proof!

the ugly crocheted wrap from hawaii...


adapted from the hair kerchief from "cozy crochet". i orginally started with just some multi-colored yarn in hopes to recreate the scarf my mother had made me eons ago, but my crocheting weren't exactly up to speed, so i went on to start the kerchief instead. i was so happy that i finally figured out how to crochet i just kept going! you can't tell how big it is really, but it covers most of a twin bed.

the crochet craziness continues...


with more acrylic in hand purchased from the walmart (yes, walmart) in honolulu, i made my first *correct* attempt at making a hat. this hat was made using the crazy stripe pattern from last month's family circle easy crochet magazine. i gave it to my brother, who accepted it and added it to his collection of winter wear.

while exploring my crocheting stylings, i attempted to creat my first pair of mittens using the same camoflauge acrylic yarn. it all started out great. but i got lazy. instead, i made handwarmers. lol... i don't have the camo ones to show (my bro has them to match the hat), but i have since made 5 pairs. here is a pair i had made for myself, out of one ball of calmer yarn in squirrel.

the attempted knitting in hawaii

this was one of the 3 knitting projects i had attempted while in hawaii. it honestly doesn't look like much, but i think i did a pretty good job considering there were distractions left and right. good thing it's a summer tank, so i have tons of time to finish it.

more and more crocheting...
i think kamala is jealous of all the attention my knitting and crocheting is getting...



with the confidence gained from the creation of my handwarmers, i thought "hell, might as well apply it to legwarmers too since it's frikkin cold outside!" and so i did. i like how the bottom band self-striped... ooh... unfortunately i got tired of crocheting, but i think it was because i was crocheting the same types of things... so i said, "hell, i might as well make knit legwarmers instead!" and so i did. i picked up some fingering-weight alpaca i had lying around and started making the legwarmer pattern in SnBNation. fantastic! but check them out... they seriously are the most hideous legwarmers EVER!

lol... the alpaca i have is BROWN. it's not bad, but it's really bright-dirt colored... if i may even say "sh*t brown". i like how the stripe works with it, though.

nice striping... breaks up the "sh*ttyness" of it. lol. regardless, they're going UNDER my jeans and being alpaca, they'll be incredibly warm. dammit.

ok, one last project that was completed so fast i think i need to make one for myself! my brother, the hat-ho he is, has said he wants to go into work every week with a new hat because people keep complimenting him, yadda yadda. so he comes home from work on friday night wasted off his ass, asking me to make a hat with ears and then says "put some stripes in it." yeah, that easy. i refuse to buy new yarn because i have a small mountain in my room, so i tell him what i have and what i can do. after 5 minutes of his ramblings, i just ended up drawing the structure of the hat and said "OK. draw where the stripes are." after 2 hours, here is the hat adapted from a rowan big wool pattern:

and because i couldn't resist

too much fun! extra-bulky wool made this thing SO incredibly fast and SO WARM. most definitely need to do this one again before the end of the winter season.

see? i told you i would post pictures of things i've been doing. i just hate taking pictures. (^_^) until next time...

recap of dec - jan

ok, ok... so more posts = more comments! i get it, i get it! :-P well, thanks for checking in, everybody... a lot has been going on, so i guess i should sum up, huh?

1. i went to hawaii with the fam in december (9th through 31st). no pictures are up because i have come to the conclusion i am a horrible digital-photo-picture-taker. my nikon coolpix 3100 is the end of my being. i will try to filter out all those that are lovely and put it in the "see joy see" section which hasn't been updated in, about, forever.
   • week 1 - spent with the actual family - mom and brother. brother was doing the honolulu marathon and i was doing the fun walk, so we figured to take the mom along. wasn't as bad as expected. i hope by next year i can run the fun walk with ease, and maybe in 3 years do the race. my brother finished in a little over 5 hrs and finished 7758 out of something like 16000 runners. go bro!
   • week 2 - started off by heading to kauai, but was totally rained out. kauai can be summed up in 1 word for me: chickens. or maybe 2 words: chickens EVERYWHERE. came back after 3 days and stayed in honolulu for the rest of the time just hanging out with my bf's family, beaching and whatnot.
   • week 3 - pretty much the same as week 2. this whole description would be a little more exciting with pictures, huh? oh well, too bad for you. (~_^)
   don't worry, just check back later for them. hehe.
2. come back and basically stuck with insomnia and a hacking cough that ends up to be bronchitis. and that basically brings us to today. lol. you think i'm joking. i'm totally not. check the time. it's 4:30.

so that's what i've been doing since i've gotten back. oh yeah, and getting used to living with mom again. i figured "why spend an extra grand on rent if i can just spend it in hawaii?" sounded GREAT at the time. eh. the pains and documentation of my mother/insomnia bout has been logged at this other place i blog where a lot of college friends blog, but i've been too lazy. i admit it.

ok, in terms of crafty/knitting stuff... i am proud to say that i am now a knitter-slash-crocheter! it's only taken forever, but i have finally grasped the concept. i'm very proud of myself. i will show you the very hideous wrap thing i made in the slew of other photos i post... but it was fantastic. i purchased a copy of "cozy crochet" which had fairly simple projects, and i just went with it.... next thing i knew, the kerchief i was originally making didn't seem BIG enough... so it evolved into a shawl. i hope i make you proud, kim.

prior to getting into the crochet thing, i didn manage to sneak three knitting projects into my bag:

• a scarf for my "never owned a scarf ever" boyfriend out of lamb's pride bulky (yes, wool in hawaii, but new york was going to be crazy cold by the time he got back). he had requested the imperial logo from star wars on it (he's a huge freak), so i attempted to plan out my first original intarsia... to have it translate incorrectly when actually attempted. GRR! again, pictures soon.
• the knitty honeymoon tank - i think i got maybe 15% of this done... i got severely distracted by the crochet. addicted, i tell you.
and
• i made my attempt at pasha the penguin. my boyfriend's friend, T, in cali and i have been chatting online since last year but we have never met and this trip was our first opportunity! i knew he had a love of penguins, so i made the attempt... dragged my boyfriend to one of 3 craft stores in oahu (and such a poor selection!) to purchase the yarn. poor pasha had to be made with red heart acrylic, but i don't think he turned out too bad for my first attempt at a stuffed animal ever. don't laugh, ok?
  
  
  as i said, he's my first one, so i overstuffed him in places he shouldnt' have been and understuffed in others... and during the trip back to cali his beak lost some shape... and i couldn't find eyes in time, so the penguin has been named "zato" after a blind character from samurai movies. so... yeah. lol... i think the next one will be better.

so there you have it. pictures next time, i promise. (^_^)* and with 2 hrs and 15 minutes left until i wake for work! faboo!

an update!

holy moly. sorry for the laziness. i promise more frequent updates in the future.

i don't know what it is about this blogging stuff. i think it's because 1) i think my thoughts are just floating out there in cyberspace with only a handful of people to comment (*ahem*morecommentspeople*ahem*) and 2) i'm just bored with the way this looks.

kim shares my pain at least.

ok, so my post for today comes from something i saw while breezing around myspace.com. yes, myspace.com where all the girls have absolutely no self-respect and feel the need to post blatantly sexual images of themselves just to get attention. or they're strippers.

anyway.

so i belong on knitting group on myspace and someone refers to this website:
pinupstyleknitting. now, go to the site. click on "about". in the "portfolio" section, click on "WWI Military Spats". i have 4 words for you.

HOW AWESOME ARE THEY?

i am excited. i am planning to visit the booze & knit next week. that is, if it's not on a monday, tuesday, or wednesday. i'm enrolled at nyu this term for continuing ed classes. my classes are from 6-930 after work. boo.

but anyway, i think i know what my next project is. tee hee.