Christmas!

Christmas was great because I got a lot of neat thins!

-1 skein of Socks That Rock mediumweight in Purple Rain but it isn't here yet because of the snow that the BMFA people had. It's on its way now though.
-Organic Fair Trade Mint Dark Chocolate.
-Mason Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines
-$30 towards a Nintendo DS

From my other side of my family I got:
$10
$25 Target gift card
pink hoodie
1 skein of Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett yarn (blue)
1 skein of Patons Stretch Socks (which is now becoming a pair of Breeze socks.
1 skein of bamboo yarn that is soft and blue/tan
pink hoodie
horse calendar
$25 barnes & noble gift card which is now Free Range Knitter and All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot. I was going to buy It Itches but I couldn't find it.
--
From my other side of my family I got:
2 skeins of Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color in blue/teal color
1 skein of Plymouth Sockotta in light blue/purple color
red Vera Bradley wallet with movie coupons
$30 iTunes gift card

I need to charge my camera batteries and then I will have pics of the yarn. Also! I was saving up for a Polar White Nintendo DS and my dad said he would pay the rest of the money for it. So on Saturday we went to Target which was where I wanted to buy it because I like Target. All they had was one of the Guitar Hero Nintendo DS bundles which was not what I wanted. So I used my Target giftcard to buy Mario Kart DS instead. That is a really, really fun game. You should buy it if you don't have it already.
Then my sister had been to Kmart the previous week and had seen Polar White DS's there so we went there and they had empty boxes out instead of locking up the real boxes so we had to ask an employee to get one for us. She had a really bad attitude. She was like, "Oh, I don't know about that..." which I thought was REALLY irritating. You'd think she would be happy to sell a DS. *rolls eyes* We paid for it in cash which probably irritated her more but I actually had cash so whatever.
Then I opened it in the car which my sister took pics of. Right away I turned it on and set it up (put name, birthday, etc) but couldn't play it yet because it needed to be fully charged.
Then we went to Milwaukee to spend our B&N gift cards. We were walking through the food court when we saw our cousins which was really interesting because we don't see them places very much. Then we went to B&N and bought our books and were going to go home but my mom had to go to my aunt's house for something and I didn't get home until later and still had to wait 3 hours for the DS to charge. x.x
We went to blockbuster yesterday and found Brain Age 2 for only $12! It sells for $20 in the stores so my dad let me get it. :)

edit: OH! I finished my My So Called Scarf. It's as tall as me and it only took 1 skein of Malabrigo in Shocking Pink!

Something Purple...

I finished my Something Purple sweater tonight minus the button! Hooray! It took me almost the exact time that the Wicked sweater took plus one day. 5 months, 1 week, and 1 day. I'll have a picture whenever I have an available camera. The batteries are still dead and I haven't charged them yet.

I won!

Hooray! 50078 words! Technically 50001 but the verifier bumped it up a bit.

Nanowrimo is almost over!

I have currently 47,713 words and I will probably finish tomorrow. I want to try to reach tomorrow's word count goal tonight which is 48,338 words which is only about 600 words more. I am so excited about being almost finished!!

My My So Called Scarf is about 16 inches long and I love it! Maybe I will have a chance to take pictures tomorrow. I hope.

My black gloves that I am making for the holiday parade on Sunday so my hands don't freeze while I play my flute are nearly finished. I just need to do the thumb and make the pinky finger shorter because I screwed up and didn't measure it properly.

My Something Purple sweater needs like 1/2 or 3/4 inch more on the button band and then the sleeves and then it will be finished! Yay!

I will have more time for this when I finish Nanowrimo. I'm so excited for Christmas because I love Christmas! I'm saving up for a Nintendo DS because I really really want one and most likely will not get one for Christmas so I will buy it myself. Currently I have $32 dollars and I need $130.

Nanowrimo

This month I have been doing NaNoWriMo which is National Novel Writing Month. At this precise moment I have 27,323 words out of 50k needed. It is going pretty well except I just want to play SimCity 3000 tonight and I don't want to write more tonight. x.x But I will anyways. I have not finished anything in a while because I haven't been knitting much this month because I've been writing a lot. I'm writing this because I'm procrastinating writing my mini argumentative essay for my composition class. -.- It feels weird to use contractions because I have almost no contractions in the novel I'm writing because it counts for more words if you just write the words separately. (2 words instead of 1).

Long time, no post

Since I've last posted, I've finished:

Seedless Watermelon socks
Ardelle hat
Baby Bolero
Snails and slugs (mochimochi land)

I have 1.5 inches to go on the ribbing on my Something Purple sweater!

A few weeks ago I bought a skein of Malabrigo worsted in the color Shocking Pink. It will become a My So Called Scarf which will be started soon, hopefully.

I'm also working on a mini sweater from the Minutia (berroco) pattern. I'm using my dale of norway baby ull yarn in light blue and medium blue and size 1 needles. It is very cute. It just needs one sleeve, seams sewn, and the collar knit. :)

I also made a dishcloth from the Blissful Moss Rib dishcloth pattern.

I love the cold weather because it means I can finally wear all the warm stuff I've knitted!

No pictures tonight, sorry. I need to take pictures still and I have to go to bed soon. :)

Fair again

Today was the second day of horse judging for the fair and yesterday was the horseless horse groom showmanship classes. I was in beginner showmanship and I got a red ribbon. Then today I had horseless horse groom walk/trot equitation and I got a red ribbon in that too. The pony I showed is a haflinger mare named Candy. My show coat looks like a real one but it's just a blazer that we got at Goodwill for $5! Also my Wicked sweater got a merit ribbon!

Fair

This week is the county fair and I entered my Wicked sweater, Foliage hat, Saucy socks, and cabled mittens and they all got blue ribbons so if anyone lives near me you should go to Sheboygan county fair and look in the 4h building and look at my stuff. :) Also if you take a peek in the lower barn (older one) and look at the very last stall on the right, you can see my horseless horse groom coach's horse and a pic of me on the stall. :)

Also I entered a poem that I wrote in the 4h creative writing contest and it got first place in the 9-13 category! I got $20 and here's the poem:

As the afternoon
Wanes, the sky grows darker and
The golden sun falls.

Dark shadows are cast
Distorted by the setting
Of the blinding sun.

The sky transforms to
A dazzling rainbow full of
Crimson and azure.

A reflection glows
On the aquamarine lake,
Rippling and shining.

Twilight arrives and
Stars emerge in the heavens
Twinkling vibrantly.

Night has arrived, and
The full moon is luminous,
Contrasting with sky.

Sock and Horses

On the week of August 10-16 I went to horse camp. It was the Adopt a Horse week and I adopted a brown pony named Midnight. He is a very nice pony except he doesn't like to stop and he doesn't like to wait patiently in line during individual canters. He is pictured below during the riding demo we did for our parents. I can't go back next year because I'll be too old. :( I like the adopt a horse week because three or four times a week you get to wake up at 7:00 in the morning and groom and tack up your adopted horse. Also instead of a "down the hill" activity in the morning you get to spend that time doing "horse fun" which consisted of mucking out stalls (FUN! not), scrubbing water buckets, and making horse treats.



This is the view from the top of the barn. We had to walk up this hill multiple times a day all week. It doesn't look that steep but I hate this hill.
I was doing Spring Forwards but I kept messing up so I frogged it and started a plain vanilla stockinette sock with a picot edge. I started the heel flap yesterday.

For Ravelympics I made a neckwarmer called Fourteen.
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky in Indigo
Needles: size 11
Mods: Garter stitch border and stockinette instead of brioche.
Finished: August 23 at 11:30 pm cst
I actually finished the knitting part on Aug 9 but I needed buttons and I was gone all the next week. It is very soft!

FOs and sock yarn

I got my prize from http://mspalmtree.blogspot.com's blogiversary on Monday. I got Gypsyknits Sock It! yarn in the colorway Tink. It's really soft and I love the colors! I also got some neat notecards made with tree-free fiber. They have really pretty designs on them. I'll get a pic of them later.These are my Stargazer lilies when they were blooming. They're still blooming now but not as many flowers. I love them because they are so vibrant.

Monkey socks with Opal Feelings yarn!

My doll's wicked sweater made with Knitpicks Swish Superwash.

I made this hat for a person at my knit night who is going to Mexico sometime. It's the Pastel Marley hat from Itty-Bitty Hats. The yarn is Cotton Ease.

These are my Peekaboo Mittens. People at my knit night thought I was crazy for wanting a hole in my mittens but the hole is there so you can "peek" your fingers through to operate a cell phone or something like that. Obviously I won't wear them when it gets really really really cold outside. :) The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash and I used size 4 needles.

This is my Papillon dishcloth made with Sugar N Cream Stripes. It was kind of tricky in some parts, but I think it's really pretty.

Flowers (and tomatoes)

I went outside a while ago. It's 86 degrees outside so it was yucky. I took pics of the lilies and the tomatoes. We found three more growing for a total of six tomatoes! We also have a pink gerber daisy which is really pretty.

Sock and Calla Lily (real lilies too!)

Ten minutes ago (or less, I'm not really counting) I finished my Calla Lily! I ignored it for a year because I was confused about the short rows. I was working on it until 2am last night (haha) and also this afternoon and I finished it. :)

I also have a picture of Monkey #1 and Monkey #2!

I also have real lilies to show you! The picture is before they bloomed but when I go outside later I'll take pics of them open. They are Oriental Plum lilies and we got them last year from a local flower/garden shop (caan's floral). :) I have Stargazer lilies too but they haven't bloomed yet.

This is our basil plant that we got from the same place as the plum lilies. I think we need to make pesto again! Last time we made pesto it about wiped out all the leaves. It looked like a charlie brown christmas tree. ;) We're also growing cilantro and mint.

Monkey

I finished the first monkey sock on Saturday and started the second sock on Saturday or Sunday. I just worked on it for a while and just finished the second repeat. I'll have pics tomorrow. On Wednesday I'm going to Stitch n Pitch with my mom and my sister. :) It will be fun even though I think baseball is stupid. ;)

I also won a contest at http://mspalmtree.blogspot.com. I don't know what the prize is but I'm sure it will be a cool prize. :)

Today it was like 90 degrees outside. I only went outside like twice today even though I wanted to go swimming someplace. That would have felt good. :)

Contest

You should enter this contest: http://theknittingwildflower.blogspot.com/2008/06/blogiversary-contest-begins-and-waht-i.html

It has really really neat sock related prizes such as sock yarn and a tiny sock blocker!

:)

Monkey sock!

I started these on June 20. Actually a few days before that, but I had to frog it and start again on larger needles (size 2 instead of 1). I really like the wide stripes that the yarn creates and the Monkey pattern is really easy to memorize. I'm almost done with the gusset!

Pictures!!

Today I went outside and took pictures of all my recent finished projects.

Little Miss Happy Flower Dishcloth

Timothy the Turtle dishcloth

Garterlac Dishcloth

Evangeline Mitts
(with Malabrigo worsted in Purple Magic -- left over from my Foliage hat and there is still some yarn left!!)

Vortex (5) Dishcloth

Summer

Summer is awesome for knitting time! In the past four days I've finished three dishcloths! I made a turtle dishcloth, garterlac dishcloth, and a flower dishcloth. I only have a pic of one of them because I was busy all day and didn't get a chance to take pictures when the light was good in the afternoon. It was too nice out to be inside taking pics of dishcloths. :) For once it felt like summer and the sun was shining and there were no clouds! It keeps raining and raining and storming and raining and it's a little annoying. grr.

I'll have a better picture of this tomorrow.

I was really happy on Thursday because I went to see what I got on my chemistry final and I got a B on it which meant that my grade for chemistry was an A-! I was really happy about that becaus earlier in the quarter I had an 83 but then I did a whole bunch of extra credit and worked hard and bumped it up to a 93 for 4th quarter but the semester average was like 91 or 92. :)

My current wip is the Baby Bolero from the book One Skein. When it is more finished I'll take a pic of it. It's not much right now. :)

I named the turtle on my turtle dishcloth Timothy. ;) On Thursday night I went to bed at 11:30pm and woke up at 10:30am! I was really tired apparently.

For WWKIP day, I knit on the flower dishcloth in a coffeeshop! I also knit at a party. ;)

Summer's almost here

Tomorrow is my last day of school!! Yay! I haven't posted in forever because I've been busy. On Saturday we went to Madison (it rained a TON and there were tornado warnings and we went to Applebees to watch the Belmont Stakes but Big Brown sucked and got last place.) We went to Lakeside Fibers and I bought a skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in the color Nut. It is for the Baby Bolero from the One Skein book. We went to the library today so we could get the book but someone had it checked out so I had to request it so I can't start it tonight. :( I started a Garterlac Dishcloth instead. :)
I also made a baby sweater for a layette at my church with Caron Simply Soft.

I made a whale from Bittersweet's pattern.
Last night I finished my Odessa hat! I used the Cascade 220 that I dyed with Kool-Aid. It is a really easy pattern. I cast on 90 stitches since I was using worsted weight yarn and I didn't add beads. I also added another inch of ribbing so it would cover my ears better. The funny thing about the hat is that right now it is 51 degrees F outside and windy and cloudy so it is actually cold enough to wear it outside!

Horse show

Today I went to a 4h mock horse show and I was going to show in the horseless horse groom Best Groomed horse class and my coach that I'm matched up with was going to do showmanship and stuff. She brought her young black/white paint horse and she was lunging her and then this other horse got loose 3 times and the third time it ran towards the lunge line and was going to jump over it but then it was going to get tangled so she let go of the lead rope and then her horse went running off around the fairgrounds. Then she decided that her horse was too insane to show (it was going to be the horse's first show) and so she scratched us from our classes. I was kind of disappointed because it was going to be my first show too but I'd rather not show and be safe than be in the ring with an excited horse who goes crazy sometimes. So I was outside from like 7:00 am to 2:00pm and I got a sunburn on my face because I failed to think about bringing sunscreen. I'm also really tired since I had to wake up at 6. I think I was pretty nervous because all I ate all day until 3:30 pm was half a pancake and 1 poptart. I didn't get hungry until we left to go back to my coach's house. I had fun though even though I didn't show.

As for knitting, I finished the knitting for the nautiloid minus the tentacles and I need to sew the face to the shell. I also started a baby sweater for a layette at my church. It is going very quickly because it is very simple and just stockinette. :)

I got an ipod!!

Today I got a pink ipod nano! I named it Sprinkles. ;) It already has a cozy made from this pattern.I also made a miniature sweater on Thursday from this pattern: Miniature Sweater Ornament.
I finished my Saucy socks on Tuesday but I don't have a neat picture of both of them so I just have a pic of one for now. They fit great by the way!After I finished the saucy socks, I made a Vortex dishcloth. It is so cool and it was easy! No pic yet, sorry. :)

I have a finished pic of the Quinn bag! A lot of people at school have been asking me if I made it, instead of "Where did you buy that?". I thought that was neat.

I started Nautie the nautiloid on Friday. I actually made the face first because we had to go to my sister's college to help her with her loft and see her last band concert. I forgot the stuffing and we didn't have time to go back and get it.

Quinn bag and stuff

My Quinn bag is 99% finished. I just need to sew on the button that I made a loop for so it will close and buy some fabric and make a lining. Today at my LYS I bought a neat button with a Celtic knot on it. I think it will go perfectly with the cables on the bag. :) Finally I only have one wip. We'll just have to see if I can resist casting on for the Vortex Dishcloth until my sock is finished! haha