4KCBWDAY2

A few years ago, I took part in Knit and Crochet Blog Week, and then I promptly forgot about it. I stumbled across the host blog earlier this month, but then forgot about it again (since, evidently, Feedly decided it wasn't going to link/show her blog in my feed...still not sure how I feel about Feedly. I miss Google Reader, but that's a post for another day).

This year, the post inspiration is Houses. No, not the kind you live in--more like the kind in Harry Potter, in which a group of people is divided based on personality type. Eskimimi describes the houses here, so I won't go into it.

Can you guess which house I'm in?

The House of Peacock: Peacocks take something good and make it brilliant. Buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle prove that perfection lies in the details – like a Peacock's Tail.

I picked this house because as much as I enjoy learning new things, I have trouble following other people's instructions. I don't think I've ever followed a pattern as written (well, maybe once); I have to change it up. That's why I usually knit from my head. I want to make it my way (perhaps there should be a house for bull-headedness?).

I'm kind of combining the prompts for the first and second days here. The prompt for the second day (The first being to choose your house) is to find a pattern, project, or technique that represents that house.

Since I'm a designer, I picked one of my designs, since the description of the peacock above kind of embodies that design spirit.

Entrelac is what it is--a bunch of squares. You can't really change that. You can add cables or lace, but you're still going to end up with interlocking blocks.

I became hooked on entrelac a few years ago after making myself a scarf. I never liked the way the edges looked, however, so when I designed this cowl I added a garter stitch border to it. I also love buttons and have a lot of odd-ball buttons. The button holes are different sizes to accommodate an accent button at the top of the cowl. (FYI, the pattern will be available soon, probably late this week or early next.)

Do you have a house?

Where would you go to await the end of the world? CONTEST!

Someone on another blog I follow posed this question, after being asked by a reporter for our local paper. They took a fairly serious view of it, but my first thoughts were humorous--probably because I spend so much time with gamers.

For me, it depends on the type of apocalypse we're talking about here. If it's the flame-out, one fell swoop and it's over kind of thing, then you'll most likely find me at the yarn shop or a library or book store, since book and yarn are what keeps me sane, and who wouldn't want to go out buried in cashmere?

But, if we're talking more zombie-style, fight-for-your-life apocalypse, then I'd have to pick my basement. In part, this is because I'm a Mid-Westerner, and when disaster strikes, we hide in the basement (provided it hasn't flooded). But, since this is MY basement (and we're assuming that by the 21st that I have it cleaned, organized, and properly stocked, since we have warning of this impending doom) I not only have a room full of yarn and pointy objects (all the better to defend myself with, my dear), but there's also probably food and companionship down there. And medical supplies (you should see our first aide kit), and any number of improvised defenses. If you're going to ride out the end of the world, do it on your own turf, and in in style, that's my philosophy.

Where would you go? Leave a comment below.

Make me giggle and I'll send you a prize. I've got two little prize packs--one for typists, and one for knitters. Specify which one you want and give me a way to contact you, and it's yours. Deadline to enter is midnight EST, December 20. Winners will be selected by who makes me laugh the most, or random number generator if I can't decide. I'll share some of my favorites here on the blog.

Meme

Edited to make it a little easier to read. Click on the images to make them bigger.

2KCBW DAY 7

In the DVD player: Veronica Mars
Currently Reading: Torchwood: Consequences

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

There are three places I knit the most: on the living room couch, usually with HGTV on (love House Hunters!); at the computer while waiting for things to load on our super slow DSL or while watching Netflix; or in bed while listening to knitting podcasts or watching movies. By "in bed" I don't necessarily mean just before sleep. My bed takes up 3/4 of my room and is the seat closest to my knitting basket, so I just curl up in the corner, pull the blanket over my legs and knit away.

I like to have snacks when I knit, but I try to avoid it for obvious reasons (I HAVE to have snacks when I'm writing, though. It's a must. Brain food). Things I usually have with me when I'm knitting/crocheting...yarn, needles. What I usually forget: tapestry needle, tape measure, scissors. I've also been keeping a notebook and pen handy to write down patterns for the things I make.

Oddly enough, I've found that when listening to podcasts on the computer while knitting, I have to turn on the visualizer for visual stimulation if I'm knitting a really simple pattern. Is that strange?

----

I've really enjoyed this little meme. I like doing memes, but I don't come across them very often. Is there anything you readers want to know? I'm open to answering any questions. :)

And with that, I am popping off to finish my latest project.

2KCBW DAY 6

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have.

Working in retail, I see a lot of the trends as they come in. A big once for the last several months has been Lace. Lace! Lace on collars. Lace peasant skirts. Lace scarves. Lace dresses. Lace everywhere! And I love it.

I have always loved the look of lace. I've a a secret, deep desire to knit a lace shawl for about four years, but one thing that consistently escapes me is the ability to knit lace. The closest I've ever come is the feather and fan shawl I made for my jazzpunk costume at Ohayocon, and since I was using a worsted weight yarn, I don't think it really counts. I think shawls are just about the most impractical garments out there (after thong underwear and six inch heels) but they're so PRETTY. I want one. Even if I never wear it, I want one.

I've tried several lace patterns in the past, both in the form of stitch patterns and also knitting patterns. They touted themselves as being "easy" lace patterns, and every single time I got totally screwed up and ripped it all out before the third row. I need a pattern that spell things out explicitly, because I hate charts. I find them hard to keep track of, and I hate always having to look up what the stupid little symbols mean, and trying to keep track of which row I'm on and which direction I'm supposed to be reading it.

So the lace and I are at war. We don't get along too well. Right now my plan of attack is to sneak it in bit by bit. A lace panel on a sweater. A lace pattern worked into a scarf. Until I work my way up to one of the huge pinwheel shawls I see in books.

Until that day happens, however, I'll content myself with my "cheater's lace:" yo, k2tog.

2KCBW--DAY 2

In the DVD Player: Firefly
Currently Reading: Torchwood: Consequences


I had to work this morning, and almost didn't get a blog post in at all. I thought about just putting it off until tomorrow, but Alice and I and some friends are going to an early movie, and I still have to do the Nerd Wars blog tomorrow, which is going to take a while because the dozens of submissions turned in for our little Tribble takeover.

The day two prompt for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is as follows:

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Let's see, according to my Ravelry, I've completed 14 projects (roughly) in the last twelve months, if you count a handful of hats that I donated as a single project and a trouble of tribbles as a single object (the Nerdwarsians decided that "trouble" was the proper term for a gathering of tribbles. I think it's perfect).

Last year, I was just starting to learn how to knit socks. I'd made a few very basic ones, but that was about it.

Last year, I'd done very little cabling. I've done quite a lot with cables now (mostly in the London Calling sweater, which needs and updated photo), and taught myself how to drop down to fix an incorrectly twisted cable (my tutorial on it can be found here).

I am now more adept at reading patterns. I also have learned the way NOT to make a beret, and how to make one properly.

I also took a great step in conquering lace, which is something I've always found elusive, when I made my feather and fan jazzpunk shawl. Oh, and I learned how to put a pocket into a sweater.

All of that, before you even get into the textile stuff and the historical stuff I learned for my thesis. Wow. That seems like a lot for a year! I want to learn more this year--I want to try another lace pattern. I want to challenge my design skills and start incorporating more techniques into the things I design myself, and increase my skill base.

I have two other goals, too: I want to knit through at least 3/4 of my stash, to get rid of the budget (i.e. Redheart) yarn that I got as a broke college student, and start using nicer yarns whenever possible. I still want to observe my budget, but I want to operate 90% stash free, meaning that I don't just go out and buy yarn because I want it. Purchased yarn must have a purpose, though I'm going to keep my handspun and still have some really basic yarns on hand--you know the kind, the ones that are so terribly useful that you're always going to them. Since this requires a shift of budget and of thinking, I'm going to count this as a new skill to learn in 2011.

What goals do you have?

A day late...but at least I'm not a dollar short

So I was over on the Major Knitter blog, and lo and behold, it's the annual knitting and crochet blog week. Whadya know? I didn't know there was such a thing, but I figured I'd give it a shot...since really, I don't have anything else to talk about, really.

I'm starting a day lay, but I'm going to go ahead and answer all of the blog prompts, anyway.

The one from yesterday is:

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Tips: It is a good idea, if possible, to choose a yarn that you adore and a yarn that just didn’t work for you. You do not need to be critical of any yarn if you do not feel comfortable in doing so, but perhaps you came to realise that one yarn wasn’t suitable for a particular project, if possible you could blog about what you have come to learn about choosing the right yarn, or your love of experimenting with fibres.

My current favorite yarn is Claudia Handpaints sock yarn. It's squishy, soft, pretty, and comes in all kinds of different colors (sadly, my LYS never carries more than two at a time, so I think I'm going to have to switch to buying it online). It also has the added benefit of not making me itch like crazy. It was the first superwash wool I found that didn't make me sneeze, break out, or scratch like someone had filled my socks with itching powder. I don't know what the base yarn is, but it appears to be the wool processed in such a way that I can wear it next to my skin without a problem.

My least favorite yarn, I'm sad to say, was a very well intentioned gift. I like the yarn when it was in hank form, but as soon as I tried to use it, it turned into clown barf. The background was a really bright turquoise, and it had noils of orange, yellow, purple, green and red in it. I tried crocheting it. I tried knitting it. I tried large needles, I tried small needles. I tried working it flat and in the round. I tried long rows, I tried short rows. No matter what I did with this yarn, it was awful. It looked like someone had stuck Bozo the clown through a pastamaker and tried to spin the noodles. The only halfway success solution I found was to hold it together with one strand of a a solid turquoise yarn of about the same shade. I had less than half a ball, though, and when I discovered the yarn had been discontinued, I gave up. Frustrated, I believe I donated it to a 4-H group or a nursing home or somesuch group that is always looking for craft supplies. I felt horrible doing it, since it was an artyarn and rather expensive, but there simply wasn't anything I could do with it.

And there you have it. My best and worst yarn experiences.

More Meme

For a while I've been hearing about 101 in 1001, but I never heard exactly what it is until today, when I was surfing around on ModernGypsy and followed some of her sidebar links. Basically, it's a list of 101 specific goals that you set down yourself, which are intended to be completed within 1001 days (about 2.75 years, according to the website). I think that this is a fantastic idea, seeing as I have a huge to-do list, so I thought I'd go ahead and set myself up a list--I already have a list of 100 things to do before I die, so why not make the time parameters a little more clear, hm?


Writing/books:
1. Finish editing Fortune's Fight and send off for publication.
2. Finish Fortune's Prize first draft.
3. Finish uploading stories on the Akashic Library.
4. Read all books that I own and have not yet read.
5. Weed through those books once I've finished them.
6. Get published.
7. Update my card catalog.
8. Finish a journal before the end of the summer.
9. Write more. Fill up msc. notebooks that are lying around and do not buy more until they are gone.
10. Keep a list of every book read over the summer, including author.
11. Add those books to Facebook visual bookshelf.
12. Get stories from desktop hard drive saved to disk and converted to word files.
13. Re-edit Ankh.
14. Finish sequal.
15. Submit for publication.
16. Finish reading Princess Princess en français.
17. Update blog at least every other day for one month.
18. Journal every day this summer. (started June 16)
19. Get Writer's Digest subscription.
20. Join (and complete) NaNo.
21. Join (and complete) SuWriMo. (Joined June 6, 2008)


Crafting:
22. Learn to spin on drop spindle. (June 13, 2008)
23. Learn to spin on a wheel.
24. Learn to dye yarn. (June 17, 2008)
25. Use up/donate/weed out entire stash of acrylic yarn.
26. Write down patterns for all knitting projects.
27. Finish making the knitting bag.
28. update Ravelry with good pictures of all projects.
29. add stash to ravelry. (started Jun 14)
30. Set up Alchemy account. (June 13, 2008)
31. learn to read and write patterns properly
32. Update my artist's portfolio.
33. Set up a real studio, even if it's just a spare room in the house/apartment.
34. Upload finished knitting patterns to the blog and to Ravelry.
35. Get the podcast onto Itunes.
36. Updated the podcast regularly.
37. Finish the extra flags for the Peace Project.
38. Finish Alice's Armwarmers.
39. Finish blueberry socks. (June 26, 2008)
40. Finish, upload to Etsy, and mail chemo caps for Sempai. (finished and uploaded June 18)
41. Frog too small skirt.
42. finish scrapghan #4
43. Finish the work shrug.
44. Finish the jeep amigarumi (preferably before Christmas).
45. Donate at least five afghans to nursing home.
46. Come up with gifts for everyone and have them completed/bought by Halloween.
47. Make a kickass costume for final Big Boo.
48. Find a better way to store my bazillions of knitting needles.
49. Come up with, and make, at least three pagan-related items to put in the etsy shop.
50. Find requirements for a business license, and if I need one for the etsy shop.
51. Find out how much I can make on etsy before I have to pay taxes on it.
52. Update and maintain Devart account.
53. Put together 10 patterns and a short story to make a knitting book.
54. Draw every day for a month.
55. Fill all small sketch books.
56. Make the euro coin jewelry and list it on Etsy.
57. Get Knit.1 subscription.
58. learn illusion knitting.
59. Follow a pattern completely just once.
60. learn double knitting.


Life in General:
61. Graduate from college.
62. Move to Canada.
63. Stop using so many plastic bags.
64. Start recycling paper.
65. Make senior thesis show a success.
66. Come up with more projects for senior thesis show.
67. Travel to at least one new place that is on the list of cities I want to visit.
68. Make the Cloverbud dog kit.
69. Apply to grad school. (started application process June 23)
70. Get my own apartment.
71. Figure out how to do my own taxes.
72. Learn how to set up a real and proper website.
73. Learn how to make fried rice.
74. Mail Susanne that package from two years ago that has been collecting dust.
75. Go to Ft. Peirce again.
76. Visit Savannah.
77. Go on a ghost hunt.
78. Get nails done professionally.
79. Get hair done professionally.
80. Get a facial.
81. Wear retainer at least two nights a week, or figure out what the heck is wrong with it.
82. Move in with Alice.
83. Don't kill her brother.
84. Take a martial arts or dance course.
85. Exercise upper body at least 3x/week.
86. Lose 5 lbs, or 3 inches off waist (curse you muscle mass! Why must you weigh more?)
87. Clean closet.
88. Find better way of storing clothes/shoes.
89. Take at least one calcium pill every day.
90. Print pictures from Canada and put them in an album.
91. Drive less. (thank you, fuel companies.)
92. Go on the bike trail at least twice a month. (going with grandpa on other bike trail counts).
93. Get odometer/gloves for bike.
94. Fix handlebars.
95. Learn to cook things that don't come from a box or involve pasta.
96. Get at least a 3.5 GPA for both semesters of senior year.


Money:
97. Put aside at least $500 into savings account.
98. Buy a new car. A real car, that I actually like.
99. Get a job that pays enough money to live off of without relying on the parents.
100. Start paying off college loans before graduation. Pay at least $500.
101. Pay off credit card.


For more information, you can go to the 101 in 1001 website.

Filler

I saw this Meme on Major knitter, and thought I'd give it a shot. Normally I'm opposed to Memes, but like she said, this one looked interesting.



ACCENT: Bastardized Midwestern. I was born and raised in Ohio, but I do my best to hide it. I often use slang from England and Canada. I try to pronounce things properly, rather than the way other Ohioans do, but when I'm around family friends I tend to talk like hick, mostly because they do and it infiltrates my speech. Part of the reason my accent is bastardized though is because I had a Montrealer teach me to talk (Mom), and she learned European English, but learned an American accent when she came to the US 20-some-odd years ago.

BREAKFAST OR NO BREAKFAST: Depends. If I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm going to work or school, I eat. If not, then I don't.

CHORE I DON'T CARE FOR: Any. But the one I hate most is vacuuming.

DOG OR CAT: Both. They each have their advantages and disadvantages and personality quirks. Right now I'm living with my parents,so that means a gold lab and and a black lab.

ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS: Laptop (Mac Powerbook G4)(preferably with internet access), cell phone (crappy Nextel), and camera (lovely blue Fuji)

FAVORITE COLOGNE: I don't wear it often. I usually use either Hawiian Ginger or White Tea Ginger body lotion. When I'm doing something fancy I'll wear either Pure Bliss (which is rose scented) or a cherry blossom cologne I got from Bath and Body works. I'm allergic to most perfumes.

GOLD OR SILVER: Silver. I'm olive complected, and gold looks really bad on me.

HANDBAG I CARRY MOST OFTEN: the red one I got from Target. I'll switch to a messenger bag purse once school starts.

INSOMNIA: Sometimes.

JOB TITLE: Crew member at discount clothing store, aspiring writer/fiber artist, blogger, part time podcaster.

KIDS: never.

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Currently with the 'rents. Will be moving in with Alice and her brother come August.

MOST ADMIRABLE TRAIT: Do I have one?

NAUGHTIEST CHILDHOOD BEHAVIOR: I'm an only child, so I got blamed for everything, even if it wasn't my fault. I was a pathological liar until I was ten, but I was always very bad at it.

OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: None since I was born.

PHOBIAS: Heights, spiders, snakes.

QUOTE: "I became insane with horrible intervals of sanity." --Edgar Allan Poe.

REASON TO SMILE: Commedians

SIBLINGS: None.

TIME I WAKE UP: Between 8 and 9, usually.

UNUSUAL SKILL OR TALENT: Um...I've never followed a knitting pattern? Does that count?

VEGETABLE I REFUSE TO EAT: Celery.

WORST HABIT: I procrastinate. Terribly. I put off everything.

X-RAYS: The last one I had was last May for my right ankle when some guy at school hit me with a steel door and fractured it. Before that, it was when I was nine and had bacterial pneumonia.

YUMMY STUFF: Strawberry shortcake, snickers, oreos (mint, chocolate, and regular), any kind of icecream except Blue Bunny and Rocky Road.

ZOO ANIMAL I LIKE MOST: Otters. I also love Flamingos.