See, I have all these other projects that I need to be working on (secret present. Tubey. Cashmere sweater I started ages ago. Sockapaloooza socks. Blocking the Lace Leaf and Hourglass.)…but an uncontrollable chain of events occurred, and I kinda sorta started something new last night.
It all started when I saw Jodi’s Must Have Cardigan in person: [ see her entry here ].
It’s orange. It looks perfect on her. I started thinking…
Then, I saw that Silvia got the Paton’s Street Smart booklet online at Michael’s for CHEAP. With no shipping cost. HELLO. So, I ordered the booklet, still thinking that I would save the Must-Have for a later date…
The final straw: Yesterday was my last day as the pianist for a local church. The choir knows me well…and got me a gift certificate for the local yarn store as a thank you. DUDE.
Q: What’s a girl to do?
A: Buy a ridiculous amount of yarn…

and cast on for the Must Have Cardigan.
Close up of cabley beginnings…


Cables are fun.

I’m really enjoying this pattern. It’s definitely one I’m having to focus on while I get the cable patterns under my fingers, but I think I’m going to love the result. yayayayayay.
I did work on my Sock Pal sock before the yarn splurging…


Trekking and garter rib = lovelylovely.
I’m not sure of the colorway, but the yarn is Trekking XXL. I LOVE. On top of the Plymouth Galway I got to make the Must Have, I got a ball of Trekking in a grey-black colorway for socks for the Pants, two skeins of Manos Del Uruguay in the most amazing deep pinks and purples, and some Eucalan. I’m not a yarn spender, so especially buying the Manos was so much fun for me…yay for kind friends and gift certificates!! AM came with me and assisted in the shopping frenzy.
SO. MUCH. FUN. I can’t wait to get home and knit more of it!

It’s Friday, wheeeeeeeeeeeeee. This week has flown by, and maybe it’s because I’m rockin’ the rental car. Hells yeah. Turns out my car is going to take until next Friday, but luckily my insurance company covers some of the rental cost. I’m just happy to be safe and have some transportation.
This weekend? I will be relaxing. And probably cleaning. And also knitting on this sock:

Purple ribbing sure is purdy.
It’s my sock for my sock pal, and I’m using one of the 4 stitch ribbing patterns in Sensational Knitted Socks – it’s a really simple garter stitch rib, and it looks COOL. Dude. this book is REALLY fun! This is the first time that I’ve used it to knit socks – highly recommended. There are so many options, and as long as you know what your gauge is, you can go crazy. superfuntimes.com.
In other knitting news, the Lace Leaf is finally done, but I have no pictures. BAD SCHMOO. I have actually worn it a couple of times, and I like, although it’s boxier than I thought it was going to be. Pictures this weekend. When I’m not relaxing.
And! We celebrated Leslie’s birthday last night.


They don’t call her Photogenic Leslie for nothing.
There was talk last night of running the Chicago Marathon in October. Now, that may have been the wine talking, but I think they were serious. Who’s with me?!!! (I’m actually not sure if *I’m* with me yet, but we’ll see. I’m seriously considering it.)
Ooh! I saw a preview copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting at the yarn store. DUDE. This book looks so freakin’ awesome. I’m super excited! Yay for Ann and Kay!
Okay. Enough randomness. I need to go drink some coffee and work. Have a safe and happy weekend!!

Well. This weekend didn’t exactly turned out as planned, but as there were some pleasant surprises mixed in with the not-so-pleasant, I’m okay with it.
(Pleasant) Surprise #1:
The Pants surprised me with a little something to make my running go by more quickly….

Tiny thing!

It’s an iPod nano. It’s black. and it’s so tiny and cute. it’s a NanoSchmoo! This was completely unexpected, and totally awesome, and now I’m not the only person in the world without an iPod!!! Whee. The Pants, he is a schmoo fer sure. So I loaded up my NanoSchmoo with songs in preparation for my marathon relay on Saturday, which brings me to:
(Unpleasant) Surprise #2:
We didn’t make it to the marathon relay. About 2 hours outside of Athens, a deer came barreling onto the highway out of nowhere, and we hit the deer. We are okay, but my car, well, she is not so okay. My driver’s side door will not open at all from the outside, and will open from the inside with much difficulty. One of the front headlights is also completely destroyed, so we got pulled over on the way home for driving with one headlight. D’oh. Luckily, the cop was super nice, and we made it home in one piece, and we are safe, but we couldn’t drive to Myrtle Beach in my gimpy car and we missed the race. Gah. But we are very, very lucky, and Jacob is a great driver, and I’m just glad that we weren’t hurt.
(Pleasant) Surprise #3:
Thursday night’s Bling show was packed and rowdy and SO FUN, and we got called back for an encore (!!) and some dude gave me a rose from the audience and was like “I love you, Carrieoke!!” FUN TIMES. They videotaped the show, too, so maybe I can post a short clip sometime soon. Here’s a picture of me and Richard (our frontman) looking like a weird Russian mafia couple.


Yes, that’s a wig.
I was wearing green sequins because we were playing the 40 Watt and I felt fancy.
(Unpleasant) Surprise #4:
I woke up on Saturday, the morning after the deer crash, with a horrible, burning, aching sore throat, and I’m 99.9% sure that it’s strep throat. I’ve had LOTS of cases of strep throat, and I know what it feels like. Hopefully I’m totally wrong, but I’m going to the doctor on Monday to find out. But you know what being sick means:
(Pleasant) Surprise #5:
LOTS of knitting time. Only 4 inches left to go in ye olde Lace Leaf Pullover:


I think she’ll be finished by this evening.
So, in the end, it was a nice weekend. Even though I missed the relay and watching some fabulous folks finish their races (go Leslie! and go Anne Marie! and go Cathy and HEJ and Wes, who ran even though we weren’t there to run our parts of the relay!!), I got some needed rest and knitting time, and I got to watch a bunch of movies with my schmoos. That was pleasant, indeed.

This weekend was busybusybusy. I ran a 5K with my sister, Fasty Fasterton Anne Marie, Leslie, and her boyfriend Josh. Dude. It was COLD, and raining, and every ounce of my being did NOT want to run this 5K. Seriously. But Cathy and AM got my butt out of bed and I didn’t want to be the ONLY one who sat in the car while everyone else ran, so I did it, and it was super fun. Leslie and I ran together and kicked everyone’s ass around us. Well, maybe not, but I felt like a superhero after we finished since it was COLD AND RAINY. Did I mention the cold? and the rainy?
Anyways. I spent the rest of the weekend cleaning my house under the direction of the Pants, who had a whole cleaning system prepared when I got back. There were labeled laundry baskets for organizing dirty clothes, people. This is serious business. It actually worked, too. I can now see the floor in my bedroom and I have FIVE garbage bags full of clothes to donate. Yay.
And yes, there was knitting. The Lace Leaf Pullover is nearing completion:

One arm down, one to go.
I am having to figure out lots of numbers as I’m knitting along, since I didn’t get any kind of gauge with my yarn (Sierra, Knit Picks). So I decided to go ahead and set in one sleeve to make sure my adjustments worked (before I knitted sleeve #2). I think it’s going to work out!! I’m also afraid that I might run out of yarn, so I’m thinking about knitting sleeve #2, and then just knitting down on the body until there’s almost no yarn left. (The pattern calls for the lower half of the sweater to be knitted separately and then grafted with the upper half, in order to make the lace leaf pattern look right, but with my yarn situation, I think I might forgo the lace leaf on the bottom.)
This Sierra yarn is so soft and squishy and yummy…I will definitely knit with it again. Here’s a close up of the squishiness:


Yummy softness.

In other yarny news, I’ve picked out some yarnyarn for my sockapaloooza pal’s socks:


Purply goodness.
This yarn was gifted to me by the lovely and talented HEJ, who, among other talents, really knows how to pick the sock yarn. Now to find a pattern…
This week is full: Bling Show on Thursday at the 40 Watt, and then I’m running a marathon relay on Saturday with Cat, her husband Wes, Jacob, and High Energy Jenny. Acck! Cross your fingers for a NOT cold and rainy morning.

I’m a tired schmoo. Two shows this weekend really wore me out — although I think I actually got a good leg workout. (Wearing high heeled boots while moving equipment and then dancing around equals very sore thighs, so that means I worked out, right? I thought so. )
The shows were great. I had a blast, I got to try out some new wigs, the crowds were really responsive. (To my wigs and the music.) My lovely sister took some pictures at the Atlanta show, which her husband promptly burned to a cd and which I promptly left at their house TWICE. I will get them this week sometime. Good. Times.
Also good times – the Hourglass is done:

That thing on my stomach is the reflection of Anne Marie taking the picture. Hee.
I have no explanation for why my hair looks so bad.
It’s not blocked, and there are still some ends to be woven in, but I totally wore it while watching the Super Bowl last night. It’s soft and fits great!
Here’s another view:


Love the side shaping and the neckline.
Here, look at the neckline again:


Folded hems are my new best friend.
It’s the Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and I used Paton’s Classic Wool. I bought four balls, and I’m pretty sure that I only used three. I would get at least four balls for the small though, just to be safe.
I will definitely knit this pattern again – it’s super simple, and the result is so flattering. Next time I’ll try a yarn with a little more drape, just to get a different look. But I’m very happy with the finished sweater! Now I just need to give it a bath, block it, and weave in a few ends. YAY.
Now I’m on a mission to finish my Tubey, finish my Lace Leaf Pullover, and start socks for my sockapaloooza sock pal. Although not necessarily in the order.

It’s been a crazy, hard week, and I can tell you this: my knitting has helped me stay calm. I’m an anxious girl in general, and part of the reason I fell in love with knitting is its soothing powers. So this week I was knitting like a crazy woman …
Thus, the Hourglass sweater is almost completed. I have a few inches left on the yoke and then it’s time for a collar. And just in time for it to get freakin’ cold.

Get yer raglan right here.
I think I might love this sweater a lot. I can’t wait to try it on. I am determined to finish this sweater before I knit on anything else .. which of course means that I’m itching to knit something else. But this week, I *only* brought the Hourglass with me, so when my crazy knitting hands started, they only had one project to work on. I normally bring three, which is silliness, but I get bored easily. I’m embarrassed to tell you that I do truly have three sweaters actively on the needles right now…yikes. I guess it’s the cold getting to me.
In Sister News, my sister Cathy finished a project that she’s long been working on: her pretty blue skinny scarf!


Cathy wants to show you her ends. Don’t they look nice?
I think she likes the knitting. More than she’s willing to admit. Look how happy it makes her! Smiles all around!
In Pregnant Sister News, we found out this week that my sister Michelle is having a B-O-Y. Whoa. I’m gonna have a nephew! It’s strange how finding out the sex of the baby made it that much more REAL. The quest for adorable boy patterns must now commence — clearly Aunt Carrieoke needs to indoctrinate the boy in the ways of handknits immediately. Oh, tiny schmoo baby clothes are SO. CUTE.
And finally, in Band News, I had a Bling show last week, and we have TWO this weekend. If you live in Atlanta, we will be playing at CJ’s Landing on Friday February 3. The website says 9:30pm. Then, on Saturday, we are playing in Athens at the Caledonia Lounge – I think we’re opening for Coulier’s CD Release Party. (Early shows, both of them, so ya better come if you like to go to bed early …we usually play super late. Sleepy Carrieoke is happy about the early.)
And that’s my weekend. I’m hoping for a finished Hourglass by my next post. Have a great week, and do me a favor — go and you tell your family and friends that you love them. Even if they already know it.