bonne marie of chicknits fame has given me a little shout on her blog! thank you bonne marie! i was just going through the list of my daily visits and low and behold on the top right-hand corner! i feel semi-famous in the knitting blog world. how exciting! and totally cheezy at the same time. :-P

ebay update - i just filed a buyer dispute through paypal. i feel awful, but the seller's policy says "will ship 24 hours after end of auction." it has been 17 days now... i think i can dispute it without guilt, right?

hush modified - thank you all for your concern and suggestions on how to adjust my hush... my goal is to keep this piece in tact as much as possible... no frogging! well, not much, at least... i considered the chicknits resizing tutorial, and then realized the straps which align in the front and back would be kind of whacky if i did it this way... soo..... here's my idea. now stop me if i'm not thinking this out properly...

1. first i would frog the straps and make the piece strapless
2. second, i would cut (*gasp!*) about 90% of the back panel off using crochet steeking, inspired by stefanie @ glampyreknits' cardiganized raglan top-down sweater. i don't know how this will translate on the fan and feather section, but i'm going to try it out on the center section first before the real cutting.
3. third, i will either use those pearlized wedding dress buttons or the bottom satin ribbon to close the top detail
4. fourth, i would have to add elastic of some sort to hold up the garment. i'll also add a flesh-tone lining as well.
5. lastly, the back can be the front(?)

so? what do you guys think? one other thing i was considering was to make matching undies based on the SnB QoH bikini bottom... but with all the work i'm putting in on the top, i'm not sure if i'll have the energy! lol...

technical difficulties...

just as i thought things were going so well...

here i am starting the top fan and feather of hush

and now close-up.

well, this past weekend as i finished the top segment and started the straps i realized - and what a horrible realization after just knitting away for a month straight - the medium is too big for k. i attempted to slip it on, and low and behold... *sigh* i'll post pictures up later, but i decided after i finish the original pattern i'm going to make some modifications... it should be surprising, i think.... and it'll definitely test my skills, that's for sure. stay tuned!

in the meantime, as i get the gameplan down for hush modified, i decided to distract myself with some "bucket o' chic" action. my lovely co-worker, prior to leaving for a two-week break in istanbul, asked me if i wanted anything. i told her, if anything, to bring me back yarn and i'll make her something in return. i expecte maybe one skein, maybe two... check out this lovely present:

how wonderful are my co-workers! so today i'm using the cream colored yarn to make the boc... it's knitting up quite well, and i can't wait to see the results. pictures to follow...

additional notes rather irritating, i might add.

• i haven't received my "it's a tape thing" yet! :( carla, i wish to start you already!
• the honeymoon tank yarn that i paid for at the end of last month hasn't been delivered yet! i'm quite irritated since i sent the payment right away and have sent two e-mails asking about it. how do you dispute an e-bay auction from the bidder's side? *sigh*

grrr....

so yesterday i wrote this huge entry about my progress, and then i hit the wrong button and poof! gone! *sigh* so here i am again, and hopefully i don't do the same thing i did yesterday.

so first, the great news!!! k's party is this saturday and not today as originally thought! *phew* so i have two more days to work on it, but i think i'll just tell her the gift is on the way and finish it over the weekend. i don't want to rush this thing and have it properly blocked. btw - how do you block something that's knitted in the round? i'm stumped. i'll ask libby today.

other great news - halcyon yarn RULES. they got my e-mail and the next day called me to tell me they had only 1 cone of the 3/2 pearlized cotton in color #177 left!!!! so the shipped it to me and i got it yesterday! halycon yarns, you are my savior!

so here's the newest shipment of yarn this week. i'm going to stop going to yarn stores altogether if this continues... hmm... what could be my color for the fall? i wonder....

i know i put up a huge circle on the upper right-hand corner. this was taken at my bf's place and that's a little boba fett mez-its on his desk. it's the cutest.

so yesterday i was complaining about how hush seemed to take forever to get to the next section... when no longer! today i started the top fan and feather! WOOOO HOOO! i don't have pictures of the new segment, but i'll most likely get them today since i have my little work knitting meetup at lunch. here's my progress from the weekend:

that's about 1 inch away from the fan and feather.

a closeup because i can't get enough of the first fan and feather. :-P

i'm so excited! this definitely means i can get a start on carla by next week! how awesome. now if only my "it's a tape thing" could get here already so i can start swatching!

patiently waiting...

hush hush progress - ongoing with the stockinette... i'm trying to do as much as i can, but i'm scared i won't be able to finish. not to mention i just went back to the knitty page and the yarn requirements for the medium was changed again! so that means i'm short one cone of yarn for the project! last friday i ordered 1 lb of the yarn, just in case, and i just got an e-mail yesterday saying they were out of it! i wrote to them requesting to send me the price equivalent in the minicones... i just hope they're able to do it. :( this is going to be a photo-finish... how stressful!!!

carla-along - still waiting for everything! i'm so behind. i want to get started on it already... the package with my yarn is going straight to my mom's, though. hopefully she doesn't freak out about more yarn. :-P

no pictures today except for this one -

don't kneel down on your therapeutic flip flops unless you're comfortable walking around like this for a few hours.