heat, jobs, and library internet

Sheesh.. A few weeks ago, I was complaining about it being too cold.. Well, here in Virginia, we got two days of nice weather, and then it went straight to the 90s. Yesterday, it was 92. Sigh... It's supposed to cool down a bit the rest of the week, which is great. Plus, I'm heading to New Jersey for the weekend, and I'm sure it's much cooler there than it is here!!

But, on to knitting. =) I just finished up two sampler squares, and and moving on to the purple/pink squares for this months' swap. I'll also be making my bookmark this week! I'm doing another test knit this month - a really cool looking scarf called Boombox Scarf that involves two colors - mine being teal and royal blue! I've got a lot of knitting to do, and this heat doesn't help!

I'm still searching desperately for a full-time job, but no luck yet. The clothing store I worked for a year ago before it went out of business has now reopened, and I'll probably start working there soon! The manager of the store is one of the manager's that worked there before, so I shouldn't have a problem getting hired back.

I'm currently sitting in my car stealing the internet's wi-fi because my computer just isn't getting along with the dial-up at my house. (The motherboard is going, and it's only a matter of time before my computer dies all together!) Once I can file my taxes, I'll be able to pay the $300 to get my computer fixed.. Yay for buying a Mac.

Well, happy knitting!

ER Trips, Frogged, and Overall Blahness

Bah.. Well, that wonderful cat bite that I got on Saturday decided to get infected.. So I had to spend a quick hour in the ER Sunday morning. The bad part is that since I'm allergic to penicillin, I had to get Levaquin, which doesn't have a generic, and me with no health insurance, I had to pay $136 for 9 pills.. Well, I had to borrow the money from my mom, as I have $6 in my checking.

Anyhow, on to things that make me happy! I was making fingerless mittens for my color swap, and I decided to make something else, because the pattern I picked was wayyy to complicated and detailed, and I want to make sure she gets something that I really worked well on!!

Well, back to knitting...

Test Knits, Cat Bites, and Color Swaps

I got up this morning around 7:30am, with the intention of finishing one mitten for my test knit, and half of the secret knit for the color swap. Well, as I came out of my room, my fat cat Missy was sitting in front of my bedroom door. As usual, I started petting her with my foot, and I must've hit a spot she didn't like, because she turned over and sunk her teeth into my foot, and would not let go. So for now I've got a nice cat-tooth shaped cut on my foot. Fun, right?! Bleh!

I've got about 4 rows left on my test-knit mitten, minus the thumb, but they're looking very cute!! (Mommy and Me Mittens on Ravelry!) If you haven't seen them, then you should really check them out!

I'm not telling what my color swap project is, but it's only about a quarter of the way done, so I've definitely got a lot of work to do this weekend! I want to get the package out as soon as I can, so my partner won't have to wait all month for her surprise!

Well, let me get back to knitting instead of sitting on the computer!

March already?! // On The Needles!

Geez! I'm starting to wonder if I should even bother with the "on the needles", because I don't think I get to half of them during the month. =D Buuut, old habits die hard, so here is my list for March:
1. 2 squares for my Friendship Square Exchange swap
2. A bookmark for my Bookmark swap
3. A secret surprise for my Color Swap buddy, since I told her who I was this month, I can't share just yet!!
4. A small surprise for the Color Swap
5. Mommy & Me Mittens for a test knit! these are adorable if you haven't seen them!! Search "Mommy and Me" on Rav, and you'll find them!
6 . Possibly start on the Jessica scarf for myself!

I made the Promenade Cowl last month, and bleh.. it came out way too small, and not quite right. I'm thinking about frogging it and making fingerless mittens out of that glorious Malabrigo!

I want to get into designing my own patterns.. The first one I've already got mostly planned out in my head, I just need to get it knit to make sure it works.. I want to make a scarf that will represent Breast Cancer Awareness, in honor of my sister's friend's mother that is fighting breast cancer.

Well, I spend so much time on ravelry, that I hardly get to knitting, so I'm off to work on my squares! (And look for a job.. =D) Subbing is not quite cutting it.. So if you've got any ideas, let me know!!

color swap = happy!

Today I got my Color Swap package from miss andrea (ALFCreations on Rav)! It contained the prettiest lime green scarf (not to mention super soft!), an afghan square in yellow, pink, and purple, 5 gorgeous stitch markers, and a packet of mint green tea (my absolute favorite)!

Totally made my day.. yesterday I found out that I have about $62 to last me through March 28th (oh joy), and I have to figure out how to pay 4 bills (about $150) with that money. Bah!

Soo, if anyone out there reading this knows of a place that will hire me, then by all means please let me know!! =)

I've been subbing a little bit more this month, but I won't get that money 'til March 28th, which doesn't help this month's bills.. Oh well!

to make me happy, I'm knitting a cowl with a skein of Malabrigo, which is by far the best yarn I've ever worked with.. It's so soft and pretty, and I can't wait to wear the cowl!!

Off to knit some more!!

weekend in richmond

For the past few days, I've been in Richmond, VA with my mom sitting with my grandma! With all that free time, I worked a while on the Four Dates test scarf, as well as the Maggie Mop Hat:

The Magical Maggie Mop Hat WIP.

Today we're going to the Maymont Home Show at the convention center because the company my brother works for has a display at the show. Afterwards, I'm dragging my parents to The Knitting Basket on Grove and Libbie so I can try to find some pretty grey manos or malabrigo for the Jessica Scarf! =D (I can't go to a city without going to a LYS!!) If I find some, I'll have pictures soon. For now, it's off to get ready and knit a little before we leave!

Oh, and it's going to be 50 outside today. =D PERFECT day!!

wishing my driveway wasn't a swamp..

Bah.. after all the snow, rain, and sleet, my driveway is currently nothing but slippery mud! Makes me wish I had a pair of rainboots so I wouldn't sink two inches in the mud everytime I try to go get the mail! I won't be happier 'til it's at least 50 degrees outside, and I can wear flip-flops, t-shirts, and jeans everyday. =) (Yea, I figured I didn't want to say 'I won't be happy 'til...", 'cause I'm relatively happy now!)

I'm getting pretty far along on the test-knit scarf! I'm also test-knitting a baby hat in 4 bright colors!

I had a little bit of a "blast from the past" yesterday when I was subbing for the 7th graders. One of the students came up to me, and said "don't you know me?" I was a little confused, becasue I didn't recognize him, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Then, he says, "I'm Matt's brother". I mean, whoa.. Matt was a very close friend of mine when I was in high school, and he was killed in a car accident my freshman year of college. The last time I saw his little brother, he was in 2nd grade! It was really nice to see him, and see that he seems to be doing fairly well! He's a smart kid, and really sweet. =)

Well, much more test-knitting to get done this evening! Going to work hard until Lost comes on, because that's a show that needs your full attention if you even want to have the slightest clue as to what's going on... =)

Lazy Weekend

Bleh! It's already 1:30pm on Sunday, and I haven't knit a single thing this weekend.. Yesterday, my 15-year-old sister had 12 of her friends over, and between my parents' car and my car, we had to drive them to go out to eat, and then go to the movies. Then they all spent the night! imagine trying to go to sleep with 13 15-year-old girls giggling in the living room. =)

I've started applying to any job that I find, in the hopes that I'll get one somewhere, and be able to start paying these student loans.. Sheesh! While I'm watching the Olympics of course!

I plan on finishing up the Color Swap 6" afghan square today, and then getting back to that 4 Dates Test Knit scarf! I want to get to the ribbing this weekend, so I can get to my Malabrigo scarf! =D

The weather is still messing with us... It snowed again yesterday morning, and it's supposed to snow AGAIN tomorrow. *sigh* can I say I'm SICK of snow?! Florida, here I come.

Well, I've got some RAKs and things to get ready so that I can mail them out tomorrow! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

bleh... frustrated!

if only money DIDN'T make the world go 'round! sheesh.. I owe SO much money in student loan debt it's ridiculous. Even worse, i have no way to make payments as I don't have a steady job. Yay for living in a rural area. I've been looking for a job for TWO years, and have yet to be offered anything. I'm subbing now, but it's not steady, and the loan company told me today that they're not offering any more 3 month deferments, and I'll have to start making payments in April, or pay $150 a MONTH in deferment fees (which don't apply to my loan!). I had planned on using my tax return money to take a class that will help me get my teaching certificate, but looks like I may have to use it to pay these loan payments.. (which are about $650/month, and that's only for HALF of my loans)...

Bah.. I know this is really supposed to be about knitting, but this was just something I had to complain about.. If anyone knows of a high paying job in rural Virginia, oh please let me know! ;)

ANYWAY... I'm currently test-knitting a beautiful scarf from JulieGoddess on Ravelry! It's very nice, and I'm happy to be doing it for her! I think I'm going to go work on that and maybe relax a little bit from this frustrating news..

February's On The Needles

Geez, a whole month has gone by since I started this thing!! Well, I didn't start on all my January projects, but I'll do them eventually!!

Here goes:

1. Bella's Baseball Scarf - I've got one main panel left, and the two end pieces. Then, all I have to do is sew it together!

2. Mrs. Darcy Cardigan - I've done the back, and the two front panels. All that's left are the two sleeves, and my very first sweater will be done! Of course, it's not perfect.. I'm pretty sure that the armholes don't exactly line up. Luckily it's not being made to fit a mannequin, but a person!

3. Not So Straight Scarf - yea, I didn't finish it in January.. I'll get to it!

4. Ginny socks - still stuck on the 1st 5 rows of ribbing.. bleh!

5. Malabrigo scarf - I MAY start on this, 'cause that malabrigo I bought the other day is just to pretty to sit there in a ball on my shelf.. =)

I finished my square for the swap already, and also made one for myself! I painted the bookmark this afternoon, just have to write the quote on it! I decided that I'm going to make a coffee cozie for my Color Swap buddy, and I'm going to keep my identity a secret since I've already talked about what I want to make! Maybe next month I'll share, since my spoiler told me who she was this month, and that made me even more excited!!

Well, I'm off to knit some more of the coffee cozie! It's so cute I may have to make myself one!

more gloomy weather..

well, we had one day of 50 degree weather.. now, we're supposed to get even MORE snow and sleet tomorrow and saturday.. hooray! but, the good news is, i'll get to finish a bunch of projects this weekend! Here's what's on the list for the weekend:

1. Square for Friendship Square Exchange

2. Handmade Gift for Color Swap (haven't decided weather I want to tackle a scarf, or make a coffee cup cozy!)

3. Watercolor Bookmark for Bookmark Swap - although this swap is on ravelry, it said the bookmarks could be any craft, so this time I'm making one out of cardstock and watercolor paper, painted with water colors and a good book quote! Possibly I'll make two, since they're not that time consuming!

4. Finish last three pieces for Bella Baseball Scarf

Last night, I visited my friend in Raleigh, NC, and we decided to dye a skein of yarn with Kool-Aid! It came out pretty, but a lot more subdued than we hoped. So, now that I'm back at home, I'm going to attack it with some bright red Kool-Aid over the slightly varigated peach, light purple, yellow, and white that it is now!

I also visited Great Yarns, a LYS in Raleigh, and picked up a veryyy pretty skein of Malabrigo in the colorway Plena! I only bought one skein, so I'm trying to find a nice pattern for it for a scarf. It's so pretty I want to make sure my pattern suits it!!

Well, I'm off to finish dying my yarn, and then to knit away for the weekend! I'll post pictures when the yarn is done, and when I'm done with the other items!

12" of snow...

So much for that nice warm weather! We've got 12" of snow.. It started late Friday night, and didn't stop until late Saturday night.

That would be my dad, shoveling the front porch and sidewalk! Notice that he's already shoveled the sidewalk, but by the time he made it to the porch, the sidewalk was covered in snow again!

The schools were off yesterday, and tomorrow, so no work for me! I've been knitting a bit with all this free time! I worked on my Mrs. Darcy cardigan that's been hibernating for awhile.. I also worked on my Bella Baseball scarf that has also been hibernating for a month or so. I've only got a few more pieces to make, so I should really get a move on with it! I'd like to be able to wear it before winter's over! (Even though I'm dying for some warm weather.. Only 3 more months 'til the Bahamas!!)

I mailed out my Valentine's Square today! It's probably going to take awhile, as it's going all the way to Scotland! Can't post a picture 'til she gets it, since I want it to be a surprise!

Belated Valentine Square Swap!

Yay! Even though I signed up for the group a couple weeks late, one of the members said she'd be willing to swap with me even though she's already done it with someone else! Soo, I'm currently working on my square to send out on Monday - all the way to Scotland!! I'm so excited to receive my square from her - how cool is it that my very first square is coming from so far away?! =)

Well, I better get back to making that square instead of spending time on here and on ravelry.. ;) We're supposed to get about 10-12" of snow over the next two days, so I feel that I'll get a lot of knitting and movie watching done this weekend!

Warmer Weather!

The past few days here in Virginia have been great! Nice and warm.. ish! In the 50s.. Since it was so warm, I didn't even mind the days of rain. Figures, by Friday we'll have freezing rain. But, enough of the weather! I'm finally back to subbing for the rest of the week!

I finished my Friendship Exchange square for a group on Ravelry, and it's so cute! Our theme for the month was green and white. Of course, I'm a little ahead, as we haven't even been assigned partners yet. I still haven't gotten anywhere on my socks, only about 5 rows of ribbing have gotten done. I'm taking the Not Quite Straight scarf with me on my days that I sub, so I have something to work on during my 1.5 hour "planning" period. It should be done this week!

I may also make another square for the exchange, as I found a very cute varigated cotton yarn in green and white! The part I'm struggling with is making the silly thing 6".

I'll post pictures soon enough - having dialup doesn't make posting pictures (or even updating this blog) very easy! But, I will try to update this at least twice a week!

Have a great week!

catx2

My cat =)

Just needed a place to upload a picture of my cat for a group!!

January's "on the needles"

This month I've got a few things I'd like to get done:

1 - Grandma's Bay Print Garter Stitch Scarf - this is a scarf that my grandma bought me the yarn for to make her to match her favorite jacket.

2 - Mom's Fingerless Mitts - She wants a pair in this really pretty green, light blue, and dark blue yarn.

3 - Not Quite Straight Scarf - For me! =)

4 - Another pair of the fingerless mitts to sell on etsy

5 - Possibly the Give a Hoot! owl mittens I've got on my queue for my 10in2010 on Ravelry

6 - mayyyybe start on my first pair of socks! I really want to.. but I'm a bit intimidated when it comes to the heel... we'll see!

And if I manage to get all that done, then maybe there will be some more.. but that's way more than plenty for now! But i'll be riding to jersey from virginia later this week for a funeral, so i'll have two 8 hour trips to work on those scarves..

New Moon Alice Mittens - Sort of!

Well, i followed the pattern that the wonderful Nancy Fry put on Ravelry, but I didn't use the same yarn, so although these are the New Moon Alice mittens pattern, they're just some basic fingerless mittens! I used a rainbow yarn, and they came out so cute! I wear these all the time now.. Great for driving! And they don't snag on my keys or get stuck on my bag while I'm trying to walk!

You can find the pattern here! It's wonderful! I would definitely make them using the yarn she recommends, as they will come out very pretty! Here's mine: